theories from the supposed deductions of sciences, and reject the revealed word of
God. They presume to pass sentence upon God’s moral government; they despise his
law and boast of the sufficiency of human reason. Then, “because sentence against an
evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in
them to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11.
In the professedly Christian world many turn away from the plain teachings of
the Bible and build up a creed from human speculations and pleasing fables, and they
point to their tower as a way to climb up to heaven. Men hang with admiration upon
the lips of eloquence while it teaches that the transgressor shall not die, that salvation
may be secured without obedience to the law of God. If the professed followers of
Christ would accept God’s standard, it would bring them into unity; but so long as
human wisdom is exalted above his Holy Word, there will be divisions and dissension.
The existing confusion of conflicting creeds and sects is fitly represented by the
term “Babylon,” which prophecy (Revelation 14:8; 18:2) applies to the world-loving
churches of the last days.
Many seek to make a heaven for themselves by obtaining riches and power. They
“speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily” (Psalm 73:8), trampling
upon human rights and disregarding divine authority. The proud may be for a time in
great power, and may see success in all that they undertake; but in the end they will
find only disappointment and wretchedness.
The time of God’s investigation is at hand. The Most High will come down to see
that which the children of men have builded. His sovereign power will be revealed; the
works of human pride will be laid low. “The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth
all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants
of the earth.” “The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the
devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the
thoughts of his heart to all generations.” Psalm 33:13, 14, 10, 11.
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Chap. 11 - The Call of Abraham
After the dispersion from Babel idolatry again became well-nigh universal, and
the Lord finally left the hardened transgressors to follow their evil ways, while he
chose Abraham, of the line of Shem, and made him the keeper of his law for future
generations. Abraham had grown up in the midst of superstition and heathenism.
Even his father’s household, by whom the knowledge of God had been preserved,
were yielding to the seductive influences surrounding them, and they “served other
gods” than Jehovah. But the true faith was not to become extinct. God has ever
preserved a remnant to serve him. Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, in
unbroken line, had preserved from age to age the precious revealings of his will. The
son of Terah became the inheritor of this holy trust. Idolatry invited him on every side,
but in vain. Faithful among the faithless, uncorrupted by the prevailing apostasy, he
steadfastly adhered to the worship of the one true God. “The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” Psalm 145:18. He communicated
his will to Abraham, and gave him a distinct knowledge of the requirements of his law
and of the salvation that would be accomplished through Christ.
There was given to Abraham the promise, especially dear to the people of that age,
of a numerous posterity and of national greatness: “I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” And to
this was added the assurance, precious above every other to the inheritor of faith, that
of his line the Redeemer of the world should come: “In thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed.” Yet, as the first condition of fulfillment, there was to be a test of
faith; a sacrifice was demanded.
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The message of God came to Abraham, “Get thee out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.” In order
that God might qualify him for his great work as the keeper of the sacred oracles,
Abraham must be separated from the associations of his early life. The influence of
kindred and friends would interfere with the training which the Lord purposed to give
his servant. Now that Abraham was, in a special sense, connected with heaven, he
must dwell among strangers. His character must be peculiar, differing from all the
world. He could not even explain his course of action so as to be understood by his
friends. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and his motives and actions were
not comprehended by his idolatrous kindred.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went.” Hebrews 11:8. Abraham’s unquestioning obedience is one of the most striking
evidences of faith to be found in all the Bible. To him, faith was “the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Verse 1. Relying upon the divine
promise, without the least outward assurance of its fulfillment, he abandoned home
and kindred and native land, and went forth, he knew not whither, to follow where
God should lead. “By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land
not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise.” Hebrews 11:9, R.V.
It was no light test that was thus brought upon Abraham, no small sacrifice that
was required of him. There were strong ties to bind him to his country, his kindred,
and his home. But he did not hesitate to obey the call. He had no question to ask
concerning the land of promise—whether the soil was fertile and the climate healthful;
whether the country afforded agreeable surroundings and would afford opportunities
for amassing wealth. God has spoken, and his servant must obey; the happiest place
on earth for him was the place where God would have him to be.
Many are still tested as was Abraham. They do not hear the voice of God speaking
directly from the heavens, but he calls them by the teachings of his word and the events
of his providence. They may be required to abandon a career that promises wealth and
honor, to leave congenial and profitable associations
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and separate from kindred, to enter upon what appears to be only a path of self-denial,
hardship, and sacrifice. God has a work for them to do; but a life of ease and the
influence of friends and kindred would hinder the development of the very traits
essential for its accomplishment. He calls them away from human influences and aid,
and leads them to feel the need of his help, and to depend upon him alone, that he may
reveal himself to them. Who is ready at the call of Providence to renounce cherished
plans and familiar associations? Who will accept new duties and enter untried fields,
doing God’s work with firm and willing heart, for Christ’s sake counting his losses
gain? he who will do this has the faith of Abraham, and will share with him that
“far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” with which “the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared.” 2 Corinthians 4:17; Romans 8:18.
The call from heaven first came to Abraham while he dwelt in “Ur of the Chaldees”
and in obedience to it he removed to Haran. Thus far his father’s family accompanied
him, for with their idolatry they united the worship of the true God. Here Abraham
remained till the death of Terah. But from his father’s grave the divine Voice bade
him go forward. His brother Nahor with his household clung to their home and their
idols. Besides Sarah, the wife of Abraham, only Lot, the son of Haran long since
dead, chose to share the patriarch’s, pilgrim life. Yet it was a large company that
set out from Mesopotamia. Abraham already possessed extensive flocks and herds,
the riches of the East, and he was surrounded by a numerous body of servants and
retainers. He was departing from the land of his fathers, never to return, and he took
with him all that he had, “their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that
they had gotten in Haran.” Among these were many led by higher considerations than
those of service and self-interest. During their stay in Haran, both Abraham and Sarah
had led others to the worship and service of the true God. These attached themselves
to the patriarch’s household, and accompanied him to the land of promise. “And they
went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.”
The place where they first tarried was Shechem. Under the shade of the oaks of
Moreh, in a wide, grassy valley, with its olive groves and gushing springs, between
Mount Ebal on the