HISTORY OF ABRAM. LECTURE XIIL And it came to pass, that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. GENESIS XV. 17, 18. THERE is something awfully pleasant, in tracing the manners and customs of ancient times, and of distant nations; particularly in the celebration of their religious ceremonies. Religion in every age and nation, has been the foundation of good faith, and of mutual confidence among men. The most solemn conventions, and the most explicit declarations have been considered as imperfect, till the oath of God was interposed, and until the other august sanctions of divine worship ratified and confirmed the transaction. It cannot but be a high gratification to every lover of the holy scriptures, to find in the Bible the origin and the model of all the significant religious rites of latter ages and of remoter nations; to find in Moses, the pattern of usages described by a Homer and a Titus Livius, as in general practice among the two most respectable and enlightened nations of antiquity, the Greeks and Romans. they are put upon a clearer and surer foundation than they were before. Now the order and form of Abram's sacrifice described in the ninth and tenth verses of this chapter, is a full illustration of the meaning of the words, " And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another; but the birds divided he not." And in the text, "the Lord made a covenant," i. e. he cut asunder or divided a purifying victim. Abram, according to God's command, took an heifer, a she-goat and a ram, each of three years old, slew them; divided each into equal parts; placed the separated limbs opposite to each other, leaving a passage between; passed between the parts himself, according to the custom of Making of covenants is one of the most the sacrifice; and when the sun was down, frequent and customary transactions in the that the appearance might be more visible history of mankind. Controversies and quar- and striking, the Shechinah, or visible token rels of every sort issued at length in a cove- of God's presence, passed also between the nant between the contending parties. The divided limbs of the victims, as "a smoking solemn compacts which have taken place be- furnace and a burning lamp;" the final ratitween God and man, are known by the same fication of this new treaty between God and name; and have been confirmed by similar Abram. By this covenant God graciously forms and ceremonies. The word translated became bound to give Abram a son of his to make a covenant, in all the three learned own loins, who should become the father of languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: that a great nation, and the progenitor, after the is, according to the uniform application of it flesh, of the great Saviour and deliverer of in the Old Testament, and the constant the human race; and Abram on his part phraseology of the most approved Greek and bound himself to a firm reliance upon all Roman authors, signifies to cut, to separate, God's promises, and a cheerful obedience to by cutting asunder, to strike down. The all his commands. Such were the awful soword translated covenant, in the original lemnities of this important transaction. What Hebrew, according as we derive it from one mysteries were contained in these sacred or two words of similar form and sound, sig- rites, we pretend not to unfold. They were nifies either a purifier, that is, a purifying evidently of divine institution, for God hovictim; and the phrase, to make a covenant noured them with his presence, approbation, will import, to kill, strike, cut off, a purify- and acceptance. They apparently had been ing victim; or it may signify a grant of fa- long in use before this period; for Abram, vour, a deed of gift freely bestowed and so- without any particular instruction, prepares lemnly ratified by the most high God. And and performs the sacrifice; and they certainly according to this derivation it imports, that continued long in the church of God after the party with whom it is made, is put into this; for we find the practice as far down as a new and happier state."* Between man the times of Jeremiah, that is about the peand man, it denotes a new arrangement of riod of the dissolution of the Jewish monarcertain concerns common to both, whereby chy. The passage in this prophet to which • Taylor's Hebrew Concordance, d. 232. we refer, describes so minutely these ancient religious customs, and so strikingly illustrates and supports the history of Abram's covenant and sacrifice, that I trust you will forgive my quoting it at full length. "This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them. That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maid-servant, being an Hebrew, or an Hebrewess, go free, that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. Now when all the princes, and all the people which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. But afterwards, they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers, in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother, an Hebrew which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour, and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name. But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be under you for servants and for handmaids. There fore, thus saith the Lord, Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they I cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land which passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to *Now the expres the beasts of the earth." sions here employed, of "polluting God's name, transgressing his covenant, and not performing it," and the threatened punishment of this violation, "their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth," explain to us, in some measure, the meaning of those solemn ceremonies with which covenants were executed. And here surely it is not unlawful to employ the lights which are thrown upon this subject, by the practice of the Gentile nations, and the writings of those who are styled profane authors. From them we learn, that on such occasions the custom was, that the contracting party or parties, having passed between the divided limbs of the sacrifice, and expressed their full assent to the stipulated terms of the agreement or covenant, in solemn words, which were pronounced with an audible voice, imprecated upon themselves a bitter curse, if they ever should violate it. "As] strike down this heifer, or ram, so may God strike me with death, if I transgress my word and oath." "As the limbs of this animal are divided asunder, so may my body be torn in pieces, if I prove perfidious." Permit me to present one instance of many, from the two illustrious nations alluded to. The Greeks and the Trojans, according to Homer, having agreed to determine the great quarrel between them, by the issue of a single combat between the two rivals, Menelaus and Paris, the terms being solemnly adjusted and consented to on both sides, the ratification of the covenant is thus described, Iliad, lib. III. 338.† "The Grecian prince drew the sacred knife, cut off a lock of wool from each of the heads * Jer. xxxiv. 8-20. It may perhaps be amusing to the reader, to com pare the simplicity of a literal prose translation, with the poetical elegance and spirit of the English Homer. The passage follows: "On either side a sacred herald stands, The wine they mix, and on each monarch's hands "With that the chief the tender victims slew, POPE'S Iliad, III. 376. of the devoted lambs, which being distributed | intended; I now return to take up the thread among the princes of the contending parties, of the narration. Abram having returned he thus, with hands lifted up and in a loud from the slaughter of the kings; having voice, prayed; O Father Jove, most glori- achieved the deliverance of Lot his brother's ous, most mighty: O sun, who seest and son from captivity; having paid tithes to hearest every thing: ye rivers, thou earth, Melchizedec, the type and representative of and ye powers who in the regions below the great High Priest over the household of punish the false and perjured, be ye witness- God, perhaps the Son of God himself, thus es, and preserve this covenant unviolated.' early exhibited in human nature to the world; Then, having repeated the words of the co- having received the blessing from him, and venant in the audience of all, he cleft asun- bidden him farewell, retires again to the der the heads of the consecrated lambs, quietness and privacy of domestic life, humplaced their palpitating limbs opposite to bly confiding in the divine protection, and each other on the ground, poured sacred patiently waiting the accomplishment of the wine upon them, and again prayed, or rather promises. The man who habitually seeks imprecated: O Jupiter Almighty, most God, is readily and happily found of him. glorious, and ye other immortals! Whoever "After these things the word of the Lord shall first transgress his solemn oath, may his came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear brains and those of his children, flow upon not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceedthe ground like this wine, and let his wife ing great reward."* The din of war, and be divided from him and given to another.' the gratulations of victory, these transitory Thus when it was agreed to settle the con- and perturbed occupations and comforts being test for empire between Rome and Alba by over, intercourse with Heaven recoinmences the combat of three youths, brothers, on and improves: the still small voice of divine either side; after the interposition of cere- favour is again heard-" Fear not, I am thy monies similar to those which have been de-shield." Abram was become the dread of scribed, the Roman priest who presided, addressed a prayer to Heaven to this effect: 'Hear, Father Jupiter, hear prince of Alba, and ye whole Alban nation. Whatever has been read from that waxen tablet, from first to last, according to the plain meaning of the words, without any reservation whatever, the Roman people engages to stand to, and will not be the first to violate. If with a fraudulent intention, and by an act of the state, they shall first transgress, that very day, O Jupiter, strike the Roman people as I to-day shall strike this hog, and so much the more heavily, as you are more mighty and more powerful than me.' And having thus spoken, with a sharp flint, he dashed out the brains of the animal." one confederacy of princes, and the envy of another; both of them situations full of danger; but his security is the protection of the Almighty. He scorned to be made rich by the generosity of the king of Sodom; and his magnanimity and disinterestedness are recompensed by the bounty of the great Lord of all; "I am thy exceeding great reward." Why should we curiously inquire after the nature of the heavenly vision, and ask in what manner the word of the Lord came unto him? Know we not the secret, the inexplicable, the irresistible power which God possesses, and exercises over the bodies and over the minds of men? Know we not what it is to blush for our follies, though no eye beholds us, to tremble under the threatenThus in the three most distinguished na-ings of a guilty conscience, though no aventions that ever existed, we find the origin of their greatness, in similar ceremonies; empire founded in religion, and good faith secured by the sanction of solemn sacred rites. And is it not pleasing to find the living and true God, as in respect of majesty and dignity, so in priority of time, taking the lead in all that is great and venerable among men? We find Moses, the prince of sacred writers, describing a religious sacrifice performed by Abram one thousand nine hundred and thirteen years before Christ, which the prince of heathen poets so exactly describes as the practice of his own country upwards of one thousand years later; and which the great Roman historian relates as in use among his countrymen, in the time of Tullus Hostilius, the third king of Rome, before Christ about six hundred and sixty-eight years. The circumstances of this interesting transaction have led me much farther than I H ger be pursuing; and to enjoy serenity and peace, in the midst of confusion and tempest? Whence is this, but from the word of the Lord within us, constraining or encouraging us to hear? This renewed declaration of the divine favour, draws from Abram a dutiful yet pathetic expostulation, on the condition of his family and affairs; in which the impatience and fretfulness of the man, mingle with the submission and resignation of the believer. He was grown rich and respected; he had been victorious over his enemies, and become a blessing to his friends; but he is sinking into the vale of years, and his great possessions are ready to descend to a stranger, Eliezer of Damascus, the steward of his household. Is it any wonder to see a proud, unmortified Haman dissatisfied, though basking in the sunshine of royal favour, because • Gen. xv. 1. one Mordecai sits in the king's gate, when I to determine what God would have left una pious Abram feels uneasy in the enjoyment determined. It being an object of much of all this world could bestow, because one greater importance to a wise and good prince, thing was withheld? Alas, what condition to see his subjects thriving, numerous, and of humanity is exempted, for any length of happy, than to know the exact number over time together, from sorrow and vexation which he reigns; just as it is much more deof spirit? How much of the affliction of the lightful and beneficial to a man, to contemremainder of Abram's life, arose from the plate the beautiful seeming irregularity of possession of that blessing, which he now the starry heavens, to lose ourselves, as it coveted so earnestly! But surely we should were, in their glory and immensity, and to do but slender justice to the holy man, in enjoy their benign influences, than to fix supposing that the sentiments which he ex- with the utmost exactness and precision, their pressed upon this occasion were merely the number, motions, and distances. Accordingeffect of a natural desire of having children ly, we find, that in the days of Solomon the of his own body, to whom his large posses- son of David, when Jewish splendour and sions might descend. The man who rejoiced populousness were at their zenith, no atin the prospect of the Saviour's day; the man tempt was made to discover the number of who was ready at God's command to offer the people; but in conformity to the obvious up Isaac in sacrifice; the man who had given intention of God, in the passage now under up every thing nature holds dear, when duty review, that matter was for ever left in a called him to it; and who took the simple pro- state of glorious uncertainty. mise of God as a full indemnification; such a man must, in charity, be presumed to entertain" the most liberal and disinterested views, in thus ardently desiring a son. We hear of no disapprobation expressed against his ardour and impatience; on the contrary, it procures from God a more distinct and decisive promise of the speedy accomplishment of his wishes-" And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir."* The time, though not the manner of the vision is fully conveyed to us; it was early in the morning while it was yet dark, for "he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be."+ Scripture allusions to natural objects, are adapted to the ordinary conceptions of mankind. The sun is represented as rising, and setting, and moving round the earth; and the stars are represented as innumerable, because this is apparently the case, and justified by the ideas and language of all nations, though the fact be philosophically otherwise. Surely the truth of God, in his promise to Abram, is little affected by the astronomical arrangement of the heavenly bodies, which latter ages have devised, and whereby the number of those glorious luminaries is determined to a greater degree of accuracy. What the promise means to give the good man full assurance of, is, that his posterity should be both numerous and illustrious beyond all conception. And, if I may be permitted to hazard a conjecture, and to anticipate an observation on this subject, the error of David, many ages afterwards, in insisting on having the people numbered in his reign, which was one of the most prosperous periods of the Israelitish history, consisted in his attempting Abram's doubts are now entirely removed; he believed in the Lord; and counted it to him for righteousness."* As God rewards the faithful, not by halves, not sparingly, nor grudgingly; so all true believers, like faithful Abram, honour God by an entire and unlimited confidence; and believe not only in hope but against hope. The patriarch thus indulged and encouraged, presumes still farther on the divine goodness, to entreat some present token of the truth and certainty of the promises made to him. "And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" Both from what goes before and follows, we must conclude, that this was not a request of diffidence, but of desire and love. We neither desire nor exact from our friends formal obligations to show us kindness: this would imply a doubt of their attachment; but we dearly love to bear about us the tokens of their affection. In like manner Abram asked for a sign, not that he suspected any thing, but because he loved much. It was taken, as it was meant; and friendship was strengthened by the request and the grant of it. The covenant which ensued, and the ceremonies by which it was ratified, have already been considered. But some farther circumstances here recorded well deserve our notice. The order for the sacrifice was given early in the morning. The former part of the day was employed in preparing it; and we may suppose all things ready by noon. Abram has done what was incumbent upon him; but the great God is not limited to seasons or forms; Abram must therefore wait and watch-wait till God condescends to appear-watch, that his sacrifice be not plundered or polluted. At length, about the going down of the sun, the approach of deity is felt. "And when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram: and lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him."‡ How in* Gen. xv. 6. † Gen. xv. 8. Gen. xv. 12. Is every discovery of God a mixture of light and darkness, "a furnace that smoketh, a lamp that burneth," "a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire?" Let us rejoice, and walk, and live in that light; let us revere, adore, and preserve an humble distance from that darkness. Are the visits of God's wrath intolerable gracious presence awful even to the good? Let us, then, think of drawing nigh to him, only through the son of his love, in whom he is ever well pleased. supportable must be the visitations of God's an- | day, when "they that be wise shall shine as ger! (I tremble while I speak) if the visions the brightness of the firmament, and they of his mercy and love are so awful and tre- that turn many to righteousness, as the stars mendous! While he was in this ecstacy, the for ever and ever." principal events that should affect his family for the space of four hundred years, are revealed to him; and the issue is to be, at the end of that period, the quiet and certain possession of the very land which he then inhabited; even from the Nile to the Euphrates. But we trespass on your patience too long. Let us, in conclusion, raise our thoughts to the wicked; and the approaches of his to a new covenant, established on better promises; to a sacrifice whose "blood cleanseth from all sin;"" to a new and living way consecrated into the holiest of all, through the veil, the Redeemer's flesh." Let us look to that body which was broken upon the cross, the atonement for transgression; "to that inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away;" "to that kingdom which cannot be moved," that government and peace of" which there shall be no end;" to that "great multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, which stand before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands;" to that Is the covenant on God's part "ordered in all things and sure?" Are all "the promises" in Christ "yea and amen?" Is the “glory" they propose and ensure," yet to be revealed?" "Be not faithless but believing;" "cast all your care upon him, for he careth for you." "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known." "He who cometh, will come and will not tarry." "The grace of our Lord Jesus be with your spirits." Amen. HISTORY OF ABRAM. LECTURE XIV. He that believeth shall not make haste.-ISAIAH XXviii. 16. THE ways of Providence and the workings of the human mind do not always keep pace one with another. In the pursuit of their ends, men are at one time careless and indolent, at another, over eager and hasty; but God is ever advancing towards his, with a steady, progressive, majestic pace. When we get sight of a favourite object, we grasp at it through possibility and impossibility; we hurry on to possession, too little scrupulous about the means. To God all things are possible; and "he is the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he." Men ignorantly and weakly judge of their Maker by themselves, and foolishly attempt to regulate the divine procedure by their own preconceived opinions of it: "Behold I thought," said Naaman the Syrian, "he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper;" but God had said, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thou shalt be clean." It is rare to find a faith which steadily, cheerfully, and constantly walks hand in hand with the purpose and promise of Heaven. We either "stagger at the promise, through unbelief," or impatiently strive to bring forward the accomplishment by indirect methods. When we look into history, how unlike do events appear from the form into which they were previously shaped by the fond expectations of the persons concerned! The Jews, in the person of Messiah, looked for a prince who should revive the faded splendour of David's throne; but the Messiah whom God raised up, established a kingdom "of righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The disciples are dreaming of sitting at their Master's right and left hand, when "the kingdom should be restored to Israel;" he is sending them forth to "suffer shame for his name." The sentiment of the prophet which I have |