8. Typical. 1. Abraham himself with his family may be regarded as a type of the Church of God in future ages. hey indeed constituted God's ancient Church. Not that many scattered patriarchal and family churches did not remain, such was that of Melchizedek ; and such probably was that of Nahor, whom Abraham left behind in Mesopotamia. But a visible Church relation was established between Abraham's family and the Most High, signified by the visible and distin guishing sacrament of circumcision, and followed by new and enlarged revelations of truth. Two purposes were to be answered by this: the pre servation of the true doctrine of salvation in the world, which is the great and solemn duty of every branch of the Church of God,—and the maniPstation of that truth to others. Both were done by Abraham. Wherever he sojourned, he built his altars to the true God, and publicly celebrated his worship; and, as we learn from St. Paul, he lived in tents in preference to set tling in the land of Canaan, though it had been given to him for a possession, in order that lie might thus proclaim his faith in the eternal in heritance of which Canaan was a type ; and in bearing this testimony his example was followed by Isaac and Jacob, the "heirs with him of the same promise," who also thus "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims," and that "they looked" for a continuing and eternal city in heaven. So also now is the same doctrine of immortality committed to the Church of Christ ; and by deadness to the world ought its members to declare the reality of their own faith in it.
2. The numerous natural posterity promised to Abraham was also a type of the spiritual seed, the true members of the Church of Christ, springing from the Messiah, of whom Isaac was the symbol. Thus St. Paul guishes between the fleshly and the spiritual seed of Abraham ; to the latter of which, in their ultimate and highest sense, the promises of in crease as the stars of heaven, and the sands of the seashore, arc to be referred, as also the promise of the heavenly Canaan.
3. The intentional offering up of Isaac, with its result, was probably that transaction in Muth Abraham, more clearly than in any other, "saw the day of Christ, and was glad." lie received Isaac from the dead, says St. Paul, "in a figure." This could be a figure of nothing but the resur rection of our Lord; and if so, Isaac being laid upon the altar was a figure of his sacrificial death, scenically and most impressively repre sented to Abraham. The place, the same ridge of hills on ((Inch our Lord was crucified; the person, an only son, to die for no offense of his own ; the sacrificer, a father ; the receiving back, as it were, from death to life; the name pressed upon the place, importing, "the Lord will provide," in allusion to Abraham's own words to Isaac. "the Lord will provide a lamb for a burnt-offering ;" all indicate a mystery which lay deep beneath this transaction, and which Abraham, as the reward of his obedience, was permitted to behold. "The day" of Christ's
humiliation and exaltation was thus opened to him ; and served to keep the great truth in mind that the true burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin was to he something higher than the immolation of lambs and bulls and goats; nay, something more than what was merely human.
4. The expulsion of Hagar was a type. It was an allegory in action by which St. Paul teaches us to understand that the son of the bondwoman represented those who are under the law and the child of the free woman those who are by faith supernaturally begotten into the family of God. The casting out of the bondwoman and her son represents also the expulsion of the unbelieving Jews from the Church of God, which is composed of true believers of all nations, all of whom, whether Jews or Gentiles, were to become "fellow. heirs." 9. Cotenant Relation. 1. Abraham is to be regarded as standing in a federal or covenant rela tion, not only to his natural seed, but specially and eminently to all believers. "The gospel," we are told by St. Paul, "was preached to Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." "Abraham believed in God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness ;" in other words, he was justified. A covenant of gratuitous justification through faith was made with him and his believing descendants; and the rite of circumcision, which was not confined to his posterity by Sarah, but appointed in every branch of his family, was the sign or sacrament of this covenant of grace, and so remained till it was displaced by the sacra ments appointed by Christ. Wherever that sign was, it declared the doctrine, and offered the grace, of this covenarg.—.free justification by faith, and its glorious results—to all the tribes that proceeded from Abraham. This same grace is offered to us by the gospel, who become "Abraham's seed," his spiritual children with whom the covenant is established, through the same faith, and are thus made "the heirs with him of the same promise." 2. Abraham is also exhibited to us as the representative of true believers; and in this espe cially, that the true nature of faith was exhibited in him. This great principle was marked in Abraham with the following characters: An en tire, unhesitating belief in the word of God ; an un faltering trust in all his promises; a steady regard to his almighty power, leading him to overlook all apparent difficulties and impossibilities in every case where God had explicitly promised; and habitual and cheerful and entire obedience. The apostle has described faith in Heb. xi :r ; and that faith is seen living and acting in all its energy in Abraham, (Watson's Diet.; Miemayer, Charakt., ii. 72 sq; The Histories of Israel, by Ewald, Reuss and Kittel ; Sayce, Patr. Pal.; Price, Mon. and O. T.; Tompkins, Times of Abraham, Whately, Prototypes).