Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

THE PROMISE AND COVENANT 1 : 12-17
v. ly-Note the personal aspects of the Divine prom-
ise. These were literally fulfilled. “Abram did go to his
fathers in death, his spirit to the world of spirits, and his
body to the grave (dust), where they-his fathers-had
gone before him (Heb. 12:23; Gen. 21:8, 17; Gen.49:29;
Eccl. 12:7; Num. 27:13, 31:2; Judg. 2:lO; 1 Chron. 23:1,
29:28; Job 42:17; Jer.,8:2). And he went in, fiewe, with-
out remarkable trouble of any kind: in peace with God,
with his own consciance, and with his neighbors (Psa.
37:37; Isa. 57:2; 2 Ki. 22:20). And it was also in a
good old uge, when he was full of years, weary of this
world, and ready and longing for heaven, yet free from
any of the infirmities of old age, and falling like ripe fruit
in the time of gathering (Gen. 21i:8; 1 Chron. 29:28; Job
5 :26) ” (SIBG, 238). Consider carefully the promise,
“thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace.” Is not more im-
plied here than the return of their bodies to the dust?
From the vivid portrayal of Abraham’s faith presented in
the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, especially v. 10, it surely
would seem so. Whitelaw comments (PCG, 221) : “Not
a periphrasis for going to the grave, since Abram’s ancestors
were not entombed in Canaan; but a proof of the survival
of departed spirits in a state of conscious existence after
death, to the company of which the patriarch was in due
time to be gathered. The disposal of his remains is pro-
vided for in what follows.” Cf. Leupold (EG, 485) : “The
expression ‘go unto thy fathers’ must involve more than
having his own dead body laid beside the dead bodies of
the fathers. So we find here a clear testimony to belief
in an eternal life in the patriarchal age. Coupled with this
revelation from God is the assurance of a decent burial at a
ripe old age, a thing desired especially in Israel, and, for that
matter, among most of the nations of antiquity.”
The specifics of the Divine communication (oracle)
here are indeed clear, as follows: 1. The bondage of the
Children of Israel in a strange (unnamed) land over a
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