12. And Jehovah is represented as saying, through an angel, "Now I know that thou fearest God" (Gen. xxii. 12); equivalent to saying, "If I had not tried this experiment, I should not have known any thing about it." What blind mortals human beings can become, to suppose that a God of infinite wisdom, who "searcheth the hearts of all men," must resort to cruel and shocking experiments to find out the the state of their minds! 13. But the history of the case discloses the fact that it did not effect the end desired,--that of proving Abraham's faith,--not in the least, unless we assume that Abraham lied in the case. For he said to the young men while on the road to the altar, "Abide here until we [myself and son] go yonder and worship, and come again to you." Here is evidence that Abraham knew he would bring his son back alive; that is, that Isaac would return with him, or that he told a falsehood in order to deceive. The reader can seize which horn of the dilemma he prefers. If he knew what the issue of the case would be, it would, of course, be no trial of his faith whatever. And yet Paul and other New-Testament writers laud the act as being one of great merit and a proof of his faith. 14. We must hasten on. We can only give a passing notice of a few other acts of this illustrious patriarch, in whom "all the nations of the earth were to be blessed." Jehovah is represented as saying to Abraham, on a certain occasion, "I will go down now, and see whether they [the Sodomites] have done according" to my desire. "If not, I will know" (Gen. xviii. 21). This is one of several cases in which "the Judge of' all the earth" is represented as abandoning the throne of heaven, and coming down to learn what was going on below. What a contracted and ignorant being was the Jewish Jehovah! 15. The mission of Jehovah at one time, when he called upon Abraham, was to inform him that his gray-headed wife, approaching a hundred years, was to be blessed with a son in her old age. Has it never occurred to Bible admirers that this and other similar cases represented the Almighty, whom "the heaven of heavens can not contain," as traveling over the country in the character of a fortune-teller, notifying old women that the laws of nature would be suspended long enough to allow them to be blessed or cursed with the care and perplexity of children in their old age? 16. It should be noticed that Abraham's God never reproved him for any of his misdeeds; while, on the other hand, the heathen King Abimelech called the man of God to account for his moral defects (Gen. xx.). 17. One of the most dishonorable acts recorded in the history of Abraham's God was that of bringing a plague upon Pharaoh and his household for receiving, Abaham's wife, when it was brought about wholly through his treachery and misrepresentation, and when it appears that Pharaoh treated her in the most respectful manner.