his abode as a stranger, a foreigner, a pilgrim in it, is intended; and this was the land (THS ETayyeλING) of promise; that is, which God had newly promised to give him, and wherein all the other promises were to be accomplished.

He sojourned in this place (ως αλλοτριαν) as in a strange land. He built no house in it, purchased no inheritance but only a burying place; he entered, indeed, into leagues of peace and amity with some, Gen. xiv, 13; but it was not as one that had any thing of his own in the land. He reckoned that land at present no more his own than any other land in the world, no more than Egypt was the land of his posterity when they sojourned there, which God had said, was not theirs, Gen. xv, 13.

§2. The manner of his sojourning in this land was that (Ev onnvas naloinnoas) he dwelt in tabernacles. It was no unusual thing in those days, and in those parts of the world, for whole nations to dwell in such habitations. Why Abraham was satisfied with this kind of life, the apostle declares in the next verse; and he is said to dwell in tabernacles, or tents, because the largeness of his family required more than one, Gen. xxiv, 67; xxxi, 33; and with respect to their moveable conditions in these tents, God in an especial manner, was said to be their dwelling place, Psal. xc, 1.

$3. "With Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." It is evident that Abraham lived until Jacob was sixteen or eighteen years old; and therefore may be said to live with him, as to the time they both lived; but there is no need to confine it to the same time; the sameness of condition only seems to be intended; for as Abraham was a sojourner in the land of Canaan without any inheritance or possession, living in tents; so it was also with Isaac and Jacob,

and with them alone; Jacob was the last of his posterity who lived as a sojourner in Canaan; all those after him lived in Egypt, and came not into Canaan until they took possession of it for themselves.

And they were (των συγκληρονόμων της επαγγελίας της avlys) heirs with him of the same promise; for not only did they inherit the promise as made to Abraham, but God distinctly renewed the same promise to them both; Gen. xxvi, 24; xxviii, 13-15. So were they heirs with him of the very same promise, Psal. cv, 9—

11.

$4. The sense of the words being declared, we may yet farther consider the matter contained in them. We have here an account of the life of Abraham after his call; as to the internal principle of it, being a life of faith; and—as to the external manner of it, being a pilgrimage. "By faith he sojourned.'

$5. (I.) As to the internal principle, it was a life of faith.

1. It had respect to things spiritual and eternal; for its foundation and object, he had the promise of the blessed seed, and the spiritual blessing of all nations in him; which was a confirmation of the first fundamental promise of the church concerning the "seed of the woman that was to break the serpent's head." And God entered expressly into covenant with him, confirming it with the seal of circumcision, wherein he obliged himself to be his God, his God Almighty, and all-sufficient, for his temporal and eternal good. To suppose that Abraham saw nothing in this promise and covenant but things confined to this life-nothing of spiritual grace, nothing of eternal reward or gloryis so contrary to the analogy of faith, and to express testimony; so destructive of all the foundations of religion, so unworthy of the nature and properties of

God; rendering Abraham's title "the Father of the faithful," and his example in believing so useless, that it is a wonder men of any tolerable sobriety should indulge to such an imagination.

2. It was a life of faith with respect to things temporal also; for as he was a sojourner in a strange land, without friends, or relations, not incorporated in any political society, or dwelling in any city, he was exposed to danger, oppression, and violence, as is usual in such cases; besides, those amongst whom he sojourned were for the most part wicked and evil men, such as, being fallen into idolatry, were apt to be provoked against him for his profession of faith in the most High God. Hence, on some occurrences of his life, that might give them advantage, it is observed, as a matter of danger, "the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land," Gen. xiii, 7; and xii, 6; chap. xx, 2; moreover, he had sundry particular trials wherein he apprehended that his life was in imminent danger, Gen. xii, 11-13; xx, 2; but in all these dangers, being helpless in himself, he lived in the continual exercise of faith and trust in God, his power, all-sufficiency, and faithfulness. Hereof his whole history is full of instances, and his faith in them is frequently celebrated.

In things of both sorts, spiritual and temporal, he lived by faith, in a constant resignation of himself to the sovereign will and pleasure of God, when he saw no way or means for the accomplishment of the promise; so it was with respect to the long season that he lived without a child, and under the command he had to offer him for a sacrifice, when he had received him; on all these accounts he was the father, the example of believers in all generations.

§6. (II.) For the external part or manner of his life, it was a pilgrimage, a sojourning. Two things

constitute such a state of life; that a man be in a strange country;-that he have no fixed habitation of his own; a man may want a habitation of his own as his inheritance, and yet, being in his own country, not be a pilgrim; and a man may be in a strange country, and yet having a fixed habitation of his own therein, he may not be a pilgrim; but when both these concur, there is a state of pilgrimage. And so it was with Abraham; he was in a strange land, though the land of promise; for having no interest in it, no relation, no possession, no inheritance, it was to him a strange land; wherefore, he had nothing, to trust to, but Divine protection alone.

§7. (III.) And we may observe,

1. That where faith enables men to live to God, as to their eternal concerns, it will enable them to trust him in all the difficulties and hazards of this life. To pretend a trust in God as to our souls and invisible things, and not resign our temporal affairs with patience and quietness to his disposal, is a vain pretence; and we may take hence an eminent trial of our faith; too many deceive themselves with a presumption of faith in the promises of God, as to things future and eternal; for if they are brought into any temporal trial, they seem utter strangers to the life of faith. It was not so with Abraham, his faith acted itself uniformly with respect to the providences as well as the promises of God. Wherefore,

2. If we design to have an interest in the blessings of Abraham, we must walk in the steps of his faith; and to this end is justly required a firm affiance in the promises for grace, mercy, and eternal salvation, trust in his providence for preservation and protection in this world, with a cheerful resignation of all our temporal and eternal concerns into his disposal, accord

ing to the tenor of the covenant. Is not the faith of most professors lame and halt in these parts and duties of it?

3. Where faith is once duly fixed on the promises, it will wait patiently under trials, afflictions, and temptations, for their full accomplishment, see the Exposition on chap. vi, 12, 15.

4. Faith discerning aright the glory of spiritual promises will make the soul of a believer contented and well satisfied with the smallest portion of earthly enjoyments.

VERSE 10.

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

$1. Introduction, 2. (I.) What the city Abraham looked for. §3—5. (II) What included in the description of it. 66. (III.) Observations.

§1. THE apostle abundantly indicates in this discourse, that Abraham was very well satisfied with his condition as a stranger and pilgrim in the world, and now he proceeds to declare the grounds and reasons of that satisfaction; he knows that his portion did not lie in things here below, but he looked for things of another nature, which by this means were to be obtained; for it is the end that regulates our judgment concerning the means. Let us briefly inquire,

I. What the city is, which he looked for?
II. What is included in the description of it?

$2. "For he looked for a city;" (TY TOλ) that city; the article prefixed denoting an eminency. Jerusalem, saith Grotius, and he so interprets the words, as if Abraham hoped that his posterity should have in the land of promise a city that God would prepare them in a special manner.