LORD'S LECTURES
BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME II
JEWISH HEROES AND PROPHETS.
BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.,
AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE,"
ETC., ETC.
CONTENTS.
ABRAHAM.
RELIGIOUS FAITH.
Abraham the spiritual father of nations
General forgetfulness of God when Abraham arose
Civilization in his age
Ancestors of Abram
His settlement in Haran
His moral courage
The call of Abram
His migrations
The Canaanites
Abram in Egypt
Separation between Abram and Lot
Melchizedek
Abram covenants with God
The mission of the Hebrews
The faith of Abram
Its peculiarities
Trials of faith
God's covenant with Abram
The sacrifice of Isaac
Paternal rights among Oriental nations
Universality of sacrifice
Had Abram a right to sacrifice Isaac?
Supreme test of his faith
His obedience to God
His righteousness
Supremacy of religious faith
Abraham's defects
The most favored of mortals
The boons he bestowed
JOSEPH.
ISRAEL IN EGYPT.
Early days of Joseph
Envy of his brethren
Sale of Joseph
Its providential results
Fortunes of Joseph in Egypt
The imprisonment of Joseph
Favor with the king
Joseph prime minister
The Shepherd kings
The service of Joseph to the king
Famine in Egypt
Power of Pharaoh
Power of the priests
Character of the priests
Knowledge of the priests
Teachings of the priests
Egyptian gods
Antiquity of sacrifices
Civilization of Egypt
Initiation of Joseph in Egyptian knowledge
Austerity to his brethren
Grief of Jacob
Severity of the famine in Canaan
Jacob allows the departure of Benjamin
Joseph's partiality to Benjamin
His continued austerity to his brethren
Joseph at length reveals himself
The kindness of Pharaoh
Israel in Egypt
Prosperity of the Israelites
Old age of Jacob
His blessing to Joseph's sons
Jacob's predictions
Death of Jacob
Death of Joseph
Character of Joseph
Condition of the Israelites in Egypt
Rameses the Great
Acquisitions of the Israelites in Egypt
Influence of Egyptian civilization on the Israelites
MOSES.
JEWISH JURISPRUDENCE
Exalted mission of Moses
His appearance at a great crisis
His early advantages and education
His premature ambition
His retirement to the wilderness
Description of the land of Midian
Studies and meditations of Moses
The Book of Genesis
Call of Moses and return to Egypt
Appearance before Pharaoh
Miraculous deliverance of the Israelites
Their sojourn in the wilderness
The labors of Moses
His Moral Code
Universality of the obligations
General acceptance of the Ten Commandments
The foundation of the ritualistic laws
Utility of ritualism in certain states of society
Immortality seemingly ignored
The possible reason of Moses
Its relation to the religion of Egypt
The Civil Code of Moses
Reasons for the isolation of the Israelites
The wisdom of the Civil Code
Source of the wisdom of Moses
The divine legation of Moses
Logical consequences of its denial
General character of Moses
His last days
His influence
SAMUEL.
ISRAEL UNDER JUDGES.
Condition of the Israelites on the death of Joshua
The Judges
Birth and youth of Samuel
The Jewish Theocracy
Eli and his sons
Samuel called to be judge
His efforts to rekindle religious life
The school of the prophets
The people want a king
Views of Samuel as to a change of government
He tells the people the consequences
Persistency of the Israelites
Condition of the nation
Saul privately anointed king
Clothed with regal power
Mistakes and wars of Saul
Spares Agag
Rebuked by Samuel
Samuel withdraws into retirement
Seeks a successor to Saul
Jehovah indicates the selection of David
Saul becomes proud and jealous
His wars with the Philistines
Great victory at Michmash
Death of Samuel
Universal mourning
His character as Prophet
His moral greatness
His transcendent influence
DAVID.
ISRAELITISH CONQUESTS.
David as an historical study
Early days of David
His accomplishments
His connection with Saul
His love for Jonathan
Death of Saul
David becomes king
Death of Abner
David generally recognized as king
Makes Jerusalem his capital
Alliance with Hiram
Transfer of the Sacred Ark
Folly of David's Wife
Organization of the kingdom
Joab Commander-in-chief of the army
The court of David
His polygamy
War with Moab
War with the Ammonites
Conquest of the Edomites
Bathsheba
David's shame and repentance
Edward Irving on David's fall
Its causes
Census of the people
Why this was a folly
Wickedness of David's children
Amnon
Alienation of David's subjects
The famine in Judah
Revolt of Sheba
Adonijah seeks to steal the sceptre
Troubles and trials of David
Preparation for building the Temple
David's wealth
His premature old age
Absalom's rebellion and death
David's final labors
His character as a man and a monarch
Why he was a man after God's own heart
David's services
His Psalms
Their mighty influence
SOLOMON.
GLORY OF THE MONARCHY.
Early years of Solomon
His first acts as monarch
The prosperity of his kingdom
Glory of Solomon
His mistakes
His marriage with an Egyptian princess
His harem
Building of the Temple
Its magnificence
The treasures accumulated in it
Its dedication
The sacrifices in its honor
Extraordinary celebration of the Festivals
The royal palace in Jerusalem
The royal palace on Mount Lebanon
Excessive taxation of the people
Forced labor
Change of habits and pursuits
Solomon's effeminacy and luxury
His unpopularity
His latter days of shame
His death
Character
Influence of his reign
His writings
Their great value
The Canticles
The Proverbs
Praises of wisdom and knowledge
Ecclesiastes contrasted with Proverbs
Cynicism of Ecclesiastes
Hidden meaning of the book
The writing of Solomon rich in moral wisdom
His wisdom confirmed by experience
Lessons to be learned by the career of Solomon
ELIJAH.
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM.
Evil days fall on Israel
Division of the kingdom under Rehoboam
Jeroboam of Israel sets up golden calves
Other innovations
Egypt attacks Jerusalem
City saved only by immense contribution
Interest centres in the northern kingdom
Ruled by bad kings
Given to idolatry under Ahab
Influence of Jezebel
The priests of Baal
The apostasy of Israel
The prophet Elijah
His extraordinary appearance
Appears before Ahab
Announces calamities
Flight of Elijah
The drought
The woman of Zarephath
Shields and feeds Elijah
He restores her son to life
Miseries of the drought
Elijah confronts Ahab
Assembly of the people at Mount Carmel
Presentation of choice between Jehovah and Baal
Elijah mocks the priests of Baal
Triumphs, and slays them
Elijah promises rain
The tempest
Ahab seeks Jezebel
She threatens Elijah in her wrath
Second flight of Elijah
His weakness and fear
The still small voice
Selection of Elisha to be prophet
He becomes the companion of Elijah
Character and appearance of Elisha
War between Ahab and Benhadad
Naboth and his vineyard
Chagrin and melancholy of Ahab
Wickedness and cunning of Jezebel
Murder of Naboth
Dreadful rebuke of Elijah
Despair of Ahab
Athaliah and Jehoshaphat
Death of Ahab
Regency of Jezebel
Ahaziah and Elijah
Fall of Ramoth-Gilead
Reaction to idolatry
Jehu
Death of Jezebel
Death of Ahaziah
The massacres and reforms of Jehu
Extermination of idolatry
Last days of Elijah
His translation
ISAIAH.
NATIONAL DEGENERACY.
Superiority of Judah to Israel
A succession of virtuous princes
Syrian wars
The prophet Joel
Outward prosperity of the kingdom of Judah
Internal decay
Assyrian conquests
Tiglath-pilneser
Fall of Damascus
Fall of Samaria
Demoralization of Jerusalem
Birth of Isaiah
His exalted character
Invasion of Judah by the Assyrians
Hezekiah submits to Sennacherib
Rebels anew
Renewed invasion of Judah
Signal deliverance
The warnings and preaching of Isaiah
His terrible denunciations of sin
Retribution the spirit of his preaching
Holding out hope by repentance
Absence of art in his writings
National wickedness ending in calamities
God's moral government
Isaiah's predictions fulfilled
Woes denounced on Judah
Fall of Babylon foretold
Predicted woes of Moab
Woes denounced on Egypt
Calamities of Tyre
General predictions of woe on other nations
End and purpose of chastisements
Isaiah the Prophet of Hope
The promised glories of the Chosen People
Messianic promises
Exultation of Isaiah
His catholicity
The promised reign of peace
The future glories of the righteous
Glad tidings declared to the whole world
Messianic triumphs
JEREMIAH.
FALL OF JERUSALEM.
Sadness and greatness of Jeremiah
Second as a prophet only to Isaiah
Jeremiah the Prophet of Despair
Evil days in which he was born
National misfortunes predicted
Idolatry the crying sin of the times
Discovery of the Book of Deuteronomy
Renewed study of the Law
The reforms of Josiah
The greatness of Josiah
Inability to stem prevailing wickedness
Incompleteness of Josiah's reforms
Necho II. extends his conquests
Death of Josiah
Lamentations on the death of Josiah
Rapid decline of the kingdom
The voice of Jeremiah drowned
Invasion of Assyria by Necho
Shallum succeeds Josiah
Eliakim succeeds Shallum
His follies
Judah's relapse into idolatry
Neglect of the Sabbath
Jeremiah announces approaching calamity
His voice unheeded
His despondency
Fall of Nineveh
Defeat and retreat of Necho
Greatness of Nebuchadnezzar
Appears before Jerusalem
Fall of Jerusalem, but destruction delayed
Folly and infatuation of the people of Jerusalem
Revolt of the city
Zedekiah the king temporizes
Expostulations of Jeremiah
Nebuchadnezzar loses patience
Second fall of Jerusalem
The captivity
Weeping by the river of Babylon
JUDAS MACCABAEUS.
RESTORATION OF THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH.
Eventful career of Judas Maccabaeus
Condition of the Jews after their return from Babylon
Condition of Jerusalem
Fanatical hatred of idolatry
Severe morality of the Jews after the captivity
The Pharisees
The Sadducees
Synagogues, their number and popularity
The Jewish Sanhedrim
Advance in sacred literature
Apocryphal Books
Isolation of the Jews
Dark age of Jewish history
Power of the high priests
The Persian Empire
Judaea a province of the Persian Empire
Jews at Alexandria
Judaea the battle-ground of Egyptians and Syrians
The Syrian kings
Antiochus Epiphanes
His persecution of the Jews
Helplessness of the Jews
Sack of Jerusalem
Desecration of the Temple
Mattathias
His piety and bravery
Revolt of Mattathias
Slaughter of the Jews
Death of Mattathias
His gallant sons
Judas Maccabaeus
His military genius
The Syrian generals
Wrath of Antiochus
Desolation of Jerusalem
Judas defeats the Syrian general
Judas cleanses and dedicates the Temple
Fortifies Jerusalem
The Feast of Dedication
Renewed hostilities
Successes of Judas
Death of Antiochus
Deliverance of the Jews
Rivalry between Lysias and Philip
Death of Eleazer
Bacchides
Embassy to Rome
Death of Judas Maccabaeus
Judas succeeded by his brother Jonathan
Heroism of Jonathan
His death by treachery
Jonathan succeeded by his brother Simon
Simon's military successes
His prosperous administration
Succeeded by John Hyrcanus
The great talents and success of John Hyrcanus
The Asmonean princes
Pompey takes Jerusalem
Accession of Herod the Great
He destroys the Asmonean princes
His prosperous reign
Foundation of Caesarea
Latter days of Herod
Loathsome death of Herod
Birth of Jesus, the Christ
SAINT PAUL.
THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY.
Birth and early days of Saul
His Phariseeism
His persecution of the Christians
His wonderful conversion
His leading idea
Saul a preacher at Damascus
Saul's visit to Jerusalem
Saul in Tarsus
Saul and Barnabas at Antioch
Description of Antioch
Contribution of the churches for Jerusalem
Saul and Barnabas at Jerusalem
Labors and discouragements
Saul and Barnabas at Cyprus
Saul smites Elymas the sorcerer
Missionary travels of Paul
Paul converts Timothy
Paul at Lystra and Derbe
Return of Paul to Antioch
Controversy about circumcision
Bigotry of the Jewish converts
Paul again visits Jerusalem
Paul and Barnabas quarrel
Paul chooses Silas for a companion
Paul and Silas visit the infant churches
Tact of Paul
Paul and Luke
The missionaries at Philippi
Paul and Silas at Thessalonica
Paul at Athens
Character of the Athenians
The success of Paul at Athens
Paul goes to Corinth
Paul led before Gallio
Mistake of Gallio
Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians
Paul at Ephesus
The Temple of Diana
Excessive labors of Paul at Ephesus
Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians
Popularity of Apollos
Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Paul again at Corinth
Epistles to the Galatians and to the Romans
The Pauline theology
Paul's last visit to Jerusalem
His cold reception
His arrest and imprisonment
The trial of Paul before Felix
Character of Felix
Paul kept a prisoner by Felix
Paul's defence before Festus
Paul appeals to Caesar
Paul preaches before Agrippa
His voyage to Italy
Paul's life at Rome
Character of Paul
His magnificent services
His triumphant death
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME II.
The Wailing Wall of the Jews
_After the painting by J.L. Gerome_.
Abraham and Hagar
_After the painting by Adrian van der Werff_.
Joseph Sold by His Brethren.
_After the painting by H.F. Schopin_.
Erection of Public Building in the Time of Rameses
_After the painting by Sir Edward J. Poynter_.
Pharaoh Pursues the Israelites Across the Red Sea
_After the painting by F.A. Bridgman_.
Moses
_From the statue by Michael Angelo, Rome_.
David Kills Goliath
_After the painting by W.L. Dodge_.
David
_From the statue by Michael Angelo, Florence_.
Elijah's Sacrifice Consumed by Fire from Heaven
_After the painting by C.G. Pfannschmidt_.
Isaiah
_From the fresco in the Sistine Chapel, by Michael Angelo_.
A Sacrifice to Baal
_After the painting by Henri Motte_.
The Jews Led Into Babylonian Captivity
_After the painting by E. Bendeman_.
St. Paul Preaching at the Foot of the Acropolis
_After the painting by Gebhart Fügel_.
ABRAHAM.
RELIGIOUS FAITH.
From a religious point of view, Abraham appears to us, after the lapse
of nearly four thousand years, as the most august character in history.
He may not have had the genius and learning of Moses, nor his executive
ability; but as a religious thinker, inspired to restore faith in the
world and the worship of the One God, it would be difficult to find a
man more favored or more successful. He is the spiritual father equally
of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans, in their warfare with idolatry. In
this sense, he is the spiritual progenitor of all those nations, tribes,
and peoples who now acknowledge, or who may hereafter acknowledge, a
personal God, supreme and eternal in the universe which He created.
Abraham is the religious father of all those who associate with this
personal and supreme Deity a providential oversight of this world,--a
being whom all are required to worship, and alone to worship, as the
only true God whose right it is to reign, and who does reign, and will
reign forever and ever over everything that exists, animate or
inanimate, visible or invisible, known or unknown, in the mighty
universe of whose glory and grandeur we have such overwhelming yet
indefinite conceptions.
When Abraham appeared, whether four thousand or five thousand years ago,
for chronologists differ in their calculations, it would seem that the
nations then existing had forgotten or ignored this great cardinal and
fundamental truth, and were more or less given to idolatry, worshipping
the heavenly bodies, or the forces of Nature, or animals, or heroes, or
graven images, or their own ancestors. There were but few and feeble
remains of the primitive revelation,--that is, the faith cherished by
the patriarchs before the flood, and which it would be natural to
suppose Noah himself had taught to his children.
There was even then, however, a remarkable material civilization,
especially in Egypt, Palestine, and Babylon; for some of the pyramids
had been built, the use of the metals, of weights and measures, and of
textile fabrics was known. There were also cities and fortresses,
cornfields and vineyards, agricultural implements and weapons of war,
commerce and arts, musical instruments, golden vessels, ornaments for
the person, purple dyes, spices, hand-made pottery, stone-engravings,
sundials, and glass-work, and even the use of letters, or something
similar, possibly transmitted from the antediluvian civilization. Even
the art of printing was almost discovered, as we may infer from the
stamping of letters on tiles. With all this material progress, however,
there had been a steady decline in spiritual religion as well as in
morals,--from which fact we infer that men if left to themselves,
whatever truth they may receive from ancestors, will, without
supernatural influences, constantly decline in those virtues on which
the strength of man is built, and without which the proudest triumphs of
the intellect avail nothing. The grandest civilization, in its material
aspects, may coexist with the utmost debasement of morals,--as seen
among the Greeks and Romans, and in the wicked capitals of modern
Europe. "There is no God!" or "Let there be no God!" has been the cry in
all ages of the world, whenever and wherever an impious pride or a low
morality has defied or silenced conscience. Tell me, ye rationalists and
agnostics! with your pagan sympathies, what mean ye by laws of
development, and by the _necessary_ progress of the human race, except
in the triumphs of that kind of knowledge which is entirely disconnected
with virtue, and which has proved powerless to prevent the decline and
fall of nations? Why did not art, science, philosophy, and literature
save the most lauded nations of the ancient world? Why so rapid a
degeneracy among people favored not only with a primitive revelation,
but by splendid triumphs of reason and knowledge? Why did gross
superstition so speedily obscure the intellect, and infamous vices so
soon undermine the moral health, if man can elevate himself by his
unaided strength? Why did error seemingly prove as vital as truth in all
the varied forms of civilization in the ancient world? Why did even
tradition fail to keep alive the knowledge of God, at least among
the people?
Now, among pagans and idolaters Abram (as he was originally called)
lived until he was seventy-five. His father, Terah, was a descendant of
Shem, of the eleventh generation, and the original seat of his tribe was
among the mountains of Southern Armenia, north of Assyria. From thence
Terah migrated to the plains of Mesopotamia, probably with the desire to
share the rich pastures of the lowlands, and settled in Ur of the
Chaldeans. Ur was one of the most ancient of the Chaldean cities and one
of the most splendid, where arts and sciences were cultivated, where
astronomers watched the heavens, poets composed hymns, and scribes
stamped on clay tablets books which, according to Geikie, have in part
come down to our own times. It was in this pagan city that Abram was
born, and lived until the "call." His father was a worshipper of the
tutelary gods of his tribe, of which he was the head; but his idolatry
was not so degrading as that of the Chaldeans, who belonged to a
different race from his own, being the descendants of Ham, among whom
the arts and sciences had made considerable progress,--as was natural,
since what we call civilization arose, it is generally supposed, in the
powerful monarchies founded by Assyrian and Egyptian warriors, although
it is claimed that both China and India were also great empires at this
period. With the growth of cities and the power of kings idolatry
increased, and the knowledge of the true God declined. From such
influences it was necessary that Abram should be removed if he was to
found a nation with a monotheistic belief. So, in obedience to a call
from God, he left the city of his birthplace, and went toward the land
of Canaan and settled in Haran, where he remained until the death of his
father, who it seems had accompanied him in his wanderings, but was
probably too infirm to continue the fatiguing journey. Abram, now the
head of his tribe and doubtless a powerful chieftain, received another
call, and with it the promise that he should be the founder of a great
nation, and that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed.
What was that call, coupled with such a magnificent and cheering
promise? It was the voice of God commanding Abram to leave country and
kindred and go to a country utterly unknown to him, not even indicated
to him, but which in due time should be revealed to him. He is not
called to repudiate idolatry, but by divine command to go to an unknown
country. He must have been already a believer in the One Supreme God, or
he would not have felt the command to be imperative. Unless his belief
had been monotheistic, we must attribute to him a marvellous genius and
striking originality of mind, together with an independence of character
still more remarkable; for it requires not only original genius to soar
beyond popular superstitions, but also great force of will and lofty
intrepidity to break away from them,--as when Buddha renounced
Brahmanism, or Socrates ridiculed the Sophists of Attica. Nothing
requires more moral courage than the renunciation of a popular and
generally received religious belief. It was a hard struggle for Luther
to give up the ideas of the Middle Ages in reference to self-expiation.
It is exceedingly rare for any one to be emancipated from the tyranny of
prevailing dogmas.
So, if Abram was not divinely instructed in a way that implies
supernatural illumination, he must have been the most remarkable sage of
all antiquity to found a religion never abrogated by succeeding
revelations, which has lasted from his time to ours, and is to-day
embraced by so large a part of the human race, including Christians,
Mohammedans, and Jews. Abram must have been more gifted than the whole
school of Ionian philosophers united, from Thales downward, since after
three hundred years of speculation and lofty inquiries they only arrived
at the truth that the being who controls the universe must be
intelligent. Even Socrates, Plato, and Cicero--the most gifted men of
classical antiquity--had very indefinite notions of the unity and
personality of God, while Abram distinctly recognized this great truth
even amid universal idolatry and a degrading polytheism.
Yet the Bible recognizes in Abram moral rather than intellectual
greatness. He was distinguished for his faith, and a faith so exalted
and pure that it was accounted unto him for righteousness. His faith in
God was so profound that it was followed by unhesitating obedience to
God's commands. He was ready to go wherever he was sent, instantly,
without conditions or remonstrance.
In obedience to the divine voice then, Abram, after the death of his
father Terah, passed through the land of Canaan unto Sichem, or Shechem,
afterward a city of Samaria. He then went still farther south, and
pitched his tent on a mountain having Bethel on the west and Hai on the
east, and there he built an altar unto the Lord. After this it would
appear that he proceeded still farther to the south, probably near the
northern part of Idumaea.
Wherever Abram journeyed he found the Canaanites--descendants of
Ham--petty tribes or nations, governed by kings no more powerful than
himself. They are supposed in their invasions to have conquered the
aboriginal inhabitants, whose remote origin is veiled in impenetrable
obscurity, but who retained some principles of the primitive religion.
It is even possible that Melchizedek, the unconquered King of Salem, who
blessed Abram, belonged to those original people who were of Semitic
origin. Nevertheless the Canaanites, or Hametic tribes, were at this
time the dominant inhabitants.
Of these tribes or nations the Sidonians, or Phoenicians, were the most
powerful. Next to them, according to Ewald, "were three nations living
toward the South,--the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites; then
two in the most northerly country conquered by Israel,--the Girgashites
and the Hivites; then four in Phoenicia; and lastly, the most northern
of all, the well known kingdom of Hamath on the Orontes." The Jebusites
occupied the country around Jerusalem; the Amorites also dwelt in the
mountainous regions, and were warlike and savage, like the ancient
Highlanders of Scotland. They entrenched themselves in strong castles.
The Hittites, or children of Heth, were on the contrary peaceful, having
no fortified cities, but dwelling in the valleys, and living in
well-ordered communities. The Hivites dwelt in the middle of the
country, and were also peaceful, having reached a considerable
civilization, and being in the possession of the most flourishing inland
cities. The Philistines entered the land at a period subsequent to the
other Canaanites, probably after Abram, coming it is supposed
from Crete.
It would appear that Abram was not molested by these various petty
Canaanitish nations, that he was hospitably received by them, that he
had pleasant relations with them, and even entered into their battles as
an ally or protector. Nor did Abram seek to conquer territory. Powerful
as he was, he was still a pilgrim and a wanderer, journeying with his
servants and flocks wherever the Lord called him; and hence he excited
no jealousy and provoked no hostilities. He had not long been settled
quietly with his flocks and herds before a famine arose in the land, and
he was forced to seek subsistence in Egypt, then governed by the
shepherd kings called Hyksos, who had driven the proud native monarch
reigning at Memphis to the southern part of the kingdom, in the vicinity
of Thebes. Abram was well received at the court of the Pharaohs, until
he was detected in a falsehood in regard to his wife, whom he passed as
his sister. He was then sent away with all that he had, together with
his nephew Lot.
Returning to the land of Canaan, Abram came to the place where he had
before pitched his tent, between Bethel and Hai, unto the altar which he
had some time before erected, and called upon the name of the Lord. But
the land was not rich enough to support the flocks and herds of both
Abram and Lot, and there arose a strife between their respective
herdsmen; so the patriarch and his nephew separated, Lot choosing for
his residence the fertile plain of the Jordan, and Abram remaining in
the land of Canaan. It was while sojourning at Bethel that the Lord
appeared again unto Abram, and promised to him the whole land as a
future possession of his posterity. After that he removed his tent to
the plain of Mamre, near or in Hebron, and again erected an altar to
his God.
Here Abram remained in true patriarchal dignity without further
migrations, abounding in wealth and power, and able to rescue his nephew
Lot from the hands of Chedorlaomer the King of Elam, and from the other
Oriental monarchs who joined his forces, pursuing them even to Damascus.
For this signal act of heroism Abram was blessed by Melchizedek, in the
name of their common lord the most high God. Who was this Prince of
Salem? Was he an earthly potentate ruling an unconquered city of the
aboriginal inhabitants; or was he a mysterious personage, without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning nor
end of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, an
incarnation of the Deity, to repeat the blessing which the patriarch had
already received?
The history of Abram until his supreme trial seems principally to have
been repeated covenants with God, and the promises held out of the
future greatness of his descendants. The greatness of the Israelitish
nation, however, was not to be in political ascendancy, nor in great
attainments in the arts and sciences, nor in cities and fortresses and
chariots and horses, nor in that outward splendor which would attract
the gaze of the world, and thus provoke conquests and political
combinations and grand alliances and colonial settlements, by which the
capital on Zion's hill would become another Rome, or Tyre, or Carthage,
or Athens, or Alexandria,--but quite another kind of greatness. It was
to be moral and spiritual rather than material or intellectual, the
centre of a new religious life, from which theistic doctrines were to go
forth and spread for the healing of the nations,--all to culminate, when
the proper time should come, in the mission of Jesus Christ, and in his
teachings as narrated and propagated by his disciples.
This was the grand destiny of the Hebrew race; and for the fulfilment of
this end they were located in a favored country, separated from other
nations by mountains, deserts, and seas, and yet capable by cultivation
of sustaining a great population, while they were governed by a polity
tending to keep them a distinct, isolated, and peculiar people. To the
descendants of Ham and Japhet were given cities, political power,
material civilization; but in the tents of Shem religion was to dwell.
"From first to last," says Geikie, "the intellect of the Hebrew dwelt
supremely on the matters of his faith. The triumphs of the pencil or the
chisel he left with contemptuous indifference to Egypt, or Assyria, or
Greece. Nor had the Jew any such interest in religious philosophy as has
marked other people. The Aryan nations, both East and West, might throw
themselves with ardor into those high questions of metaphysics, but he
contented himself with the utterances of revelation. The world may have
inherited no advances in political science from the Hebrew, no great
epic, no school of architecture, no high lessons in philosophy, no wide
extension of human thought or knowledge in any secular direction; but he
has given it his religion. To other races we owe the splendid
inheritance of modern civilization and secular culture, but the
religious education of mankind has been the gift of the Jew alone."
For this end Abram was called to the land of Canaan. From this point of
view alone we see the blessing and the promise which were given to him.
In this light chiefly he became a great benefactor. He gave a religion
to the world; at least he established its fundamental principle,--the
worship of the only true God. "If we were asked," says Max Müller, "how
it was that Abraham possessed not only the primitive conception of the
Divinity, as he has revealed himself to all mankind, but passed, through
the denial of all other gods, to the knowledge of the One God, we are
content to answer that it was by a _special divine revelation_." [1]
[Footnote 1: Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i. p. 372.]
If the greatness of the Jewish race was spiritual rather than temporal,
so the real greatness of Abraham was in his faith. Faith is a sentiment
or a principle not easily defined. But be it intuition, or induction, or
deduction,--supported by reason, or without reason,--whatever it is, we
know what it means.
The faith of Abraham, which Saint Paul so urgently commends, the same in
substance as his own faith in Jesus Christ, stands out in history as so
bright and perfect that it is represented as the foundation of religion
itself, without which it is impossible to please God, and with which one
is assured of divine favor, with its attendant blessings. If I were to
analyze it, I should say that it is a perfect trust in God, allied with
obedience to his commands.
With this sentiment as the supreme rule of life, Abraham is always
prepared to go wherever the way is indicated. He has no doubts, no
questionings, no scepticism. He simply adores the Lord Almighty, as the
object of his supreme worship, and is ready to obey His commands,
whether he can comprehend the reason of them or not. He needs no
arguments to confirm his trust or stimulate his obedience. And this is
faith,--an ultimate principle that no reasonings can shake or
strengthen. This faith, so sublime and elevated, needs no confirmation,
and is not made more intelligent by any definitions. If the _Cogito,
ergo sum_, is an elemental and ultimate principle of philosophy, so the
faith of Abraham is the fundamental basis of all religion, which is
weakened rather than strengthened by attempts to define it. All
definitions of an ultimate principle are vain, since everybody
understands what is meant by it.
No truly immortal man, no great benefactor, can go through life without
trials and temptations, either to test his faith or to establish his
integrity. Even Jesus Christ himself was subjected for forty days to
the snares of the Devil. Abram was no exception to this moral
discipline. He had two great trials to pass through before he could earn
the title of "father of the faithful,"--first, in reference to the
promise that he should have legitimate children; and secondly, in
reference to the sacrifice of Isaac.
As to the first, it seemed impossible that Abram should have issue
through his wife Sarah, she being ninety years of age, and he
ninety-nine or one hundred. The very idea of so strange a thing caused
Sarah to laugh incredulously, and it is recorded in the seventeenth
chapter of Genesis that Abram also fell on his face and laughed, saying
in his heart, "Shall a son be born unto him that is one hundred years
old?" Evidently he at first received the promise with some incredulity.
He could leave Ur of the Chaldees by divine command,--this was an act of
obedience; but he did not fully believe in what seemed to be against
natural law, which would be a sort of faith without evidence, blind,
against reason. He requires some sign from God. "Whereby," said he,
"shall I _know_ that I shall inherit it,"--that is Canaan,--"and that my
seed shall be in number as the stars of heaven?" Then followed the
renewal of the covenant; and, according to the frequent custom of the
times, when covenants were made between individual men, Abram took a new
name: "And God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold my covenant
is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall
thy name be any more Abram [Father of Elevation] but thy name shall be
Abraham [Father of a Multitude], for a father of many nations have I
made thee." We observe that the covenant was repeatedly renewed; in
connection with which was the rite of circumcision, which Abraham and
his posterity, and even his servants, were required scrupulously to
observe, and which it would appear he unreluctantly did observe as an
important condition of the covenant. Why this rite was so imperatively
commanded we do not know, neither can we understand why it was so
indissolubly connected with the covenant between God and Abraham. We
only know that it was piously kept, not only by Abraham himself, but by
his descendants from generation to generation, and became one of the
distinctive marks and peculiarities of the Jewish nation,--the sign of
the promise that in Abraham all the families of the earth should be
blessed,--a promise fulfilled even in the patriarchal monotheism of
Arabia, the distant tribes of which, under Mohammed, accepted the One
Supreme God.
A still more serious test of the faith of Abraham was the sacrifice of
Isaac, on whose life all his hopes naturally rested. We are told that
God "tempted," or tested, the obedient faith of Abraham, by suggesting
to him that it was his duty to sacrifice that only son as a
burnt-offering, to prove how utterly he trusted the Lord's promise; for
if Isaac were cut off, where was another legitimate heir to be found?
Abraham was then one hundred and twenty years old, and his wife was one
hundred and ten. Moreover, on principles of reason why should such a
sacrifice be demanded? It was not only apparently against reason, but
against nature, against every sacred instinct, against humanity, even an
act of cruelty,--yea, more, a crime, since it was homicide, without any
seeming necessity. Besides, everybody has a right to his own life,
unless he has forfeited it by crime against society. Isaac was a gentle,
harmless, interesting youth of twenty, and what right, by any human
standard, had Abraham to take his life? It is true that by patriarchal
customs and laws Isaac belonged to Abraham as much as if he were a slave
or an animal. He had the Oriental right to do with his son as he
pleased. The head of a family had not only absolute control over wife
and children, but the power of life and death. And this absolute power
was not exercised alone by Semitic races, but also by the Aryan in their
original settlements, in Greece and Italy, as well as in Northern India.
All the early institutions of society recognized this paternal right.
Hence the moral sense of Abraham was not apparently shocked at the
command of God, since his son was his absolute property. Even Isaac
made no resistance, since he knew that Abraham had a right to his life.
Moreover, we should remember that sacrifices to all objects of worship
formed the basis of all the religious rites of the ancient world, in all
periods of its history. Human sacrifices were offered in India at the
very period when Abraham was a wanderer in Palestine; and though human
nature ultimately revolted from this cruelty, the sacrifice of
substitute-animals continued from generation to generation as oblations
to the gods, and is still continued by Brahminical priests. In China, in
Egypt, in Assyria, in Greece, no religious rites were perfected without
sacrifices. Even in the Mosaic ritual, sacrifices by the priests formed
no inconsiderable part of worship. Not until the time of Isaiah was it
said that God took no delight in burnt offerings,--that the real
sacrifices which He requires are a broken and a contrite heart. Nor were
the Jews finally emancipated from sacrificial rites until Christ himself
made his own body an offering for the sins of the world, and in God's
providence the Romans destroyed their temple and scattered their nation.
In antiquity there was no objective worship of the Deity without
sacrificial rites, and when these were omitted or despised there was
atheism,--as in the case of Buddha, who taught morals rather than
religion. Perhaps the oldest and most prevalent religious idea of
antiquity was the necessity of propitiatory sacrifice,--generally of
animals, though in remotest ages the offering of the fruits of
the earth.[2]
[Footnote 2: Dr. Trumbull has made a learned and ingenious argument in
his "Blood Covenant" to show that sacrifices were not to propitiate the
deity, but to bring about a closer Spiritual union between the soul and
God; that the blood covenant was a covenant of friendship and love among
all primitive peoples.]
The inquiry might here arise, whether in our times anything would
justify a man in committing a homicide on an innocent person. Would he
not be called a fanatic? If so, we may infer that morality--the proper
conduct of men as regards one another in social relations--is better
understood among us than it was among the patriarchs four thousand years
ago; and hence, that as nations advance in civilization they have a more
enlightened sense of duty, and practically a higher morality. Men in
patriarchal times may have committed what we regard as crimes, while
their ordinary lives were more virtuous than ours. And if so, should we
not be lenient to immoralities and crimes committed in darker ages, if
the ordinary current of men's lives was lofty and religious? On this
principle we should be slow to denounce Christian people who formerly
held slaves without remorse, when this sin did not shock the age in
which they lived, and was not discrepant with prevailing ideas as to
right and wrong. It is clear that in patriarchal times men had,
according to universally accepted ideas, the power of life and death
over their families, which it would be absurd and wicked to claim in our
day, with our increased light as to moral distinctions. Hence, on the
command of God to slay his son, Abraham had no scruples on the ground of
morality; that is, he did not feel that it was wrong to take his son's
life if God commanded him to do so, any more than it would be wrong, if
required, to slay a slave or an animal, since both were alike his
property. Had he entertained more enlightened views as to the sacredness
of life, he might have felt differently. With his views, God's command
did not clash with his conscience.
Still, the sacrifice of Isaac was a terrible shock to Abraham's paternal
affection. The anguish of his soul was none the less, whether he had the
right of life and death or not. He was required to part with the dearest
thing he had on earth, in whom was bound up his earthly happiness. What
had he to live for, but Isaac? He doubtless loved this child of his old
age with exceeding tenderness, devotion, and intensity; and what was
perhaps still more weighty, in that day of polygamous households, than
mere paternal affection, with Isaac were identified all the hopes and
promises which had been held out to Abraham by God himself of becoming
the father of a mighty and favored race. His affection as a father was
strained to its utmost tension, but yet more was his faith in being the
progenitor of offspring that should inherit the land of Canaan.
Nevertheless, at God's command he was willing to make the sacrifice,
"accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead." Was there
ever such a supreme act of obedience in the history of our race? Has
there ever been from his time to ours such a transcendent manifestation
of faith? By reason Abraham saw the foundation of his hopes utterly
swept away; and yet his faith towers above reason, and he feels that the
divine promises in some way will be fulfilled. Did any man of genius
ever conceive such an illustration of blended piety and obedience? Has
dramatic poetry ever created such a display of conflicting emotions? Is
it possible for a human being to transcend so mighty a sacrifice, and
all by the power of faith? Let those philosophers and theologians who
aspire to define faith, and vainly try to reconcile it with reason,
learn modesty and wisdom from the lesson of Abraham, who is its great
exponent, and be content with the definition of Paul, himself, that it
is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen;"
that reason was in Abraham's case subordinate to a loftier and grander
principle,--even a firm conviction, which nothing could shake, of the
accomplishment of an end against all probabilities and mortal
calculations, resting solely on a divine promise.
Another remarkable thing about that memorable sacrifice is, that Abraham
does not expostulate or hesitate, but calmly and resolutely prepares for
the slaughter of the innocent and unresisting victim, suppressing all
the while his feelings as a father in obedience and love to the
Sovereign of heaven and earth, whose will is his supreme law.
"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac
his son," who was compelled as it were to bear his own cross. And he
took the fire in his hand and a knife, and Isaac said, "Behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" yet suffered
himself to be bound by his father on the altar. And Abraham then
stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. At this
supreme moment of his trial, he heard the angel of the Lord calling upon
him out of heaven and saying, "Abraham! Abraham! lay not thine hand upon
the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou
fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from
me.... And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold behind him
was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took
the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering instead of his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham a second time out of
heaven and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because
thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand upon the
seashore, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
because thou hast obeyed my voice."
There are no more recorded promises to Abraham, no more trials of his
faith. His righteousness was established, and he was justified before
God. His subsequent life was that of peace, prosperity, and exaltation.
He lives to the end in transcendent repose with his family and vast
possessions. His only remaining solicitude is for a suitable wife for
Isaac, concerning whom there is nothing remarkable in gifts or fortunes,
but who maintains the faith of his father, and lives like him in
patriarchal dignity and opulence.
The great interest we feel in Abraham is as "the father of the
faithful," as a model of that exalted sentiment which is best defined
and interpreted by his own trials and experiences; and hence I shall not
dwell on the well known incidents of his life outside the varied calls
and promises by which he became the most favored man in human annals. It
was his faith which made him immortal, and with which his name is
forever associated. It is his religious faith looming up, after four
thousand years, for our admiration and veneration which is the true
subject of our meditation. This, I think, is distinct from our ordinary
conception of faith, such as a belief in the operation of natural laws,
in the return of the seasons, in the rewards of virtue, in the assurance
of prosperity with due regard to the conditions of success. Faith in a
friend, in a nation's future, in the triumphs of a good cause, in our
own energies and resources _is_, I grant, necessarily connected with
reason, with wide observation and experience, with induction, with laws
of nature and of mind. But religious faith is supreme trust in an unseen
God and supreme obedience to his commands, without any other exercise of
reason than the intuitive conviction that what he orders is right
because he orders it, whether we can fathom his wisdom or not. "Canst
thou by searching find out Him?"
Yet notwithstanding the exalted faith of Abraham, by which all religious
faith is tested, an eternal pattern and example for our reverence and
imitation, the grand old man deceived both Pharaoh and Abimelech, and if
he did not tell positive lies, he uttered only half truths, for Sarah
was a half sister; and thus he put expediency and policy above moral
rectitude,--to be palliated indeed in his case by the desire to
preserve his wife from pollution. Yet this is the only blot on his
otherwise reproachless character, marked by so many noble traits that he
may be regarded as almost perfect. His righteousness was as memorable as
his faith, living in the fear of God. How noble was his
disinterestedness in giving to Lot the choice of lands for his family
and his flocks and his cattle! How brave was he in rescuing his kinsman
from the hands of conquering kings! How lofty in refusing any
remuneration for his services! How fervent were his intercessions with
the Almighty for the preservation of the cities of the plain! How
hospitable his mode of life, as when he entertained angels unawares! How
kind he was to Hagar when she had incurred the jealousy of Sarah! How
serene and dignified and generous he was, the model of courtesy
and kindness!