Á HYMN. Abram's Sacrifice. HEAR what the Lord to Abram said, Fear not: but trust my promise sure, Prepare à sacrifice and wait, And when the birds of prey came down [Now when the sun was nearly down Know Abram that my words are true, Thy seed shall surely be A stranger in another's land And shall affliction see. But when four hundred years are past, The Amorites shall be destroy'd And they their right obtain. The sun went down and all was dark, A smoking furnace and a lamp R. M. LECTURE HAGAR IN THE WILDERNESS. GEN. 16. 7. And the Angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. HAGAR was a servant, or handmaid of A. bram, given him, it is supposed, by Pharoah, King of Egypt. Maidservants are mentioned among the presents which he gave to Abram when he resided in that land, on account of a famine which happened in the land of Canaan where he dwelt.* Her name signifies a stranger. She was an Egyptian. Ten years ago God had promised Abram a son, but as this son was not yet born, both Abram and Sarai began to disbeHeve the word of God. Sarai persuaded Abram to take Hagar to be his wife, which he did. But as this was a great sin in the eyes of the Lord, they were both punished for their unbelief. Hagar was proud of the honor of being Abram's wife. She forgot her * Gen. 12, 10-16. self self and despised her mistress Sarai, and treated her with contempt. This was the cause of great unhappiness between Abram and Sarai. She laid the blame upon her husband, whereas she herself had been the cause of all the mischief. "And when Sarai dealt hardly with Hagar, she fled from her face." Sarai made her serve in the same manner as before, and very likely told her that she expected the same work from her. Sarai treated her with with more sev.rity than she ought to have done, and the consequence was, that Hagar not liking to be treated as a slave, left the house and went into the wilderness. Thus Sarai was punished for tempting her husband. Abram is punished for yielding to the temptation, and now Hagar in her turn is punished for her sin, for she had provoked her mistress, by her pride an insolence. She had forgotten that deference and respect that was due from her to Sarai. It is said that the Angel of the Lord found Hagar in the wilderness by a fountain of water in the way to Shur. This was a city of Arabia on the north east side of the Red Sea. That part of the desert where this city was 2 built was called Shur. It was in the way to Egypt, so that Hagar was going home to her vn country, when the Angel met her. I. Let us attend to the CONVERSATION that passed between HAGAR and the ANGEL. 1. The ANGEL asked Hagar two questions. "And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither goest thou? How good God was to send an Angel after Hagar. He was sent to make her sensible ho wrong she had acted, therefore he asked her these questions. He called her Hagar, Sarai's maid, to humble her, and to remind her of her duty to her mistress. This was said to reprove her as a servant for raining away from her place, when she ought to have been in Sarai's tent about her proper work, and not wandering in the wilderness and sitting down by a fountain of water. Perhaps she was weary and tired with her journey, and sat down to rest herself. She would not have been more weary, if she had been doing her proper business. Whence camest thou? said the Angel. Consider what you have done. This is not the path in which you should go. It is not your duty to be here. You have left Abram's family where you you enjoyed many privileges. Many ser vants would rejoice to live in Hagar's place, where they might have the privilege of family prayer, religious instruction and public wor ship. And whither wilt thou go? You are travelling to the land of idols and idolaters, where the true God is not worshipped. You are going to a country full of sin and wickedness. Consider your danger. How wrong is it for you to be travelling in the wilderness, alone and unprotected." Hagar's answer was a true one," And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai." That is, she had fled from the displeasure and severe treatment of her mistress. Here she acknowldged her fault, and endeavoured to excuse it, by saying it was from her face, because she was afraid of her anger. Children and servants ought to be treated with mildness and gentleness. For if we drive them from the house by unkind treatment, they may commit sin and the blame will lie at our door. Hagar gave no answer to the last question. She is silent, 2. The Angel gave Hagar some plain directions. He |