Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 30 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis

Transcript

30 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Philosophy and Faith

0:00
Speaker 1: Chapter twenty seven. In this chapter we return to the
0:04
Speaker 1: typical story of the struggle between Esau and Jacob. Esau
0:08
Speaker 1: have profanely sold the birthright to Jacob, but Esau hopes
0:12
Speaker 1: he shall be never the poor nor Jacob the richer
0:15
Speaker 1: for that bargain, while he preserves his interest in his
0:19
Speaker 1: father's affections and so secures the blessing. Here therefore we
0:24
Speaker 1: find how he was justly punished for his contempt of
0:27
Speaker 1: the birthright of which he foolishly deprived himself, with the
0:31
Speaker 1: loss of the blessing of which Jacob fraudulently deprives him.
0:36
Speaker 1: Thus this story is explained Hebrews Chapter twelve, Verses sixteen
0:40
Speaker 1: and seventeen. Because he sold the birthright when he would
0:44
Speaker 1: have inherited the blessing, he was rejected for those who
0:48
Speaker 1: make light of the name and profession of religion and
0:51
Speaker 1: throw them away for a trifle, thereby forfeit the powers
0:54
Speaker 1: and privileges of it. We have here Roman I Isaac's
0:58
Speaker 1: purpose to entail the blessing upon Esau Verses one to five,
1:02
Speaker 1: Roman two, Rebecca's plot to procure it for Jacob Verses
1:06
Speaker 1: six to seventeen. Roman three, Jacob's successful management of the
1:11
Speaker 1: plot and his obtaining the blessing Verses eighteen to twenty nine,
1:15
Speaker 1: Roman four. Esau's resentment of this in which one his
1:19
Speaker 1: great importunity with his father to obtain a blessing Verses
1:24
Speaker 1: thirty to forty two. His great enmity to his brother
1:28
Speaker 1: for defrauding him of the first blessing Verse forty one,
1:31
Speaker 1: et cetera. Rebecca's contrivance BC. Seventeen sixty, Verses one to five.
1:41
Speaker 1: And it came to pass that when Isaac was old,
1:44
Speaker 1: and his eyes were dim so that he could not see,
1:48
Speaker 1: he called Esau his eldest son, and said, unto him,
1:52
Speaker 1: my son. And he said, unto him, behold here am I?
1:57
Speaker 1: And he said, behold now I am old. I know
2:01
Speaker 1: not the day of my death. Now therefore, take I
2:04
Speaker 1: pray THEE thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and
2:08
Speaker 1: go out to the field and take me some venison,
2:12
Speaker 1: and make me savory meat such as I love, and
2:15
Speaker 1: bring it to me that I may eat, that my
2:18
Speaker 1: soul may bless THEE before I die. And Rebecca heard
2:22
Speaker 1: when Isaac spake unto Esau his son, and Esau went
2:25
Speaker 1: to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring
2:27
Speaker 1: it here is Roman I Isaac's designed to make his
2:32
Speaker 1: will and to declare Esau his heir. The promise of
2:36
Speaker 1: the Messiah and the land of Canaan was a great
2:38
Speaker 1: trust first committed to Abraham, inclusive and typical of spiritual
2:43
Speaker 1: and eternal blessings. This by divine direction he transmitted to Isaac. Isaac,
2:49
Speaker 1: being now old and not knowing or not understanding, or
2:53
Speaker 1: not duly, considering the divine oracle concerning his two sons,
2:58
Speaker 1: that the elder should serve the younger, resolves to entail
3:01
Speaker 1: all the honor and power that were wrapped up in
3:04
Speaker 1: the promise upon Esau, his eldest son. In this he
3:08
Speaker 1: was governed more by natural affection and the common method
3:12
Speaker 1: of settlements than he ought to have been if he knew,
3:15
Speaker 1: as it is probable he did, the intimations God had
3:19
Speaker 1: given of his mind in the matter. Note we are
3:23
Speaker 1: very apt to take our measures rather from our own
3:26
Speaker 1: reason than from divine revelation, and thereby often miss our way.
3:31
Speaker 1: We think the wise and learned, the mighty and noble
3:34
Speaker 1: should inherit the promise. But God sees not as man sees.
3:38
Speaker 1: See for Samuel, chapter sixteen, Verses six and seven. Roman too,
3:44
Speaker 1: the directions he gave to Esau pursue it to this design,
3:47
Speaker 1: he calls to him verse one. For Esau, though married,
3:51
Speaker 1: had not yet removed, and though he had greatly grieved
3:55
Speaker 1: his parents by his marriage, yet they had not expelled him.
3:58
Speaker 1: But it seems were pretty well reconciled to him and
4:01
Speaker 1: made the best fit. Note parents that are justly offended
4:05
Speaker 1: at their children, yet must not be implacable towards them.
4:10
Speaker 1: One He tells him upon what considerations he resolved to
4:14
Speaker 1: do this now Verse two. I am old, and therefore
4:18
Speaker 1: must die shortly. Yet I know not the day of
4:20
Speaker 1: my death, nor when I must die. I will therefore
4:24
Speaker 1: do at this time which must be done at some time.
4:27
Speaker 1: Note sub one. Old people should be reminded, by the
4:32
Speaker 1: growing infirmities of age to do quickly and with all
4:35
Speaker 1: the little might they have, what their hand finds to do.
4:39
Speaker 1: See Joshua, Chapter thirteen, Verse one. So two, the consideration
4:45
Speaker 1: of the uncertainty of the time of our departure out
4:47
Speaker 1: of the world, about which God has wisely kept us
4:49
Speaker 1: in the dark, should quicken us to do the work
4:52
Speaker 1: of the day in its day. The heart and the
4:54
Speaker 1: house should both be set and kept in order. Because
4:58
Speaker 1: at such an hour as we think, think not the
5:00
Speaker 1: son of man comes. Because we know not the day
5:03
Speaker 1: of our death, we are concerned to mind the business
5:06
Speaker 1: of life. Two, He bids him to get things ready
5:10
Speaker 1: for the solemnity of executing his last will and testament,
5:13
Speaker 1: by which he designed to make him his heir Verses
5:17
Speaker 1: three and four. Esau must go a hunting and bring
5:20
Speaker 1: some venison which his father will eat of, and then
5:22
Speaker 1: bless him. In this he designed not so much the
5:26
Speaker 1: refreshment of his own spirits, that he might give the
5:28
Speaker 1: blessing in a lively manner, as it is commonly taken,
5:32
Speaker 1: but rather the receiving of a fresh instance of his
5:35
Speaker 1: son's filial duty and affection to him before he bestowed
5:38
Speaker 1: this favor upon him. Perhaps Esau, since he had married,
5:43
Speaker 1: had brought his venison to his wives, and seldom to
5:45
Speaker 1: his father, as formerly Chapter twenty five, Verse twenty eight,
5:49
Speaker 1: And therefore Isaac, before he would bless him, would have
5:53
Speaker 1: him show this piece of respect to him. Note it
5:56
Speaker 1: is fit, if the less be blessed of the greater,
6:00
Speaker 1: that the greater should be served and honored by the
6:02
Speaker 1: less he says that my soul may bless THEE before
6:05
Speaker 1: I die. Note sub one, prayer is the work of
6:09
Speaker 1: the soul and not of the lips. Only as the
6:12
Speaker 1: soul must be employed in blessing God Psalm one hundred three,
6:16
Speaker 1: verse one. So it must be in blessing ourselves and others.
6:20
Speaker 1: The blessing will not come to the heart if it
6:22
Speaker 1: does not come from the heart. So two, the work
6:26
Speaker 1: of life must be done before we die, for it
6:28
Speaker 1: cannot be done afterwards. Ecclesiastes, chapter nine, verse ten. And
6:32
Speaker 1: it is very desirable, when we come to die, to
6:35
Speaker 1: have nothing else to do but to die. Isaac lived
6:38
Speaker 1: above forty years after this. Let none therefore think that
6:42
Speaker 1: they shall die the sooner for making their wills and
6:45
Speaker 1: getting ready for death Verses six to seventeen. And Rebecca
6:53
Speaker 1: spake unto Jacob hers son, saying, behold, I heard thy
6:56
Speaker 1: father speak unto Esau, thy brother, saying bring me venison
7:00
Speaker 1: and make me savory meat that I may eat and
7:02
Speaker 1: bless THEE before the Lord before my death. Now, therefore,
7:06
Speaker 1: my son, obey my voice according to that which I
7:09
Speaker 1: command THEE. Go now to the flock and fetch me
7:12
Speaker 1: from thence two good kids of the goats, and I
7:15
Speaker 1: will make them savory meat for thy father, such as
7:17
Speaker 1: he loveth and thou shalt bring it to thy father,
7:20
Speaker 1: that he may eat and that he may bless thee
7:23
Speaker 1: before his death. And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother, behold, Esau,
7:27
Speaker 1: my brother is a hairy man, and I am a
7:29
Speaker 1: smooth man. My father, per adventure, will feel me, and
7:33
Speaker 1: I shall seem to him as a deceiver, and I
7:35
Speaker 1: shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
7:38
Speaker 1: And his mother said, unto him, upon me, be thy curse,
7:41
Speaker 1: my son, only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
7:45
Speaker 1: And he went and fetched and brought them to his mother.
7:48
Speaker 1: And his mother made savory meat such as his father loved.
7:52
Speaker 1: And Rebecca took goodly raiment of her eldest son, Esau,
7:55
Speaker 1: which were with her in the house, and put them
7:58
Speaker 1: upon Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins
8:01
Speaker 1: of the kids of the goats upon his hands and
8:03
Speaker 1: upon the smooth of his neck. And she gave the
8:06
Speaker 1: savory meat and the bread which she had prepared, into
8:09
Speaker 1: the hand of her son Jacob. Rebecca is here contriving
8:14
Speaker 1: to procure for Jacob the blessing which was designed for Esau.
8:18
Speaker 1: And here Roman I the end was good, for she
8:22
Speaker 1: was directed in this intention by the oracle of God
8:24
Speaker 1: by which she had been governed in dispensing her affections.
8:28
Speaker 1: God had said it should be so that the elder
8:31
Speaker 1: should serve the younger. And therefore Rebecca resolves that it
8:34
Speaker 1: shall be so, and cannot bear to see her husband
8:36
Speaker 1: designing to thwart the oracle of God. But Roman, too
8:41
Speaker 1: the means were bad and no way justifiable. If it
8:45
Speaker 1: was not a wrong to Esa to deprive him of
8:48
Speaker 1: the blessing, he himself having forfeited it by selling the birthright,
8:52
Speaker 1: yet it was a wrong to Isaac, taking advantage of
8:54
Speaker 1: his infirmity to impose upon him. It was a wrong
8:58
Speaker 1: to Jacob, too, whom she taught to deceive by putting
9:01
Speaker 1: a lie into his mouth, or at least by putting
9:04
Speaker 1: one into his right hand. It would likewise expose him
9:07
Speaker 1: to endless scruples about the blessing if he should obtain
9:10
Speaker 1: it thus fraudulently, whether it would stand him or his
9:14
Speaker 1: in any stead, especially if his father should revoke it
9:17
Speaker 1: upon the discovery of the cheat and plead as he
9:20
Speaker 1: might that it was nulled by an heir persone, a
9:24
Speaker 1: mistake of the person. He himself also was aware of
9:28
Speaker 1: the danger lest verse twelve. If he should miss of
9:32
Speaker 1: the blessing, as he might probably have done, he should
9:35
Speaker 1: bring upon himself his father's curse, which he dreaded above anything. Besides,
9:41
Speaker 1: he laid himself open to that divine curse which is
9:44
Speaker 1: pronounced upon him that causeth the blind to wander out
9:47
Speaker 1: of the way. Deuteronomy, chapter twenty seven, verse eighteen. If Rebecca,
9:52
Speaker 1: when she heard Isaac promise the blessing to Esau, had
9:55
Speaker 1: gone at his return from hunting to Isaac, and with
9:59
Speaker 1: humility and sereniousness, put him in remembrance of that which
10:02
Speaker 1: God had said concerning their sons. If she further had
10:06
Speaker 1: shown him how Esau had forfeited the blessing, both by
10:09
Speaker 1: selling his birthright and by marrying strange wives, it is
10:13
Speaker 1: probable that Isaac would have been prevailed upon knowingly and
10:16
Speaker 1: wittingly to confer the blessing upon Jacob, and needed not
10:19
Speaker 1: thus to have been cheated into it. This would have
10:23
Speaker 1: been honorable and laudable, and would have looked well in
10:25
Speaker 1: the history. But God left her to herself to take
10:29
Speaker 1: this indirect course, that he might have the glory of
10:32
Speaker 1: bringing good out of evil, and of serving his own
10:35
Speaker 1: purposes by the sins and follies of men, And that
10:38
Speaker 1: we might have the satisfaction of knowing that though there
10:41
Speaker 1: is so much wickedness and deceit in the world, God
10:44
Speaker 1: governs it according to his will, to his own praise.
10:48
Speaker 1: See Job chapter twelve, verse sixteen. With him our strength
10:53
Speaker 1: and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his. Isaac
10:58
Speaker 1: had lost the sense of seeing, which in this case
11:01
Speaker 1: could not have been imposed upon Providence, Having so admirably
11:05
Speaker 1: well ordered the difference of features that no two faces
11:08
Speaker 1: are exactly alike, Conversation and commerce could scarcely be maintained
11:13
Speaker 1: if there were not such a variety. Therefore, she endeavors
11:16
Speaker 1: to deceive one his sense of tasting by dressing some
11:20
Speaker 1: choice pieces of kid, seasoning them, serving them up so
11:24
Speaker 1: as to make him believe they were venison. This is
11:27
Speaker 1: no hard matter to do. See the folly of those
11:30
Speaker 1: that are nice and curious in their appetite and take
11:33
Speaker 1: pride in humoring it. It is easy to impose upon
11:36
Speaker 1: them with that which they pretend to despise and dislike
11:40
Speaker 1: so little. Perhaps does it differ from that to which
11:43
Speaker 1: they give decided preference. Solomon tells us that dainties are
11:47
Speaker 1: deceitful meat, for it is possible for us to be
11:50
Speaker 1: deceived by them in more ways than one. Proverbs, chapter
11:53
Speaker 1: twenty three, verse thirty two two. His sense of feeling
11:57
Speaker 1: and smelling, she put Esau's clothes upon Jacob, his best clothes,
12:02
Speaker 1: which it might be supposed Esau would put on in
12:05
Speaker 1: token of joy and respect to his father when he
12:08
Speaker 1: was to receive the blessing. Isaac knew these by the stuff, shape,
12:12
Speaker 1: and smell, to be Esau's. If we would obtain a
12:16
Speaker 1: blessing from our heavenly father, we must come for it
12:19
Speaker 1: in the garments of our elder brother, clothed with his righteousness,
12:23
Speaker 1: who is the first born among many brethren. Lest the
12:25
Speaker 1: smoothness and softness of Jacob's hands and necks should betray him,
12:29
Speaker 1: she covered them, and probably part of his face, with
12:32
Speaker 1: the skins of the kids that were newly killed Verse sixteen.
12:37
Speaker 1: Esau was rough, indeed, when nothing less than these would
12:40
Speaker 1: serve to make Jacob like him. Those that affect to
12:43
Speaker 1: seem rough and rugged in their carriage, put the beast
12:47
Speaker 1: upon the man, and really shame themselves by thus disguising themselves.
12:52
Speaker 1: And lastly, it was a very rash word which Rebecca
12:56
Speaker 1: spoke when Jacob objected to the danger of a curse.
13:00
Speaker 1: Upon me, be thy curse, my son verse thirteen. Christ Indeed,
13:05
Speaker 1: who is mighty to save, because mighty to bear, has
13:07
Speaker 1: said upon me be the curse. Only obey my voice.
13:12
Speaker 1: He has borne the burden of the curse, the curse
13:14
Speaker 1: of the law, for all those that will take upon
13:17
Speaker 1: them the yoke of the command, the command of the Gospel.
13:21
Speaker 1: But it is too daring for any creature to say,
13:23
Speaker 1: upon me be the curse, unless it be that curse
13:27
Speaker 1: causeless of which we are sure shall not come. Proverbs,
13:31
Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six, verse two, The fraud of Jacob b. C.
13:37
Speaker 1: Seventeen sixty, Verses eighteen to twenty nine. And he came
13:44
Speaker 1: unto his father and said, my father, And he said,
13:47
Speaker 1: here am I who art thou my son? And Jacob
13:51
Speaker 1: said unto his father, I am Esa, thy first born.
13:54
Speaker 1: I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I
13:57
Speaker 1: pray thee sit and eat of my venison, that thy
14:00
Speaker 1: soul may bless me. And Isaac said, unto his son,
14:04
Speaker 1: how is it that thou hast found it so quickly,
14:06
Speaker 1: my son? And he said, because the Lord thy God
14:09
Speaker 1: brought it to me. And Isaac said, unto Jacob, come near,
14:13
Speaker 1: I pray thee, that I may feel thee my son,
14:16
Speaker 1: whether thou be my very son Esa or not. And
14:19
Speaker 1: Jacob went near, unto Isaac's father, and he felt him
14:23
Speaker 1: and said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands
14:26
Speaker 1: are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not
14:29
Speaker 1: because his hands were hairy as his brother ESA's hands.
14:32
Speaker 1: So he blessed him, and he said, art thou my
14:36
Speaker 1: very son, Esa, And he said I am, And he said,
14:40
Speaker 1: bring it near to me, and I will eat of
14:42
Speaker 1: my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And
14:45
Speaker 1: he brought it near to him, and he did eat,
14:48
Speaker 1: and he brought him wine and he drank, and his
14:51
Speaker 1: father Isaac said, unto him, come near now and kiss me,
14:55
Speaker 1: my son. And he came near and kissed him, and
14:57
Speaker 1: he smelled the smell of his raiment and blest him
15:00
Speaker 1: and said, see the smell of my son is the
15:03
Speaker 1: smell of a field. Which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore,
15:07
Speaker 1: God give THEE thedo of heaven and the fatness of
15:10
Speaker 1: the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let people
15:13
Speaker 1: serve THEE, and nations bow down to THEE. Be Lord
15:16
Speaker 1: over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down
15:19
Speaker 1: to THEE. Cursed be everyone that curseth THEE, and blessed
15:23
Speaker 1: be he that blesseth THEE. Observe here Roman I the
15:30
Speaker 1: art and assurance with which Jacob managed this intrigue. Who
15:34
Speaker 1: would have thought that this plain man could have played
15:37
Speaker 1: his part so well in a design of this nature,
15:40
Speaker 1: his mother having put him in the way of it
15:43
Speaker 1: and encouraged him in it, he dexterously applied himself to
15:46
Speaker 1: those methods which he had never accustomed himself to, but
15:50
Speaker 1: had always conceived an abhorrence of. Note. Lying is soon learnt.
15:55
Speaker 1: The Psalma speaks of those who, as soon as they
15:58
Speaker 1: are born, speak lies. Psalm fifty eight, verse three. Jeremiah,
16:03
Speaker 1: Chapter nine, verse five. I wonder how honest Jacob could
16:07
Speaker 1: so readily turn his tongue to say verse nineteen, I
16:11
Speaker 1: am esau thy first born. Nor do I see how
16:14
Speaker 1: the endeavor of some to bring him off with that equivocation,
16:17
Speaker 1: I am made thy first born, namely by purchase? Does
16:21
Speaker 1: him any service? For when his father asked him verse
16:24
Speaker 1: twenty four, art thou my very son, Esau, he said,
16:28
Speaker 1: I am. How could he say, I have done as
16:32
Speaker 1: thou badest me when he had received no command from
16:34
Speaker 1: his father, but was doing as his mother bade him.
16:37
Speaker 1: How could he say, eat of my venison when he
16:40
Speaker 1: knew it came not from the field but from the fold.
16:43
Speaker 1: But especially I wonder how he could have the assurance
16:47
Speaker 1: to farther it upon God and to use his name
16:50
Speaker 1: in the cheat verse twenty The Lord thy God brought
16:53
Speaker 1: it to me? Is this, Jacob? Is this Israel? Indeed
16:59
Speaker 1: without guile? It is certainly written not for our imitation,
17:04
Speaker 1: but for our admonition. Let him that thinks he stands
17:08
Speaker 1: take heed lest he fall. Good men have sometimes failed
17:12
Speaker 1: in the exercise of those graces for which they have
17:14
Speaker 1: been most eminent. Roumin two the success of this management, Jacob,
17:22
Speaker 1: with some difficulty, gained his point and obtained the blessing one.
17:28
Speaker 1: Isaac was at first dissatisfied, and would have discovered the
17:31
Speaker 1: fraud if he could have trusted his own ears, for
17:34
Speaker 1: the voice was Jacob's voice verse twenty two. Providence has
17:38
Speaker 1: ordered a strange variety of voices as well as faces,
17:41
Speaker 1: which is also of use to prevent our being imposed upon.
17:45
Speaker 1: And the voice is a thing not easily disguised nor counterfeited.
17:49
Speaker 1: This may be alluded to illustrate the character of a hypocrite.
17:53
Speaker 1: His voice is Jacob's voice, but his hands are esaus.
17:56
Speaker 1: He speaks the language of a saint, but does the
17:58
Speaker 1: works of a sinner. But the judgment will be as
18:01
Speaker 1: here by the hands. Two. At length he yielded to
18:06
Speaker 1: the power of the cheat because the hands were hairy
18:09
Speaker 1: verse twenty three, not considering how easy it was to
18:13
Speaker 1: counterfeit that circumstance. And now Jacob carries it on, dexterously,
18:17
Speaker 1: sets his venison before his father, and waits at table,
18:20
Speaker 1: very officiously, till dinner is done and the blessing comes
18:24
Speaker 1: to be pronounced in the close of this solemn feast.
18:28
Speaker 1: That which in some small degree extenuates the crime of
18:32
Speaker 1: Rebecca and Jacob is that the fraud was intended not
18:35
Speaker 1: so much to hasten the fulfilling as to prevent the
18:38
Speaker 1: thwarting of the oracle of God. The blessing was just
18:42
Speaker 1: going to be put on the wrong head, and they
18:44
Speaker 1: thought it was time to bestir themselves. Now let us
18:47
Speaker 1: see how Isaac gave Jacob his blessing Verses twenty six
18:51
Speaker 1: to twenty nine. Sub One. He embraced him in token
18:56
Speaker 1: of a particular affection to him. Those that are blessed
18:59
Speaker 1: of God are kissed with the kisses of His mouth,
19:03
Speaker 1: and they do, by love and loyalty kiss the son
19:06
Speaker 1: Psalm two, verse twelve. So two he praised him. He
19:11
Speaker 1: smelt the smell of his raiment, and said, See, the
19:15
Speaker 1: smell of my son is as the smell of a
19:17
Speaker 1: field which the Lord hath blessed, that is like that
19:22
Speaker 1: of the most fragrant flowers and spices. It appeared that
19:25
Speaker 1: God had blessed him, and therefore Isaac would bless him.
19:29
Speaker 1: So three he prayed for him, and therein prophesied concerning him.
19:35
Speaker 1: It is the duty of parents to pray for their
19:36
Speaker 1: children and to bless them in the name of the Lord,
19:39
Speaker 1: and thus, as well as by their baptism, to do
19:42
Speaker 1: what they can to preserve and perpetuate the entail of
19:46
Speaker 1: the Covenant in their families. But This was an extraordinary blessing,
19:50
Speaker 1: and providence so ordered it, that Isac should bestow it
19:53
Speaker 1: upon Jacob ignorantly and by mistake that it might appear
19:56
Speaker 1: he was beholden to God for it, and not to Isaac.
20:00
Speaker 1: Three things Jacob is here blessed with one plenty verse
20:05
Speaker 1: twenty eight, heaven and earth, concurring to make him rich.
20:09
Speaker 1: Two power verse twenty nine, particularly dominion over his brethren,
20:14
Speaker 1: namely Esau in his posterity. Three prevalency with God, and
20:19
Speaker 1: a great interest in Heaven. Cursed be every one that
20:23
Speaker 1: curseth Thee, and blessed be he that blesseth Thee. Let
20:27
Speaker 1: God be a friend to all thy friends and an
20:29
Speaker 1: enemy to all thy enemies. More is certainly comprised in
20:33
Speaker 1: this blessing that appears prima facie at first sight. It
20:37
Speaker 1: must amount to an entail of the promise of the
20:39
Speaker 1: Messiah and of the Church. This was in the patriarchal
20:43
Speaker 1: dialect thee blessing. Something spiritual, doubtless is included in it. First,
20:50
Speaker 1: that from him should come the Messiah, who should have
20:53
Speaker 1: a sovereign dominion on earth. It was that top branch
20:56
Speaker 1: of his family which people should serve and nations bow
20:59
Speaker 1: down to see numbers Chapter twenty four, verse nineteen. Out
21:04
Speaker 1: of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion the
21:07
Speaker 1: star and scepter, verse seventeen. Jacob's dominion over Esau was
21:12
Speaker 1: to be only typical of this Chapter forty nine, verse ten. Secondly,
21:19
Speaker 1: that from him should come the Church, which should be
21:21
Speaker 1: particularly owned and favored by Heaven. It was part of
21:25
Speaker 1: the blessing of Abraham when he was first called to
21:28
Speaker 1: be the father of the faithful Chapter twelve, verse three.
21:32
Speaker 1: I will bless those that bless thee. Therefore, when Isaac
21:35
Speaker 1: afterwards confirmed the blessing to Jacob, he called it the
21:38
Speaker 1: blessing of Abraham Chapter twenty eight, verse four. Balem explains
21:44
Speaker 1: this too Numbers Chapter twenty nine, verse nine. Note it
21:49
Speaker 1: is the best and most desirable blessing to stand in
21:52
Speaker 1: relation to Christ and his Church, and to be interested
21:55
Speaker 1: in Christ's power and the Church's favors. The blessing pronounced
22:01
Speaker 1: on Jacob and Esau Thesey seventeen sixty, verses thirty two, forty,
22:08
Speaker 1: and it came to pass as soon as Isaac had
22:10
Speaker 1: made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet
22:13
Speaker 1: scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac's father. That
22:17
Speaker 1: Esa his brother came in from his hunting, and he
22:19
Speaker 1: also had made savory meat and brought it unto his father,
22:23
Speaker 1: and said, unto his father, let my father arise and
22:26
Speaker 1: eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.
22:30
Speaker 1: And Isaac's father said, unto him, who art thou? And
22:33
Speaker 1: he said, I am thy son, thy first born Esau.
22:37
Speaker 1: And Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, who where is he?
22:42
Speaker 1: That hath taken venison and brought it me? And I
22:45
Speaker 1: have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed
22:48
Speaker 1: him yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau
22:52
Speaker 1: heard the words of his father, he cried with a
22:55
Speaker 1: great and exceeding bitter cry, and said, unto his father,
22:58
Speaker 1: bless me even me also on my father, and he said,
23:03
Speaker 1: thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing.
23:07
Speaker 1: And he said, is not he rightly named Jacob? For
23:11
Speaker 1: he hath supplanted me these two times he took away
23:14
Speaker 1: my birthright. And behold now he has taken away my blessing.
23:18
Speaker 1: And he said, hast thou not reserved a blessing for me.
23:22
Speaker 1: And Isaac answered and said, unto Esau, behold, I have
23:26
Speaker 1: made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I
23:28
Speaker 1: given to him for servants, and with corn and wine
23:31
Speaker 1: I have sustained him. And what shall I do now
23:34
Speaker 1: unto thee my son. And Esau said, unto his father,
23:38
Speaker 1: hast thou but one blessing? My father bless me even
23:41
Speaker 1: me also on my father. And Esau lifted up his
23:45
Speaker 1: voice and wept. And Isaac, his father, answered and said,
23:48
Speaker 1: unto him, behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of
23:52
Speaker 1: the earth and of the dew of heaven from above.
23:55
Speaker 1: And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve
23:58
Speaker 1: thy brother. And it shall come to pass when thou
24:01
Speaker 1: shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke
24:04
Speaker 1: from off thy neck. Here is roman Ie, the covenant
24:10
Speaker 1: blessing denied to Esau. He that made so light of
24:14
Speaker 1: the birthright, would now have inherited the blessing. But he
24:17
Speaker 1: was rejected and found no place of repentance in his father,
24:21
Speaker 1: though he saught it carefully with tears. Hebrews chapter twelve
24:24
Speaker 1: or seventeen. Observe one how carefully he sought it. He
24:29
Speaker 1: prepared the savory meat as his father had directed him,
24:32
Speaker 1: and then begged the blessing which his father had encouraged
24:34
Speaker 1: him to expect verse thirty one. When he understood that
24:38
Speaker 1: Jacob had obtained it surreptitiously, he cried with a great
24:41
Speaker 1: and exceedingly bitter cry verse thirty four. No man could
24:46
Speaker 1: have laid the disappointment more to heart than he did.
24:49
Speaker 1: He made his father's tent to ring with his grief,
24:51
Speaker 1: and again verse thirty eight, lifted up his voice and wept.
24:56
Speaker 1: Note the day is coming when those that now make
24:58
Speaker 1: light of the blessings of the Covenant and sell their
25:01
Speaker 1: title to them for a thing of naught will in
25:04
Speaker 1: vain be importunate for them. Those that will not so
25:08
Speaker 1: much as ask and seek now will knock shortly and cry,
25:12
Speaker 1: Lord Lord, slights of Christ will then be humble suitors
25:17
Speaker 1: to him. Two. How he was rejected, Isaac, when first
25:22
Speaker 1: made sensible of the imposition that had been practiced upon him,
25:26
Speaker 1: trembled exceedingly Verse thirty three. Those that follow the choice
25:31
Speaker 1: of their own affections rather than the dictates of the
25:33
Speaker 1: divine will involve themselves in such perplexities as these. But
25:38
Speaker 1: he soon recovers himself and ratifies the blessing he had
25:41
Speaker 1: given to Jacob. I have blessed him, and he shall
25:45
Speaker 1: be blessed. He might, upon very plausible grounds, have recalled it.
25:50
Speaker 1: But now at last his sensible that he was in
25:53
Speaker 1: an error when he designed it for Esau, either himself
25:58
Speaker 1: recollecting the divine oracle, or rather having found himself more
26:02
Speaker 1: than ordinarily filled with the Holy Ghost. When he gave
26:04
Speaker 1: the blessing to Jacob, he perceived that God did as
26:08
Speaker 1: it were, say amen to it. Now. Sub One, Jacob
26:12
Speaker 1: was hereby confirmed in his possession of the blessing, and
26:15
Speaker 1: abundantly satisfied of the validity of it, though he obtained
26:19
Speaker 1: it fraudulently. Hence too he had reason to hope that
26:23
Speaker 1: God graciously overlooked and pardoned his misconduct. Sub two. Isaac
26:28
Speaker 1: hereby acquiesced in the will of God, though it contradicted
26:31
Speaker 1: his own expectations and affection. He had a mind to
26:34
Speaker 1: give Esau the blessing, But when he perceived the will
26:37
Speaker 1: of God was otherwise, he submitted, And this he did
26:40
Speaker 1: by faith. He restept eleven Verse twenty, as Abraham before him,
26:44
Speaker 1: when he had solicited for Ishmael. May not God do
26:48
Speaker 1: what he will with his own sub three. Esa hereby
26:53
Speaker 1: was cut off from the expectation of that special blessing
26:55
Speaker 1: which he thought to have preserved to himself when he
26:58
Speaker 1: sold his birthright. We by this instance are taught one
27:03
Speaker 1: that it is not of him that willeth, nor of
27:06
Speaker 1: him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Romes
27:10
Speaker 1: chapter nine, verse sixteen. The apostle seems to allude to
27:13
Speaker 1: this story. Esau had a good will to the blessing
27:16
Speaker 1: and ran for it, but God that showed mercy designed
27:19
Speaker 1: it for Jacob, that the purpose of God according to
27:22
Speaker 1: election might stand verse eleven. The Jews, like Esau, hunted
27:28
Speaker 1: after the Law of righteousness verse thirty one, yet misst
27:31
Speaker 1: of the blessing of righteousness because they sought it by
27:34
Speaker 1: the works of the law verse thirty two, while the Gentiles,
27:38
Speaker 1: who like Jacob, sought it by faith in the oracle
27:40
Speaker 1: of God, obtained it by force with that violence which
27:44
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Heaven suffers. See Matthew chapter eleven, verse
27:47
Speaker 1: twelve two. That those who undervalue their spiritual birthright and
27:53
Speaker 1: can afford to sell it for a morsel of meat,
27:56
Speaker 1: forfeit spiritual blessings, And it is just with God to
27:59
Speaker 1: deny them those favors. They were careless of those that
28:03
Speaker 1: will part with their wisdom and grace, with their faith
28:06
Speaker 1: and good conscience, for the honors, wealth, or pleasures of
28:10
Speaker 1: this world. However they may pretend a zeal for the blessing,
28:14
Speaker 1: have already judged themselves unworthy of it, and so shall
28:17
Speaker 1: their doom be. Three that those who lift up hands
28:22
Speaker 1: in wrath lift them up in vain. Esa, instead of
28:26
Speaker 1: repenting of his own folly, reproached his brother unjustly charged
28:29
Speaker 1: him with taking away the birthright which he had fairly
28:32
Speaker 1: sold to him, verse thirty six, and conceived malice against
28:36
Speaker 1: him for what he had now done Verse forty one.
28:39
Speaker 1: Those are not likely to speed in prayer who turn
28:42
Speaker 1: those resentments upon their brethren, which they should turn upon themselves,
28:47
Speaker 1: and lay the blame of their miscarriages upon others, when
28:50
Speaker 1: they should take shame to themselves. Four That those who
28:55
Speaker 1: seek not till it is too late will be rejected.
28:58
Speaker 1: This was the ruin of Esa. He did not come
29:00
Speaker 1: in time, as there is an accepted time, a time
29:04
Speaker 1: when God will be found. So there is a time
29:07
Speaker 1: when he will not answer those that call upon him,
29:10
Speaker 1: because they neglected the appointed season see Proverbs, chapter one,
29:13
Speaker 1: verse twenty eight. The time of God's patience and our
29:17
Speaker 1: probation will not last always. The day of grace will
29:20
Speaker 1: come to an end, and the door will be shot.
29:23
Speaker 1: Then many that now despise the blessing will seek it carefully,
29:27
Speaker 1: for then they will know how to value it, and
29:30
Speaker 1: will see themselves undone forever undone without it. But to
29:34
Speaker 1: no purpose Luke chapter thirteen, verses twenty five to twenty seven,
29:39
Speaker 1: Oh that we would therefore in this day know the
29:42
Speaker 1: things that belong to our peace. Roman too, here is
29:47
Speaker 1: a common blessing bestowed upon Esau one. This he desired
29:53
Speaker 1: bless me. Also verse thirty four. Hast thou not reserved
29:56
Speaker 1: a blessing for me? Verse thirty six. Note said one
30:01
Speaker 1: the worst of men know how to wish well to themselves,
30:04
Speaker 1: and even those who profanely sell their birthright seem piously
30:08
Speaker 1: to desire the blessing. Faint desires of happiness without a
30:12
Speaker 1: right choice of the end and a right use of
30:14
Speaker 1: the means, deceive many into their own ruin multitudes go
30:18
Speaker 1: to Hell with their mouths full of good wishes. The
30:21
Speaker 1: desire of the slothful and unbelieving kills them. Many will
30:25
Speaker 1: seek to enter in as Esa, who shall not be
30:28
Speaker 1: able because they do not strive Luke, Chapter thirteen, ver.
30:31
Speaker 1: Twenty four, s two. It is the folly of most
30:35
Speaker 1: men that they are willing to take up with any
30:38
Speaker 1: good some four verse six. As Esa here, who desire
30:43
Speaker 1: but a second rate blessing, a blessing separated from the birthright.
30:47
Speaker 1: Profane hearts think any blessing as good as that from
30:50
Speaker 1: God's oracle. Hast thou but one, as if he had said,
30:55
Speaker 1: I will take up with any though I have not
30:57
Speaker 1: the blessing of the Church. Yet let me have some blessing.
31:02
Speaker 1: Two this he had, and let him make his best
31:06
Speaker 1: of it Verses thirty nine and forty. Sub one. It
31:11
Speaker 1: was a good thing, and better than he deserved. It
31:15
Speaker 1: was promised him one that he should have a competent livelihood,
31:19
Speaker 1: the fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven.
31:22
Speaker 1: Note those that come short of the blessings of the
31:24
Speaker 1: Covenant may yet have a very good share of outward blessings.
31:28
Speaker 1: God gives good ground and good weather, to many that
31:31
Speaker 1: reject his covenant and have no part nor lot in
31:33
Speaker 1: it two that by degrees he should recover his liberty.
31:38
Speaker 1: If Jacob must rule Verse twenty nine. Esau must serve,
31:42
Speaker 1: but he has this to comfort him. He shall live
31:45
Speaker 1: by his sword. He shall serve, but he shall not starve,
31:49
Speaker 1: And at length, after much skirmishing, he shall break the
31:52
Speaker 1: yoke of bondage and wear marks of freedom. This was
31:56
Speaker 1: fulfilled Second Kings, Chapter eight, Verses twenty and twenty two,
32:00
Speaker 1: and the Edomites revolted sub two. Yet it was far
32:05
Speaker 1: short of Jacob's blessing. For him, God had reserved some
32:08
Speaker 1: better thing. One. In Jacob's blessing, the due of heaven
32:12
Speaker 1: is put first, as that which he most valued and
32:15
Speaker 1: desired and depended upon. In Esau's the fatness of the
32:19
Speaker 1: earth is put first, for it was this that he
32:21
Speaker 1: had the first and principle regard to two. Esau has these,
32:26
Speaker 1: but Jacob has them from God's hand. God give thee
32:29
Speaker 1: to do of heaven Verse twenty eight. It was enough
32:32
Speaker 1: to Esau to have the possession, but Jacob desired it
32:35
Speaker 1: by promise, and to have it from covenant love. Three.
32:40
Speaker 1: Jacob shall have dominion over his brethren. Hence the Israelites
32:44
Speaker 1: often ruled over the Edomites. Esau shall have dominion, that is,
32:48
Speaker 1: he shall gain some power and interest, but he shall
32:51
Speaker 1: never have dominion over his brother. We never find that
32:55
Speaker 1: the Jews were sold into the hands the Edomites, or
32:58
Speaker 1: that they oppressed them. Great difference is that there is
33:01
Speaker 1: nothing in Esau's blessing that points at Christ, nothing that
33:04
Speaker 1: brings him or his into the Church and Covenant of God,
33:08
Speaker 1: without which the fatness of the earth and the plunder
33:11
Speaker 1: of the field will stand him in little stead. Thus
33:14
Speaker 1: Isaac by faith blessed them both according as their lot
33:18
Speaker 1: should be. Some observe that Jacob was blessed with a
33:21
Speaker 1: kiss verse twenty seven, So was not Esau. Jacob's life
33:28
Speaker 1: threatened by Esa b. C. Seventeen sixty Verses forty one,
33:32
Speaker 1: two forty six. And Esa hated Jacob because of the
33:36
Speaker 1: blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esa said in
33:39
Speaker 1: his heart, the days of mourning for my father are
33:42
Speaker 1: at hand. Then I will slay my brother Jacob. And
33:45
Speaker 1: these words of Esa, his elder son, were told to Rebecca,
33:49
Speaker 1: and she sent and called Jacob, her younger son. And
33:52
Speaker 1: said unto him, behold, thy brother, Esau, as touching thee,
33:56
Speaker 1: doth comfort himself purposing to kill thee. Now, therefore, my
34:00
Speaker 1: son obey my voice and arise. Flee thou to Laban,
34:04
Speaker 1: my brother to Hern, and tarry with him a few
34:07
Speaker 1: days until thy brother's fury turn away, Until thy brother's
34:11
Speaker 1: anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which
34:15
Speaker 1: thou hast done to him, then I will send and
34:17
Speaker 1: fetch thee from thence, why should I be deprived also
34:21
Speaker 1: of you? Both in one day? And Rebecca said to Isaac,
34:24
Speaker 1: I am weary of my life because of the daughters
34:27
Speaker 1: of Heath. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters
34:29
Speaker 1: of Heath such as these, which are the daughters of
34:32
Speaker 1: the land, what good shall my life do me? Here
34:37
Speaker 1: is roman Ie the malice Esau bore to Jacob upon
34:40
Speaker 1: account of the blessing which he had obtained Verse forty one.
34:44
Speaker 1: Thus he went in the way of Cain, who slew
34:46
Speaker 1: his brother, because he had gained the acceptance of God,
34:49
Speaker 1: of which he had rendered himself unworthy. Esau's hatred of
34:52
Speaker 1: Jacob was one a causeless hatred. He hated him for
34:56
Speaker 1: no other reason, but because his father blessed him, and
34:59
Speaker 1: God love him. Note the happiness of saints is the
35:03
Speaker 1: envy of sinners, whom Heaven blesses hell curses. Two. It
35:08
Speaker 1: was a cruel hatred. Nothing less would satisfy him than
35:11
Speaker 1: to slay his brother. It is the blood of the
35:14
Speaker 1: saints that persecutors thirst after, I will slay my brother.
35:19
Speaker 1: How could he say that word without horror? How could
35:22
Speaker 1: he call him brother and yet vow his death? Note
35:25
Speaker 1: the rage of persecutors will not be tied up by
35:27
Speaker 1: any bonds, No, the strongest and most sacred. Three It
35:32
Speaker 1: was a politic hatred. He expected his father would soon die,
35:36
Speaker 1: and then titles must be tried, an interest contested between
35:39
Speaker 1: the brothers, which would give him a fair opportunity for revenge.
35:43
Speaker 1: He thinks it not enough to live by his sword
35:46
Speaker 1: himself Verse forty, unless his brother die by it. He
35:50
Speaker 1: is loath to grieve his father while he lives, and
35:52
Speaker 1: therefore puts off the intended murder till his death, not
35:55
Speaker 1: caring how much he then grieved his surviving mother. Note
35:59
Speaker 1: so one, those are bad children to whom their good
36:03
Speaker 1: parents are a burden, and who, upon any account, long
36:06
Speaker 1: for the days of mourning for them. Sob two bad
36:10
Speaker 1: men are long held in by external restraints from doing
36:13
Speaker 1: the mischief they would do, and so their wicked purposes
36:16
Speaker 1: come to naught. So three, those who think to defeat
36:21
Speaker 1: God's purposes will undoubtedly be disappointed themselves. Esau aimed to
36:25
Speaker 1: prevent Jacob or his seed from having the dominion by
36:29
Speaker 1: taking away his life before he was married. But who
36:31
Speaker 1: can disannull what God has spoken? Men may fret at
36:35
Speaker 1: God's counsels, but cannot change them. Roman too. The method
36:42
Speaker 1: Rebecca took to prevent the mischief. One She gave Jacob
36:46
Speaker 1: warning of his danger and advised him to withdraw for
36:49
Speaker 1: a while and shift for his own safety. She tells
36:52
Speaker 1: him what she heard of Esau's design, that he comforted
36:55
Speaker 1: himself with the hope of an opportunity to kill his
36:57
Speaker 1: brother Verse forty two. Would one think that such a bloody,
37:01
Speaker 1: barbarous thought as this could be a comfort to a man.
37:04
Speaker 1: If Esa could have kept his design to himself, his
37:07
Speaker 1: mother would not have suspected it. But men's impudence in
37:10
Speaker 1: sin is often their infatuation, and they cannot accomplish their
37:14
Speaker 1: wickedness because their rage is too violent to be concealed,
37:18
Speaker 1: and a bird of the air carries the boys. Observe
37:21
Speaker 1: here sab one. What Rebecca feared lest she should be
37:25
Speaker 1: deprived of them both in one day Verse forty five,
37:29
Speaker 1: deprived not only of the murdered, but of the murderer, who,
37:32
Speaker 1: either by the magistrate or by the immediate hand of God,
37:35
Speaker 1: would be sacrificed to justice, which she herself must acquiesce
37:39
Speaker 1: in and not obstruct, or if not so yet, thenceforward
37:43
Speaker 1: she would be deprived of all joy and comfort in him.
37:47
Speaker 1: Those that are lost to virtue are in a manner
37:49
Speaker 1: lost to all their friends with What pleasure can a
37:52
Speaker 1: child be looked upon that can be looked upon as
37:55
Speaker 1: no other than a child of the devil? Sub? Two?
37:59
Speaker 1: What Rebecca hoped that if Jacob for a while kept
38:03
Speaker 1: out of sight, the affront which his brother resented so fiercely,
38:06
Speaker 1: would by degrees go out of mind. The strength of
38:10
Speaker 1: passions is weakened and taken off by the distances, both
38:13
Speaker 1: of time and place. She promised herself that his brother's
38:16
Speaker 1: anger would turn away. Note yielding pacifies great offenses, and
38:22
Speaker 1: even those that have a good cause and God on
38:24
Speaker 1: their side, must yet use this with other prudent expedients
38:29
Speaker 1: for their own preservation. Two, she impressed Isaac with an
38:34
Speaker 1: apprehension of the necessity of Jacob's going among her relations
38:37
Speaker 1: upon another account, which was to take a wife verse
38:40
Speaker 1: forty six. She would not tell him of Esau's wicked
38:44
Speaker 1: design against the life of Jacob, lest it should trouble him,
38:48
Speaker 1: but prudently took another way to gain her point. Isaac
38:51
Speaker 1: saw as uneasy as he was to ESA's being unequally
38:54
Speaker 1: yoked with Hittites, and therefore with a very good color
38:58
Speaker 1: of reason, she moves to have Jacob married to one
39:01
Speaker 1: that was better principled. Note one miscarriage should serve as
39:05
Speaker 1: a warning to prevent another. Those are kireless indeed that
39:08
Speaker 1: stumble twice at the same stone. Yet Rebecca seems to
39:12
Speaker 1: have expressed herself somewhat too warmly in the matter when
39:15
Speaker 1: she said, what good will my life do me? If
39:18
Speaker 1: Jacob marry a Canaanite. Thanks be to God, all our
39:22
Speaker 1: comfort is not lodged in one hand. We may do
39:25
Speaker 1: the work of life and enjoy the comforts of life,
39:28
Speaker 1: though everything do not fall out of our mind, and
39:31
Speaker 1: though our relations be not in our respects agreeable to us.
39:34
Speaker 1: Perhaps Rebecca spoke with this concern because she saw it
39:38
Speaker 1: necessary for the quickening of Isaac to give speedy orders
39:41
Speaker 1: in the matter. Observe, though Jacob was himself very towardly
39:46
Speaker 1: and well fixed in his religion, yet he had need
39:49
Speaker 1: to be put out of the way of temptation. Even
39:52
Speaker 1: he was in danger, both of following the bad example
39:54
Speaker 1: of his brother and of being drawn into a snare
39:57
Speaker 1: by it. We must not presume too far upon the
40:00
Speaker 1: wisdom and resolution, No, not of those children that are
40:04
Speaker 1: most hopeful and promising, but care must be taken to
40:07
Speaker 1: keep them out of harm's way. End of Chapter twenty seven.