18. But, with all these moral stains upon the character of Abraham, it becomes a pleasant task to record one good act in his life. He seems to have presented the practical proof that he was a better man than his God; for, when Jehovah threatened the destruction of Sodom for her wickedness, Abraham remonstrated, and suggested that it would be an act of injustice to destroy the righteous with the wicked. It appears that this moral consideration had escaped the mind of Jehovah. What an inconsiderate, reckless being Bible writers represent the Almighty as being! 19. Abraham, according to his history, was a man of valor, and achieved some great exploits. For instance, with the assistance of his regiment of one hundred and eighteen servants, he chased at one time four great kings, with their mighty hosts,--the King of Babylon, the King of Persia, the King of Pontus, and the King of Nations (Gen. xiv.). He drove them, we are told, more than a hundred miles, and recovered his brother Lot from their grasp. A few such daring heroes could have put down the American Rebellion without a battle. 20. We will only observe further, that this "true servant of the Lord" was both a polygamist and an idolater; at least we have the authority of the Jewish writer, Philo, for saying that his father was a maker of images, and that Abraham worshiped them? Such is a brief outline of the character of the man who is held up as an example for us to imitate, and through whom "all the nations of the earth are to be blessed," and the man who stands at the head of that nation through which, we are told, a revelation has been given to the world which is to effect the moral regeneration and salvation of the whole human race. Whether the means are adapted to the ends, the reader is left to judge. II. CHARACTER OF ISAAC. 1. In accordance with the adage, "Like father, like son," we find Isaac carrying out the same spirit of fraud and deception practiced by his father. When "the men of the plain asked him about his wife, he said, she is my sister" (Gen. xxvi.); "and this man Isaac was another of the faithful servants of the Lord." 2. If the statement is true that the Lord struck Ananias and Sapphira with sudden death for telling a falsehood, as related in Acts v., the question naturally arises, Why did Abraham and Isaac escape the same fate, as they were guilty of the same sin? Why this partiality? Manifestly, this is a bad lesson in morals. III. CHARACTER OF JACOB, MORAL DEFECTS OF. 1. "Like father, like son," is again verified in the practical life of Jacob. We find this patriarch excels, in moral defects, both his father and his grandfather.