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21 dren unto thy brother Nahor ;* Huz his firstborn, and Buz 22 his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, And Chesed, 23 and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebekah, who was afterwards Isaac's wife: these 24 eight Milcah did bear to Nahor Abraham's brother. And his concubine,t whose name [was] Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maacah.

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REFLECTIONS.

E learn from the example of Abraham, who gave up his son, his only son whom he loved, to be willing to give up our dearest comforts to God. He gave him to be sacrificed; yea, himself was willing to sacrifice him with his own hands, when he thought it to be the will of the Lord. Thus should we give up our comforts to God, from whom we have received them. Parents should resign their children to the disposal of heaven; give up their supposed interest to their true interest : always observe the will of God, and he will bring good out of evil. Let us maintain a full persuasion of the justice and mercy of God, that we may not scruple to give up our dearest comforts to his disposal; and if he is pleased to take our friends or children away, by the severest strokes, let us say, as Eli did, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good; 2 Sam. iii. 18. And our Lord requires us to be ready to make the same surrender as Abraham did; If any man come to me, and hate not (be not willing to abandon) his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luke xiv. 26. We must daily say, Lord, here am I, what wouldst thou have me to do? It will be of no avail to oppose the divine will; Who hath hardened himself against God, and prospered? But God is well pleased when we humbly submit to his appointment, and say, without reserve, Thy will be done. He can make up the want of those comforts which he takes away, by giving us cheerful hope that they are removed to a better world; by affording us peace and pleasure in our own spirits; and improving our graces by it. Abraham intended to offer his son, and God promised that his seed should be multiplied as the stars of heaven, or the sands upon the sea shore. Whatever we part with for God and Christ, we shall be no losers by, at least we shall be none in the end. Perhaps Abraham was too fond of Isaac, and therefore he made him undergo this severe trial. If our lives are bound up in the lives of our children or friends, God may take them away. If this should be the case, let us still say, with the pious Shunamite, who, when she was asked, Is it well? answered, It is well; well,

This genealogy is added here to introduce Rebekah.

+ Concubines were not full and complete wives, not being solemnly betrothed, nor sharing in the government of the family, but subject to the lawful wives, and therefore called servants, chap. xxxii. 22.

for God doth it; he hath wise ends in doing it, and great good shall come out of it; and therefore, not as we will, but as thou wilt. This will have a great tendency to remove our doubts and fears; it will be a proof of our own sincerity, and a strong testimony that we fear God, and love him.

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2. Let us imitate Abraham in his prudence and readiness in this affair his prudence, in leaving the young men behind; in not telling Isaac or Sarah; his readiness, in not consulting flesh and blood. Abraham, take now thy son; Abraham rose up early and took his son. Who but Abraham could have forborne to remonstrate and plead upon such an occasion?* Lord,' might he have said,' must I lose my child, lose him almost as soon as I have received him? Didst thou give him only to tantalize thy servant? Remember, gracious God, the name he bears; How shall he answer its cheering import? How shall he be the source of satisfaction to his parents, and the father of many nations, if thou takest him away in the morning of his days? If sin lieth at the door, let me expiate the guilt; let thousands of rams, every bullock in my stall, bleed on thy altar; my wealth, blessed Lord, and all my goods, are nothing in comparison with my Isaac : command me to be stripped of all my possessions, and beg my bread, and I will bless thy holy name: only let my child, my dear child, be spared. Or, if nothing will avert thy indignation but human blood, let my death be the sacrifice; upon me be the vengeance. I am old and gray headed; the best of my days are past, and the best of my services are done; if this tottering wall tumble, there will be little or no cause for regret; but the pillar of my house, the foundation of my hope, if he be snatched from me, how shall I support life, or what good will my life do me? O my son, my son, would to God I might die for thee! If it must be a blooming youth, in the prime of his strength, be pleased to fetch it from some fruitful family; there are those who have many, while I have but this one little lamb, the solace of my soul, and the stay of my declining years; and shall this be taken away, while all those are left? Or if the decree cannot be reversed, if it must be the fruit of my body, O that it might be Ishmael, the son of my handmaid! Yet my heart bleeds at the thought of his untimely death; but as for Isaac, the son of my beloved spouse, the son of my old age, the crown of my labours, I shall never survive such a loss! Yet, if he must die, and there is no remedy, may not some common distemper loosen the cords of life, and let him down gently into the grave? may not his mother and myself seal his closing eyes, and soften his dying pangs by our tender of fices?" No, Abraham, thy son must be sacrificed on the altar." 'Well, if all must be executed, (he might say) God grant that these eyes may never behold the dismal tragedy: if my Isaac must be bound hand and foot for the slaughter, if he must receive

• See Hervey's Theron and Aspasia, vol. iii. p. 244, &c. 6th. Edit.

the steel into his bosom, and welter in his innocent blood, heaven forbid that I should behold so dismal a spectacle!" Alas! Abraham, this mitigation cannot be granted; thy own hand must point the deadly weapon at his breast, and urge its way through the gushing veins and shivering flesh, till it be plunged in the throbbing heart: the father, the father must be the executioner." Unheard of action! How can I answer it to the wife of my bosom, the mother of the lovely youth? How can I justify it to the world? Will they not take up a taunting proverb, and say, at every turn, There goes the man, the monster, that imbrued his hand in his own son's blood; this is he that pretends to piety, and yet could kill his own son in cold blood; kill a good, a duteous son, an only child.' Thus Abraham might naturally have pleaded; but, astonishing to tell, he made no reply, he said nothing of all this; but quietly and patiently submitted. Through all the three days' journey, every moment fire and blood present, ed themselves to his view. Isaac's conversation increased his grief; yet it was the divine command; he resolved therefore to obey, however contrary it was to flesh and blood. This was the father of the faithful, this the friend of God. Go ye, and do likewise. Make haste to obey every command of the Lord your God. Beware of every thing that would prevent your following him fully. The greatest resignation appears in giving up those comforts that are most valuable, and which we are ready to think ourselves miserable without. Abraham breaks through all objec tions, so should we. Let us be willing to deny ourselves, to suffer persecution, to give up every idol, the favour of friends, or fortune, or good name; give up any thing, yea, every thing, that would hinder us in the way and works of God. Here show your courage, your resolution, your faith, your sincerity. Be prudent, like Abraham, and steady herein, and be assured God will be gracious to you. In the mount of difficulty shall the Lord be seen: our extremity is God's opportunity. God's voice was nev er so sweet to Abraham as now; his love is never so welcome as when it comes after submission to his will; and whenever this is the case, God will not forget our labours of love, but amply and eternally reward them.

3. Let us learn, like Isaac, to be willing to die when and how God pleases. God is the sovereign of life and death, and may remove his creatures to another world, when and by what means he will; and as to his faithful servants he will certainly do it in the best manner. On a conviction of God's overruling providence, and disposing all events, of life and death, let us trust in him, and leave it to him to order the time, manner, and circumstances of our removal. While we live, let us live to the Lord. May our lives be devoted to God, and spent in a holy, humble, and useful manner; then death will be comfortable; comfortable whenever it comes, and however it comes. When we die, we shall die by the hand of God; die, as it were, on Pisgah's

top, from whence we may see the heavenly world, the glories of which are so great, that it is worth while to submit to, yea, to rejoice in, the sharpest pangs of death that open a way to it; remembering, as Abraham and Isaac believed, that we shall rise again. Though absent from the body for a while, yet we shall receive it again, improved and beautified; when we shall have no more of these painful exercises, no more trials of our faith and obedience.

4. Let us adore the love of God, in not sparing his only Son, but giving him up for us. There is much of Christ in this chapter. Now, says the angel, I know that thou fearest God and may we not see here an evident proof of the love of God toward us, in that he hath not spared his own son, but given him up to death for us all ? The sufferings of Christ are represented as the act of God; it pleased the Lord to bruise him for us, and to lay on him the iniquity of us all. Sinners were doomed to be sacrificed, to be slain, and made miserable for ever; but God hath provided a lamb for a burnt offering; the contrivance is his own; no angelic spirit could have done it; infinite wisdom alone could contrive it; infinite love alone could execute it. Abraham received remarkable favours from God, though he had been guilty of many transgressions against him; he was therefore bound in gratitude to give up his son at his command, at least to bear it patiently, as a punishment for his sin. But God was under no obligations to us; yet he says, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Jesus, like Isaac, made no reply, but said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. Like Isaac he was bound before he was sacrificed, and like him cheerfully submitted to the fatal stroke, expressing no reluctance. He made his soul an offering for sin, and died, the just for the unjust. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that heloved us, and gave up his only Son to be a sacrifice for us, &c. The mount on which Isaac was to have been sacrificed was Moriah, probably the very spot of ground on which Christ was crucified; at least, it was very near it and no doubt this command to Abraham was designed, among other important reasons, to be typical of this great event. Let us admire and adore the love of God, that he gave his dear, his well beloved and only Son, the most pure and innocent being, to become a sacrifice for our sins. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift! Let this love greatly affect our minds; especially at those seasons when Christ is set forth as crucified before us; when we see him bleeding and dying in the room and for the sake of sinners. Was Abraham's love so great and remarkable, the wonder of the church, and a pleasing spectacle to angels? What is the love of God to us then, and how should it fill our souls with the highest raptures and transports of joy!

CHAP. XXIII.

An account of Sarah's age and death; of Abraham's purchasing a burying place; and Sarah's funeral: which circumstances, though of small importance in themselves, were of great consequence, as they fixed Abraham and his posterity to the promised land, and by this he took possession of it.

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ND Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.* 2 And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan :† and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah in her tent, and to weep for her; to make a public lamentation, as was common upon such occasions.

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And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, the governors or elders of the Hittites, 4 saying, I [am] a stranger and a sojourner with you give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury 5 my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth an6 swered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear us, my lord; thou [art] a mighty prince among us, a prince of God, a person of great power or estate, and a favourite of heaven; 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. 7 And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, [even] to the children of Heth, the governors of the 8 people. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, 9 and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, or, the double cave, 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 10 place among you. And Ephron dwelt or sat among the children of Heth: And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, [even] of all 11 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. This was indeed a generous offer. 12 And Abraham, in return for this civility which was shown him, 13 bowed himself down 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,] if thou be the possessor of the land, and wilt part with it, I pray thee hear

She is the only woman whose age is recorded in scripture.

↑ When they removed there is uncertain.

+ Religion not only allows, but requires civility, and those gestures which express it.

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