Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 32 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis
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- 0:00Speaker 1: Chapter twenty nine. This chapter gives us an account of
- 0:03Speaker 1: God's providences concerning Jacob, pursuant to the promises made to
- 0:07Speaker 1: him in the foregoing chapters. Roman numeral one. How he
- 0:11Speaker 1: was brought in safety to his journey's end and directed
- 0:14Speaker 1: to his relations there, who bade him welcome Verses one
- 0:18Speaker 1: to fourteen, Roman Numeral two. How he is comfortably disposed
- 0:22Speaker 1: of in marriage Verses fifteen through thirty Roman Numeral three.
- 0:27Speaker 1: How his family was built up in the birth of
- 0:29Speaker 1: four sons Verses thirty one through thirty five. The affairs
- 0:33Speaker 1: of princes and mighty nations that were then in being
- 0:36Speaker 1: are not recorded in the Book of God, but are
- 0:39Speaker 1: left to be buried in oblivion, while these small domestic
- 0:43Speaker 1: concerns of Holy Jacob are particularly recorded with their mentate circumstances,
- 0:48Speaker 1: that they may be in everlasting remembrance for the memory
- 0:51Speaker 1: of just is blessed. Jacob's arrival in Peddam Aram b c.
- 0:58Speaker 1: Seventeen sixty, Verse is one through eight. Then Jacob went
- 1:03Speaker 1: on his journey and came into the land of the
- 1:05Speaker 1: people of the east. And he looked and behold a
- 1:08Speaker 1: well in the field, And lo, there was three flocks
- 1:12Speaker 1: of sheeps lying by it. For out of that well
- 1:15Speaker 1: they watered the flocks. And a great stone was upon
- 1:17Speaker 1: the well's mouth, and thither where all the flocks gathered.
- 1:22Speaker 1: And they rolled the stone from the well's mouth and
- 1:25Speaker 1: watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the
- 1:27Speaker 1: well's mouth in his place. And Jacob said, unto them,
- 1:32Speaker 1: my brethren, whence be ye? And they said, of Aharan
- 1:36Speaker 1: are we? And he said, unto them, know ye Levin,
- 1:39Speaker 1: the son of Naur. And they said, we know him.
- 1:43Speaker 1: And he said, unto them, is he well? And they
- 1:46Speaker 1: said he is well? And behold, Rachel is his daughter
- 1:50Speaker 1: cometh with the sheep. And he said, lo, it is
- 1:53Speaker 1: yet high day. Neither is it time that the cattle
- 1:56Speaker 1: should be gathered together. Water ye the sheep, and go
- 2:00Speaker 1: and feed them. And they said, we cannot until all
- 2:04Speaker 1: the flocks be gathered together, until they roll the stone
- 2:08Speaker 1: from the well's mouth, then we water the sheep.
- 2:12Speaker 2: All the stages.
- 2:13Speaker 1: Israel's march to Canaan are distinctly noticed, but no particular
- 2:18Speaker 1: journalists kept of Jacob's expedition further than Bethel. No, he
- 2:22Speaker 1: had no more such happy nights as he had at Bethel.
- 2:27Speaker 1: No more such visions of the Almighty that was intended
- 2:30Speaker 1: for a feast, He must not accept it to be
- 2:34Speaker 1: his daily bread. But one we are here told how
- 2:38Speaker 1: cheerfully he proceeded in his journey after the sweet communion
- 2:41Speaker 1: he had with God at Bethel. Then Jacob lifted up
- 2:45Speaker 1: his feet, so the margin reads it verse one. Then
- 2:49Speaker 1: he went on with cheerfulness and alacrity, not burdened with
- 2:53Speaker 1: his cares, nor cramped with his fears, being assured of
- 2:56Speaker 1: God's gracious presence with him. After the visions we have
- 3:01Speaker 1: ahead of God, and the vows we have made to
- 3:04Speaker 1: Him in solemn ordinances, we should run the way of
- 3:07Speaker 1: commandments with enlarged hearts.
- 3:09Speaker 2: Hebrews twelve.
- 3:11Speaker 1: First one, how happily he arrived at his journey's in
- 3:15Speaker 1: Providence brought him to the very field where his uncle's
- 3:18Speaker 1: flock were to be watered, and there he met Rachel,
- 3:22Speaker 1: who was to be his wife. Observe one. The divine
- 3:25Speaker 1: providence is to be acknowledged in all the little circumstances
- 3:28Speaker 1: which concur to make a journey or other undertaking comfortable
- 3:33Speaker 1: and successful. If when we are at loss we meet
- 3:37Speaker 1: seasonably with those that can direct us. If we meet
- 3:41Speaker 1: with a disaster, and those are at hand that will
- 3:44Speaker 1: help us. We must not say that it was by chance,
- 3:48Speaker 1: nor that fortune therein favored us, but that it was
- 3:51Speaker 1: providence and that God therein favored us. Our ways are
- 3:56Speaker 1: ways of pleasantness if we continually acknowledge God in them.
- 4:01Speaker 2: Two.
- 4:02Speaker 1: Those that have flocks must look well to them and
- 4:05Speaker 1: be diligent to another state. Proverbs twenty seven, verse twenty three.
- 4:10Speaker 1: What is here said of the constant care of the
- 4:13Speaker 1: shepherds concerning their sheep Verses two, three, seven, and eight
- 4:17Speaker 1: may serve to illustrate the tender concern which our Lord Jesus,
- 4:21Speaker 1: the great shepherd of the sheep, has for his flock
- 4:24Speaker 1: the church, for he is the good shepherd that knows
- 4:27Speaker 1: his sheep and is known of them. John ten four,
- 4:31Speaker 1: verse fourteen. The stone at the well's mouth, which is
- 4:35Speaker 1: so often mentioned here, was either to secure the property
- 4:38Speaker 1: in it, for water was scarce. It was not their
- 4:42Speaker 1: use's communists aquarium for everyone's use. Or it was to
- 4:47Speaker 1: save the well from receiving damage from the heat of
- 4:49Speaker 1: the sun or from any spiteful hands, or to prevent
- 4:53Speaker 1: the lamb of the flock from being drowned in it. Three,
- 4:57Speaker 1: Separate interests should not take us from joint and mutual help.
- 5:01Speaker 1: When all the shepherds came together with their flocks, then
- 5:04Speaker 1: like loving neighbors at watering time, they would water their
- 5:07Speaker 1: flocks together. Four. It becomes us to speak civilly and
- 5:11Speaker 1: respectfully to strangers. Though Jacob was no courtier, but a
- 5:15Speaker 1: plain man dwelling in tents into strayerture to compliment. Yet
- 5:19Speaker 1: he had treasures himself very obligingly to the people he
- 5:23Speaker 1: met with, and calls them his brethren.
- 5:26Speaker 2: Verse four.
- 5:27Speaker 1: The law of kindness in the tongue has a commanding
- 5:30Speaker 1: power Proverbs thirty one, verse twenty six. Some think he
- 5:35Speaker 1: calls them brethren because they were of the same trade
- 5:39Speaker 1: shepherds like him. Though he was now upon his preferment,
- 5:43Speaker 1: he was not ashamed of his occupation.
- 5:45Speaker 2: Five.
- 5:46Speaker 1: Those that show respect have usually respect shown to them.
- 5:50Speaker 1: As Jacob was civil to these strangers, so he found
- 5:53Speaker 1: them civil to him when he undertook to teach them
- 5:57Speaker 1: how to dispatch their business verse seven. They did not
- 6:00Speaker 1: bid him meddle with his own concerns.
- 6:03Speaker 2: And let them alone.
- 6:05Speaker 1: But though he was a stranger, they gave him the
- 6:07Speaker 1: reason of their delay.
- 6:09Speaker 2: Verse eight.
- 6:10Speaker 1: Those that are neighborly and friendly shall have a neighborly
- 6:13Speaker 1: and friendly usage. Rachel's Humility in Industry b. C. Seventeen sixty,
- 6:20Speaker 1: Verses nine through fourteen. And while yet spake with them,
- 6:24Speaker 1: Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she kept them.
- 6:28Speaker 1: And it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel, the
- 6:31Speaker 1: daughter of Leban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Levan,
- 6:35Speaker 1: his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the
- 6:39Speaker 1: stone from the weld's mouth, and watered the flock of Leban,
- 6:42Speaker 1: his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel and lift up
- 6:45Speaker 1: his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he
- 6:48Speaker 1: was her father's brother, and that he was Rebecca's son.
- 6:52Speaker 1: And she ran and told her father. And it came
- 6:55Speaker 1: to pass when Leban heard the tidings of Jacob, his
- 6:59Speaker 1: sister's son, that he ran to meet him and embraced
- 7:02Speaker 1: him and kissed him, and brought him to his house.
- 7:05Speaker 1: And he told Levin all these things, and Levin said
- 7:07Speaker 1: to him, surely, thou.
- 7:09Speaker 2: Art my bone and my flesh.
- 7:11Speaker 1: Here we see one Rachel's humility and industry. She kept
- 7:15Speaker 1: her father's sheep verse nine. That is, she took the
- 7:19Speaker 1: care of them, having servants under her that were employed
- 7:22Speaker 1: about them. Rachael's name signifies a sheep. Note honest, useful labor.
- 7:27Speaker 1: Isn't that which nobody needs be ashamed of, nor ought
- 7:32Speaker 1: it be a hindrance to any one's preferment. Two Jacob's
- 7:36Speaker 1: tenderness and affection when he understood that this was his kinswoman.
- 7:41Speaker 1: Probably he had heard of her name before knowing what
- 7:44Speaker 1: his errand was into the country. We may suppose it
- 7:48Speaker 1: struck his mind immediately that this must be his wife,
- 7:52Speaker 1: being already smined with her ingenious, comely face, though it
- 7:56Speaker 1: was probably sunburned, and she was in the homely dressed
- 7:59Speaker 1: of a shepherd. He is wonderfully officious and anxious to
- 8:03Speaker 1: serve her verse ten, and addresses himself to her with
- 8:07Speaker 1: tears of joy and kisses of love. Verse eleven. She
- 8:10Speaker 1: runs with all haste to tell her father, for she will,
- 8:14Speaker 1: by no means entertain her kinsman's address without her father's
- 8:18Speaker 1: knowledge and approbation verse twelve. These mutual respects at their
- 8:22Speaker 1: first indufry were good presages of their being a happy couple.
- 8:27Speaker 1: Three Providence made that which seemed contingent and fortuousness to
- 8:32Speaker 1: give speedy satisfaction to Jacob's mind, as soon as ever
- 8:37Speaker 1: he came to place what he was bound for, Abraham's servant,
- 8:41Speaker 1: when he came upon a similar errand met with similar encouragement.
- 8:46Speaker 1: Thus God guides his people with his eye Psalms twenty seven,
- 8:50Speaker 1: verse eight. It is a groundless consit which some of
- 8:54Speaker 1: the Jewish writers have that Jacob, when he kissed Rachel,
- 8:58Speaker 1: wept because he had been set upon in his journey
- 9:02Speaker 1: by Eliphias, the eldest son of Esau, at the command
- 9:07Speaker 1: of his father, and robbed of all his money and
- 9:09Speaker 1: jewels which his mother had given him when she sent
- 9:12Speaker 1: him away. It was plain that his passion for Rachel
- 9:16Speaker 1: and surprise of his happy meeting had drew these tears
- 9:19Speaker 1: from his eyes. For Laban, though none of the best
- 9:24Speaker 1: humored men bade him welcome, was satisfied in the account
- 9:28Speaker 1: he gave himself and of the reason of his comings
- 9:31Speaker 1: in such poor circumstances. While we avoid the extreme on
- 9:35Speaker 1: the one hand of being foolishly credulous, we must take
- 9:39Speaker 1: heed of falling into the other extreme, of being uncharitably
- 9:43Speaker 1: jealous and suspicious, Lebon owned him for his kinsmen, though
- 9:48Speaker 1: art my bone and flesh verse fourteen. Note those are
- 9:52Speaker 1: hard hearted, indeed, that are unkind to their relations, and
- 9:57Speaker 1: that hide themselves from their own flesh Isaiah fifty eight,
- 10:02Speaker 1: verse seven. Jacob's Marriage b. C. Seventeen fifty three, Verses
- 10:07Speaker 1: fifteen through thirty. And Laban said, unto Jacob, because thou
- 10:11Speaker 1: art my brother, shouldst thou therefore serve me for nought?
- 10:16Speaker 1: Tell me what shall thy wages be? And Leaban had
- 10:20Speaker 1: two dollars. The name of the elder was Leah. The
- 10:23Speaker 1: name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed,
- 10:26Speaker 1: but Rachel was beautiful and well favored. And Jacob loved
- 10:30Speaker 1: Rachel and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel,
- 10:33Speaker 1: thy young daughter. And Laban said, it is better that
- 10:36Speaker 1: I give her to thee than that I should give
- 10:38Speaker 1: her to another man.
- 10:40Speaker 2: Abide with me.
- 10:41Speaker 1: And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed
- 10:44Speaker 1: unto him, but a few days for their love he
- 10:48Speaker 1: had to her. And Jacob said, unto Laban, give me
- 10:51Speaker 1: my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may
- 10:54Speaker 1: go in under her.
- 10:56Speaker 2: And Laban gathered together all of.
- 10:58Speaker 1: The men of the place and made a feat. And
- 11:00Speaker 1: it came to pass in the evening that he took
- 11:03Speaker 1: Leah his daughter, and brought her to him, and he
- 11:06Speaker 1: went in unto her. And Lebon gave unto his daughter
- 11:10Speaker 1: Leah Zilpah his maid for a handmaid. And it came
- 11:14Speaker 1: to pass that in the morning, behold.
- 11:16Speaker 2: It was Leah.
- 11:17Speaker 1: And he said to Levin, what is this thou hast
- 11:21Speaker 1: done unto me? Did not I serve with thee for Rachel?
- 11:26Speaker 1: Wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, it
- 11:30Speaker 1: must not be so done in our country to give
- 11:33Speaker 1: the younger before the firstborn fulfill her weak. And we
- 11:37Speaker 1: will give thee this also for the service which thou
- 11:40Speaker 1: shalt serve with me yet seven other years, and Jacob
- 11:45Speaker 1: did so and fulfilled her weak, and he gave him
- 11:48Speaker 1: Rachel his daughter to wife. Also, and Lebon gave to
- 11:52Speaker 1: Rachel his daughter be Laha his handmaid, to be her maid.
- 11:58Speaker 1: And he went in all so unto Rachel.
- 12:01Speaker 2: And he loved.
- 12:01Speaker 1: Also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet
- 12:05Speaker 1: seven other years. Here is one the fair contract may
- 12:10Speaker 1: between Lebon and Jacob. During the month that Jacob spent
- 12:14Speaker 1: there as a guest verse fourteen, it seems he was
- 12:17Speaker 1: not idle, nor did he spend his time in sport
- 12:21Speaker 1: and pastime. But like a man of business, though he
- 12:24Speaker 1: had no stock of his own, he applied himself to
- 12:26Speaker 1: serve his uncle, as he had begun verse ten when
- 12:30Speaker 1: he watered his flock. Note, wherever we are, it is
- 12:33Speaker 1: good to be employed ourselves in some useful business which
- 12:37Speaker 1: will turn to a good account.
- 12:39Speaker 2: To ourselves or others.
- 12:40Speaker 1: Lebon, it seems, was so taken with Jacob's ingenuity and
- 12:45Speaker 1: industry about his flock, that he was as sorrous he
- 12:48Speaker 1: should continue with him, and very fairly reasons. Thus, because
- 12:53Speaker 1: that art my brother, shouldest Thou therefore serve me for
- 12:57Speaker 1: not verse fifteen, no what reason, And for that, if
- 13:01Speaker 1: Jacob be so respectful to his uncle as to give
- 13:04Speaker 1: him a service without demanding any consideration for it, yet
- 13:08Speaker 1: Lebon will not be so unjust to his nephew as
- 13:11Speaker 1: to take advantage either of his necessity or of his
- 13:15Speaker 1: good nature. Note, inferior relations must not be imposed upon.
- 13:20Speaker 1: If it be their duty to serve us, it is
- 13:23Speaker 1: our duty to reward them. Now Jacob had a fair
- 13:26Speaker 1: opportunity to make known to Lebanon the affection he had
- 13:29Speaker 1: for his daughter Rachel, and having no wordly goods in
- 13:32Speaker 1: his hands with which to endow her, he promises some
- 13:36Speaker 1: seven years service, upon condition that at the end of
- 13:39Speaker 1: seven years he would bestow her upon him for his wife.
- 13:43Speaker 1: It appears by computation that Jacob has now seventy seven
- 13:47Speaker 1: years old, and when he bound himself apprentice for a wife,
- 13:51Speaker 1: and for a wife to kept sheep Joseah twelve, Verse twelve,
- 13:55Speaker 1: his prosperity are there reminded of it long afterwards, as
- 14:00Speaker 1: an instance of the meanness of their origin. Probably Rachel
- 14:04Speaker 1: was young and scarcely marriageable when Jacob first came, which
- 14:08Speaker 1: made him the more willing to stay for her till
- 14:10Speaker 1: his seven years service had expired. Two Jacob's honest performance
- 14:15Speaker 1: of his part of the bargain verse twenty, he served
- 14:18Speaker 1: seven years for Rachel. If Rachel still continued to keep
- 14:22Speaker 1: her father's sheep as she did verse nine, his innocent
- 14:26Speaker 1: and religious conservation with her while they kept their flocks
- 14:30Speaker 1: could not but increase their mutual acquaintance and affection. Solemn
- 14:33Speaker 1: song of Love is a pastoral. If she now left
- 14:36Speaker 1: it off, his easing her of the care was very obliging.
- 14:40Speaker 1: Jacob honestly served out his seven years and did not
- 14:43Speaker 1: forfeit his indentures though he was old. Nay, he served cheerfully.
- 14:48Speaker 1: They seemed to him but a few days for the
- 14:50Speaker 1: love he had to her, as if it were more
- 14:53Speaker 1: his desire to earn her than to have her.
- 14:56Speaker 2: Note love makes.
- 14:58Speaker 1: Long and hard services. Hence, when we read a labor
- 15:02Speaker 1: of love Hebrews, chapter six, verse ten, if we know
- 15:06Speaker 1: how to value the happiness of Heaven, the sufferings of
- 15:10Speaker 1: the present time will be as nothing to us in
- 15:12Speaker 1: comparison of it. An age of work will be just
- 15:15Speaker 1: a few days to those that love God and long
- 15:19Speaker 1: for Christ. Appearing three the base cheat which Laban put
- 15:23Speaker 1: upon him when he was out of time, he put
- 15:26Speaker 1: Leah into his arms instead of Rachel First twenty three.
- 15:30Speaker 1: This was Levinson. He wronged both Jacob and Rachel, whose affections,
- 15:34Speaker 1: doubtless were engaged to each other. And if, as some say,
- 15:38Speaker 1: Lea was heron no better than an adulterys, it was
- 15:41Speaker 1: no small wrong to her to do. But it was
- 15:45Speaker 1: Jacob's affliction a damped to the mirth of the marriage feast,
- 15:49Speaker 1: when in the morning behold it was Leah verse twenty five.
- 15:53Speaker 1: It is easy to observe hear how Jacob was paid
- 15:56Speaker 1: in his own coin. He had cheated his own foot
- 16:00Speaker 1: when he pretended to be Esau, and now his father
- 16:03Speaker 1: in law cheated him Heron how unrighteous soever Lebon was,
- 16:08Speaker 1: the Lord was righteous as judges one verse seven. Even
- 16:13Speaker 1: the righteous, if they take a false step, are sometimes
- 16:16Speaker 1: thus recompensed on the earth. Many they are, not, like Jacob,
- 16:20Speaker 1: disappointed in the person, soon find themselves, as much to
- 16:24Speaker 1: their grief, disappointed in the character. The choice of that relation, therefore,
- 16:29Speaker 1: on both sides, ought to be made with good advice
- 16:32Speaker 1: and consideration, that if there should be a disappointment, it
- 16:36Speaker 1: may not be aggravated by a consciousness of mismanagement.
- 16:41Speaker 2: Four.
- 16:41Speaker 1: The excuse of atonement Leban made for the cheat. One
- 16:46Speaker 1: excuse was frivolous. It must not be done in our
- 16:49Speaker 1: country verse twenty six. We have reason to think that
- 16:53Speaker 1: there was no such custom of country as he pretends.
- 16:56Speaker 1: Only he banters Jacob with it and laughs at his mistake.
- 17:00Speaker 1: Note those that can do wickedly and then think to
- 17:03Speaker 1: turn it off with a jest, though they may deceive themselves,
- 17:07Speaker 1: and others will find at last that God is not mocked.
- 17:11Speaker 1: But there had been such a custom that he had
- 17:14Speaker 1: resolved to observe it. He should have told Jacob so
- 17:18Speaker 1: when he undertook to serve him for his younger daughter.
- 17:21Speaker 1: Note as Saith, the proverbs of the ancient wickedness proceeds
- 17:26Speaker 1: from the wicked First Samuel twenty four, verse thirteen, Those
- 17:30Speaker 1: that deal with treacherous men must expect to be dealt treacherously.
- 17:34Speaker 1: With his compounding the matter did but make bad worst,
- 17:38Speaker 1: we will give thee this also verse twenty seven. Hereby
- 17:42Speaker 1: he drew Jacob into sin and snare and disquiet of
- 17:46Speaker 1: multiplying wives, which remains a blot in his escutcheon, and
- 17:50Speaker 1: will be so to the end of the world. Honest
- 17:53Speaker 1: Jacob did not design it, but to have kept as
- 17:55Speaker 1: true to Rachel as his father had done to Rebecca.
- 17:59Speaker 1: He that had lived without a wife to the eighth
- 18:02Speaker 1: fourth year of his age, could then have been very
- 18:05Speaker 1: well content with one. But Lebon disposed of his two
- 18:09Speaker 1: dollars with portions, and to get seven years service more
- 18:13Speaker 1: out of Jacob thus imposes upon him, and draws him
- 18:16Speaker 1: into such a strait by his fraud, that the matter
- 18:19Speaker 1: not being yet settled as it was afterwards by the
- 18:22Speaker 1: divine law Levetticus eighteen verse eighteen, and more fully sensed
- 18:28Speaker 1: by our Savior Matthew nineteen verse five, he had some
- 18:33Speaker 1: colorable reasons for marrying them both. He could not refuse Rachel,
- 18:38Speaker 1: for he had espoused her. Still less could he refuse Leer,
- 18:41Speaker 1: for he had married her. And therefore Jacob must be
- 18:44Speaker 1: content and take two talents Second King's verse twenty three.
- 18:49Speaker 1: Note one sin is commonly the inlet of another. Those
- 18:53Speaker 1: that go in by one door of wickedness, seldom by
- 18:55Speaker 1: their way out by another. The polygamy of the patriarch's
- 19:00Speaker 1: in some measurables excusable in them, because though there was
- 19:04Speaker 1: no reason against it ancient as Adam's marriage Malachi two,
- 19:09Speaker 1: verse fifteen, yet there was no express command against it.
- 19:13Speaker 1: It was in them a sin of ignorance. It was
- 19:17Speaker 1: not the product of any sinful lust, but for the
- 19:19Speaker 1: building up of the church, which was the good that
- 19:22Speaker 1: Providence brought out of it. But it will by no
- 19:25Speaker 1: means justify the like practice now, when God's will is
- 19:29Speaker 1: plainly made known that one man and one woman only
- 19:33Speaker 1: must be joined together. First Corinthians seven, verse two. The
- 19:38Speaker 1: having of many wives suits well enough with the cardinal
- 19:42Speaker 1: sensual spirit of mohammedan imposture which allows it.
- 19:45Speaker 2: But we have not so learned. Christ.
- 19:48Speaker 1: Doctor Lightfoot makes Leia and Rachel to be figures of
- 19:51Speaker 1: the two churches, the Jews under the law and the
- 19:54Speaker 1: Gentiles under the Gospel. The younger, the more beautiful, and
- 19:57Speaker 1: the more in the thoughts of the Christ when he
- 19:59Speaker 1: came in the form of a servant. But he other
- 20:03Speaker 1: like Leah, first embraced. Yet in the allegory does not
- 20:07Speaker 1: hold that the gentiles the younger were more fruitful. Galatians four,
- 20:13Speaker 1: first twenty seven. Increase of Jacob's family Baste seventeen forty nine,
- 20:19Speaker 1: Verses thirty one through thirty five. And when the Lord
- 20:22Speaker 1: saw that Layah was hated, he opened her womb, but
- 20:25Speaker 1: Rachel was barren, and Leah conceived in Bearra's son, and
- 20:30Speaker 1: she called his name Reuben, for she said, surely the
- 20:33Speaker 1: Lord hath looked upon my affliction. Now therefore my husband
- 20:37Speaker 1: will love me. And she conceived again and bear a son,
- 20:41Speaker 1: and said, because the Lord hath heard that I was hated.
- 20:44Speaker 1: He had therefore given me the son also, and she
- 20:47Speaker 1: called his name Simon. And she conceived again and Bearra's son,
- 20:52Speaker 1: and said, now this time will my husband be joined
- 20:55Speaker 1: unto me, because I have borne him three sons. Therefore
- 20:59Speaker 1: was his name called called Levi. And she conceived again
- 21:02Speaker 1: and bear a son, and she said, now I will
- 21:05Speaker 1: praise the Lord. Therefore she called him name Judah, and
- 21:09Speaker 1: left bearing. We have here the birth of four of
- 21:13Speaker 1: Jacob's sons, all by Leah. Observed one, that Leah, who
- 21:18Speaker 1: was less beloved and blessed with children, when Rachel was
- 21:21Speaker 1: denied that blessing verse thirty one. See how Providence, in
- 21:26Speaker 1: dispensing its gifts, observes a proportion to keep the balance,
- 21:30Speaker 1: even setting crosses and comforts one over against another, that
- 21:35Speaker 1: none may be either too much elevated or too much depressed.
- 21:39Speaker 1: Rachel wants children, but she is blessed with her husband's love.
- 21:43Speaker 1: Lay wants that, but she is fruitful. Thus it was
- 21:46Speaker 1: between it Alecana's two wives first Samuel one, verse five.
- 21:52Speaker 1: For that the Lord is wise and righteous. And the
- 21:55Speaker 1: Lord saw that Leah was hated, that is loved less
- 21:59Speaker 1: than Rachel, in which, since it is required that we
- 22:03Speaker 1: hate father and mother in comparison with christ Luke fourteen,
- 22:07Speaker 1: verse twenty six, then the Lord granted her a child,
- 22:11Speaker 1: which was a rebuke to Jacob for making so great
- 22:14Speaker 1: a difference between those that he was equally related to,
- 22:18Speaker 1: a check to Rachel, who perhaps insulted over her sister
- 22:22Speaker 1: upon that account, and a comfort to Lea that she
- 22:25Speaker 1: might not be overwhelmed with a contempt put upon her. Thus,
- 22:29Speaker 1: Scott giveth abundant honor to the which lacked first Corinthians
- 22:34Speaker 1: twelve twenty four.
- 22:36Speaker 2: Two.
- 22:37Speaker 1: The names she gave her children were expressive of her
- 22:40Speaker 1: respectful regards both to God and to her husband. One
- 22:45Speaker 1: she appears very ambitious of her husband's love. She reckoned
- 22:50Speaker 1: the want of fit her affliction verse thirty two, not
- 22:54Speaker 1: upbraiding him with it as his fault, nor reproaching him
- 22:58Speaker 1: for it, and so make being herself uneasy to him,
- 23:02Speaker 1: belaying it to heart as her grief, which yet she
- 23:05Speaker 1: had reason to bear with the more patience, because she
- 23:08Speaker 1: herself was consenting to fraud by which she became his wife.
- 23:13Speaker 1: And we may well bear that trouble with patience, which
- 23:16Speaker 1: we bring upon ourselves by our own sin and folly.
- 23:19Speaker 1: She promised herself that the children she bore him would
- 23:23Speaker 1: gain her the interest she desired in his affections. She
- 23:27Speaker 1: called her first born, Reuben see a son, with the
- 23:31Speaker 1: pleasant thought, now will my husband love me? And her
- 23:34Speaker 1: third son, Levi joined with this expectation, now will my
- 23:38Speaker 1: husband join unto me? Verse thirty four. Mutual affection is
- 23:42Speaker 1: both the duty and comfort of the relation and yoke.
- 23:46Speaker 1: Fellows should study to recommend themselves to each other. First
- 23:50Speaker 1: Corinthians seven, Verses thirty three and thirty four.
- 23:54Speaker 2: Two.
- 23:55Speaker 1: She thankfully acknowledges the kind providence of God in it.
- 24:00Speaker 1: The Lord hath looked upon my afflictions Verse thirty two.
- 24:04Speaker 1: The Lord Hath heard that it is taken notice of
- 24:07Speaker 1: it that I was hated for our afflictions, as they
- 24:10Speaker 1: are before God's eyes, so they have a cry in
- 24:13Speaker 1: his ears. He has therefore given me this son. Note
- 24:18Speaker 1: whatever we have contributes either to our support and comfort
- 24:21Speaker 1: under our afflictions, or to our deliverance from them, God
- 24:25Speaker 1: must be owned in it, his fleshly, his pity and
- 24:29Speaker 1: tender mercy. Her fourth she called Judah praise, saying, now
- 24:35Speaker 1: while I praise Lord, Verse thirty five. And this was
- 24:39Speaker 1: he of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ's name. Note one,
- 24:44Speaker 1: whatever is the matter of rejoicing, ought to be the
- 24:47Speaker 1: matter of our thanksgiving, fresh favors should quicken us to
- 24:51Speaker 1: pays God for former favors. Now while I praise the
- 24:55Speaker 1: Lord more and better than I have done. Two, all
- 24:58Speaker 1: our praises must sin in Christ, both as the matter
- 25:02Speaker 1: of them and as a mediator of them. He descended
- 25:05Speaker 1: from him whose name was praised. For he is praised,
- 25:09Speaker 1: Is Christ formed.
- 25:11Speaker 2: In my heart? Now will I praise the Lord.
- 25:17Speaker 1: End of Chapter twenty nine.