journey by Sarai his wife, and by Lot his nephew; and they took with them "all the substance that they had gathered, and the souls they had gotten in Haran." So that this was no expedition of needy adventurers, but the migration of a number of subordinate families under the orders of their patriarchal chieftain. The journey of Abram was directed by the city of Damascus; the whole body of travellers ultimately arrived in Palestine, then inhabited by the Canaanites; and a divine promise was made to Abram, that the land which he beheld, and through which he was then passing as a stranger, should be given to his children as the place of their permanent abode, and the scene of their national glory.

What occurred to Abram in Egypt?

The ravages of famine, and the reported A. C. 1920. fertility of Egypt, induced Abram to conduct

his numerous family into that country, then, as in after times, the great granary of the nations, and already distinguished by its arts, its population, and its opulence. But Egyptian manners were licentious, and the vicious passions of its despotic sovereign were gratified without restraint. Observing the superiority of the personal beauty of Sarai, and apprehending that the king might murder him to obtain her, Abram induced her to represent herself as his sister. Although this was no falsehood, since Sarai was actually his half sister, yet Abram was guilty of dishonourable prevarication, and his sin exposed him far more perilously to the loss of his wife, than had he plainly stated the whole truth, and thus pursued the evident path of duty. The encomiums of his courtiers upon the attractions of Sarai, soon excited the curiosity of the Pharaoh who then occupied the throne of Egypt, and Sarai was conducted to his palace, while magnificent presents where heaped upon her supposed brother. But providence interposed, a distressing plague was inflicted upon the person and household of the king, Sarai and Abram were saved from the impending calamity, they were dismissed with honour, and returned to Canaan, where the patriarch expressed his obligations to the great Author of his deliverance, and "called on the name of the Lord."

SECTION II.

THE COVENANT OF GOD WITH ABRAM.

WHAT are the events in the life of Abram, which demand particular attention in this history?

THE separation of Abram from his nephew Lotthe hostile irruption of five kings upon the country which he occupied-the valour and success of the patriarch in the defeat of the marauders, and the rescue of his relative-his interview with Melchizedec-his concubinal connexion with Hagar, and the birth of Ishmael-his pathetic and importunate intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah, and the final destruction of those guilty and detestable cities-the deliverance of Lot, the punishment of his wife, and the profligacy of his daughters-the renewed danger of Sarai from the king of Gerar, and the protection which was again given to her by God-were occurrences, which however important and interesting in themselves, have but little connexion with the character of Abram as the ancestor of the Jews. The events which demand particular attention in this history are I. The Predictions which God gave to him relative to his posterity; II. The Covenant which was made with him; and III. The birth and preservation of Isaac.

What predictions did God give to Abram relative to his posterity?

Although the Deity condescended to express his kindness to his servant in the most gracious assurances, yet the venerable patriarch, depressed by the long delay which intervened between the original promise of a son and its accomplishment, and panting for the embrace of the expected child, said, "Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir." His complaint was answered by an allusion to the countless number of the stars, and by an assurance, that as the multitude of those heavenly luminaries transcend the power of human calculation, so the millions of his posterity should one day cover

the country where his solitary tent was pitched. And the faith of Abram credited the testimony, while the ancient form of a covenant ratified the promise. But this was not all the information which was communicated to "the friend of God." In the gloom and amidst the visions of the night, when a horror of great darkness had fallen upon him, he was made acquainted with the misery of the Israelites in the land of Egypt and with their intolerable oppression during four hundred years; but he was animated at the same time with the prospect of their triumphant deliverance, and of their happiness and splendour, when their victorious arms should extend their dominion from the banks of the river Euphrates, to the shores of the Mediterra

nean sea.

Who was the personage by whom these predictions were imparted?

The mysterious personage by whom these and other predictions were imparted to Abram, demands peculiar consideration. Prior to the dreadful destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, three strangers appeared to the patriarch on the plains of Mamre; one of them assumed a tone of divine authority and majesty, and soon proved his identity with Abram's heavenly Protector and Friend. This Divine Being, for he assumed the claims and language of Godhead, repeated the promise of a son by Sarai, and declared that Omnipotence would accomplish the object desired. The same personage subsequently received the petitions of Abram for the Cities of the Plain, and proved that he was no other than the Hearer and Answerer of prayer. There is every reason to believe that this was the "Angel of the Covenant," the Son of God, who afterwards veiled his glory beneath the clouds of human weakness and human woe, and endured the shame and agony of an ignominious death for the salvation of the world. "Abraham saw his day and was glad;" the extent of his knowledge of the Messiah it is impossible to ascertain ; but it is clear, that the gracious and glorious Person who afterwards effected the redemption of man, actually appeared to him, arrayed in the prerogatives of Divinity, Merciful to pardon, Almighty to redeem.

What was the Covenant which God made with Abram ?

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The Covenant which God made with Abram, referred to himself, to his posterity, and to all the nations of the world. It referred to himself, sustaining the character of the professed servant of God; and inclu ded the directory of his duty, as well as the security of his happiness. "The Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." The covenant referred to his posterity-to the certainty of their existence, in spite of the apparently insuperable obstacle presented by the advanced age of Abram and Saraito the immensity of their number, they were to be multiplied as the sand by the shore of the sea-to the extent of their territorial possessions, the land of Canaan was to be their perpetual inheritance-and to their superintendence by the direct authority of Jehovah, I will be their God,"'-a declaration, which not only described the power by which they were to be protected, and the munificence by which they were to be enriched, but, as will presently be seen, alluded to the form, to the administration, and to the perpetuity of their government. The same covenant also referred to all the nations of the world; "Thou shalt be a father of many nations." This promise is explained by an inspired apostle as applicable to all them of every country and of every clime who should believe upon the Messiah. (Rom. iv. 19-25.) The decisive explanation of St. Paul, it is necessary to keep continually in view, because it establishes beyond all dispute, the assertion which has been made, That the divine dispensations both to Abram and his descendants, were preparatory to the Incarnation of the Redeemer, and the accomplishment of his salvation.

What was the signification of the names given to Abram and Sarai in this covenant?

In the covenant which was thus made, the names of Abram and Sarai were changed. Abram ("an elevated father") from that time bore the name of Abraham (the father of a mighty multitude.") And the name of Sarai ("my princess”) was changed into Sarah

("the princess") her relationship being soon to be limited no more to one, but to be connected with the increasing number of her posterity, and through them with all the tribes and families of man.

What was the sign of God's covenant with Abraham? Circumcision was ordained to be the perpetual sign of this covenant, and the rite was immediately performed upon all the members of the family of Abraham. It was instituted to designate the solemn offer. ing of every child to God as peculiarly the sovereign and protector of the Hebrew race-it was instituted as a distinctive mark of those who were included in this national covenant from the rest of the inhabitants of the world-it was instituted to be a typical representation of the purifying influences of the Holy Spirit upon the conscience and the heart; for, said the inspired writer, "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Rom. ii. 28, 29.

Such was this memorable transaction between Abraham and God, which formed the basis of the divine proceedings towards the Hebrew nation in every subsequent period of their history, and which will be demonstrated in some following chapters of this volume, to have involved results the most momentous and sublime to all the children of men, in every age, to the conflagration of the globe.

Give an account of the birth and preservation of Isaac? When the covenant just mentioned had been made by God with his servant, and when Abraham, either from parental anxiety, or from some latent feelings of impatience, had uttered the pathetic exclamation, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" he was instantly informed, that though Ishmael should be the ancestor of twelve princes, and the father of a nu merous nation, yet the covenant itself should be exclusively established with Isaac. (Gen, xvii. 21.) This long expected child of promise was at length born, and his name, which signifies laughter,

A. C. 1896.