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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XXVII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page162"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we return to the typical story of the struggle between
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Esau and Jacob. Esau had profanely sold the birthright to
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Jacob; but Esau hopes he shall be never the poorer, nor Jacob
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the richer, for that bargain, while he preserves his interest in
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his father's affections, and so secures the blessing. Here therefore
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we find how he was justly punished for his contempt of the
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birthright (of which he foolishly deprived himself) with the loss
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of the blessing, of which Jacob fraudulently deprives him. Thus
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this story is explained,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:16,17">Heb. xii. 16, 17</A>,
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"Because he sold the
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birthright, when he would have inherited the blessing he was
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rejected." For those that make light of the name and profession
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of religion, and throw them away for a trifle, thereby forfeit the
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powers and privileges of it. We have here,
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I. Isaac's purpose to
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entail the blessing upon Esau,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. Rebekah's plot to
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procure it for Jacob,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:6-17">ver. 6-17</A>.
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III. Jacob's successful management
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of the plot, and his obtaining the blessing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:18-29">ver. 18-29</A>.
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IV. Esau's resentment of this, in which,
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1. His great importunity with
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his father to obtain a blessing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:30-40">ver. 30-40</A>.
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2. His great enmity
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to his brother for defrauding him of the first blessing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:41-46">ver. 41</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge27_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Rebekah's Contrivance.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1760.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass, that when
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Isaac was old, and his eyes were
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dim, so that he could not see, he called
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Esau his eldest son, and said unto
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him, My son: and he said unto him,
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Behold, <I>here am</I> I.
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2 And he said,
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Behold now, I am old, I know not
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the day of my death:
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3 Now therefore
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take, I pray thee, thy weapons,
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thy quiver and thy bow, and go out
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to the field, and take me <I>some</I> venison;
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4 And make me savoury meat,
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such as I love, and bring <I>it</I> to me,
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that I may eat; that my soul may
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bless thee before I die.
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5 And Rebekah
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heard when Isaac spake to Esau
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his son. And Esau went to the field
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to hunt <I>for</I> venison, <I>and</I> to bring <I>it.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Isaac's design to make his will,
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and to declare Esau his heir. The promise
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of the Messiah and the land of Canaan was
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a great trust, first committed to Abraham,
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inclusive and typical of spiritual and eternal
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blessings; this, by divine direction, he transmitted
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to Isaac. Isaac, being now old, and
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<A NAME="Page163"> </A>
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not knowing, or not understanding, or not
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duly considering, the divine oracle concerning
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his two sons, that the elder should serve
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the younger, resolves to entail all the honour
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and power that were wrapped up in the promise
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upon Esau his eldest son. In this he
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was governed more by natural affection, and
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the common method of settlements, than he
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ought to have been, if he knew (as it is probable
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he did) the intimations God had given
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of his mind in this matter. Note, We are
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very apt to take our measures rather from
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our own reason than from divine revelation,
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and thereby often miss our way; we think
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the wise and learned, the mighty and noble,
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should inherit the promise; but God sees
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not as man sees. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+16:6,7">1 Sam. xvi. 6, 7</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. The directions he gave to Esau, pursuant
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to this design. He calls him to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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For Esau, though married, had not
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yet removed; and, though he had greatly
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grieved his parents by his marriage, yet they
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had not expelled him, but it seems were
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pretty well reconciled to him, and made the
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best of it. Note, Parents that are justly
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offended at their children yet must not be
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implacable towards them.</P>
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<P>
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1. He tells him upon what considerations
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he resolved to do this now
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>I am old,</I>
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and therefore must die shortly, yet <I>I know
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not the day of my death,</I> nor when I must
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die; I will therefore do that at this time
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which must be done some time." Note,
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(1.) Old people should be reminded by the growing
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infirmities of age to do quickly, and with
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all the little might they have, what their hand
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finds to do. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+13:1">Josh. xiii. 1</A>.
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(2.) The
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consideration of the uncertainty of the time
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of our departure out of the world (about
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which God has wisely kept us in the dark)
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should quicken us to do the work of the day
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in its day. The heart and the house should
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both be set, and kept, in order, because <I>at
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such an hour as we think not the Son of man
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comes;</I> because we <I>know not the day of our
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death,</I> we are concerned to mind the business
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of life.</P>
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<P>
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2. He bids him to get things ready for the
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solemnity of executing his last will and testament,
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by which he designed to make him his
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heir,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
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Esau must go a hunting, and
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bring some venison, which his father will eat
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of, and then bless him. In this he designed,
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not so much the refreshment of his own
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spirits, that he might give the blessing in a
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lively manner, as it is commonly taken, but
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rather the receiving of a fresh instance of his
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son's filial duty and affection to him, before
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he bestowed this favour upon him. Perhaps
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Esau, since he had married, had brought his
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venison to his wives, and seldom to his father,
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as formerly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+25:28"><I>ch.</I> xxv. 28</A>),
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and therefore Isaac,
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before he would bless him, would have him
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show this piece of respect to him. Note, It
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is fit, if the <I>less be blessed of the greater,</I> that
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the greater should be served and honoured
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by the less. He says, <I>That my soul may
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bless thee before I die.</I> Note,
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(1.) Prayer is
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the work of the soul, and not of the lips only;
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as the soul must be employed in blessing God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+103:1">Ps. ciii. 1</A>),
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so it must be in blessing ourselves
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and others: the blessing will not come
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to the heart if it do not come from the heart.
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(2.) The work of life must be done before we
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die, for it cannot be done afterwards
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:10">Eccl. ix. 10</A>);
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and it is very desirable, when we
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come to die, to have nothing else to do but
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to die. Isaac lived above forty years after
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this; let none therefore think that they shall
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die the sooner for making their wills and
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getting ready for death.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge27_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_17"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
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her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy
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father speak unto Esau thy brother,
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saying,
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7 Bring me venison, and make
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me savoury meat, that I may eat, and
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bless thee before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> before
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my death.
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8 Now therefore, my son,
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obey my voice according to that which
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I command thee.
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9 Go now to the
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flock, and fetch me from thence two
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good kids of the goats; and I will
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make them savoury meat for thy father,
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such as he loveth:
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10 And thou
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shalt bring <I>it</I> to thy father, that
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he may eat, and that he may bless thee
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before his death.
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11 And Jacob said
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to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau
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my brother <I>is</I> a hairy man, and I <I>am</I>
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a smooth man:
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12 My father peradventure
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will feel me, and I shall
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seem to him as a deceiver; and I
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shall bring a curse upon me, and not
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a blessing.
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13 And his mother said
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unto him, Upon me <I>be</I> thy curse, my
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son: only obey my voice, and go fetch
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me <I>them.</I>
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14 And he went, and
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fetched, and brought <I>them</I> to his mother:
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and his mother made savoury
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meat, such as his father loved.
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15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of
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her eldest son Esau, which <I>were</I> with
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her in the house, and put them upon
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Jacob her younger son:
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16 And she
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put the skins of the kids of the goats
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upon his hands, and upon the smooth
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of his neck:
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17 And she gave the
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savoury meat and the bread, which
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she had prepared, into the hand of
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her son Jacob.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Rebekah is here contriving to procure for
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Jacob the blessing which was designed for
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Esau; and here,</P>
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<P>
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I. The end was good, for she was directed
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in this intention by the oracle of God, by
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<A NAME="Page164"> </A>
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which she had been governed in dispensing
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|
her affections. God had said it should be so,
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that the elder should <I>serve the younger;</I> and
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therefore Rebekah resolves it shall be so, and
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cannot bear to see her husband designing to
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thwart the oracle of God. But,</P>
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<P>
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II. The means were bad, and no way justifiable.
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If it was not a wrong to Esau to
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deprive him of the blessing (he himself
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having forfeited it by selling the birthright), yet
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it was a wrong to Isaac, taking advantage of
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his infirmity, to impose upon him; it was
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a wrong to Jacob too, whom she taught to deceive,
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by putting a lie into his mouth, or at
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least by putting one into his right hand. It
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would likewise expose him to endless scruples
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about the blessing, if he should obtain it thus
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fraudulently, whether it would stand him or
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his in any stead, especially if his father should
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revoke it, upon the discovery of the cheat,
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and plead, as he might, that it was nulled by
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an <I>error personæ--a mistake of the person.</I>
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He himself also was aware of the danger, lest
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
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if he should miss of the blessing, as
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he might probably have done, he should
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bring upon himself his father's curse, which
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he dreaded above any thing; besides, he laid
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himself open to that divine curse which is
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pronounced upon him that <I>causeth the blind
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to wander out of the way,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+27:18">Deut. xxvii. 18</A>.
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If Rebekah, when she heard Isaac promise
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the blessing to Esau, had gone, at his return
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from hunting, to Isaac, and, with humility
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and seriousness, put him in remembrance of
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that which God had said concerning their
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sons,--if she further had shown him how
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Esau had forfeited the blessing both by selling
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his birthright and by marrying strange
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wives, it is probable that Isaac would have
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been prevailed upon knowingly and wittingly
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to confer the blessing upon Jacob,
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and needed not thus to have been cheated
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into it. This would have been honourable
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and laudable, and would have looked well
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in the history; but God left her to herself, to
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take this indirect course, that he might have
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the glory of bringing good out of evil, and
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of serving his own purposes by the sins and
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follies of men, and that we might have the
|
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satisfaction of knowing that, though there is
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so much wickedness and deceit in the world,
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God governs it according to his will, to his
|
|
own praise. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+12:16">Job xii. 16</A>,
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<I>With him are
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strength and wisdom, the deceived and the deceiver
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are his.</I> Isaac had lost the sense of
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seeing, which, in this case, could not have
|
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been imposed upon, Providence having so
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admirably well ordered the difference of
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features that no two faces are exactly alike:
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conversation and commerce could scarcely
|
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be maintained if there were not such a variety.
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Therefore she endeavours to deceive,
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1. His sense of tasting, by dressing some
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choice pieces of kid, seasoning them, serving
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them up, so as to make him believe they were
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venison: this it was no hard matter to
|
|
do. See the folly of those that are nice and curious
|
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in their appetite, and take a pride in
|
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humouring it. It is easy to impose upon
|
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them with that which they pretend to despise
|
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and dislike, so little perhaps does it differ
|
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from that to which they give a decided preference.
|
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Solomon tells us that dainties are
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<I>deceitful meat;</I> for it is possible for us to be
|
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deceived by them in more ways than one,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:32">Prov. xxiii. 32</A>.
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2. His sense of feeling and
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|
smelling. She put Esau's clothes upon
|
|
Jacob, his best clothes, which, it might be
|
|
supposed, Esau would put on, in token of
|
|
joy and respect to his father, when he was to
|
|
receive the blessing. Isaac knew these, by
|
|
the stuff, shape, and smell, to be Esau's. If
|
|
we would obtain a blessing from our heavenly
|
|
Father, we must come for it in the garments
|
|
of our elder brother, clothed with his righteousness,
|
|
who is the first-born among many
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|
brethren. Lest the smoothness and softness
|
|
of Jacob's hands and neck should betray
|
|
him, she covered them, and probably part
|
|
of his face, with the skins of the kids that
|
|
were newly killed,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
Esau was rough
|
|
indeed when nothing less than these would
|
|
serve to make Jacob like him. Those that
|
|
affect to seem rough and rugged in their carriage
|
|
put the beast upon the man, and really
|
|
shame themselves, by thus disguising themselves.
|
|
And, <I>lastly,</I> it was a very rash word
|
|
which Rebekah spoke, when Jacob objected
|
|
the danger of a curse: <I>Upon me be thy curse,
|
|
my son,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
Christ indeed, who is mighty
|
|
to save, because mighty to bear, has said,
|
|
<I>Upon me be the curse, only obey my voice;</I> he
|
|
has borne the burden of the curse, the curse
|
|
of the law, for all those that will take upon
|
|
them the yoke of the command, the command
|
|
of the gospel. But it is too daring for any
|
|
creature to say, <I>Upon me be the curse,</I> unless
|
|
it be that curse causeless which we are sure
|
|
<I>shall not come,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+26:2">Prov. xxvi. 2</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_21"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ge27_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_24"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ge27_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge27_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Fraud of Jacob.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1760.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 And he came unto his father,
|
|
and said, My father: and he said,
|
|
Here <I>am</I> I; who <I>art</I> thou, my son?
|
|
19 And Jacob said unto his father, I
|
|
<I>am</I> Esau thy firstborn; I have done
|
|
according as thou badest me: arise, I
|
|
pray thee, sit and eat of my venison,
|
|
that thy soul may bless me.
|
|
20 And
|
|
Isaac said unto his son, How <I>is it</I> that
|
|
thou hast found <I>it</I> so quickly, my
|
|
son? And he said, Because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
thy God brought <I>it</I> to me.
|
|
21 And
|
|
Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I
|
|
pray thee, that I may feel thee, my
|
|
son, whether thou <I>be</I> my very son
|
|
Esau or not.
|
|
22 And Jacob went
|
|
near unto Isaac his father; and he
|
|
felt him, and said, The voice <I>is</I> Jacob's
|
|
voice, but the hands <I>are</I> the hands of
|
|
Esau.
|
|
23 And he discerned him not,
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page165"> </A>
|
|
|
|
because his hands were hairy, as his
|
|
brother Esau's hands: so he blessed
|
|
him.
|
|
24 And he said, <I>Art</I> thou my
|
|
very son Esau? And he said, I <I>am.</I>
|
|
25 And he said, Bring <I>it</I> near to me,
|
|
and I will eat of my son's venison,
|
|
that my soul may bless thee. And he
|
|
brought <I>it</I> near to him, and he did
|
|
eat: and he brought him wine, and
|
|
he drank.
|
|
26 And his father Isaac
|
|
said unto him, Come near now, and
|
|
kiss me, my son.
|
|
27 And he came
|
|
near, and kissed him: and he smelled
|
|
the smell of his raiment, and blessed
|
|
him, and said, See, the smell of my
|
|
son <I>is</I> as the smell of a field which
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath blessed:
|
|
28 Therefore
|
|
God give thee of the dew of heaven,
|
|
and the fatness of the earth, and
|
|
plenty of corn and wine:
|
|
29 Let
|
|
people serve thee, and nations bow
|
|
down to thee: be lord over thy brethren,
|
|
and let thy mother's sons bow
|
|
down to thee: cursed <I>be</I> every one
|
|
that curseth thee, and blessed <I>be</I> he
|
|
that blesseth thee.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Observe here,
|
|
|
|
I. The art and assurance
|
|
with which Jacob managed this intrigue.
|
|
Who would have thought that this plain man
|
|
could have played his part so well in a design
|
|
of this nature? His mother having put him
|
|
in the way of it, and encouraged him in it, he
|
|
dexterously applied himself to those methods
|
|
which he had never accustomed himself to,
|
|
but had always conceived an abhorrence of.
|
|
Note, Lying is soon learnt. The psalmist
|
|
speaks of those who, <I>as soon as they are born,
|
|
speak lies,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+58:3,Jer+9:5">Ps. lviii. 3; Jer. ix. 5</A>.
|
|
I wonder
|
|
how honest Jacob could so readily turn his
|
|
tongue to say
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
<I>I am Esau thy first-born;</I>
|
|
nor do I see how the endeavour of
|
|
some to bring him off with that equivocation,
|
|
<I>I am made thy first-born,</I> namely by purchase,
|
|
does him any service; for when his father
|
|
asked him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
<I>Art thou my very son Esau?</I>
|
|
he said, <I>I am.</I> How could he say, <I>I have
|
|
done as thou badest me,</I> when he had received
|
|
no command from his father, but was doing
|
|
as his mother bade him? How could he say,
|
|
<I>Eat of my venison,</I> when he knew it came,
|
|
not from the field, but from the fold? But
|
|
especially I wonder how he could have the
|
|
assurance to father it upon God, and to use
|
|
his name in the cheat
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
<I>The Lord thy
|
|
God brought it to me.</I> Is this Jacob? Is this
|
|
Israel indeed, without guile? It is certainly
|
|
written, not for our imitation, but for our admonition.
|
|
<I>Let him that thinks he stands take
|
|
heed lest he fall.</I> Good men have sometimes
|
|
failed in the exercise of those graces for which
|
|
they have been most eminent.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The success of this management. Jacob
|
|
with some difficulty gained his point, and
|
|
obtained the blessing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Isaac was at first dissatisfied, and would
|
|
have discovered the fraud if he could have
|
|
trusted his own ears; for <I>the voice was Jacob's
|
|
voice,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
Providence has ordered a strange
|
|
variety of voices as well as faces, which is
|
|
also of use to prevent our being imposed
|
|
upon; and the voice is a thing not easily disguised
|
|
nor counterfeited. This may be alluded
|
|
to to illustrate the character of a hypocrite.
|
|
His voice is Jacob's voice, but his
|
|
hands are Esau's. He speaks the language of
|
|
a saint, but does the works of a sinner; but
|
|
the judgment will be, as here, by the hands.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. At length he yielded to the power of
|
|
the cheat, <I>because the hands were hairy</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
not considering how easy it was to counterfeit
|
|
that circumstance; and now Jacob
|
|
carries it on dexterously, sets his venison
|
|
before his father, and waits at table very
|
|
officiously, till dinner is done, and the blessing
|
|
comes to be pronounced in the close of
|
|
this solemn feast. That which in some small
|
|
degree extenuates the crime of Rebekah and
|
|
Jacob is that the fraud was intended, not so
|
|
much to hasten the fulfilling, as to prevent
|
|
the thwarting, of the oracle of God: the
|
|
blessing was just going to be put upon the
|
|
wrong head, and they thought it was time to
|
|
bestir themselves. Now let us see how Isaac
|
|
gave Jacob his blessing,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:26-29"><I>v.</I> 26-29</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He embraced him, in token of a particular
|
|
affection to him. Those that are blessed of
|
|
God are kissed with the kisses of his mouth,
|
|
and they do, by love and loyalty, <I>kiss the
|
|
Son,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:12">Ps. ii. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He praised him. <I>He
|
|
smelt the smell of his raiment, and said, See,
|
|
the smell of my son is as the smell of a field
|
|
which the Lord hath blessed,</I> that is, like that
|
|
of the most fragrant flowers and spices. It
|
|
appeared that God had blessed him, and
|
|
therefore Isaac would bless him.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He
|
|
prayed for him, and therein prophesied concerning
|
|
him. It is the duty of parents to
|
|
pray for their children, and to bless them in
|
|
the name of the Lord. And thus, as well as
|
|
by their baptism, to do what they can to preserve
|
|
and perpetuate the entail of the covenant
|
|
in their families. But this was an extraordinary
|
|
blessing; and Providence so ordered
|
|
it that Isaac should bestow it upon Jacob
|
|
ignorantly and by mistake, that it might appear
|
|
he was beholden to God for it, and not
|
|
to Isaac. Three things Jacob is here blessed
|
|
with:--
|
|
|
|
[1.] Plenty
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
heaven and earth concurring to make him rich.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Power
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
particularly dominion over his brethren,
|
|
namely, Esau and his posterity.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Prevalency with God, and a great interest in
|
|
Heaven: "<I>Cursed by every one that curseth
|
|
thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee.</I> Let
|
|
God be a friend to all thy friends, and an
|
|
enemy to all thy enemies." More is certainly
|
|
comprised in this blessing than appears
|
|
<I>prima facie--at first sight.</I> It must amount
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page166"> </A>
|
|
|
|
to an entail of the promise of the Messiah, and
|
|
of the church; this was, in the patriarchal
|
|
dialect, <I>the blessing:</I> something spiritual,
|
|
doubtless, is included in it. <I>First,</I> That from
|
|
him should come the Messiah, who should
|
|
have a sovereign dominion on earth. It was
|
|
that top-branch of his family which people
|
|
should serve and nations bow down to. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+24:19">Num. xxiv. 19</A>,
|
|
<I>Out of Jacob shall come he
|
|
that shall have dominion,</I> the <I>star</I> and <I>sceptre,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+24:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
Jacob's dominion over Esau was to
|
|
be only typical of this,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:10"><I>ch.</I> xlix. 10</A>.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I>
|
|
That from him should come the church, which
|
|
should be particularly owned and favoured
|
|
by Heaven. It was part of the blessing of
|
|
Abraham, when he was first called to be the
|
|
father of the faithful
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+12:3"><I>ch.</I> xii. 3</A>),
|
|
<I>I will bless
|
|
those that bless thee;</I> therefore, when Isaac
|
|
afterwards confirmed the blessing to Jacob, he
|
|
called it <I>the blessing of Abraham,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+28:4"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 4</A>.
|
|
Balaam explains this too,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+24:9">Num. xxiv. 9</A>.
|
|
Note, It is the best and most desirable blessing
|
|
to stand in relation to Christ and his
|
|
church, and to be interested in Christ's power
|
|
and the church's favours.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_40"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Blessing Pronounced on Jacob and Esau.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1760.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>30 And it came to pass, as soon as
|
|
Isaac had made an end of blessing
|
|
Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone
|
|
out from the presence of Isaac his father,
|
|
that Esau his brother came in
|
|
from his hunting.
|
|
31 And he also
|
|
had made savoury meat, and brought
|
|
it unto his father, and said unto his
|
|
father, Let my father arise, and eat of
|
|
his son's venison, that thy soul may
|
|
bless me.
|
|
32 And Isaac his father
|
|
said unto him, Who <I>art</I> thou? And
|
|
he said, I <I>am</I> thy son, thy firstborn
|
|
Esau.
|
|
33 And Isaac trembled very
|
|
exceedingly, and said, Who? where
|
|
<I>is</I> he that hath taken venison, and
|
|
brought <I>it</I> me, and I have eaten of all
|
|
before thou camest, and have blessed
|
|
him? yea, <I>and</I> he shall be blessed.
|
|
34 And when Esau heard the words
|
|
of his father, he cried with a great and
|
|
exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his
|
|
father, Bless me, <I>even</I> me also, O my
|
|
father.
|
|
35 And he said, Thy brother
|
|
came with subtlety, and hath taken
|
|
away thy blessing.
|
|
36 And he said, Is
|
|
not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath
|
|
supplanted me these two times: he took
|
|
away my birthright; and, behold, now
|
|
he hath taken away my blessing. And
|
|
he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing
|
|
for me?
|
|
37 And Isaac answered
|
|
and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made
|
|
him thy lord, and all his brethren
|
|
have I given to him for servants;
|
|
and with corn and wine have I sustained
|
|
him: and what shall I do now
|
|
unto thee, my son?
|
|
38 And Esau
|
|
said unto his father, Hast thou but
|
|
one blessing, my father? bless me,
|
|
<I>even</I> me also, O my father. And Esau
|
|
lifted up his voice, and wept.
|
|
39 And
|
|
Isaac his father answered and said unto
|
|
him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be
|
|
the fatness of the earth, and of the
|
|
dew of heaven from above;
|
|
40 And by thy sword shalt
|
|
thou live, and shalt serve
|
|
thy brother; and it shall come
|
|
to pass when thou shalt have the dominion,
|
|
that thou shalt break his yoke
|
|
from off thy neck.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The covenant-blessing denied
|
|
to Esau. He that made so light of the birthright
|
|
<I>would now have inherited the blessing,
|
|
but he was rejected, and found no place of repentance</I>
|
|
in his father, <I>though he sought it
|
|
carefully with tears,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:17">Heb. xii. 17</A>.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How carefully he sought it. He prepared
|
|
the savoury meat, as his father had directed
|
|
him, and then begged the blessing which his
|
|
father had encouraged him to expect,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
When he understood that Jacob had obtained
|
|
it surreptitiously, he <I>cried with a great
|
|
and exceedingly bitter cry,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
No man could
|
|
have laid the disappointment more to heart
|
|
than he did; he made his father's tent to
|
|
ring with his grief, and again
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>)
|
|
<I>lifted up his voice and wept.</I> Note, The day is
|
|
coming when those that now make light of
|
|
the blessings of the covenant, and sell their
|
|
title to them for a thing of nought, will in
|
|
vain be importunate for them. Those that
|
|
will not so much as ask and seek now will
|
|
knock shortly, and cry, <I>Lord, Lord.</I> Slighters
|
|
of Christ will then be humble suitors to
|
|
him.
|
|
|
|
2. How he was rejected. Isaac, when
|
|
first made sensible of the imposition that had
|
|
been practised on him, <I>trembled exceedingly,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
Those that follow the choice of their
|
|
own affections, rather than the dictates of the
|
|
divine will, involve themselves in such perplexities
|
|
as these. But he soon recovers
|
|
himself, and ratifies the blessing he had given
|
|
to Jacob: <I>I have blessed him, and he shall
|
|
be blessed;</I> he might, upon very plausible
|
|
grounds, have recalled it, but now, at last, he
|
|
is sensible that he was in an error when he
|
|
designed it for Esau. Either himself recollecting
|
|
the divine oracle, or rather having
|
|
found himself more than ordinarily filled with
|
|
the Holy Ghost when he gave the blessing to Jacob, he
|
|
perceived that God did, as it were,
|
|
say Amen to it. Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Jacob was hereby
|
|
confirmed in his possession of the blessing,
|
|
and abundantly satisfied of the validity of it,
|
|
though he obtained it fraudulently; hence
|
|
too he had reason to hope that God graciously
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page167"> </A>
|
|
|
|
overlooked and pardoned his misconduct.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Isaac hereby acquiesced in the will of
|
|
God, though it contradicted his own expectations
|
|
and affection. He had a mind to give
|
|
Esau the blessing, but, when he perceived
|
|
the will of God was otherwise, he submitted;
|
|
and this he did <I>by faith</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:20">Heb. xi. 20</A>),
|
|
as Abraham before him, when he had solicited
|
|
for Ishmael. May not God do what he will
|
|
with his own?
|
|
|
|
(3.) Esau hereby was cut off
|
|
from the expectation of that special blessing
|
|
which he thought to have preserved to himself
|
|
when he sold his birthright. We, by
|
|
this instance, are taught,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That <I>it is not
|
|
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
|
|
but of God that showeth mercy,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:16">Rom. ix. 16</A>.
|
|
The apostle seems to allude to this story.
|
|
Esau had a good will to the blessing, and
|
|
ran for it; but God that showed mercy designed
|
|
it for Jacob, <I>that the purpose of God
|
|
according to election might stand,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
The Jews, like Esau, hunted <I>after the law of righteousness</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
yet missed of the blessing
|
|
of righteousness, <I>because they sought it by
|
|
the works of the law</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>);
|
|
while the Gentiles,
|
|
who, like Jacob, sought it by faith in
|
|
the oracle of God, obtained it by force, with
|
|
that violence which the kingdom of heaven
|
|
suffers. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:12">Matt. xi. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That those
|
|
who undervalue their spiritual birthright,
|
|
and can afford to sell it for a morsel of meat,
|
|
forfeit spiritual blessings, and it is just with
|
|
God to deny them those favours they were
|
|
careless of. Those that will part with their
|
|
wisdom and grace, with their faith and a
|
|
good conscience, for the honours, wealth, or
|
|
pleasures, of this world, however they may
|
|
pretend a zeal for the blessing, have already
|
|
judged themselves unworthy of it, and so
|
|
shall their doom be.
|
|
|
|
[3.] That those who
|
|
lift up hands in wrath lift them up in vain.
|
|
Esau, instead of repenting of his own folly,
|
|
reproached his brother, unjustly charged him
|
|
with taking away the birthright which he
|
|
had fairly sold to him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>),
|
|
and conceived
|
|
malice against him for what he had now
|
|
done,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
Those are not likely to speed
|
|
in prayer who turn those resentments upon
|
|
their brethren which they should turn upon
|
|
themselves, and lay the blame of their miscarriages
|
|
upon others, when they should
|
|
take shame to themselves.
|
|
|
|
[4.] That those
|
|
who seek not till it is too late will be rejected.
|
|
This was the ruin of Esau, he did not come
|
|
in time. As there is an accepted time, a
|
|
time when God will be found, so there is a
|
|
time when he will not answer those that call
|
|
upon him, because they neglected the appointed
|
|
season. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:28">Prov. i. 28</A>.
|
|
The time
|
|
of God's patience and our probation will not
|
|
last always; the day of grace will come to
|
|
an end, and the door will be shut. Then many that
|
|
now despise the blessing will seek it carefully;
|
|
for then they will know how to
|
|
value it, and will see themselves undone, for
|
|
ever undone, without it, but to no purpose,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+13:25-27">Luke xiii. 25-27</A>.
|
|
O that we would therefore,
|
|
in this our day, <I>know the things that
|
|
belong to our peace!</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is a common blessing bestowed
|
|
upon Esau.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This he desired: <I>Bless me also,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
<I>Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The worst of men know how to
|
|
wish well to themselves; and even those who
|
|
profanely sell their birthright seem piously to
|
|
desire the blessing. Faint desires of happiness,
|
|
without a right choice of the end and a
|
|
right use of the means, deceive many into
|
|
their own ruin. Multitudes go to hell with
|
|
their mouths full of good wishes. The desire
|
|
of the slothful and unbelieving kills them.
|
|
Many will seek to enter in, as Esau, who
|
|
shall not be able, because they do not strive,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+13:24">Luke xiii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is the folly of most
|
|
men that they are willing to take up with any
|
|
good
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+4:6">Ps. iv. 6</A>),
|
|
as Esau here, who desired
|
|
but a second-rate blessing, a blessing separated
|
|
from the birthright. Profane hearts
|
|
think any blessing as good as that from God's
|
|
oracle: <I>Hast thou but one?</I> As if he had said,
|
|
"I will take up with any: though I have not
|
|
the blessing of the church, yet let me have
|
|
some blessing."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. This he had; and let him make his best
|
|
of it,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:39,40"><I>v.</I> 39, 40</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) It was a good thing, and better than
|
|
he deserved. It was promised him,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That he should have a competent livelihood--<I>the
|
|
fatness of the earth, and the dew of heaven.</I>
|
|
Note, Those that come short of the blessings
|
|
of the covenant may yet have a very good
|
|
share of outward blessings. God gives good
|
|
ground and good weather to many that reject
|
|
his covenant, and have no part nor lot in it.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That by degrees he should recover his
|
|
liberty. If Jacob must rule
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
Esau must serve; but he has this to comfort him,
|
|
he shall <I>live by his sword.</I> He shall serve,
|
|
but he shall not starve; and, at length, after
|
|
much skirmishing, he shall break the yoke of
|
|
bondage, and wear marks of freedom.
|
|
This was fulfilled
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+8:20,22">2 Kings viii. 20, 22</A>)
|
|
when the Edomites revolted.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Yet it was far short of Jacob's blessing.
|
|
For him God had reserved some better thing.
|
|
|
|
[1.] In Jacob's blessing <I>the dew of heaven</I> is
|
|
put first, as that which he most valued, and
|
|
desired, and depended upon; in Esau's <I>the
|
|
fatness of the earth</I> is put first, for it was this
|
|
that he had the first and principal regard to.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Esau has these, but Jacob has them
|
|
from God's hand: <I>God give thee the dew of
|
|
heaven,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
It was enough to Esau to have
|
|
the possession; but Jacob desired it by promise,
|
|
and to have it from covenant-love.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Jacob shall have dominion over his brethren:
|
|
hence the Israelites often ruled over the
|
|
Edomites. Esau shall have dominion, that
|
|
is, he shall gain some power and interest,
|
|
but shall never have dominion over his brother:
|
|
we never find that the Jews were sold
|
|
into the hands of the Edomites, or that they
|
|
oppressed them. But the great difference in
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page168"> </A>
|
|
|
|
that there is nothing in Esau's blessing that
|
|
points at Christ, nothing that brings him or
|
|
his into the church and covenant of God,
|
|
without which the fatness of the earth, and
|
|
the plunder of the field, will stand him in
|
|
little stead. Thus Isaac by faith blessed them
|
|
both according as their lot should be. Some
|
|
observe that Jacob was blessed with a <I>kiss</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
so was not Esau.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge27_46"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jacob's Life Threatened by Esau.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1760.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>41 And Esau hated Jacob because
|
|
of the blessing wherewith his father
|
|
blessed him: and Esau said in his
|
|
heart, The days of mourning for my
|
|
father are at hand; then will I slay
|
|
my brother Jacob.
|
|
42 And these
|
|
words of Esau her elder son were told
|
|
to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob
|
|
her younger son, and said unto him,
|
|
Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching
|
|
thee, doth comfort himself, <I>purposing</I>
|
|
to kill thee.
|
|
43 Now therefore, my
|
|
son, obey my voice; and arise, flee
|
|
thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
|
|
44 And tarry with him a few days,
|
|
until thy brother's fury turn away;
|
|
45 Until thy brother's anger turn
|
|
away from thee, and he forget <I>that</I>
|
|
which thou hast done to him: then I
|
|
will send, and fetch thee from thence:
|
|
why should I be deprived also of you
|
|
both in one day?
|
|
46 And Rebekah
|
|
said to Isaac, I am weary of my life
|
|
because of the daughters of Heth: if
|
|
Jacob take a wife of the daughters of
|
|
Heth, such as these <I>which are</I> of the
|
|
daughters of the land, what good shall
|
|
my life do me?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The malice Esau bore to Jacob
|
|
upon account of the blessing which he had
|
|
obtained,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
Thus he went in the way of
|
|
Cain, who slew his brother because he had
|
|
gained that acceptance with God of which
|
|
he had rendered himself unworthy. Esau's
|
|
hatred of Jacob was,
|
|
|
|
1. A causeless hatred.
|
|
He hated him for no other reason but because
|
|
his father blessed him and God loved him.
|
|
Note, The happiness of saints is the envy of
|
|
sinners. Whom Heaven blesses, hell curses.
|
|
|
|
2. It was a cruel hatred. Nothing less would
|
|
satisfy him than to slay his brother. It is
|
|
the blood of the saints that persecutors thirst
|
|
after: <I>I will slay my brother.</I> How could he
|
|
say that word without horror? How could
|
|
he call him <I>brother,</I> and yet vow his death?
|
|
Note, The rage of persecutors will not be tied
|
|
up by any bonds, no, not the strongest and
|
|
most sacred.
|
|
|
|
3. It was a politic hatred. He
|
|
expected his father would soon die, and then
|
|
titles must be tried and interests contested
|
|
between the brothers, which would give him
|
|
a fair opportunity for revenge. He thinks it
|
|
not enough to <I>live by his sword himself</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>),
|
|
unless his brother die by it. He is loth to
|
|
grieve his father while he lives, and therefore
|
|
puts off the intended murder till his death,
|
|
not caring how much he then grieved his
|
|
surviving mother. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those are bad
|
|
children to whom their good parents are a
|
|
burden, and who, upon any account, long for
|
|
the days of mourning for them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Bad
|
|
men are long held in by external restraints
|
|
from doing the mischief they would do, and
|
|
so their wicked purposes come to nought.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Those who think to defeat God's purposes
|
|
will undoubtedly be disappointed themselves.
|
|
Esau aimed to prevent Jacob, or his
|
|
seed, from having the dominion, by taking
|
|
away his life before he was married; but who
|
|
can disannul what God has spoken? Men
|
|
may fret at God's counsels, but cannot change
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The method Rebekah took to prevent
|
|
the mischief.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. She gave Jacob warning of his danger,
|
|
and advised him to withdraw for a while, and
|
|
shift for his own safety. She tells him what
|
|
she heard of Esau's design, that he comforted
|
|
himself with the hope of an opportunity to
|
|
kill his brother,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>.
|
|
Would one think
|
|
that such a bloody barbarous thought as this
|
|
could be a comfort to a man? If Esau could
|
|
have kept his design to himself his mother
|
|
would not have suspected it; but men's impudence
|
|
in sin is often their infatuation; and
|
|
they cannot accomplish their wickedness because
|
|
their rage is too violent to be concealed,
|
|
and a bird of the air carries the voice. Observe
|
|
here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) What Rebekah feared--lest
|
|
she <I>should be deprived of them both in one
|
|
day</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>),
|
|
deprived, not only of the murdered,
|
|
but of the murderer, who either by the magistrate,
|
|
or by the immediate hand of God,
|
|
would by sacrificed to justice, which she herself
|
|
must acquiesce in, and not obstruct: or,
|
|
if not so, yet thenceforward she would be
|
|
deprived of all joy and comfort in him. Those
|
|
that are lost to virtue are in a manner lost to
|
|
all their friends. With what pleasure can a
|
|
child be looked upon that can be looked upon
|
|
as no other than a child of the devil?
|
|
|
|
(2.) What Rebekah hoped--that, if Jacob for a
|
|
while kept out of sight, the affront which his
|
|
brother resented so fiercely would by degrees
|
|
go out of mind. The strength of passions is
|
|
weakened and taken off by the distances both
|
|
of time and place. She promised herself that
|
|
his brother's anger would turn away. Note,
|
|
Yielding pacifies great offences; and even
|
|
those that have a good cause, and God on
|
|
their side, must yet use this with other prudent
|
|
expedients for their own preservation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. She impressed Isaac with an apprehension
|
|
of the necessity of Jacob's going among
|
|
her relations upon another account, which
|
|
was to take a wife,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>.
|
|
She would not tell
|
|
him of Esau's wicked design against the life
|
|
of Jacob, lest it should trouble him; but
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page169"> </A>
|
|
|
|
prudently took another way to gain her point.
|
|
Isaac saw as uneasy as he was to Esau's being
|
|
unequally yoked with Hittites; and therefore,
|
|
with a very good colour of reason, she
|
|
moves to have Jacob married to one that was
|
|
better principled. Note, One miscarriage
|
|
should serve as a warning to prevent another;
|
|
those are careless indeed that stumble twice
|
|
at the same stone. Yet Rebekah seems to
|
|
have expressed herself somewhat too warmly
|
|
in the matter, when she said, <I>What good will
|
|
my life do me if Jacob marry a Canaanite?</I>
|
|
Thanks be to God, all our comfort is not
|
|
lodged in one hand; we may do the work of
|
|
life, and enjoy the comforts of life, though
|
|
every thing do not fall out to our mind, and
|
|
though our relations be not in all respects
|
|
agreeable to us. Perhaps Rebekah spoke
|
|
with this concern because she saw it necessary,
|
|
for the quickening of Isaac, to give
|
|
speedy orders in this matter. Observe,
|
|
Though Jacob was himself very towardly,
|
|
and well fixed in his religion, yet he had need
|
|
to be put out of the way of temptation. Even
|
|
he was in danger both of following the bad
|
|
example of his brother and of being drawn
|
|
into a snare by it. We must not presume too
|
|
far upon the wisdom and resolution, no, not
|
|
of those children that are most hopeful and
|
|
promising; but care must be taken to keep
|
|
them out of harm's way.</P>
|
|
|
|
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