unto him out of Heaven and said Abraham Abraham and he said here am I and he said lay not thine hand upon the Lad neither do thou any thing unto him for now I know thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son thine only Son from me and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a Ram caught in a thicket by his horns and Abraham went and took the Ram and offered him up for a burnt-offering instead of his Son and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh as it is to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham the second time and said by my self I have sworn saith the Lord because thou hast done this thing and hast not with-held thy Son thine only Son that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the Stars of Heaven and as the sand upon the Sea shore and thy seed shall possess the Gates of thine enemies and in thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice Heb. 6.23 34 So Abraham and his Son returned unto his young men and they rose up and went to Beershebu together where Abraham dwelt And Sarah being 127 years old she died in Kiriath-arba the same is Hebron in the Land of Canaan and Abraham mourned for Sarah and wept for her and Abraham bought a burying place of the Sons of Heth to bury his dead in out of his sight Gen. 23. So when Abraham grew old and stricken in age he caused his eldest servant of his House to put his hand under his thigh and made him swear by the God of Heaven and the God of the earth and said thou shalt not take a Wife unto my Son of the Canaanites amongst whom I dwell but thou shalt go into my Country and unto my kindred and take a Wife unto my Son Isaac and the servant said peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me and Abraham said the Lord God of Heaven which took me from my Fathers house and from the Land of my kindred and which spake unto me and sware unto me saying unto thy seed will If give this Land he shall send his Angel before thee and thou shalt take a Wife for my Son from thence and if the woman will not be willing to follow thee then thou shalt be clear from this mine Oath And the Servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his Master and sware to him concerning the matter So the Servant believed in Abraham's words and made ready for his journey and took with him Camels and Goods of his Masters and set forward on his journey to Mesopotamia and at a well before he came to the City he met with Rebekah Bethuâ—l's daughter whose Mother's name was Milcah the Wife of Nahor Abraham's Brother and shelentreated him kindly and carried him home to her Fathers house and her Father and Mother and brother Laban received him kindly into their house and said unto him thou blessed of the Lord come in and they set meat before him and the servant declared unto him whose servant he was and how his Master had sent him and declared what his message was unto them as the whole passage you may read in Gen. 24. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said the thing proceedeth from the Lord we cannot speak unto thee good or bad behold Rebekah is before thee take her and go and let her be thy Master's Son's Wife as the Lord hath spoken at which words the Servant worshipped the Lord and bowed himself to the earth and the servant brought forth Jewels of Silver and Gold and gave them to Rebekah and gave precious things to her Mother and Brother and when they had eat and drunk they set forwards towards his Master and as they were returning home Isaac met them by the way and she said unto the servant what man is this and he said it is my Master therefore she took a vail and covered her self and the servant told Isaac all that he had done and Isaac brought her into his Mother Sarah's Tent and took Rebekah and she became his Wife and he loved her and Isaac was comforted after his Motherâ— death These are the Generations of Isaac Abraham's Son Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to Wife the Daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-Aram the Sister to Laban the Syrian and Isaac entreated the Lord for his Wife because she was barren and the Lord was entreated of him and Rebekah his Wife conceived and the children struggled within her and she said why am I thus and she went to enquire of the Lord and the Lord said unto her two Nations are in thy Womb and two manner of People shall be separated from thy Bowels the one people shall be stronger than the other and the elder shall serve the younger And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled behold there were twins in her Womb and the first came out red all over like an hairy Garment and they called his name Esau and after that came his brother out and his hand took hold of Esau's heel and his name was called Jacob Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them Here was the two Nations and the two seeds comprehended and brought forth of one Womb the Lord foreknowing and foreseeing this thing as he spoke unto Rebekah as the Apostle testifies that when the Children were yet in the Womb unborn having done neither good nor evil that the purpose of God according to the election might stand not of works but of him that calleth it was said unto her the elder shall serve the younger as it is written Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated Rom. 9.11 12 13. of this Esau's stock came the Edomites of which we shall say more hereafter But the word of the Lord by his Prophet Malachi I have loved you saith the Lord yet ye say wherein hast thou loved us was not Esau saith the Lord Jacob's Brother yet I loved Iacob and I hated Esau and laid his mountains and his herritage waste for the Dragons of the Wilderness Mal. 1.2 3. And again Hos 12. Ephraim feedeth on wind he daily increaseth in lies and they do make a Covenant with the Assyrians and carrieth Oyl into Egypt and not only the stock of Esau but also Jacob and Iudah had grieved the Lord at this time this Prophesie was after Iudah and Israel had sinned against the Lord and commited abominations as you may read in the 2 Kings 25. and Hos 12.2 The Lord hath also a controversie with Iudah and will punish Iacob according to his waies according to his doings will be recompense him he took his brother by the heel in the Womb and by his strength he had power with God he had power over the Angel he wept and
for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judab it is also evident that after the Order of Melchisedec there ariseth another Priest who is made not after the Law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life for being that the Priesthood is changed there must of necessity be a change of the Law Heb. 7. for he testifieth thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec which Order is not of a carnal commandment neither is this Priest a mortal man subject to fall and infirmities More might be said concerning this Melchisedec which met Abraham and blessed him but the Apostle is very laâ—ge in the demonstration of him for he saith Heb. 5.11 that he had many things to say of him hard to be uttered because they were dull of hearing After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a Vision saying Fear not Abram I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward and Abram said Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless and one that is born in mine house must be mine heir the Lord said this shall not be thine heir but one that comes out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir and the Lord said look up towards Heaven and tell the Stars if thou beest able to number them and he said so shall thy seed be and Abram believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness And when Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared unto him and said walk before me and be thou perfect and my Covenant shall be with thee and thou shalt be the Father of many Nations and thy name shall be called no more Abram but Abraham shall be thy name a Father of many Nations have I made thee and as for Sarai thy Wife thou shalt not call her name Sarai but Sarah shall her name be and I will bless her and she shall be the Mother of Nations then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old and shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear and Abraham said unto God Oh that Ishmael might live before the Lord and God said Sarah thy Wife shall bear thee a Son indeed and thou shalt call his name Isaac and I will establish my Covenant with him for an everlasting Covenant and with his seed after him and as for Ishmael I have heard thee behold I have blest him but my Covenant will I establish with Isaac which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year And according to this the Lod sent his Angels unto Abraham and Sarah to confirm unto them that at the time appointed she should bring forth a child and the Lord said unto Abraham wherefore did Sarah laugh saying shall I have a child is any thing too hard for the Lord at the time appointed will I return unto thee according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a Son so at the same time the Lord discovered unto Abraham what he intended against Sodom And the men turned their faces towards Sodom and Abraham set them on their way and the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do seeing that Abraham shall be surely great and a mighty Nation and all the Nations of the earth shall be blessed in him for I know that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord and do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him And the Lord said because of the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sins are very grievous I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know and the men turned their faces from thence and went towards Sodom but Abraham stood before the Lord and drew near and prayed unto the Lord for the righteous in Sodom and the Lord heard him as you may read Gen. 18. And so the two Angels came into Lot's house and Lot received them kindly and so he and all his house were preserved the men said unto Lot hast thou any here besides thy Son-in-law and thy Sons and thy Daughters and whatever thou hast in the City bring it out for we will destroy this place because that the cry of it is waxen great before the Lord and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it So the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire out of Heaven from the Lord but just Lot was preserved in the little City called Zoar and was permitted to escape thither that his Soul might live he his Sons and his Daughters and all the Cities round about were destroyed all the Cities of the plain And God remembred Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow where Lot dwelt in the plain And Abraham got up early in the morning and he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and the smoke of the Country rose up as the smoke of a Furnace Gen. 19.28 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said for Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a Son in his old age and Abraham called the name of his Son that was born unto him Isaac and he circumcised him the eight day as God had commanded him and Abraham was a hundred years old when his Son Isaac was born And it came to pass after these things that God called Abrabam and said unto him take now â—hy Son thine only Son whom thou lovest and get thee into the Land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his Ass and took two of the young men with him and Isaac his Son and clave the wood for a burnt-offeâ—â—g then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off and Abraham said unto the young men abide you here with the Asses and I and the Lad will go yonder and worship and come again unto you And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it upon Isaac his Son and he took fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together And Isaac spake unto Abraham his Father and said my Father and he said here am I my Son and he said here is the fire and the wood but where is the Lamb for a burnt-offering and he answered my Son the Lord will provide one So they went both of them together and they came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an Altar and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his Son and laid him upon the wood and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his Son and the Angel of the Lord called
Caldees to go into the Land of Canaan Gen. 11.31 And the Lord said unto Abram get thee out of thy Country and from thy kindred and from thy Fathers house into a Land that I will shew thee and I will make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing and I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all the Families of the earth be blessed So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him and Abram took Sarai his Wife and Lot his Brother's Son and all their substance that they had gathered and the Souls that they had got in Haran and they went forth to go into the Land of Canaan and into the Land of Canaan they came and Abram passed through the Land to Scchem unto the plain of Morch and the Canaanite was then in the Land this Canaanite was of Ham's stock and seed which afterward the Lord drove out to bring in his own seed of his Promise And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto thy feed will I give this Land and there Abram built an Altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him there in the Land though the Canaâ—nite was there and Abram removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his Tent and there he builded an Altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And so journied towards the South and there was a grievous Famine in the Land and Abram and his Wife and Lot went down into Egypt to sojourn there because the Famine was great and there they stayed in Egypt till they were grown very rich in Cattel in Silver and in Gold And Abram came back again out of Egypt and his Wife and Lot and all that they had and he went on his journey from the South even to Bethel unto the place where his Tent had been in the beginning and unto the place of the Altar which he had made there at first there Abram called on the name of the Lord even in the Land which the Lord had given unto him he came back unto it from Egypt he and his Wife and Lot and all their substance and Cattel but their Servants and Herdsmen could not agree and Abram desired that there might be peace betwixt Lâ—â— and him because they were brethren and Abram said the whole Land is before thee separate thy self from me and take the one hand and I will take the other and Lot chose the plain of Jordan because it was well watâ—red and as the Garden of the Lord and Abram dwelt in the Land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the Cities of the plain and pitched his Tents towards Sodom but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinned before the Lord exceedingly for they were of Ham's stock and of that cursed seed for he was the Father of Canaan and the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him list up now thine eâ—es and look from the place where thou art Northward and Southward and Eastward and Westward for all the Land which thou seest to the will I give and to thy seed for ever and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if thou canst number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed be numbred Abram removed his Tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is in Hebron and builded there an Altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord Then there was a great battel fought about Sodom and Comorrah four Kings against five made War and they took Lot Abraham's brothers Son a Prisoner and all his goods And when Abram heard they had taken his Brother's Son captive he armed his servants that were born in his house and pursued them unto Dan and pursued them unto Hobah and he brought back all the Goods and he also brought again his brother Lot And when Abram returned back from the slauther of the Kings Melchisedec King of Salem brought forth bread and Wine and he was the Priest of the most high God and he blessed him and said blessed be Abram of the most high God possessor of Heaven and earth and blessed be the most high God which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand and Abram gave him Tyths of all Now the Scripture saith that Christ the everlasting high Priest is after the Order of Melchisedec Psal 110.4 David saith the Lord hath sworn and will not repent thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec and the Apostle saith Heb. 6.20 whither the forerunner is entred even Jesus made an high Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec this cannot be of mortal man nor according to mans Order that Christ Jesus is made a Priest after the Apostle saith this Melchisedec King of Salem Priest of the most high God who met Abram returning from the slaughter of the Kings and blessed him to whom Abraham also gave a tenth part of all The Apostle gives the signification of his name first being by interpretation King of Righteousness after that King of Salem which is King of peace without Father without Mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like unto the Son of God abideth a Priest continually This is the interpretation the Apostle gives of him now consider saith the Apostle how great he is unto whom the Patriarch Abraham gave the tenth Now they that are of the Sons of Levi who receive the Office of Priesthood have a commandment to take Tythes according to the Law but he whose descent is not counted from them received Tythes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promise and without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better for if he had not been above Abraham he could not have blessed him for here men that die saith the Apostle receive Tythes but there he received them of whom it is witnessed that he liveth Heb. 7.8 What will it advantage the Priests of this age when they cannot prove by the Levetical Law Tythes to be lawful in these days because they profess themselves to be Ministers of the Gospel and their Order should be Gospel-Order and they bring Melchisedec that he took Tythes and they bring Abraham who is the seed that God hath blessed that had the promises of God unto him that paid them and they themselves are mortal sinful men that takes the Tythes and people that are loaden with sin and iniquity pays the Tythes what example have these from Melchisedec's Order after whose Order Christ Jesus the everlasting high Priest is made for Levi that took Tythes paid Tythes in Abraham unto Melchisedec for he was in the loins of his Father when Abraham met him if there were perfection in the Levitical Priesthood which is after the Order of Aaron what needed there another Priest after the Order of Melchisedec
made supplication unto him and prevailed he sound him in Bethel even the Lord the God of Hosts the Lord his memorial ver 5 Esau was a cunning hunter and Iacob was a plain man dwelling in Tents and Isaac loved Esau but Rebekah loved Iacob And Iacob sod pottage and Esau came from the field and he was faint and Esau said to Iacob feed me I pray thee with that same red pottage for I am faint therefore was his name called Edom and Iacob said sell me this day thy birthright and Esau said I am at the point to die and what shall this birthright do to me And he sware to him and he sold his birthright unto Iacob then Iacob gave Esau bread and pottage of Lentals and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way thus Esau despised his Birth-right Gen. 25 26. to the end according to that of the Apostle Heb. 12.16 17. who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right And there was a Famine in the Land and Isaac went unto Abimelech King of the Philistines and the Lord appeared unto him and said go not down into Egypt dwell in the Land which I shall tell thee of so journ in this Land and I will be with thee and I will bless thee for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these Countries and I will perform the Oath which I sware unto thy Father Abraham and I will make thy seed to multiply as the Stars of Heaven and will give unto thee all these Countries and in thy seed shall all the Nations be blessed because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge my Commandments my Statutes and my Laws so Isaac dwelt in Gerar and sowed in that Land and received in that year one hundred fold for the Lord blessed him And it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim he called Esau his eldest Son and he said behold I am old and know not the day of my death therefore take thy Bow and thy weapons and go to the field to take me some Venison and make me savoury meat such as I love that my soul may bless thee before I die and Rebekah heard what Isaac spake unto Esau and when Esau was gone into the field to hunt Rebekah spake unto Jacob her Son saying I heard thy Father speak unto Esau thy Brother saying bring me Venison and make me savoury meat that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death now therefore my Son obey my voice do that I command thee go to the flock fetch me two good Kids of the Goats and I will make thee savoury meat for thy Father such as he loveth and thou shalt bring it to thy Father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his death and Jacob said to Rebekah his Mother my brother is an hairy man and I am a smooth man and my Father peradventure will feel me and I shall seem to him to be a deceiver and I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing And his Mother said unto him upon me be thy curse my Son only obey my voice and go fetch them and he went and fetched them and brought them to his Mother and she made savoury meat such as his Father loved and Rebekah took raiment of her eldest Son Esau's and put them upon Jacob and she put the skins of the Kids upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck and she gave the savoury meat and the bread that she had prepared into the hand of her Son Jacob and he came unto his Father and said my Father and he said here am I who arâ— thou my Son and Iacob said unto his Father I am Esau thy first-born I have done according as thou badest me arise and eat of my Venison that thy soul may bless me and Isaac saidunto him how is it that thou hast found it so quickly my Son and he said because the Lord thy God brought it to me and Isaac said unto Iacob come near that I may feel thee whether thou be my very Son Esau or not and Iacob went near unto Isaac and he felt him and said the voice is Iacob's but the hands are the hands of Esau and he discerned him not because his hands were hairy as Esau's were so he blessed him and he said unto him art thou my very Son Esau and he said I am and he said bring it neer unto me that I may eat of my Sons Venison that my Soul may bless thee and Isaac said come near my Son and kiss me and he came near and kissed him and he smelled of his Raiment and blessed him and he said I give thee of the dew of Heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of Corn and Wine let all people serve thee and Nations bow down to thee be Lord over thy Brethren let thy Mothers Sons bow down unto thee cursed be every one that curseth thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee And as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Iacob Esau came from his hunting and brought his Venison and made savoury meat for his Father and said let my Father arise and eat of his Sons Venison that thy Soul may bless me and Isaac said unto him who art thou he said I am thy first-born Esau and Isaac trembled very exceedingly and he said where is he that hath brought me Venison and I have eaten before thou camest and I have blessed him yea and he shall be blessed and when Esau heard the words of his Father he cryed with an exceeding bitter cry and said bless me even me also my Father 〈◊〉 he said thy brother came with subtlety and hath taken away â—â—y blessing and he said is he not rightly named Iacob for he hath supplanted me this two times he took away my birth-right and now behold he hath taken away my blessing Here is a Parable and a mystery concerning these passages for if Isaac had blessed Esau he had blessed the wrong birth for God calls himself by the name of the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob this is my name and my memorial for ever saith the Lord Exod. 3.15 And Christ Jesus saith that he is the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob Mat. 22.32 Certainly Iacob was the right seed which the blessing of the Lord was to for Cain was the first birth but he was the wrong seed And so Esau was the first birth but not the seed of the Promise which the blessing was to though Isaac loved Esau if he had given him the blessing it had not been so well but the Lord ordered it otherwise the Apostle saith by faith Isaac blessed Iacob and the very name of Iacob signifieth a Supplanter and so he was to supplant his Brother and root him out for Cain the elder Brother slew his Brother Abel but the Lord hath given