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THE FIRST RECORDED VISION, GEN. XV.

is cleansed, then shall she be defended —yea, already have all those nations who have burdened themselves with her been cut in pieces; and so most signally will it be with regard to the last great invasion, which is yet to take place: " And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her, and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision."

But it is not alone the avowed enemies of Zion that have been dreaming. Her own children have been as in a stupor. They stumble on in the dark, unmindful of his words, and so it follows, "Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry!—They are drunken, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with strong drink." The reason is alleged—"For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes.The prophets, and the rulers, the seers hath he covered; and THE VISION OF ALL is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed."

The First Vision spoken of as such in the Bible, Gen. xv., contains a view of the whole course of divine providence with regard to Abraham's posterity, and that both, as to judgment and inercy, especially with respect to that portion of them which was afterwards spoken of as All ISrael. But if we are come to the time for opening the Book, then are we also come to the time when the Vision should speak. It was "the Vision of all," which was become as the words of a Book that is sealed.

Let us hear the words addressed to our father Abraham. We can only be blessed along with that father of the faithful, who, as we are here told, "believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

"After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy

shield, and thy exceeding great reward." Let us connect with these words the declaration of our great High Priest and Apostle, Christ Jesus, Rev. i. 17, 18, "Fear not, I am the first and the last." It is worthy of remark, that He who was presented to Abram as the object of his faith in the first recorded vision of the Bible, is the same who was presented to John in the list great vision, with which the sacred volume ends. And what He is, hath done, and ever will be, as our Shield, is also declared"I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore." He hath life in Himself, He died for our sins, He rose again for our justification, and He ever liveth to make intercession for us. And, as our exceeding great Reward, He is the Amen, and hath "the keys of hell and of death." It is through his giving the Amen to the supplications of his saints, that they know God to be the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And He will Himself be presented as the great Amen to the earnest cry of his waiting people, " Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly."—Then will God give reward unto his servants, the prophets; and to them that fear him, small and great.

Abram longed after that, which it was in the purpose of God to give him; a seed who should inherit the blessing along with him; "And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give

me,

seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?" He longed for the sign of the fulfilment of the promise already given, ch. xii. 7, with regard to a seed who should inherit the land. "And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo! one born in my house is mine heir." God condescended to assure him that it was not a mere adopted posterity who should inherit the promises; "And behold the word of the Lord unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." And surely the birth of Isaac, in the cir

THE LORD'S COVENANT WITH ABRAM.

cumstances, was the assured pledge or sign, to Abram, that all else would be accomplished according to the word of the Lord. This was an assurance that through the One Seed, Christ, already promised, a numerous posterity would at length be brought forth to him, to inherit, with him, the promised blessing. These are they, who, being in the present dispensation employed in turning many to righteousness, shall, in the period of reward, shine as the stars for ever and ever. And so it here follows, ver. 5, "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou he able to number them: And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." And as an example to the numerous seed who thus will be lifted up, first in grace, and then in glory, it is declared, with regard to Abram, unto whom the Lord had been presented as his shield, and as his exceeding great reward,"And he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness

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The Lord recognises not only the truth of the promise respecting the Seed, but also respecting the Land. The Lord had not taken from Abram the lesser gift, because he had given him the greater, ver. 7, " And He said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." Abram was not so indifferent with regard to the land as many of his descendants have been; and, that he might be in no doubt as to what had been spoken, he even asked a sign. ver. 8: "And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" The sign which was given to him appears to have been also a sign for us. To him was presented the symbol, the mystery of which has been accomplished in his descendants. They have been in the gross darkness which fell upon Abram, so that they have not seen afar off: but when they see, they shall find that our God hath not been negligent as to the giving evidence of his intention to fulfil his word, ver. 9, "And he said, Take me an heifer of

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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 when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away." They have never effectually, until our own day, been frayed away from preying upon the torn carcass of Judah. The Jews, therefore, do not seem to be the people referred to by these divided carcases.

For the divisions of Reuben, the natural first-born of Jacob, there were to be great searchings of heart. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. "The word

of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." It is to be recollected, that the epistle from which these words are quoted, is addressed to the Hebrews; and it is to be observed that, whilst it is admitted that every creature is naked and open before the eyes of Omniscience, yet the dividing of the carcases had a special reference to the Hebrews, the descendants of Abraham, unto whom the word of the Lord was sent, and upon whom it was to light.

The seed of Jacob, more especially of the house of Israel (not Judah) appear to be the people represented by these carcases, which, although divided, were not to be given as a prey to the fowls of heaven. It is to be observed that the carcases were not objects of hatred, but of tender concern to Abraham. His posterity, with regard to whom he had expressed so deep an interest in the preceding part of the chapter, were indeed divided, according to the word of the Lord, and that especially through the instrumen

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THE RECEIVING INTO THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.-THE DOVE.

tality of the Assyrians, who were allowed to take or drive them away in two, or, as some have supposed, in three great captivities. Of those that were led away captive, many appear to have settled along the borders of the Black Sea, the banks of the Danube, and the north-western parts of Europe; whilst of those that escaped, as fleeing by the ships of Tyre, &c. from the coast of Palestine down the Mediterranean, there seem to have been settlements formed over against them, along the northern borders of that sea, and in these isles afar off.

Israel were divided and subdiIvided thus, as to the great body of them: "But the birds divided he not."

And it is remarkable, that in Is. xi. 6, 7, when the young of these tame animals, the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram, are spoken of, as being gathered into the sanctuary along with the previously wild animals, no mention is made of the turtle dove or young pigeon.

"The wolf," by which was represented the fourth or Roman empire, "shall dwell with the lamb," the young of the last of the animals divided by Abram. "And the leopard," which was used to represent the Grecian empire, "shall lie down with the kid," the young of the she-goat. The calf, the young of the heifer, is then adverted to, "And the calf and the young lion, and the falling together; and a little child shall lead them "The same tame animal in another stage of existence, is spoken of in connection with Persia, represented by the bear, when it is said, "The cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together." The same kind of animal, as not only full grown, but powerful and strong for labour, is spoken of as having assimilated to it the lion, which represented the Babylonian empire: "And the lion shall eat straw like the ox." And then, as if alluding to the Caspian Sea, which bounded Assyria northward, "The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp;" and, lastly, as turning to Egypt, "The

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weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den." 66 'They," the Egyptian and Assyrian, "shall not hurt," nor shall the Babylonian lion, nor the Persian bear, nor the Grecian leopard, nor the Roman wolf, "destroy in all my holy mountain." Their evil nature will have been taken away, by the knowledge of the Lord. "For the earth," or land, "shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." The sanctuary will have been cleansed, and as into the ark of Noah the different animals, naturally opposed to each other, assembled peaceably, so into his prepared place will the Lord assemble many out of the nations adverted to, as being joined unto his people of Israel. "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glory."

Previous to this glory being made manifest, there was, however, to be a period of great darkness, not only to the land, but upon the people. This is adverted to Isiah lx., where the call is given to Zion. "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." It is added, "For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth or land, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

Ephraim is represented by the dove immediately before their departure from the land, Hos. vii 11," Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart. They call to Egypt; they go to Assyria. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them as their congregation hath heard." But though, at that time, sorely reduced, they will return in beauty and with blessing, as is promised, Ps. lxviii. 13, "Though ye have lain among the pots- the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold!" And accordingly, when the question

PLEDGES FOR THE FULL ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PROMISE.

is asked, Is. Ix. 8, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?" It is answered, ver. 9," Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel." Then, when the voice of the turtle shall be heard in the land, will the sign be given of fast approaching blessing.

A long deep sleep, and fearful darkness, were, however, to precede this gladsome breaking of the light; the sign of which mystery fell upon Abram; and it has been fulfilled even in his believing children, as is evident by their almost studied inattention to the word of prophecy, unto which we do well that we take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.How fearful has been the darkness that has for many ages hung over the case of the people of promise, and over God's great working in providence with regard to them! Truly the prophets, as looking forward to the long dreary time of Israel's hiding, might well exclaim, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" So dark it was that they knew not even the Son of God, the long-expected Messiah, when he appeared, in the very place and time appointed from the days of old. In Abram was this case of his descendants shadowed forth, ver. 12, "And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram: And, lo! an horror of great darkness fell upon him:" This was fulfilled in the spirit of deep sleep, and that covering of the seers and the prophets referred to, Is. xxix. 10.

The dark and deeply distressed state of Israel in Egypt; their deliverance therefrom, under the hand of Moses; their espousal to the Lord in the wilderness; and their entrance into the land, under the Captain of the Lord's host, spoke of greater things which were, and, in part, are yet to come. "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety, that thy seed shall

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be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years, and also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge: And afterwards shall they come out with great substance." And the pledge that this would be was also given to his immediate descendants, ver. 15, " And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age."Then, referring to the deliverance from the Egyptian bondage, it follows, ver. 16, "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." And then, going forward to the period following their expulsion froin the land, represented by the divided carcases, deep sleep, and horror of great darkness, it follows, with regard to the ministration of judgment and of mercy, going forth from Jerusalem, in the case of the Jews, ver. 17, "And it came to pass, that when the sun. went down, and it was dark, behold, a sinoking furnace, and a burning lamp, that passed between those pieces."— Now, these we are told, Is. xxxi. 9, were in Jerusalem. The Assyrian, who had been the instrument of separating the carcases of Israel, was not allowed to accomplish the same with regard to Judah. The Lord had a further purpose to serve with regard to the Jews. And so the word was fulfilled, "And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem." But when the Jews had filled up the measure of their iniquity in the land, then was the word of God, which is a light to our feet, and a lamp to our path, sent, in ministration, away from Jerusalem, down through Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, in the midst of the divided carcases, the expatriated and scattered children of Israel. Then was the Great High Priest, who had been rejected in Jerusalem, found in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, as removed to the cities of Asia Minor. There, in the

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THE JEWS BROUGHT FORTH UNTO ISRAEL.-ISRAEL'S RETURN.

ministration of the word, did John behold Him, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and who searcheth the reins and the heart. It was to search out, and consume the heart-wickedness of his people, by that which truly maketh manifest, that Israel had been parted, and placed thus along the great line, in which hath come the ministration of the word. The word was thus ministered by believing Jews, such as Paul, from Jerusalem, round about unto Illyricum. It was by the lamp of fire from Jerusalem, supplied with oil by our great superintending High Priest, that mercy hath visited us, who sat in darkness, "to guide our feet into the way of peace."

The ministration of judgment hath also thus come; as truly hath been fulfilled, in the unbelieving Jews, the figure of the smoking furnace, as in the believing Jews, who were made light in the Lord, was displayed the burning lamp. The Romans, who laid Jerusalem waste, and who led the Jews away captive in their last great captivity, drew them down northwestward, in the same direction as had come the ministration of the word of life. They have been an exemplification of the curse upon those who reject Him in whom alone blessing can be found. To the truth of the Gospel, the case of unbelieving Judah has been a constant and loudly attesting witness. See as to the uses which this remnant from Jerusalem was to serve unto the outcasts of Israel, Ezek. xiv. 22, 23.

Nor in the Jews alone have these witnesses been made to appear, but the case of every people, not only from Jerusalem, round about to Illyricum, but even straight onward in the direction of our own island, has been made to witness to the truthfulness of God, either in mercy or in judgment. Nor will the witness here terminate—nay, hence it will, and has,

in a measure, spread unto the uttermost parts of the earth; and not only will the witness thus spread, but thence it will come together into unity and strength, when in that land, which hath so long lain desolate without them, which darkness hath covered, whilst gross darkness was covering the people, the children of promise shall, in the light, "be lifted up like the stones of a crown, as an ensign upon his land." Then the Lord will accomplish his covenant mercy of which he spake to Abraham, saying, "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates." The country, then inhabited by "the Kenites, the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites," is now empty for returning Israel. As truly as they have multiplied in the ends of the earth, has their own central-land been made empty for them. And they that are left of the nations around shall yet say, "This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste, and desolate, and ruined cities, are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you, shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it." Yes, there shall yet come the voice from the throne, saying, It is done. The mystery of God is finished. The face of the covering which was cast over all nations is destroyed"The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together." Now will have come the manifestation of the sons of God, and now, in truth, will be the waiting for God's Son from heaven, and the great proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

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