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spirit of sullen reserve. But in the choice he made, he appears to have regarded temporal advantages only, and entirely to have overlooked the danger of his situation with regard to religion. He lifted up his eyes and beheld a well-watered plain; and on this he fixed his choice, though it led him to take up his abode in Sodom. He viewed it, as we should say, merely with a grazier's eye. He had better have been in a wilderness than there. Yet many professors of religion, in choosing situations for themselves, and for their children, continue to follow his example. We shall perceive, in the sequel of the story, what kind of a harvest his well-watered plain produced him!

Ver. 12, 13. It is possible, after all, that his principal fault lay in pitching his tent in the place he did. If he could have lived on the plain, and preserved a sufficient distance from that infamous place, there might have been nothing the matter: but perhaps he did not like to live alone, and therefore dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. The love of society, like all other natural principles, may prove a blessing or a curse : and we may see by this example, the danger of leaving religious connexions; for as man feels it not good to be alone, if he forego these, he will be in a manner impelled by his inclinations to take up with others of a contrary description. It is an awful character which is here given of Lot's new neighbours. All men are sinners; but they were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. When Abram went to a new place, it was usual for him to rear an altar to the Lord; but there is no mention of any thing like this, when Lot settled in or near to Sodom. But to return to

Abram

Ver. 14-17. From the call of this great man to the command to offer up his son, a period of about fifty years, he was often tried, and the promise was often renewed. It was the will of God that he should live by faith. Its being renewed at this time seems to have been on occasion of Lot's departure from him, and the disinterested spirit which he had manifested on that occasion. Lot had lifted up his eyes, and beheld the plain of Jordan; and being gone to take possession of it, God saith unto Abram, Lift up now thine eyes, and look northward, and southward, and eastward,

and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. Thus he who sought this world lost and he who was willing to give up any thing for the honour of God and religion, found it.

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Ver. 18. After this, Abram removed to the plain of Mamre, which is Hebron, where he continued many years. It was here, a long time after, that Sarah died. It lay about two and twenty miles south of Jerusalem. This removal might possibly arise from regard to Lot, that he might be nearer to him than he would have been at Bethel, though not so near as to interfere with his temporal concerns. Of this we are certain, he was able, from a place whereabouts he lived, to descry the plains of Sodom; and when the city was destroyed, saw the smoke ascend like that of a furnace. Here, as usual, Abram built an altar unto Jehovah.

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DISCOURSE XXI.

ABRAM'S SLAUGHTER OF THE KINGS.

Gen. xiv.

IT has been already observed, that, to form a just judgment of character we must view men in divers situations: we should not have expected, however, to find Abram in the character of a warrior. Yet so it is: for once in his life, though a man of peace, he is constrained to take the sword. We have seen in him the friend of God, and the friend of a good man: now we shall see in him the friend of his country, though at present only a sojourner in it. The case appears to have been as follows.

Ver. 1-7. Elam and Shinar, or Persia and Babylon, and the country about them, being that part of the world where the sons of Noah began to settle after they went out of the ark, it was there that population and the art of war would first arrive at sufficient maturity to induce them to attempt the subjugation of their neighbours. Nimrod began this business in about a century after the flood, and his successors were no less ambitious to keep it. The rest of the world emigrating from those countries, would be considered as colonies, which ought to be subject to the parent states. Such it seems were the ideas of Chedorlaomer, who was at this time king of Elam, or Persia. About three or four years before Abram left Chaldea, he had invaded Palestine; which being divided into little kingdoms, almost every city having its king, and having made but little progress in the art of war in comparison of the parent nations, fell an easy prey to his rapacity. In this humiliating condition they continued twelve years; but being by that time weary of the yoke, five of these lesser kings, understanding one another, thought they might venture to throw it off.

Accordingly, the next year they refused to pay him tribute, or to be subject to the authority under which he had placed them.

Chedorlaomer, hearing of this, calls together his friends and allies among the first and greatest nations; who consent to join their forces, and go with him to reduce these petty states to obedience. Four kings and their armies engage in this expedition. If each one brought only five hundred men with him, they would form a great host for that early age of the world, and capable of doing a great deal of mischief. This they did: for not content with marching peaceably through the country till they arrived at the cities which had rebelled, they laid all places waste which they came at; smiting in their way, first the Rephaims, the Zurims, and the Emims; then the Horites of Mount Seir; and after them the Amalekites, and the Amorites.

Ver. 8-10. By this time, Abram's neighbours, the kings of Sodom, Admak, Zeboim, and Bela, must have been not a little alarmed. They and their people however determined to fight; and fight they did. The field of action was the vale of Siddim. Unhappily, the ground was full of slime pits, or pits of bitumen, much like those on the plains of Shinar; and their soldiers being hut little skilled in the art of war, could not keep their ranks, and so were foiled, routed, and beaten, by the superior discipline of the invaders. Many were slain in the pits; and those that escaped fled to a neighbouring mountain, which being probably covered with wood, afforded them a shelter in which to hide themselves.

Ver. 11, 12. The conquerors, without delay, betake themselves to the spoil. They take all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the victuals; and what few people are left they take for slaves. Among these was Lot, Abram's brother's son, his friend, and the companion of his travels, with all his family, and all his goods; and this, notwithstanding he was only a sojourner, but lately come among them, and seems to have taken no part in the war. Oh Lot, these are the fruits of taking up thy residence in Sodom; or rather, the first-fruits of it: the harvest is yet to 'come!

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