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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XXXI].</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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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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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="Page183"> </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. XXXI.</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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Jacob was a very honest good man, a man of great devotion and
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integrity, yet he had more trouble and vexation than any of the
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patriarchs. He left his father's house in a fright, went to
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his uncle's in distress, very hard usage he met with there, and
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now is going back surrounded with fears. Here is,
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I. His resolution to return,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:1-16">ver. 1-16</A>.
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II. His clandestine departure,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:17-21">ver. 17-21</A>.
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III. Laban's pursuit of him in displeasure,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:22-25">ver. 22-25</A>.
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IV. The hot words that passed between them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:26-42">ver. 26-42</A>.
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V. Their amicable agreement at last,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:43-55">ver. 43</A>,
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&c.).</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge31_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge31_16"> </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's Departure.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1739.</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 he heard the words of Laban's
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sons, saying, Jacob hath
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taken away all that <I>was</I> our father's;
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and of <I>that</I> which <I>was</I> our father's
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hath he gotten all this glory.
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2 And
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Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban,
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and, behold, it <I>was</I> not toward
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him as before.
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3 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said
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unto Jacob, Return unto the land of
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thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and
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I will be with thee.
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4 And Jacob
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sent and called Rachel and Leah to
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<A NAME="Page184"> </A>
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the field unto his flock,
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5 And said
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unto them, I see your father's countenance,
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that it <I>is</I> not toward me as
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before; but the God of my father hath
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been with me.
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6 And ye know that
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with all my power I have served your
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father.
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7 And your father hath deceived
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me, and changed my wages ten
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times; but God suffered him not to
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hurt me.
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8 If he said thus, The
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speckled shall be thy wages; then all
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the cattle bare speckled: and if he
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said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy
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hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
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9 Thus God hath taken away
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the cattle of your father, and given
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<I>them</I> to me.
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10 And it came to pass
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at the time that the cattle conceived,
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that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in
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a dream, and, behold, the rams which
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leaped upon the cattle <I>were</I> ringstraked,
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speckled, and grisled.
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11 And the
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angel of God spake unto me in a dream,
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<I>saying,</I> Jacob: And I said, Here <I>am</I>
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I.
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12 And he said, Lift up now thine
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eyes, and see, all the rams which leap
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upon the cattle <I>are</I> ringstraked,
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speckled, and grisled: for I have seen
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all that Laban doeth unto thee.
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13 I
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<I>am</I> the God of Beth-el, where thou
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anointedst the pillar, <I>and</I> where thou
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vowedst a vow unto me: now arise,
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get thee out from this land, and return
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unto the land of thy kindred.
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14 And Rachel and Leah answered
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and said unto him, <I>Is there</I> yet any
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portion or inheritance for us in our
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father's house?
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15 Are we not counted
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of him strangers? for he hath sold us,
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and hath quite devoured also our
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money.
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16 For all the riches which
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God hath taken from our father, that
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<I>is</I> ours, and our children's: now
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then, whatsoever God hath said unto
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thee, do.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Jacob is here taking up a resolution immediately
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to quit his uncle's service, to take
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what he had and go back to Canaan. This
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resolution he took up upon a just provocation,
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by divine direction, and with the advice
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and consent of his wives.</P>
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<P>
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I. Upon a just provocation; for Laban
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and his sons had become very cross and ill-natured
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towards him, so that he could not
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stay among them with safety or satisfaction.</P>
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<P>
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1. Laban's sons showed their ill-will in
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what they said,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It should seem they
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said it in Jacob's hearing, with a design to
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vex him. The last chapter began with Rachel's
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envying Leah; this begins with Laban's
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sons envying Jacob. Observe,
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(1.) How greatly they magnify Jacob's prosperity:
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<I>He has gotten all this glory.</I> And
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what was this glory that they made so much
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ado about? It was a parcel of brown sheep
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and speckled goats (and perhaps the fine
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colours made them seem more glorious),
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and some camels and asses, and such like
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trading; and this was <I>all this glory.</I> Note,
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Riches are glorious things in the eyes of
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carnal people, while to all those that are
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conversant with heavenly things they have
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no glory in comparison with the glory which
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excelleth. Men's over-valuing worldly wealth
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is that fundamental error which is the root
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of covetousness, envy, and all evil.
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(2.) How
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basely they reflect upon Jacob's fidelity, as
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if what he had he had not gotten honestly:
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<I>Jacob has taken away all that was our father's.</I>
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Not all, surely. What had become of those
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cattle which were committed to the custody
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of Laban's sons, and sent <I>three days' journey</I>
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off?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:35,36"><I>ch.</I> xxx. 35, 36</A>.
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They mean all that
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was committed to him; but, speaking invidiously,
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they express themselves thus generally. Note,
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[1.] Those that are ever so
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careful to keep a good conscience cannot
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always be sure of a good name.
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[2.] This
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is one of the vanities and vexations which
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attend outward prosperity, that it makes a
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man to be envied of his neighbors
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:4">Eccl. iv. 4</A>),
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and <I>who can stand before envy?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+27:4">Prov. xxvii. 4</A>.
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Whom Heaven blesses hell curses,
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and all its children on earth.</P>
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<P>
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2. Laban himself said little, but his countenance
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was not towards Jacob as it used to
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be; and Jacob could not but take notice of
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:2,5"><I>v.</I> 2, 5</A>.
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He was but a churl at the best,
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but now he was more churlish than formerly.
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Note, Envy is a sin that often appears in the
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countenance; hence we read of an <I>evil eye,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:6">Prov. xxiii. 6</A>.
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Sour looks may do a great
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deal towards the ruin of peace and love in a
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family, and the making of those uneasy of
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whose comfort we ought to be tender. Laban's
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angry countenance lost him the greatest
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blessing his family ever had, and justly.</P>
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<P>
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II. By divine direction and under the convoy
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of a promise: <I>The Lord said unto Jacob,
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Return, and I will be with thee,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Though
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Jacob had met with very hard usage here,
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yet he would not quit his place till God bade
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him. He came thither by orders from
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Heaven, and there he would stay till he was
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ordered back. Note, It is our duty to set
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ourselves, and it will be our comfort to see
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ourselves, under God's guidance, both in our
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going out and in our coming in. The direction
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he had from Heaven is more fully related in
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the account he gives of it to his wives
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:10-13"><I>v.</I> 10-13</A>),
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where he tells them of a dream he had
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about the cattle, and the wonderful increase
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of those of his colour; and how the angel
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of God, in that dream (for I suppose the
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<A NAME="Page185"> </A>
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dream spoken of
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>
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and that
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>
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to be
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the same), took notice of the workings of his
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fancy in his sleep, and instructed him, so
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that it was not by chance, or by his own
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policy, that he obtained that great advantage;
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but,
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1. By the providence of God, who had
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taken notice of the hardships Laban had put
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upon him, and took this way to recompense
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him: "<I>For I have seen all the Laban doeth
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unto thee,</I> and herein I have an eye to that."
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Note, There is more of equity in the distributions
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of the divine providence than we are
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aware of, and by them the injured are recompensed
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really, though perhaps insensibly.
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Nor was it only by the justice of providence
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that Jacob was thus enriched, but,
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2. In
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performance of the promise intimated in what
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is said
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>,
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<I>I am the God of Beth-el,</I> This
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was the place where the covenant was renewed
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with him. Note, Worldly prosperity and
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success are doubly sweet and comfortable
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when we see them flowing, not from common
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providence, but from covenant-love, <I>to
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perform the mercy promised</I>--when we have
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them from God as <I>the God of Beth-el,</I> from
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those promises of the life which now is that
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belong to godliness. Jacob, even when he
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had this hopeful prospect of growing rich
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with Laban, must think of returning. When
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the world begins to smile upon us we must
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remember it is not our home. <I>Now arise</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
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<I>and return,</I>
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(1.) To thy devotions in
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Canaan, the solemnities of which had
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perhaps been much intermitted while he was
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with Laban. The times of this servitude
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God had winked at; but now, "Return to
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the place where thou anointedst the pillar
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and vowedst the vow. Now that thou beginnest
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to grow rich it is time to think of an
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altar and sacrifices again."
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(2.) To thy comforts
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in Canaan: <I>Return to the land of thy
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kindred.</I> He was here among his near kindred;
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but those only he must look upon as
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his kindred in the best sense, the kindred he
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must live and die with, to whom pertained
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the covenant. Note, The heirs of Canaan
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must never reckon themselves at home till
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they come thither, however they may seem
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to take root here.</P>
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<P>
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III. With the knowledge and consent of
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his wives. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. He sent for Rachel and Leah to him to
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the field
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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that he might confer with
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them more privately, or because one would
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not come to the other's apartment and he
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would willingly talk with them together, or
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because he had work to do in the field which
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he would not leave. Note, Husbands that
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love their wives will communicate their purposes
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and intentions to them. Where there
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is a mutual affection there will be a mutual
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confidence. And the prudence of the wife
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should engage the heart of her husband to
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trust in her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:11">Prov. xxxi. 11</A>.
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Jacob told his
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wives,
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(1.) How faithfully he had served their
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father,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Note, If others do not do their
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|
duty to us, yet we shall have the comfort of
|
|
having done ours to them.
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(2.) How unfaithfully
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their father had dealt with him
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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He would never keep to any bargain
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that he made with him, but, after the first
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year, still as he saw Providence favour Jacob
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with the colour agreed on, every half year
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|
of the remaining five he changed it for some
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|
other colour, which made it ten times; as if
|
|
he thought not only to deceive Jacob, but
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|
the divine Providence, which manifestly
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|
smiled upon him. Note, Those that deal
|
|
honestly are not always honestly dealt with.
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(3.) How God had owned him notwithstanding.
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He had protected him from Laban's
|
|
ill-will: <I>God suffered him not to hurt me.</I>
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Note, Those that keep close to God shall be
|
|
kept safely by him. He had also provided
|
|
plentifully for him, notwithstanding Laban's
|
|
design to ruin him: <I>God has taken away the
|
|
cattle of your father, and given them to me,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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|
Thus the righteous God paid Jacob for
|
|
his hard service out of Laban's estate; as
|
|
afterwards he paid the seed of Jacob for their
|
|
serving the Egyptians, with their spoils.
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|
Note, God is not unrighteous to forget his
|
|
people's work and labour of love, though
|
|
men be so,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:10">Heb. vi. 10</A>.
|
|
Providence has
|
|
ways of making those honest in the event
|
|
that are not so in their design. Note, further,
|
|
<I>The wealth of the sinner is laid up for
|
|
the just,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+13:22">Prov. xiii. 22</A>.
|
|
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|
(4.) He told them of
|
|
the command God had given him, in a dream,
|
|
to return to his own country
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
that they
|
|
might not suspect his resolution to arise from
|
|
inconstancy, or any disaffection to their country
|
|
or family, but might see it to proceed
|
|
from a principle of obedience to his God,
|
|
and dependence on him.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. His wives cheerfully consented to his
|
|
resolution. They also brought forward their
|
|
grievances, complaining that their father had
|
|
been not only unkind, but unjust, to them
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:14-16"><I>v.</I> 14-16</A>),
|
|
that he looked upon them as
|
|
strangers, and was without natural affection
|
|
towards them; and, whereas Jacob had looked
|
|
upon the wealth which God had transferred
|
|
from Laban to him as his wages, they looked
|
|
upon it as their portions; so that, both ways,
|
|
God forced Laban to pay his debts, both to
|
|
his servant and to his daughters. So then
|
|
it seemed,
|
|
|
|
(1.) They were weary of their own
|
|
people and their father's house, and could
|
|
easily forget them. Note, This good use we
|
|
should make of the unkind usage we meet
|
|
with from the world, we should sit the more
|
|
loose to it, and be willing to leave it and
|
|
desirous to be at home.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They were
|
|
willing to go along with their husband, and
|
|
put themselves with him under the divine
|
|
direction: <I>Whatsoever God hath said unto
|
|
thee do.</I> Note, Those wives that are their
|
|
husband's meet helps will never be their
|
|
hindrances in doing that to which God calls
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his
|
|
sons and his wives upon camels;
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page186"> </A>
|
|
|
|
18 And he carried away all his cattle, and
|
|
all his goods which he had gotten, the
|
|
cattle of his getting, which he had
|
|
gotten in Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac
|
|
his father in the land of Canaan.
|
|
19 And Laban went to shear his sheep:
|
|
and Rachel had stolen the images that
|
|
<I>were</I> her father's.
|
|
20 And Jacob stole
|
|
away unawares to Laban the Syrian,
|
|
in that he told him not that he fled.
|
|
21 So he fled with all that he had;
|
|
and he rose up, and passed over the
|
|
river, and set his face <I>toward</I> the
|
|
mount Gilead.
|
|
22 And it was told
|
|
Laban on the third day that Jacob
|
|
was fled.
|
|
23 And he took his brethren
|
|
with him, and pursued after him
|
|
seven days' journey; and they overtook
|
|
him in the mount Gilead.
|
|
24 And God came to Laban the Syrian
|
|
in a dream by night, and said unto
|
|
him, Take heed that thou speak not
|
|
to Jacob either good or bad.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. Jacob's flight from Laban. We
|
|
may suppose he had been long considering of
|
|
it, and casting about in his mind respecting
|
|
it; but when now, at last, God had given him
|
|
positive orders to go, he made no delay, nor
|
|
was he disobedient to the heavenly vision.
|
|
The first opportunity that offered itself he
|
|
laid hold of, when Laban was shearing his
|
|
sheep
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
that part of his flock which was
|
|
in the hands of his sons three days' journey
|
|
off. Now,
|
|
|
|
1. It is certain that it was lawful
|
|
for Jacob to leave his service suddenly, without
|
|
giving a quarter's warning. It was not
|
|
only justified by the particular instructions
|
|
God gave him, but warranted by the fundamental
|
|
law of self-preservation, which directs
|
|
us, when we are in danger, to shift for our
|
|
own safety, as far as we can do it without
|
|
wronging our consciences.
|
|
|
|
2. It was his
|
|
prudence to steal away unawares to Laban,
|
|
lest, if Laban had known, he should have
|
|
hindered him or plundered him.
|
|
|
|
3. It was
|
|
honestly done to take no more than his own
|
|
with him, the <I>cattle of his getting,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
He took what Providence gave him, and was
|
|
content with that, and would not take the
|
|
repair of his damages into his own hands.
|
|
Yet Rachel was not so honest as her husband;
|
|
she <I>stole her father's images</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>)
|
|
and carried
|
|
them away with her. The Hebrew calls them
|
|
<I>teraphim.</I> Some think they were only little
|
|
representations of the ancestors of the family,
|
|
in statues or pictures, which Rachel had a
|
|
particular fondness for, and was desirous to
|
|
have with her, now that she was going into
|
|
another country. It should rather seem that
|
|
they were images for a religious use, <I>penates,
|
|
household-gods,</I> either worshipped or consulted
|
|
as oracles; and we are willing to hope (with
|
|
bishop Patrick) that she took them away not
|
|
out of covetousness of the rich metal they
|
|
were made of, much less for her own use, or
|
|
out of any superstitious fear lest Laban, by
|
|
consulting his <I>teraphim,</I> might know which
|
|
way they had gone (Jacob, no doubt, dwelt
|
|
with his wives as a man of knowledge, and
|
|
they were better taught than so), but out of
|
|
a design hereby to convince her father of the
|
|
folly of his regard to those as gods which
|
|
could not secure themselves,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:1,2">Isa. xlvi. 1, 2</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Laban's pursuit of Jacob. Tidings
|
|
were brought him, on the third day, that
|
|
Jacob had fled; he immediately raises the
|
|
whole clan, takes his brethren, that is, the
|
|
relations of his family, that were all in his
|
|
interests, and pursues Jacob (as Pharaoh and
|
|
his Egyptians afterwards pursued the seed of
|
|
Jacob), to bring him back into bondage again,
|
|
or with design to strip him of what he had.
|
|
Seven days' journey he marched in pursuit
|
|
of him,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
He would not have taken
|
|
half the pains to have visited his best friends.
|
|
But the truth is bad men will do more to
|
|
serve their sinful passions than good men
|
|
will to serve their just affections, and are
|
|
more vehement in their anger than in their
|
|
love. Well, at length Laban, overtook him,
|
|
and the very night before he came up with
|
|
him God interposed in the quarrel, rebuked
|
|
Laban and sheltered Jacob, charging Laban
|
|
not to <I>speak unto him either good or bad</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
that is, to say nothing against his going
|
|
on with his journey, for that it proceeded
|
|
from the Lord. The same Hebraism we
|
|
have,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+24:50"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 50</A>.
|
|
Laban, during his seven
|
|
day's march, had been full of rage against
|
|
Jacob, and was now full of hopes that his
|
|
lust should be satisfied upon him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:9">Exod. xv. 9</A>);
|
|
but God comes to him, and with one
|
|
word ties his hands, though he does not turn
|
|
his heart. Note,
|
|
|
|
1. In a dream, and in
|
|
slumberings upon the bed, God has ways of
|
|
opening the <I>ears of men, and sealing their
|
|
instruction,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:15,16">Job xxxiii. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
Thus he admonishes
|
|
men by their consciences, in secret
|
|
whispers, which the man of wisdom will hear
|
|
and heed.
|
|
|
|
2. The safety of good men is
|
|
very much owing to the hold God has of the
|
|
consciences of bad men and the access he has
|
|
to them.
|
|
|
|
3. God sometimes appears wonderfully
|
|
for the deliverance of his people when
|
|
they are upon the very brink of ruin. The
|
|
Jews were saved from Haman's plot when
|
|
the king's decree drew hear to be put in
|
|
execution,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+9:1">Esth. ix. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_35"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Laban's Pursuit after Jacob.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1739.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>25 Then Laban overtook Jacob.
|
|
Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the
|
|
mount: and Laban with his brethren
|
|
pitched in the mount of Gilead.
|
|
26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast
|
|
thou done, that thou hast stolen away
|
|
unawares to me, and carried away my
|
|
daughters, as captives <I>taken</I> with the
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page187"> </A>
|
|
|
|
sword?
|
|
27 Wherefore didst thou flee
|
|
away secretly, and steal away from
|
|
me; and didst not tell me, that I
|
|
might have sent thee away with mirth,
|
|
and with songs, with tabret, and with
|
|
harp?
|
|
28 And hast not suffered me
|
|
to kiss my sons and my daughters?
|
|
thou hast now done foolishly in <I>so</I>
|
|
doing.
|
|
29 It is in the power of my
|
|
hand to do you hurt: but the God of
|
|
your father spake unto me yesternight,
|
|
saying, Take thou heed that thou speak
|
|
not to Jacob either good or bad.
|
|
30 And now, <I>though</I> thou wouldest needs
|
|
be gone, because thou sore longedst
|
|
after thy father's house, <I>yet</I> wherefore
|
|
hast thou stolen my gods?
|
|
31 And
|
|
Jacob answered and said to Laban,
|
|
Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure
|
|
thou wouldest take by force
|
|
thy daughters from me.
|
|
32 With
|
|
whomsoever thou findest thy gods,
|
|
let him not live: before our brethren
|
|
discern thou what <I>is</I> thine with me,
|
|
and take <I>it</I> to thee. For Jacob knew
|
|
not that Rachel had stolen them.
|
|
33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent,
|
|
and into Leah's tent, and into the two
|
|
maidservants' tents; but he found
|
|
<I>them</I> not. Then went he out of Leah's
|
|
tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
|
|
34 Now Rachel had taken the images,
|
|
and put them in the camel's furniture,
|
|
and sat upon them. And Laban
|
|
searched all the tent, but found <I>them</I>
|
|
not.
|
|
35 And she said to her father,
|
|
Let it not displease my lord that I
|
|
cannot rise up before thee; for the
|
|
custom of women <I>is</I> upon me. And
|
|
he searched, but found not the images.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the reasoning, not to say
|
|
the rallying, that took place between Laban
|
|
and Jacob at their meeting, in that mountain
|
|
which was afterwards called <I>Gilead,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The high charge which Laban exhibited
|
|
against him. He accuses him,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. As a renegade that had unjustly deserted
|
|
his service. To represent Jacob as a
|
|
criminal, he will have it thought that he intended
|
|
kindness to his daughters
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:27,28"><I>v.</I> 27, 28</A>),
|
|
that he would have dismissed them with all
|
|
the marks of love and honour that could be,
|
|
that he would have made a solemn business
|
|
of it, would have kissed his little grandchildren
|
|
(and that was all he would have
|
|
given them), and, according to the foolish
|
|
custom of the country, would have sent them
|
|
away <I>with mirth, and with songs, with tabret,
|
|
and with harp:</I> not as Rebekah was sent
|
|
away out of the same family, above 120
|
|
years before, with prayers and blessings
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+24:60"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 60</A>),
|
|
but with sport and merriment,
|
|
which was a sign that religion had very much
|
|
decayed in the family, and that they had lost
|
|
their seriousness. However, he pretends
|
|
they would have been treated with respect at
|
|
parting. Note, It is common for bad men,
|
|
when they are disappointed in their malicious
|
|
projects, to pretend that they designed nothing
|
|
but what was kind and fair. When
|
|
they cannot do the mischief they intended,
|
|
they are loth it should be thought that they
|
|
ever did intend it. When they have not
|
|
done what they should have done they come
|
|
off with this excuse, that they would have
|
|
done it. Men may thus be deceived, but
|
|
God cannot. He likewise suggests that Jacob
|
|
had some bad design in stealing away
|
|
thus
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
that he took his wives away as
|
|
captives. Note, Those that mean ill themselves
|
|
are most apt to put the worst construction
|
|
upon what others do innocently.
|
|
The insinuating and the aggravating of faults
|
|
are the artifices of a designing malice, and
|
|
those must be represented (though never so
|
|
unjustly) as intending ill against whom ill is
|
|
intended. Upon the whole matter,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He boasts of his own power
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
<I>It is in the
|
|
power of my hand to do you hurt.</I> He supposes
|
|
that he had both right on his side (<I>a
|
|
good action,</I> as we say, against Jacob) and
|
|
<I>strength</I> on his side, either to avenge the
|
|
wrong or recover the right. Note, Bad
|
|
people commonly value themselves much
|
|
upon their power to do hurt, whereas a
|
|
power to do good is much more valuable.
|
|
Those that will do nothing to make themselves
|
|
amiable love to be thought formidable.
|
|
And yet,
|
|
|
|
(2.) He owns himself under the
|
|
check and restraint of God's power; and,
|
|
though it redounds much to the credit and
|
|
comfort of Jacob, he cannot avoid telling him
|
|
the caution God had given him the night before
|
|
in a dream, <I>Speak not to Jacob good nor
|
|
bad.</I> Note, As God has all wicked instruments
|
|
in a chain, so when he pleases he can
|
|
make them sensible of it, and force them to
|
|
own it to his praise, as protector of the
|
|
good, as Balaam did. Or we may look upon
|
|
this as an instance of some conscientious regard
|
|
felt by Laban for God's express prohibitions.
|
|
As bad as he was he durst not injure
|
|
one whom he saw to be the particular
|
|
care of Heaven. Note, A great deal of mischief
|
|
would be prevented if men would but
|
|
attend to the caveats which their own consciences
|
|
give them in slumberings upon the
|
|
bed, and regard the voice of God in them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. As a thief,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
Rather than own
|
|
that he had given him any colour of provocation
|
|
to depart, he is willing to impute it to
|
|
a foolish fondness for his father's house,
|
|
which made him that he would needs begone;
|
|
but then (says he) <I>wherefore hast thou
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page188"> </A>
|
|
|
|
stolen my gods?</I> Foolish man! to call those
|
|
his gods that could be stolen! Could he
|
|
expect protection from those that could
|
|
neither resist nor discover their invaders?
|
|
Happy are those who have the Lord for their
|
|
God, for they have a God that they cannot
|
|
be robbed of. Enemies may steal our goods,
|
|
but not our God. Here Laban lays to Jacob's
|
|
charge things that he knew not, the common
|
|
distress of oppressed innocency.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Jacob's apology for himself. Those
|
|
that commit their cause to God, yet are not
|
|
forbidden to plead it themselves with meekness
|
|
and fear.
|
|
|
|
1. As to the charge of stealing
|
|
away his own wives he clears himself by
|
|
giving the true reason why he went away
|
|
unknown to Laban,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
He feared lest
|
|
Laban would by force take away his daughters,
|
|
and so oblige him, by the bond of his
|
|
affection to his wives, to continue in his service.
|
|
Note, Those that are unjust in the
|
|
least, it may be suspected, will be unjust also
|
|
in much,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:10">Luke xvi. 10</A>.
|
|
If Laban deceive
|
|
Jacob in his wages, it is likely he will make
|
|
no conscience of robbing him of his wives,
|
|
and putting those asunder whom God has joined
|
|
together. What may not be feared
|
|
from men that have no principle of honesty?
|
|
|
|
2. As to the charge of stealing Laban's gods
|
|
he pleads not guilty,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
He not only did
|
|
not take them himself (he was not so fond of
|
|
them), but he did not know that they were
|
|
taken. Yet perhaps he spoke too hastily
|
|
and inconsiderately when he said, "Whoever
|
|
had taken them, <I>let him not live;</I>" upon this
|
|
he might reflect with some bitterness when,
|
|
not long after, Rachel who had taken them
|
|
died suddenly in travail. How just soever
|
|
we think ourselves to be, it is best to forbear
|
|
imprecations, lest they fall heavier than we
|
|
imagine.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The diligent search Laban made for
|
|
his gods
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:33-35"><I>v.</I> 33-35</A>),
|
|
partly out of hatred to
|
|
Jacob, whom he would gladly have an occasion
|
|
to quarrel with, partly out of love to
|
|
his idols, which he was loth to part with.
|
|
We do not find that he searched Jacob's
|
|
flocks for stolen cattle; but he searched his
|
|
furniture for stolen gods. He was of Micah's
|
|
mind, <I>You have taken away my gods, and
|
|
what have I more?</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:24">Judg. xviii. 24</A>.
|
|
Were
|
|
the worshippers of false gods so set upon
|
|
their idols? did they thus walk in the name
|
|
of their gods? and shall not we be as solicitous
|
|
in our enquires after the true God?
|
|
When he has justly departed from us, how
|
|
carefully should we ask, <I>Where is God my
|
|
Maker? O that I knew where I might find
|
|
him!</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+23:3">Job xxiii. 3</A>.
|
|
Laban, after all his
|
|
searches, missed of finding his gods, and was
|
|
baffled in his enquiry with a sham; but our
|
|
God will not only by found of those that seek
|
|
him, but they shall find him their bountiful
|
|
rewarder.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_42"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode
|
|
with Laban: and Jacob answered and
|
|
said to Laban, What <I>is</I> my trespass?
|
|
what <I>is</I> my sin, that thou hast so hotly
|
|
pursued after me?
|
|
37 Whereas thou
|
|
hast searched all my stuff, what hast
|
|
thou found of all thy household stuff?
|
|
set <I>it</I> here before my brethren and
|
|
thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt
|
|
us both.
|
|
38 This twenty years
|
|
<I>have</I> I <I>been</I> with thee; thy ewes and
|
|
thy she goats have not cast their young,
|
|
and the rams of thy flock have I not
|
|
eaten.
|
|
39 That which was torn <I>of
|
|
beasts</I> I brought not unto thee; I
|
|
bare the loss of it; of my hand didst
|
|
thou require it, <I>whether</I> stolen by day,
|
|
or stolen by night.
|
|
40 <I>Thus</I> I was;
|
|
in the day the drought consumed me,
|
|
and the frost by night; and my sleep
|
|
departed from mine eyes.
|
|
41 Thus
|
|
have I been twenty years in thy house;
|
|
I served thee fourteen years for thy
|
|
two daughters, and six years for thy
|
|
cattle: and thou hast changed my
|
|
wages ten times.
|
|
42 Except the God
|
|
of my father, the God of Abraham,
|
|
and the fear of Isaac, had been with
|
|
me, surely thou hadst sent me away
|
|
now empty. God hath seen mine affliction
|
|
and the labour of my hands,
|
|
and rebuked <I>thee</I> yesternight.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
See in these verses,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The power of provocation. Jacob's natural
|
|
temper was mild and calm, and grace
|
|
had improved it; he was a smooth man, and
|
|
a plain man; and yet Laban's unreasonable
|
|
carriage towards him put him into a heat that
|
|
transported him into a heat that
|
|
transported him into some vehemence,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:36,37"><I>v.</I> 36, 37</A>.
|
|
His chiding with Laban, though it may
|
|
admit of some excuse, was not justifiable, nor
|
|
is it written for our imitation. Grievous
|
|
words stir up anger, and commonly do but
|
|
make bad worse. It is a very great affront
|
|
to one that bears an honest mind to be
|
|
charged with dishonesty, and yet even this
|
|
we must learn to bear with patience, committing
|
|
our cause to God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The comfort of a good conscience.
|
|
This was Jacob's rejoicing, that when Laban
|
|
accused him his own conscience acquitted
|
|
him, and witnessed for him that he had been
|
|
in all things willing and careful to live
|
|
honestly,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:18">Heb. xiii. 18</A>.
|
|
Note, Those that in
|
|
any employment have dealt faithfully, if they
|
|
cannot obtain the credit of it with men, yet
|
|
shall have the comfort of it in their own
|
|
bosoms.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The character of a good servant, and
|
|
particularly of a faithful shepherd. Jacob
|
|
had approved himself such a one,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:38-40"><I>v.</I> 38-40</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He was very careful, so that, through his
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page189"> </A>
|
|
|
|
oversight or neglect, the ewes did not cast
|
|
their young. His piety also procured a
|
|
blessing upon his master's effects that were
|
|
under his hands. Note, Servants should
|
|
take no less care of what they are entrusted
|
|
with for their masters than if they were entitled
|
|
to it as their own.
|
|
|
|
2. He was very
|
|
honest, and took none of that for his own
|
|
eating which was not allowed him. He contented
|
|
himself with mean fare, and coveted
|
|
not to feast upon the rams of the flock.
|
|
Note, Servants must not be dainty in their
|
|
food, nor covet what is forbidden them, but
|
|
in that, and other instances, show all good
|
|
fidelity.
|
|
|
|
3. He was very laborious,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>.
|
|
He stuck to his business, all weathers; and
|
|
bore both heat and cold with invincible patience.
|
|
Note, Men of business, that intend
|
|
to make something of it, must resolve to endure
|
|
hardness. Jacob is here an example to
|
|
ministers; they also are shepherds, of whom
|
|
it is required that they be true to their trust
|
|
and willing to take pains.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The character of a hard master.
|
|
Laban had been such a one to Jacob. Those
|
|
are bad masters,
|
|
|
|
1. Who exact from their
|
|
servants that which is unjust, by obliging
|
|
them to make good that which is not damaged
|
|
by any default of theirs. This Laban did,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
Nay, if there has been a neglect, yet it
|
|
is unjust to punish above the proportion of
|
|
the fault. That may be an inconsiderable
|
|
damage to the master which would go near
|
|
to ruin a poor servant.
|
|
|
|
2. Those also are
|
|
bad masters who deny to their servants that
|
|
which is just and equal. This Laban did,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
It was unreasonable for him to make
|
|
Jacob serve for his daughters, when he had
|
|
in reversion so great an estate secured to him
|
|
by the promise of God himself; as it was
|
|
also to give him his daughters without portions,
|
|
when it was in the power of his hands
|
|
to do well for them. Thus he robbed the poor
|
|
because he was poor, as he did also by
|
|
changing his wages.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The care of providence for the protection
|
|
of injured innocence,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>.
|
|
God took
|
|
cognizance of the wrong done to Jacob, and
|
|
repaid him whom Laban would otherwise
|
|
have sent empty away, and rebuked Laban,
|
|
who otherwise would have swallowed him
|
|
up. Note, God is the patron of the oppressed;
|
|
and those who are wronged and yet
|
|
not ruined, cast down and yet not destroyed,
|
|
must acknowledge him in their preservation
|
|
and give him the glory of it. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Jacob speaks of God as the God of his father,
|
|
intimating that he thought himself unworthy
|
|
to be thus regarded, but was beloved for
|
|
the father's sake.
|
|
|
|
2. He calls him the God of
|
|
Abraham, and the fear of Isaac; for Abraham
|
|
was dead, and had gone to that world
|
|
where perfect love casts out fear; but Isaac
|
|
was yet alive, sanctifying the Lord in his
|
|
heart, as his fear and his dread.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_49"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_50"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_51"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_52"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_53"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_54"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge31_55"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jacob's Covenant with Laban.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1739.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>43 And Laban answered and said
|
|
unto Jacob, <I>These</I> daughters <I>are</I> my
|
|
daughters, and <I>these</I> children <I>are</I> my
|
|
children, and <I>these</I> cattle <I>are</I> my cattle,
|
|
and all that thou seest <I>is</I> mine:
|
|
and what can I do this day unto these
|
|
my daughters, or unto their children
|
|
which they have born?
|
|
44 Now therefore
|
|
come thou, let us make a covenant,
|
|
I and thou; and let it be for a
|
|
witness between me and thee.
|
|
45 And
|
|
Jacob took a stone, and set it up <I>for</I>
|
|
a pillar.
|
|
46 And Jacob said unto his
|
|
brethren, Gather stones; and they
|
|
took stones, and made an heap: and
|
|
they did eat there upon the heap.
|
|
47 And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha:
|
|
but Jacob called it Galeed.
|
|
48 And
|
|
Laban said, This heap <I>is</I> a witness
|
|
between me and thee this day. Therefore
|
|
was the name of it called Galeed;
|
|
49 And Mizpah; for he said, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
watch between me and thee, when we
|
|
are absent one from another.
|
|
50 If
|
|
thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if
|
|
thou shalt take <I>other</I> wives beside my
|
|
daughters, no man <I>is</I> with us; see,
|
|
God <I>is</I> witness betwixt me and thee.
|
|
51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold
|
|
this heap, and behold <I>this</I> pillar, which
|
|
I have cast betwixt me and thee;
|
|
52 This heap <I>be</I> witness, and <I>this</I> pillar
|
|
<I>be</I> witness, that I will not pass over
|
|
this heap to thee, and that thou shalt
|
|
not pass over this heap and this pillar
|
|
unto me, for harm.
|
|
53 The God of
|
|
Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the
|
|
God of their father, judge betwixt us.
|
|
And Jacob sware by the fear of his
|
|
father Isaac.
|
|
54 Then Jacob offered
|
|
sacrifice upon the mount, and called
|
|
his brethren to eat bread: and they
|
|
did eat bread, and tarried all night in
|
|
the mount.
|
|
55 And early in the
|
|
morning Laban rose up, and kissed
|
|
his sons and his daughters, and blessed
|
|
them: and Laban departed, and returned
|
|
unto his place.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the compromising of the
|
|
matter between Laban and Jacob. Laban
|
|
had nothing to say in reply to Jacob's remonstrance:
|
|
he could neither justify himself
|
|
nor condemn Jacob, but was convicted by his
|
|
own conscience of the wrong he had done
|
|
him; and therefore desires to hear no more
|
|
of the matter He is not willing to own himself
|
|
in a fault, nor to ask Jacob's forgiveness,
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page190"> </A>
|
|
|
|
and make him satisfaction, as he ought to
|
|
have done. But,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He turns it off with a profession of
|
|
kindness for Jacob's wives and children
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>):
|
|
<I>These daughters are my daughters.</I> When he
|
|
cannot excuse what he has done, he does, in
|
|
effect, own what he should have done; he
|
|
should have treated them as his own, but he
|
|
had counted them as strangers,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
Note,
|
|
It is common for those who are without natural
|
|
affection to pretend much to it when it
|
|
will serve a turn. Or perhaps Laban said
|
|
this in a vain-glorious say, as one that loved
|
|
to talk big, and use great swelling words of
|
|
vanity: "All that thou seest is mine." It
|
|
was not so, it was all Jacob's, and he had
|
|
paid dearly for it; yet Jacob let him have his
|
|
saying, perceiving him coming into a better
|
|
humour. Note, Property lies near the hearts
|
|
of worldly people. They love to boast of it,
|
|
"This is mine, and the other is mine," as
|
|
Nabal,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:11">1 Sam. xxv. 11</A>,
|
|
<I>my bread and my water.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He proposes a covenant of friendship
|
|
between them, to which Jacob readily agrees,
|
|
without insisting upon Laban's submission,
|
|
much less his restitution. Note, When quarrels
|
|
happen, we should be willing to be friends
|
|
again upon any terms: peace and love are
|
|
such valuable jewels that we can scarcely
|
|
buy them too dearly. Better sit down losers
|
|
than go on in strife. Now observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The substance of this covenant. Jacob
|
|
left it wholly to Laban to settle it. The tenour
|
|
of it was,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That Jacob should be a
|
|
good husband to his wives, that he should
|
|
not afflict them, nor marry other wives besides
|
|
them,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:50"><I>v.</I> 50</A>.
|
|
Jacob had never given
|
|
him any cause to suspect that he would be
|
|
any other than a kind husband; yet, as if he
|
|
had, he was willing to come under this engagement.
|
|
Though Laban had afflicted them
|
|
himself, yet he will bind Jacob that he shall
|
|
not afflict them. Note, Those that are injurious
|
|
themselves are commonly most jealous
|
|
of others, and those that do not do their own
|
|
duty are most peremptory in demanding duty
|
|
from others.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he should never be a
|
|
bad neighbour to Laban,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:52"><I>v.</I> 52</A>.
|
|
It was agreed
|
|
that no act of hostility should ever pass between
|
|
them, that Jacob should forgive and
|
|
forget all the wrongs he had received and
|
|
not remember them against Laban or his
|
|
family in after-times. Note, We may resent
|
|
an injury which yet we may not revenge.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The ceremony of this covenant. It was
|
|
made and ratified with great solemnity, according
|
|
to the usages of those times.
|
|
|
|
(1.) A pillar was erected
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>),
|
|
and a heap of
|
|
stones raised
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>),
|
|
to perpetuate the memory
|
|
or the thing, the way of recording
|
|
agreements by writing being then either not
|
|
known or not used.
|
|
|
|
(2.) A sacrifice was
|
|
offered
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:54"><I>v.</I> 54</A>),
|
|
a sacrifice of peace-offerings.
|
|
Note, Our peace with God is that which puts
|
|
true comfort into our peace with our friends.
|
|
If parties contend, the reconciliation of both
|
|
to him will facilitate their reconciliation one
|
|
to another.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They did eat bread together
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>),
|
|
jointly partaking of the feast
|
|
upon the sacrifice,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:54"><I>v.</I> 54</A>.
|
|
This was in token
|
|
of a hearty reconciliation. Covenants of
|
|
friendship were anciently ratified by the
|
|
parties eating and drinking together. It
|
|
was in the nature of a love-feast.
|
|
|
|
(4.) They
|
|
solemnly appealed to God concerning their
|
|
sincerity herein,
|
|
|
|
[1.] As a witness
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>):
|
|
<I>The Lord watch between me and thee,</I> that is,
|
|
"The Lord take cognizance of every thing
|
|
that shall be done on either side in violation
|
|
of this league. When we are out of one
|
|
another's sight, let his be a restraint upon
|
|
us, that wherever we are we are under God's
|
|
eye." This appeal is convertible into a
|
|
prayer. Friends at a distance from each
|
|
other may take the comfort of this, that when
|
|
they cannot know or succour one another
|
|
God watches between them, and has his eye
|
|
on them both.
|
|
|
|
[2.] As a Judge,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:53"><I>v.</I> 53</A>.
|
|
<I>The God of Abraham</I> (from whom Jacob descended),
|
|
<I>and the God of Nahor</I> (from whom
|
|
Laban descended), <I>the God of their father</I>
|
|
(the common ancestor, form whom they both
|
|
descended), <I>judge betwixt us.</I> God's relation
|
|
to them is thus expressed to intimate that
|
|
they worshipped one and the same God,
|
|
upon which consideration there ought to be
|
|
no enmity between them. Note, Those that
|
|
have one God should have one heart: those
|
|
that agree in religion should strive to agree
|
|
in every thing else. God is Judge between
|
|
contending parties, and he will judge righteously;
|
|
whoever does wrong, it is at his peril.
|
|
|
|
(5.) They gave a new name to the place,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:47,48"><I>v.</I> 47, 48</A>.
|
|
Laban called it in Syriac, and Jacob
|
|
in Hebrew, <I>the heap of witness;</I> and
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>)
|
|
it was called <I>Mizpah, a watch-tower.</I> Posterity
|
|
being included in the league, care was
|
|
taken that thus the memory of it should be
|
|
preserved. These names are applicable to
|
|
the seals of the gospel covenant, which are
|
|
witnesses to us if we be faithful, but witnesses
|
|
to us if we be faithful, but witnesses
|
|
against us if we be false. The name
|
|
Jacob gave this heap (<I>Galeed</I>) stuck by it,
|
|
not the name Laban gave it. In all this rencounter,
|
|
Laban was noisy and full of words,
|
|
affecting to say much; Jacob was silent, and
|
|
said little. When Laban appealed to God
|
|
under many titles, Jacob only <I>swore by the
|
|
fear of his father Isaac,</I> that is, the God
|
|
whom his father Isaac feared, who had never
|
|
served other gods, as Abraham and Nahor
|
|
had done. Two words of Jacob's were more
|
|
memorable than all Laban's speeches and
|
|
vain repetitions: <I>for the words of wise men
|
|
are heard in quiet, more than the cry of him
|
|
that ruleth among fools,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:17">Eccl. ix. 17</A>.</P>
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<P>
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<I>Lastly,</I> After all this angry parley, they
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part friends,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:55"><I>v.</I> 55</A>.
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Laban very affectionately
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<I>kissed his sons and his daughters, and
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blessed them,</I> and then went back in peace.
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Note, God is often better to us than our
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fears, and strangely overrules the spirits of
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men in our favour, beyond what we could
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<A NAME="Page191"> </A>
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have expected; for it is not in vain to trust
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in him.</P>
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