are particularly told, that the redemption from Egypt will then no longer be mentioned, by reason of the more glorious deliverance which will be vouchsafed unto them.]
2. What a proof of his veracity !
[God promised to Abraham and his descendants the full and entire possession of the land of Canaan: yet it was four hundred and thirty years, before either he or his posterity possessed, with the exception of a burial-place, so much ground as to set his foot upon. Their deliverance from Egypt had been predicted ; but their deliverance was delayed so long, that if it had continued one day longer, God's promise to Abraham would have been broken. But behold, on the self-same day he brought them forth ; and thereby he shewed himself mindful of the promise which he had given above four hundred years before. At the expiration, too, of seventy years, the time fixed for their captivity in Babylon, God brought them forth from thence also. As to the time fixed for their return from their present dispersion, we are unable with certainty to declare precisely when it shall arrive : but, according to every calculation, we have reason to believe it fast approaching; and at the appointed period the event shall assuredly be accomplished. And how wonderfully will it attest the unchangeableness of God, " not one jot or tittle of whose word can ever fail ! "]
3. What an exhibition of his grace !
[The sovereignty of God was clearly shewn, in his choice of Abraham from the midst of an idolatrous family and nation: nor less so in limiting his blessings to the lines of Isaac and Jacob, to the exclusion of the elder branches of Ishmael and Esau. Every part of the Divine administration towards the people of Israel gives, in like manner, ample demonstration of the sovereignty of his grace. The preservation, too, of that people, as distinct from all the nations of the earth, proves, that nothing shall, or ever can, defeat the purposes of his grace. Certainly, if any thing could prevail on God to annul his covenant, the conduct of that people must have done it. From the very beginning, they were a disobedient and stiff- necked people. In the wilderness itself, yea, and even at the Red Sea, where such a wonderful interposition had appeared in their favour, they rebelled against their God. At all times were they ready to cast off their allegiance to God, and to place their confidence on stocks and stones. And at last they filled up the measure of their iniquities, by rejecting their Messiah, and crucifying the Lord of glory. To all this we may add their long impenitence, during eighteen centuries, notwithstanding they know and acknowledge that they are