ature would whirl as merrily as before; though, if their
false swearing were to cause the heavens to fall, the men would still
exist and continue to be men;--yet, for all this, they accept an oath as
final settlement. They are compelled to come to terms; for they are at
their wits' end. But it is very different with the oath of God. When He
swears by Himself, He appeals, not to His omnipotence, but to His
truthfulness. If any jot or tittle of God's promise fails to the
feeblest child that trusts Him, God ceases to be. He has been
annihilated, not by an act of power, but by a lie.

We have said that the oath met, not the weakness, but the strength, of
Abraham's faith. If so, why was it given him?

_First_, it simplified his faith. It removed all tendency to morbid
introspection and filled his spirit with a peaceful reliance on God's
faithfulness. He had no more need to try himself whether he was in the
faith. Anxious effort and painful struggle were over. Faith was now the
very life of his soul. He could leave his concerns to God, and wait.
This is the thought expressed in the word "enduring."

_Second_, it was a new revelation of God to him, and thus elevated his
spiritual nature. The moral character of the Most High, rather than His
natural attribute of omnipotence, became the resting-place of his
spirit. Even the joy of God's heart was made known and communicated to
his. God was pleased with Abraham's final victory over unbelief, and
wished to show him more abundantly[115] His counsel and the immutability
of it. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will
show them His covenant."[116]

_Third_, it was intended also for our encouragement. It is strange, but
true, that the promises of God are confirmed to us by the victorious
faith of a nomad chief from Ur of the Chaldees, who, in the morning of
the world's history, withheld not his son. After all, we are not
disconnected units. God only can trace the countless threads of
influence. Abraham's strong faith evoked the oath that now sustains the
weakness of ours. Because he believed so well, the promise comes to us
with all the sanction of God's own truth and unchangeableness. The oath
made to Abraham was linked with a still more ancient, even an eternal,
oath, made to the Son, constituting Him Priest for ever after the order
of Melchizedek. The priesthood of Melchizedek is said by the Apostle to
be a type of the priesthood founded on an oath. It was