{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-5670","native_reference":{"book_number":10,"chapter_from":15,"chapter_to":15,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":1,"verse_to":1},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Ambrose of Milan</b>: Because Abraham did not seek recompense from man, he received it from God, as we read in Scripture: \"After these words the Lord spoke to Abraham in a vision saying, Fear not, Abraham, I will protect you. Your reward will be exceedingly great.\" The Lord is not slow to reward. He is eager to promise, and he gives in abundance, lest any delay cause weak souls to repent of having despised visible things. He pays back, so to speak, at high interest, rewarding with great abundance the one who has not been seduced by the things of this world that were offered to him.<br/><i>— On Abraham</i></p><p><b>Bede</b>: After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, \"Do not fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.\" The blessing that Abraham had received from the priest Melchizedek, the Lord himself now confirms. For the priest had said, \"And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand\" (Gen. 14:20). The Lord says, \"I am your shield.\" The priest had said, \"Blessed be God Most High.\" God himself says, \"And your reward shall be very great.\" By reward he means not only the affection he had shown to his brother in distress but also all the devotion with which he had served the Lord with a whole heart since he left his homeland and relatives.<br/><i>— Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: God said to him, \"Don't be afraid, Abram.\" Notice the extraordinary degree of his care. Why did he say, \"Don't be afraid\"? Since Abraham had scorned so much wealth by giving little importance to the offerings of the king, God said to him, Have no fear for despising gifts of such value. Do not be distressed on the score of your diminished prosperity. \"Don't be afraid.\" Then to cheer his spirit further, he adds his name to the encouragement by saying, \"Don't be afraid, Abram.\" It proves to be no little help in encouraging a person to invoke the name of the person we are addressing. Then he said, \"I am your shield.\" This phrase is also rich in meaning: I summoned you from the Chaldeans. I led you to this point. I rescued you from the perils of Egypt. I promised once and again to give this land to your descendants. It is I who will be your shield. After daily making you acclaimed by all, I will be your shield—that is, I will struggle in your place. I will be your shield. \"Your reward will be exceedingly great.\" You refused to accept reward for the troubles you suffered in exposing yourself to such risks. You scorned the king and what he offered you. I will provide you with a reward, not to the degree that you would have received but wonderfully, exceedingly great. \"Your reward,\" the text says, remember, \"will be exceedingly great.\"<br/><i>— HOMILIES ON Genesis 36.10</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"276a0aabfd717eacf06f5f1846e43da1022691b671cc6a19fb5966c8990fe2be","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":5670,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"67a998455ea5a42a0aa83bcfba681d347b12707ab86eb0b7e47cc81952177ae2","translator":null,"work":null}