LECTURE VII.

GENESIS XLV. part of 26th verse.

"And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not."

THE chapter with which our observations commence this morning, viz., the 37th, opens thus: "And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger; in the land of Canaan. There is a peculiar emphasis in these words: "Jacob dwelt" as a resident in the land. Isaac had been content to be a stranger there. Jacob had become great, and wealthy, and powerful, and was no longer willing, as his father and his grandfather had been, "to sojourn" (so the Apostle to the Hebrews expresses it) "in the land of promise, as in a strange country;" one of the brightest evidences of their faith in God, and of their anxious expectations of that "city which hath foundations." But Jacob was beginning to settle himself in Canaan, not as his temporary resting-place, but his abiding home. This is precisely the state of mind which the god of this world is always desirous of in

ducing: if he can but succeed in tempting you to forget that this is not your rest; if he can but encourage you to throw all your heart, and energies, and affections, into the pleasures or business of this transitory scene: the "planting, and building, and marrying, and giving in marriage;" "the sitting down to work, and the rising up only to play," of this temporary state of existence, his end is gained. Heaven is neglected; Christ is despised; God is forgotten; the soul sleeps-and who will venture to say that it shall awaken until the last trump of the Archangel proclaim the irrevocable doom-"Wo, wo unto you, for ye have received your consolation."

But blessed be the God of Jacob, this is a state from which He is continually, aye, daily, recalling his children. If the tree bear no fruit, does the careful husbandman give it up in despair? O no; he prunes it; he digs about it; he loosens the ground about its roots, to let in the refreshing shower and the invigorating sunshine. Thus also does the great Husbandman, when He beholds his children settling down in fruitless forgetfulness; He brings upon them some afflictive visitation, or some awakening providence, or, by what we term some accidental change of circumstances, He up

roots them from the place in which they have long lived peaceably and at ease, and thus says aloud to the ear and to the heart, "Arise and depart, for this is not your rest." That such is assuredly the Almighty's method with his people, the experience of many among us will abundantly testify. But it is one of those important truths which do not depend merely on personal experience for their acceptance; it is a matter of express revelation in God's holy ward. Thus saith the Lord, "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel; therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed." How accurate a description of one, whose roots the Lord hath never shaken by affliction, or adversity, or change, and whose natural taste and feelings remain unaltered! Observe how the prophet proceeds: "Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and shall break their bottles." So was it with Jacob; he had "settled upon his lees," and he was dwelling in the land in which he ought to have felt himself only a passing stranger.

My Christian brethren, if I address any who are falling into this too common and too dangerous a mistake; any of you upon whom the world has smiled, and whom a long series of prosperous events, a course of uninterrupted health, or of domestic happiness, have tempted to establish yourself in false security here below, be timely warned by the dealings of the Almighty with the patriarch, how he will also deal with you. He will no more permit his children thus to sleep away their souls, than (as we have seen from former incidents in Jacob's life) He will permit them, unchecked, to sin them away. Our Lord has himself declared that He "stands at the door and knocks" by his ministers, by his Spirit, by his providences; and be assured, that if you are a child of his, He will not cease to knock; every stroke will be louder and harsher, and more appalling, until He has roused you from your lethargy, until you have opened to Him your whole heart, and received Him as your full and sufficient Saviour. Do not then, content yourself with a land in which the real people of God have always rejoiced to account themselves as strangers. Do not be in love with a world which is at enmity with God; but as the Psalmist says, "Delight thyself in the Lord," He

alone can give," and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Proceed we now to mark how God, in mercy, was about to exemplify this, in his treatment of the patriarch; to break the cisterns which Jacob had hewn out for himself, but which could hold no water; to empty the earthen vessels in which his soul delighted; and, in this last stage of his pilgrimage, to compel him to wander into a strange country, and to finish his days in a foreign land.

The instructive and well-known history of Joseph forms the comment upon this observation; and how dexterously does the inspired historian prepare us for the event, even by the opening passage of that history" Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children." Whenever the Almighty needs a rod to chasten us, our passions and affections, our own preferences and partialities, have always one at hand to offer him. God was about to call Israel to remembrance; a gentle blow would have been unavailing; it was to be given with a tender hand: but it must be sharp, that it may be acutely felt; and heavy, that it may be long remembered. The Almighty does not take away Levi, or Judah, or Zebulun, the sons of the little-regarded Leah, but Joseph, the son of the tenderly-beloved Rachel !