ISAAC (ante) was distinguished for obedience to his father, combined with resigna• tion to the will of God. These traits of character were conspicuous in his quiet submis• sion to being bound upon the altar. This event has had various explanations, and its account has been viewed in different lights. It has been denied that it was a divine voice which called for the sacrifice. The usual view, however, holds to the obvious meaning of the narrative. Among different explanations in this view, may be noted the follow ing, which reads this history in the light which the completed Scriptures throw backward upon it. It was needful that Abraham, as. the father of the faithful, should exercise such trust in God as would make him, in that day of darkness and idolatry, the founder of a godly line and an believe is even in distant times. It was therefore requisite that he should have his knowledge of God's plans increased in order that it might furnish a foundation for great and conspicuous faith. This was done chiefly by means of the land in which he sojourned, and of Isaac his son. The promise that the land should be given to his descendants was one of the first stones of the foundation on which his faith was built; to this was added the assurance that a son should be born to him in his old age. When, 25 years after his entrance into Canaan, this second promise was ful filled, the living son, the heir of the promises, became the means of a great increase to Abraham's knowledp.e, and confirmation of his faith. Ile was taught not only that Isaac represented the Messiah, the Divine deliverer, who was to descend from him, but also that the Messiah by offering up himself unto death would make atone ment for the sins of men. Therefore his offering of Isaac was demanded, and made actual through all its stages to the moment when his life was on the point of being taken; and was then completed by the substitution of the victim which Abra ham was directed to slay instead of his son. Thus Isaac manifested a Christlike obedience and submission even unto death; while the actual death inflicted on the other victim represented the completion of the sacrifice to which his greater son would deliver himself up. Abraham's own experience also was made representative of God's great sacrifice in salvation. He went through all the anguish that a father's heart could experience in inflicting death on a beloved son without actually striking the final blow; and even this he had so fully intended to strike, and had come so near striking it, that he must have passed through almost all the bitterness of which his soul was capable. Thus
was lie taught, as fully as possible before the event, the feelings of Christ and of the Father which have since been indicated by the Scripture words, "Father, if it he possi ble, let this cup pass from me; " "My God, why bast thou forsaken me;" " God spared not his own Son, but delivered him lip for us all." In this way also Abraham was brought to exercise faith concerning the resurrection of the dead, as completely as was possible before the actual resurrection of Christ; so that the New Testament says of Abraham that he offered up his son on whom the promises rested, "accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead; whence also he received him in a figure. It is probable that no single view likely to be reached by modern thought solves all the mystery or presents alZ the Divine truth involved in this scene from a remote antiquity." Isaac's love for his wife, prominent in the scriptural record, is obscured by only one net, in which evidently he was betrayed into cowardly selfishness in persuading his wife to deny the conjugal relationship between them, because, as he afterwards acknowledged, he said, "Lest I die for her." Yet thiS great fault of his life is hardly to be regarded as a betrayal of a real character which had been habitually concealed, but rather as an exceptionikl overwhelming of his better nature by the power of ungovernable fear. In this respect lie may have resembled his father, who sinned twice in the same way, yet not in accordance with his usual character, but in glaring contrast to it. In his youth Isaac was thoughtful, in manhood increasingly reflective, and through all his life prayerful and devout. In his treatment of his children he was unwisely partial; and as, while lie preferred one son, Rebecca favored the other, it is probable that they both promoted that alienation between the brothers which afterwards so unhappily increased. Iu disposition lie was peaceful and forbearing, preferring to suffer wrong rather than contend violently for his rights. In business relations he was upright; in agriculture he was successful, and became exceeding rich in servants, flocks, and herds. In old age lie was disquieted with bodily infirmity and domestic grief. He died full of days, and is one of those concerning whom the certain revelation has been put on record that he has a place in the kingdom of heaven.