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

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty two, we have here Jacob, still upon his
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Speaker 1: journey towards Canaan. Never did so many memorable things occur
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Speaker 1: in any march as in this of Jacob's little family.
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Speaker 1: By the way, he meets numeral one with good tidings
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Speaker 1: from his God Verses one and two, Numeral two with
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Speaker 1: bad tidings from his brother, to whom he sent a
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Speaker 1: message to notify his return Verses three through six. In
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Speaker 1: his distress, number one, he divides his company Verses seven
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Speaker 1: and eight. Number two, he makes his prayer to God.
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Speaker 1: Verses nine through twelve. Number three, he sends a present
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Speaker 1: to his brother Verses thirteen through twenty three. Number four,
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Speaker 1: he wrestles with the angel Verses twenty four through thirty two.
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Speaker 1: Jacob pursuing his journey b. C. Seventeen thirty nine, Verses
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Speaker 1: one and two, and Jacob he went on his way,
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Speaker 1: and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob
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Speaker 1: saw them, he said, this is God's host, and he
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Speaker 1: called the name of that place Mahana'am. Jacob, having got
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Speaker 1: clear of Laban, pursues his journey homewards towards Canaan. When
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Speaker 1: God has helped us through difficulties, we should go on
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Speaker 1: our way heavenward with so much the more cheerfulness and resolution.
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Speaker 1: Now Number one here is Jacob's convoy in his journey.
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Speaker 1: Verse one. The angels of God met him in a
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Speaker 1: visible appearance, whether in a vision by day or in
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Speaker 1: a dream by night, as when he saw them upon
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Speaker 1: the latter. Chapter twenty eight, verse twelve is uncertain. Note
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Speaker 1: those that keep in a good way have always a
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Speaker 1: good guard. Angels themselves are ministering spirits for their safety.
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Speaker 1: He Brews, Chapter one, verse fourteen. Where Jacob pitched his tents,
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Speaker 1: they pitched theirs about him Psalms thirty four, verse seven.
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Speaker 1: They met him to bid him welcome to Canaan again
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Speaker 1: a more honorable reception. This was than ever any prince
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Speaker 1: had that was met by the magistrates of a city.
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Speaker 1: In their formalities. They met him to congratulate him on
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Speaker 1: his arrival as well as on his escape from Laban,
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Speaker 1: for they have pleasure in the prosperity of God's servants.
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Speaker 1: They had invisibly attended him all along, but now they
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Speaker 1: appeared to him because he had greater dangers before him
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Speaker 1: than those he had hitherto encountered. Note when God designs
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Speaker 1: his people for extraordinary trials. He prepares them by extraordinary comforts.
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Speaker 1: We should think it had been more seasonable for these
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Speaker 1: angels to have appeared to him amidst the perplexity and
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Speaker 1: agitation occasioned first by Laban and afterwards by Esau, than
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Speaker 1: in this calm and quiet interval, when he saw not
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Speaker 1: himself in any imminent peril. But God will have us
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Speaker 1: when we are in peace, to provide for trouble, and
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Speaker 1: when trouble comes, to live upon former observations and experiences.
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Speaker 1: For he walked by faith, not by sight. God's people
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Speaker 1: at death are returning to Canaan, to their father's house,
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Speaker 1: and then the angels of God will meet them to
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Speaker 1: congratulate them on the happy finishing of their servitude, and
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Speaker 1: to carry them to their rest. Number two. The comfortable
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Speaker 1: notice he took of this convoy. Verse two, This is
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Speaker 1: God's host, and therefore subscript one, it is a powerful host.
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Speaker 1: Very great is he that is thus attended, and very
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Speaker 1: safe that is thus guarded. Subscript two. God must have
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Speaker 1: the praise of this protection. This I may thank God for,
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Speaker 1: for it is his host. A good man may with
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Speaker 1: an eye of faith see the same that Jacob saw
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Speaker 1: with his bodily eyes. By believing that promise Psalms. Forty
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Speaker 1: one and eleven, he shall give his angels charge over thee.
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Speaker 1: What need have we to dispute whether every particular saint
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Speaker 1: has a guardian angel, when we are sure he has
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Speaker 1: a guard of angels about him. To preserve the remembrance
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Speaker 1: of this favor, Jacob gave a name to the p
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Speaker 1: from it Mehonaeum. Two hosts or two camps, that is say,
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Speaker 1: some of the Rabin. One host of the guardian angels
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Speaker 1: of Mesopotamia, who conducted Jacob thence and delivered him safely
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Speaker 1: to the other host of the angels of Canaan, who
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Speaker 1: met him upon the borders where he now was. Rather,
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Speaker 1: they appeared to him and two hosts, one on either side,
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Speaker 1: or one in the front and the other in the rear,
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Speaker 1: to protect him from Laban behind and Esau before that
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Speaker 1: they might be a complete guard. Thus he has compassed
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Speaker 1: with God's favor. Perhaps an allusion to this, the church
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Speaker 1: is called Mehonaeum. Two armies Cantitudes six and thirteen. Here
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Speaker 1: were Jacob's family, which made one army representing the church.
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Speaker 1: Militant and itinerant on earth, and the angels another army
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Speaker 1: representing the Church triumphant and at rest in heaven Verses
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Speaker 1: three through eight. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau,
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Speaker 1: his brother unto the land of Seer, the country of Edom.
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Speaker 1: And he commanded them, saying, thus shall ye speak unto
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Speaker 1: my lord Esau, thy servant, Jacob saith. Thus I have
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Speaker 1: sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now. And I
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Speaker 1: have oxen and asses, flocks, and men servants and women servants.
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Speaker 1: And I have sent to tell my lord that I
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Speaker 1: may find grace in thy sight. And the messengers returned
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Speaker 1: to Jacob saying, we came to thy brother Esau, and
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Speaker 1: also he cometh to meet thee and four hundred men
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Speaker 1: with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and
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Speaker 1: he divided the people that was with him, and the
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Speaker 1: flocks and herds and the camels into two bands, and said,
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Speaker 1: if he saw come to the one company and smite it,
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Speaker 1: then the other company, which is left, shall escape. Now
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Speaker 1: that Jacob was re entering Canaan, God by the vision
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Speaker 1: of angels, reminded him of the friends he had when
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Speaker 1: he left it, and thence he takes occasion to remind
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Speaker 1: himself of the enemies he had, particularly Esau. It is
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Speaker 1: probable that Rebecca had sent him word of Esau's settlement
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Speaker 1: and seer, and of the continuance of his enmity to him.
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Speaker 1: What shall poor Jacob do? He longs to see his father,
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Speaker 1: and yet he dreads to see his brother. He rejoices
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Speaker 1: to see Canaan again, and yet cannot but rejoice with
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Speaker 1: trembling because of Esau. Numeral one. He sends a very
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Speaker 1: kind and humble message to Esau. It does not appear
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Speaker 1: that his way lay through Esau's country, or that he
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Speaker 1: needed to ask his leave for a passage, but his
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Speaker 1: way lay near it, and he would not go by
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Speaker 1: him without paying him the respect due to a brother,
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Speaker 1: a twin brother, an only brother, an elder brother, a
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Speaker 1: brother offended. Note number one. Though our relations fail in
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Speaker 1: their duty to us, yet we must make conscience of
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Speaker 1: doing our duty to them. Number two. It is a
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Speaker 1: piece of friendship and brotherly love to acquaint our friends
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Speaker 1: with our condition and inquire into theirs. Acts of civility
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Speaker 1: may helped to slay enmities. Jacob's message to him is
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Speaker 1: very obliging Verses four and five. Subscript one he calls
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Speaker 1: Esau his lord, himself his servant, to intimate that he
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Speaker 1: did not insist upon the prerogatives of the birthright and
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Speaker 1: blessing he had obtained for himself, but left it to
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Speaker 1: God to fulfill his own purpose in his seed. Note
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Speaker 1: yielding pacifies great offenses Ecclesiastes ten, verse four. We must
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Speaker 1: not refuse to speak in a respectful and submissive manner
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Speaker 1: to those that are ever so unjustly exasperated against it.
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Speaker 1: Subscript two he gives him a short account of himself,
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Speaker 1: that he was not a fugitive and a vagabond, but
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Speaker 1: though long absent, had had a certain dwelling place with
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Speaker 1: his own relations. I have sojourned with Laban and stayed
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Speaker 1: there till now, And that he was not a beggar,
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Speaker 1: Nor did he come home as the prodigal son, destitute
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Speaker 1: of necessaries and likely to be a charge to his relations. No,
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Speaker 1: I have oxen and asses this he knew, would, if anything,
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Speaker 1: recommend him to Esau's good opinion. And subscript three he
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Speaker 1: courts his favor. I have sent that I might find
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Speaker 1: grace in thy sight. Note it is no disparagement to
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Speaker 1: those that have the better cause to become petitioners for
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Speaker 1: reconciliation and to sue for peace as well as right.
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Speaker 1: Numeral two. He receives a very formidable account of Esau's
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Speaker 1: warlike preparations against him Verse six, not a word but
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Speaker 1: a blow, a very coarse return to his kind message,
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Speaker 1: and a sorry welcome home to a poor brother. He
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Speaker 1: comes to meet thee and four hundred men with him.
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Speaker 1: He is now weary of waiting for the days of
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Speaker 1: mourning for this good father, and even before they come,
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Speaker 1: he resolves to slay his brother. Number one. He remembers
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Speaker 1: the old quarrel and will now be avenged on him
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Speaker 1: for the birthright and blessing, and if possible, defeat Jacob's
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Speaker 1: expectations from both. Note malice harbored will last long and
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Speaker 1: find an occasion to break out with violence a great
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Speaker 1: while after the provocations given. Angry men have good memories.
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Speaker 1: Number two. He envies Jacob what little estate he had,
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Speaker 1: and though he himself was now possessed of a much
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Speaker 1: better yet nothing will serve him but to feed his
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Speaker 1: eyes upon Jacob's ruin and fill his fields with Jacob's spoils.
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Speaker 1: Perhaps the account Jacob sent him of his wealth did
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Speaker 1: but provoke him the more. Number three, he concludes it
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Speaker 1: easy to destroy him, now that he was upon the road,
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Speaker 1: a poor, weary traveler, unfixed, and as he thinks, unguarded.
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Speaker 1: Those that have the serpent's poison have commonly the serpent's
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Speaker 1: policy to take the first and fairest opportunity that offers
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Speaker 1: itself for revenge. Number four. He resolves to do it suddenly,
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Speaker 1: and before Jacob had come to his father, lest he
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Speaker 1: should interpose and mediate between them. Yesa was one of
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Speaker 1: those that hated peace. When Jacob speaks speaks peaceably, he
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Speaker 1: is for war Psalms seventy, verses six and seven. Out
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Speaker 1: he marches, burred on with rage and intent on blood
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Speaker 1: and murders. Four hundred men he had with him, probably
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Speaker 1: such as used to hunt with him, armed, no doubt,
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Speaker 1: rough and cruel like their leader, ready to execute the
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Speaker 1: word of command, though ever so barbarous, and now breathing
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Speaker 1: nothing but threatenings and slaughter. The tenth part of these
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Speaker 1: were enough to cut off poor Jacob and his guiltless,
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Speaker 1: helpless family root and branch. No marvel therefore, that it
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Speaker 1: follows verse seven. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed,
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Speaker 1: perhaps the more so from having scarcely recovered the fright
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Speaker 1: Laban had put him in. Note many are the troubles
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Speaker 1: of the righteous in this world, and sometimes the end
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Speaker 1: of one is but the beginning of another. The clouds
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Speaker 1: return after the rain. Jacob, though a man of great faith,
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Speaker 1: yet was now greatly afraid. Note A lively apprehension of
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Speaker 1: danger and a quickening fear arising from it may very
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Speaker 1: well consist with a humble confidence in God's power and promise.
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Speaker 1: Christ himself, in his agony, was sorely amazed Numeral three.
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Speaker 1: He puts himself into the best posture of defense that
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Speaker 1: his present circumstances will admit. It was absurd to think
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Speaker 1: of making resistance. All his contrivance is to make an
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Speaker 1: escape Verses seven and eight. He thinks it prudent not
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Speaker 1: to venture all in one bottom, and therefore divides what
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Speaker 1: he had into two companies, that if one were smitten,
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Speaker 1: the other might escape. Like a tender, careful master of
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Speaker 1: a family, he is more soilicious for their safety than
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Speaker 1: for his own. He divided his company, not as Abraham
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Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen, Verse fifteen for fight, but for flight Jacob's
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Speaker 1: prayer b. C. Seventeen thirty nine, verses nine through twelve.
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Speaker 1: And Jacob said, Oh, God of my father Abraham, and
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Speaker 1: God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst. Do
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Speaker 1: unto me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred,
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Speaker 1: and I will deal well with THEE. I am not
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Speaker 1: worthy of the least of all the mercies and of
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Speaker 1: all the truth which thou hast shewed, and too thy servant.
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Speaker 1: For with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and
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Speaker 1: now I am become two bands. Deliver me. I pray
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Speaker 1: THEE from the hand of my brother, from the hand
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Speaker 1: of Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come
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Speaker 1: and smite me and the mother with the children. And
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Speaker 1: thou Saidst. I will surely do THEE good, and make
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Speaker 1: thy seat as the sand of the sea, which cannot
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Speaker 1: be numbered for multitude. Our rule is to call upon
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Speaker 1: God in the time of trouble. We have here an
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Speaker 1: example to this rule, and the success encourages us to
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Speaker 1: follow this example. It was now a time of Jacob's trouble,
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Speaker 1: but he shall be saved out of it, and here
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Speaker 1: we have him praying for that salvation. Jeremiah chapter thirty,
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Speaker 1: verse seven. In his distress, he sought the Lord, and
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Speaker 1: he heard him. Note times of fear should be times
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Speaker 1: of prayer. Whatever frightens us should drive us to our
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Speaker 1: knees to our God. Jacob had lately seen his guard
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Speaker 1: of angels, but in this distress he applied to God,
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Speaker 1: not to them. He knew they were his fellow servants.
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Speaker 1: Revelations chapter twenty two, verse nine. Nor did he consult
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Speaker 1: Laban's tarif him. It was enough for him that he
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Speaker 1: had a God to go to. To him, he addresses
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Speaker 1: himself with all possible solemnity. So running for safety into
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Speaker 1: the name of the Lord is a strong tower. Proverbs
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Speaker 1: chapter eighteen, verse ten. This prayer is the more remarkable
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Speaker 1: because it won him the honor of being Israel, a
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Speaker 1: prince with God and the father of the praying remnant,
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Speaker 1: who are hence called the seat of Jacob, to whom
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Speaker 1: he never said, seek you me in vain. Now it
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Speaker 1: is worth while to inquire what there was extraordinary in
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Speaker 1: this prayer that it should gain the petitioner all this
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Speaker 1: honor Numeral one. The request itself is one and very express.
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Speaker 1: Deliver me from the hand of my brother verse eleven.
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Speaker 1: Though there was no human probability on his side, yet
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Speaker 1: he believed the power of God could rescue him as
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Speaker 1: a lamb out of the bloody jaws of the lion.
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Speaker 1: Note Number one. We have leave to be particular in
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Speaker 1: our addresses to God, to mention the particular straits and
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Speaker 1: difficulties we are in. For the God with whom we
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Speaker 1: have to do is one we may be free with.
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Speaker 1: We have liberty of speech parisia at the throne of grace.
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Speaker 1: Number two. When our brethren aim to be our destroyers,
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Speaker 1: it is our comfort that we have a Father to
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Speaker 1: whom we may apply as our deliverer Numeral two. The
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Speaker 1: pleas are many and very powerful. Never was cause better
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Speaker 1: ordered job Chapter twenty three, Verse four. He offers up
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Speaker 1: his request with great faith, fervency, and humility. How earnestly
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Speaker 1: does he beg deliver me? I pray thee Verse eleven.
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Speaker 1: His fear made him importunate with what holy logic does
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Speaker 1: he argue? With? What divine eloquence? Does he plead here
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Speaker 1: is a noble copy to write? After number one, he
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Speaker 1: addresses himself to God as the God of his father's
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Speaker 1: Verse nine. Such was the humblest self denying sense he
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Speaker 1: had of his own unworthiness, that he did not call
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Speaker 1: God his own god, but a god and covenant with
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Speaker 1: his ancestors, Oh, God of my father Abraham, and God
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Speaker 1: of my father Isaac. And this he could the better plead,
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Speaker 1: because the covenant, by divine designation was entailed upon him.
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Speaker 1: Note God's covenant with our fathers may be a comfort
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Speaker 1: to us when we are in distress. It has often
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Speaker 1: been so to the Lord's people Psalms, Chapter twenty two,
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Speaker 1: four and five. Being born in God's house, we are
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Speaker 1: taken under his special protection. Number two. He produces his warrant.
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Speaker 1: Thou saidst done to me return unto thy country. He
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Speaker 1: did not rashly leave his place with Laban, nor undertake
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Speaker 1: this journey out of a fickle humor or a foolish
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Speaker 1: fondness for his native country, but in obedience to God's command.
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Speaker 1: Note subscript one. We may be in the way of
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Speaker 1: our duty, and yet may meet with trouble and distress
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Speaker 1: in that way. As prosperity will not prove us in
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Speaker 1: the right, so cross events will not prove us in
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Speaker 1: the wrong. We may be going whether God calls us
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Speaker 1: and yet may think our way hedged up with thorns.
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Speaker 1: Subscript Too, we may comfortably trust God with our safety
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Speaker 1: while we carefully keep to our duty. If God be
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Speaker 1: our guide, he will be our guard. Number three, He
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Speaker 1: humbly acknowledges his own unworthiness to receive any favor from
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Speaker 1: God verse ten, I am not worthy. It is an
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Speaker 1: unusual plea. Some would think he should have pleaded that
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Speaker 1: what was now in danger was his own against all
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Speaker 1: the world, and that he had earned it dear enough. No,
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Speaker 1: he pleads, Lord, I am not worthy of it. Note
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Speaker 1: self denial and self abasement well become us. In all
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Speaker 1: our addresses to the Throne of Grace. Christ never commended
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Speaker 1: any of his petitioners so much as him who said, Lord,
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Speaker 1: I am not worthy Matthew Chapter eight, verse eight, and
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Speaker 1: her who said truth, Lord, Yet the dogs eat of
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Speaker 1: the crumbs which fall from their master's table Matthew, Chapter fifteen,
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Speaker 1: verse twenty seven. Now observe here Subscript one, how magnificently
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Speaker 1: and honorably he speaks of the mercies of God. To him,
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Speaker 1: we have here mercies in the plural number, an inexhaustible spring,
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Speaker 1: and innumerable streams, mercies and truth that is, past mercies
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Speaker 1: given according to the promise, and further mercy secured by
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Speaker 1: the promise. Note what is laid up in God's truth,
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Speaker 1: as well as what is laid out in God's mercies,
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Speaker 1: is the matter both of the comforts and the praises
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Speaker 1: of active believers. Nay, observe it is all the mercies
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Speaker 1: and all the truth. The manner of expression is copious,
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Speaker 1: and intimates that his heart was full of God's goodness.
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Speaker 1: Subscript too, how meanly and humbly he speaks of himself,
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Speaker 1: disclaiming all thought of his own merit. I am not
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Speaker 1: worthy of the least of all thy mercies, much less
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Speaker 1: am I worthy of so great a favor as this
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Speaker 1: I am now suing. For Jacob was a con considerable man,
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Speaker 1: and upon many accounts, very deserving, and in treating with
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Speaker 1: Laban had justly insisted on his merits. But not before God.
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Speaker 1: I am less than all thy mercies. So the word is.
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Speaker 1: Note the best and greatest of men are utterly unworthy
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Speaker 1: of the least favor from God, and just be ready
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Speaker 1: to own it upon all occasions. It was the excellent
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Speaker 1: mister Herbert's motto, less than the least of all God's mercies,
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Speaker 1: those are best prepared for the greatest mercies, to see
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Speaker 1: themselves unworthy of the least number four, He thankfully owns
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Speaker 1: God's goodness to him and his banishment, and how much
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Speaker 1: it had outdone his expectations. With my staff, I passed
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Speaker 1: over this Jordan, poor and desolate, like a forlorn and
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Speaker 1: despised pilgrim. He had no guides, no companions, no attendants,
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Speaker 1: no conveniences for travel, but his staff, only nothing else
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Speaker 1: to stay himself upon. And now I have become two bands.
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Speaker 1: Now I am surrounded with a numerous and comfortable retinue
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Speaker 1: of children and servants. Though it was his distress that
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Speaker 1: had now obliged him to divide his family into two bands,
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Speaker 1: yet he makes use of that for the magnifying of
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Speaker 1: the mercy of his increase. Note subscript one. The increase
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Speaker 1: of our families is then comfortable, indeed to us, when
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Speaker 1: we see God's mercies and his truth in it. Subscript two.
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Speaker 1: Those whose latter end greatly increases, aught with humility and
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Speaker 1: thankfulness to remember how small their beginning was. Jacob pleads, Lord,
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Speaker 1: thou didst keep me when I went out with only
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Speaker 1: my staff and had but one life to lose. Wilt
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Speaker 1: thou not keep me now that so many are embarked
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Speaker 1: with me? Number five he urges the extremity of the
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Speaker 1: peril he was in. Lord, deliver me from me, saw
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Speaker 1: for I fear him. Verse eleven. The people of God
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Speaker 1: have not been shy of telling God their fears, for
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Speaker 1: they know he takes cognizance of them and considers them.
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Speaker 1: The fear that quickens prayer is itself pleadable. It was
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Speaker 1: not a robber, but a murderer that he was afraid of,
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Speaker 1: Nor was it his own life only that lay at stake,
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Speaker 1: but the mothers and the children's that had left their
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Speaker 1: native soil to go along with him. Note natural affection
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Speaker 1: may furnish us with allowable, acceptable please. In prayer number six,
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Speaker 1: he insists especially upon the promise God had made him.
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Speaker 1: Verse nine, thou saidst I will deal well with THEE.
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Speaker 1: And again in the clothes verse twelve, thou set'st I
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Speaker 1: will surely do THEE good. Note subscript one. The best
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Speaker 1: we can say to God in prayer is what he
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Speaker 1: has said to us. God's promises, as they are the
20:33
Speaker 1: surest guide of our desires. In prayer and furnish us
20:36
Speaker 1: with the best petitions, so they are the firmest ground
20:39
Speaker 1: of our hopes, and furnish us with the best. Please, Lord,
20:43
Speaker 1: thou set'st thus and thus, and wilt thou not be
20:45
Speaker 1: as good as thy word, the word upon which thou
20:48
Speaker 1: had caused me to hope. Psalms one hundred nineteen, verse
20:50
Speaker 1: forty nine, subscript two. The most general promises are applicable
20:55
Speaker 1: to particular cases. Thou saidst, I will do thee good, Lord,
20:59
Speaker 1: do good in this matter. He pleads also a particular promise,
21:05
Speaker 1: that of the multiplying of his seed. Lord, What will
21:08
Speaker 1: become of that promise if they be all cut off?
21:11
Speaker 1: Note sub point one. There are promises to the family
21:15
Speaker 1: of good people which are improvable in prayer for family
21:19
Speaker 1: mercies ordinary and extraordinary Chapter seventeen, verse seven. Psalms Chapter
21:28
Speaker 1: sixty two, verse two, and Chapter fifty two, verse twenty eight.
21:34
Speaker 1: Sub point two. The world's threatening should drive us to
21:37
Speaker 1: God's promises. Jacob's present to esau b c. Seventeen thirty nine,
21:44
Speaker 1: Verses thirteen through twenty three. And he lodged there that
21:48
Speaker 1: same night and took of that which came to his hand,
21:51
Speaker 1: at present for Esau his brother, two hundred she goats
21:55
Speaker 1: and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
22:00
Speaker 1: thirty milk camels with their colts forty kind and ten bulls,
22:04
Speaker 1: twenty she asses and ten foals. And he delivered them
22:08
Speaker 1: into the hand of his servants. Every drove by themselves,
22:12
Speaker 1: and said, unto his servants, pass over before me, and
22:15
Speaker 1: put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded
22:19
Speaker 1: the foremost, saying, when Yesau, my brother meeteth THEE and
22:23
Speaker 1: asketh THEE, saying whose art thou and whither goest thou?
22:27
Speaker 1: And whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say
22:31
Speaker 1: they be thy servant Jacobs. It is a present sent
22:34
Speaker 1: unto my lord Esau. And behold also he is behind us.
22:39
Speaker 1: And so commanded he the second and the third, and
22:43
Speaker 1: all that followed the drove, saying, on this manner, shall
22:46
Speaker 1: ye speak unto Esau when ye find him, and say,
22:49
Speaker 1: ye moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For
22:53
Speaker 1: he said, I will appease him with the present that
22:55
Speaker 1: goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face,
22:59
Speaker 1: for venture he will accept of me. So went the
23:03
Speaker 1: present over before him, and himself lodged that night in
23:06
Speaker 1: the company. And he rose up that night and took
23:10
Speaker 1: his two wives, and his two women servants, and his
23:12
Speaker 1: eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbek, And he
23:16
Speaker 1: took them and sent them over the brook, and sent
23:18
Speaker 1: over that he had. Jacob, having piously made God his
23:23
Speaker 1: friend by a prayer, is here prudently endeavoring to make
23:26
Speaker 1: Esau his friend by a present. He had prayed to
23:30
Speaker 1: God to deliver him from the hand of Esau, for
23:32
Speaker 1: he feared him. But neither did his fear sink into
23:36
Speaker 1: such a despair as dispirits for the use of means,
23:39
Speaker 1: nor did his prayer make him presume upon God's mercy
23:43
Speaker 1: without the use of means. Note, when we have prayed
23:47
Speaker 1: to God for any mercy, we must second our prayers
23:51
Speaker 1: with our endeavors. Else instead of trusting God, we tempt him.
23:56
Speaker 1: We must so depend upon God's providence as to make
23:59
Speaker 1: use of our oars own prudence. Help thyself, and God
24:02
Speaker 1: will help thee. God answers our prayers by teaching us
24:06
Speaker 1: to order our affairs with discretion. To pacify Esau Numeral one,
24:12
Speaker 1: Jacob sent him a very noble present. Not of jewels
24:15
Speaker 1: or fine garments he had them not, but of cattle,
24:19
Speaker 1: to the number of five hundred and eighty in all
24:22
Speaker 1: verses thirteen through fifteen. Now number one, it was an
24:27
Speaker 1: evidence of the great increase with which God had blessed
24:30
Speaker 1: Jacob that he could spare such a number of cattle
24:33
Speaker 1: out of his stock. Number two it was in evidence
24:37
Speaker 1: of his wisdom that he would willingly part with some
24:40
Speaker 1: to secure the rest. Some men's coveteousness loses them more
24:44
Speaker 1: than ever it gained them, and by grudging a little expense,
24:47
Speaker 1: they exposed themselves to great damage. Skin for skin, and
24:51
Speaker 1: all that a man has, if he be a wise man,
24:54
Speaker 1: he will give for his life. Number three It was
24:58
Speaker 1: a present that he thought would be acceptable to Esau,
25:01
Speaker 1: who had traded so much in hunting wild beasts, that
25:05
Speaker 1: perhaps he was but ill furnished with chame cattle with
25:08
Speaker 1: which to stalk his new conquests. And we may suppose
25:11
Speaker 1: that the mixed colors of Jacob's cattle, ringstraked, speckled, and spotted,
25:16
Speaker 1: would please Esau's fancy. Number four. He promised himself that
25:22
Speaker 1: by this present he should gain Esau's favor for a
25:25
Speaker 1: gift commonly prospers which way soever it turns Proverbs chapter seventeen,
25:31
Speaker 1: verse eight. And makes room for a man Proverbs chapter eighteen,
25:36
Speaker 1: verse sixteen. Nay, it pacifies anger and strong wrath. Proverbs
25:41
Speaker 1: twenty one, verse fourteen. Note sub point one, we must
25:46
Speaker 1: not despair of reconciling ourselves, even to those that have
25:49
Speaker 1: been most exasperated against us. We ought not to judge
25:53
Speaker 1: men unappeasable till we have tried to appease them. Sub
25:57
Speaker 1: point two. Peace and love, though purchased dearly, will prove
26:02
Speaker 1: a good bargain to the purchaser. Many a morose, ill
26:06
Speaker 1: natured man would have said, in Jacob's case, Esau has
26:10
Speaker 1: vowed my death without cause, and he shall never be
26:13
Speaker 1: a farthing the better for me. I will see him
26:15
Speaker 1: far enough before I will send him a present. But
26:18
Speaker 1: Jacob forgives and forgets Numeral two. He sent him a
26:24
Speaker 1: very humble message, which he ordered his servants to deliver
26:27
Speaker 1: in the best manner Verses seventeen and eighteen. They must
26:31
Speaker 1: call Esau their lord and Jacob his servant. They must
26:35
Speaker 1: tell him the cattle they had was a small present
26:38
Speaker 1: which Jacob had sent him as a specimen of his
26:41
Speaker 1: acquisitions while he was abroad. The cattle he sent were
26:45
Speaker 1: to be disposed of in several droves, and the servants
26:48
Speaker 1: that attended each drove were to deliver the same message,
26:52
Speaker 1: that the present might appear the more valuable, and his submission,
26:56
Speaker 1: so often repeated, might be the more likely to influence Esau.
27:01
Speaker 1: They must especially take care to tell him that Jacob
27:04
Speaker 1: was coming after Verses eighteen through twenty, that he might
27:08
Speaker 1: not suspect he had fled through fear. Note A friendly
27:13
Speaker 1: confidence in men's goodness may help to prevent the mischief
27:16
Speaker 1: designed us by their badness. If Jacob will seem not
27:20
Speaker 1: to be afraid of Esau, Esau, it may be hoped
27:23
Speaker 1: will not be a terror to Jacob. Jacob wrestles with
27:27
Speaker 1: an angel b. C. Seventeen thirty nine, Verses twenty four
27:31
Speaker 1: through thirty two. And Jacob was left alone, and there
27:36
Speaker 1: wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
27:39
Speaker 1: And when he saw that he prevailed not against him,
27:42
Speaker 1: he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow
27:46
Speaker 1: of Jacob's sigh was out of joint as he wrestled
27:48
Speaker 1: with him, and he said let me go, for the
27:51
Speaker 1: day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
27:54
Speaker 1: go except thou bless me. And he said unto him,
27:57
Speaker 1: what is thy name? And he said Jacob. And he said,
28:01
Speaker 1: thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel,
28:05
Speaker 1: for as a prince, hast thou power with God and
28:07
Speaker 1: with men, And hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said,
28:12
Speaker 1: tell me, I pray thee thy name. And he said,
28:14
Speaker 1: wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?
28:18
Speaker 1: And he blessed him there, and Jacob called the name
28:21
Speaker 1: of the place Peniel. For I have seen God face
28:25
Speaker 1: to face, and my life is preserved. And as he
28:29
Speaker 1: passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, and he
28:32
Speaker 1: halted upon his thigh. Therefore, the children of Israel eat
28:35
Speaker 1: not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the
28:38
Speaker 1: hollow of the thigh unto this day, because he touched
28:41
Speaker 1: the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
28:46
Speaker 1: We have here the remarkable story of Jacob's wrestling with
28:49
Speaker 1: the angel and prevailing, which is referred to Hoseiah chapter twelve,
28:54
Speaker 1: verse four. Very early in the morning, a great while
28:57
Speaker 1: before day Jacob had helped his wife, wives and his
29:00
Speaker 1: children over the river, and he desired to be private
29:03
Speaker 1: and was left alone, that he might again more fully
29:06
Speaker 1: spread his cares and fears before God in prayer. Note
29:11
Speaker 1: we ought to continue instant in prayer, always to pray,
29:15
Speaker 1: and not to faint frequency and importunity in prayer prepare
29:19
Speaker 1: us for mercy. While Jacob was earnest in prayer, stirring
29:23
Speaker 1: up himself to take hold on God, an angel takes
29:27
Speaker 1: hold on him. Some think this was a created angel,
29:31
Speaker 1: the Angel of his Presence Isaiah chapter sixty three, verse nine,
29:36
Speaker 1: one of those that always behold the face of our
29:39
Speaker 1: Father and attend on this Shekinah or the divine Majesty,
29:44
Speaker 1: which probably Jacob had also in view. Others think it
29:48
Speaker 1: was Michael, our Prince, the eternal Word, the Angel of
29:51
Speaker 1: the Covenant, who is indeed the Lord of the Angels,
29:55
Speaker 1: who often appeared in a human shape before he assumed
29:58
Speaker 1: the human nature for a perpetual whichsoever it was, we
30:02
Speaker 1: are sure God's name was in him. Exodus chapter twenty three,
30:07
Speaker 1: verse twenty one. Observe numeral one. How Jacob and this
30:12
Speaker 1: angel engaged verse twenty four. It was a single combat
30:17
Speaker 1: hand to hand. They had neither of them any seconds.
30:21
Speaker 1: Jacob was now full of care and fear about the
30:23
Speaker 1: interview he expected next day with his brother, and to
30:27
Speaker 1: aggravate the trial, God himself seemed to come forth against
30:30
Speaker 1: him as an enemy, to oppose his entrance into the
30:33
Speaker 1: land of promise, and to dispute the pass with him,
30:37
Speaker 1: not suffering him to follow his wives and children, whom
30:40
Speaker 1: he had sent before. Note. Strong believers must expect diverse
30:45
Speaker 1: temptations and strong ones. We are told by the prophet Hosea,
30:50
Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, verse four. How Jacob wrestled. He wept and
30:54
Speaker 1: made supplication. Prayers and tears were his weapons. It was
30:59
Speaker 1: not only a corporal but a spiritual wrestling by the
31:02
Speaker 1: vigorous actings of faith and holy desire. And thus all
31:07
Speaker 1: the spiritual seed of Jacob that pray in praying still
31:10
Speaker 1: wrestle with God Numeral two. What was the success of
31:15
Speaker 1: the engagement? Number one? Jacob kept his ground, though the
31:21
Speaker 1: struggle continued long. The Angel prevailed not against him verse
31:26
Speaker 1: twenty five. That is, this discouragement did not shake his
31:30
Speaker 1: faith nor silence his prayer. It was not in his
31:34
Speaker 1: own strength that he wrestled nor by his own strength
31:38
Speaker 1: that he prevailed, but in and by strength derived from Heaven.
31:43
Speaker 1: That of Job illustrates this Job chapter twenty three, verse six.
31:48
Speaker 1: Will he plead against me with his great power? No,
31:52
Speaker 1: had the angel done so. Jacob had been crushed. But
31:56
Speaker 1: he will put strength in me, and by that strength
31:59
Speaker 1: Jacob had power over the Angel. Hoseiah chapter twelve, verse four.
32:05
Speaker 1: Note we cannot prevail with God, but in his own strength.
32:09
Speaker 1: It is his spirit that intercedes in us and helps
32:12
Speaker 1: our infirmities. Romans chapter eight, verse twenty six, number two.
32:19
Speaker 1: The Angel put out Jacob's thigh to show him what
32:23
Speaker 1: he could do, and that it was God he was
32:25
Speaker 1: wrestling with, for no man could disjoint his thigh with
32:29
Speaker 1: a touch. Some think that Jacob felt little or no
32:32
Speaker 1: pain from this hurt. It is probable that he did not,
32:36
Speaker 1: for he did not so much as halt till the
32:39
Speaker 1: struggle was over verse thirty one. And if so, this
32:44
Speaker 1: was an evidence of a divine touch, indeed, which wounded
32:48
Speaker 1: and healed at the same time. Jacob prevailed and yet
32:52
Speaker 1: had his thigh put out. Note. Wrestling believers may obtain
32:57
Speaker 1: glorious victories and yet come off with broken bones, For
33:02
Speaker 1: when they are weak, then are they strong. Weak in themselves,
33:07
Speaker 1: but strong in Christ. Second Corinthians, Chapter twelve, Verse ten.
33:13
Speaker 1: Our honors and comforts in this world have their alloys.
33:17
Speaker 1: Number three. The Angel, by an admirable condescension, mildly requests
33:24
Speaker 1: Jacob to let him go verse twenty six. As God
33:28
Speaker 1: said to Moses Exodus, chapter thirty two, verse ten, let
33:32
Speaker 1: me alone. Could not a mighty angel get clear of
33:36
Speaker 1: Jacob's grapples. He could, but thus he would put an
33:40
Speaker 1: honor on Jacob's faith in prayer and further try his constancy.
33:45
Speaker 1: The king is held in the galleries Canticles, chapter seven,
33:49
Speaker 1: verse five. I held him, says the spouse, and would
33:52
Speaker 1: not let him go Canticles, Chapter three, verse four. The
33:58
Speaker 1: reason the angel gives why he would be on is
34:00
Speaker 1: because the day breaks, and therefore he would not any
34:03
Speaker 1: longer detain Jacob, who had business to do, a journey
34:06
Speaker 1: to go, a family to look after, which, especially in
34:10
Speaker 1: this critical juncture, called for his attendants. Note everything is
34:15
Speaker 1: beautiful in its season. Even the business of religion and
34:19
Speaker 1: the comforts of communion with God must sometimes give way
34:23
Speaker 1: to the necessary affairs of this life. God will have
34:27
Speaker 1: mercy and not sacrifice. Number four, Jacob persists in his
34:33
Speaker 1: holy importunity. I will not let thee go except thou
34:37
Speaker 1: bless me, whatever becomes of his family and journey. He
34:41
Speaker 1: resolves to make the best he can of this opportunity,
34:45
Speaker 1: and not to lose the advantage of his victory. He
34:48
Speaker 1: does not mean to wrestle all night for nothing, but
34:51
Speaker 1: humbly resolves he will have a blessing, and rather shall
34:54
Speaker 1: all his bones be put out of joint than he
34:56
Speaker 1: will go away without one. The credit of a quest
35:00
Speaker 1: will do him no good without the comfort of a blessing.
35:04
Speaker 1: In begging this blessing, he owns his inferiority, though he
35:07
Speaker 1: seemed to have the upper hand in the struggle, for
35:10
Speaker 1: the less is blessed of the better. Note, those that
35:14
Speaker 1: would have the blessing of Christ must be in good,
35:17
Speaker 1: earnest and be importunate for it, as those that resolve
35:21
Speaker 1: to have no denial. It is the fervent prayer that
35:24
Speaker 1: is the effectual prayer. Number five. The Angel puts a
35:29
Speaker 1: perpetual mark of honor upon him by changing his name
35:33
Speaker 1: Verses twenty seven and twenty eight. Thou art, a brave combatant,
35:38
Speaker 1: says the Angel, a man of heroic resolution. What is
35:42
Speaker 1: thy name, Jacob says he a supplanter. So Jacob signifies well,
35:47
Speaker 1: says the Angel, be thou never so called any more.
35:50
Speaker 1: Henceforth thou shalt be celebrated, not for craft and artful management,
35:55
Speaker 1: but for true valor. Thou shalt be called Israel, a
35:58
Speaker 1: prince with God, a name greater than those of the
36:02
Speaker 1: great men of the earth. He is a prince, indeed,
36:05
Speaker 1: that is, a prince with God. And those are truly honorable,
36:08
Speaker 1: that are mighty in prayer, Israel's Israelites. Indeed, Jacob is
36:14
Speaker 1: here knighted in the field, as it were, and has
36:16
Speaker 1: a title of honor given him by Him, that is
36:19
Speaker 1: the fountain of honor, which will remain to his praise
36:22
Speaker 1: to the end of time. Yet this was not all.
36:26
Speaker 1: Having power with God, he shall have power with men too.
36:30
Speaker 1: Having prevailed for a blessing from heaven, he shall no
36:33
Speaker 1: doubt prevail for Esau's favor. Note, whatever enemies we have,
36:38
Speaker 1: if we can but make God our friend, we are
36:41
Speaker 1: well off. Those that by faith have power in Heaven
36:45
Speaker 1: have thereby as much on earth as they have occasion.
36:48
Speaker 1: For number six, he dismisses him with a blessing verse
36:53
Speaker 1: twenty nine. Jacob desired to know the angel's name, that
36:57
Speaker 1: he might, according to his capacity, to do him honor Judges,
37:01
Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, verse seventeen. But that request was denied that
37:06
Speaker 1: he might not be too proud of his conquest, nor
37:09
Speaker 1: think he had the Angel at such an advantage as
37:11
Speaker 1: to oblige him to what he pleased. No, wherefore dost
37:15
Speaker 1: thou ask after my name? What good will it do
37:18
Speaker 1: thee to know that? The discovery of that was reserved
37:22
Speaker 1: for his death bed, upon which he was taught to
37:24
Speaker 1: call him Shiloh. But instead of telling him his name,
37:28
Speaker 1: he gave him his blessing, which was the thing he
37:31
Speaker 1: wrestled for. He blessed him there, repeated and ratified the
37:35
Speaker 1: blessing formerly given him. Note, Spiritual blessings which secure our
37:41
Speaker 1: felicity are better and much more desirable than fine notions
37:46
Speaker 1: which satisfy our curiosity. An interest in the angel's blessing
37:50
Speaker 1: is better than an acquaintance with his name. The tree
37:53
Speaker 1: of life is better than the tree of knowledge. Thus
37:57
Speaker 1: Jacob carried his point a blessing he rested, and a
38:01
Speaker 1: blessing he had nor did ever any of his praying
38:04
Speaker 1: seed seek in vain. See how wonderfully God condescends to
38:09
Speaker 1: countenance and crown importunate prayer. Those that resolve, though God
38:14
Speaker 1: slay them, yet to trust in Him will at length
38:17
Speaker 1: be more than conquerors. Number seven. Jacob gives a new
38:21
Speaker 1: name to the place. He calls it Peniel, the Face
38:24
Speaker 1: of God verse thirty, because there he had seen the
38:28
Speaker 1: appearance of God and obtain the favor of God. Observe.
38:33
Speaker 1: The name he gives to the place preserves and perpetuates
38:37
Speaker 1: not the honor of his valor or victory, but only
38:40
Speaker 1: the honor of God's free grace. He does not say,
38:44
Speaker 1: in this place I wrestled with God and prevailed. But
38:47
Speaker 1: in this place I saw God face to face, and
38:51
Speaker 1: my life was preserved. Not it was my praise that
38:55
Speaker 1: I came off a conqueror, but it was God's mercy
38:58
Speaker 1: that I escaped with my life. Note it becomes those
39:03
Speaker 1: whom God honors to take shame to themselves and to
39:06
Speaker 1: admire the condescensions of His grace to them. Thus David did,
39:11
Speaker 1: after God had sent him a gracious message. Second Samuel,
39:15
Speaker 1: Chapter seven, verse eighteen. Who am I o Lord God
39:20
Speaker 1: number eight the memorandum. Jacob carried of this in his
39:24
Speaker 1: bones he halted on his thigh verse thirty one. Some
39:29
Speaker 1: think he continued to do so to his dying day,
39:32
Speaker 1: And if he did, he had no reason to complain,
39:36
Speaker 1: for the honor and comfort he obtained by this struggle
39:39
Speaker 1: were abundantly sufficient to countervail the damage. Though he went
39:43
Speaker 1: limping to his grave, he had no reason to look
39:46
Speaker 1: upon it as his reproach. Thus to bear in his
39:49
Speaker 1: body the marks of the Lord Jesus Galatians, chapter six,
39:53
Speaker 1: verse seventeen. Yet it might serve like Paul's thorn in
39:57
Speaker 1: the flesh, to keep him from being lifted up with
40:00
Speaker 1: the abundance of the revelations. Notice is taken of the
40:03
Speaker 1: sun's rising upon him when he passed over Penul, For
40:07
Speaker 1: it is sunrise with that soul that has communion with God.
40:11
Speaker 1: The inspired Penman mentions a traditional custom which the seed
40:15
Speaker 1: of Jacob had in remembrance of this, never to eat
40:18
Speaker 1: of that sinhew or muscle in any beast by which
40:22
Speaker 1: the hip bone is fixed in its cup. Thus they
40:25
Speaker 1: preserved the memorial of this story, and gave occasion to
40:28
Speaker 1: their children to inquire concerning it, they also did honor
40:32
Speaker 1: to the memory of Jacob, and this use we may
40:35
Speaker 1: still make of it to acknowledge the mercy of God
40:39
Speaker 1: and our obligations to Jesus Christ, that we may now
40:43
Speaker 1: keep up our communion with God in faith, hope, and love,
40:48
Speaker 1: without peril, either of life or limb end of Chapter
40:54
Speaker 1: thirty two.