CHAPTER IV.

ISRAEL AND JUDAH.-PART II. THE PROMISES.

The importance of the prophecies regarding the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, makes it very desirable that we should examine closely into them now, and, as many of them are yet unfulfilledor no record is to be found of their fulfilment-a careful consideration of the subject may assist in throwing light upon many controverted questions. In order to do this it is necessary to trace the promises from the time when they were first made direct by God to Abraham, and thence follow them up step by step to the latest date to which revelation has been vouchsafed regarding them.

It is unnecessary to refer to the genealogy of man before the flood, as, since that event, Noah clearly represents the head of the human family. Shem was the eldest of Noah's sons, and from him Abram descended in a direct line through the eldest sons of each generation, and he may therefore truly be conGen. xi. 31. sidered the heir. When we first read of Abram, he was living with his father Terah, and his relative Lot, at Ur of the Chaldees, and both he and Lot were, at that time, married. This Ur of the Chaldees was situated on the river Euphrates, not very far from the confluence of that river with the Tigris, before falling into the Persian Gulf. From thence the family moved to Haran, in Mesopotamia, nearer to the source of the Euphrates, and they dwelt there.

Gen. xii. 1.

Whilst living at Haran, God first revealed a part of his purpose to Abram, and directed him to leave his family and to migrate to another place which God had chosen for him to dwell in, promising, as a consequence of obedience, that he would make of him a great nation,

and would bless him, and make his name great; and, further, God declared "Thou shalt be a blessing; and "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him "that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families "of the earth be blessed."

In obedience to this command Abram, with his wife and family, left Haran, and Lot and his family went with him. From Haran they journeyed south through the land of Canaan until they came to Sichem, to the plain of Moriah. Here God met Abram and promised to give the land of Canaan to his seed. The next halting-place, of which we have record, where Abram stayed on his journey, was between Beth-el and Hai. Thence Abram and his party went on, proceeding still in a southerly direction; and, as there was now a famine in the land, he did not halt again for any length of time in Canaan, but went on into Egypt.

After a time Abram returned again to Canaan, and fixed his head quarters near Beth-el; but the herds and dependants of Abram and Lot had by this time increased so greatly that the land could not support Gen. xiii. 6. them, and it became necessary that they should part company. Lot, accordingly, journeyed east, and dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent towards Sodom, but Abram sojourned still in the same place. God now appeared again unto Abram, and directed him to lift up his eyes, and look from the place where he was, "northward, and southward, and east"ward, and westward; for," said He, "all the land "which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed "for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of "the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of "the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, and "in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee." Then Abram removed his tent, and went and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, near Hebron, a place about twenty miles south of Jerusalem, and, as was his custom wherever he dwelt, he built there an altar to the Lord.

Gen. xv. 5.

Gen. xvii.

1-8.

At this time Abram had no son, nevertheless God, appearing unto him again, brought him forth and said, "look now toward heaven and tell the stars if thou be "able to number them," and He said unto him, "so "shall thy seed be. I am the Lord that brought thee "out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to "inherit it;" but Abram said, "whereby shall I know "that I shall inherit it?" whereupon God ordered him to prepare certain animals for a sacrifice, and when he had thus done, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and an horror of great darkness fell upon him, and God said unto him, "know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred "and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I 'judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great substance. And thou shall go to thy fathers "in peace; thou shall be buried in a good old age. "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again.” On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "unto thy seed have I given this "land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, "the river Euphrates."

66

66

66

years;

Abram's vision was fulfilled in the Egyptian bondage to which his descendants were reduced between the days of Jacob and Moses.

Again, when Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared unto him and said, "I am the Almighty God; "walk before me and be thou perfect, and I will make

66

66

my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply "thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face; and "God talked with him, saying, as for me, behold, my "covenant is with thee, and thou shall be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be "called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I "will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make "nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. "And I will establish my covenant between me and

46

66

46

thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and "to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, "and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." At this time Gen. xvii. 19 also God said unto Abraham, "Sarah thy wife shall "bear thee a son indeed, and thou shall call his name "Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for "an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after " him."

Abraham now journeyed south, and sojourned in Gerar―a place in the south-west corner of Palestine— on his way towards Egypt. There Isaac was born, and God again informed Abraham that his son should be his heir, "For," said He, "in Isaac shall thy seed be Gen. xxi. 12. "called."

The next recorded promises by God to Abraham were pronounced when Abraham, in obedience to God's commands, prepared to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. The extraordinary faith and belief in God, thus shown, called forth the following message by an Gen. xxii. 16 Angel, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for "because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with"held thy son, thy only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is on "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; because thou hast obeyed my "voice."

66

66

Abraham died, and was buried by his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, in the cave of Machpelah, which he had purchased of the children of Heth to bury his wife Sarah in.

Another famine occurred in Canaan in the days of Isaac, and he went down to Gerar to dwell, as his father had done on a previous similar occasion. Isaac would have gone further, even into Egypt, but God ordered

Gen. xxvi. 2-4.

Gen. xxviii. 10-15.

him, saying: “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the "land which I shall tell thee of; sojourn in this land, "and I will be with thee, and will bless thee ; for "unto thee, and unto thy seed I will give all these "countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware "unto Abraham thy father; and I will make thy seed "to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

66

Of Isaac's two sons, Esau, despising his birthright, sold it to Jacob for some red pottage when returning one day from hunting, faint and hungry. By subtlety Jacob obtained Isaac's blessing which was intended for Esau; and in blessing him Isaac said: "See, the "smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the "Lord hath blessed; therefore God give thee of the "dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee, "and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy "brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to "thee; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and "blessed be he that blesseth thee."

66

When Esau discovered how he had been supplanted, he determined to kill Jacob as soon as his father died. This was told to Rebekah, and she forthwith sent Jacob away to Padan-aram, to escape his brother's vengeance. Jacob accordingly went out from Beersheba, and went towards Haran, and he alighted upon a certain place called Luz, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and the angels of God ascending and descending on it. on it. And the Lord stood above it, and said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the "God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee " will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be "as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread