CONTENTS No sooner are the people of God brought within the bond of the covenant, than persecution ariseth. Jacob having obtained the blessing, is obliged to flee to Padan-aram, to avoid the fury of his brother. The sacred historian relates in this Chapter, the memorable events of his journey. He i... [ Continue Reading ]
Hosea 12:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Observe the same blessing still carried on. It is here called Abraham's blessing. And what is that but the gospel blessing of the Lord Jesus; on whom, and in whom alone, all blessings center. Precious expression! A multitude of people. Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 7:9; Numbers 23:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
How different was the departure of Jacob to form an alliance, from the plan adopted by Abraham for Isaac. Genesis 24:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Observe the policy of Esau. It was to please his father, not with a view to obtain the favor of God. And moreover, whom did he marry? The issue of the bond-woman, not the free. Still you see pursuing carnal, not spiritual objects. - Mahalath is called Bashemath. Genesis 36:3. Nabojoth, Genesis 25:13... [ Continue Reading ]
Called Charran, Acts 7:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
Perhaps never one apparently more forlorn and friendless, when he lay down. Perhaps never one more blessed, before he rose up.... [ Continue Reading ]
In the early ages, a very usual method, in which the Lord communicated himself to his people, was by visions and dreams.... [ Continue Reading ]
Is not this a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus? Are not all revelations of God to man, made through the medium of Jesus Christ? John 1:18. Did not this ladder represent the constancy of the communication kept open between the Lord and his people? The top reaching to heaven, representing the divine n... [ Continue Reading ]
Observe how at every renewed visit of the Lord to his people, that first, and best of covenant mercies, is again confirmed: Genesis 17:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
All promises are in Christ, and with Christ; all promises are connected. And Reader! do not forget how the Holy Ghost taught the church to apply his to all Christ's seed. Hebrews 13:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
What gracious effects divine manifestations leave on the mind! Reader! would you know whether the Lord hath revealed himself to your heart? Look within. See what hath God wrought! What traces hath the Holy Spirit left behind. Jacob felt surprise, holy fear, gracious assurance, devout meltings of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 1:17; Matthew 17:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
How sweet and grateful this token of God's love, and Jacob's sense of it. What must have been the Patriarch's view of it twenty years afterward, when he came back to it again: See Genesis 32:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Bethel, means the house of God. Luz, means an almond-tree. When souls are awakened and brought into the bond of the covenant, gracious names supply the place of those which are natural.... [ Continue Reading ]
A vow is a solemn transaction of the soul with God. I believe, that every truly awakened believer, desires to dedicate himself to God, when God makes known the riches of his grace to him. Genesis 31:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 6:8... [ Continue Reading ]
God's house, means a spot made sacred to God's worship. Genesis 35:14; Genesis 35:14 REFLECTIONS Reader! may you and I learn, from this interesting account of Jacob's pilgrimage, that when the providences of our God seem most to frown, the gracious tendencies of God are perhaps most smiling. And le... [ Continue Reading ]