ABRAHAM’S TESTIMONY
Abraham, one who had suffered the loss of his dear wife, had a very strong testimony. The Hittites addressed him as lord and called him “a mighty prince” (v. 6). The Hebrew words translated “mighty prince” may also be rendered “a prince of God.” In Hebrew, the word for “mighty” is the word for God. Abraham expressed God as a prince of God and was respectable as a mighty prince. In his own eyes, he was a stranger, but in the eyes of the people, he was a mighty prince and a prince of God. He was truly a weighty man.
We all need to be weighty and have the same kind of testimony that Abraham had. In our neighborhoods, occupations, and schools, we must not be light and allow others to look down on us. We must be weighty, and others must estimate us very highly. Although we should not estimate ourselves so highly, we must be high in the eyes of others. I hope that the teachers in the junior high schools will say that the young brothers from the church who are students in their class are mighty princes. Young brothers, do not just pray boldly in the meetings. You must also be weighty in school. Simply having good behavior does not mean very much. We must have weight. Gold and diamonds are weighty, but popcorn and cotton candy are light. If you are gold or diamond, you will have weight. As God’s called ones, we Christians should be so weighty that people are surprised and say, “Why is this young man so weighty? He is neither common nor abnormal. Although he is a normal young man, there is no lightness with him. He must be a prince.”
We are weighty because we have God in us. The called ones need to call on the name of Jehovah, El Olam. The more Abraham called on this title of the divine Being, the more weighty he became. God is gold. If we call on Him, we shall become golden. The more we call on the golden God, the more of His golden element will be infused into our being. Consider the difference between wood and petrified wood. Wood is light, but petrified wood is weighty. It is even more weighty than stone, because weighty minerals have been wrought into it. We all were born light, but we have been reborn to be weighty. In addition to our rebirth, we have the process of transformation. The way in which wood becomes petrified is through the continuous flow of water. This flow of water carries away the element of wood and adds in its place the element of various minerals, transforming the wood into a weighty, precious stone.
It is insufficient for us merely to be good neighbors. We must be weighty children of God. As God’s called ones, we are now under His infusion. We must be so strong and weighty that people will say that we are a mighty prince, a prince of God.
As a mighty prince, Abraham was respectable (v. 6). He respected others and received their respect in return. He was also wise (vv. 3-13). In this chapter we see that Abraham had a wise way of communing with people, speaking to them in a very tasteful and wise manner. Furthermore, Abraham was honest and did not take advantage of anyone (vv. 14-16). His intention was to purchase the sepulcher. When it was politely offered to him as a gift, Abraham, after learning that its value was four hundred shekels of silver, agreed to pay the full amount. He did not seize the opportunity to take advantage of others, and he did not bargain about the price. He gave Ephron the price he asked, paying the full amount, the full money. Likewise, we should not impress people with our scarcity; we must show our riches. This is our testimony. I feel badly about the low level of morality in today’s Christianity. What a poor standard of behavior there is! We must express God showing that we, as the children of God, are weighty, respectable, and honest. We should be willing to suffer loss, but not to take advantage of others. Whether we lose or gain means nothing. If we lose, we shall still live; if we gain, we cannot live any longer. How we must learn to be honest and respectable, expressing God in a weighty manner.
(Abraham—Called by God, Chapter 23, by Witness Lee)
