with great humility expressed some uneasiness before the Lord, because he was yet childless, and had only Eliezer, the steward of his house, to succeed him upon which God promised, that a son of his own should be his heir, and that his race should be as the stars in multitude. Some years afterwards God renewed his covenant with Abram, and changed his name to Abraham, because (according to the meaning of the word) he was to be the father of many nations: and he changed the name of Sarai, which signifies my princess, to Sarah, which signifies the princess in a large and extensive sense, according to the promise of God, she shall be a mother (or princess) of nations; kings of people shall be of her. The

Almighty at the same time assured him, that Sarah should have a son, who should be called Isaac; and that He would establish his covenant with him, and that all the people of the earth should be blessed through him the meaning of which was, that his descendants should be heirs of the great universal promise, and a person should arise from them, who would be the Saviour of the world, and a blessing to all

nations.

Sarah, indeed, because she was now grown old, placed very little dependence upon this promise, and even laughed at it within herself; for which the Lord reproved her. But Abraham waited with patience for the performance of His word, which never fails, being fully persuaded, that what God had promised, He was also able to perform.

This

The time appointed at length came, and Sarah brought forth a son, who was called Isaac. was an occasion of great joy; and he proved an increasing comfort and blessing to his aged parents; for, as he grew in years and stature, he improved in knowledge and goodness: because Abraham commanded his children and his household to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.

Parents, bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord: train them

up in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.

Children, honour and obey your parents; for that is well-pleasing to the Lord: and it shall be well with you, both in this world and in the next.

CHAPTER X.

HAGAR AND ISHMAEL.

WHEN some years had passed after the first promise of a son to Abraham, and Sarah still continued childless, she gave up all expectation of becoming a mother herself, and concluded that the promised heir was to be born of another woman. She therefore persuaded her husband to take Hagar, her handmaid, as a wife. Hagar became proud upon this change of her condition, and treated her mistress with contempt and insolence; and, after the birth of Isaac, Ishmael, the son of Hagar, looking upon him with an envious and jealous eye, made a mock and derision of him. At this behaviour Sarah was so offended, that she importuned Abraham to exclude Hagar and her son from the family and, when the father was in great perplexity upon the occasion, the Lord confirmed the request of Sarah, and directed him to send away the mother and the son; promising that Ishmael should become a nation, but at the same time declaring, that in Isaac his seed should be called.

There was a great difference, according to the Apostle Paul, between these sons: for Ishmael, the son of Hagar the bond-woman, was born only according to the flesh, in the common course of nature; but Isaac was born by virtue of the promise, and by the particular interposition of Divine power. They represent to us the two covenants of the Law and the Gospel: the former is a state of bondage and servility; the latter a state of

freedom and glorious privileges. The ministration of Moses was weak and unprofitable, when compared with the Gospel, which is the ministration of righteousness, of life, and the Spirit; and the difference between the Jewish and the Christian state is like that between childhood and manhood, between shadow and substance, between bondage and liberty. How thankful, then, should we be to God that we are children of the free-woman, called under the liberal and happy dispensation of the Gospel, and made heirs of the blessings of the covenant through the promised seed, of whom it was declared, that in it all the families of the earth should be blessed.

CHAPTER XI.

THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM IN OFFERING ISAAC.

THE Almighty was pleased to make another trial of the faith and obedience of Abraham; or, rather, to manifest them more fully to the world; and make him an illustrious pattern to all posterity. He commanded him to take Isaac, when he was about twenty-five years of age, and offer him for a burnt-offering upon mount Moriah. Severe as the command was, though Isaac was his son, his only son, whom he loved with all the affection of a tender father, though he was the very son, of whom it was expressly said, in Isaac shall thy seed be called, he readily complied. He reasoned with himself, that God, who had given him a son, as it were by a miracle, when, in the course of nature, there was no hope of children, was able even to raise him from the dead; and therefore, being strong in faith, he staggered not. He rose early the next morning, and took Isaac to the mountain; the fatal knife was in his hand; his son lay panting upon the altar; and he was just giving the deadly stroke,

when an angel stayed his hand. As he looked round in surprise, he saw a ram caught in a thicket; and, having seized it, he offered it for a burntoffering instead of his son. For this great act of faith, and trust in the Supreme Being, Abraham was honoured with the glorious name of father of the faithful and God immediately renewed his promise to him, that he would bless him very abundantly, and multiply his family: In thy seed, said he, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

We are taught by this instance of obedience, to love God above every thing upon earth, and to resign, with a willing mind, our fortune, our children, our dearest comforts, whenever he calls for them. We cannot but observe further, that this particular action, required from Abraham, was a remarkable type or representation of what was done afterwards, and, it is supposed, upon the same mountain and seems intended to point out to him, and to succeeding generations, the particular method by which God purposed to redeem mankind, by offering up his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER XII.

THE LIFE OF ISAAC.

THE peace and prosperity of Abraham were, Before in a few years, disturbed by the death of Christ Sarah, whom he buried in the cave of Mach- 1859. pelah; after which, considering that he was far advanced in years, and being desirous of seeing his son Isaac happily married, he sent a faithful servant into Mesopotamia, to seek a wife for him among his own kindred, for he did not approve of the women of that country in which he lived, because they were idolaters. The servant, being guided by Providence, brought home Rebekah, the

1821.

daughter of Bethuel, the nephew of Abraham, Before and Isaac took her to wife.-The good old Christ man saw them flourishing in plenty and happiness, and at length, having quitted this world to go to God, whom he had faithfully served, he was buried in the cave near his beloved Sarah.

Some time after the death of Abraham, a severe famine raged through the land of Canaan; and Isaac, in order to avoid the distress, went unto Gerar, in his way towards Egypt. There the Lord appeared unto him, and commanded him to dwell in that land, assuring him that he would exceedingly increase both his family and his possessions, and renewing to him that grand promise of the Messiah, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

There he sowed corn, and received in the same year an hundred fold; and his servants and cattle increased in such abundance, that people envied his prosperity, and began to fear his power; therefore Abimelech, their king, in order to satisfy his subjects, desired him, in a friendly manner, to leave the city, and seek out some other habitation. Accordingly Isaac retired to the valley of Gerar, and afterwards removed to Beersheba, where he fixed his abode, and built an altar to the Lord.

Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, who were named Esau and Jacob: Esau, the elder, was a cunning hunter, but Jacob was a plain man, of a gentle disposition, and employed himself in domestic affairs. One day Esau, returning from the fields very hungry and tired, earnestly desired some pottage, which Jacob was preparing for himself; and Jacob asked him for his birthright in exchange. Now the particular blessing of his father Isaac, and the especial promises of God concerning the land of Canaan, and the descent of Christ, were annexed to his birthright; but Esau, being wholly given up to hunting and sporting, and of a loose profane disposition, set little value upon it, and readily exchanged it for the mess of pottage, which he so