Well might it be said the _Lord_ appeared to _Abraham_, Gen. xii. 7. for if God had not appear'd himself, he must have sent a Messenger from Heaven, _and perhaps it was so too_, for he had not one true Servant or Worshiper that we know of then on Earth, to send on that Errand; no Prophet, no Preacher of Righteousness, _Noah_ was dead, and had been so above seventeen Year; and if he had not, his preaching, as I observed after his great Miscarriage, had but little Effect; we are indeed told, that _Noah_ left behind him certain Rules and Orders for the true Worship of God, which were call'd the Precepts of _Noah_, and remain'd in the World for a long Time; tho' how written, when neither any Letters, much less Writing were known in the World, is a Difficulty which Remains to be solv'd; and this makes me look upon those Laws call'd the Precepts of _Noah_ to be a modern Invention, as I do also the _Alphabetum Noachi_, which _Bochart_ pretends to give an Account of.
But to leave that Fiction, and come back to _Abraham_; God call'd him, whether at first by Voice without any Vision, whether in a Dream or Night Vision, which was very Significant in those Days, or whether by some awful Appearance, we know not; the second Time, 'tis indeed said expressly GOD appeared to him; Be it which Way it will, GOD himself call'd him, shew'd him the Land of _Canaan_, gave him the Promise of it for his Posterity, and withal gave him such a Faith, that the _Devil_ soon found there was no room for him to meddle with _Abraham_. This is certain, we do not read that the _Devil_ ever so much as attempted _Abraham_ at all; some will suggest that the Command to _Abraham_ to go and offer up his Son _Isaac_, was a Temptation of the _Devil_, if possible to defeat the glorious Work of GOD's calling a holy Seed into the World; for the _first_, if _Abraham_ had disobey'd that Call, the new Favourite had been overcome and made a Rebel of, or _secondly_, if he had _obey'd_, then the promis'd Seed had been cut off, and _Abraham_ defeated; but as the Text is express that GOD himself proposed it to _Abraham_, I shall not start the Suggestions of the Criticks, in Bar of the sacred Oracle.
Be it one way or other, _Abraham_ shew'd a Hero-like Faith and Courage, and if the _Devil_ had been the Author of it, he had seen himself disappointed in both his Views; (1.) by _Abraham_'s ready and bold Compliance, as believing it to be GOD's Command; and (2.) by the divine Countermand of the Execution, just as the fatal Knife was lifted up.