m

ness and peace, into which "they, to whom it was first preached, entered not in because of unbelief." "Let us labour, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." "

m Heb. iv. 6.

n Heb. iv. 11.

LECTURE XIX.

ISAAC TYPICAL OF CHRIST.

JOHN viii. 56.

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.

WE cannot bring to a close an enquiry into the typical prefigurations of the Gospel history, which are contained in the Old Testament, without directing our attention to the voluntary offering, which Abraham made of Isaac. Whether this event be considered as the triumph of confiding faith over the natural feelings of humanity, and the affection of a parent; as an instance, in which the sovereign power of God interfered, to cause an apparent deviation from the usual laws, by which the moral world is governed; or as one of those

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things hard to be understood," which it is difficult to reconcile with the notions which human reason would form, respecting the dealings of the Almighty; it must always be regarded as a subject of the greatest interest.

To dwell, however, upon any of these points would be at present superfluous: for they have not long since been here elucidated, with more than ordinary eloquence and learning.

Our present enquiry, in conformity with the plan which has been pursued, will lead us only to consider the action, which tried the faith of the patriarch, as far as it is designedly prefigurative of the death and resurrection of Christ.

Very few of those, who call themselves Christians, hesitate to acknowledge, that the offering up of Isaac was more than a simple historical event: that it was, in some measure, representative and prophetical of Christ's " day." But various opinions have been held, respecting the degree of accuracy, with which the predicted event was set forth; the precise manner, in which the information was conveyed; and how far its import was understood by Abraham himself.

A correct judgment upon this question can be formed only by an examination of those portions of the New Testament, which allude to the trial of Abraham, compared with the history, as recorded in the book of Genesis.

The first passage, which appears to relate to this subject, is the celebrated assertion made by

* Benson's Hulsean Lectures for 1822. Lect. XIV, XV.

our Lord in one of his discourses with the Jews.

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с

"b

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day :" or rather, earnestly desired that he might see my day; "and he saw it, and was glad." Jesus was vindicating his own authority, and his superiority to Abraham, from the imputations of his opponents, by a reference to the testimony of heaven and earth. "If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me, of whom ye say, that he is your God." e This was a direct appeal to the numerous evident tokens, which Christ had received, that he was a prophet sent from God. He had been declared the Son of God by a voice from heaven: and had performed, publicly, such miracles as attested his Divine commission. If he had not done the works of his heavenly Father, they would not have been bound to believe. But, when he had done them, though they believed not him, they should have believed the works." But, the Jews having referred to Abraham, Jesus proceeds to shew, that the patriarch himself had, through faith, seen the things which were then displayed upon earth. "Your father Abraham

d

* ἠγαλλιάσατο ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἐμήν· John viii. 56.

John viii. 54.

John x. 37, 38.

d Matt. iii. 17.

earnestly desired that he might see my day; and he saw it, and was glad."

We, who are fully persuaded of our Lord's authority, know from these words, that by some means, and on some specific occasion, Abraham, during his life, did see Christ's day. But the assertion of Jesus proves more than that. It was produced to convince the Jews, with whom he reasoned, by a reference to a fact either acknowledged by them, or capable of being established upon grounds, which they would not question. It, therefore, proves, that this insight into futurity, granted to Abraham at his earnest desire, was expressed or implied in the Scriptures, which the Jews acknowledged to be given by inspiration of God.

Now the history of Abraham, from his first being called out of his country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house,' to the period of his death," is related with great minuteness in the book of Genesis. The Scripture records a gradation of promises made to Abraham, increasing in clearness and importance. The patriarch, when he was first called, and obeyed, received the general promise; "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing and I will bless them that

Gen. xii. 1.

Gen. xxv. 8.