And that they might know what things were written in these books concerning him, 45. He opened their understandings that they might understand the scriptures:' he gave them the knowledge of the meaning of those passages of the scriptures which relate to himself, that they might be able to confirm the gospel which they were to preach, by testimonies taken from the law and the prophets. Accordingly, the apostle Paul, who, like the other apostles, had the true meaning of the Jewish scriptures communicated to him by inspiration, hath on these writings founded those enlarged views of the doctrines of the gospel, and of the divine dispensations, which he hath delivered in his epistles; in so much that his explications of the Jewish scriptures, and the conclusions which he hath drawn from them, make a principal part of the gospel revelation.

The passages of the writings of Moses, which Paul hath explained in his epistles, and which deserve our special attention, are those in which God's transactions with Abraham the father of the Israelites are recorded: namely, Gen. xii. 1-3. 14, 15, 16. xiii. 14–16. xv. 1–7. 18. xvii. 1-8. xviii. 19. xxii. 10-18.

In the first of these passages we are informed, that God commanded Abraham to leave his country and kindred, and go into a land which he would shew him. And to encourage him to break his connexions with his idolatrous kindred and acquaintance, God said to him, Gen. xii. 2. 'I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. 3. 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.' Having received this command, Abram obeyed and went out, not knowHe went out, noting whither he went,' Heb. xi. 8. withstanding he did not know whether the land into which he was going was a good or a bad land; or whether it was far off or near.

faith to him for righteousness. Ver. 1. When Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty God, walk 2. And I will make before me and be thou perfect. my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3. And Abram fell on his face and God talked with him, saying, 4. As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many 5. Neither shall thy name any more be called nations. Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of 6. And I will make many nations have I made thee. thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to 8. And be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. 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.'

Some time after this transaction, to shew us that the things promised to Abraham in the covenant depended on his continuing to believe and obey God, and on his commanding his children after him to keep the way of the Lord, and to do justice and judgment, the Lord said concerning him, Gen. xviii. 19. I know him that he will command his children after him, and his household, to keep the way of the Lord, and to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.'

At length, when Abraham was an hundred years old, and Sarah was ninety, she brought forth her long expected son, whom Abraham named Isaac, (laughter), on account of the joy which his birth occasioned to his parents. -But lo! when this only son, to whom all the promises were expressly limited, was grown up, God put Abraham's faith to a trial still more severe than that which was occasioned by deferring his birth so long: He commanded him to offer this only son as a burnt-offering, Gen. xxii. 2. This most difficult command, Abraham, without hesitation, set about obeying. He went with Isaac to the appointed mountain, raised an altar, put wood on it, bound Isaac, laid him on the altar on the wood, and stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son' and would have slain him, had not the angel of the Lord called to him, and said, ver. 12. Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing to him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. -15. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16. And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 17. 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 upon the sea-shore; 18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.' Here it is to be remarked, that God confirmed all his former promises with an oath; and declared that he would perform these promises, because Abraham had done the difficult work of offering up his only son as a burnt-offering. Also he gave him a new promise, That the person in whom all the nations of the earth are to be blessed, should be one of his descendants; and declared, as before, that he made him this promise, because he had obeyed his voice.

From the foregoing account of God's transactions with Abraham, it appears that God's covenant with him contained six separate promises or stipulations on the part of God, namely,

I. That God would exceedingly bless Abraham. II. That Abraham should be the father of many nations, and very fruitful.

III. That God would give to Abraham, and to his seed after him, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.

IV. That he would be a God to Abraham, and to his seed after him in their generation.

an object of sense, neither required many words, nor were these words of uncertain meaning.. This kind of allegory, therefore, with its interpretation, could be handed down to posterity with a good degree of accuracy, without the aid of writing.-3. In scripture, some future events are

VI. That in Abraham's seed also, all the nations of the earth should be blessed.

These stipulations the apostle Paul, in different places of his epistles, hath styled the promises; and hath entered deeply into their meaning.

To understand these promises, in the whole extent of their meaning, the reader should recollect, that in the early ages, before the art of writing was invented, the most approved method of communicating and preserving knowledge was by allegory; that is, by making sensible objects which were present, or not very distant in point of time, representations of things which are not the objects of sense, or which are future, but which have some affinity to the things made use of to represent them. In this method of instruction, the characters and actions of remarkable persons, and the ordinary events of their life, were on some occasions considered as prefigurations of more distant persons and events to which they had a resemblance. Of this kind, which may be called the natural allegory, we have the following examples in scripture. -Abraham, in respect of the faith and obedience which he exercised in uncircumcision, was a type of believers of all nations; and to shew this, he was made their father. -Melchizedeck, in his character and offices of a king and priest, was made by God himself a type of Christ, Psal. cx. 4.-David also, in his office and kingdom, prefigured Christ; on which account, Christ is called David by the latter prophets.-Abraham's wives and sons, according to St. Paul, Gal. iv. 24. were allegorical representations of the two covenants, and of the persons placed under these covenants.-The swallowing of Jonah by the whale, and his continuing in its belly three days and three nights, is declared by our Lord himself to be a prefiguration of his burial, and of his resurrection on the third day, Matt. xxvi. 4.-The characters, actions, and events which constitute the natural allegory, though existing apparently in the ordinary course of things, were ordered of God, so as to be fit emblems of those future persons and events, the knowledge of which God intended to communicate to the world.

There is in scripture, likewise, what may be called the instituted allegory; because it consisted of actions which God appointed to be performed with such and such circumstances, for the purpose of prefiguring future persons and events. Of this sort were all the Levitical sacrifices, particularly the paschal lamb, John xix. 36.—and all the rites of worship appointed by Moses, which, as Paul tells us, Heb. x. 1. were shadows of good things to come.Of the same kind was the lifting up of the brazen serpent in the wilderness, which our Lord tells us, John iii. 14, 15. was a type of his being himself lifted up on the cross. Probably also the command to offer up Isaac as a burnt-offering, was intended as an allegorical representation of the sacrifice of Christ, Heb. xi. 19.-And to name no more instances, many of the extraordinary things done by the prophets, at the command of God, were types; as is evident from the explication with which they were accompanied.

The allegorical method of communicating and preserving instruction, was attended with three advantages.-1. The emblem being an object of sense, made a strong impression on the imagination of the persons for whose instruction the allegory was intended, and might easily be remembered.-2. The verbal explication which often accompanied the instituted allegory, having for its subject

selves prefigurations or predictions of future events more remote. In such cases, when the first events come to pass in the manner foretold, they are both a proof and a pledge that the more remote events, of which they are the signs, will take place in their season.

This account of the ancient scripture allegory I have given here, because from what our Lord and his apostles have said concerning the promises in the covenant with Abraham, it appears that that transaction, besides its first meaning, which terminated in the persons and events literally spoken of, had an allegorical, or second and higher meaning, which was to be accomplished in persons and events more remote. For example, Abraham's natural descendants by Isaac, though he was not yet born, were considered in the covenant as types of his seed by faith. In like manner, Isaac's supernatural birth, accomplished by the power of God, typified the regeneration of believers by the same power.-And the land of Canaan, promised to the natural seed as their inheritance, was an emblem of the heavenly country, the inheritance of the seed by faith. In short, the temporal blessings promised in the covenant to the natural seed, had all an allegorical or second meaning; being images of those better blessings which God intended to bestow in a more remote period on Abraham's seed by faith, as shall be shewn immediately.

The promises in the covenant with Abraham, thus allegorically interpreted according to their true intention, throw great light on the gospel revelation, in which there are many allusions to that covenant; not to mention, that the accomplishment of its promises in their literal meaning to Abraham's natural seed, is a striking proof of the divine original, both of the covenant itself, and of the gospel which it prefigured.

SECT. I. Of the first Promise in the Covenant with Abraham.

THE first promise in the covenant was, that Abraham should be exceedingly blessed. Gen. xii. 2. I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing.' Gen. xxii. 16. By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thine only son, 17. That in blessing I will bless thee;' that is, I will greatly bless thee.

This promise, in its first and literal meaning, implied, 1. That God would bestow on Abraham great temporal prosperity, and protect him from evil during his sojournings as a stranger in Canaan, and in the neighbouring countries into which he might have occasion to go. Hence, in allusion to the literal meaning of this promise, God called himself Abraham's shield, Gen. xv. 1.-In fulfilment of this promise, according to its literal meaning, God blessed Abraham so exceedingly, that after living in Canaan a few years, the male slaves born in his house who were capable of going to war, were no fewer than 318, with whom he pursued Chedorlaomer and his confederates, and defeated them near Damascus.-Farther, in the account which Moses hath given of Abraham's sojournings in Canaan, and Egypt, and in the land of the Philistines, various dangers from which God shielded him are mentioned, which, being well known, it is needless to speak of them particularly.

2. The blessing of Abraham, in its literal meaning, comprehended also God's counting Abraham's faith, concerning his numerous natural seed, to him for righteous

ness. Now the meaning of God's counting an action for righteousness, may be understood from the application of the phrase to Phinehas, after he executed judgment on Zimri and Cozbi. Psal. cvi. 30. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed, and it was counted to him for righteousness to all generations; that is, his executing judgment on these wicked persons was rewarded by God, as a righteous action, with a temporal reward which descended to his latest posterity. That this is the meaning of the phrase, appears from Numb. xxv. where, speaking of the same action, God saith to Moses, ver. 11. Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, (while he was zealous for my sake among them), that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace. 13. And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.' Now, as in the case of Phinehas, his slaying Zimri and Cozbi is said to have been counted to him for righteousness,' because God rewarded him and his posterity with the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; so in the case of Abraham, his believing in the Lord that his seed should be numerous as the stars of heaven, is said to have been counted to him for righteousness,' because God rewarded him and his seed with the promise of the inheritance of Canaan, immediately after declaring that his faith was counted to him for righteousness. Gen. xv. 7. And he said to him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.' Then, as in the case of Phinehas, God confirmed this grant to Abraham's seed by a covenant: ver. 18. In that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.'

Such is the first or literal meaning of God's blessing Abraham exceedingly,' and of his counting his faith to him for righteousness.' But this promise, in both its parts, had also a second and higher meaning, of which the literal meaning was itself the sign, and which must now be explained.

The promise to bestow on Abraham great temporal prosperity, and to protect him from evil during his sojourning in Canaan, was likewise a promise to bestow on him those spiritual blessings, and that protection from his spiritual enemies, which were necessary to his perseverance in faith and obedience during his sojourning on earth. This we learn from the apostle Paul, who calls the assistances of the Spirit, the blessing of Abraham,' and represents them as promised to him. Gal. iii. 13. Christ hath bought us off from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. 14. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.'

Next, the counting of Abraham's faith to him for righteousness, Gen. xv. 6. by bestowing on him the inheritance of Canaan, was, in its second and highest meaning, a promise to bestow on him the blessing of justification by faith. This appears from Gal. iii. 8. The scriptures foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham, saying, Surely in thee all the nations shall be blessed. For the blessing of justification by faith, the apostle hath termed 'the blessing of Abraham,' and tells us in ver. 13. as quoted above, that Christ died that the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations.' Wherefore, if the counting of Abraham's faith to him for righteousness, was nothing but God's rewarding him with the promise of bestowing on him and on his seed the inheritance of the earthly country, which indeed was its first meaning, the blessing of Abraham neither hath come on the nations, nor can come on

them, notwithstanding the apostle hath assured us that Christ died to procure that blessing for them.

It is evident, therefore, that when God promised to bless Abraham by counting his faith to him for righteousness, he in effect promised to justify him by faith. Now this implied, 1. That he would pardon Abraham's sins: 2. That he would reward him as a righteous person.

1. That the counting of Abraham's faith to him for righteousness, was a promise to justify him by faith, that is, to pardon his sins on account of his faith, is evident from Rom. vi. 6. In like manner, David describeth the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord counteth righteousness without works, 7. Saying, Blessed (like Abraham) are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not count sin.'

2. That the counting of Abraham's faith to him for righteousness, was likewise a promise to reward him as a righteous person, by bestowing on him the inheritance of an heavenly country as a free gift, is plain, I think, from the history. For we are told, that immediately after God counted Abraham's faith to him for righteousness, he promised to give him the land of Canaan in inheritance : by which, not the inheritance of the earthly country only was meant, but the inheritance of an heavenly country also; as shall be proved in Sect. 3. where that promise is explained. Besides, that under the emblem of the earthly country an heavenly country was promised to him, Abraham himself knew: for the apostle assureth us, that he died in the firm persuasion of his being to receive a country of that sort, according to God's promise. Wherefore, the apostle hath authorized us to believe, Abraham knew that the counting of his faith to him for righteousness, implied not only the pardon of his sins, but his being rewarded, as a righteous person, with the inheritance of heaven.

But if Abraham knew the true import of God's counting his faith to him for righteousness, he would consider it either as a declaration from God that his sins were then pardoned, and that he was immediately to be rewarded with the possession of the heavenly country; or as a promise that he would be pardoned and rewarded at the general judgment.-If he considered it as a declaration that his sins were then pardoned, and that he was immediately to be put in possession of the heavenly country, he would expect to be freed from death, the punishment of sin, and to be soon translated in the body into some place fit to be the everlasting abode of righteous men, like his pious ancestor Enoch, with whose history he no doubt was acquainted. But if he considered the counting of his faith for righteousness, only as a promise that his sins were to be pardoned, and the possession of the heavenly country to be given him at the general judgment, he would expect to be raised from the dead with a body suited to the nature of the heavenly country into which he was to be introduced, and to live in that heavenly habitation in the body for ever. One or other of these Abraham had reason to expect; unless he thought God's counting his faith to him for righteousness, was nothing but a promise to give him the earthly country. However, as he did not find himself immediately translated from this earth in the body, and as but one righteous person had been so translated without dying, he would think it more probable, that in the counting of his faith to him for righteousness, the pardon of his sins, and the possession of the heavenly country, were only promised to him as blessings which he was to receive at the judgment. Wherefore, not doubting that he would die like other righteous men, Abraham, in consequence of his faith being counted to him for righteousness, would expect to be raised from the dead, to enjoy that life in the body which he knew he was to be deprived of by death, and to possess the heavenly country which was promised to him as the reward of his faith.