LECTURE XVII. THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS TO ABRAM. GEN. 18. 2. And he lift up his eyes and look ed, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself towards the ground. IN N the 17th Chapter we read, that "when Abram was ninety years and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and Nei ther shall thy name any more be called ABRAM, but thy name shall be ABRAHAM; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be, and I will bless her, her, and give thee a Son also of her: yea I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; Kings of people shall be of her. And Abraham said unto God, O that Ismael might live before thee! 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 Ismael I have heard thee: Behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitfull, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." God also gave Abraham a command to circumcise his children at the age of 8 days old. This command Abraham obeyed in the self same day. You here find that the names of the Patriarch and his wife were changed to ABRAHAM and SARAH. ABRAM means high, or exalted Father, and ABRAHAM means the father of a multitude. SARAI signifies MY Princess and SARAH A name of great respectability, A token of fond regard. Princess of the multitude, or a mother of Nations. From her was to descend Messiah the Prince, even the Prince of the Kings of the earth. Abraham prayed for Ismael, and God heard his prayer and blessed Ismael. He found favor for the sake of Abraham, and God had laid up many blessings in store for him. Let us now attend to the SUBJECT of this Lecture. I. I shall notice the VISITORS. They were three Angels, but appeared to Abraham to be three men. "And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him." Angels are frequently mentioned in the Bible. We know that there are Angels, and that God made them. We know also from the Scriptures that they. have often been permitted to come down from heaven to earth, as messengers of mercy or judgment. They are said to be Spirits: pure and mighty Spirits. “He ma A title of honor, diguity and dominion. keth It was my intention to have introduced a Lec ture on Angels, but as this subject appeared to me to belong rather to Theology than History, I havé ⚫mitted it. keth his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire." God is a spirit. The soul of man is a spirit, and Angels are spirits. Whether they have bodies or not we cannot tell. We kn.w this that they have often appeared in a bodily shape like men. They possess great knowledge. They are perfectly holy and without sin. They are also said "to excel in strength." When God commands them, they can work miracles. They have power to smite the bodies of men with sickness and disease. They have power to kill. The men of Sodom were smitten with blindness by Angels. King Herod " was smitten by an Angel of the Lord, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost." Angels are exceedingly swift, they are said to have wings. They are invisible and immortal. They dwell in heaven and stand before the Throne of God, praising him with harps of gold, day and night. They obey the commands and watch continually over the children of men. Three of these holy beings paid a visit to Abraham, in order to confirm the promise of God to him, and to make known to Abraham, what he was about about to do. That he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, on account of the wickedness of the people that lived in these cities. II. The ENTERTAINMENT which ABRAHAM gave to these VISITORS. "And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the ground. And said, my Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet and rest your selves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts, and after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast said. And Abraham has tened into the tent unto make ready quickly three Sarah, and said, measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young man, and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it be |