The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-08-25
FOR THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT.
BY REV. II. H. HALVES.


If it be said that the covenant token,
circumcision, marked Jewish nationality,
1 reply: a. There was no Jewish nation
where that rite was ordained. 1t could not
mark nationality when there was not such
nation in existence. (2.) Other people
neither claiming to be, nor acknowledged as
Jews, were circumcised. No one ever claim
ed that this made or marked them as men,
bers of the Jewish nation. (3). God could
thus, or in any other way mark "pecuiar
people" for Himself, yet not mark their ma
tionality. (4.) The idea is opposed to ex-
press scriptural teaching. For Rom. iv: IL
declares positively that circumcision was ga
seal of the righteousness of the faith" If
it be said that it sealed the promise to pos
sess Canaan. 1 answer, in that case, Joshua
would not have caused the people to be Cir
cumcised after that promise was fulfilled.
Yet after they had actually entered Canaan,
he by the command of God had the rite ad-
ministered to the people, because its omission
had been made necessary by their travels in
the wilderness. Josh. v: 1-9. Now let US
90 back for a moment The whole world,
though so fearfully rebuked once by the flood
in the days of Noah, had again gone astray
from God. 1t was gone away into idolatry
and immortality. Up to Abraham's time,
Gods truth-seed had been scattered broad
cast, SO to speak, and without special culture.
1t became evident that this would not do
Some organized system was necessary here,
as in all other matters. Therefore God in
His unerring wisdom adopted means for the
preservation and growth of His truth among
men. AS writer says: " Instead of
dealing any longer with the millions of the
race-instead of emptying ,garners of truth
over fens and swamps which enveloped the
seed and yielded no return,-He took in a
little piece of holy ground He laid hold
of one family, and selected it as the recipient
and custod;er of Divine Revelation. By a
very remarkable process He fenced in and
secluded that family, making it a peculiar
people, dwelling above and not reckoned
among the nations; and when the great pur-
pose was answered, and the wall of separa-
ton was broken down, it was on the hills Of
Palestine that the handful of corn was found
which now waves on our English fields, and
will vet make all the mountains of the earth
like Lebanon" These eloquent words tell
us clearly why God gave that Jewish nation
such an existence as it had. 1t was the
keeper of Gods ''oracles" until "the fulness
of time was come" He set apart one family
at first for special training. This family
was to hand down to its successors, the les
sons of God. And so the generations were
trained through centuries, until in Numbers
the peculiar people" became ga great ma
tion.' God brought that nation into Ca
naan, and so fulfilled the first promise, SO
showed Himself faithful to His first cove
nant. Gen. XIV. Now in Abraham's family
were all the people at first, who were mem
bers of the organization which we call the
visi6le church. But after the lapse of about
four centuries, and thence to " the time oi
reformation" by Christ, (Heb. tx: 1O,) the
bounds of this church were enlarged to al
the families composing that nation of which
Abraham was father according to the flesh
! The bounds of that nation were the bounds
of the church. And circumcision retained
the significance which belonged to it from
the beginning. 1t was not mark of Jewisi
nationality in jewish families of after ages
aay more than in Abraham's family whel
there was no existing nationality to mari
thus. This becomes plain by PaulS expo8i
ton in Rom. iv, and Gal. iii. Circumcision
belonged neither to the Jewish nation, no
to the law given by Moses to it. Gentle
:, Rev. James Hamilton, D. d.