The following commentary covers Chapters 20 and 21.
The
heir and the path of faith
In chapters 20, 21 we have
the question of the heir and of the path of faith in
another point of view. Abraham denies his relationship
with his wife, and is reproved by the world itself, which
knows better than he what she should be. God, however,
guards the promises in His faithfulness, and judges that
which meddles with her who has to say to them. The heir
of promise is born; and the heir according to the flesh,
son of the bondwoman or of the law, is entirely rejected.
Now Abraham reproves the powerful of the earth, before
whom he had previously denied his relationship with his
wife.
Unbelief working:
God's preservation of Sarah
But these two chapters
must be somewhat more developed. Like Abram's going down
to Egypt, we have unbelief working in respect of the path
into which he had been called by grace, shewn, as it ever
is, in reference to walking in the intimacy of the
relationship in which God had set him, of which woman is
the expression in the types. Here Sarah is the mother of
the heir of the world, the wife of Abraham, according to
promise, and, for Abraham, according to the church's
hope, as we have seen (though Israel were the vessel
according to flesh). This position he denies. Sarah is
again his sister. This was worse than before, for she is,
to faith, mother of the heir of the world. Abimelech was
wrong, and acted to please himself, but acted unconscious
of it. Abraham before God was in the falser position of
the two. God warns Abimelech, and preserves Sarah by His
own power, whom Abraham's want of faith had connected
with the world; and Abimelech returns her, with the
cutting reproof to the church, as here typified, that she
at least ought to have known her own relationship to
Christ. Still, in the main, Abraham was in the place of
faith and blessing; and, as God's prophet, to whom none
should do harm, intercedes for the faulty Abimelech, for
here all is grace. There is another point to notice here,
that this was an arrangement of unbelief when first he
started from his father's house (chap. 20: 13), so soon
was the germ of unbelief at work in the called of
promise. But God maintains the divine title to the
allegiance of the church at all times. But now the heir
is born, the heir of promise.
The heir of
promise born and the heir of the bondwoman cast out
The effect of this is,
that not only is the difference known to faith, but the
heir of the bondwoman is utterly cast out as to the
inheritance. Historically he is preserved according to
God's promise, a figure of legal Israel; but, as regards
any portion of the inheritance, wholly cast out.
Abraham's title in
the world
And here, further, Abraham
fears no longer before the prince of this world, but
reproves him. He has the world, as well as the heavenly
communion, now that the heir is come; and the . world
owns that God is with him in all things. Hence the well
of the oath is the witness of Abraham's title in the
world, and Abimelech's owning God to be with him. There,
according to the oath and his title thus owned by the
world, he plants a grove, takes possession of the earth,
and worships, calling on the name of the everlasting
God—of Him who had once promised to Israel, and
never abandoned His purpose, and had now accomplished on
the earth what His mouth had spoken: not, indeed, so
blessed a portion as the heavenly intercourse and
possession of faith, but a proof of the unchangeable
faithfulness of the God who had given the promises. There
Abraham, in figure, now abides, where the power of the
world had been. This will belong to Israel in the letter,
but we, on whom the ends of the world are come, have it
in a higher and better way. It was the pledge of what
should be and will be; our hope is transferred to heaven
where Christ is gone. But we reign there in a better way.
Genesis 21 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
The heir and the path of faith
In chapters 20, 21 we have the question of the heir and of the path of faith in another point of view. Abraham denies his relationship with his wife, and is reproved by the world itself, which knows better than he what she should be. God, however, guards the promises in His faithfulness, and judges that which meddles with her who has to say to them. The heir of promise is born; and the heir according to the flesh, son of the bondwoman or of the law, is entirely rejected. Now Abraham reproves the powerful of the earth, before whom he had previously denied his relationship with his wife.
Unbelief working: God's preservation of Sarah
But these two chapters must be somewhat more developed. Like Abram's going down to Egypt, we have unbelief working in respect of the path into which he had been called by grace, shewn, as it ever is, in reference to walking in the intimacy of the relationship in which God had set him, of which woman is the expression in the types. Here Sarah is the mother of the heir of the world, the wife of Abraham, according to promise, and, for Abraham, according to the church's hope, as we have seen (though Israel were the vessel according to flesh). This position he denies. Sarah is again his sister. This was worse than before, for she is, to faith, mother of the heir of the world. Abimelech was wrong, and acted to please himself, but acted unconscious of it. Abraham before God was in the falser position of the two. God warns Abimelech, and preserves Sarah by His own power, whom Abraham's want of faith had connected with the world; and Abimelech returns her, with the cutting reproof to the church, as here typified, that she at least ought to have known her own relationship to Christ. Still, in the main, Abraham was in the place of faith and blessing; and, as God's prophet, to whom none should do harm, intercedes for the faulty Abimelech, for here all is grace. There is another point to notice here, that this was an arrangement of unbelief when first he started from his father's house (chap. 20: 13), so soon was the germ of unbelief at work in the called of promise. But God maintains the divine title to the allegiance of the church at all times. But now the heir is born, the heir of promise.
The heir of promise born and the heir of the bondwoman cast out
The effect of this is, that not only is the difference known to faith, but the heir of the bondwoman is utterly cast out as to the inheritance. Historically he is preserved according to God's promise, a figure of legal Israel; but, as regards any portion of the inheritance, wholly cast out.
Abraham's title in the world
And here, further, Abraham fears no longer before the prince of this world, but reproves him. He has the world, as well as the heavenly communion, now that the heir is come; and the . world owns that God is with him in all things. Hence the well of the oath is the witness of Abraham's title in the world, and Abimelech's owning God to be with him. There, according to the oath and his title thus owned by the world, he plants a grove, takes possession of the earth, and worships, calling on the name of the everlasting God—of Him who had once promised to Israel, and never abandoned His purpose, and had now accomplished on the earth what His mouth had spoken: not, indeed, so blessed a portion as the heavenly intercourse and possession of faith, but a proof of the unchangeable faithfulness of the God who had given the promises. There Abraham, in figure, now abides, where the power of the world had been. This will belong to Israel in the letter, but we, on whom the ends of the world are come, have it in a higher and better way. It was the pledge of what should be and will be; our hope is transferred to heaven where Christ is gone. But we reign there in a better way.