and

so strongly impregnated with sulphur that it yields References powerful fumes on being sprinkled over a hot coal. The Authorities. layer of sulphurous sand is generally evenly distributed on the old limestone base, the sulphur evenly above it, and the bitumen in variable masses. In every way it differs from the ordinary mode of deposit of these substances as we have seen them elsewhere. Again, the bitumen, unlike that which we pick up on the sea-shore, is strongly impregnated with sulphur, and yields an overpowering sulphurous odour. Above all, it is calcined, The bitumen and bears the marks of having been subjected to extreme heat.

most strikingly Tristam ? His So far as I can

is calcined.

The destruction miraculous.

"We may now venture to compare these results of scientific research with the Bible narrative. There can be no doubt that the destruction of the cities of the plain was miraculous. The Lord rained upon them a shower of ignited sulphur. The vale of Siddim, we are told, was filled with bitumen pits. Bitumen is inflam- Bitumen is mable, and when ignited by the fiery shower, the pits and inflammable. the whole plain, which was filled with them, would burn fiercely. Does not all this appear to be illustrated by the discoveries of Mr. remarks deserve careful consideration: understand this deposit, if there be any physical evidence left of the catastrophe which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, we have it here. The whole appearance points to a shower of hot sulphur, and an eruption of bitumen upon it, which would naturally be calcined and impregnated by its fumes; and this at a geological period quite subsequent to all the dilivuial and alluvial action, of which we have such abundant evidence. The catastrophe must have been since the formation of the wady, since the deposition of the marl, and while the water was at its present level; therefore, probably during the historic period.'

"The sacred writer states that the vale of Siddim became the Salt Sea, or was submerged (xiv. 3). The destruction Gen. xiv. 3. of the plain and the cities was effected by fire. But this

and

References is not inconsistent with a subsequent inundation of the Authorities. site. The whole southern part of the lake is, as has been stated, a muddy flat, covered with a few feet of water. This was once a fertile plain, and abundantly irrigated by numerous streams, which still flow in from the south and east. Suppose that vale to have sunk a few feet, or the water of the lake above to have risen a few feet after the miraculous conflagration. Either supposition would accord with the Biblical narrative, and would not be without a Dr. Porter parallel in histories of countries exposed to earthquakes."

The idea of a covenant between God and man being the highest point of view taken in the book of Genesis of every great crisis of history, a new covenant of this kind serves also to express the grandeur of Abraham's whole life, all that is eminent in it being gathered together under this conception. The covenant stipulates, on the part of man, first of all, the right regulation and attitude of the spiritual life, and then demands, as an outward sign of this moral purity and consecration, circumcision. But immediately upon that primary condition of inward consecration there follows on Elohim's side the promise of the highest blessing, as His part of the covenant; and thus the sublimest Divine words which this narrator can conceive to have been addressed to Abraham are accumulated at this point. -Heinrich Ewald.

and

The

THAT the "covenant" is one of the principal things References demanding attention in the records of the life of Authorities. Abraham is indicated in the fact that it is four times Covenant. repeated in the brief sketch we have of his history. The word "covenant" has nearly passed out of common and familiar use, and the terms "bond," engagement," "treaty," have taken its place. We speak of two individuals entering into an engagement, or two nations making together a treaty. A "cove

66

S

and

References nant is an agreement entered into by two parties, Authorities having conditions binding upon each party, which

The two covenants of

the older divinity.

One Divine covenant

adaptations.

are definitely stated and mutually accepted. The leases, on the terms of which property changes hands, and commercial treaties, by which the import and export of countries are regulated, may be cited as illustrations. Marriage, too, is a life-covenant.

In the older system of divinity it was taught that God had made two covenants with the human race: the one made with our first parents and called the covenant of works, the other made with men in the person of the Second Adam and called the covenant of grace. But the more clearly we recognise the essential oneness of God's dealings with His creatures, the less shall we require to maintain such a formal distinction. There is but one covenant, and the differences are but modifications and varied forms of the covenant, adapting it to the changing circumstances of the free creatures. And as to calling the earlier a covenant of works and the latter a covenant of grace, either name is suitable to the other. Adam's covenant was a covenant of grace, and Christ's covenant may, with equal propriety, be called a covenant of works.

The covenant as made with Abraham we regard as with various the one covenant God makes with men, set forth in special forms for a time and for certain beneficent ends; and we require to see what Abraham undertook for himself and for his descendants when he entered into it.

Terms of the covenant.

1. He engaged that his race should be the ever

and

Medium of

Divine

revelation.

in lives.

willing medium of God's revelations to men, and com- References munications with them. Those were days in which Authorities. a revelation recorded in a Book could not have accomplished the Divine purpose. It was not the age of writing and of literature: a certain rudeness characterized the largest nations; physical forces then held sway over the intellectual. What was needed was Divine revelation made through the lives of men as lived in Revelation the presence of their fellows. It is almost nearer the truth to say that was the age of nations; the world was peopled by small masses of men, gathered into monarchies; we read of the five kings and six kings of a comparatively small district. The national life was the prominent form of life, so God made His revelation to men in and by a small nation, the national life of the Jews being pledged in the covenant to be always such as would serve the purposes of God. We need not go so far as to affirm that Israel absorbed all Divine revelations to men, but it is broadly and comprehensively true that through Israel came all those revelations which supplied the lack of natural and providential teachings, all such as were fitted to correct the moral and religious mistakes of men.

2. He engaged that his race should keep fast, and ever render clear witness to the unity of God. This was the great trust of Israel, and the great truth of Judaism. Men, in their errors, either make out that there is no God, or that there are two opposing Gods, or that there are many Gods. And so, in every age, the great minds God has raised up have recalled men

Witness to

the Unity of

God.