act of obedience to the Divine will; nor would there have been any immorality in the patriarch's conduct, if, at the command of God, he had actually deprived him of life. But, when "the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him;" if he had executed his purpose, there would have been great immorality in his murderous act. When, in consequence of the multiplication of the human race, the marriage of brothers and sisters became unlawful, they who, contrary to the Divine will, contracted such marriages, were chargeable with great immorality. And so now, when a man marries his brother's widow, he acts in a very immoral manner; because God prohibits in his word such marriages. Levit. 18:16, and 20:21.
But, as it was the duty of a brother, under the Jewish economy, to marry the childless widow of his brother, and raise up seed to him, the Puritan still objects, and says, (in the close of the above paragraph,) "We must insist, that this command to marry a brother's widow proves that such marriages were not abhorrent to na-
