ancient nntions, but not univers11l among amongiit his nation, from among his people the Egyptians" (Kalisch). Though not 11d- (Levit. xvii, 4, 10; Numb. xv. M), from minist~re,l to both, the symbol was ordained Israel (Exod. xii, 16 ; Numb. xix. 13), from for the sake of both sexes (Calvin)--in your the congregation of Israel (Exod. xii. 19), generations, he that is born in the house, or br the rnfliction of death at tfio hnnds bought with money of any stranger, which o tho congregation, the civil magistrate1 _or is not of thy seed. Not only ·a proof of the of God (Abarbanel, Gosenius, Clericns, .Mi• Didnc benignity to Abraham in embracing chaelis, Rosenmiiller, Keil 1 Wor<lsworth, Al- all the members of his housel10ld within tho ford) ; or shall be excommunicated from the pale of the visible Church now constituted, Church, and no longer reckoned e..mong the but likewise a hint of the world-wide aspect people of God (Augustine; Yatablus, Pis-. of the Abrahnrnic covenant, a first-fiuits as it co.tor, Willet, Calvin, .Knobel, Murphy, were of the " all the families of tho earth " Kalisch, Inglis). That excision from one's that should he bwssed in Abram. people was in certain cases followed by the Ver. 13.-Re that is born in thy house, death penalty (Exod. xxxi. 14 ; Levit. xviii. and he that is bought with thy money, 29 ; Numb. x:v. 30) does not prove that the must needs be circumcised. Litornlly, cir- capital infliction was an invariable accom- cumci.ied, must be circwnu;~ed, he that is paniment of such sentence (vide Exod. bom, &c., the niph. inf. nbs. with the finite xii 10; Levit. vii 20, 21 ; Numb. xix. 13). vcl'b occupying the pface of emphasis at Besides, to suppose that such was its mean- the beginning of the sentence (vide Gese- ing here necessitates the restriction of the nius, ' Grararnar,' § 131). And my cove- punishment to adults, whereas with the nant shall be in your tlesh for an everlast- alternative signification no such .restriction ing covenant. requires to be imposed on the statute. The Yer. 14. - And the uncircumcised man uncircumcised Hebrew,- whether child or child whose tlesh of his foreskin is not cir- adult, forfeited his standing in the congre- cumcised, that soul shall be cut off from gation, i. e. ceased to be a member of the his people. 'E!;o>..o0pw07111,ra, ir: roii y,vovi; Hebrew Chnrch,' Re hath broken ·my cove- avriji; (LXX. ), i. e. shall be destroyed from nant. •
HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-14.-Tlu covenant renewed. I. THE COVENANT CONFIRMED. 1. Tlie time. " When Abram was ninety years old and nine," i. e. thirteen years .after Ishmael's birth. Mark the penalty of striving to anticipate Divine promises. Human inge~ nuity, even when not directly sinful, can only retard, not accelerate, Jehovah's.pur- pose. 2. The A utlior. "El Shaddai," i. e. the Being who, though ordinarily operating silently and invisibly in nature, is able to break through nature in order to accomplish his designs. Nature is not superior to God, but vice versd-the Almighty transcends his own handiwork; and much as Nature. discloses of God's eternal power and Godhead in her ordinary workings, she does not by means of these reveal· the infinite fulness of his Divine resources. 3. The condition. "Walk before me, and be thou perfect," i. e. follow holiness as well as trust my word. Though grace is the prime mover in all Heaven's bargains or contracts with sinful men 1 they nre invariably conditioned by man's obedience to and trust in the Divino Covenanter. The meaning briefly is, that if God's grace does not oonquer man's unbelief and sin, man's unbelief and sin will ultimately cancel God's grace. II. THE COVENANT EXPLAINED. 1. J.'he promise of a seed. An old promise recapitu- lated, since God gives "line upon line," "precept upon precept" (Isa. xxviii. 10); with little additional clearness of definition, beyond the hint, conveyed by the words "nations" and "kings,'' that something more than Ishmael and his descenda~ts wne to be expected, since the Revealer of the Father (the Word of Jehovah, Chnst, tho Word of God) only discovers truth to the human mind as it can bear (Mark iv. 33). 2. The promi.se of a land. Thi6 too was an old promise redelivered, with the old par- ticularity of description and the old solem?ity of donation_; partly :to inform_ the hearer's mind, partly to allay whatever anxwus thoughts might remo.m, but clnefly to prepare for the imposition of the obligations that were about to be d~clared. Covenant mercies, at least in God's contracts, always go before covenant duties. 3. J.'he promise of a bless-ing. Thie too had been included in the gracious provision.a of the covenant from the first; but now a slight advance is made in the elucidation of its nature. The blessing is to be distinctly Rpiritual. Jehovah is to be n God to CH. XVIL 1-14.J THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 23E