Its waters are a little impregnated with alum, and very much so with salt; hence it is called the Salt Sea; and because it preserves nothing alive in it, it is called the Dead Sea.

A pitchy bituminous substance, called Asphaltus, rises on the water, and occasionally explodes. Hence it has obtained the name of the Lake Asphallites.

Q. Did Lot continue in Zoar?

A. No: he removed with his two daughters to a cave, when having made him drunk they committed incest with him, and sometime after bore each a son-the one called Moab, the father of the Moabites; and the other Ben-ammi, the father of the children of Ammon-both which nations were afterwards powerful enemies of the people of God.-Gen. xix. 30-38.

Obs.-The fall of Lot calls upon us to be upon our guard against sin; and particularly to beware of drunkenness, which in itself is exceedingly heinous, and often leads to sins still more so.

Q. Did not the destruction of Sodom terrify Abraham? A. Yes and soon after we find that he removed to Gerar, the chief city of the Philistines, about three days' journey from Jerusalem, where he abode near twenty years.-Gen. xx. 1.

Q. What happened to Abraham there?

A. Pretending that Sarah was his sister, Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took her, to make her his wife; but God required him to restore her upon pain of death.-Gen. xx. 2, 13.

Q. Did not Abraham sin by thus dissembling ?

A. Greatly and these examples teach us that even good men often sin, and that the Bible is entitled to our confidence, since it records the faults of good men, as well as their good actions. Q. What does the name of Abimelech mean?

A. It means my father, the king, and was the

title of the kings of the Philistines, as Pharaoh was of the Egyptians, and Cæsar of the Romans.

LESSON IX.

Q. When and where was Isaac born?

A. At Gerar, when Abraham was in his 100th year, and Sarah in her 90th.-Gen. xxi. 5.

Q. What command did God give Abraham, in respect to Isaac ?

A. When Isaac was, as is supposed, about 25 years old, God commanded him to offer him up as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah.-Gen. xxii. 2.

Obs. The place where Isaac was to be offered, was some mountain adjacent to that, upon which the temple of Solomon was afterwards built, and there is no improbability in the general opinion, that it was Mount Calvary, where Christ was afterwards crucified.

Q. How did Abraham receive this command?

A. In faith, nothing doubting. He did as God commanded, and would have sacrificed Isaac, had not God directed otherwise.-Gen. xxii. 3.6.

Q. Why should God give such a command to Abraham? A. "To tempt" him, as the language of the Bible is, (Gen. xxii. 1.) that is, to prove or try him. In this trial, God designed that Abraham should give to the church, in all future ages, an example of the faith which he approves.

Obs. Hence we are taught to follow the path of duty at all times, and to leave consequences to God. If we faithfully obey the divine will, we should not fear but that he will help us in the time of need.

Q. What further was intended by the sacrifice of Isaac? A. To present a type of Christ, who was afterwards to be offered up for the sins of the world. Q. What became of Isaac after this?

A. He married Rebecca, the daughter of Be

thuel, a kinsman of Abraham's, who dwelt at Haran, in Mesopotamia.-Gen. xxiv. 15. 67.

Q. But why should he seek a wife from so great a distance-being 300 miles from Canaan?

A. Rebecca's family were worshippers of the true God, and it was the design of Providence, by directing Isaac thus to marry, to prevent the church from being blended with any people, devoted to idolatry.

CHAPTER V.

Esau and Jacob.

Q. Had Isaac and Rebecca any children?

A. Yes-Esau and Jacob, who were twins, and were born twenty years after their marriage. -Gen. xxv. 20, 25, 26.

Q. Did Abraham live to see his grand-sons?

A. Yes: for he did not die until 15 years after they were born-when he was buried with Sarah in the field and cave of Machpelah.-Gen. xxi. 5, xxv. 7, 26.

Q. How did Isaac and Rebecca regard their sons?

A. Esau, being a strong and active lad, was most beloved by his father; Jacob, being of a

more gentle and courteous disposition, was most beloved by his mother.-Gen. xxvii. 1-15.

Q. What privileges were included in the birth-right, and to which of these sons did these privileges belong.

A. The first-born was consecrated to the Lord; sometimes had a double portion of the estate allotted to him; had a dignity and authority over his brethren; succeeded in the government of the family, and to the priesthood. He had a claim upon the special blessing of his dying parent, and in the case of Abraham's posterity in the line of Isaac, &c. a right to succeed to the possession of Canaan, and to be the progenitor of Christ. As Esau was the eldest, all these blessings belonged to him.

Q. Why did Esau sell these privileges to Jacob?

A. Being a wicked and unbelieving man, he disregarded them, and therefore sold them, on an occasion of being very hungry, for some pottage which Jacob had made for himself.-Gen. xxv. 33. Heb. xii. 16.

Obs. The conduct of Esau, in selling privileges of so much value, for the temporary gratification of eating some pottage, must be deemed exceedingly unwise.

Let us beware of acting a still unwiser part, by bartering the eternal welfare of our souls, for the poor and fleeting joys of this world. Nothing can compensate for the loss of the soul.-"What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

LESSON XI.

Q. Was Esau's conduct after this pleasing to his parents? A. No, but very grievous, for without their consent he married two wives, the daughters of the Hittites, an idolatrous nation of the country. -Gen. xxvi. 34, 35.

Q. Did Isaac, however, still prefer Esau to Jacob? A. Yes, and shewed his regard for him by directing him, when he was about to die, to dress some venison, after eating which, he would bless him.-Gen. xxvii. 1-4.

Q. What did Rebecca direct Jacob to do, to secure the blessing of Isaac to himself?

A. She directed him to prepare some venison, and to pretend to be Esau; and by this artifice, he did obtain the blessing.-Gen. xxvii. 6—30. Q. What was this blessing?

A. It included the privileges already enumerated under the birth-right.

Q. How did Isaac and Esau behave when the deception of Jacob was discovered?

A. Isaac trembled exceedingly, but confirmed the blessing to Jacob. Esau wept bitterly, and threatened to kill his brother.-Gen. xxvii. 33, 41. Q. Why did not Isaac recal the blessing from Jacob, and confer it upon Esau?

A. Because he was convinced that God had chosen Jacob to succeed to the blessings, promised to Abraham. He could not therefore do what his paternal affection seemed to demand. —Gen xxvii. 37.

Q. Did not Jacob sin in deceiving his father?

A. Undoubtedly he did, and must be deemed to be highly criminal.

Obs. We have here another instance of the sinning of a very good man, and of the impartiality of the sacred writers in recording his fault.

For wise reasons God permitted it, and caused Jacob to enjoy what he had obtained by fraud. But the scriptures do not justify Jacob-nor do they permit us to follow such an example. On the contrary, they solemnly forbid us to do evil that good may come.

Q. Did not Isaac bless Esau at all?