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bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be

blessed." h When he separated himself from Lot, and dwelt in the land of Canaan, the promise was renewed, with an assurance, that the land which he saw should be given to him and his seed for ever, and that his seed should be as the dust of the earth. Immediately after he was returned from rescuing his kinsman, Lot, and the slaughter of the kings, and had paid tithes to Melchisedec, the general promise of increase was limited to his own son: "and he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.” A new assurance of the Divine promise was given to him, when the covenant of circumcision was first appointed; and a corresponding change made in the name of the patriarch, who was to be a father of many nations, and of Sarah, of whom the Son, according to the promise, should be born.' But it was not until Abraham had given the fullest proof of his faith in God, by offering up Isaac, the son of his old age, that the blessing to all nations, which was to be by his seed, that is, by Christ, was fully declared with the utmost precision, and ratified by an oath. Because God

h Gen. xii. 1...3.

* Gen. xv. 6.

m Gal. iii. 16.

i Gen. xiii. 14, 16.

1 Gen. xvii.

could swear by no greater, he sware by himself," saying, " In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore: and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.""

In all these successive revelations, extending over so large a portion of Abraham's life, he doubtless received true, although imperfect, information respecting his one great descendant. But the question is, whether these promises conveyed that clear and anxiously expected insight into futurity, which our Lord implies, when he declares, "Your father Abraham earnestly desired to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." All these promises were calculated to inspire the patriarch with confidence; since they assured him, upon authority which he knew to be infallible, of many great and precious blessings, which should descend upon his numerous posterity; and, by the means of his seed, be diffused over the whole earth. And Abraham "was glad," when the birth of Isaac was distinctly foretold: for "he fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old?" And this he did, not from unbe

n Heb. vi. 13.

• Gen. xxii. 16, 18.

P Gen. xvii. 17,

lief, for "he staggered not at the promise of God;" but with a severe and holy joy, “giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded, that what he promised he was able also to perform." q Wherefore also the child of promise was named Isaac, laughter, not from the subsequent incredulity of his mother, when she "laughed within herself," but in token of the exultation of his father when he received the promise. Still it appears not, that this promise was made in consequence of any specific earnest desire, which Abraham had entertained.

There was, however, one action of his life, in which so clear an intimation of the great events of the Gospel was conveyed, that it may with the greatest propriety be called, seeing the day of Christ. And this information was given at the very time when the patriarch was most likely to have been animated with that "earnest desire," which our Lord declares he did possess at some period of his life. That action was the intended sacrifice of Isaac.

Abraham was well acquainted with the promises of a Redeemer, which had been made immediately after the fall of man, and renewed from time to time; until the revelations made to himself limited the blessing to his own personal descendants. Having so long continued

Rom. iv. 20, 21.

Gen. xviii. 12.

under an extraordinary providence, and seeing Isaac his son growing up to years of manhood; knowing that in Isaac his seed should be called,' perhaps even regarding him as the individual, by whom the whole design of God's gracious scheme should be perfected; it is no improbable supposition, that he might "earnestly desire," before his death, some especial information respecting the manner, in which the salvation so long expected should at length be brought to pass: and that the command to offer up his own son as a sacrifice was given, among other wise purposes, with the intention of affording him this information, by a real action, prefiguring what should come to pass in the latter days, enabling him to SEE the day of Christ.

This opinion, it is well known, was supported by a distinguished writer in the last century.t But it is not necessary, with him, to suppose the whole transaction to have been a scenical representation, analogous to those specific symbolical actions, which the prophets were afterwards commanded to perform. Whether this hypothesis be well founded or not, the events in which Abraham was then engaged were certainly calculated to afford the patriarch some insight into the scheme of Divine Provi

Gen. xxi. 12.

Warburton, Div. Legation, Book VI. Sect. 5.

dence; to shew to future ages, that the sacrifice of Christ was contemplated in the counsels of the Almighty, long before it came to pass; and that Isaac was, by an immediate Providence, engaged in events, which clearly prefigured those of the Gospel history.

Χ

The whole transaction bears a degree of similarity to the events of Christ's death, which the most cursory observation cannot fail to discover. Isaac, the "only-begotten" and beloved son of an indulgent father, was given up, as an innocent victim to suffer death, upon one of the mountains of Moriah." Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, who knew no sin, was made sin for us, and was crucified and slain upon one of the same mountains. As Isaac was led up to the place appointed by God for the sacrifice, he was laden with the wood, which Abraham clave for the burnt-offering." When Jesus was led away to be crucified, he went forth "bearing his cross."" Isaac appears to have given himself up as a willing victim to the command of God, although at his period of life, he might have effectually resisted the comparative feebleness of his aged father. In order

u Gen. xxii.

a

Gen. xxii. 3, 6.

* 2 Cor. v. 21.
John xix. 17.

Josephus says he was 25 years of age, Ant. Book I. ch. xiii. §. 2.

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