4, Abraham, he was first called by his parents D728, “ Abram,”
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450 STATE AND ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH [EXERC. XIX.
‘that is, “an high father,’—not without a signal presaging providence of God; for as of old they gave segnificant names unto their chil- dren, so therein they had respect unto their present condition, or some prospect they had given them by the Spirit of God of things future, wherein they or theirs should be concerned. So have we the reasons given us of the names of Cain, Gen. iv. 1; of Seth, verse 25; of Noah, chap. v. 29; of Peleg, chap. x. 25; and of sundry others. And if we may not suppose that the parents of Abraham were directed to give him this name of “an high father” by the Spirit of pro- phecy, yet, considering its suitableness unto what God had designed him for, and its readiness to yield unto that change which God made afterwards in it, unto a great strengthening of his faith and signifi- cancy in a way of instruction unto future generations, we must grant that it was done by the designing, holy, wise providence of God; for he was “an high father” indeed, as being the father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh. In process of time, upon the solemn establishment of the covenant with him, God changed this name of DJIN into D738; Gen. xvi. 5, “ Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham.” And on the like account did God also change the names of some other persons, or superadded new names unto those whereby they were called before; as of Israel unto Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 28, upon his prevaleney with God as a prince; Jedidiah unto Solomon, 2 Sam. xi. 25, because the Lord loved him. And many, doubtless, had new names given unto them by themselves or others, or some letter or syllable changed in their names, withal altering their signification, upon emergent occa- sions, Hence have we so many in the Old Testament whom we find in several places expressed by divers names, or varied in one place from another. Now, this change in the name of Abraham was not, as the Jews fancy, to honour him with the addition of a letter out of the Tetragrammaton, but for the addition of a new prophet- ical significancy unto it, as God himself expressly declares, “Thy name shall be TAN) DY Pon-as *D DIS ,”_“ Abraham, for a father of a multitude of nations have I made thee;’ according as he said before, Gen. xvii. 4, “ Thou shalt be a father of a multitude of nations,” 57 in his name denoting N27, “a multitude,” that is, of nations, God himself expounding his own intention and design. And herein is a solemn prefiguration of the implanting of believers of all nations into the covenant and faith of Abraham; for this name he received upon the solemn establishment of the covenant with him, as the apostle explains the place, Rom. iv. 11-17. All, then, that believe are taken into the covenant of Abraham; and as unto the privileges of it, and inheritance to be obtained by it, they are no less his children and heirs than those who proceeded from his loins according to the flesh; as hath been manifested in our Exercitation
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concerning the oneness of the church. And herein also God mani- fested what was his design in his call and separation unto himself, even to make and constitute him and his posterity the means of bringing forth the promised Seed, wherein all nations were to be blessed.
5, Abraham being the tenth generation from Noah, exclusive, was the son of Terah, of whom it is said, Gen. xi, 26, that “Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran;” not doubtless in the same year, but then the eldest of them was born, whoever he was. If Abraham was the eldest, as he is first expressed, he was born two hundred and ninety-two years after the flood, in the three hundred and ninety-second year of the life of Shem, who outlived him thirty-five years; and he was the sixth from Eber, born in the two hundred and twenty-fifth year of his age, who, continuing longest of all the postdiluvian patriarchs, outlived Abraham about sixty-four years. But there is a difficulty in this account; for if Abraham was born in the seventieth year of the age of Terah, Terah living in all two hundred and five years, Abraham at the death of Terah must needs be one hundred and thirty-five years of age. But the Scripture saith expressly that at his departure out of Haran, upon the death of his father, he was no more but seventy-five years old. And if he was seventy-five years old at the death of his father, who lived two hundred and five years, he must be born in the one hun- dred and thirtieth of his father’s life, and not before, which carries on his birth and death sixty years beyond the former account. So that he outlived Shem twenty-five years, and died only four years before Eber. Although, therefore, he be mentioned before Haran, Gen. xi. 26, yet, indeed, Haran was the eldest son of Terah, and born before Abraham sixty years. And it appears in the story that Lot and Sarah, who were the children of Haran (if Sarah was the Iscah mentioned, as most suppose she was, Gen. xi. 29), were not much younger than Abraham himself; for when Abraham was an hundred years old, Sarah was ninety, Gen. xvii, 17, and Lot may well be supposed to be older than she; so that of necessity Haran must be many years older than Abraham, even no less than sixty, as we have declared.