What does this say to us? "The situation seems to be impossible naturally. Let us then try by the energy of the flesh to realize what seems impossible in the spirit." So Abraham descended from the level of faith in God to a level of faith in his own works. It was a case of trying to be spiritually fruitful by fleshly methods. Thus Hagar was introduced.
Now there are two things to note about this chapter. Hagar was an Egyptian, and how did they come to have an Egyptian in their service? When did an Egyptian come into the family? Well, we cannot answer that question with certainty, but we know that Pharaoh did not send Abraham away empty-handed. That may answer the question. But what does Egypt represent? I have only to remind you of Israel in Egypt! The one word which always described Egypt was "bondage." If we descend to the level of the flesh to try and help God out, we will only get into worse bondage; and there resulted the terrible tragedy of Ishmael and Hagar. The apostle Paul makes a great deal of this thing in his letter to the Galatians, where he speaks of Hagar as the bondwoman and says: "With freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). So Abraham learned the great lesson that we, being heavenly people, must stand on heavenly ground. We must not come down on to the ground of the flesh to try and help God out of what we think is His difficulty.
Abraham had to learn this lesson by failure, but did he learn it? I am terribly sorry to have to say that he did not seem to have done so very thoroughly, because some time afterward we find him going down to the country of the Philistines and, strange to say, he resorted to the same old subterfuge. Again, it was exactly the same thing: "Sarah, you say that you are my sister." You can hardly believe it, can you? How slow we are to lean these lessons!
Well, he went to the country of the Philistines and Abimelech just came out on the same ground - to took Sarah from Abraham. How merciful and faithful God is! That night He appeared to Abimelech in a dream and said to him: "Abimelech, you are a dead man," and Abimelech explained to Him why he had taken Sarah, as Abraham had said that she was his sister. When Abimelech got up in the morning he called Abraham and said: "What is this that you have done? You have lied to me and have brought me near to destruction." The details are almost exactly like the Egyptian occasion, but not quite. These are not the Egyptians, but the Philistines. All that you know about the Egyptians tells you that they would never have anything to do with what was of God. As with Pharaoh in the time of Moses, who would fight God to the last moment, Egypt would never have anything to do with divine things - but the Philistines were always trying to get their hands on divine things. They tried to get possession of the land. They were always invading it, even until the days of David. Their one ambition was to get hold of the ark of the covenant, and when they did get it, they opened it to have a look inside. These people were always very interested in divine things, but do you remember the description which was always applied to them? The "uncircumcised Philistines" (Judges 14:3). They represent uncrucified flesh trying to get hold of the things of God. They are that which wants to "see with the natural eyes, hear with the natural ears and handle with the natural hands", while their hearts have never gone to the Cross to be circumcised.
Abraham went down to the Philistines. What a descent from a heavenly level to an earthly, from the spiritual to the natural! When a servant of God does that, he always brings God into dishonor.
I think Abraham did learn his lesson this time, for we do not read again anything like that.
Do you see the way into the heart of God? I said that I would give you an explanation of the whole thing.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 14)
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