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Melchizedek, and to him Abram gave `tithes of all'. About the same time the king of
Sodom offered to Abram all the booty of the battle:
"And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord,
the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a
thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou
shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: save only that which the young men have
eaten" (Gen. 14: 22-24).
Chapter 15: begins:
"After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
Abram renounced earthly reward, and desired only to `glory in the Lord'. As a result
the Lord declared Himself to be Abram's exceeding great reward, and there followed the
promise of a seed as numerous as the stars of heaven. Nevertheless, the land is still
mentioned, and this is also the case in chapter 17: 8.
When we come to the
confirmation of the covenant with Abraham in chapter 22:, following the offering of
Isaac (16), for the first time there is no mention of the land as the inheritance of
Abraham. He is promised that his seed shall be `as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore' (17), and in his seed all the nations of the earth are to
be blessed.
Progressively, step by step, the Lord led Abraham on, and step by step and in response
to the faith displayed by Abraham in his obedience, God made known to him more of his
purpose. It cannot be ascertained at what point Abraham became aware of the calling to
the heavenly city; but what is clear, is that Abraham was content with nothing less than
the best.
As with many another whom God called, Abraham had experienced the `awe-fulness'
of God. When the Lord covenanted the full extent of the promised land (Gen. 15:) we
read:
"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror
of great darkness fell upon him . . . . . And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down,
and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those
pieces" (Gen. 15: 12 and 17).
Abraham was one whom God was pleased to call "my friend" (Isa. 41: 8), yet in the
presence of God he experienced `an horror of great darkness'. He knew the greatness and
the holiness of the One with Whom he had to do. Surely this is the secret of faithfulness
in any servant of God.
Today, in our calling, there is usually a progression to what has been termed `a calling
within a calling'. Normally we begin with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as our
Saviour, and then, by the grace of God progress to the knowledge of the Secret, the
calling to heavenly places. There is, as many know from experience, a price to pay if we
desire the best. So it was with Abraham, who was numbered among those who: