L&
op. VIE.
wply thel
gry, from whom all glory deſcends to Angels or Men.
l,
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would
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z things more home, and cloſ:, they could not indure
a” And all that far in the council, looking ſtedfaſtly on him, ſaw his face as it had been the q face of an anoel.
With an extraordinary Juſtre and radiancy, above what ap- ars in men, whereby they might be diſtinguiſhed, as Match. 28. 4 ;. aff:Qting the beholders «with admiration ; thus Avfes his face
did ſhine. CHAP. VIE.
Srephen defends himſelf ; ſh:wing how God made a promiſe to give the land to Abraham and his Seed, 1— 8. Joleph ſold into Foypt , fnaeth farow beforePharaoh, and made Gruernour over all the Land, 9. 10. Great Dearth and AffffliF'on in Egypr, and Canaan, 11. Jacob jendcth his Sons ro Egypr for Corn, 12. Joſeph che Second time maket h himſ-lf known to his Brethren,and they to Pharaoh, 13. Joſeph ſend-:h for his father and all his kinared, threeſcore and fifteem Souls : Jacob dieth in Egypt : buried in Sichem : The people multiply in Egypt ; they are cruelly entreated by a new King, 14-—— 19. Moſes bory and nouriſhed for the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter, and educated in all th: W:ſdom of the Egyptians, 20—22
his Brethren, killeth an Egyptian ; being upbraided for it, f-eth into Midtan, 23 '0. God appearing #0 him, ſendeth
"*im to deliver his Brethren out of Egypt, 3&——35- He bringeth them terough the Red ſea into the Wilderneſs, 36. Propheſieth of Chriſt to come, 37. and receivith the Law, 38, The people commit Lolairy with the Golden calf ; Gods Judgment thereupon, Z9-----43. The Tabernacle ſet up, and remaining tid Solomon builded t he Temple,
z,—50. Stephen furt her ſhwweth therr obſtinactes in reſiſting the
Ho!z Ghoſt, Fl---53- They being moved againſt him, ſtone him to
d:ath : calling upon God he commatteth hs Soul unto Joſua ; kneeling
dren and praying for them, he fallcth aſleep, 54-—- 60.
; Hen ſaid » the high prieſt -, Are theſe things | ſo?
» Who was refolved to condemn any, right or wrong, that ſhould n:otels Chrift, as appears John 9. 22 5 That he might ſeein juſt, he gives him a kind of liberty to anſwer for himlelf; not to defend his Do&trine, but to know out of his own mouth, whether he Preach- ed it, Or NO,
2 And he ſaid, Men 7, brethren, ard « fathers heark- en; The x God of glory appeared unto our y father Abraham, when he was in » Meſopotamia, before he
dwelt in a Charran,
t Totake away any prejudice they might have conceived againſt kim; and to recommend, not his perſon ſo much, ashis Dottrine to them ; he calls them Brethrew, 1. As hoping 1n the ſame pro- miſes with chem. 2. Obſerving the ſame Law. 3. Worthipping the ſame God. # A word of reſpe& (eſpecially) the elder a- mongit them, or his Judges : thus the Roman Senators were called Fathers, and Magiſtrates ought to be reverenced as the Fathers of their Countrey. x Who is allo called, Pſal. 24. 7. The King of By this and what follows, St. Stephen would ſhew that he honoured the te God, and thought reſpeCtively of the Law, the Temple, and the Patriarchs, whom he was accuſed to contemn and diſgrace. 3 He names Abraham, becauſe he was accounted the firſt Father and Patriarch of the Jews, and had the firſt clear .promiſe that the Meſſiah ſhould. come of his Seed. z Meſopotamia is ſometimes tiken ſtrictly for that Countrey, which lies betwixt the two Rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, from whence it had its name ; ſometimes more largely, including Chaldee, and fo 'tis raken here. a A City ofthe Parthians, in the borders of Meſopo:amia, towards the Land of Lanaan.
; And ſaid unto him 6b, Get theeout of thy countrey, andirom thy kindred, and come into the land which cl
ſha!ll ſhew thee.
b This command given unto Abraham, we read of, Gen. 12. 1, 5,6. and 1s hzre the rather ſpoken of by St. Stephen, to prove that dranam was in the favour of God, and did truly ſerve him, before he ever ſaw the Land of Canaan, and_ before th? Ceremonial Law was given by Meſes, and much more before the Temple was built ; and therefore it could not be blaſphemy in him, to hold that God might be fexved without thoſe ceremonies, and worſhiped elſe- wierethan in Jeraſalem. c This was the glory of Abraham's faith, tat it lubmitred abſolutely to God, and enabled Abraham to go he knew nor whither, Heb. x1. 8, for God did notſo much as name the Pace he would have him go unto.
4 Then* came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran : And from thence, when his fa-
ther was dead, he removed him into this land wherein fenow dwell,
d abraham had as great a love to his kindred and native Coun- rey, 45 Others have ; but he had a greater faith, which made him Yield to Gods call and command, and follow from place to place the wili of God, who is ſaid here to have removed Abraham, and ” chuſe the Inheritance and habitation: for his people, P/al.
7. 4:
5 And he gave him e none inheritance init, no not / "29 4 to f let his foor on*; yet he promiſed that he *-14 g1ve it to him for a poſſeſſion, and g to his ſeed ater him, when as yet he had no child.
h Tis true that Abraham had a field, and the Cave of Machpelsh, " 9. but char was of no uſe to Abraham whilſt alive, but to ur bim in when dead ; befides, it wasnot as an inheritance by * f Whereby the tha ma of ground 15 meant ;\ hence Sr. Stephen would prove, _* Graham's happineſs, and theirs too. if they rightly underſtood
*, Md not —_— upon the enjoyment of that place and Country. ol, BI on
PS 4 rh 1917 U1jis 31g
"0gItt, but it was purchated wich his money.
hs of *
Z Faith met with a double diticulty, not onely forawam mit believe he ſhould have all thar Counirey given lum tor an ink: t- tance, 1n which he had not a foot of land, but he mwt alto 52- leve, that it ſhould be his ſeeds after him, when 35 he had n2 children ; but thus faith is :he eviacnce of 1hings nat ſeen, H-zb.
Chap. VII.
$i. $i
6 And God ſpake on this wiſe, That his ſe2d þ fhould {ozourn in a ftrange land, and char they thould brins them into bondage, and intrear hex 4 evil four hundred years.