notices of our common ways may convict, but they need by no means
dishearten us. Quite otherwise; they may be welcomed as for blessing.
The light that penetrates to scatter our darkness, leaves itself behind
to gladden us, and has title to assert the place as _all its own_--so
that we ought to be able, in spirit, to sing of _present light_ and
_past_ _darkness_, to know what we _were_, and what we _are_, and still
to sing--
"All that I was, my sin, my guilt,
My death was all my own--
All that I am I owe to Thee,
My gracious God, alone.
"The evil of my former state
Was mine and only mine--
The good in which I now rejoice
Is Thine and only Thine.
"The darkness of my former state,
The bondage, all was mine--
The light of life in which I walk,
The liberty is Thine."
This is standing, not attainment; this is what faith entitles us to
celebrate. Faith takes up this language, and the soul surely hears it
and understands it. But _faith_ is the spring, in the inworking power of
the Holy Ghost. As in Heb. xi., from beginning to end, it is _faith_
that is celebrated. Enoch, and Moses, and David, and the prophets, and
the martyrs of other days, may be presented there in their fruits and
victories, but it is _faith_, and not the people of God, that the Spirit
by the apostle is celebrating in that fine chapter.
But I must return to Isaac.
At the close of chapter xxvi. we read: "And Esau was forty years old
when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and
Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: which were a grief of mind
to Isaac and to Rebekah."
This has much for us in the way of admonition; but to use it aright, I
must look to things connected with it, or like it, in the earlier
history of Abraham, and then in the future histories of Jacob and his
son Judah.
The command to the nation of Israel at the very beginning was to keep
the way of the Lord very particularly as to _marriage_. They were by no
means either to give their daughters to the sons of the Canaanites, or
take the Canaanites' daughters for their sons. Deut. vii. 3. If they did
so, it would be on the pain of being no longer owned of the Lord. Josh.
xxiii. According to this, the apostate days of Solomon are marked by
disobedience to this very thing (1 Kings xi.); and afterwards, no real
recovery to God could be admitted, without a return to the observance of
this principle in their marriages. Ezra x.; Neh. x.
Obedience, therefore, in this thing was a peculiar test of the state of
the nation. And it is thus that I look at it in this earliest book of
Genesis. For though divine law was not then published, divine principles
were then understood. It may be regarded as the witness of the state of
_family_ religion then, as it was of the state of _national_ religion
afterwards.
Abraham, in this matter, eminently keeps "the way of the Lord;" and so
Eliezer, one of his "household;" and so our Isaac, one of his
"children." For Abraham sends a special embassy into a distant land, in
order to get a wife "in the Lord" for his son--Eliezer goes on that
embassy with a ready mind--and Isaac in patience waits for the fruit of
it, not seeking any alliance with the nearer people; and, though sad and
solitary, keeps himself for the Lord's appointed helpmeet. Like Adam, he
waited for a helpmeet from the Lord's own hand, though it cost him
patience and sore solitude. This his meditation in the field at eventide
shows. He endured. He might have got a daughter of Canaan; but he
endured. He will rather suffer the sickening of his heart from the
deferring of his hope, than not marry "in the Lord," or take him a wife
of any that he may choose. And all this was very beautiful in this first
generation of this elect family. The father, the servant, and the child,
each in his way, witnesses how Abraham had ordered his house according
to God, teaching his children and his household the way of the Lord. See
chap. xviii. 19.
But we notice a course of sad decline and departure from all this.
Isaac, in his turn and generation, becomes the head of the family. But
he is grievously careless in this matter, compared with his father; as
this scripture, the close of chapter xxvi., shows us. He does not watch
over his children's ways, to anticipate mischief, as Abraham had done.
Esau his son marries a daughter of the Hittites. Isaac and Rebecca are
grieved at this, it is true; for they had _righteous_ souls which knew
how to be "vexed" with this; but then, it was their _carelessness_ which
had brought this vexation upon them.
This we cannot say was beautiful. But still there was a happy symptom in
it. There was a righteous soul to be vexed, a mind sensitive of
defilement. And this was well. Jacob, however, declines still further.
He neither anticipates the mischief, like Abraham, nor does he, like
Isaac, grieve over it when it occurs. But with an unconcerned heart, as
far as the history tells us, he allows his children to form what
alliances they please, and to take them wives of all whom they choose.
This is sad. There is no _joy_ for the heart here, as in the _obedience_
of Abraham; there is no _relief_ for the heart here, as in the _sorrow_
of Isaac and Rebecca.
But Judah afterwards goes beyond even all this in a very fearful way. He
represents the fourth generation of this elect family. But he not only
does not anticipate mischief, like Abraham, in the ordering of his
family, nor grieve over mischief when brought into it, like Isaac, nor
is he simply indifferent about it, whether it be brought in or not, like
Jacob, but he actually brings it in himself! For he does nothing less
than take a daughter of the Canaanites to be the wife of his son Er!
This exceeded. This was sinning with a high hand. And thus, in all this,
in this history of the four generations of Genesis-patriarchs, we notice
declension, gradual but solemn declension, till it reach complete
apostasy from the way of the Lord.
But if this be serious and sad, as it really is, is it not profitable
and seasonable? Can we not readily own, that it is "written for our
learning"? How does it warn us of a tendency to decline from God's
principles! What took place in the same elect family, generation after
generation, may take place in the same elect person, year after year.
The principles of God may be deserted by easy gradations. They may first
be _relaxed_, then _forgotten_, then _despised_. They may pass from a
_firm_ hand into an _easy_ one, from thence to an _indifferent_ one, and
find themselves at last flung away by a _rebellious_ one. Many have at
first stood for God's principles in the face of difficulties and
fascinations, like Abraham--then, merely grieved over the loss of them,
like Isaac--then, been careless about their loss or maintenance, like
Jacob--and at last, with a high hand, broken them, like Judah.
This is suggested by the scene at the close of chap. xxvi. As we pursue
the story of Isaac after this, we shall find that his soft and pliant
nature allies him not only with weaknesses, but with defilement, with
some of the low indulgences of mere animal nature. I mean in the closing
action of his life, his blessing of Esau and Jacob.
This is a solemn scene indeed, full of warning and admonition.
Though Isaac had been grieved, as we have seen, by the marriage of Esau
with a daughter of the Hittites, yet we learn immediately afterwards,
that it is this very same Esau that draws and holds the strongest
affections of his father's heart, to which that father would, if he
could, have sacrificed everything. And this was very sad. It reminds me
of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat had godly _sensibilities_, but he was
wanting in godly _energies_. Through vanity he sadly sinned; first
joining in affinity with Ahab, king of Israel, and then with Ahab going
to the battle. But still, he had sensibilities that were spiritual and
of divine workmanship. For in the midst of the prophets of Baal, he was
not at ease. He had a witness within, that this would not do; and he
asked, "Is there not here a prophet of the Lord beside, that we might
inquire of him?" But still, and in spite of all this, he went to
Ramoth-Gilead to battle, and that, too, in alliance with that very Ahab,
who had thus so painfully wounded the best affections of his soul, and
who, under his own eye, and as they sat on the throne together, in the
spirit of deep revolt from the God of Israel, had consulted the prophets
of Baal.
This was strange, as well as terrible; but this was that king
Jehoshaphat. And just after the same manner, our Isaac on this occasion
had his _sensibilities_, but not his corresponding _energies_. With a
godly mind he grieved over Esau's marriage with a daughter of Heth; and
yet that very Esau, who thus wounded the witness within him, was the one
to attract and hold and order the fondest sympathies of his heart, so as
to hinder him from freeing himself to act for God.
It was not through vanity, as it was in Jehoshaphat, that Isaac thus
sadly and strangely failed--it was rather, from the common pravity of
his character, such as we have seen it to be, a general relaxed moral
tone of soul. But whether it be through this or that, he is ensnared, I
may say, by an earlier Ahab, though his soul had the sense of that
Ahab's apostasy. He would help Esau to the blessing all he could, as
Jehoshaphat would help the king of Israel all he could to the victory at
Ramoth-Gilead.
What sights are these! what lessons and warnings!
But we must inspect this family scene, this family circle in chap.
xxvii. a little more closely. There are others beside Isaac to be looked
at.
Abraham's servant in chap. xxiv. had brought two different things with
him out of the house of his master, when he visited the house of
Bethuel. He brought a _report_ of all that the Lord had done for
Abraham, and _gifts_.
These different things become tests of that household in Mesopotamia.
The report dealt with future and distant things, and had God necessarily
connected with it--the gifts might have been independent of Him, and
were a present gain. Rebecca was moved by the report. She takes the
jewels, it is true; but the tidings which the servant brought are chief
with her. The report of what awaited her among a distant people whom the
Lord had blessed had power to detach her. It was not Isaac merely, or
Abraham's wealth merely. Her father had wealth, and she need not go far
to promise herself a home and its enjoyments. But _the Lord_ had blessed
Abraham, and had now prospered the journey of his servant. It was not a
question with Rebecca whether she would take Isaac and a share in
Abraham's wealth, or remain poor and lonely. The question was
this--Would she take the portion the Lord was now bringing her, or that
which her kindred and circumstances in the world had provided her?
And so it is with us, beloved. It is not a question between heaven and
nothing, but between heaven and the world, between our taking the
happiness which the Lord in His promises, or which human present
circumstances, have for us. Are we desirous of divine joy and of
heavenly riches? Can we say to the Lord Jesus, Thou shalt "choose our
inheritance for us?" Is the distant land, of which we have received a
report, our object? This was Rebecca; she could answer these questions.
We should wrong her if we judged that with her it was Abraham's wealth
and Isaac's hand or nothing. It was not so. As we said before, and
surely the story warrants it, she had large expectations of every kind,
if she remained at home. She need not take a long, untried journey with
a stranger and to a strange people. But all became nothing to her, when
in faith she received the report. She comes forth at the call of God.
Rebecca was a genuine daughter of Abraham. Abraham had crossed the
desert at the call of the God of glory, and Rebecca now crosses the same
desert at the report of what the God of glory had done for Abraham. They
had the like "spirit of faith." The stronger expression of it we may
find in Abraham, but it was the like "spirit of faith." Abraham had gone
forth in the faith of an unattested call; Rebecca now goes forth on an
accredited report. There was no Eshcol brought out of Canaan to Ur to
embolden Abraham to take the journey; but "this is the fruit of it" was
said to Rebecca in the servants and camels and gold and jewels--a branch
with a cluster rich and abundant indeed. The report is now sealed to
Rebecca, as it had not been to Abraham. Abraham tried an untried path;
Rebecca did but walk in the footsteps of the flock. But they were on the
same road, and reached the same place.
This is simple and beautiful in Rebecca, and the way of faith to this
hour. But, beloved, there is more, and that, too, of another kind.
Rebecca's _character_ had been already formed--as, I may say, it is with
all of us, before we are quickened of God. The moment of His power
arrives--we are made alive with divine life then--the separating call is
also answered; but it finds us of a certain character, a certain shape
and complexion of mind. It finds us, it may be, Cretans (Titus i.), or
brothers and sisters of Laban, or something that wears the strong stamp
of a peculiar pravity of nature. And then character and mind, derived
from nature or from family or from education and the like, we take with
us after we have been born of the Spirit, and carry it in us across the
desert from Padan-aram to the house of Abraham.
This is serious. It is serious, that with the quickening of the Spirit,
nature or the force of early habits and education, or of family
character, will cling to us still. "The Cretans are always liars."
Laban, with whom Rebecca had grown up, was a crafty, knowing, worldly
man. It is plain that, on the occasion of Eliezer's visit, he had been
moved only by the _gifts_. They made a ready way for Abraham's servant;
as we read, A man's gift maketh room for him. Proverbs xviii. 16. Laban
was evidently the stirring, active, important one in his father
Bethuel's house. He had a taste for occasions which called for
management. And all this is a very bad symptom. It is a bad symptom when
one carries the bag. It is bad to find one prematurely managing and
clever, or, at any period, fond of occasions where skill of that kind is
to be exercised, having an aptness in conducting either state affairs or
family interests. And just such an one was Laban; and Laban was the
brother of Rebecca; and Rebecca had passed all her life, till her
marriage, with him; and the family character, in this only great action
in which she is called to take a part, sadly betrays itself.
If Abraham and Sarah had brought the foul, unclean compact between them,
as they left their father's house to walk with God, so did Rebecca bring
this family character, this Laban-leaven, with her. We have _nature_ in
its pravity with us after our conversion; and we have our own _fleshly
characteristics_ also, as well as the common pravity of nature. And we
have to rebuke them sharply, that we may be sound, that is, morally
healthful, in the faith. Tit. i. 13. And this lesson is afresh pressed
upon us, from the story of this distinguished woman in this chapter.
But there is more of the same kind. Jacob, as well as his mother,
Rebecca, got his mind formed by this same earliest influence. He was all
his days--I mean, all his practical, active days--a slow-hearted,
calculating man; and in this family scene, in chap. xxvii., we find him
to be such an one--a ready, intelligent pupil of his mother, Laban's
sister, and whose favourite child he had been from his birth. So that as
Laban had been corrupting his sister Rebecca, Rebecca had been
corrupting her son Jacob.
And further still, as this same chapter tells us, Isaac, whose mind and
character, as we have seen, had been so remarkably formed by his early
life in Sarah's tent, had sunk into the indulgence of some of the low
desires of nature. He loved his son Esau, because he ate of his venison.
This was poor indeed, and something worse than poor. And this love of
venison, we may surely suggest, must have encouraged Esau in the chase;
just as Rebecca's cleverness, got and brought from her brother's house
in Padan, formed the mind and character of her favourite Jacob. And thus
one parent was helping to corrupt one of the children, and the other the
other.
What mischief, what sad defilement, is disclosed here, in all this
family scene! But we may go on to expose it even more; for the heart is
not only capable of such defilement, but it is daring enough, at times,
to take its naughtiness _into the sanctuary_. "I was almost in all evil
in the _midst of the congregation and assembly_." Proverbs v.
The word to Aaron, long after this, was, Do not drink wine nor strong
drink, thou, nor thy son with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of
the congregation. Lev. x. Nature is not to be animated in order to wait
on the service of God; it is not to be set in action by its provisions,
for the discharge of the duties of the sanctuary. Strong drink may
exhilarate, and give ebullition to animal spirits, but this is no
qualification for a priest of the house of God.
But even into pollution such as this Isaac seems to have been betrayed.
"Take, I pray thee," says he to Esau, "thy weapons, thy quiver and thy
bow, and go to the field, and take me some venison: and make me savoury
meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul
may bless thee before I die." He was going to do the last religious act
of a patriarchal priest, and he calls as for wine and strong drink, the
food of mere animal life, to raise and endow him for the service!
This was sad indeed, thus to deliberate on the venison at such a moment.
We may all be conscious how much of nature soils our holy things, how
much of the mere animation of the flesh may be mistaken for the easy and
strong current of the Spirit. We may be aware of this, in the place of
communion. And this is to be our sorrow and our humbling--we are to
confess it as evil, or at least as weakness, and to watch against it.
But to prepare for it, carefully to mix the wine and strong drink, to
take a full draught, after this manner, this exceeds in defilement.
And nothing comes of all this but dishonour and loss. The whole of this
family pollution is judged in the holiness of God, because this was a
family of God in the earth. "You only have I known of all the families
of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."
Isaac is laid aside, Rebecca never sees Jacob again, and the calculating
supplanter finds himself in the midst of toils and wrongs and hardships,
supplanted and deceived himself again and again; for twenty long years
an alien from the house of his father. Nothing comes of all this,
whether we look at the crooked policy of the one party, or at the
fleshly favouritism of the other; all is disappointment and shame, under
the rebuke of the holiness of the Lord.
There is, however, one relief, and it is a very important one, in the
midst of this otherwise foul and gloomy scene. "By faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau concerning things to come." This is the Holy Ghost's own
reference to this chapter in Hebrews xi.
But ere I speak of the relief or comfort which this has for us when
thinking of Isaac, I take occasion to inquire, What was the nature or
character of this blessing by the patriarchs upon their children, which
we find again and again in the Book of Genesis?
A blessing was in the hand of Melchizedek in chap. xiv.; as again, long
after, there was a blessing in the hand of Aaron in Num. vi. These
instances we may easily understand--these blessings were conferred or
pronounced by reason of _office_. They were delivered through priesthood
ordained of God. There was nothing prophetic or oracular in them. The
words which these priests used were rather _prepared_ than _inspired_;
words already prescribed by divine provision, rather than communicated
at the moment by divine illumination, at least in the case of Aaron.
With the patriarchal blessing, however, it was as clearly otherwise.
There was a prophecy or an oracle in Isaac's words on Esau and Jacob
here in chap. xxvii.; and so was there afterwards in Jacob's words on
his children in chap. xlix., and in his words on Joseph's children in
chap. xlviii.; and so was there before, in Noah's words, in chap. ix.,
on Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
But why, I inquire, was this great matter thus committed to the
patriarchs?
If I mistake not, some of the secrets of patriarchal religion,
patriarchal worship and ministry, are involved in the answer to this.
Religion had, in these earliest days, the same great truths which it
still has for its spirit and principle. The Fall and Recovery of man, or
Ruin and Redemption, were then made known, and they were received by
faith. The altars of the fathers, and the ordinance of clean and
unclean, tell us of faith and of the apprehensions of faith in those
days. The tent of the living patriarchs, and the Machpelah of the
departed patriarchs, tell us that they understood the stranger's
calling, and a coming resurrection; and Abraham's grove at Beersheba
(chap. xxi.), and his alliance with the Gentile at the well of the oath,
tell us likewise, in clear though symbolic language, that they
understood some of the bright and happy secrets of the millennial age,
or of "the world to come."
And worship and ministry, in those infant days, were in their simplest
forms. I may say, _nature_ suggested that the father or head of the
house should be the prophet, priest, and king, there. In after times,
when the condition of things spread out, and when, with enlargement and
age, corruption came in, _the holiness of God_ demanded a separated or
circumcised people; and, connected with such, a separated or anointed
priesthood. Now, in our day, in the day of the kingdom of God, which is,
as we know, "not in word, but in power," it is required that ministry
should be something more than nature would suggest, or than holiness
would demand; there must be _power_, such as the Spirit Himself prepares
and imparts. But in the early days of Genesis, those _family_
days--those infant, earliest days--the voice of _nature_ was listened
to, and duly and seasonably so; and accordingly, the head of the family
was the minister of God to the family, and both the dignities and the
services of prophets, priests, and kings, within the range of the
homestead, or in the family temple, centred in the father.
The blessing of the children seems to flow from this. It was an act
performed in the combined virtues of a prophet and a priest, which, as
we see, the fathers of the families carried in their own persons. They
received a communication of the divine mind, and then uttered it, as
"oracles of God;" and, being separated or priestly representatives of
God to their children, they pronounced His blessing, God's blessing,
upon them.
They seem to sustain this character through the Book of Genesis.
In our Isaac it is sad indeed to see how this character was exercised,
or rather abused--as such like high endowments have constantly been, the
priestly dignity, for instance, in the person of Eli (godly old man as
he was), and the kingly authority, in one tremendous instance, even by
such an one as the deeply-loved and honoured son of Jesse.
So Isaac would have made his office serve, not only his private
partialities, but his very appetites. And this, too, in the face of
solemn, divine warning. The word had gone before, upon Isaac's children
(Esau the elder and Jacob the younger), "the elder shall serve the
younger." But Isaac's fleshly favouritism and appetites had made him
careless and forgetful of this, and he would fain have made the elder,
Esau, the heir of the promise.