God." Acts v. 3-4: "To lie to the Holy Ghost.

Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." The

deity and personality of the Holy Ghost, and the

pre-existence and deity of the Word, are thus made

manifest. The union of the Father, of the Son, and

of the Holy Ghost, may be seen in Gen. i. 26: "And God

said, let us make man." This union of three persons

is called the Trinity-tres in uno, three in one. We

may discover in the mythology of heathen nations

certain opinions which appear to have their origin in

these divine instructions given to the patriarchs.

18. Abraham's family.-1. Isaac was born when

his father Abraham was one hundred years old. His

father circumcised Isaac when the child was eight

days old, according to divine command. Hagar, the

mother of Ishmael, was an Egyptian. Abraham

made a great feast when Isaac was weaned. Sarah

saw Ishmael mocking. She said to Abraham, "Cast

out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the

bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with

Isaac."-Gen. xxi. 10, Gal. iv. 30. Abraham cast

out the bondwoman and her son on the following

morning. He gave bread and a bottle of water to

Hagar. She and her son wandered in the wilder-

ness of Beersheba. The water was spent in the

bottle. The child was ready to perish. Hagar had

laid him under a shrub, and then sitting at some

distance from him, mournfully expected his death.

God heard the voice of the lad. The angel of God

called to Hagar out of heaven. God opened Hagar's

eyes. She saw a well of water. She filled her

bottle with the water and gave to the lad drink. The

lad grew. God had promised to make him a great

nation. The lad dwelt in the wilderness and became

an archer. He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran.

His mother took for him a wife out of the land of

Egypt.

Abraham dug a well. He called it Beersheba, the

well of the oath. Abimelech and Abraham made

a covenant. They swear to keep the covenant.

Abraham set seven ewe lambs by themselves. This

was the token of the covenant. Abraham planted a

grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of

the Lord, the everlasting God. And Abraham so-

journed in the Philistine's land many days.

God did tempt, or try, the faith of Abraham. He

commanded Abraham to take his son Isaac, to
proceed to Mount Moriah, and on that mount to offer
up his son for a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed
the command, and on the third day of his journey
came in sight of the mountain. God interfered when
Abraham was about to slay his son. A ram, caught
in a thicket by his horns, was the sacrifice which
God accepted in exchange for Isaac. Abraham called
the name of the place Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
see or provide. The angel of the Lord called out of
heaven to Abraham, and declared that God would
bless him and his posterity, "because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine
only son.'
."-Gen. xxii. John, iii.

Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years
old. She died in Kirjatharba, the same is Hebron,

in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought the cave of

Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite, in the presence

of the children of Heth. Ephron wished to give the

grave, but Abraham would purchase it. He weighed

four hundred shekels of silver, and gave to Ephron

this sum as the price of Machpelah; after this Abra-

ham buried his wife in the cave.

Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. xv.) was the steward of

Abraham's house. Abraham, Gen. xxiv., was old.

He would provide a wife for his son Isaac. He

made his servant (the oldest servant of his house)

put his hand under his (Abraham's) thigh, and swear

by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the

earth, that he would not take a wife from the

daughters of the Canaanites amongst whom "I

dwell;" but that the servant would go to Abraham's

own country, and to his kindred, and take a wife

unto his son Isaac. The faithful servant, trusting

in God's direction, succeeded in obtaining Rebekah,

the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of

Nahor, Abraham's brother, as a wife for Isaac.

Rebekah and her maids rode on the camels which

the servant had brought with him. They followed

the servant. Isaac was in the field meditating.

Rebekah learned from the servant that the man was

his master. She had lighted off the camel. She took

a vail and covered herself. Isaac took Rebekah into

his mother's tent. She became his wife. Isaac and

Rebekah having lived faithfully together, are re-

garded as examples of conjugal fidelity and happi-

ness throughout all generations.

Abraham left to Isaac all his valuable property.

He sent into the east country his sons by his concu-

bines, giving to them portions of his property called

gifts. Abraham died B.C. 1853. He had lived one

hundred three score and fifteen years, (175 years.)

The manners and customs of the people of the

East do not change. A comparison between the

present and the former races may be useful and

interesting.

19. The Sacrifice of Abram, Gen. xv., was directed

by God. 1. A heifer of three years old. 2. A he

goat of three years old. 3. A ram of three years old.

4. A turtle dove. 5. A pigeon. These were the

animals appointed for sacrifices in the Law of Moses.

The ox, the goat, the sheep, were divided. The

turtle dove and pigeon were not divided. The Lord
made a covenant with Abraham. The smoking
furnace represented Abraham's posterity in Egyptian
bondage; the burning lamp represented God. The
smoking furnace and the burning lamp passed be-
tween the divided victims. This was a form of
agreement between the contracting parties. Similar
forms existed amongst the nations of antiquity.

20. The Sacrifice of Noah.-Gen. viii. When Noah
came out of the ark, "He builded an altar unto the
Lord; and took of every clean beast, and every clean
fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." The
Lord smelled a sweet savour. Noah's sacrifice was
accepted. God promised that he would not again
curse the earth with a flood. "While the earth
remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat,