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33 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Sacred Texts Archive

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Chapter thirty. In this chapter we have an account of the increase Numeral one
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of Jacob's family. Eight children. More we find registered in this chapter Dan
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and Naptali by Bilhah Rachel's maid, Verses one through eight, Gad and Asher
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by Zilpah, Leah's maid, Verses nine through thirteen, isaacar Zebulen and Dinah
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by Leah Verses fourteen through twenty one, and last of all, Joseph by
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Rachel Verses twenty two through twenty four, Numeral two. Of Jacob's estate,
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he makes a new bargain with Laban Verses twenty five through thirty four. And
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in the six years further service he did to Laban, God wonderfully blessed him
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so that his stock of cattle became very considerable Verses thirty five through forty three.
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Herein was fulfilled the blessing with which Isaac dismissed him. Chapter twenty eight,
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verse three, God make THEE fruitful and multiply THEE. Even these small
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matters concerning Jacob's house and field, though they seem inconsiderable, are improvable for
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our learning. For the scriptures were written not for princes and statesmen to instruct
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them in politics, but for all people, even the meanest, to direct
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them in their families and callings. Yet some things are here recorded concerning Jacob,
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not for imitation, but for admonition increase of Jacob's family b. C.
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Seventeen forty five, verse one. And when Rachel saw that she bare
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Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said, unto Jacob, give
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me children, or else I die verse two. And Jacob's anger was kindled
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against Rachel, and he said, am I in God's stead? Who hath
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withheld from thee the fruit of the womb verse three. And she said,
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behold my maid, Bilhah, go in unto her, and she shall bear
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upon my knees, that I may also have children by her verse four.
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And she gave him Bilhah, her handmaid to wife, and Jacob went in
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unto her verse five, and Bilha conceived and bear Jacob a son. Verse
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six. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard
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my voice, and hath given me a son. Therefore she called his name
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Dan verse seven. And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again and bear Jacob
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a second son verse eight. And Rachel said, with great wrestlings have I
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wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed? And she called his name
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Naptalai verse nine. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took
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Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife verse ten. And Zilpah
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Liah's maid bear Jacob a son verse eleven. And Leah said, a troop
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cometh, and she called his name Gad verse twelve. And Zilpah's may bear
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Jacob a second son verse thirteen. And Leah said, happy am I,
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for the daughters will call me blessed, and she called his name Asher.
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We have here the bad consequences of that strange marriage which Jacob made with the
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two sisters. Here is numeral one, an unhappy disagreement between him and Rachel
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verse one and two, occasioned not so much by her own barrenness as by
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her sister's fruitfulness. Rebecca, the only wife of Isaac, was long childless,
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and yet we find no uneasiness between her and Isaac. But here,
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because Leah bears children, Rachel cannot live peaceably with Jacob. Number one,
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Rachel frets she envied her sister verse one. Envy is grieving at the good
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of another, than which no sin is more offensive to God, nor more
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injurious to our neighbor and ourselves. She considered not that it was God that
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made the difference, and that though in this single instance her sister was preferred
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before her, yet in other things she had the advantage. Let us carefully
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watch against all the risings and workings of this passion in our minds. Let
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not our eye be evil towards any of our fellow servants, because our masters
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is good. But this was not all she said to Jacob, give me
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children, or else I die. Note we are very apt to err in
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our desires of temporal mercies, as Rachel here Subscript one. One child would
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not content her. But because Leah has more than one, she must have
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more too. Give me children Subscript two. Her heart is inordinately set upon
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it, and if she have not what she would have, she will throw
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away her life and all the comforts of it. Give them to me,
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or else I die. That is, I shall fret myself to death.
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The want of this satisfaction will shorten my days. Some think she threatens Jacob
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to lay violent hands upon herself if she could not obtain this mercy. Subscript
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three. She did not apply to God by prayer, but to Jacob only
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forgetting that children are a heritage of the Lord. Psalms. One hundred and
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twenty seven, Verse three. We wrong both God and ourselves when our eye
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is more to men the instruments of our crosses and comforts, than to God.
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The author observe a difference between Rachel's asking for this mercy. In Hannah's
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First Samuel, Chapter one, verse ten, Rachel envied, Hannah wept.
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Rachel must have children, and she died of the second. Hannah prayed for
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one child, and she had four more. Rachel is importunate in peremptory.
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Hannah is submissive and devout. If thou wilt give me a child, I
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will give him to the Lord. Let Hannah be imitated and not Rachel,
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and let our desires be always under the direction in control of reason and religion.
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Number two. Jacob chides it most justly. He loved Rachel, and
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therefore reproved her for what she said amiss. Verse two. Note faithful reproofs
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and products and instances of true affection Psalms. One hundred and forty one,
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Verse five. Proverbs twenty seven, verses five and six. Job reproved his
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wife when she spoke the language of the foolish women Job two, verse ten.
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See First Corinthians, chapter seven, verse sixteen. He was angry,
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not at the person, but at the sin. He expressed himself so as
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to show his displeasure. Note sometimes it is requisite that a reproof should be
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given warm, like a medical potion, not too hot lest it scald the
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patient, yet not cold lest it prove ineffectual. It was a very grave
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and pious reply which Jacob gave to Rachel's peevish demand, am I in God's
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stead? The Chaldee paraphrases it, well, dost thou ask son of me?
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Aughtest thou not to ask them from before the Lord? The Arabic reads
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it, am I above God? Can I give thee? That which God
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denies thee? This was said like a plain man. Observe Subscript one.
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He acknowledges the hand of God in the affliction which he was a sharer with
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her in He hath withheld the fruit of the womb. Note whatever we want,
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it is God that withholds it. A sovereign lord, most wise holy
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and just, that may do what he will with his own, and is
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debtor to no man that never did, nor ever can do any wrong to
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any of his creatures. The keys of the Clouds, of the Heart,
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of the Grave, and of the womb are four keys which God had in
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his hand, and which the Rabbins say he entrusts neither with angels nor seraphim.
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See Revelations chapter three, verse seven, Job chapter eleven and verse ten,
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and Job Chapter twelve, verse fourteen. Subscript two. He acknowledges his
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own inability to alter what God had appointed. Am I in God's stead?
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What dost thou make a god of me? Dios quiro gods ilifacit, He
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to whom we offer supplications is to us a god. Note sub point one.
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There is no creature that is or can be to us in God's stead.
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God may be to us instead of any creature, as the sun instead
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of the moon and stars. But the moon and all the stars will not
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be to us instead of the sun. No creature's wisdom, power and love
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will be to us instead of God's sub point two. It is therefore our
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sin and folly to place any creature in God's stead, and to place that
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confidence in any creature which is to be placed in God only Numeral two,
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an unhappy agreement between him and the two handmaids. Number one. At the
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persuasion of Rachel, he took Bilha, her handmaid, to wife that,
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according to the us usage of those times, his children by her might be
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adopted and owned as her mistress's children. Verse three. She would rather have
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children by reputation than none at all, children that she might fancy to be
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her own and call her own. Though they were not so, One would
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think her own sister's children were nearer akin to her than her maids, and
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she might, with more satisfaction, have made them her own if she had
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so pleased. But so natural is it for us all to be fond of
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power. Children that she had a right to rule were more desirable to her
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than children that she had more reason to love. And as an early instance
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of her dominion over the children born in her apartment, she takes a pleasure
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in giving them names that carry in them nothing but marks of emulation with her
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sister, as if she had overcome her subscript one at law, she calls
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the first son of her handmaid Dan judgment, saying God hath judged me verse
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six, that is given sentence in my favor. Subscript two. In battle,
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she calls the next Naptali wrestlings, saying I have wrestled with my sister
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and have prevailed. Verse eight. As if all Jacob's sons must be born
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men of contention, See what roots of bitterness, envy, and strife are,
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and what mischief they make among relations? Number two, At the persuasion
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of Leah, he took Zilpah her handmaid to wife. Also verse nine,
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Rachel had done that absurd and preposterous thing of giving her maid to her husband
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in emulation with Leah. And now Leah, because she missed one year in
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bearing children, does the same to be even with her, or rather to
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keep before her? See the power of jealousy and rivalship, and admire the
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wisdom of the divine appointment which unites one man and one woman only for God
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hath called us to peace and purity. First Corinthians, Chapter seven, Verse
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fifteen. Two sons Zilpah bore to Jacob, whom Leah looked upon herself as
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entitled to, in token of which she called one gad verse eleven, promising
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herself a little troop of children, and children are the militia of a family.
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They fill the quiver Psalms one hundred and twenty seven, Verses four and
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five. The others she called Asher happy, thinking herself happy in him,
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and promising herself that her neighbors would think so too. The daughters will call
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me blessed Verse thirteen. Note it is an instance of the vanity of the
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world and the foolishness bound up in our hearts, that most people value themselves
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and govern themselves more by reputation than either by reason or religion. They think
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themselves blessed if the daughters do but call them so. There was much amiss
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in the contest and competition between these two sisters. Yet God brought good out
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of this evil for the time being now at hand, when the seat of
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Abraham must begin to increase and multiply. Thus Jacob's family was replenished with twelve
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sons, heads of the thousands of Israel, from whom the celebrated twelve tribes
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descended and were named Verse fourteen. And Reuben went in the days of wheat
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harvest and found mandrakes in the field and brought them unto his mother Leah.
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Then Rachel said to Leah, give me I pray THEE of thy sons Mandrakes
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verse fifteen. And she said, unto her, is it a small matter
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that thou hast taken my husband? And wouldst thou take away my sons mandrakes
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also and Rachel said, therefore he shall lie with THEE tonight for thy sons
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Mandrakes verse sixteen. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening,
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and Leah went out to meet him and said, thou must come in unto
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me, for surely I have hired THEE with my sons Mandrakes. And he
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lay with her that night verse seventeen. And God hearkened unto Leah, and
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she conceived and bear Jacob of the fifth son verse eighteen. And Leah said,
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God hath given me my hire because I have given my maiden to my
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husband. And she called his name Isaacar verse nineteen. And Leah conceived again
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and bear Jacob the sixth son, verse twenty. And Leah said, God
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hath endued me with a good dowry. Now will my husband dwell with me
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because I have borne him six sons. And she called his name Zebulen verse
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twenty one. And afterwards she bare a daughter and called her name Dinah verse
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twenty two. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened
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her wim verse twenty three. And she conceived and bear a son, and
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said, God hath taken away my reproach verse twenty four. And she called
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his name Joseph, and said, the Lord shall add to me another son.
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Here is numeral one. Leah fruitful again after she had for some time
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left off bearing Jacob. It should seem associated more with Rachel than with Leah.
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The law of Moses supposes it a common case that if a man had
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two wives, one would be beloved and the other hated Deuteronomy, chapter twenty
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one, verse fifteen. But at length Rachel's strong passions betrayed her into a
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bargain with Leah that Jacob should return to her apartment. Reuben, a little
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lad five or six years old, playing in the field, found man drags
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du deaeum. It is uncertain what they were. The critics are not agreed
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about them. We are sure they were some rarities, either fruits or flowers,
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that were very pleasant to the smell. Canticles Chapter seven, verse thirteen.
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Note the God of Nature has provided not only for our necessities, but
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for our delights. There are products of the earth in the exposed fields,
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as well as in the planted protected gardens, that are very valuable and useful.
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How plentifully is Nature's house furnished and her table spread. Her precious fruits
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offer themselves to be gathered by the hands of little children. It is a
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laudable custom of the devout Jews, when they find pleasure, Suppose in eating
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an apple, to lift up their hearts and say, blessed be he that
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made this fruit pleasant, or in smelling a flower, blessed be he that
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made this flower sweet. Some think these mandrakes were Jessamine flowers. Whatever they
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were, Rachel could not see them in Leah's hands where the child had placed
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them, but she must covet them. She cannot bear the want of these
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pretty flowers, but will purchase them at any rate. Note there may be
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great sin and folly in the inordinate desire of a small thing. Leah takes
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this advantage, as Jacob had of Esauce, coveting his red pottage, to
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obtain that which was justly due to her, but to which Rachel would not
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otherwise have consented. Note strong passions often thwart one another, and those cannot
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but be continually uneasy that are hurried on by them. Leah is overjoyed that
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she shall have her husband's company again, that her family might yet further be
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built up, which is the blessing she desires and devoutly prays for, As
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is intimated verse seventeen, where it is said God hearkened unto Leah. The
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learned Bishop Patrick very well suggests here that the true reason of this contest between
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Jacob's wives for his company, and their giving him their maids to be his
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wives, was the earnest desire they had to fulfill the promise made to Abraham,
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and now lately renewed to Jacob, that his seed should be as the
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stars of heaven for multitude, and that in one seed of his the Messiah,
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all the nations of the earth should be blessed. And he thinks it
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would have been below the dignity of this sacred history to take such particular notice
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of these things, if there had not been some such great consideration in them.
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Leah was now blessed with two sons. The first she called isaacar a
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Hire, reckoning herself well repaid for her mandrakes nay, which is a strange
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construction of the providence rewarded for giving her maid to her husband. Note we
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abuse God's mercy when we reckon that his favors countenance and patronize our follies.
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The others she called zebulen dwelling, owning God's bounty to her. God has
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endowed me with a good dowry Verse twenty. Jacob had not endowed her when
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he married her, nor had he wherewithal in possession. But she reckons a
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family of children, not a bill of charges, but a good dowry Psalms.
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One hundred and thirteen, Verse nine. She promises herself more of her
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husband's company, now that she had borne him six sons, and that in
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love to his children, at least he would often visit her lodgings mention his
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maid verse twenty one of the birth of a daughter, Dinah, because of
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the following story concerning her chapter thirty four. Perhaps Jacob had other daughters,
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though their names are not registered. Numeral two Rachel fruitful At last, Verse
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twenty two, God remembered Rachel, whom he sees to have forgotten, and
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hearkened to her, whose prayers had been long denied. And then she bore
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a son. Note as God justly denies the mercy we have been inordinately desirous
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of, so sometimes he graciously grants at length that which we have long waited
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for. He corrects our folly, and yet considers our frame and does not
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contend forever. Rachel called her son Joseph, which in Hebrew is akin to
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two words of a contrary signification, asaf absdud. He has taken away my
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reproach, as if the greatest mercy she had in this son was that she
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had saved her credit, and Joseph had eidot. The Lord shall add to
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me another son, which may be looked upon either as the language of her
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inordinate desire. She scarcely knows how to be thankful for one unless she may
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be sure of another, or of her faith. She takes this mercy as
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an earnest of further mercy. Has God given me his grace? I may
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call it Joseph and say he shall add more grace? Has He given me
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his joy? I may call it Joseph and say he will give me more
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joy has he begun, and shall he not make an end Jacob's bargain with
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Laban b. C. Seventeen forty five, verse twenty five. And it
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came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said, unto Laban,
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send me away, that I may go unto mine own place and to
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my country verse twenty six. Give me my wives and my children, for
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whom I have served THEE, and let me go, for thou knowest my
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service which I have done THEE verse twenty seven. And Laban said, unto
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him, I pray THEE if I have found favor in thine eyes terry.
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For I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake
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verse twenty eight. And he said, appoint me thy wages, and I
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will give it verse twenty nine. And he said, unto him, thou
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knowest how I have served THEE, and how thy cattle was with me verse
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thirty. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it
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is now in Crea done to a multitude. And the Lord hath blessed THEE
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since my coming. And now when shall I provide for mine own house?
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Also verse thirty one, And he said, what shall I give thee And
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Jacob said, thou shalt not give me anything. If thou wilt do this
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thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock verse thirty two.
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I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all
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the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep,
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and the spotted and speckled among the goats, And of such shall be my
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higre verse thirty three. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to
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come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face, every one
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that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and brown among the sheep that
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shall be counted stolen with me verse thirty four. And Laban said, behold,
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I would it might be according to thy word verse thirty five. And
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he removed that day the he goats that were ring straked and spotted, and
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all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had
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some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave
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them into the hand of his sons verse thirty six. And he set three
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days journey betwixt himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
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We have here numeral one Jacob's thoughts of home. He faithfully served his
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time out with Laban, even his second apprenticeship, though he was an old
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man, had a large family to provide for, and it was high time
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for him to set up for himself. Though Laban's service was hard, and
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he had cheated him in the first bargain he had made, Yet Jacob honestly
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performs his engagements. Note a good man. Though he swear to his own
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hurt will not change. And though others have deceived us, this will not
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justify us in deceiving them. Our rule is to do as we would be
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done by, not as we are done by. Jacob's term having expired,
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he begs leave to be gone. Verse twenty five observed Number one. He
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retained his affection for the land of Canaan, not only because it was the
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land of his nativity and his father and mother were there whom he longed to
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see, but because it was the land of promise, and in token of
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his dependence upon the promise of it. Though he sojourn in Haran, he
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can by no means think of settling there. Thus should we be effected towards
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our heavenly country, looking upon ourselves as strangers here, viewing the heavenly country
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as our home, and longing to be there. As soon as the days
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of our service upon earth are numbered and finished. We must not think of
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taking root here, for this is not our place and country. He Brews,
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Chapter thirteen, Verse fourteen, number two. He was desirous to go
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to Canaan, though he had a great family to take with him, and
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no provision yet made for them. He had got wives and children with Laban,
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but nothing else. Yet. He does not solicit Laban to give him
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either a portion with his wives or the maintenance of some of his children.
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No, all his request is give me my wives and my children, and
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send me away. Verses twenty five and twenty six. Note those that trust
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in God and his providence and promise, though they have great families and small
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incomes, can cheerfully hope that he who sends mouths will send meat. He
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who feeds the brood of the ravens will not starve the seed of the righteous.
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Numeral two. Laban's desire of his stay Verse twenty seven in love to
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himself, not to Jacob, or to his wives or children. Laban endeavors
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to persuade him to continue his chief shepherd in treating him by the regard.
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He bore him not to leave him if I have found favor in thy eyes
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terry. Note churlish selfish men know how to give good words when it is
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to serve their own ends. Laban found that his stock had wonderfully increased with
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Jacob's good management, and he owns it with very good expressions of respect,
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both to God and Jacob. I have learned by experience that the Lord has
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blessed me for thy sake. Observe Number one Laban's learning. I have learned
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by experience. Note there is many a profitable good lesson to be learned by
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experience. We are very unapt scholars if we have not learned by experience the
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evil of sin, the treachery of our own hearts, the vanity of the
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world, the goodness of God, the gains of Godliness, and the like.
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Number two Laban's lesson. He owns subscript one that his prosperity was owing
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to God's blessing. The Lord has blessed me. Note worldly men who choose
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their portion in this life are often blessed with an abundance of this world's goods.
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Common blessings are given plentifully to many that have no title to covenant blessings.
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Subscript three. That Jacob's piety had brought that blessing upon him. The
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Lord has blessed me not for my own sake. Let not such a man
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as Laban, that lives without God in the world think that he shall receive
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anything of the Lord James, Chapter one, verse seven, But for thy
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sake. Note sub point one. Good men are blessings to the places where
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they live, even where they live meanly and obscurely, as Jacob in the
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field and Joseph in the prison, Chapter thirty nine, verse twenty three.
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Sub Point two. God often blesses bad men with outward mercies for the sake
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of their godly relations, though it is seldom that they have either the wit
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to see it or the grace to own it, as Laban did here Numeral
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three. The new bargain they came upon. Laban's craft and coveteousness took advantage
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of Jacob's plainness, honesty, and good nature, and perceiving that Jacob began
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to be won upon by his fair speeches. Instead of making him a generous
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offer in bidding high as he ought to have done all things considered, he
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puts it upon him to make his demands Verse twenty eight. Appoint me thy
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wages, knowing he would be very modest in them, and would ask less
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than he could for shame offer. Jacob accordingly makes a proposal to him,
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in which number one he shows what reason he had to insist upon so much,
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considering subscript one that Laban was bound in gratitude to do well for him
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because he had served him not only faithfully, but very successfully Verse thirty.
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Yet here observe how he speaks like himself very modestly. Laban had said,
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the Lord has blessed me for thy sake. Jacob will not say so.
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But the Lord has blessed thee since my coming. Note humble saints take more
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pleasure in doing good than in hearing of it. Again, subscript too,
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that he himself was bound in duty to take care of his own family.
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Now, when shall I provide for mine own house? Also note faith and
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charity, though they are excellent things, must not take us off from making
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necessary provisions for our own support and the support of our families. We must,
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like Jacob, trust in the Lord and do good, and yet we
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must like him, provide for our own houses. Also, he that does
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not the latter is worse than an infidel one Timothy, Verse eight, number
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two. He is willing to refer himself to the providence of God, which
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he knew extends itself to the smallest things, even the color of the cattle,
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And he will be content to have for his wages the sheep and goats
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of such and such a color speckled, spotted, and brown, which should
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hereafter be brought forth Verses thirty two and thirty three. This he thinks will
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be a most effectual way, both to prevent Laban's cheating him and to secure
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himself from being suspected of cheating Laban. Some think he chose this color because
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in Canaan it was generally most desired and delighted in their shepherds and Canaan are
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called nikohim Amos Chapter one, verse one. The word here used for speckled,
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and Laban was willing to consent to this bargain because he thought off the
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few he has that were now speckled and spotted were separated from the rest,
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which by agreement was to be done immediately. The body of the flock which
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Jacob was to tend, being of one color either all black or all white,
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would produce few are none of mixed colors, and so he should have
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Jacob's service for nothing or next to nothing. According to this bargain, those
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few that were parti colored were separated and put into the hands of Laban's sons
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and sent three days journey off. So great was Laban's jealousy lest any of
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them should mix with the rest of the flock to the advantage of Jacob.
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And now a fine bargain Jacob has made for himself. Is this his providing
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for his own house? To put it upon such an uncertainty. If these
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cattle bring forth, as usually cattle do, young ones of the same color
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with themselves, he he must still serve for nothing, and be a drudge
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and a beggar all the days of his life. But he knows whom he
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has trusted, And the event showed subscript one that he took the best way
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that could be taken with Laban, who otherwise would certainly have been too hard
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for him, and subscript two, that it was not in vain to rely
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upon the divine providence, which owns and blesses honest, humble diligence. Those
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that find men whom they deal with unjust and unkind, shall not find God.
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So but some way or other he will recompense the injured, and be
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a good paymaster to those that commit their cause to him. Jacob's Ingenuous Policy
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b. C. Seventeen forty five, Verse thirty seven. And Jacob took
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him rods of green poplar and of the hazel and chestnut tree, and pilled
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white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods
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Verse thirty eight. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the
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flocks and the gutters in the watering tree when the flocks came to drink,
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that they should conceive when they came to drink verse thirty nine. And the
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flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstriked, speckled, and
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spotted Verse forty. And Jacob did separate the lambs and set the faces of
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the flocks toward the ringstriked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban,
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And he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto
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Laban's cattle verse forty one. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger
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cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle
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and the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods verse forty two.
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But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in. So the
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feebler were Labans and the stronger Jacobs verse forty three. And the man increased
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exceedingly and had much cattle, and made servants and men servants, and camels
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and asses. Here is Jacob's honest policy to make his bargain more advantageous to
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himself then it was likely to be. If he had not taken some course
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to help himself, it would have been a bad bargain, indeed, which
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he knew Laban would never consider, or rather would be well pleased to see
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him a loser. By so little did Laban consult any one's interest but his
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own. Now, Jacob's contrivances were number one, to set peeled sticks before
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the cattle where they were watered. They're looking much at those unusual PARTI colored
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sticks by the power of imagination, they might bring forth the young ones in
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like manner PARTI colored, Verses thirty seven through thirty nine. Probably this custom
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was commonly used by the shepherds of Canaan, who coveted to have their cattle
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of this motley color. Note it becomes a man to be master of his
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trade, whatever it is, and to be not only industrious but ingenuous in
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it, and to be versed in all its lawful arts and mysteries. For
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what is a man but his trade? There is a discretion which God teaches
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the husbandman as plain a tree as that is, and which he ought to
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learn. Isaiah, chapter twenty eight, Verse twenty six, Number two.
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When he began to have a stalk of ringstraked and brown, he contrived to
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set them first, and to put the faces of the rest towards them,
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with the same design as in the former contrivance, but would not let his
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own that were of one color. Verse forty strong impressions, it seems,
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are made by the eye, with which therefore we have need to make a
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covenant. Number three. When he found that his projects succeeded through the special
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blessing of God upon it, he contrived by using it only with a stronger
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cattle, to secure to himself those who are most valuable, leaving the feebler
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to Laban verse forty one and verse forty two. Thus Jacob increased exceedingly verse
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forty three, and grew very rich in a little time. This success of
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his policy, it is true, was not sufficient to justify it if there
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had been anything fraudulent or unjust in it, which we are sure there was
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not, for he did it by divine direction Chapter thirty one, verse twelve.
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Nor was there anything in the thing itself but the honest improvement of a
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fair bargain, which the Divine providence wonderfully prospered, both in justice to Jacob,
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whom Laban had wronged and dealt hardly with, and in pursuance of the
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particular promises made to him of the tokens of the divine favor. Note,
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those who, while their beginning is small, are humble and honest, contented,
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and industrious, are in a likely way to see their latter end greatly
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increasing. He that is faithful and a little shall be entrusted with more.
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He that is faithful and that which is another man's shall be entrusted with something
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of his own. Jacob, who had been a just servant, became a
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rich master. End of chapter thirty