88 Heb. And Sarai was delivered of a child when past age. God. SECT. that not such a one as he had left in his native for a city which hath xvi. land, or such as he saw in Canaan, or even in foundations, whose Egypt, grand and populous as some of their builder and maker is xi. 10 buildings were; the object of his joyful and confident expectation, was that city, which alone hath firm and immoveable foundations, in comparison with which they were but like a frail tabernacle; a city, of which God [is] the builder and former, who drew and executed the grand plan, and laid out upon it all the richest ornaments, which might raise it to a magnificence, worthy of his own abode, and the inheritance of his beloved children. was delivered of a 11 By faith Sarai herself, notwithstanding some 11 Through faith mixture of suspicion, at length, as the worthy also Sara herself reconsort of such an husband, and worthy mo- ceived strength to ther of such an offspring, received strength for conceive seed, and the conception of seed, and brought forth a child child when she was beyond the due time of age for a such a purpose, past age, because when she was ninety years old, and in the she judged him faithful who had prom course of nature absolutely incapable of being ised. a mother; because she accounted him who had promised, to be the faithful and Almighty God, who could with infinite ease accomplish an event, which then seemed to be, and indeed 12 was, unparalleled. Therefore by this mighty 12 Therefore sprang principle of faith in her, and in Abraham, there there even of one, and him as good as sprang even from one father, and he in this re- dead, so many as the spect as it were, dead, [a posterity] in multitude stars of the sky in as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand upon multitude, and as the the sea shore innumerable, according to that sand which is by the Divine promise, which carried its efficacy into ble. so many remoter ages, and retains it even to this day. 13 sea shore innumera Now all these worthy and excellent persons, 13 These all died of whom I have here been speaking, died in faith, in faith, not having not having received the blessings exhibited in received the promises, but having seen the promises; but having seen them afar off, and them afar off, and having been fully persuaded [of them,] and em- were persuaded of braced [them] with the most cordial affection,and them, and embraced greatest ardour of mind, and having, through an In multitude as the stars of heaven. have been numbered with a considerable &c.] Mr. Hallet observes here a great degree of exactness. See Hallet in loc. propriety in the apostle's saying, that they where he endeavours to account, consistshould be in multitude as the stars of heaven, ently with this observation, for Psalm and as the sand of the sea shore innumerable; cxlvii. 4, He telleth the number of the stars, there being an impossibility of numbering and calleth them all by their names, as if the latter, whereas the former, since they this were the peculiar prerogative of God. have been reduced into constellations, These all desired a better country, that is, an heavenly. they seek a country. 89 Heb. them, and confess the whole course of their lives, confessed that SECT. ed that they were they were strangers and sojourners on earth; xvi. strangers and pil. grims on the earth. as we know that these holy patriarchs, and some of their most eminent descendants did. xi. 13 (Gen. xxiii. 4; xlvii. 9; 1 Chron. xxix. 15; 14 For they that Psal. xxxix. 12; cxix. 19, 54.) For they 14 say such things, de- who say such things as these, and speak of clare plainly that themselves as strangers and pilgrims, plainly express that they seek a country," different from that in which they dwell, when they use such 15 And truly if they language. And as for these excellent men, 15 had been mindful of if indeed they had been mindful of that country that country from from which they come out, they might sure have out, they might had an opportunity of returning to it; for they have had opportuni- were a considerable body, and they might have ty to have returned: marched back without the probability of meet whence they came 16 But now they : ing with any resistance, and might have expected a subsistence among the relations of their family, who were themselves in a pros perous state, and often expressed on proper. occasions, their regard to these their illustrious kinsmen. Now therefore it appears, that they 16 desire a better coun- were desirous of a better, that is, an heavenly try, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God [country] for there was no earthly country, is not ashamed to be which they seem to have been pursuing. And called their God indeed this is the great excellence of their for he hath prepar- character, to be governed by such views; ed for them a city. therefore God determined to bestow this happy land upon them, and he is not ashamed to be called their God, in such a peculiar manner, as he has assumed the title, because he hath prepared them such a city as they sought; whereas if he had done nothing more for them than he did here upon earth, it would have been beneath his dignity to have professed that relation; as the title naturally imports something great and excellent, far beyond what these patriarchs received, and indeed what any can possibly receive in this mortal and transitory life. "Seek a country: alpida.] The origin Better country, that is, an heavenal word is very emphatical; it signifies, ly. The argument, according to the as it were, a native country, or a country turn I have given it, is much the same in which their father dwelt, and is oppos- with that which our Lord urges, Mat. ed to that in which they were strangers xxii. 32. and pilgrims. 90 Reflections on the foregoing instances of faith. verse 6 IMPROVEMENT. SECT. LET the many glorious examples of faith, which are here set xvi. before us, animate our souls to imitation, and excite in us a generous desire of acting upon that noble and sublime principle, without which it is impossible to please God. And O, may what 1 we call our faith be not merely a speculative and ineffectual as2 sent to the truth, even of the most weighty propositions; but a firm persuasion of their certainty, and a deep conviction of their importance, that we also may obtain a good report. 3 May we believe in God, as the former and support of univer6 sal nature, as most assuredly existing, and as most bountifully 4 rewarding all that seek him with sincerity and diligence. So shall our sacrifices be acceptable to him, as those of Abel were, while 5 with him we look to that great Sacrifice and atonement, of which his victim was the appointed representation. Like Enoch we shall then be animated to walk with God, and favoured with Divine intercourse and communications. And though we cannot expect a translation like his, which should exempt us from the common lot of mortality, we shall be secure of admission into the paradise of God above, and in due time shall ascend to it in 7 our complete persons. We shall then, like Noah, find our safety in the midst of a dissolving world, and while sinners are condemned, be found the heirs of righteousness. While we wait for this happiness, let us endeavour to approve 8 ourselves the genuine children of Abraham, the father of the faithful. Ever attentive to the Divine call, may we in obedience to it, be willing to go forth, though we do not particularly know whither; and with an intrepidity like his, may we even be ready to exchange worlds, at the command of God, ignorant as we are of what lies beyond the grave; thinking it enough, that we 10 know it is a land which God hath promised as the inheritance of his children. It is indeed a city that hath foundations, in comparison of which all the most magnificent and established buildings of the children of men are but mean aud movea ble tents. God boasts in the title of its builder and maker, having formed and fashioned it for the highest displays of his glory and his love; and in reference to it he is not ashamed to be called our God; for by bestowing it upon us, he answers all which that high and 16 glorious title might import. May we ever desire this as our better country, and live as its citizens ought; confessing ourselves, in reference to it, to be pilgrims and strangers upon the earth. And though we here receive not the accomplishment of the promises, may we keep our eyes on the objects they exhibit, how distant soever they may seem; and being persuaded of them, may we embrace them; embrace them even By faith Abraham offered up Isaac : 91 with our dying arms, and breathe out our prepared and SECT. willing spirits, in full assurance that we are going to receive xvi. and possess them. SE C T. XVII. The apostle further dilates upon examples and instances of faith in HEBREWS XI. 17. Bham when he was tried, offered I HEBREWS XI. 17. xvii. HAVE already mentioned some glorious SECT. instances of the faith of Abraham, our illusup Isaac: and he trious progenitor; but I should be far from Heb. that had received doing justice to my subject, if I were not to xi. 17 the promises, offer- add another, the most celebrated of all. ed up his only begot- will remember therefore, that it was by faith ten son. You that Abraham was supported, when he was tried, in that most severe instance, and at the Divine command offered his son, his only son, Isaac, whom he loved; yea, he who had received the promises, which terminated not only in his seed, but in Isaac by name, offered his only begotten [son,] in whom they so centred, that they must necessarily have failed if he had perished without any offspring. So that nothing seemed more difficult, on principles of common reason, than the reconciliation of the promise 18 Of whom it with the command. Even when he was des- 18 was said, That in tined to the altar, concerning whom it was said, Isaac shall thy seed In Isaac shall thy seed be called, (Gen. xxi. 12,) yet his triumphant faith surmounted even such an obstacle, and it was as wise and rational as 19 Accounting that it was pious and heroic : Reasoning within 19 God was able to himself as he did, that God was able, even to raise him up even raise [him] from the dead; and consequently whence also he re- that he could have brought Isaac to life again, ceived him in a if he had really expired under the sacrifical figure. knife, and been reduced to ashes: from whence he received him even in a figure. For as his be called: from the dead; from • Reasoning that God was able even to resurrection from the dead. But the learnraise him.] Archbishop Tillotson justly ed Dr. Warburton contends earnestly for it, observes, that his faith was in this respect that ev wagaCoan intimates, that the whole the more admirable, as, so far as we can transaction was parabolical or typical of the learn, there never had been one single in- method God would take for the salvation stance of a resurrection from the dead, in, of men. The learned Wolfius is of the same or before, the days of Abraham. opinion, (Cure Philolog Vol. IV. p.762,) and observes in support of it, that the Greek word wagan answers to the Hebrew In a figure waga Conn.] Some think this implies, that his birth was a kind of VOL. 6. 13 92 Heb. xi. 19 And Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. SECT. production was a miracle, raising him, as it xvii. were, from the dead bodies of those who in a course of nature had no hope of children; so he was in another sense raised from the dead, when God gave him back to Abraham in the mount, in that awful transaction, in which was so significant a representation of Christ's day, (John viii. 56,) and of the method which God took for our redemption, in the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. 20 21 By faith, in a revelation which he then re- 20 By faith Isaac ceived from God, under that superior direc- blessed Jacob and tion, Isaac, when advanced in age, blessed his things to come. Esau concerning two children, Jacob and Esau, and uttered some remarkable oracles concerning things long to come, and of such a nature, that no human foresight could possibly reach them. By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of 21 By faith Jacob, the sons of Joseph, in full dependence on the when he was a dyDivine promise of an inheritance in Canaan; ing, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and appointing these his grand children, tribes in worshipped leaning Israel foretelling the superiority of Ephraim upon the top of his the younger, to Manasseh the elder; and in staff. thankful acknowledgment of that Divine goodness, which he had so long experienced, at the same time worshipped,d bowing down upon the top of his staff, with which he supported himself as he sat on the side of his bed. this agrees with the Greek and Syriac translation; and Wolfius adds, that the Seventy always render the Hebrew word , and is so used by the Seventy; and worshipped upon the top of his staff: and that the Hebrews are wont to say wns, in or by a parable or figure, when they would express a typical representation. He imagines this interpretation to be the more probable, because the apostle hath put a mark of emphasis upon vagaboan, by prefixing a to it, even in a figure. Blessed Jacob.] He was persuaded that God would one way or another make good his promises to them, though he could not certainly tell how, and was mis. taken in the person. d Worshipped.] He thought it so great a privilege to be buried in the land of Canaan, that he bowed his head, in token of thankfulness for it; which was another demonstration of faith in God's promise. Gen. xlvii. 30, 31. On the top of his staff, as he sat on the side of his bed.] In the passage referred to Gen. xlvii. 31. It is said according to our English version, Israel bowed himself upon his bed's head. The apostle says, he , a staff. Mr. Hallet, therefore, in a learned note upon this place, is of opinion that the Hebrew word signifies either a bed or a staff, and that our English translators too implicitly followed the modern Jews, and supposed it here to signify a bed, in opposition to the authority of the Seventy and of the apostle. The passages may possibly be reconciled, if there be any occasion for it, by the circumstance mentioned in the paraphrase, as it is not likely that Jacob was now in bed, (see Gen. xlvii. 29,) but he might very probably be sitting on the side of it. His leaning on the top of his staff shows that he was very old and feeble; and this circumstance, saith Mr. Hallet, is very pertinently mentioned by the apostle, to intimate that feeble as he was, he would wor ship God in the best manner he was able. |