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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XXXV].</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="Page204"> </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. XXXV.</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 have three communions and three funerals.
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I. Three communions between God and Jacob.
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1. God ordered
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Jacob to Beth-el; and, in obedience to that order, he purged his
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house of idols, and prepared for that journey,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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2. Jacob built an altar at Beth-el, to the honour of God that had
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appeared to him, and in performance of his vow,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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3. God appeared to him again, and confirmed the change of his
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name and covenant with him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:9-13">ver. 9-13</A>),
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of which appearance
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Jacob made a grateful acknowledgment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:14,15">ver. 14, 15</A>.
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II. Three funerals.
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1. Deborah's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:8">ver. 8</A>.
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2. Rachel's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:16-20">ver. 16-20</A>.
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3. Isaac's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:27-29">ver. 27-29</A>.
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Here is also Reuben's incest
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:22">ver. 22</A>),
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and an account of Jacob's sons,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:23-26">ver. 23-26</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge35_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_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>Jacob Summoned to Bethel; Jacob's Journeys towards Bethel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1732.</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 God said unto Jacob, Arise,
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go up to Beth-el, and dwell there:
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and make there an altar unto God,
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that appeared unto thee when thou
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fleddest from the face of Esau thy
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brother.
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2 Then Jacob said unto his
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household, and to all that <I>were</I> with
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<A NAME="Page205"> </A>
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him, Put away the strange gods that
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<I>are</I> among you, and be
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clean, and change your garments:
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3 And let us
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arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I
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will make there an altar unto God,
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who answered me in the day of my
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distress, and was with me in the way
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which I went.
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4 And they gave unto
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Jacob all the strange gods which <I>were</I>
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in their hand, and <I>all their</I> earrings
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which <I>were</I> in their ears; and Jacob
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hid them under the oak which <I>was</I> by
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Shechem.
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5 And they journeyed: and
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the terror of God was upon the cities
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that <I>were</I> round about them, and they
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did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. God reminds Jacob of his vow at
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Beth-el, and sends him thither to perform it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Jacob had said in the day of his distress,
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<I>If I come again in peace, this stone shall
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be God's house,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+28:22"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 22</A>.
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God had performed
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his part of the bargain, and had given
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Jacob more than bread to eat and raiment to
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put on--he had got an estate, and had become
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two bands; but, it should seem, he had forgotten
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his vow, or at least had too long deferred
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the performance of it. Seven or eight
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years it was now since he came to Canaan;
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he had purchased ground there, and had built
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an altar in remembrance of God's last appearance
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to him when he called him <I>Israel</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+33:19,20"><I>ch.</I> xxxiii. 19, 20</A>);
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but still Beth-el is forgotten.
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Note, Time is apt to wear out the
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sense of mercies and the impressions made
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upon us by them; it should not be so, but
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so it is. God had exercised Jacob with a
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very sore affliction in his family
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+34:1-31"><I>ch.</I> xxxiv.</A>),
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to see if this would bring his vow to his
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remembrance, and put him upon the performance
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of it, but it had not this effect;
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therefore God comes himself and puts him
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in mind of it: <I>Arise, go to Beth-el.</I> Note,
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1. As many as God loves he will remind of neglected
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duties, one way or other, by conscience
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or by providences.
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2. When we have
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vowed a vow to God, it is best not to defer
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the payment of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:4">Eccles. v. 4</A>),
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yet better late than never. God bade him go to Beth-el
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and dwell there, that is, not only go himself,
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but take his family with him, that they might
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join with him in his devotions. Note, In
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Beth-el, the house of God, we should desire
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to dwell,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:4">Ps. xxvii. 4</A>.
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That should be our
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home, not our inn. God reminds him not
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expressly of his vow, but of the occasion of
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it: <I>When thou fleddest from the face of Esau.</I>
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Note, The remembrance of former afflictions
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should bring to mind the workings of our
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souls under them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:13,14">Ps. lxvi. 13, 14</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. Jacob commands his household to prepare
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for this solemnity; not only for the
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journey and remove, but for the religious
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services that were to be performed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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Note, 1. Before solemn ordinances, there
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must be solemn preparation. <I>Wash you,
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make you clean,</I> and then <I>come, and let us
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reason together,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:16-18">Isa. i. 16-18</A>.
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2. Masters
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of families should use their authority for the
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promoting of religion in their families. Not
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only we, but our houses also, should serve
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the Lord,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+24:15">Josh. xxiv. 15</A>.
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Observe the commands
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he gives his household, like Abraham,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:19"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 19</A>.
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(1.) They must <I>put away the
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strange gods.</I> Strange gods in Jacob's family!
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Strange things indeed! Could such
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a family, that was taught the good knowledge
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of the Lord, admit them? Could such a
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master, to whom God had appeared twice,
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and oftener, connive at them? Doubtless this
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was his infirmity. Note, Those that are good
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themselves cannot always have those about
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them so good as they should be. In those
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families where there is a face of religion, and
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an altar to God, yet many times there is much
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amiss, and more strange gods than one would
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suspect. In Jacob's family, Rachel had her
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<I>teraphim,</I> which, it is to be feared, she
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secretly made some superstitious use of. The
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captives of Shechem brought their gods along
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with them, and perhaps Jacob's sons took
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some with the plunder. However they came
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by them, now they must <I>put them away.</I>
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(2.) They must be clean, and <I>change their garments;</I>
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they must observe a due decorum,
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and make the best appearance they could.
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Simeon and Levi had their hands full of
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blood, it concerned them particularly to wash,
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and to put off their garments that were so
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stained. These were but ceremonies, signifying
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the purification and change of the heart.
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What are clean clothes, and new clothes,
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without a clean heart, and a new heart? Dr.
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Lightfoot, by their <I>being clean,</I> or <I>washing</I>
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themselves, understands Jacob's admission
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of the proselytes of Shechem and Syria into
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his religion by baptism, because circumcision
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had become odious.
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3. They must go with
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him to Beth-el,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Note, Masters of families,
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when they go up to the house of God,
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should bring their families with them.</P>
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<P>
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III. His family surrendered all they had
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that was idolatrous or superstitious,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Perhaps, if Jacob had called for them sooner,
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they would sooner have parted with them,
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being convicted by their own consciences of
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the vanity of them. Note, Sometimes attempts
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for reformation succeed better than
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one could have expected, and people are not
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so obstinate against them as we feared. Jacob's
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servants, and even the retainers of his
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family, gave him all the strange gods, and
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the ear-rings they wore, either as charms or
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to the honour of their gods; they parted with
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all. Note, Reformation is not sincere if it
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be not universal. We hope they parted with
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them cheerfully, and without reluctance, as
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Ephraim did, when he said, <I>What have I to
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do any more with idols?</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:8">Hos. xiv. 8</A>),
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or that
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people that said to their idols, <I>Get you hence,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:22">Isa. xxx. 22</A>.
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Jacob took care to bury their
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<A NAME="Page206"> </A>
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images, we may suppose in some place unknown
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to them, that they might not afterwards
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find them and return to them. Note,
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We must be wholly separated from our sins,
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as we are from those that are dead and buried
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out of our sight, cast them <I>to the moles and
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the bats,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:20">Isa. ii. 20</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He removes without molestation from Shechem to Bethel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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<I>The terror of God
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was upon the cities.</I> Though the Canaanites
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were much exasperated against the sons of
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Jacob for their barbarous usage of the Shechemites,
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yet they were so restrained by a
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divine power that they could not take this
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fair opportunity, which now offered itself,
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when they were upon their march, to avenge
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their neighbours' quarrel. Note, The way
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of duty is the way of safety. While there
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was sin in Jacob's house, he was afraid of his
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neighbours; but now that the strange gods
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were put away, and they were all going together
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to Bethel, his neighbours were afraid
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of him. When we are about God's work, we
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are under special protection. God is with us,
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while we are with him; and, if he be for us,
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who can be against us? See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+34:24">Exod. xxxiv. 24</A>,
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<I>No man shall desire thy land, when thou goest
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up to appear before the Lord.</I> God governs
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the world more by secret terrors on men's
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minds than we are aware of.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge35_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge35_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jacob's Arrival at Bethel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1732.</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>6 So Jacob came to Luz, which <I>is</I>
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in the land of Canaan, that <I>is,</I> Beth-el,
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he and all the people that <I>were</I> with
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him.
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7 And he built there an altar,
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and called the place El-Beth-el: because
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there God appeared unto him,
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when he fled from the face of his brother.
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8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse
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died, and she was buried beneath
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Beth-el under an oak: and the name
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of it was called Allon-bachuth.
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9 And God appeared unto Jacob again,
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when he came out of Padan-aram, and
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blessed him.
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10 And God said unto
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him, Thy name <I>is</I> Jacob: thy name
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shall not be called any more Jacob,
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but Israel shall be thy name: and he
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called his name Israel.
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11 And God
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said unto him, I <I>am</I> God Almighty:
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be fruitful and multiply; a nation and
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a company of nations shall be of thee,
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and kings shall come out of thy loins;
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12 And the land which I gave Abraham
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and Isaac, to thee I will give it,
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and to thy seed after thee will I give
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the land.
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13 And God went up from
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him in the place where he talked with
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him.
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14 And Jacob set up a pillar
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in the place where he talked with him,
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<I>even</I> a pillar of stone: and he poured
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a drink offering thereon, and he poured
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oil thereon.
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15 And Jacob called the
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name of the place where God spake
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with him, Beth-el.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Jacob and his retinue having safely arrived
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at Beth-el, we are here told what passed there.</P>
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<P>
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I. There he built an altar
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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and no
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doubt offered sacrifice upon it, perhaps the
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tenth of his cattle, according to his vow, <I>I
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will give the tenth unto thee.</I> With these sacrifices
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he joined praises for former mercies,
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particularly that which the sight of the place
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brought afresh to his remembrance; and he
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added prayers for the continuance of God's
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favour to him and his family. And he called
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the place (that is, <I>the altar</I>) <I>El-beth-el, the
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God of Bethel.</I> As, when he made a thankful
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acknowledgment of the honour God had
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lately done him in calling him <I>Israel,</I> he worshipped
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God by the name of <I>El-elohe Israel;</I>
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so, now that he was making a grateful recognition
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of God's former favour to him at
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Bethel, he worships God by the name of <I>El-beth-el,
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the God of Beth-el,</I> because there God
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appeared to him. Note, The comfort which
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the saints have in holy ordinances is not so
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much from <I>Bethel, the house of God,</I> as from
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<I>El-beth-el, the God of the house.</I> The ordinances
|
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are but empty things if we do not meet
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with God in them.</P>
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<P>
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II. There he buried Deborah, Rebekah's
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nurse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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We have reason to think that
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Jacob, after he came to Canaan, while his
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family dwelt near Shechem, went himself (it
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is likely, often) to visit his father Isaac at
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Hebron. Rebekah probably was dead, but
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her old nurse (of whom mention is made
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+24:59"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 59</A>)
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survived her, and Jacob took
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her to his family, to be a companion to his
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wives, her country-women, and an instructor
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to his children; while they were at Bethel,
|
|
she died, and died lamented, so much lamented
|
|
that the oak under which she was
|
|
buried was called <I>Allon-bachuth, the oak of
|
|
weeping.</I> Note, 1. Old servants in a family,
|
|
that have in their time been faithful and useful,
|
|
ought to be respected. Honour was
|
|
done to this nurse, at her death, by Jacob's
|
|
family, though she was not related to them,
|
|
and though she was aged. Former services,
|
|
in such a case, must be remembered.
|
|
|
|
2. We
|
|
do not know where death may meet us; perhaps
|
|
at Beth-el, the house of God. Therefore
|
|
let us be always ready.
|
|
|
|
3. Family-afflictions
|
|
may come even when family-reformation
|
|
and religion are on foot. Therefore
|
|
rejoice with trembling.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. There God appeared to him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
to own his altar, to answer to the name by which
|
|
he had called him, <I>The God of Beth-el</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
and to comfort him under his affliction,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
Note, God will appear to those in a way of
|
|
grace that attend on him in a way of duty.
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
1. He confirmed the change of his
|
|
name,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
It was done before by the
|
|
angel that wrestled with him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+32:28"><I>ch.</I> xxxii. 28</A>),
|
|
and here it was ratified by the divine Majesty,
|
|
or <I>Shechinah,</I> that appeared to him. There
|
|
it was to encourage him against the fear of
|
|
Esau, here against the fear of the Canaanites.
|
|
Who can be too hard for Israel, a prince with
|
|
God? It is below those who are thus dignified
|
|
to droop and despond.
|
|
|
|
2. He renewed
|
|
and ratified the covenant with him, by the
|
|
name <I>El-shaddai. I am God Almighty, God
|
|
all-sufficient</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
able to make good the
|
|
promise in due time, and to support thee and
|
|
provide for thee in the mean time. Two
|
|
things are promised him which we have met
|
|
with often before:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he should be
|
|
the father of a great nation, great in number--<I>a
|
|
company of nations shall be of thee</I> (every
|
|
tribe of Israel was a nation, and all the
|
|
twelve a company of nations), great in honour
|
|
and power--<I>kings shall come out of thy loins.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he should be the master of a good
|
|
land
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
described by the grantees, Abraham
|
|
and Isaac, to whom it was promised,
|
|
not by the occupants, the Canaanites in whose
|
|
possession it now was. The land that was
|
|
given to Abraham and Isaac is here entailed
|
|
on Jacob and his seed. He shall not have
|
|
children without an estate, which is often the
|
|
case of the poor, nor an estate without children,
|
|
which is often the grief of the rich; but
|
|
both. These two promises had a spiritual
|
|
signification, of which we may suppose Jacob
|
|
himself had some notion, though not so clear
|
|
and distinct as we now have; for, without doubt,
|
|
Christ is the promised seed, and heaven is the
|
|
promised land; the former is the foundation,
|
|
and the latter the top-stone, of all God's
|
|
favours.
|
|
|
|
3. He then went up from him, or
|
|
<I>from over him,</I> in some visible display of glory,
|
|
which had hovered over him while he talked
|
|
with him,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
Note, The sweetest communions
|
|
the saints have with God in this
|
|
world are short and transient, and soon have
|
|
an end. Our vision of God in heaven will
|
|
be everlasting; there we shall be ever with
|
|
the Lord; it is not so here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. There Jacob erected a memorial of
|
|
this,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He set up a pillar. When he
|
|
was going to Padan-aram, he set up for a pillar
|
|
that stone on which he had laid his head.
|
|
This was agreeable enough to his low condition
|
|
and his hasty flight; but now he took
|
|
time to erect one more stately, more distinguishable
|
|
and durable, probably placing that
|
|
stone in it. In token of his intending it for
|
|
a sacred memorial of his communion with
|
|
God, he poured oil and the other ingredients
|
|
of a drink-offering upon it. His vow was,
|
|
<I>This stone shall be God's house,</I> that is, shall
|
|
be set up for his honour, as houses to the
|
|
praise of their builders; and here he performs
|
|
it, transferring it to God by anointing
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
2. He confirmed the name he had formerly
|
|
given to the place
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
<I>Beth-el, the
|
|
house of God.</I> Yet this very place afterwards
|
|
lost the honour of its name, and became
|
|
<I>Beth-aven, a house of iniquity;</I> for here it
|
|
was that Jeroboam set up one of his calves.
|
|
It is impossible for the best man to entail
|
|
upon a place so much as the profession and
|
|
form of religion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Death of Rachel.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1732.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 And they journeyed from Beth-el;
|
|
and there was but a little way to
|
|
come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed,
|
|
and she had hard labour.
|
|
17 And it came to pass, when she was in
|
|
hard labour, that the midwife said
|
|
unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have
|
|
this son also.
|
|
18 And it came to pass,
|
|
as her soul was in departing, (for she
|
|
died) that she called his name Ben-oni:
|
|
but his father called him Benjamin.
|
|
19 And Rachel died, and was buried
|
|
in the way to Ephrath, which <I>is</I> Beth-lehem.
|
|
20 And Jacob set a pillar
|
|
upon her grave: that <I>is</I> the pillar of
|
|
Rachel's grave unto this day.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the story of the death of
|
|
Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob.
|
|
|
|
1. She
|
|
fell in travail by the way, not able to reach to
|
|
Bethlehem, the next town, though they were
|
|
near it; so suddenly does pain sometimes
|
|
come upon a woman in travail, which she
|
|
cannot escape, or put off. We may suppose
|
|
Jacob had soon a tent up, convenient enough
|
|
for her reception.
|
|
|
|
2. Her pains were violent.
|
|
She had hard labour, harder than usual: this
|
|
was the effect of sin,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:16"><I>ch.</I> iii. 16</A>.
|
|
Note, Human
|
|
life begins with sorrow, and the roses of
|
|
its joy are surrounded with thorns.
|
|
|
|
3. The midwife encouraged her,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
No doubt she
|
|
had her midwife with her, ready at hand, yet
|
|
that would not secure her. Rachel had said,
|
|
when she bore Joseph, <I>God shall add another
|
|
son,</I> which now the midwife remembers, and
|
|
tells her her words were made good. Yet
|
|
this did not avail to keep up her spirits; unless
|
|
God command away fear, no one else
|
|
can. He only says as one having authority,
|
|
<I>Fear not.</I> We are apt, in extreme perils, to
|
|
comfort ourselves and our friends with the
|
|
hopes of a temporal deliverance, in which we
|
|
may be disappointed; we had better found
|
|
our comforts on that which cannot fail us,
|
|
the hope of eternal life.
|
|
|
|
4. Her travail was
|
|
to the life of the child, but to her own death.
|
|
Note, Though the pains and perils of childbearing
|
|
were introduced by sin, yet they
|
|
have sometimes been fatal to very holy
|
|
women, who, though not saved in childbearing,
|
|
are saved through it with an everlasting
|
|
salvation. Rachel had passionately
|
|
said, <I>Give me children, or else I die;</I> and now
|
|
that she had children (for this was her second)
|
|
she died. Her dying is here called <I>the
|
|
departing of her soul.</I> Note, The death of
|
|
the body is but the departure of the soul to
|
|
the world of spirits.
|
|
|
|
5. Her dying lips called
|
|
her new-born son <I>Ben-oni, The son of my sorrow.</I>
|
|
And many a son, not born in such
|
|
hard labour, yet proves the son of his
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page208"> </A>
|
|
|
|
parent's sorrow, and the heaviness of her that
|
|
bore him. Children are enough the sorrow
|
|
of their poor mothers in the breeding, bearing,
|
|
and nursing of them; they should therefore,
|
|
when they grow up, study to be their
|
|
joy, and so, if possible, to make them some
|
|
amends. But Jacob, because he would not
|
|
renew the sorrowful remembrance of the
|
|
mother's death every time he called his son
|
|
by his name, changed his name, and called
|
|
him <I>Benjamin, The son of my right hand;</I>
|
|
that is, "very dear to me, set on my right
|
|
hand for a blessing, the support of my age,
|
|
like the staff in my right hand."
|
|
|
|
6. Jacob
|
|
buried her near the place where she died.
|
|
As she died in child-bed, it was convenient
|
|
to bury her quickly; and therefore he did
|
|
not bring her to the burying-place of his family.
|
|
If the soul be at rest after death, it
|
|
matters little where the body lies. In the
|
|
place where the tree falls, there let it be.
|
|
No mention is made of the mourning that
|
|
was at her death, because that might easily
|
|
be taken for granted. Jacob, no doubt, was
|
|
a true mourner. Note, Great afflictions
|
|
sometimes befal us immediately after great
|
|
comforts. Lest Jacob should be lifted up
|
|
with the visions of the Almighty with which
|
|
he was honoured, this was sent as a thorn in
|
|
the flesh to humble him. Those that enjoy
|
|
the favours peculiar to the children of God
|
|
must yet expect the troubles that are common
|
|
to the children of men. Deborah, who,
|
|
had she lived, would have been a comfort to
|
|
Rachel in her extremity, died but a little before.
|
|
Note, When death comes into a family,
|
|
it often strikes double. God by it speaks
|
|
once, yea, twice. The Jewish writers
|
|
say, "The death of Deborah and Rachel was
|
|
to expiate the murder of the Shechemites,
|
|
occasioned by Dinah, a daughter of the family."
|
|
|
|
7. Jacob set up a pillar upon her
|
|
grave, so that it was known, long after, to be
|
|
Rachel's sepulchre
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+10:2">1 Sam. x. 2</A>),
|
|
and Providence
|
|
so ordered it that this place afterwards
|
|
fell in the lot of Benjamin. Jacob
|
|
set up a pillar in remembrance of his joys
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
and here he sets up one in remembrance
|
|
of his sorrows; for, as it may be of
|
|
use to ourselves to keep both in mind, so it
|
|
may be of use to others to transmit the memorials
|
|
of both: the church, long afterwards,
|
|
owned that what God said to Jacob at Bethel,
|
|
both by his word and by his rod, he intended
|
|
for their instruction
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+12:4">Hos. xii. 4</A>),
|
|
<I>There he spoke with us.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge35_29"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Disgrace of Reuben.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1716.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 And Israel journeyed, and spread
|
|
his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
|
|
22 And it came to pass, when Israel
|
|
dwelt in that land, that Reuben went
|
|
and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine:
|
|
and Israel heard <I>it.</I> Now the
|
|
sons of Jacob were twelve:
|
|
23 The
|
|
sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn,
|
|
and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah,
|
|
and Issachar, and Zebulun:
|
|
24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
|
|
25 And the sons of Bilhah,
|
|
Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
|
|
26 And the sons of Zilpah,
|
|
Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher:
|
|
these <I>are</I> the sons of Jacob, which
|
|
were born to him in Padan-aram.
|
|
27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his
|
|
father unto Mamre, unto the city of
|
|
Arbah, which <I>is</I> Hebron, where Abraham
|
|
and Isaac sojourned.
|
|
28 And
|
|
the days of Isaac were an hundred and
|
|
fourscore years.
|
|
29 And Isaac gave
|
|
up the ghost, and died, and was gathered
|
|
unto his people, <I>being</I> old and
|
|
full of days: and his sons Esau and
|
|
Jacob buried him.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
1. Jacob's removal,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
He also,
|
|
as his fathers, sojourned in the land of promise
|
|
as in a strange country, and was not
|
|
long in a place. Immediately after the story
|
|
of Rachel's death he is here called <I>Israel</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>),
|
|
and not often so afterwards: the
|
|
Jews say, "The historian does him this honour
|
|
here because he bore that affliction with
|
|
such admirable patience and submission to
|
|
Providence." Note, Those are Israels indeed,
|
|
princes with God, that support the government
|
|
of their own passions. He that
|
|
has this rule over his own spirit is better than
|
|
the mighty. Israel, a prince with God, yet
|
|
dwells in tents; the city is reserved for him
|
|
in the other world.
|
|
|
|
2. The sin of Reuben.
|
|
A piece of abominable wickedness it was that
|
|
he was guilty of
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
that very sin which
|
|
the apostle says
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:1">1 Cor v. 1</A>)
|
|
is not so much
|
|
as named among the Gentiles, <I>that one should
|
|
have his father's wife.</I> It is said to have been
|
|
<I>when Israel dwelt in that land;</I> as if he were
|
|
then absent from his family, which might be
|
|
the unhappy occasion of these disorders.
|
|
Though perhaps Bilhah was the greater criminal,
|
|
and it is probable was abandoned by
|
|
Jacob for it, yet Reuben's crime was so provoking
|
|
that, for it, he lost his birthright and
|
|
blessing,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:4"><I>ch.</I> xlix. 4</A>.
|
|
The first-born is not
|
|
always the best, nor the most promising.
|
|
This was Reuben's sin, but it was Jacob's
|
|
affliction; and what a sore affliction it was is
|
|
intimated in a little compass, <I>and Israel heard
|
|
it.</I> No more is said--that is enough; he
|
|
heard it with the utmost grief and shame,
|
|
horror and displeasure. Reuben thought to
|
|
conceal it, that his father should never hear
|
|
of it; but those that promise themselves secresy
|
|
in sin are generally disappointed; a
|
|
bird of the air carries the voice. 3. A complete
|
|
list of the sons of Jacob, now that Benjamin
|
|
the youngest was born. This is the
|
|
first time we have the names of these heads
|
|
of the twelve tribes together; afterwards we
|
|
find them very often spoken of and
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page209"> </A>
|
|
|
|
enumerated, even to the end of the Bible,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+7:4,21:12">Rev. vii. 4; xxi. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. The visit which Jacob made
|
|
to his father Isaac at Hebron. We may suppose
|
|
he had visited him before since his return,
|
|
for he <I>sorely longed after his father's
|
|
house;</I> but never, till now, brought his family
|
|
to settle with him, or near him,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
Probably he did this now upon the death of
|
|
Rebekah, by which Isaac was left solitary,
|
|
and not disposed to marry again.
|
|
|
|
5. The
|
|
age and death of Isaac are here recorded,
|
|
though it appears, by computation, that
|
|
he died not till many years after Joseph was sold
|
|
into Egypt, and much about the time that
|
|
he was preferred there. Isaac, a mild quiet
|
|
man, lived the longest of all the patriarchs,
|
|
for he was 180 years old; Abraham was but
|
|
175. Isaac lived about forty years after he
|
|
had made his will,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:22"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 2</A>.
|
|
We shall not
|
|
die an hour the sooner, but abundantly the
|
|
better, for our timely setting our heart and
|
|
house in order. Particular notice is taken of
|
|
the amicable agreement of Esau and Jacob,
|
|
in solemnizing their father's funeral
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
to show how wonderfully God had changed
|
|
Esau's mind since he vowed his brother's
|
|
murder immediately after his father's death,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:41"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 41</A>.
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Note, God has many ways of
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preventing bad men from doing the mischief
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they intended; he can either tie their hands
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or turn their hearts.</P>
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