among them, who from day to day vexed the just soul with unjust works.-2 Peter, ii. 4-8.

CHAPTER X.

THE BIRTH OF ISAAC.

What was the name of Abraham's and Sarah's son?

Isaac.

And what was remarkable about his birth? He was born by promise, and contrary to all human expectation.

What other persons were born by promise? Samson, Samuel, St. John Baptist, our Blessed Lady, and our Divine Saviour.

How did God prove the faith of Abraham after the birth of Isaac ?

He commanded him to offer Isaac as & sacrifice.

Did Abraham obey?

He obeyed promptly. "Rising up in the night, he saddled his ass, and took with him. two young men and Isaac his son; and when he had cut wood for the sacrifice, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him."-Gen. xxii. 2.

And what followed?

On the third day he saw the place afar off, and told the young men to remain below with the ass, while Isaac and himself went further.

Did Isaac know what was about to happen? No. He remarked to his father: "Behold the fire and wood, where is the victim for the sacrifice ?"

What answer did Abraham return?

"My son, God will provide Himself a victim for the sacrifice."

Was Isaac actually offered in sacrifice? Abraham bound him, laid him on the altar, and raised the knife to slay him, but he was stopped by the angel of the Lord.

What did he offer instead?

A ram caught by its horns in a bush. How did God reward Abraham for his faith and obedience?

He promised that He would make of him a great nation, that his seed should be exceedingly numerous, and that in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blest.

How were all the nations of the earth blest in the seed of Abraham?

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is of the seed of Abraham.

What mystery was pre-figured in this offering of Isaac ?

The mystery of our own redemption. Isaac represents the guilty race of man condemned to die, and the ram that was actually offered in his stead represents our Blessed Lord, who in His own person bore our sins and was offered a sacrifice for us.

CHAPTER XI.

AGAR AND ISMAEL.

Abraham had another son besides Isaac ? Yes. Ismael, whose mother's name was Agar.-Gen. xvi. 3.

What did Sara require Abraham to do with Ismael?

She required him to be cast out with his mother, for she said, "The son of a bond-woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac."

Was Abraham willing to do this?

No. He took it much to heart since he loved his son, but God appeared to him and told him to do as Sara said, and He promised to make of Ismael also a great nation.-Gen. xxi. 17.

How did Abraham send them away?

He rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle of water, put it upon the shoulder of Agar, and delivered to her the boy Ismael, and sent her away.

What happened afterwards?

When the water was spent, Agar was in great trouble, because she thought her son would die. They were in the wilderness of Bersabee.

And

she left the child, and went a little distance from him, and wept.

How was she comforted?

The angel of God appeared to her, and said, "Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the

boy, from the place wherein he is. Arise, take up the boy and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation."-Gen. xxi. 17.

And how did God relieve her present distress?

He opened the eyes of Agar, and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.

What more do we read about Ismael?

We are told that he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and became an archer, and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

What does St. Paul tell us about this history of Isaac and Ismael?

He says that it was an allegory.

What do you mean by an allegory?

A fact, or series of facts representing and symbolising other and higher truths.

What truths are symbolised in the Story of Ismael and Isaac?

According to St. Paul, the story of Ismael and Isaac represent the two Testaments, that is, the Jewish Law, and the Christian Church. Christians like Isaac are the children of promisethe children of the free woman; others are the children of the bond-woman, like Ismael.

What are St. Paul's words?

"Now, we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then, he that was born according to the flesh, persecuted him that was after the spirit, so also it is now... ...So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free, by the freedom

28

THE DEATH OF SARA AND MARRIAGE OF ISAAC.

wherewith Christ has made us free."-Galatians, iv. 28, 29, 31.

CHAPTER XII.

THE DEATH OF SARA AND MARRIAGE OF ISAAC.

At what age did Sara, the wife of Abraham, lie?

At the age of one hundred and twenty-seven vears.-Gen. xxiii. 1, 2.

And where did Abraham bury her?

"In a double cave of the field that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron, in the land of Canaan."-xxiii. 19.

Since Abraham was a stranger in Chanaan, how did he get possession of this field?

He bought it from Ephron, one of the people of Heth, for four hundred sicles of silver.

When Abraham was old, what promise did he exact from Eleazer, the steward of his household?

That he would not take a wife for Isaac from among the women of Chanaan.-Gen. xxiv. 3. Why did he make him promise thus ?

Because these women of Chanaan were idolators, and he feared lest Isaac, by contracting such a marriage, should become an idolator.

Does the Church approve of marriages between persons of different religions?

No. She gives no blessing to such marriages. They lead to grave and lasting evils.