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THE KING’S BUSINESS
LESSON II. April 13. Jacob at Bethel.— Gen. 28 :10 -22 . Golden Text— I am with thee, and will keep thee withersoever thou goest.— Gen. 28:15. I. Harvesting. (G a l. 6 :7 ; P rov . 1 3 :1 5 ).
tidiluvians, th e theocracy , a n d th re a t ens th a t o f th e Church. L a b a n ’s fam ily w ere p ro fe ssed (ch. 2 9 :3 2 , 33, 3 5 ) , b u t incon sisten t (ch. 3 1 :9 ) Je - hovists. ( b ) Isaac, in th e n am e of G o d A lm igh ty , g av e Ja c o b th e b less ing o f A b ra h am an d dism issed him. (c ) N o th ing is said o f his m o th e r’s blessing. C ou ld she n o t say, “G o d bless you ’ ? W a s she g ag g ed b y guilt ? A s w ith M acbeth, O n e cried, ‘God bless us I* a n d ‘A m en’ th e o th e r; I could n o t say Am en, W hen th ey did say ‘God bless u s!’ W h ere fo re could no t I p ro n o u n c e ‘A m e n ’? 1 h ad m ost n eed of blessing, a n d ‘Amen* S tu ck in m y th ro a t.” L et us h o p e R e b e k a h ’s g rief w as m ing led w ith contrition, an d th a t in B reaking H om e T ie s,” th e healing o f a m o th e r’s b en ed ic tio n follow ed th e w an d e re r. F a th e r, m o th e r, only th e h e a rt o f p e a c e can sp e ak peace. 2 . His journey. Its d ire c tion— n o rth 55 m iles to B ethel (th e n L u z ), 400 to H a ran , re tra c in g th e course o f A b ra h am to th e L o rd ’s land , w hence J a c o b was going c o n tra ry to A b ra h am ’s counsel (ch. 2 4 :6 ) . 3 . His thoughts. A lonely m an, on a lonely ro ad , w ith hom e a n d friend s b eh in d him , an d a n u nknow n w o rld a n d fo rtun e b e fo re has thoughts; th o u g h ts th a t m ellow his feelings, an d search his conscience, a n d recall his p a st relation s a n d d e a l ings, a n d o ften p ro d u c e con trition , confession a n d conv ersion ; follow ed b y a n a p p e a l to h e av en fo r p a rd o n a n d p ro te c tion . In th is fram e, w e think, Ja c o b an d tw ilight m e t a t Bethel. F rom th e v a le th e w a n d e re r scann ed th e rock -shelved d e c liv ity ; th e slo p e w as g ild ed b y th e fad ing
1. God clears from sin’s legal, not wholly from its natural results in this life. 2. No blessing came from bar gaining and scheming for the bless ing. P ea c e in h e a rt a n d hom e was b rok en . Isaac’s tru st in his wife, E sau’s love fo r his m o th e r, J a c o b ’s resp ect fo r her, his fellow con sp ira to r, an d th e p a tria rc h ’s comm un ion w ith Jeh o v ah , all w ere sad ly shaken. Esau w ou ld kill J a c o b ; Ja c o b fe a red E sau; R eb ek ah d re a d e d b e re a v e m en t of b o th , th e one as a victim , th e o th e r as a m u rd e re r; E sau w ished th e old fa th e r ou t o f th e w ay ; R ach el lo st h e r b o y ; Ja c o b be c am e an exile, a n d th e victim o f d e c ep tio n b y his own kin th ro u g h o u t his life. H a d th ey subm itted to th e will, a n d w a it e d o n th e w o rd o f th e L o rd— how differen t! It is ju st th e sam e to d ay . 3. Still scheming. E rro r gives b irth to error. R e b e k a h w as n o t y e t ch asten ed . T o cov e r J a c o b ’s flight she p ro fe ssed concern fo r h e r so n 's m arriage (g o d ly p aren ts, a t least, shou ld d e e p ly sym path ize in th is ). R e b e k a h ’s fau lt w as incincerity w ith h e r hu sb and . N o r could sparing Isaac know ledg e o f E sau’s pu rpo se excuse her. No d e c ep tio n is excus able. No excuse can a v e rt th e co n sequences. W h a tso ev e r a m an sow eth th a t Isaac ( a ) ch a rg ed Ja c o b as to yok ing w ith u nb eliev ers; a p rincip le th re a d ing th e B ible (D eu t. 22:9-1 1; 2 Cor. 6 :1 4 ; 1 Cor. 7 :3 9 ) , th e v io la tio n o f which led to th e ap o sta cy o f th e an - shall he also re a p .” II. Jacob’s Exile. 1. His parting blessing.
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