Then came ravens and vultures down upon the carcases, but Abraham drove them away (ver. 11); a symbol of the protection which God would accord to the people, for His promise sake, and the sake of their father Abraham, when the powers of evil, or mighty princes, menaced them. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham (ver. 12), and he saw the four realms,--the horror-awakening Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Syro-Grecian, and Roman empires. And God said to Abraham (ver. 13), “_Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years._ But in the fourth generation thy seed shall come hither again, after I have plagued the nation that has held them in bondage with 250 plagues.” “Is this decree spoken to punish me for my crimes?” asked Abraham. “No,” answered the Almighty: “_Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age_ (ver. 15); and Terah, who now bewails his former idolatry, has a share in the eternal happiness; also Ishmael, thy son, who shall be born to thee, will, in thy lifetime, repent and return to good, and the profanity of thy grandson Esau shalt thou not see.” And when the sun was set, it was dark, and the various periods of futurity passed before the eyes of the seer. He beheld _a smoking furnace_ (ver. 17); this was the flaming Gehinom, Hell, where sinners shall expiate their iniquities. Then he saw _a burning lamp_: that was the Law given on Sinai, and it _passed between those pieces_; that is, he saw Israel go through the Red Sea. Then said the voice of God to the patriarch, “I have showed thee the Temple-worship, Law, Bondage, and Hell. I must tell thee that in the times to come, through the sins of thy children, the Temple will be destroyed, and the Law will be disregarded. “Choose now, whether thou wilt have for their punishment, Bondage or Hell.” And Abraham after long hesitation answered, “I choose Hell;” for he thought, “It is better to fall into the hands of God, than into the hands of men.” But the Lord answered and said, “Not so; thou hast chosen wrongly, for from Bondage there will come deliverance, but from Gehinom, never.” After that, Abraham returned to the land of Charan, and dwelt there many years; and he instructed the men, and Sarah the women, in the true religion. And when his father Terah was dead, God called him again, and bade him go forth to the land which God had promised him; and he went obediently, and Lot his brother’s son accompanied him. And he reached the land of Canaan, and pitched first his wife’s tent, and then his own, on the plain between Gerizim and Ebal; and he erected three altars in thanks to God for His call, for His having brought him into the promised land, and for having cast down his enemies before him. Then he went south, and pitched on the spot where stands Jerusalem.