are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger."

It must be kept in mind, that this answer from the Lord himself was given after the struggle, the extraordinary struggle, had taken place.

Two nations, and two manner of people, that is, two nations totally distinct, and as we shall find separated by enmity, for ever.

In Isaac the promised seed was to be called; and it surely has appeared, that both bad and good seed are in the world; discrimination is therefore necessary upon this important occasion; and the circumstances preceding the birth of Esau and Jacob are of so extraordinary a nature, and so laid out for observation, that our apprehension is immediately awakened; for we cannot suppose that the current of Scripture information would be arrested in its course to notice the movements of these children in the womb, unless from that movement (or displacing) some alteration in the primogenitureship would ensue; and in those days

the eldership and birth-right conferred some mystic benefits. We may therefore rest assured, that God would eventually bestow them where they were originally meant to be given, notwithstanding the most cunning devices of Satan, in the struggle to displace the promised seed.

In the first instance of good and bad seed, the bad seed, Cain, slew the good seed, Abel; and, apparently, in this instance, where the promised (good) seed (wheat) is sown, a tare is sown beside it, and, when full grown, entertains the purpose of slaying his brother, Jacob. Is not this enmity between the two seeds?

The Lord hated Esau from the womb to the time that his posterity became a nation, but a nation against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.

Malachi, chap. i. 1. "The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

2. "I have loved you, saith the Lord: yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's

brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,

3. "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

4. "Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.

5. "And your eyes The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel."

shall see, and ye shall say,

Genesis, chap. xxv. 24. "And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

&

25. "And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

26. "And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them."

The nation of Jacob has been the chief subject of prophecy, and under the observation of all civilized people for some thousand years; and to show that Esau and his nation are also of importance, and especially to be held in remembrance, we are no less than five times warned in one chapter, (Genesis xxxvi.) that Esau is Edom, and the father of the Edomites; and this was necessary, as several of the prophets did not begin to prophesy concerning Esau's posterity, till above a thousand years after his personal appearance upon earth; so that without this remarkable repetition, and strict evidence, the identity of Esau's descendants might have been disputed in the prototypes of the prophecies relating to the latter times; and the more especially as it will appear that his posterity, power, or nation, will at times be obscured from the observation of the world.

Genesis, chap. xxxvi. 1. "Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

8. "Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir. Esau is

Edom.

9." And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in mount Seir.

19. "These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

43.

"Duke Magdiel, duke Iram these be the dukes of Edom according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau, the father of the Edomites."

But we must return to chapter xxv.: and the elder shall serve the younger; which is still very remarkable, because the birth-right would then be in the hands of the one which was to serve; this is as yet inexplicable, because in those days the birthright was considered "as an holy thing, not only because the priesthood was annexed to it, but also because it was a privilege leading to Christ, and a type of his title to the heavenly inheritance." It was therefore an object of great consequence; and from the recorded struggle in the womb, and the subsequent circumstance of Jacob's laying hold of Esau's heel in the birth, we may conceive that Jacob then laid claim to the primo