CONVERSATION XIV.

THE twelfth and thirteenth chapters of Genesis being read, Olympas called upon Reuben for a description of the Promised Land.

Reuben. It lay between the Mediterranean sea and the mountains of Arabia, and extends from Egypt to Phenicia. It is bounded on the east by the mountains of Arabia; to the south, by the wilderness of Paran, Idumea, and Egypt; to the west, by the Mediterranean, called in Hebrew the Great Sea; and to the north, by the mountains of Libanus. Its length from the city of Dan, since called Cesarea Philippi, which stands at the foot of these mountains, to Beersheba, is about seventy leagues, or two hundred and ten miles; and its breadth from the Mediterranean sea to the eastern border, in some places thirty leagues or ninety miles. This country, though small, lying in the very midst of the then known world, was chosen by God wherein to work the redemption of mankind. It was first called the land of Canaan, from Canaan the son of Ham, whose posterity possessed it. Afterwards it was called Palestine, from the people whom the Hebrews called Philistines, and the Greeks and Romans corruptly Palestines, who inhabited the sea coasts, and were first known to them; the Land of Promise from God's promise to Abraham of giving it to him;-the Land of Israel, from the Israelites, who afterward possessed it;-the Land of Judah, or Judea, from the tribe

of Judah, the most considerable of the twelve tribes, and the only one that remained after the Captivity-and lastly, the Holy Land, from being the scene of the birth, miracles, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Olympas. It is well repeated, and I presume you have traced these lines accurately upon the map. How many names had this land according to the description and history which you have heard?

William. No less than six-Canaan, Palestine, Land of Israel, Land of Judea, Land of Promise, and the Holy Land.

Olympas. The Land of Promise was then the family estate of Abraham in virtue of this divine charter. It was, however, his as yet only in promise for at that time seven nations called it their own country. When, James, was Abraham called to go and sojourn in this land?

James. When he was seventy-five years old. Olympas. He left Haran at that age; but the question is, At what time was Abraham called to forsake his native land, his kindred and home?

William. We are not informed at what time, only that the Lord at some previous time had said." This phrase allows even years to have intervened. He was, indeed, seventy-five years old at the time of his departure from Haran; but how long before that time he was called, we cannot tell.

Olympas. But as Paul says, "Abraham, when called, obeyed and went out not knowing whither he was going," are we not allowed-nay, constrained to think that as soon as he was called he obeyed?

William. If the call was to do it immediately, he could not have obeyed the call but by immediately rising up and commencing his journey. But the words seem to indicate that at some previous time to his departure the Lord had intimated to him his views and will, and that now the time was come to comply with them.

Olympas. Truc, the style so intimates; and we are allowed to infer that before he came to Haran, and while he was yet in Ur of the Chaldees, this call had been given to the Patriarch. We may have use for this distinction again, and whether or not, I would have you always to note dates accurately, for often much depends upon them. This is one of the most remarkable passages in the life of any man, and I would have you mark it with all care. Tell me, Thomas, how would you understand and elassify the blessings promised to Abraham, the belief of which induced him to forsake all; and to follow the guidance of the Sheckinah, or divine manifestation?

Thomas. There appears to me but two distinct promises in this transaction-the one special, the other general-the one personal, the other national-the one temporal, the other spiritual.

Olympas. Some might say there are six promises. Does it not read, 1st. “I will make of thee a great nation; 2nd. I will bless thee; 3rd. and make thy name great; 4th. and thou shalt be a blessing; 5th. and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; 6th. and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

Thomas. These are but the amplification or detailing out of the contents of two distinct

promises; for example, your 1st., 2nd., 3rd., and 5th. make one; and your 4th. and 6th. make another. "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee," are all personal, special, and temporal. These might have been and were all fulfilled, in Abraham as a prince and renowned ancestor of nations. But "I will make thee a blessing, and in thee shall all nations be blessed," are general and spiritual, and concern all mankind as much as the natural offspring of Abraham.

Olympas. So far you are correct: but might it not be said that in making Abraham a blessing no more was intended than temporal advantages -as, for instance, in the case of Joseph who was made a blessing to Egypt?

Thomas. Had it never been explained, it might, perhaps, have been doubtful; but its connexion with all families being blessed in the seed or son of Abraham, and especially Paul's speaking of the blessing of Abraham coming on the Gentiles through faith, determine its acceptation to be spiritual and not temporal.

Olympas. Well, Reuben, what do you learn from these remarkable verses not already stated?

Reuben. Nothing, sir, not embraced in what has been said. I see that Abraham is treated as "the friend of God." He is a root of two sorts of blessings; and these two include all things temporal and spiritual. Abraham's flesh and Abraham's faith are the stocks on which are grafted the scions of all good. Temporals are conveyed by fleshly relation, and spirituals by spiritual relation. Flesh and faith in the father,

and flesh and faith in the offspring, constitute the connective principle and reason of inheritance.

Olympas. Abraham, then, is truly a grandfather. Nations descended from his flesh are accounted honourable for his sake; and they of all nations who believe in God, and obey through faith, are reckoned his spiritual progeny. Two Covenants, two Wills, two Testaments, and two Dispensations, are based on these two classes of promises, Gen. xii. 2, 3. Other, indeed, numerous arrangements, special providences, and peculiar covenants such as the priesthood in one of Abraham's natural descendants-the royalty in another, grew out of these grand promises, just as the blessing of Abraham through faith included justification, sanctification, adoption, salvation, resurrection, immortality. Still as these two promises are the basis and root of all blessings, they ought to be distinctly marked, understood, and remembered by all students of the Bible. I will, therefore, endeavour to place them before you in the various forms and under a variety of circumstances as we proceed.

Eliza. Did you not say, father, when we last read through Genesis, that the two Testaments, called the Old and the New, grew out of these two verses, or the two blessings contained in these promises?

Olympas. Yes, this subject may be so viewed. The nation of Israel in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ and the New Testament, equally sprang from these two covenants or promises. And hence they ought to be a most memorable epoch; and they are in truth made so. Sarah, how old was the world when these two promises were first made?