SERMON XXIII.

GENESIS XXII. 7, 8.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and 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.

THE chapter, from which this interesting dialogue is taken, is perhaps of all those in the Old Testament the most remarkable for the event recorded in it, and the most affecting from the beautiful and natural manner in which that event is described. The three leading objects which impress themselves on our attention, are these: first, the inclination of God Almighty to tempt, or put to the test the fidelity of his servant Abraham; secondly, the implicit obedience and unqualified faith of Abraham; and, thirdly, the

dutiful, the meek, the cheerful acquiescence of Isaac in the dreadful deed which was to have been inflicted on him. All these points or topics will naturally arise in analyzing the chapter itself.

And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham,-and said unto him, Abraham and he said, behold, here I am." As much as if Abraham had observed, "behold thy servant; whatsoever command it pleaseth thy divine justice to impose upon me, or whatsoever be the object of this gracious visitation, behold, O Lord, I am here, thy servant, to obey!" And the Almighty said, "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." On the annunciation of this dreadful command, which could have been little anticipated, it is remarkable that Abraham offers not the least reply: no kind of expostulation-no entreatment for mitigation of so severe a sentence-seems to escape his lips. Knowing that what God designs must be for the good of man, and (as he had before said) considering himself but as dust and ashes compared with his Maker, X

he, humbly, unconditionally, and promptly obeys." And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son: and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham lift up his eyes and saw the place afar off." We must suppose that this place was at a considerable distance from the spot in which God had conversed with him; and that, during this journey, Abraham's mind must have been intensely occupied with meditating on the act which he was about to perpetrate on his only child :—the hope and comfort of his declining age. During this journey, there is every reason to believe that Abraham might have communicated to the child the object for which it was made: but that this communication was of a general nature—namely, that they were going to sacrifice in the usual manner of offering up burntofferings. When they had reached the spot, Abraham began to prepare himself for performing the heart-rending deed for which he had been sent:-but, as a preliminary step, and willing that no creature should be present to witness the sufferings of himself and child,

"Abide you

he said unto the young men, here with the ass, and I and the lad (meaning Isaac) will go yonder and worship, and come again unto you." Now, then, the awful deed was about to be perpetrated: but still the innocent and inapprehensive mind of Isaac was not aware that he нIMSELF was to be the sacrifice which was to be immolated upon the altar. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son (that he might carry it to form the altar) and (in the usual manner observed in oriental sacrifices) he took the fire in his hand, and a knife: and they went both of them together." The altar was to be erected at a little distance; but Isaac, not seeing any lamb to make the sacrifice with, naturally interrogated his father upon the subject. "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father?'-and he said here am I, my son.' Then Isaac observed, “ Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" As much as if he had said, "Lo, my father, we have journeyed thus far for the purpose of making a sacrifice in a particular spot which God hath pointed out; but now, having reached it, behold there is nothing to perform the sacrifice

with." The reply of Abraham forms one of those exquisite touches of human nature, which is better conceived than enlarged upon. He is conscious that within a few moments he must begin to put in practice the commands of the Deity:-but the feelings of a father still rend his bosom-and he has not yet the courage explicitly to declare to his son what is to be the substance of the sacrifice. He still avoids therefore a direct answer, keeping up the hopes and curiosity of the child. And Abraham said, " My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering," This appears to have satisfied Isaac ; for we find they went both of them together, without farther dialogue, to the important spot that VERY SPOT, where, wonderful to relate, the SAVIOUR of the world was afterwards offered up a sacrifice, of sweet smelling savour, for the redemption of the sins of the world.

At length, Abraham and his son came to the place which God had marked out. "And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order." Now, the crisis had arrived: and we find that Abraham "bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood." We may suppose that Isaac submitted to his