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employ all my perfections for thy protection, consolation and sal6 vation.* And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, while they are a distinct and obedient people; and I will be their God.

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And God said unto Abraham, And now on thy part I declare that thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, as a condition of all these blessings, thou, and thy seed after thee in their 10 generations. And This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man 11 child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ;† and it shall be a token of the 12 covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with 13 money of any stranger, which [is] not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant, a sign of that everlasting 14 covenant I made with you. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, and when he is grown up wilfully or unnecessarily neglects it, that soul shall be cut off from his people, from my church and people; he hath broken my covenant by his neglect and contempt of the condition required on his part, and hath forfeited the blessing promised on mine.

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And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, which signifies, my princess only, but Sarah [shall] her name [be,] which signifies, a multitude; 16 she shall be the mother of many people. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother] of nations: kings of people shall be of 17 her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, in token of his inward joy and satisfaction at this news, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 He did not doubt the matter, but was greatly surprised. And Abraham said unto God, in the midst of his holy joy, O that Ishmael might live before thee! live in thy favour, and not be cast off by thee, though I shall have another son to inherit the 19 blessing. And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac, that is, laughter,

• This promise includes all temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings. + That part which serves for the propagation of mankind.

It was designed to be a further trial of Abraham's faith; to separate his posterity from the rest of the world by an indelible mark; for the preservation of true religion; and to be a perpetual memorial of God's covenant with Abraham. Thus a peculiar people were separated to serve God, by such a distinction as evidently appeared to be of divine criginal; and was a proper emblem of purity and indifference to sensual enjoyments.

because Abraham rejoiced and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed af20 ter him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I 21 will make him a great nation, But my covenant of grace, including the Messiah, will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah 22 shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham, withdrew the tokens of his special presence, and disappeared.

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And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him; such was his readiness to comply with the 24 divine command. And Abraham [was] ninety years old and

nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son [was] thirteen years old when he was 26 circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.* In the selfsame 27 day was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son. And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, a great number and from different nations, were circumcised with him; no wonder therefore, that the practice spread to other countries.

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REFLECTIONS.

ET us consider the almighty God as self sufficient v. 1. as having enough in himself to satisfy all our desires, and supply every want. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. As we wish to say this, let us consider our duty; walk before him with a perfect and upright heart; set him before us at all times, in every act of devotion, in all our behaviour; and do all as seeing him who is invisible. Without this we are not interested in his all sufficiency, but forfeit all claim to his favour.

2. We should bless God that the covenant was made with Abraham, to be a God to him and to his seed after him. This covenant typified and contained better blessings than the land of Canaan, and was established on better promises; it is true and firm; established as an everlasting covenant with Abraham and all his spiritual seed. How rich and precious the promise, I will be a God unto thee! How much comfort here, and glory hereafter, is contained in this! It includes not only an earthly but an heav enly Canaan. How condescending was it in God to speak so familiarly to him, and give him such exceeding great and precious promises! There is much of the gospel in this covenant; and in

* Therefore the Arabs never circumcise till the age of thirteen.

consequence of it, Abraham rejoiced, or earnestly desired, to see Christ's day; and by faith he saw it, and was glad.

3. Let us seek our own part in the blessings of it; they that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, We should consider their value and extent; submit cheerfully to the terms of the covenant; and ever remember, that in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing, but a new creature. God hath now changed the seal of the covenant into a more gentle administration, of which both sexes partake; there is neither male nor female in Christ, but all are one in him. As we desire the blessings of this covenant, let us comply with the terms of it, which are faith and obedience. Those who submitted to circumcision were debtors to the whole law, to all the ceremonies and rites of the Jewish religion; and every believer in Christ is a debtor to the whole of what christianity requires, viz. to bap tism, the Lord's supper, and all moral duties.

4. We learn to be particular in our addresses for those who are dear to us. Abraham said unto God, v, 18, O that Ishmael might live before thee! When God condescends to converse with us, when our souls are enlarged in devotion, then we have a good opportunity to put in a word for our friends and relations; to spread our own cases and theirs particularly before him. Let parents, especially, be concerned for the souls of their children; pray that they may live; that they may live before God, holily and religiously, to his honour, and the credit of their profession. Not only that their temporal lives may be preserved, but the spiritual life carried on in their souls, and that they may be fitted for eter, nal life. Pray particularly for them all, as Job and Abraham did. We have great encouragement to hope that God will answer our prayers, as he did that of Abraham, v. 20. God hath never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain : and though the blessing may be long delayed, it will come at last; at least our prayers shall not return into our bosom void,

5. Learn to obey God without delay, as Abraham did; the selfsame day. This is twice remarked by the historian, to show us how readily we must serve God, even in painful and difficult matters. Let us not confer with flesh and blood, but resolutely perform those duties which God hath commanded. He hath requir ed nothing of us that is unreasonable, nothing but what is for our comfort; may we therefore resolve according to this example of Abraham, that whatever our hand findeth to do, we will do it with all our might, and that we will make haste and not delay to keep God's righteous judgments,

CHAP. XVIII. 1-19.

The prophet Isaiah observes, that God will meet those who rejoice and work righteousness ;' this was exemplified in Abraham. No sooner had he circumcised his house, than God appears to him again; sends him a comfortable message by three angels, whom Abraham entertains; and renews his promise to Sarah of a son.

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ND the LORD appeared unto him, that is, Abraham, in the plains of Mamre : and he sat in the tent door in the 2 heat of the day, for the sake of being cool; And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men* stood by him; and when he saw [them,] he ran in the most friendly manner to meet them from the tent door, and as they appeared to be persons of rank and respectability, he bowed himself toward the 3 ground, And said to one who appeared to be the chief, and who was probably Christ, by whom God had manifested himself to men, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass 4 not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet,† and rest yourselves 5 under the tree, where it is cool and shady: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on for therefore, I presume, are ye come to your 6 servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.‡ And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead [it,] and 7 make cakes upon the hearth, or hot stone. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave 8 [it] unto a young man: and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and part of the calf which he had dress ed, and set [it] before them; and he stood by them under the tree, to wait upon them, and they did eat.||

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And they said unto him, Where [is] Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. Surprised to hear them call her by name, he began to think his guests were more than common 10 ones. And he, who appeared as the representative of God, said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life, or in due time; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard [it] in the tent door, which [was] behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old, [and] well stricken in age; [and] it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of 12 women. Therefore Sarah, not knowing her guests, laughed,

Angels in human form; so the apostle assures us they were, Heb. xiii. 2.

This was necessary and very refreshing in those hot countries, where they wore sandals, or went barefoot.

This gives us a beautiful idea of ancient hospitality, when there were no such places of entertainment as we have.

A delightful instance of the simplicity of ancient times. So Honer represents Achillet as serving up, with his own hand, a dish that Patroclus had been cooking."

or smiled, within herself, and doubted of what was said, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old 13 also? And the LORD, who knew the thoughts of Sarah, said unto

Abraham, by the angel that represented him, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, and treat the promise with derision, saying, Shall I of 14 a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed will I return unto thee, accord15 ing to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah came forward, and being in confusion, denied it, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst 16 laugh. And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom, where they had an awful commission to execute and Abraham, to show his respect, went with them to bring them on the way.

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And the LORD said to the angels who attended him, shall 18 I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? Since I have promised to do greater matters for him than this, 19 why should I hide this from him? For I know that I shall not acquaint him with this in vain, I know that he will command his children and his household after him, that they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

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REFLECTIONS.

ET us imitate Abraham's generosity in a readiness to do good offices. This is Paul's inference from this story, in Heb. xiii. 2. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Abraham did not stay to be asked; but seeing these travellers weary and faint, he hastened to invite and relieve them. He did it with great modesty and humility; Let me fetch a little water and a morsel of bread; he said nothing of the provisions he intended; he treated them

great decency and hospitality, and waited on them himself, though a prince who had vanquished kings. Thus we should learn to do good and to communicate. Those whom Providence hath blessed with abundance should be liberal and generous, sincere and hearty, without grudging. Here was no luxurious entertainment, no costly niceties, but all was plain and friendly. A good example of temperance and friendliness united. Luxurious entertainments are not instances of respect; they are often the cause of sin in those who partake of them. While we imitate this good patriarch's charity and generosity, let us also imitate his

She probably soon repented and believed the promise, for the apostle commends her faith, Heb. xi. it.

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