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 on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Never was there a command so full of terror ! Every word must have wrung the patriarch's heart with anguish. What can we look for but a firm remonstrance against the horrid deed; a plea from the fatal example on the surrounding heathen, the reproach of his piety, and the very promises and covenant of God ratified over and over! But nothing of this. With calm submission and holy confidence in Jehovah, he went forward and built the altar, and laid the wood, and bound Isaac his son, and lifted the knife to slay him, when the Angel of the Lord interposed and said, "Now I know thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." It was a glorious exhibition of faith; for which God again confirmed to him his exceeding great and precious promises. Having laid Sarah in the grave, and provided a wife for Isaac, from the family of his brother Nahor, in Padanaram, Abraham died in the 175th year of his age.

This eminent patriarch was as distinguished for his piety, as for the remarkable events of his life. In humility, meekness, patience, submission, and unwavering confidence in God, he has been a pattern to all saints of succeeding ages. Like the rest of this fallen world, he was a sinner; he could not be justified by works; he had nothing whereof to glory. But he saw Christ's day afar off, and was glad. He believed in God-rejoiced in a Saviour to come, and his faith was counted for righteousness. His faith was a vital principle. "It wrought with his works, and by works was his faith made perfect; and he was called the FRIEND OF God."

The age of Abraham was one of great declension. It was the age of Sodom and Gomorrah. But it was not the period, when in one of the capital cities of the world, an altar should be erected "To the Unknown God" Mankind had not as yet lost the knowledge of Jehovah. Some who came out of the ark with their immediate descendants, were still living. A knowledge of that dread event, and of the power and holiness of God which occasioned it, must therefore have existed among all people, while not a few were to be found of sincere and fervent piety. The Persians were the descendants of Shem, by his son Elam, as Abraham and his descendants were by Arphaxad; and con

tinued, probably for a considerable period, to walk in the way of their fathers. The Chaldeans, the descendants of Ham, were so far corrupt, as to expel the father of Abraham for his religion, from their country. Among them, therefore, we may look in vain for any true religion.

The Arabians retained the knowledge and worship of the God of Heaven, until after the days of Moses. Among them we find in this far distant age, Job. He dwelt in that part of Arabia Petrea, which was called Edom, and bordered upon the tribe of Judah to the south. His origin is uncertain; and the exact period in which he lived cannot well be determined. His years were more than 200-the age of man before the days of the patriarchs. In his writings are mentioned only the most ancient species of idolatry, the worship of the Sun and Moon; and his riches are reckoned by his cattle. If he lived after the days of Abraham, and as some suppose, as late as Moses, still he appears to have known nothing of that eminent patriarch, or of the wanderings of the children of Israel. His knowledge of God was evidently handed down to him from Noah; but was greatly increased by intimate communion with heaven. The book which bears his name, and gives an account of the wonderful dealings of God with him, has been ascribed to Moses, to Solomon, to Isaiah, and Ezra, but it is evidently the work of Job himself. Its style is sublime and lofty; full of figure, and corresponds to the genius of the Arabic language. It every where abounds with religious instruction, and the noblest sentiments of piety; and, with inimitable majesty, proclaims the Almighty power and unsearchable wisdom of the Maker of the Universe.

With all his faults, Job was a man of deep humility and exalted piety. Through traditional religion and the suggestions and influences of the Holy Spirit, he disclaimed all hope of justification from his own righteousness; placed his confidence in the great Redeemer, and looked forward with joyful hope to a resurrection and future judgment. Such a man must have been a light in the world. His book conveyed truths to mankind which unassisted reason had never learned, and powerfully refuted the erroneous views which were fast spreading in the earth, of the moral government of God. When it was admitted into the sacred canon we know not; but it is cited as inspired by the Apostles, and was universally received as canonical by the early Christians.

Among the Canaanites, Abraham lived as those who were well acquainted with Jehovah. He even there found a king, Melchisedec, who ruled his people in righteousness and peace, and officiated at the altar, as priest of the most high God; a man who, on both these accounts, was a remarkable type of Christ. Abraham honored him for his rank and piety, and priestly character, and received as a distinguished favor, his blessing.

Over Gerar in Philistia, reigned Abimelech, an upright man, who acknowledged and feared Jehovah. All these nations must have been solemnly impressed with the majesty and holiness of God, in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Egyptians early fell into idolatry, but the God of Abraham was terrible among them. And in subsequent ages, he must have been extensively known by the piety of Joseph, the religion of the Hebrews, and more especially, by the plagues upon Pharaoh and the nation, in the days of Moses.

It may be inquired why, if there was so much knowledge of the true God in the world, was Abraham called? It was no doubt in part perspective. The clouds of pagan darkness were fast overshadowing the earth. In a little time, the knowledge of Jehovah, of his name, his worship and his laws, would be banished from among men, without some special provision for its preservation, and the earth would be in complete subjection to the prince of darkness.

CHAPTER II.

Descent of the Church in the line of Patriarchs. Prophecy respecting Shiloh. Joseph. Residence of the Church in Egypt. Her deliverance from bondage. Plagues of Egypt. Institution of the Passover. Baptism of the Church. Murinurings of the Israelites. Their typical journey.

If there was true piety elsewhere in the earth, still we are now to contemplate the Church of God embodied in the family of Abraham, and sealed with the seal of circumcision. God confirmed to Isaac the promises made to his father, "in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." In his youth, profane Esau sold his birthright for a trifle to Jacob his younger brother; thus in the freedom and wickedness of his own heart, accomplishing, though he meant not so, a purpose of divine sovereignty; "For the children,

being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; it was said unto her, (Rebecca) the elder shall serve the younger."* Zealous for

the execution of the divine purpose thus revealed to her ;revealed, no doubt, that it might be accomplished, his mother craftily diverted the blessing from Esau to Jacob. Esau having in the folly and wickedness of his heart, cast away his birthright, was angry with Jacob, and sought to kill him; so that Jacob fled into Mesopotamia, to his mother's relatives. Driven from his home, a lone wanderer, night overtook him without a shelter or a friend, and he laid himself down in the open air, with a stone for his pillow. But God was there. In a dream, he saw a ladder standing on the earth and reaching unto heaven, on which the angels of God ascended and descended. Above it stood the Lord God, who assured him that he was the God of his fathers, and would give him and his seed the land of Canaan, and that in him all the nations of the earth should be blessed. In this manner did God exhibit to him his providence, administered by angels, and renew the covenant containing the precious promises. When Jacob awoke, his soul was deeply impressed with the presence of God, and he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God! and this is the gate of heaven." He erected his pillow for a monument, and sealed himself to be the Lord's.

Jacob was worthy of the sacred trust. He was a man of prayer. He wrestled with Christ, the angel of the covenant. He vowed unto the Lord, and performed his oaths. His blessings and his trials were uncommonly great; but in the height of prosperity, while master of two bands, he was meek, and humble, and grateful; and, when all things went against him, and he seemed about to be stripped of all his heart held dear, he was patient and submissive, and committed himself to Him who judgeth righteously in the earth.

From Jacob descended twelve sons, who, by a mysterious providence, were removed, according to the revelation of God made to Abraham, to Egypt; there to reside in bondage many years. Before the venerable man died, he uttered a more remarkable prophecy of Christ than any the church had as yet received a prophecy in which not only the line was pointed out in which Messiah should come, but

* Romans ix. 11.

the time of his appearance was marked with great precision. "Judah," said he, in blessing his sons, "is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up; he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah; nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." In conformity with this prediction and promise, Judah was never without a ruler and lawgiver, until subdued by the Romans, when Shiloh or Christ came; and when Jesus Christ appeared in Judah, then departed ruler and lawgiver; and these have never since been known in her borders.

Jacob was born in the year of the world 2163. He was 75 years of age when he fled into Mesopotamia. He came into Egypt in 2298, and died 17 years after, being 147 years of age. When he came into Egypt, the visible church of God consisted of 70 souls.

A single instance of humble piety in that distant age of the world, even in the most retired walks of life, is refreshing to the soul. But we have exhibited to us a lovely youth, who, in the providence of God, was exalted almost to royalty, and became a father to his people; who feared God; resisted the most powerful allurements to sin; kept his garments white amid an adulterous generation, and stands forth an illustrious monument of the power of divine grace. This was Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob. Moved with envy, his brethren sold him for a slave. But he became the deliverer of his people and temporal saviour of the Egyptian nation. His history is one of the most beautiful, pathetic, interesting and instructive tales which was ever written, and remarkably exhibits the overruling providence of God. His envious brethren sold him; but it was God who carried him into Egypt for the execution of his purposes.

During their long residence in Egypt, the chosen people of God multiplied astonishingly, though oppressed by a most cruel bondage; but having no religious ordinances, Sabbaths, or instruction, they in a great measure lost the true religion, and polluted themselves" with the idols of Egypt.'

Their bondage was a lively picture of the natural state of the true Israel; who were bond servants to sin, and in bondage to the law as a covenant of works.

The church was suffered to decline, that the seed of the woman might gain the more illustrious victory over the

* Ezekiel xx. 7.