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nations bow down to thee, be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee."

"And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me."

"And Isaac his father said unto him, who art thou? And Esau said, I am thy son, thy first born, Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and I have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.*

* It is perfectly clear that a prophetic blessing like this, and the one bestowed on Esau, could only be given by the Spirit of God inspiring the Patriarch to pronounce them; consequently, as that Divine Spirit could not be deceived, it was not, in reality, the deceit of Jacob which gained the blessing, but he was destined to receive it; and, therefore, would have received it, even had he taken no wicked means to obtain it: Esau had forfeited it by slighting its promises, and by marrying idolatrous wives. It is necessary that young persons should clearly understand the difference between these divine Blessings, or Promises of future greatness, bestowed successively on the Patriarchs, and on some of the Judges and Kings, which Blessings refer to external and national prosperity and success, or, to the future advent of the Messiah-it is necessary, we repeat, to

"And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father."

"And Isaac said, thy brother came with subtilty and hath taken away thy blessing. And Esau said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times; he took away my birthright, and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?"

"And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained

separate in their minds these prophetic promises, mostly relating to the descendants, from a blessing, or promise of individual, personal happiness and peace; 'that peace which the world can neither give nor take away,' and, which is left, in the Old Testament as in the New, to depend upon virtue alone, and is the reward of an approving conscience. Thus, in the instance of Jacob, he received the national blessing, because, with all his faults which were great, he was never given to idolatry; and it was to keep one people free from idolatry, and true to the pure worship of Jehovah, that the Israelites were chosen out, and had peculiar privileges; therefore, this blessing Jacob received, and not Esau: but the blessing of happiness and peace, he did not receive, but reaped the natural reward of his deceit. He was first obliged to leave his home, he was then deceived by Laban, and oppressed many years, he met his injured brother with dread and distrust, his own children deceived him, as he had deceived his father Isaac, he lost for years his favourite son, and, in fine, he himself bewails his many afflictions, and confesses to Pharoah at the close of his life, that "his years had been few and evil.” Can we consider all this, and for one moment think that he gained happiness, or the divine approbation by his deceit ?

him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept."

"And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above: And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck."*

Esau's blessing was exactly fulfilled, as well as Jacob's, as will be seen in a future part of the history. There is no doubt that as these blessings were given by inspiration from God, it was ordained that the descendants of Jacob should inherit the promises made to Abraham; and, therefore, we are not to think that Jacob gained the birthright by his wicked deceit, nor did Esau lose his inheritance in consequence of his brother's artifice, but forfeited it by taking wives from the Canaanites. So far from

* The only palliation of the conduct of Rebekah on this occasion is the suggestion offered by Josephus, namely that she was aware (which she certainly was) of the divine promise in favor of Jacob, and thought it wrong that Isaac should disregard it, and from undue partiality to Esau endeavour to give him the birthright, which she considered as belonging to Jacob. Had she rested in faithful reliance on God's promise, that promise would still have been accomplished, and she and her son saved from the sin of deceit and falsehood.

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gaining by his deceit, Jacob suffered in consequence of it for more than twenty years, and must often have bitterly repented of his ill conduct.

CHAPTER VI.

JACOB GOES TO LABAN. JACOB'S DREAM.

ESAU was angry with his brother for having defrauded him, (as he considered he had) of his birthright, and he threatened to kill him when his father Isaac should be dead. When Rebekah heard his threats against the life of Jacob, she resolved to send Jacob away; and she persuaded Isaac to let him go to his uncle Laban, the brother of Rebekah, in order that he might marry a wife from their own family. This was the first ill consequence of Jacob's fault; he was forced to leave his home; and his mother, who had urged him to deceive his aged father, was obliged to part with her son, and never saw him Thus were both punished for their

again.* deceit.

Rebekah is not mentioned as being alive at the return of Jacob, but the exact date of her death is unknown. She died before Isaac.

Jacob, being forced to quit his country, set out on his journey to Haran. On the way he had a dream, in which he saw a ladder that appeared to reach to the heavens, and the angels of God were ascending and descending upon it. And God spoke to him, and renewed His promise that the descendants of Abraham should possess the land of Canaan, and that Jacob should himself be preserved in the strange land to which he was going, and should be brought back in safety. When Jacob awoke from this dream, he took the stone which had served him for a pillow, and set it up for a memorial of God's promise to him, and of his own resolution to remain true to the worship of Jehovah, during the whole of his life, He called the name of the place Bethel,

Jacob was at first kindly received by his uncle, and offered to serve him; but Laban refused, saying, though he was his nephew, yet should he not serve him for nothing, but he would give him wages. Then Jacob proposed, instead of receiving wages, to serve him seven years for his daughter Rachel. To this Laban willingly consented. So Jacob served Laban faithfully seven years; but when the time was ended, and Jacob expected to have Rachel, Laban gave him Leah, Rachel's eldest sister, declaring that it was contrary to their customs for a younger sister to be married before the elder, and that Jacob must serve another seven years for Rachel. Thus was Jacob deceived by his uncle

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