thereon, drew forth his knife to slay

him.

How Abraham was arrested.

At this crisis, God interposed, saying, with a loud voice: "Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon the lad; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."

ered instead.

What was of- A ram, caught in a thicket by the horns, was then taken and offered up by Abraham, instead of his

son.

promised.

What God God was so pleased with this example of faith, that he said to Abraham: "In multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

meant.

What was By "the seed of Abraham" God meant (1) The Jews, the seed of Abraham by the flesh; and (2) All good men, who are the children of Abraham by faith and holy conduct.

A.M. 2184.]

The seed in which

the world is bles.

sed.

The seed of Abraham, in which the whole world is BLESSED," is Jesus Christ, who, being a Jew, was one of Abraham's seed.

ham went.

Whither Abra Abraham returned home after this trial, and lived in peace for 12 more years; when Sarah his wife died, at the age of 127 years. (B.c. 1855.) Sarah is the only woman whose age is men. tioned in the Bible.

How long Abraham lived afterwards.

The patriarch lived after the death of Sarah 38 years, and died at the age of 175; at which time Isaac was married, and was 75 years old. (B.C. 1817.)

Where Abraham was buried.

He was BURIED in the cave of Machpëlah, a plot of ground which he had bought to bury Sarah in.

Machpe'lah was near Hebron, and was bought of Ephron, the Hittite. Several of the patriarchs were buried in this cave, as for example: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, &c. (Gen. xxiii. 9-17.)

1--SUPPLEMENT FOR SENIOR PUPILS.

Abraham's

ABRAHAM.

Abraham was a perfect pattern of a character. pious man; who surrendered himself to the will of God with unwavering reliance on his promises, and implicit obedience to his commands.

His failings. According to Christian morals he was not without his failings; the most conspicuous of which are his driving from home Ishmael with his mother Hagar; and his denying on two occasions, through fear of death, that Sarah was his wife.*

His position. In Canaan he lived as an emir or nomad chief among the people of the land. His eldest son, Ishmael, became the patriarch or prince of the Arabs; and his second son, Isaac, the patriarch or prince of the Hebrews.

* (1) It does not appear that Abraham consented to send away Ishmael till God expressly commanded him so to do.

(2) Sarah was really Abraham's half-sister as well as wife. Besides, it was customary for the Jews to term their wives sisters. Thus, in the book of Canticles, Solomon always terms his bride sister. In the book of Tobit viii. 4, Tobias says to his wife: "Sister, arise, and let us pray." St. Paul also adopts the same usage, (1 Cor. ix. 5) when he asks: "have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles ?"

Why he left
Chaldea.

He left Chaldæa, at the bidding of God, because that populous region was deeply corrupted with idolatry. The thin rural population of Canaan, whither he went, was far less polluted, and a less dangerous example.

Abraham mentioned by heathen writers.

The name of Abraham, as might be expected, is mentioned by

several heathen writers, as by the two Greek authors Suidas and Nicolaus of Damascus, the former of whom calls him the inventor of the Hebrew alphabet, and the latter speaks of him as having resided a long time in Egypt, where he taught astronomy. The Persians affirm he is the same person as Zoroaster their founder.

Abraham was born in Caucasean Chaldæa or Chasidia. His father removed thence with all his family and Lot to Haran (Acts iii. 2-4); and on the death of Terah, Abraham went to live in Canaan.

2.-TYPES FOR SENIOR PUPILS.

Melchizedek a type.

Melchizedek was a type of Jesus Christ. (Psalm cx. 4; Hebrews vii.) (1.) The name Melchizedek means king of righteousness, a title peculiarly applicable to Jesus Christ;

(2.) He was king of Salem, which means

king of peace, a title also applied to Jesus Christ;

(3.) Both were priests and kings;

;

(4.) MELCHIZEDEK was "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life." (Heb. vii. 3.)* Jesus Christ as man had no father: as God he had no mother; he had no descent or predecessor in office; he had "no beginning of days," and "of his kingdom there shall be no end;"

(4.) Melchizedek was not a priest by descent, but was called to the office especially by God; so Jesus Christ was not of the tribe of Aaron, but was an exceptional priest in the royal tribe of Judah.

As Melchidezek received tithes of Abraham, so Jesus Christ should be honoured by our substance as well as by our homage.

Isaac a type. Isaac was a TYPE of JESUS CHRIST,

This very difficult verse appears from the connexion to mean this:-Melchizedek was (1)“ without father," or in other words, was not an offspring of Aaron, from whom all Highpriests were descended; (2) He was "without mother," i.e. he was not even like the Chief-priests, descended from some female branch of Aaron; (3) He was "without descent" at all, i.e. he was not even a Levite; (4) He had "no beginning of days," like other priests, who entered upon their office at a fixed period; nor (5) "end of life," or limited term of service; but like Jesus Christ, was altogether different from the ordinary priesthood.

Some think Melchizedek was SHEM, the son of Noah.