Genesis, "that the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

5. THE DISPERSION OF THE SONS OF MEN." And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. This is an expression after the manner of men. He knew as clearly and fully as men do that which they come on the place to view. He did not come merely as a spectator, but as a Judge, a Prince, to look upon these proud men, and to abase them.'-So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth. Thus the children of men were now scattered, and never did, nor never will, come all together again, till the great day, when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, and all nations shall be gathered before Him.'"

6. THE GENERATIONS OF SHEM.—These bring us down to Abraham, the friend of God. "Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood. And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: And

B

Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat ABRAM, Nahor, and Haran :-and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with him from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years and Terah died in Haran.”

EXERCISES.

1. What did God give to Noah and his sons, when they had come forth of the ark?

2. To what quarter of the earth were the posterity of Japheth allotted? Were they confined to Europe?

3. What was Nimrod's character? Babylon?

Who were the founders of

4. What did men attempt to build when they were all of one language?

5. How did God disperse them? Will they ever all meet again? When?

6. Of whom was Abram descended? Who was his father? Had Abram any brothers? What were their names? What relation was Lot to Abram? What was the name of Abram's wife? Where did Terah die? How old was he?

CHAPTER III.

FROM THE CALL OF ABRAHAM, TO THE BIRTH OF ESAU and Jacob, A. M. 2083-2168.

Abraham Leaves his Native Country-Goes into Egypt-Returns to where he had his Tent at the beginning-Complains for Want of an Heir-Receives a Gracious Promise-Hagar bears Ishmael-Abraham intercedes with God for the Inhabitants of the Cities of the Plain-The Trial of his Faith-Death of Sarah-His own Death and Character-Eliezer-Lot and Isaac, &c.

1. In the end of the last chapter we had the beginning of

the history of Abraham, who is a highly distinguished and very eminent character in both the Old and New Testaments. His country was Ur of the Chaldees, which he left at the age of seventy-five, according to the commandment of the Lord; taking with him his father Terah, his nephew Lot, and his wife Sarai, who was ten years younger than himself, and who, some think, was the same with Iscah, the daughter of Haran; with these he came and dwelt at Charan for about the space of five years, and from thence, when his father was dead, by a fresh commandment pursuant to the former, he removed into the land of Canaan. In Gen. xii. 8 it is recorded of Abram, that after the Lord had appeared to him at Sichem, he removed thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. "He had set up, and kept the worship of God in his family: Wherever he had a tent, God had an altar, and that altar sanctified by prayer."

After this, because of a famine in the land, he went down into Egypt, where he was guilty of denying his wife, and pretending that she was his sister. "The fear of man bringeth a snare." Having left Egypt, he came back to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. "He did not leave his religion in Egypt, as many do in their travels."

In the 15th chapter of Genesis, at the beginning, we find the Lord calling him by name, and saying, "Fear not, Abram : I AM thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." At the same time we find Abram pouring out his complaint unto the Lord, in these words :-"What wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus ? and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir." In answer to this complaint, God gave him an express promise of a son, that should come of his own bowels, to be his heir, and that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

In Gen. xvi. 1-3, we have the marriage of Abram to Hagar, respecting which it has been observed, "That though he may be excused, he cannot be justified, for from the beginning it was not so." Abram was fourscore and six years old when Hagar bare Ishmael to him. In Gen. xvii. we find that the Lord appeared unto Abram, when he was ninety years old and nine, and said unto him, "I AM the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.'

"In token of this, his name was changed from Abram, a high father, to Abraham, the father of a multitude." The first of his prayers that we have in words is to be found in the 18th verse of the 17th chapter of Genesis. "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!” This prayer, although very short, was very fervent, and very particular; and it received an answer of peace in these words :—“ And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." Note. It is the duty of parents to pray for all their children. We next find Abraham interceding with God on behalf of the inhabitants of the cities of the plain-doomed to destruction. Genesis xviii. 23-33.-" And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham : and Abraham returned unto his place."

Note.-" Abraham drew near with an assurance of faith; he drew upon God's concessions again and again; he brought the terms as low as he could for shame, having prevailed for mercy if there were but ten righteous persons in five cities. God

consented to spare the wicked for sake of the righteous, and did not leave of granting till Abraham left off asking, which proved his prayer was heard; and yet Sodom was not spared, because there were not ten righteous persons in it. We cannot expect

too little from man, nor too much from God."

In chapter xx., we have Abraham's sin, with an aggravation of being the second time that he had denied his wife; and for which he made a poor excuse, pleading the ill opinion he had formed of the place and people where he was.

In chapter xxi. 33, we read that "Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God." There he made not only a firm practice, but an open profession of his religion. Though God had made himself known to him as his God in particular, he forgets not to give glory to him as the Lord of all, the everlasting God, who was before all worlds, and will be when time and days shall be no

more.

In chapter xxii., we have the trial of Abraham's faith, in the command which God gave to him, "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 that I will tell thee of." 66 Many were the difficulties which Abraham broke through in his obedience to this command, and against which much might have been urged. The command was only intended for a trial: and it appearing upon trial that Abraham did indeed love God better than he loved Isaac, the order was countermanded; and another sacrifice is provided instead of Isaac."

In chapter xxiii., we have the death of Sarah, who being "an hundred and seven and twenty years old, died in Kirjath-arba. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.' To this request the children of Heth made offer of the best of their burying-places to Abraham for nought. (The noble generosity of these Canaanites shames and condemns many would-be nobles, who will scarcely allow the dead to be buried within their sight.) For their kind offer Abraham returns them thanks, with great respect. Though he was a great man, an old man, and now a mourner, yet he stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land. Religion teaches good manners, and those abuse it that place it in rudeness and clownishness. "And Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave