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upon hin, yielded up the point in dispute, and я covenant was entered into between them, by which the right of Abraham to the well of Beersheba was confirmed.

We are now arrived at the most memorable circumstance in the life of this illustrious patriarch, and one which has employed the pens of commentators more than any other in the sacred history.

The Almighty, after many repeated declarations, and many solemn engagements, had accomplished his promise; and Abraham enjoyed the delightful satisfaction of receiving a son and heir by his beloved wife. The child grew up to years of maturity, and by the sweetness of his manners solaced the hearts of his parents, in their old age, and gave them an assurance that after the many vicissitudes they had experienced, nothing would intervene to disturb them till their course should be ended; and that then, to add to their comfort, they would have a dutiful son to close their eyes in the moment of dissolution. How vain are our fondest expectations! And how little is there upon earth which we can call our own! In the midst of his tranquillity, Abraham was put to another trial, more severe than any he had yet been called to endure. While he beheld Isaac with fond delight, as the child of promise and the father of many nations, he received this extraordinary command: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

How awfully particular and affecting is the Divine order! take thy son, is not clear enough, but it must be "thine only son," even Isaac, thy darling child; he upon whom thy heart is fixed; the child of thy tenderest affections; even Isaac, whom "thou lovest"-And what is to be done with him? Must he be abandoned to a wandering life, to the pitiless storm of a ruthless world, like Ishmael? That indeed, would have been greatly distressing to such a

tender heart as that of Abraham; but what is this when compared to the demand of his life? Take him into a distant land with all the order of a pleasant journey, and offer him for a burnt-offering.

What must have been the sensations of Abraham in that moment? Did not his soul sink within him, and every faculty rush into confusion when the dreadful sentence was pronounced by that voice, which had hitherto sounded nothing in his ears but promises and peace? no doubt Abraham felt, at that moment, all the sympathies of nature; but there was one principle in him which was not to be overthrown. His tenderness as a man and a father could not get the better of his duty to GOD. He had been accustomed hitherto to comply implicitly with every command of heaven, with every ordinance of Jehovah. Satisfied, therefore, that the present ordinance came from the same righteous authority which he had hitherto made it his practice to obey, he arose without a murmur, and did as he was directed.

The length of the journey was an aggravating circumstance in this trying scene, as hereby every revolting idea against obedience had leisure to operate; and the suggestions of infidelity, that the command was a deception, were by no means weak, when added to a reflection upon the terms of the promise and the solemnity of the covenant. He might say, as probably he sometimes thought, "How are these things to be reconciled, and how can all that has been promised me be fulfilled, now that my innocent, my beloved Isaac, must be offered as a lamb upon the altar?" Such a doubt was natural, and that it worked upon the mind of the patriarch can hardly be questioned; but that faith by which, as the apostle saith, "he believed even against hope," Romans iv. 18, kept him stedfast in this sore trial. He relied upon the wisdom and goodness, the verity and holiness of Jehovah; and therefore, as he had received Isaac from his hands, by promise, he was determined to yield him back at the Divine command.

On their arrival at the mountain, Abraham alighted with his son, and leaving the servants, they ascended together, the father bearing the instruments of death, and Isaac carrying the wood for the fatal pile. At this crisis, so painful and distressing, Isaac put a question, which could not but rouse every tender sentiment in the breast of Abraham. "And he said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son: and he said behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, GOD will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering so they went both of them together."

Many religious persons, when called upon to resign a darling object to the will of heaven, are apt to be fretful against the Lord; they think that their trial is peculiar, and their lot unjustly hard; let such persons contemplate the burden laid upon Abraham, and his conduct through the whole of this painful scene. "GOD," said he, "will provide." He little thought at that moment that he was speaking in the spirit of prophecy, but actually considered his beloved Isaac, whom he addressed, as the lamb appointed for the sacrifice.

The altar being erected, and the wood laid in order, the patriarch pauses, and addresses a solemn prayer to the covenant God of his mercies. Isaac, though a young man, not less than twenty-five years of age, readily submits to be bound, and lies stretched upon the wood which he had carried himself.

Abraham, faithful to his purpose, stretches forth his hand to plunge the deadly weapon into the throat of his son, the child of his old age, the heir of promise, his beloved Isaac-It is enough.---The sacrifice is performed. Jehovah, who had watched every part of the scene, and every movement of his servant's soul, arrests his hand at the instant it is about to obey the command, and orders him to forbear: "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou fear

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