66

perhaps imagining that Abimelech had sanctioned the proceeding, or would at least countenance his Officers' conduct. But no sooner was the matter declared to have been without the privity even of Abimelech, but a feeling of sorrow also thereat manifested on the part of the King, than Abraham, in the spirit of Christian peacefulness, not only acquiesced in the apologetic explanation, but bound even still tighter, by a mutual covenant, the bond of reciprocal cordiality and good understanding between Abimelech and himself; and to prevent in future a repetition of such interruption, gave a full price to Abimelech for the well, though Abraham had had the labour and expense of digging it. Thus was indeed instanced what it is to give place unto wrath," by letting it pass over as the unheeded wind. And in veneration of The GOD of Peace, as well as of All Power, JEHOVAH, The EVERLASTING, did Abraham erect another Altar on the spot to manifest his gratitude, and to make public his sense of The DIVINE Interposition on his behalf. The Scriptural Narrative is thus—“ And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's Servants had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing; neither didst thou tell me; neither yet heard I of it but to-day.' And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and Both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?' And he said For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.' Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware Both of them: thus they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. Then Abimelech rose up, and Phicol, the chief Captain of his Host; and they returned into the Land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the Name of The LORD, The Everlasting GOD: and Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' Land many days."—Gen. xxi, 25 to 34.

6

And

But the great manifestation of Abraham's devotedness to The DIVINE Will, of his faith in the Power, and of his hope in the Mercies of GOD, more especially in the Life to Come, was his ready acquiescence in The ALMIGHTY'S Command to sacrifice Isaac, his beloved Son, the only Fruit of his marriage, the last earthly Prop and Consolation of his declining years; that Son, through whom the Prospect of unnumbered Generations to himself, and of Universal Blessedness to Mankind, had been Laid Open. For it is Recorded that "GOD did Tempt Abraham (or put by trial his faith to the test), and Said unto him Take now thy Son, thine only Son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the Land of Moriah; and offer him there for a Burnt Offering upon one of the Mountains, which I will Tell thee of!"—Gen. xxii, 1, 2. Ishmael had been severed from his embrace; and now indeed, with infinitely more propriety, might Abraham have used the pathetic expression of his Grandson Jacob, when a second Child out of Twelve was only liable to be separated from him—“ If I am bereaved of my Children I am bereaved!" for Isaac alone remained to Abraham; and great as was, doubtless, his love towards that Son, yet the very Mention of that love, when Followed by An Injunction unhesitatingly and instantly to sacrifice upon an Altar of Burnt Offering the Object of it, was Calculated to enkindle all a Parent's tenderest feelings, in the recollection of all the engaging attractions and manly virtues which Abraham had traced in a Son of Such Promise, now about twenty-six years of age. Though not looking beyond this life, a Parent who has had the chief desire of his heart gratified in the possession of a Child of entire endearment and attachment, the agony of feeling, to which Such a Command was calculated to give rise, would be obvious, and deeply sympathized in. But vital Faith, which, though small even as a single grain of mustard seed, has been Said

to be able to remove mountains, enabled Abraham to overcome the resistance of the most powerful of natural feelings; and knowing that The CREATOR could not be The AUTHOR of Evil, he trusted implicitly in the Ways of His Especial Appointment, however for a season Inscrutable, resting on the conviction that with the temptation, if to Infinite Wisdom and Goodness it Secmed Fitting, there would Open to him, as the faithful Servant of his LORD, a way to escape. He knew also that though his Son's body might be reduced to ashes by material fire, his Soul would rise and be Irradiated with a flame of Glory amidst Seraphs and Saints in Heaven: and though affliction for a season might be his own portion, yet that such affliction, if resignedly and meekly borne, would work out for him, as the result of his obedience unto death, a far more Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory: for he looked not wholly or principally at the Things which are seen, but at the Things which are not seen; knowing that the Things which are seen, are temporal, but that the Things Which are not Seen are Eternal. The Narrative of his ready observance of The DIVINE Mandate is thus, " And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young Men with him, and Isaac, his Son; and clave the wood for the Burnt Offering; and rose up, and went unto the Place, of which GOD had Told him.”—Gen. xxii, 3. Abraham had perseveringly interceded for the Inhabitants of Sodom: he had prayed that the Judgment Visited upon Abimelech and his House might be Withdrawn; but he prays not for the Deliverance of his own much-loved Son from a premature death, and that even by his Father's hand, and the dissolution of his body in the flames. On the contrary, as soon as The ALMIGHTY had Notified in a Vision the Place for the Sacrifice, even at the dawn of day he began to put in order all things for fulfilling the Command. "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the Place afar off."- -ver. 4. Thus it seems that throughout a journey of more than two days was Parental feeling exposed in conflict with obedience unto Holiness; the most engaging Companion of his travels rendering more poignant his sufferings, by striving, in all the fondness and attentiveness of filial reverence, to dissipate the studied silence and seemingly burthened mind of his loving and beloved Father. But not only was Abraham willing to die Issueless, if so The LORD of Life Decreed, but to become a Sacrifice himself, if so Directed, since he felt in the fulness of faith that there would be Reserved, through The DIVINE Mercies, both for his Son and for himself, a Life that would never end, and the Riches of an Heavenly Inheritance that would never fail. To execute, therefore, What his CREATOR Appointed was the paramount desire of his mind; to know What was That Will was the first object of his prayerful inquiry, and to fulfil It the sure effect of that knowledge.—In every day should we seek in the same spirit to know The LORD, and to find the Way He would Choose us to take, or the Sacrifice He would Encourage us to make; and not suffer either toil or trouble, either the wish for life, or the fear of death, and still less the allurements of Sin or the subtleties of Satan, to oppose our progress and performance!-For what attractions to the Things of this life can we have, that Abraham had not? What grief can we experience that could surpass that of Abraham, when, lifting up his eyes, they were met by the appearance of the Place, in which the agony of his heart was to follow the exterminating office of his hand. Abraham had been faithful in many things, but one thing more was Deemed needful to test the deeply-rooted efficacy of that faith in the act of obedience to The DIVINE Appointment, and to prove to Mankind at large how unhesitating that Spirit is in the true Servants of The MOST HIGH. And shall we, for whom The Spiritual SON of Abraham was in truth Sacrificed at the Will of His Heavenly FATHER, refuse to give up our transitory possessions, our carnal desires, or our Earthly Ties of Kindred or Connection, in compliance with

64

The DIVINE Decree; and, stifling or curbing our natural emotions, hesitate to offer up to GOD the Sacrifice of a meek and resigned and confiding Spirit? “And Abraham said unto his young Men, Abide ye here with the ass! And I and the Lad will go yonder, and worship, and come again to you."-ver. 5. However high might have been the hopes of the Patriarch, that the Sentence against his Son would be Rescinded, he could not have been altogether divested of fear, and his saying, that he and his Son would return to the young Men was, doubtless, not in the arrogance of presumption that such would be the case; but that, if life should be Spared them, they Both would do so; and Abraham's firm trust was that, as The LORD Delighteth in Mercy, He might even in the latest moment not Willingly Afflict, but Spare, and not Punish. And Abraham took the wood of the Burnt Offering, and laid it upon Isaac, his Son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went Both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham, his Father, and said, 'My Father! And he said, 'Here am I, my Son.' And he said, Behold the fire and the wood! but where is the lamb for a Burnt Offering?” ”ver. 6, 7. The question was perfectly natural for the Son to put; but how deeply and piercingly must it have struck into the heart of the Father! yet, though weak as was the Flesh, still, when Supported by The SPIRIT, it was strong enough to overcome this further trial of Faith. And to All, who will seek for That Aid with Abraham's piety, It will Arrive and Prove more than Sufficient to Overcome whatever temptation or trial may be found in opposition. "And Abraham said, 'My Son! GOD will Provide Himself a lamb for a Burnt Offering. So they went Both of them together; and they came to the Place which GOD had Told him of: and Abraham built an Altar there, and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac, his Son, and laid him on the Altar upon the wood: and Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his Son."-ver. 8 to 10. Stedfast to the purpose of his mind, however wounding to his heart in this instance, of following implicitly The DIVINE Direction, Abraham went undeviatingly and perseveringly forward in the prosecution of the great work Set before him; neither turning to the right hand nor to the left; and, having put his hand to the plough, not looking behind; nor pausing to ask of GOD, "Should this thing be? What The ALMIGHTY, Who has Given us an Immortal Spirit, and the Assurance of inward Peace and endless Joy in the Life to Come, hath Appointed us to do, it is our bounden duty and truest interest, in our several Appointments, to execute. The end of this life (a life which is full of trouble and without any continuing happiness,) Abraham justly regarded as but the Beginning of Another, where there are no more sickness or sorrow, or interruptions to perfect Bliss to Those, who have lived and died in the true Faith: and therefore, contemplating his CREATOR as The FOUNTAIN of Love and Mercy, Abraham rested his confidence in the Spiritual Salvation and Glorious Immortality of his Son Isaac. But large as was the measure of his own faith, yet could he not equally trust in that of Others; it was therefore that he revealed not his purpose either to the Men, who had journeyed as his Servants with him, or to his own Son, lest they might seek to divert him from that purpose: but on the contrary, he covered by silence, or by such answers as checked the rising of suspicion, his real design. Still the great work he had in hand, which was emblematical of GOD'S Own Wonderful Work of Mercy to Mankind in general, by the Sacrifice of His Only and Justly Beloved SON JESUS CHRIST, was proceeded in the Appointed Place is reached the Altar of Worship is raised-the Sacrifice for dedication is bound -and the instrument of destruction is uplifted, when the hand, that was to guide it, was Arrested by The Same ALMIGHTY VOICE, That thus had Prompted its action-an action, which but in such a Cause, would have condemned the memory of Abraham to execration in all future time.

"And the Angel of The LORD Called unto him out of Heaven, and Said, 'Abraham! Abraham! And he said, Here am I. And He Said, 'Lay not thine hand upon the Lad! neither do thou anything unto him! for now I Know, that thou fearest GOD; Seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son, from Me!' And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went, and took the ram, and offered him up for a Burnt Offering, in the stead of his Son: and Abraham called the name of that Place JEHOVAH-Jirah,' as it is said to this day, In the Mount of The LORD it shall be seen. And the Angel of The LORD Called unto Abraham out of Heaven the second time, and Said, 'By Myself have I Sworn,' Saith The LORD, for because thou hast done this Thing, and hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son; that in Blessing I will Bless thee, and in Multiplying I will Multiply thy Seed as the Stars of the Heaven, and as the Sand which is upon the Sea shore and thy Seed shall possess the gate of his Enemies and in thy SEED shall all the Nations of the Earth be Blessed; because thou hast obeyed My VOICE.” -Gen. xxii, 11 to 18. It is thus that the holy fear of GOD, which most effectually manifests itself by a reverential observance of His Commandments, most assuredly obtains the Favourable Countenance of The MOST HIGH, Rendering us, through the influence of our faith in CHRIST JESUS, Spiritually, at least, of the Seed of Abraham, and Participators in That Blessedness So Promised, and So Fulfilled. We are here Placed in a state of trial and temptation, and in different ways our faith in the Word and Will of The ALMIGHTY is Tested. Though not Called upon to yield up a Son in Sacrifice, or to give the fruit of our bodies for the sins of our Souls, we are Called upon to surrender up our whole Selves, in Body, Soul, and Spirit, to the Will and Direction of our MAKER, and in spirit to crucify ourselves with our affections and lusts, our passions and appetites, which, as warring against His Will, war against our Souls and their Everlasting Interests: by so doing we may confidently hope to be Sharers in the Boundless Blessings of our Great and Gracious REDEEMER'S Love: Blessings, Which even in this life, in the Communication of the Peace of GOD within us, Surpass in their influence our utmost anticipation, and Which in the Life to Come will Fill the Angelic Host with admiring wonder.

When, further declining in the vale of years, Abraham was Destined to be separated from the Partner of his joys, the Wife of his bosom, from whose Favoured womb had issued forth That Seed, through which, in an Acceptable Season, all the Nations of the Earth were eventually to be Blest; on this occasion we see him feeling as a Man, and acting with respectful tenderness as a Husband; as is thus Recorded, "And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah: and Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the Land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her: and Abraham stood up from before his Dead, and spake unto the Sons of Heth, saying, I am a Stranger and a Sojourner with you; give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my Dead out of my sight! And the Children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear us, my Lord! Thou art a mighty Prince among us; in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy Dead! None of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre; but that thou mayest bury thy Dead.' And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the People of the Land, even to the Children of Heth, and he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my Dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron, the Son of Zohar, that he may give me the Cave of Mackpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his Field! For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying-place amongst you.' And Ephron dwelt among the Children of Heth; and Ephron, the Hittite, answered

C

Abraham in the audience of the Children of Heth, even of All, that went in at the gate of his City, saying, Nay, my Lord, hear me! The Field give I thee, and the Cave that is therein; I give it thee; in the presence of the Sons of my People give I it thee; bury thy Dead! And Abraham bowed down himself before the People of the Land; and he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the People of the Land, saying, 'But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me! I will give thee money for the Field; take it of me! and I will bury my Dead there.' And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, 'My Lord, hearken unto me! The Land is worth four hundred shekels of silver: what is that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy Dead! And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the Sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the Merchant: and the Field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the Field, and the Cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the Field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession, in the presence of the Children of Heth, before All that went in at the gate of his City. And after this Abraham buried Sarah, his Wife, in the Cave of the Field of Machpelah, before Mamre."—Gen. xxiii. Thus testimony is borne to the honourable and discreet character and conduct of Abraham by the ready offer from the Inhabitants of a Land, in which he was only a Sojourner, of the choicest of their Sepulchres without money and without price, for the burial of his Dead; manifesting by facts, which speak less questionably than the tongues of praise (too often prompted by interest or flattery), the excellence of his own and his Family's demeanour and arrangements, though Aliens from the Commonwealth of All around them. "And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her." The Resurrection of the Dead it is not probable that Abraham could call in question: he could not doubt that Sarah, though dead in the body, yet lived (as she still liveth) in the Spirit; and that they should Both meet their REDEEMER in the latter Day upon the Earth: but the obstruction of that stream of Conjugal endearment and felicity, which had so long and uninterruptedly flowed in upon him, could not but excite in his sensitive heart the feeling of manly sorrow, a sorrow which manifested itself by tears, bespeaking deep inward feeling, as arose to his mind the recollection of her virtues and faithfulness, and charms, when they journeyed the road of life together, interchanging sweet counsel as they walked humbly and confidingly with their GOD; for now, that Partner of his bed and board, with the silver cord of life unstrung, silent and senseless, was no longer to be the cherished Companion of his own remnant of life, to soothe him amidst his cares and to solace him amidst his infirmities. Abraham, however, sorrowed as a Man, but not as One without religious and, doubtless, Christian hope, exemplifying that the natural grief of the heart on such a separation may, and should be associated with, and tempered by a devout and faith-sustaining disposition of the Soul. For an extravagant indulgence of grief is irreconcilable with true piety; and that to sorrow with an ungodly sorrow, by repining at The DIVINE Dispensations, is not the part of a wise and well-regulated mind; but on the contrary, to bow submissively to the Ordinances of our CREATOR is characteristic of that Faith, which in Spirit overcometh Death.

The next attractive and instructive feature in the character of Abraham was his Parental solicitude respecting the Conjugal union which his Son, Isaac, might form: a solicitude in a very high degree commendable and exemplary, since from a Connection so intimate and influential the most important consequences, as well Spiritual as temporal, so frequently ensue-not only as regards the peace and happiness of the Individuals engaged in it, but also of their Offspring and Dependents, perhaps from Generation to Generation. And as to a pious Mind