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1, ousness (g)."—" And God said unto Abraham in a dream, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them 400 (h) years; and also that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards shall they come out with great substance; but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again (i)." And God having again promised numerous descendants to Abraham, instituted the rite of circumcision (k) as the sign of a covenant between himself and the seed of Abraham. He commanded

(g) Gen. c.-15. v. 6.

(h) The affliction here foretold was partly in Canaan and partly in Egypt, which were neighbouring countries, and both inhabited by the descendants of Ham. It began at the birth of Isaac, and ended at the deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The precise time was 405 years, but odd numbers are frequently omitted upon such occasions. In Exodus, c. 12. v. 40, this affliction or sojourning is said to have lasted 430 years. This difference is accounted for by considering, that in the latter case the 25 years, during which Abraham was in the land of Canaan, before Isaac was born, are included; and these 25 years, which began when the promise was given, added to 405, make exactly 430 years.

(i) Gen. c. 15. v. 13, &c.

(k) See Home's Scripture History of the Jews, vol. 2. for the origin of circumcision, and Shuckford's Connexion, from whose examination it appears evident that the Egyptians did not practise circumcision till after Abraham had been in Egypt.

commanded that on the eighth day every manchild should be circumcised (1).

When Abraham and Sarah were far advanced in years, their son Isaac was born; and God declared to Abraham, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called (m).” Isaac was born twenty-five years after 1896. Abraham's arrival in Canaan; and fourteen years before the birth of Isaac, Abraham had a son by Hagar, an Egyptian bond-woman, the handmaid of his wife Sarah (n). This son was called Ishmael; and from him are descended the Arabians, whose character, even to this day, answers to the description

(1) The eighth day is the time of circumcision among the Jews, that is, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah; but because Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised, the descendants of Ishmael are not circumcised till that age. Circumcision was a type of baptism. Abraham was the first person circumcised, and he is also the first person called a prophet in Scripture.

(m) Gen. c. 21. v. 12.

(n) St. Paul points out a material difference between these two sons of Abraham. He says, that Ishmael, the son of Hagar the bond-woman, was born only according to the flesh, in the common course of nature; but that Isaac was born by virtue of the promise, and by the particular interposition of divine power: and that these two sons of Abraham were designed to represent the two covenants of the law and the gospel, the former a state of bondage, the latter of freedom. Gal. ch. 4.

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ousness (g)." "And God said unto Abraham in a dream, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them 400 (h) years; and also that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards shall they come out with great substance; but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again (i).” And God having again promised numerous descendants to Abraham, instituted the rite of circumcision (k) as the sign of a covenant between himself and the seed of Abraham. He

(g) Gen. c.-15. v. 6.

commanded

(h) The affliction here foretold was partly in Canaan and partly in Egypt, which were neighbouring countries, and both inhabited by the descendants of Ham. It began at the birth of Isaac, and ended at the deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The precise time was 405 years, but odd numbers are frequently omitted upon such occasions. In Exodus, c. 12. v. 40, this affliction or sojourn ing is said to have lasted 430 years. This difference is accounted for by considering, that in the latter case the 25 years, during which Abraham was in the land of Canaan, before Isaac was born, are included; and these 25 years, which began when the promise was given, added to 405, make exactly 430 years.

(i) Gen. c. 15. v. 13, &c.

vol. 2.

(k) See Home's Scripture History of the Jews, for the origin of circumcision, and Shuckford's Connexion, from whose examination it appears evident that the Egyptians did not practise circumcision till after Abraham had been in Egypt.

commanded that on the eighth day every manchild should be circumcised (1).

When Abraham and Sarah were far advanced in years, their son Isaac was born; and God declared to Abraham, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called (m)." Isaac was born twenty-five years after 1896. Abraham's arrival in Canaan; and fourteen years before the birth of Isaac, Abraham had a son by Hagar, an Egyptian bond-woman, the handmaid of his wife Sarah (n). This son was called Ishmael; and from him are descended the Arabians, whose character, even to this day, answers to the description

(1) The eighth day is the time of circumcision among the Jews, that is, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah; but because Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised, the descendants of Ishmael are not circumcised till that age. Circumcision was a type of baptism. Abraham was the first person circumcised, and he is also the first person called a prophet in Scripture.

(m) Gen. c. 21. V. 12.

(n) St. Paul points out a material difference between these two sons of Abraham. He says, that Ishmael, the son of Hagar the bond-woman, was born only according to the flesh, in the common course of nature; but that Isaac was born by virtue of the promise, and by the particular interposition of divine power: and that these two sons of Abraham were designed to represent the two covenants of the law and the gospel, the former a state of bondage, the latter of freedom. Gal. ch.4.

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1871.

description of their ancestor; "He will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him (o).”

God was pleased to make trial of Abraham's faith and obedience, by commanding him to take his son Isaac, when he was about twenty-five years of age, and offer him as a burnt-offering upon Mount Moriah. Abraham rose early the next morning, and went with Isaac to the appointed place. He built an altar there; and every preparation being made, just as he was about to slay his son, an angel of the Lord called to him and said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and beheld behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burntoffering in the stead of his son (p)." The mountain, on which Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac, was the same as that on which the temple of Solomon was afterwards built, and on which Christ was crucified; and the whole transaction

me.

(0) Gen. c. 16. v. 12.
(p) Gen. c. 22. V. 12, 13.

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