means. If all the circumstances of this event are related by Moses, we must acknowledge that Jacob displayed a want of brotherly affection and kindness; that he acted inconsistently with that charity which has been required of believers under every dispensation of religion; that he basely took advantage of the passions and cupidity of his brother. It is true that the birth-right had been promised to him; but for the accomplishment of this promise, it was his duty patiently to wait. Providence needs not the crimes of men in order to accomplish his purposes; and if we will endeavour to hasten the execution of the divine promises, instead of waiting for God's time, we shall generally find that, instead of a blessing, we shall embrace a curse. For several years after this event, we hear nothing of the history of Jacob. He probably remained tranquil and unoccupied with any great events, under the roof of his father. We first view him in circumstances in which we contemplate him with regret. Isaac, apparently about to leave the world, prepared to give to his family the solemn patriarchal blessing. These benedictions were not like the impotent wishes of ordinary parents, who, in their last moments, express what they desire, not what will actually come to pass. The patriarchal blessings were infallible dictions; they were uttered under immediate inspiration, and they certainly foretold the future destinies of their children, and of the nations that should spring from their children. Isaac, forgetting the declarations of God concerning the birth-right, or having never properly comprehended them, was disposed to follow the inclinations of his heart, and confer this privilege upon Esau. Rebekah, overhearing the discourse of Isaac to Esau, urged Jacob pre to impose upon his father, and thus fraudulently obtain the blessing. Jacob at first reluctantly consents; but having complied with the solicitations of Rebekah, he adds falsehood to falsehood; and at last presumptuously and profanely introduces the sacred name of God to sanction his deceit. Isaac, guileless and unsuspecting, is deceived, and confers upon him the blessing that is designed for Esau. You shudder, my brethren, at this conduct of Jacob. It was execrable. But learn from it the deceitfulness of sin, and the danger of entering upon a vicious course. Had Jacob imagined, when the designs of Rebekah were proposed to him, that he should be led to trifle with the sacred name of Jehovah, he would probably have rejected her plan with abhorrence. But he was led on, step by step, till at last he found no mode of hiding his past criminality, but by plunging still deeper into guilt. Ah! my brethren, why will we not learn that, except we oppose the beginnings of evil, we are undone; that one deviation from virtue will produce another to save us from detection, till at last we awake astonished and confounded at the depth to which we have sunk in infamy and guilt! If the conduct of Jacob deserves our censure, much more does that of Rebekah; and yet are there none of you, mothers, who imitate her example? Is there nothing in the manner in which you bring up your children; is there nothing in the very system of what is called polite education, that necessarily reminds us of Rebekah, who, by fraud and dissimulation, strove to render her child distinguished in the world? Let us admire and adore that superintending providence of God, which can over-rule even the vilest passions and the basest crimes of men to the promotion of its purposes. Thus God over-ruled the wickedness of Rebekah and Jacob, to accomplish his pre-determined and pre-declared designs. Thus, in after ages, he over-ruled the malignity of the highpriests, the treachery of Judas, the criminal timidity of Pilate, for the salvation of the world. Without sanctioning or justifying the ungodly, he "makes the sins and the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder he restrains." The enmity of Esau was excited by the insidious manner in which Jacob had wrested the blessing from him, and he avowed his intention to murder his brother on the death of Isaac. It became necessary, in order to preserve the life of Jacob, that he should abandon the paternal roof. Isaac, before his departure, renews, designedly and cheerfully, the blessing which he had before unintentionally given, confirms Jacob as "heir of the promise," and offers up prayers for his happiness and success. Oh! what a consolation, and what a ground of security is it, to have a parent who has an interest at the throne of there to intercede for us! Fearful of the designs of Esau, he leaves home, in secrecy and solitude, and without any attendant enters upon a long and dangerous journey. He was to be prepared for eminent usefulness in the church, and he therefore must undergo affliction; for, like the ground, the heart must be harrowed ere it will yield its richest fruits. None of the events of his journey are recorded, except those of one night rendered ever memorable to him. Obliged to lie down in the midst of the desert, with the earth for his bed and a stone for his pillow, he was favoured with one of those miraculous dreams which God often vouchsafed to the grace, patriarchs. He beholds "a ladder set upon the earth, and the top reaching to heaven; and the angels of God ascending and descending on it, and the Lord stood above it," manifesting some outward display of his majesty. God then confirmed to him the blessing of Abraham, assured him of the constant care of his providence, and of a safe return to Ca naan. Jacob, on awaking, was filled with reverential awe at these unexpected manifestations of the divine presence. Impelled by gratitude, he consecrated the stone as a monument of the goodness of God; and, solemnly devoting himself to the Lord, engaged to worship him on that very spot, on his return to Ca naan. How admirably does God adapt his consolations and supports to our peculiar cases! Jacob is alone in the desert; but God shows him numerous companies of angels that attend him. He fears the hatred of his brother; God shows him angels as his protectors. All his apprehensions must have vanished, when he saw thus exhibited to him this emblem of the providence of the Lord, and of the care which he took of his servants. This providence is still exercised towards the children of men. These angels, still under the command of God, perform numberless offices of love to us. This remembrance should comfort us in our difficulties and distresses, and cause us to sing with an holy triumph: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge." The divine consolations are then principally given when we are stripped of outward com forts. Never did the heart of Jacob experience so much joy, as when, in solitude and darkness, his head rested on a stone. The remembrance of this night must have been peculiarly dear to Jacob, if he then, for the first time, (as many persons have supposed,) became truly impressed with the sentiments of real religion, and was renewed in the temper of his mind. This opinion is rendered probable from an examination of his future conduct. From this time, he acted as a real child of God, ever mindful of the vows he had made, and the obligations with which he had bound his soul. If this opinion be correct, with what transport did Jacob ever recall the hallowed wilderness of Luz! with what delight does he still, from the height of heaven, look down upon it, and adore that grace which there changed his heart! SERMON IX. LIFE OF JACOB. No. II. GENESIS XXIx. xxxii. 3. In our last lecture, we beheld Jacob fraudulently obtaining the solemn patriarchal blessing, and punished for his deceit by being compelled to flee from his father's house, in order to avoid the sanguinary |