o Abraham, and one of them was, "that
in him all the families of the earth should be blessed." This was a
declaration that the Messiah should be a descendant of Abraham. To make
trial of his obedience, God ordered him to offer up Isaac, as a burnt
offering on Mount Moriah, but just as he was going to slay him, an
angel of the Lord appeared, and told him not to touch the lad, but to
take a ram and offer it up in his stead. It was upon this mountain that
Solomon's temple was afterwards built and here our Saviour was
crucified, the mountain being then called Calvary.

Isaac married Rebekah, and had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob though
the younger obtained the rights of primogeniture; he also procured his
father's blessing by very unjustifiable means; and then repaired to
Padan-aram to take a wife out of his own family. He married Leah and
Rachel, and had twelve sons, who were called the twelve Patriarchs or
fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel, their names were, Reuben, Simeon,
Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphthali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zabulon, Joseph and
Benjamin. They were all born in Padan-aram; but Jacob returned to Canaan
before his father's death. Joseph was the favourite son of Jacob; on
which account his brethren hated him, and at length sold him to some
Ishmaelites, who were merchants, and the descendants of Ishmael a son of
Abraham; these Ishmaelites carried Joseph into Egypt, where he became a
slave to Potiphar, the chief officer under the king. His good conduct
soon gained the esteem and confidence of his master, but the wickedness
of Potiphar's wife caused him to be thrown into prison. He was released
from this confinement, in order to interpret two dreams of Pharoah's.
God enabled him to discover that they predicted seven years of plenty
which would be followed by seven years of famine; and the wise advice
Joseph gave the king on this subject, induced the monarch to raise him
to a very high office in his kingdom, and entrust to him the whole care
of collecting and managing the corn. This famine was severely felt in
Canaan, and Jacob sent his sons into Egypt to purchase corn. Joseph
recognised his brethren, and after putting them to several trials, for
the purpose of making them properly sensible of their former cruel
conduct, he discovered himself to them in a very affectionate manner;
he enquired concerning his father, and when he found the old man was
still alive, he desired his brothers to fetch him, and their fami