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52 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Wisdom of the Ages Library

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A Chapter forty nine. This chapter is a prophecy. The likest to it
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we have yet met with was that of Noah Chapter nine, Verses twenty five
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and et cetera. Jacob is here upon his death bed, making his will.
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He put it off till now, because dying men's words are apt to
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make deep impressions and to be remembered long. What he said here he could
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not say when he would. But as the spirit gave him utterance, who
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chose the time that divine strength might be perfected in its weakness. The twelve
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sons of Jacob were in their day men of renown, But the twelve tribes
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of Israel, which descended and were dominated from then, were much more renowned.
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We find their names upon the gates of the New Jerusalem Revelation, Chapter
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twenty one, verse twelve. In the prospect of this, their dying father
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says something remarkable of each son or of the tribe that bore his name.
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Here is Roman one, the verses one and two, Rouin two, the
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prediction concerning each tribe Verses three to twenty eight, Roman three, the charge
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repeated concerning his burial Verses twenty nine to thirty two, And Roman four his
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death, Verse thirty three. Jacob's Prophecy concerning his sons b. C.
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Sixteen eighty nine, Verses one to four. And Jacob called unto his sons
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and said, gather yourselves together, that I might tell you that which shall
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befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear ye,
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sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father, Reuben, Thou art
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my first born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the
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excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Unstable as water. Thou
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shalt not excel. Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, Then defilest
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thou it he went up to my couch. Here is round one the preface
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to the prophecy, in which one the congregation is called together Verse two.
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Gather yourselves together. Let them all be sent for from their several employments to
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see their father die and to hear his dying words. It was a comfort
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to Jacob, now that he was dying, to see all his children about
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him, and none missing. Though he had sometimes thought himself bereaved, it
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was of use to them to attend him in his last moments, that they
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might learn of him how to die, as well as how to live.
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What he said to each he said in the hearing of all the rest,
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for we may profit by the reproofs, counsels, and comforts that are principally
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intended for others. He is calling upon them once and again to gather together,
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intimated both a precept to them to unite in love, to keep together,
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not to mingle with the Egyptians, not to forsake the assembling of themselves
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together, and a prediction that they should not be separated from each other,
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as Abraham's sons and Isaac's were, but should be incorporated and all make one
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people. Two. A general idea is given of the intended discourse verse one,
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that I may tell you that which shall befall you, not your persons,
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but your posterity in the latter days. This prediction would be of use
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to those that came after them, for the confirming of their faith and the
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guiding of their way on their return to Canaan and their settlement there. We
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cannot tell our children what shall befall them or their families in this world,
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but we can tell them from the word of God, what will befall them
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in the last day of all, according as they conduct themselves in this world.
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Three attention is demanded verse two. Hearken to Israel, your father.
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Let Israel that has prevailed with God prevail with you. Note children must diligently
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hearken to what their godly parents say, particularly when they are dying. Here,
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you, children, the instruction of a father, which carries with it
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both authority and affection. Proverbs Chapter four, Verse one, Roman two.
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The prophecy concerning Reuben. He begins with him verses three and four. For
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he was the first born, But by committing uncleanness with his father's wife,
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to the great reproach of the family to which he ought to have been an
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ornament, he forfeited the prerogatives of the birthright, and his dying father here
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solemnly degrades him. Though he does not disown nor disinherit him. He shall
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have all the privileges of a son, but not of a first born.
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We have reason to think Reuben had repented of his sin, and it was
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pardoned. Yet it was a necessary peace of justice in detestation of the villainy,
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and fore warning to others to put this mark of disgrace upon him.
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Now according to the method of degrading one, Jacob Pears puts upon him the
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ornaments of the birthright verse three, that he and all his brethren might see
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what he has forfeited, and in that might see the evil of the sin.
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As the first born, he was his father's joy, almost his pride
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being the beginning of his strength. How welcome he was to his parents.
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His name bespikes Reuben see a son. To him belong the excellency of dignity
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above his brethren, and some power over them. Christ Jesus is the first
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born among many brethren, and to him of right belong the most excellent power
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and dignity. His church, also through him, is a church of first
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born. Two. He then strips him of these ornaments verse four, lifts
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him up that he may cast him down by that one word, thou shalt
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not excel a being thou shalt have as a tribe, but not an excellency.
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No judge, prophet, nor prince is found of that tribe, nor
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any person of renown, except Dathan and Abriam, who were noted for their
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impious rebellion against Moses. That tribe as not aiming to excel meanly chose a
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settlement on the other side of Jordan. Reuben himself seems to have lost all
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that influence upon his brethren to which his birthright entitled him, for when he
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spake unto them, they would not hear. Chapter forty two, Verse twenty
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two. Those that have not understanding and spirit to support the honors and privileges
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of their birth will soon lose them and retain only the name of them.
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The character fastened upon Reuben for which he is laid under this mark of infamy
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is that he was unstable as water. Sub One. His virtue was unstable.
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He had not the government of himself and his own appetites. Sometimes he
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would be very regular and orderly, but at other times he deviated to the
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wildest courses. Note instability is the ruin of men's excellency. Men do not
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because they do not fix sub two. His honor consequently was unstable. It
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departed from him, vanished into smoke, and became as waters built upon the
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ground. Note those that throw away their virtue must not expect to save their
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reputation. Jacob charges him particularly with the sin for which he was thus disgraced.
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Thou wentest up to thy father's bed. It was forty years ago that
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he had been guilty of this sin, yet now it is remembered against him.
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Note as time will not, of itself wear off the guilt of any
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sin from the conscience, so there are some sins whose stains it will not
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wipe off from the good name, especially Seventh Commandment sins. Reuben's sin left
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an indelible mark of infamy upon his family, a dishonor that was a wound
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not to be healed without a scar. Proverbs Chapter six, verses thirty two
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and thirty three. Let us never do evil, and then we need not
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fear being told of it Verses five to seven. Simeon and Levi are brethren.
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Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O, my soul, come
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not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine honor. Be not thou united.
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For in their anger they slew a man, and in their self will
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they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,
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and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in
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Jacob and scatter them in Israel. These were next in age to Reuben,
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and they also had been a grief and shame to Jacob when they treacherously and
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barbarously destroyed the Shechemites, which he here remembers against them. Children should be
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afraid of incurring their parents just displeasure, lest they fare worse for it long
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afterwards, and when they would inherit the blessing be rejected. Observe one the
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character of Simeon and Levi. They were brethren in dispace position, but unlike
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their father, they were passionate and revengeful, fierce and uncontrollable. Their swords,
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which should have been only weapons of defense, were, as the margin
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reads it verse five, weapons of violence, to do wrong to others,
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not to save themselves from wrong. Note it is no new thing for the
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temper of children to differ very much from that of their parents. We need
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not think this strange. It was so in Jacob's family. It is not
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in the power of parents, no not by education, to form the dispositions
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of their children. Jacob bred his sons to everything that was mild and quiet,
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and yet they proved to be thus furious. Two. A proof of
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this is the murder of the Shechemites, which Jacob deeply resented at the time
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Chapter thirty four, verse thirty and still continued to resent. They slew a
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man shechem himself, and many others, and to effect that, they digged
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down a wall, broke the houses, to plunder them and murder them inhabitants.
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Note the best governors cannot always restrain those under their charge from committing the
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worst villanies. And when two in a family are mischievous, they commonly make
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one another so much the worse, And it were wisdom to part them.
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Simeon and Levi, it is probable, were the most active in the wrong
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doing to Joseph, to which some think Jacob has here some reference, for
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in their anger, they would have slain that man. Observe what a mischievous
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thing self will is In young people, Simeon and Levi would not be advised
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by their aged and experienced father. No, they would be governed by their
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own passion, rather than by his prudence. Young people would better consult to
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their own interests, if they would less indulge in their own will. Three
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Jacob's protestation against this barbarous act of theirs, O my soul, come not
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thou into their secret. Hereby he professes not only his abhorrence of such practices
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in general, but his innocence particularly in that matter. Perhaps he had been
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suspected as underhand aiding and abetting. He therefore thus solemnly expresses his detestation to
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the fact that he might not die under that suspicion. Note our soul is
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our honor. By its powers and faculties, we are distinguished from and dignified
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above the beasts that perish. Note further, we ought from our hearts to
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detest and abhor all society and confederacy with bloody and mischievous men. We must
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not be ambitious of coming into their secret or knowing the depths of Satan.
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Four his abhorrence of those brutish lusts that led them to their wickedness. Cursed
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be their anger. He does not curse their persons, but their luss Note
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sub one. Anger is the cause and origin of a great deal of sin,
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and exposes us to the curse of God and his judgment. Matthew,
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Chapter five, Verse twenty two two. We ought, always, in the
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expression of our zeal, carefully to distinguish between the sinner and the sin,
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so as not to love nor bless the sin for the sake of the person,
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nor to hate nor curse the person for the sake of the sin five
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a token of displeasure, which he foretells their posterity should lie under. For
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this I will divide them. The Levites were scattered throughout all the tribes,
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and Simeon's lot lay not together and was so straight that many of the tribe
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were forced to disperse themselves in quest of settlements and subsistence. This curse was
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afterwards turned into a blessing to the Levites, but the Simionites for Zimri's sin
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numbers Chapter twenty five, verse fourteen, had it bound on note Shameful dispersions
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are the just punishment of sinful unions and confederacies, Verses eight to twelve.
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Judah, thou art, he whom thy brethren shall praise, Thy hand,
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shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow down
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before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey. My son,
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thou art gone up, He stooped down, He crouched as a lion,
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and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up. The scepter shall
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not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet until Shiloh
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come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be, binding his
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foal unto the vine, and his asses cold unto the choice vine. He
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washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His
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eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Glorious
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things are here said of Judah. The mention of the crimes of the three
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elder of his sons had not so put the dying patriarch out of humor,
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but that he had a blessing ready for Judah, to whom blessings belonged.
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Judah's name signifies praise in allusion to which he says, Thou art ar he
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whom thy brethren shall praise Verse eight. God was praised for him Chapter twenty
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nine, Verse thirty five, praised by him and praised in him, And
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therefore his brethren shall praise him. Note these that are to God, for
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a praise shall be the praise of their brethren. It is prophesied that one
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the tribe of Judah should be victorious and successful in war, Thy hand shall
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be in the neck of thine enemies. This was fulfilled in David Psalm eighteen,
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verse forty two. It should be superior to the rest of the tribes,
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not only in itself more numerous and illustrious, but having a dominion over
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them. Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah was the law
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giver Psalm sixty, verse seven. The tribe led the van through the wilderness,
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and in the conquest of Canaan Judges, Chapter one, verse two,
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the prerogatives of the birthright which Reuben had forfeited, the excellency of dignity and
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power were thus conferred upon Judah. Observe, thy brethren shall bow down before
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thee, and yet shall praise thee, reckoning themselves happy in having so wise
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and bold. The commander note, honor and power are then a blessing to
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those that have them, when they are not grudged and envied, but praised
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and applauded and cheerfully submitted to verse three, it should be a strong and
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courageous tribe, and so qualified for command and conquest. Judah is a lion's
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wealth verse nine. The lion is the king of beasts, the terror of
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the forest. When he roars, when he seizes his prey, none can
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resist him. When he goes up from the prey, none dare pursue him
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to revenge it. By this, it is foretold that the tribe of Judah
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shall become very formidable, and should not only obtain great victories, but should
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peaceably and quietly enjoy what was obtained by those victories. That they should make
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war not for the sake of war, but for the sake of peace.
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Judah is compared not to a lion rampant all we tearing, always raging,
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always ranging, but to a lion couchant, enjoying the satisfaction of his power
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and success without creating vexation to others. This is to be truly great.
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Four. It should be the royal tribe, and the tribe from which Messiah
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the Prince should come. The scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh come
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Verse ten. Jacob hereforeesees and foretells sub one, that the scepter should come
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into the tribe of Judah, which was fulfilled in David, on whose family
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the crown was entailed. Sub two, that Shiloh should be of this tribe,
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his seed, that promised seed in whom the earth should be blessed that
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peaceable and prosperous one, the Savior, so others translated, he shall come
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from Judah. Thus, dying Jacob at a great distance, saw Christ's day,
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and it was his comfort and support on his deathbed. Sub three,
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that after the coming of the Scepter into the tribe of Judah, it should
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continue in that tribe at least a government of their own till the coming of
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the Messiah, in whom as the King of the Church and the great high
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priest, it was fit that both the priesthood and the royalty should determine till
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the captivity. All along from David's time the scepter was in Judah, and
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subsequently the governors of Judaea were of that tribe, or of the Levites that
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adhered to it, which was equivalent till Judah became a province of the Roman
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Empire just at the time of our Saviour's birth, and was at that time
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taxed as one of the provinces Luke Chapter two, verse one. And at
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the time of his death the Jews expressly owned, we have no king but
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Caesar. Hence it is undeniably inferred against the Jews that our Lord Jesus is
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he that should come, and that we are to look for no other,
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for he came exactly at the time appointed. Many excellent pens have been admirable
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well employed in explaining and illustrating this famous prophecy of Christ. Five. It
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should be a very fruitful tribe, especially that it should abound with milk for
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babies and wine to make glad the heart of strong men Verses eleven and twelve.
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Vines is so common in the hedgerow, and so strong that they should
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tie their asses to them, and so fruitful that they should load their asses
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with them wine as plentiful as water, so that the men of that tribe
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should be very healthful and lively, their eyes brisk and sparkling, their teeth
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white. Much of what is here said concerning Judah is to be applied to
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our Lord Jesus. Sub One. He is the ruler of all his father's
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children and the conqueror of all his father's enemies. And he it is that
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is the praise of all the saints sept. Two. He is the line
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of the tribe of Judah, as he is called with reference to this prophecy.
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Revelation Chapter five, verse five, who having spoiled principalities and powers,
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went up a conqueror, and couched so as none can stir him up.
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When he sat down at the right hand of the Father. Three to him
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belong the scepter. He is the law giver, And to him shall the
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gathering of the people be as the desire of all nations. Hagai chapter two,
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verse seven, who, being lifted up from the earth, should draw
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all men unto him. John chapter twelve, verse thirty two. And in
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whom the children of God that are scattered abroad should meet as the center of
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their unity. John chapter eleven, verse fifty two, step four. In
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him there is plenty of all which is nourishing and refreshing to the soul,
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and which maintains and cheers the divine life in it. In him we may
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have wine in milk the riches of judas tribe, without money and without price.
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Isaiah chapter fifty five, verse one, verses thirteen to twenty one.
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Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be a
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haven of ships, and his border shall be unto ziden Isakar is a strong
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ass couching down between two burdens, And he saw that rest was good and
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the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his shoulder to bear, and
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became a servant unto tribute. Dan shall judge his people as one of the
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tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder
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in the path that bideth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall
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backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord Gad. A troop
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shall overcome him, but he shall overcome it the last out of ashure.
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His bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. Neftali is
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a hind let loose. He giveth goodly words. Here we have Jacob's prophecy
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concerning six of his sons ruin one concerning Zebulin verse thirteen, that his posterity
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should have the lot upon the sea coast, and should be merchants and mariners
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and traders at sea. This was fulfilled when two or three hundred years later
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the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the border of Zebulun went
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up towards the sea. Joshua Chapter nineteen, verse eleven. Had they chosen
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their lot themselves, or Joshua appointed it, we might have supposed it done
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with design to make Jacob's words good. But being done by Lot, it
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appears that it was divinely disposed and Jacob divinely inspired. Note the lot of
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God's Providence exactly agrees with the plan of God's council, like a true copy
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with the original. If Prophecy says Zebulin shall be a haven of ships,
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Providence will so plant him. Note One, God appoints the bounds of our
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habitation. Two, it is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves to our
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lot and to improve it. If Zebulun dwell at the haven of the sea,
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let him be for a haven of ships. Roman, too, concerning
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Isakar, verses fourteen fifteen. One, that the men of that tribe should
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be strong and industrious, fit for labor, and inclined to to labor,
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particularly the toil of husbandry, like the ass that patiently carries his burden,
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and by using himself to it, makes it the easier. Isakar submitted to
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two burdens, tillage and tribute. It was a tribe that took pains,
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and thriving thereby was called upon for rents and taxes. Two that they should
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be encouraged in their labor by the goodness of the land that should fall to
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their lot. Sup. One, He saw that rest at home was good.
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Note the labor of the husbandmen is really rest in comparison with that of
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soldiers and seamen, whose hurries and perils are such that those who tarry at
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home in the most constant service have no reason to envy them. Sub Two.
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He saw that the land was pleasant, yielding not only pleasant prospects to
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charm the eye of the curious, but pleasant fruits to recompense his toils.
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Many are the pleasures of a country life abundantly sufficient to balance the inconveniences of
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it, if we can but persuade ourselves to think so. Isacur, in
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prospect of advantage, bowed his shoulders to bear. Let us, with an
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eye of faith, see the heavenly rest to be good, and the land
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of promise to be pleasant, And this will make our present service easy,
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and encourage us to bow our shoulder to them. Rumin three concerning Dan,
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Verses sixteen and seventeen. What is said concerning Dan has reference either one to
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that tribe in general. That though Dan was one of the sons of the
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Concubines, yet he should be a tribe governed by judges of his own as
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well as other tribes, and should, by art and policy and surprise,
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gain advantages against his enemies, like a serpent suddenly biting the heel of the
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traveler. Note in God's Spiritual Israel, there is no distinction made of bond
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or free Colossians, Chapter three, verse eleven. Dan shall be incorporated by
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as good a charter as any of the other tribes. Note also, some
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like Dan may excel in the subtlety of the serpent, as others, like
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Judah, in the courage of the lion, and both may do good service
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to the cause of God against the Canaanites. Or it may refer to to
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Samson, who was of that tribe and judged Israel, that is, delivered
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them out of the hands of the Philistines, not as the other judges by
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fighting them in the field, but by the vexations and annoyances he gave them
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underhand. When he pulled the house down under the Philistines that were upon the
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roof of it, he made the horse throw its rider. Thus was Jacob
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going on with his discourse, but now being almost spent with speaking, and
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ready to faint and die away. He relieves himself with those words which come
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in as a parentheses eighteen. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord,
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as those that are fainting are helped by taking a spoonful of cordial or
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smelling at a bottle of spirits. Or if he must break off here and
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his breath will not serve him to finish what he intended with those words,
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he pours out his soul into the bosom of his God, and even breathes
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it out. Note the pious ejaculations of a warm and lively devotion, though
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sometimes they may be incoherent, are not therefore to be censured as impertinent that
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may be uttered affectionately, which does not come in methodically. It is no
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absurdity when we are speaking to men to lift up our hearts to God.
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The salvation he waited for was Christ, the promised sid whom he had spoken
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of Verse ten. Now that he was going to be gathered to his people,
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he breathed after him, to whom the gathering of the people shall be.
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The salvation he waited for was also Heaven, the better country, which
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he declared plainly that he sees sought Hebrews chapter eleven, verses thirteen fourteen,
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and continued seeking. Now that he was in Egypt, Now that he is
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going to enjoy the salvation, he comforts himself with this, that he had
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waited for the salvation. Note it is the character of a living saint that
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he waits for the salvation of the Lord Christ, as our way to heaven
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is to be waited on, and heaven as our rest in Christ is to
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be waited for. Again, it is the comfort of a dying saint thus
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to have waited for the salvation of the Lord. And then he shall have
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that for which he has been waiting for. The long looked for will come
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Roman I concerning God, verse nineteen, he alludes to his name, which
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signifies a troop. Foresees the character of that tribe, that it should be
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a warlike tribe, and so we find first Chronicles chapter twelve, verse eight,
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the Gadites were men of war fit for the battle. He foresees that
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the situation of that tribe on the other side Jordan would expose it to the
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incursions of its neighbors, the Moabites and the Ammonites, and that they might
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not be proud of their strength and valor. He foretells that the troops of
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their enemies should, in many skirmishes overcome them, Yet that they might not
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be discouraged by their defeats, he assures them that they should overcome it the
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last which was fulfilled when in Saul's time and David's the Moabites and Ammonites were
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wholly subdued. Seefhirs Chronicles, Chapter five, verse eighteen, et cetera.
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Note, the cause of God and his people, though it may seem for
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a time to be baffled and run down, will yet be victorious at last.
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Vincimer im prelio is said, non im bello. We are foiled in
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battle, but not in campaign. Grace in the soul is often foiled in
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its conflicts. Troops of corruption overcome it. But the cause is God's,
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and grace will in the issue come off conqueror yea more than conquer Romans,
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Chapter eight, verse thirty seven. Roman five, concerning Asher, verse twenty,
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that it should be a very rich tribe, replenished not only with bread
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for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal dainties, for the
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king itself is served of the field Ecclesiastes, Chapter five, verse nine,
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and these exported out of Asher to other tribes, perhaps to other lands.
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Note the God of nature has provided for us not only necessaries, but dainties,
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that we might call him a bountiful benefactor. Yet, whereas all places
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are competently furnished with necessities, only some places afford dainties. Corn is more
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common than svices. With the supports of luxury as universal as the supports of
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life, the world would be worse than it is, and that it needs
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not be. Roman six concerning Naftali, verse twenty one. A tribe that
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carries struggles in its name, it signifies wrestling, and the blessing entailed upon
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it signifies prevailing. It is a hind let loose. Though we find not
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this prediction so fully answered in the event as some of the rest. Yet
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no doubt it proved true that those of this tribe were one as the loving
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Hind, for that is her epithet. Proverbs chapter five, verse nineteen,
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friendly and obliging to one another and to other tribes. Their converse remarkably kind
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and endearing, two as the lucent Hind, zealous for their liberty, three
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as the swift hind Psalm eighteen, verse thirty three quick in dispatch of business,
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and perhaps four as the trembling timorous in times of public danger. It
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is rare that those that are most amiable to their friends are most formidable to
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their enemies. Five. That they should be affable and courteous, their language
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refined, and they complaciant, giving goodly words. Note. Among God's Israel
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there is to be found a great variety of dispositions, contrary to each other,
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yet all contributing to the beauty and strength of the body. Judah like
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a lion, Isacar like an ass Dan like a serpent, Neftali like a
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hind. Let not those of different tempers and gifts censure one another, nor
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envy one another, any more than those of different statures and complexions Verses twenty
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two to twenty seven. Joseph is a fruitful bow, even a fruitful bow
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by a well whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved
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him, and shot at him and hated him. But his bow abode in
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strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of
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the mighty God of Jacob. From thence is the shepherd, the stone of
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Israel, even by the God of thy Father, whom shall help thee,
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and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above,
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blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the beasts and of the
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womb. The blessings of Thy Father have prevailed against the blessing of my progenitors,
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unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the
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head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was
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separate from his brethren. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf. In the morning
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he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
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He closes with the blessings of his most beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin.
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With these he will breathe his last roman one, the blessing of Joseph,
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which is very large and full. He is compared verse twenty two too fruitful
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bow or young tree, for God had made him fruitful in the land of
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his affliction. He owned it. Chapter forty one, verse fifty two.
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His two sons were as branches of a vine or other spreading plant running over
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the wall. Note God can make those fruitful great comforts to themselves and others
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who have been looked upon as dry and withered. More is recorded in the
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history concerning Joseph the concerning any other of Jacob's sons, and therefore what Jacob
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says of him is historical as well as prophetical. Observe one the providences of
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God concerning Joseph, Verses twenty three and twenty four. These are mentioned to
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the glory of God and for the encouragement of Jacob's faith and hope that God
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had blessings in soore for his seed. Here observe sub one Joseph's straits and
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troubles verse twenty three. Though he now lived at ease and in honor,
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Jacob reminds him of the difficulties he had formerly waded through. He had had
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many enemies here, called archers, being skillful to do mischief, masters of
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their art of persecution. They hated him. Their persecution begins. They shot
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their poisonous starts at him, and thus they sorely grieved him. His brethren
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and his father's house were very spiteful towards him, mocked him, stripped him,
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threatened him, sold him. Thought they had been the death of him.
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His mistress in the house of Potiphar sorely grieved him and shot at him
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when she impudently assaulted his chastity. Temptations are fiery darts, thorns in the
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flesh, sorely grievous to gracious souls. When she prevailed not in this,
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she hated him and shot at him by her false accusations, arrows against which
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there is little fence, but the hold God has in the conscience of the
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worst of men. Doubtless, he had enemies in the court of Pharaoh that
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envied his preferment and sought to undermine him. Sub two. Joseph's strength and
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support under all these troubles Verse twenty four. His beaux abode in strength,
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that is, his faith did not fail. But he kept his ground and
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came off a conqueror. The arms of his hands were made strong, that
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is, his other graces did their part, his wisdom, courage, and
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patience, which are better than weapons of war. In short, he maintained
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both his integrity and his comfort through all his trials. He bore all his
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burdens with an invincible resolution, and did not sink under them, nor do
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anything unbecoming him sub three the spring and fountain of his strength. It was
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by the hands of the Mighty God, who was therefore able to strengthen him,
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and the God of Jacob, a god in covenant with him and therefore
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engaged to help him. All our strength for the resisting of temptations and the
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bearing of afflictions, comes from God. His grace is sufficient, and his
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strength is perfected in our weakness. Sub four. The state of honor and
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usefulness to which he was subsequently advanced. Thence, from this strange method of
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providence, he became the shepherd and Stone, the feeder and supporter of God's
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Israel, Jacob and his family. Herein, Joseph was a type friend I
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of Christ. He was shot at and hated, but borne up under his
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sufferings Isaiah chapter fifty, verses seven tonne, and was afterwards advanced to be
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the shepherd and stone prin too of the church in general and particular believers.
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Hell shoots its arrows against the saints, but Heaven protects and strengthens them and
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will crown them. Two the promises of God to Joseph. See how these
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are connected with the former, even by the God of thy Father Jacob,
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who shall help thee Verse twenty five. Note our experiences of God's power and
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goodness in strengthening us. Hitherto are our encouragements still to hope for help from
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him. He that has helped us will help we may build much upon eben
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Easers, see what Joseph may expect from the Almighty, even the God of
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his father. Sub one, he shall help thee in difficulties and dangers which
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may yet be before THEE. Help Thy seed in their wars. Joshua came
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from him who commanded in chief the wars of Canaan. So two he shall
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bless thee, and he only blesses. Indeed, Jacob prays for a blessing
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upon Joseph, but the God of Jacob commands the blessing. Observe the blessings
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conferred upon Joseph Prien one, various and abundant blessings. Blessings of heaven above
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rain in its season and fair weather in its season, and the benign influences
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of the heavenly bodies. Blessings of the deep that lieth under this earth,
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which compared with the upper world, is but a great deep with subterraneous minds
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and springs. Spiritual blessings are blessings of heaven, above which we ought to
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desire and seek for in the first place, and to which we must give
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the preference, while temporal blessings, those of this earth, must lie under
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in our account and esteem. Blessings of the womb and the breasts are given
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when children are safely born and comfortably nursed in the Word of God by which
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we are born again and nourished up first Peter, Chapter one, verse twenty
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three, and Chapter two, verse two. There are to be new man
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blessings of both the womb and the breasts, parin too eminent and transcendent blessings
37:07
which prevail above the blessings of my progenitors Verse twenty six. His father Isaac
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had but one blessing, and when he had given that to Jacob, he
37:19
was at a loss for a blessing to bestow upon Esau. But Jacob had
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a blessing for each of his twelve sons, and now at the latter end,
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a copious one for Joseph. The great blessing entailed upon that family was
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increase, which did not so immediately and so signally follow the blessings which Abraham
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and Isaac gave to their sons, as if all the blessing which Jacob gave
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to his for soon after his death, they multiplied exceedingly peren thie durable and
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extensive blessings unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, including all the productions
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of the most fruitful hills, and lasting as long as they last. Isaiah
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chapter fifty four, Verse ten. Note the blessings of the Everlasting God include
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the riches of the everlasting hills, and much more well. Of these blessings,
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it is here said they shall be. So it is a promise,
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or let them be so. It is a prayer on the head of Joseph,
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to which let them be as a crown to adorn it and a helmet
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to protect it. Joseph was separated from his brethren, so we read it
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for a time. Yet as others read it, he was a Nazarite among
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his brethren, better and more excellent than they. Note. It is no
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new thing for the best men to meet with the worst, usage for Nazirites
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among their brethren to be cast out and separated from their brethren. But the
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blessing of God will make it up to them Roman too, the blessing of
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Benjamin, verse twenty seven, he shall raven as a wolf. It is
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plain by this that Jacob was guided in what he said by a spirit of
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prophecy, and not by natural affection. Else he would spoke with more tenderness
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of his beloved son Benjamin, concerning whom he only foresees and foretells this,
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that his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and daring, and that
39:10
they should enrich themselves with the spoils of their enemies. That they should be
39:14
active and busy in the world, and a tribe as much feared by their
39:17
neighbors as any other. In the morning, he shall devour the prey which
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he seized and divided over night. Or in the first times of Israel,
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they shall be noted for activity, though many of them be left handed.
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Judges Chapter three, verse fifteen and Chapter twenty, verse sixteen. Ahad the
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second Judge and Saul the first King were of this tribe, and also in
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the last times, Esther and Mordecai, by whom the enemies of the Jews
39:45
were destroyed, were of this tribe. The Benjanites ravened like wolves when they
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desperately espouse the cause of the men of Gibea, those men of Ballal Judges
39:55
Chapter twenty, verse fourteen. Blessed Paul was a this tribe Romans chapter eleven,
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verse one, Philippians chapter three, verse five. And he did,
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in the morning of his day devoured the prey as a prosecutor, but in
40:09
the evening divided the spoil as a preacher. Note God can serve his own
40:15
purposes by the different tempers of men. The deceived and the deceiver are his
40:23
death of Jacob b. C. Sixteen eighty nine, Verses twenty eight to
40:29
thirty three. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. And this it
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is that their fathers spake unto them and bless them every one according to his
40:38
blessing. He blessed them, and he charged them and said unto them,
40:45
I am to be gathered unto my people. Bury me with my fathers in
40:47
the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave
40:52
that is in the field of Makpala, which is before Mamre, in the
40:57
land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittide for
41:00
possession of a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife.
41:07
There they buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife, And there I buried Leah.
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The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the
41:15
children of Heath. And when Jacob made an end, commanding his sons,
41:21
he gathered up his feet into bed, and yielded up the ghost, and
41:23
was gathered unto his people. Here is Romaned one, the summing up of
41:30
the blessings of Jacob's sons verse twenty eight. Though Reuben, Simeon, and
41:36
Levi were put under the marks of their father's displeasure, yet he is said
41:40
to bless them every one according to his blessing, for none of them were
41:44
rejected, as Esau was. Note, whatever rebukes of God's word or providence
41:49
we are under at any time, Yet as long as we have an interest
41:52
in God's covenant, a place and a name among his people, and good
41:57
hopes of a share in the heavenly Canaan, we must account ourselves blessed.
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Two. The solemn charge Jacob gave them concerning his burial, which is a
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repetition of what he had before given to Joseph. See how he speaks of
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death. Now that he is dying. I am to be gathered unto my
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people Verse twenty nine. Note it is good to represent death to ourselves under
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the most desirable images, that the terror may be taken off of it.
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Though it separates us from our children and our people in this world, it
42:29
gathers us to our fathers and to our people in the other world. Perhaps
42:32
Jacob uses his expression concerning death as a reason why his son should bury him
42:37
in Canaan. For he says, I am to be gathered under my people.
42:42
My soul must go to the spirits of just men made perfect, And
42:45
therefore bury me with my fathers Abraham and Isaac and their wives verse thirty one.
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Observe one his heart was very much upon it, not so much from
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a natural affection to his native soil, as from a prisnciple of faith in
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the promise of God that Canaan should be the inheritance of his seed in due
43:05
time. Thus he would keep up in his sons a remembrance of the promised
43:07
land, and not only would have their acquaintance with it renewed by a journey
43:13
thither. On that occasion, but their desire towards it and their expectation of
43:16
it preserved. Two. He is very particular in describing the place, both
43:22
by the situation of it and by the purchase Abraham had made of it for
43:27
a bearying place Verses thirty and thirty two. He was afraid lest his sons,
43:31
after seventeen years sojourning in Egypt, have forgotten Canaan, and even the
43:37
burying place of their ancestors there, or lest the Canaanites should dispute his title
43:40
to it. And therefore he specifies it thus largely, and the purchase of
43:45
it, even when he is a dying not only to prevent mistakes, but
43:50
to show how mindful he was of that country. Note it is and should
43:54
be a great pleasure to dying saints to fix their thoughts upon the heavenly Canaan
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and the rest they hoped for there after death. Roman three The death of
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Jacob verse thirty three. When he had finished both his blessing and his charge,
44:10
both of which are included in the commanding to his sons, and so
44:15
had finished his testimony, he addressed himself to his dying work. One.
44:20
He put himself in a posture for dying, having before seated himself upon the
44:23
bedside to bless his sons the spirit of prophecy, bringing fresh oil to his
44:28
expiring lamp. Daniel, Chapter ten, verse nineteen. When that work was
44:31
done, he gathered up his feet into bed, that he might lie along,
44:37
not only as one patiently submitting to the stroke, but as one cheerfully
44:39
composing himself to rest. Now that he was weary, I will lay me
44:45
down and sleep. Two, He freely resigned his spirit into the hand of
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God, the father of spirits. He yielded up the ghost. His separated
44:53
soul went to the assembly of the souls of the faithful, which, after
44:58
they are delivered from the burden of the flow us are in joy and felicity.
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He was gathered to his people. Note if God's people be our people,
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death will gather us to them. End of chapter forty nine.