New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-03-25

We were considering the Bible in its historical
character aud as the history Of family From the
moment when the universal history finishes that
OF Abraham begins, and thenceforth it is the his
tory OF family of which Abraham is the first
aud Jesus Christ the last person and from the frst
appearance of Abraham, the whole history appears
10 have been ordered from age to age expressly to
prepare for the appearance Of Christ upon earth -
The history begins with the frs. and mildest trials
OF Abraham obedience, and the promise as reward
OF his fidelity that in " him all the families Of the
earth should be blessed. The second trial, which
CURED the sacrifice OF his son, was many years al
serwsrd, and the promise was more explicit and
precisely assigned as the reward OF bis o6ed'-
egos. There were between these periods two inter
mediate occasions, recorded in the 18th aud 18th
chapters of Geness-on the FIRST Of which, the word
o. the Lord came to Abraham in a vision and prom
ised him he should have child, from whom great
and mighty nation should proceed, which, after be
ing in servtude 400 years in strange land should
become the possessors Of the land of Canaan from
that Of Egypt to the river Euphrates. On the
second. the Lord appeared 70 him and his wife,
repeated the promise that they should have
,hid that Abraham should surely become great
be blessed in him" for know him saith the Lord,
that he will command his household after him and
that they will keep the way Of the Lord to do
justice aud judgment that the Lord may bring
upon Abraham that which He hath spoken Of him =
from all which it is obvious that the first OF the
promises was made as subservient and instrument
tai to the secondhand the great and mighty nation
was to be raised as the means in the ways OF Gods
providence for producing the sacred person OF
Jesus Christ, through whom the perfect sacrifice
Of atonement for the original transgression of man
should be contaminated, and by which "all the
families of the earth should be blessed am So
little versed in controversial divinity that | know
not whether ibis xviith chapter of Genesis has ever
been adduced in support Of the doctrine of Trinity
there is at least in it an alteration OF those divine
persons and OF one not little remarkable which
i know not how TO explain If taken In connection
with tho 18th, it would seem that one Of the men
entertained by Abraham, God himself, and the
other two were angels sent to destroy Sodom
Leaving this, however let me ask your particular
attention to the reason assigned by God for be
slowing such extraordinary blessings upon Abra-
ham, 1t unfolds to US the first and most important
part OF the superstructure OF moral principle,
erected upon the foundation Of obedience to the
will OF God. The rigorous trials fAbraham's ODE
dience mentioned in this and my last letter, were
only tests to ascertain his character in reference to
the single, and | may say abstract point OF ODE
dience, here we have a precious CLEAN of light
disclosing what the nature Of this will OF Gods
was. that he should command his children and his
household after him by which the parental au-
thority to instruct and direct his descendants In
the way of the Lord was given him as an authority
and en- joined upon him as a duty and the lessons
which he was then empow and required to
teach his posterity were TO do justice and judg'
ment" Thus Obedience 10 the VIII OF God
10 the first and all comprehensive virtue taught IN
the Bible. so the second is Justice and Judgment
toward Mankind; and this is exhibited as the re-
suit naturally following from the other In the
same chapter is related the intercession OF Abra-
ham with God for the preservation of Sodom
from destruction the city was destroyed for Its
crimes but the Lord promised Abraham 1t should
be spared if only ten righteous should be found IN
it the principle of mercy was therefore sanctioned
in immediate connection with that of justice.
Abraham had several children but the great
promise Of God was to be performed through
Isaac alone. and of the two sons OF Isaac, Jacob
the youngest-was selected for the foundation OF
the second family and nation it was from Jacob
that the multiplication of the family began, and
his twelve sons were all included in the gepealogy
Of the tribes which aiterward constituted the
Jewish people. Ishmael the children OF heturah
and Essn, the eldest son Of Isaac, were all the
psrents Of considerable families. which aiterward
spread into nations but they formed no part oil
the chosen people, and their history, with that OF
the peighboring nations, is only incidentally no.
ticed in the Bible. far as they had relations OF
intercourse or hostility with the people OF dod-
The history OF Abraham and his descendants to
the close of the book of Genesis is a biography oil
;nS;v;du.ls the incidents related OF them are all
81 the c,s.. balancing to domestic life. Joseph
indeed. became highly distinguished pubic
character in the land of Egypt, and 1t was through
him that his father aud all his brothers were
finally settled there--which was necessary 70 pre-
pars for the existence OF their posterty az a ma
lion. and to fulfill the purpose which God had
announced to Abraham that they should be Tour
hundred years jewellers in a strange land In tne
lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, many
miraculous events are recorded; but all those winch
are spoken of as happening IN the ordinary course
Of human affairs have an air Of reality about them
which no invention could initiate. In some Ct
TIE nssctions related the cosduct OF the pain
archs 10 highly bamable circumstances oil deep
depravity are particularly told OF ReGben, sineoD
Levi and Judah, upon which it is necessary to re-
mark that their actions are never spoken oil WIN
appreciation, but always with strong marks Of cen
sure, and generally with minute account oil the
panisbment which followed upon their nansgres
sion. The vices and crimes Of the patriarchs are
sometimes alleged as objections against the belief
that persons guilty Of them should ever have
been especially favored Of God but, vicious as
they were, there is every reason To be convinced
that they were less so than their oc;smpWaries
their vices appear TO us at this day gross disgusting
and atrocious but the written law was not tbsn
given, the boundaries between right and wrong
were not defined with the precision az In the
tables given afterward TO Moses; the law Of Va
turs was the only rule Of morality by which they