"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." --Genesis 12:1
Additional readings: Genesis 12:1-10, Luke 13:6-30, Psalm 68
The story of Abram is a familiar one. He was the son of Terah who lived in Ur, a city of Chaldea near Babylon. The Lord called him to leave his father's house and his kindred and go into the land of Canaan, promising that He would make of him and of his seed a great nation and a blessing to all the families of the earth.
Abram obeyed the call and with Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son came, after a stop at Haran on the way, to Shechem in the land of Canaan, where the Lord again appeared to him and told him that if he would obey Him, He would give this land to him and his posterity forever. From Shechem Abram went to Bethel, about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, and there he pitched his tent and built an altar.
Then came a grievous famine, and Abram and Lot with their families went down into Egypt, where Abram became very rich. Finally, rich in cattle, silver, and gold, Abram left Egypt and returned to Canaan, to Bethel, to the place where he had built the altar when he first entered the land.
The story is historically true. In its letter it has interest as the story of one who was obedient to the Lord and was blessed by Him. Historically also Abraham was the father of the Hebrew people who, centuries later, were delivered from bondage in Egypt, conquered and took possession of the land of Canaan, and under their kings David and Solomon became a great nation, noted for its wealth and glory.
But, like all other parts of the Word of God, this story has a deeper meaning. It tells of things of the spirit invisible to the eyes of the senses but made visible to the mind by the interior truths that lie within the letter. All of the Word treats of the Lord. He was born with a natural such as men have and He advanced from infancy and childhood to youth, manhood, and maturity, passing through the states which we pass through. The Lord as a child was taken into Egypt.
The Jews were chosen for the giving of the Hebrew Scriptures, and when they outwardly observed the commandments, statutes, and precepts given them, they represented the true order of life. Because of this their laws and even their land with its mountains and valleys, forests and hills, rivers and streams, lakes and seas, its cities, its temple and places of worship, were representative. For this reason the Lord chose to be born among the Jews. There He could develop the assumed human according to the laws of Divine order and become the Redeemer and Savior. There He could "fulfill" the Word. The Abram stories are about the Lord's childhood and tell how He increased in knowledge end wisdom, in grace and truth. And in their spiritual meaning the stories of Abram tell of the period of our own childhood.
Human beings, unlike other living creatures, have a long childhood. This is because in our infancy and childhood the Lord can implant in us states of innocence and trust. It is the period in which affection for the Lord and trust in Him are most easily and most deeply received. The reason for this is evident: innocence, sensitiveness, and trust are ground in which the Lord dwells. After self-consciousness, self-confidence, and self—assertion develop, humility and the sense of trust in and dependence upon the Lord can with difficulty gain entrance. Unlike animals, men must go through a long period of education and must meet many temptations. Unlike animals, men have evils to overcome and victories to win, and these cannot be won without preparation. If our childhood were not so long - and it is none too long for the Lord to become established in our hearts - if it were not for the heavenly affections which the Lord implants in us in childhood, we never could become regenerate men and women. The Lord never could bring us from the land of our birth to the lend which He wishes us to see and to possess.
It is good for us to look back upon our childhood, upon those days when we were free from anxieties and cares, when we felt secure and safe under the care and guidance of our parents. But these earliest states pass away. New powers and capacities appear and must be developed in us. This is pictured by the famine which caused Abram to go down into Egypt. We become conscious that there is much that we must learn. Famines come from drought due to the lack of water. Spiritually famine is the thirst for knowledge. So. like Abram, we must go down into Egypt: we must seek instruction and acquire knowledge.
The story of Abram is repeated spiritually in everyone who is born into the world. That is why it is part of the Bible. The Lord says to us, as He said later to Jacob, "Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation." If we are to be useful in the world, we must acquire the knowledges necessary. Egypt stands for the world of practical knowledge. All that we can learn about the world in which we live, about man's life in this world is part of such knowledge. It was in Egypt that the sciences originated. But Egypt stands for more than this. It stands for the basic facts given in the letter of the Word. So it includes the facts on which man's spiritual beliefs are founded. We learn the truths of the letter of the Word and those are stored up in the treasure cities of our spiritual Egypt. We learn about the Lord and about heaven. We learn what a good life is. Definite knowledge is necessary. And when we know about the Lord and eternal life, we sec the Lord as goodness itself and heaven as fair and beautiful, and we desire to set out on our journey to heaven.
But heaven cannot be given to us at once. We must work for it. We are born natural, and it is only by degrees that we can be made spiritual men and women. One of the later stories in the Word expresses this fact. After Jacob had served seven years for Rachel, be was given Leah instead. Jacob complained that he had been deceived. Then Laban said to him, "It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn." No, it is not so done in our lives, nor is it so done in the kingdom of heaven. To give Rachel before Leah would be to become spiritual men without having learned to be good natural men.
That we may become genuinely spiritual the Lord came into the world to show us the way. We are told in the writings that in His early childhood His task was to study the Scriptures that they might be stored up in His mind. Then He was able to overcome in His assumed human all the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, to enter upon His ministry, and to gain the complete victory.
We likewise have to labor against many false notions, against materialism and worldliness. And in life we shall meet trials and reverses. It is a long struggle before we give up cur selfish ideals and find it easy to live up to the demands of the Divine law. And we cannot even begin to do this unless we learn about the Lord and cone to know and love the facts concerning His guidance and instruction of mankind from the beginning and concerning His own life upon the earth. But with this knowledge, if we are faithful, in time our vision will clear. We shall be enabled to see that "the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works."
In the home and the Sunday School we learn about the Lord, about His life among us, about His death and resurrection. We need to love these facts and to love them as the means for our salvation, for there is no other way to real life and happiness. We must learn what a good life is before we can live it.
Parents should realize that the supreme purpose of life is the attainment of a heavenly character. "Now the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee cut of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." Their most important duty to their children, therefore, is to see that in their early years the best possible basis is laid for this attainment.
The wise Solomon said, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."
And One wiser than Solomon said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God, Verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."
