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Genesis Chapter
Forty-eight
Genesis 48
Chapter Contents
Joseph visits his dying father. (1-7) Jacob blesses
Joseph's sons. (8-22)
Commentary on Genesis 48:1-7
The death-beds of believers
with the prayers and
counsels of dying persons
are suited to make serious impressions upon the
young
the gay
and the prosperous: we shall do well to take children on such
occasions
when it can be done properly. If the Lord please
it is very
desirable to bear our dying testimony to his truth
to his faithfulness
and
the pleasantness of his ways. And one would wish so to live
as to give energy
and weight to our dying exhortations. All true believers are blessed at their
death
but all do not depart equally full of spiritual consolations. Jacob
adopted Joseph's two sons. Let them not succeed their father
in his power and
grandeur in Egypt; but let them succeed in the inheritance of the promise made
to Abraham. Thus the aged dying patriarch teaches these young persons to take
their lot with the people of God. He appoints each of them to be the head of a
tribe. Those are worthy of double honour
who
through God's grace
break
through the temptations of worldly wealth and preferment
to embrace religion
in disgrace and poverty. Jacob will have Ephraim and Manasseh to know
that it
is better to be low
and in the church
than high
and out of it.
Commentary on Genesis 48:8-22
The two good men own God in their comforts. Joseph says
They are my sons whom God has given me. Jacob says
God hath showed me thy
seed. Comforts are doubly sweet to us when we see them coming from God's hand.
He not only prevents our fears
but exceeds our hopes. Jacob mentions the care
the Divine providence had taken of him all his days. A great deal of hardship
he had known in his time
but God kept him from the evil of his troubles. Now
he was dying
he looked upon himself as redeemed from all sin and sorrow for
ever. Christ
the Angel of the covenant
redeems from all evil. Deliverances
from misery and dangers
by the Divine power
coming through the ransom of the
blood of Christ
in Scripture are often called redemption. In blessing Joseph's
sons
Jacob crossed hands. Joseph was willing to support his first-born
and
would have removed his father's hands. But Jacob acted neither by mistake
nor
from a partial affection to one more than the other; but from a spirit of
prophecy
and by the Divine counsel. God
in bestowing blessings upon his people
gives more to some than to others
more gifts
graces
and comforts
and more
of the good things of this life. He often gives most to those that are least
likely. He chooses the weak things of the world; he raises the poor out of the
dust. Grace observes not the order of nature
nor does God prefer those whom we
think fittest to be preferred
but as it pleases him. How poor are they who
have no riches but those of this world! How miserable is a death-bed to those
who have no well-grounded hope of good
but dreadful apprehensions of evil
and
nothing but evil for ever!
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Genesis》
Genesis 48
Verse 3
[3] And
Jacob said unto Joseph
God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of
Canaan
and blessed me
God blessed me —
And let that blessing be entailed upon them. God had promised him two things
a
numerous issue
and Canaan for an inheritance. And Joseph's sons
pursuant
hereunto
should each of them multiply into a tribe
and each of them have a
distinct lot in Canaan
equal with Jacob's own sons. See how he blessed them by
faith in that which God had said to him Hebrews 11:21.
Verse 7
[7] And as for me
when I came from Padan
Rachel died by me in the land of
Canaan in the way
when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath:
and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
Mention is made of the death and burial of
Rachel
Joseph's mother
and Jacob's best beloved wife. The removal of dear
relations from us is an affliction
the remembrance of which cannot but abide
with us a great while. Strong affections in the enjoyment cause long
afflictions in the loss.
Verse 11
[11] And
Israel said unto Joseph
I had not thought to see thy face: and
lo
God hath
shewed me also thy seed.
I had not thought to see thy face
(having
many years given him up for lost) and lo God hath shewed me also thy seed? -
See here
How these two good men own God in their comforts. Joseph saith
They
are my sons whom God has given me - And to magnify the favour he adds
in this
place of my banishment
slavery and imprisonment. Jacob saith here
God hath
shewed me thy seed - Our comforts are then doubly sweet to us
when we see them
coming from God's hand.
Verse 15
[15] And
he blessed Joseph
and said
God
before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did
walk
the God which fed me all my life long unto this day
The God who fed me all my life long unto this
day — As long as we have lived in this world we
have had continual experience of God's goodness to us in providing for the
support of our natural life. Our bodies have called for daily food
and we have
never wanted food convenient. He that has fed us all our life long will not
fail us at last.
Verse 16
[16] The Angel which redeemed me from all evil
bless the lads; and let my name
be named on them
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them
grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
The angel who redeemed me from all evil — A great deal of hardship he had known in his time
but God had
graciously kept him from the evil of his troubles. Christ
the angel of the
covenant is he that redeems us from all evil. It becomes the servants of God
when they are old and dying
to witness for our God that they have found him
gracious. Joseph had placed his children so
as that Jacob's right-hand should
be put on the head of Manasseh the eldest
Genesis 48:12
13
but Jacob would put it on the
head of Ephraim the youngest
Genesis 48:14. This displeased Joseph
who was
willing to support the reputation of his first-born and would therefore have
removed his father's hands
Genesis 48:17
18
but Jacob gave him to
understand that he knew what he did
and that he did it neither by mistake nor
in a humour
nor from a partial affection to one more than the other
but from
a spirit of prophecy.
Verse 19
[19] And
his father refused
and said
I know it
my son
I know it: he also shall
become a people
and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother
shall be greater than he
and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Ephraim shall he greater — When the tribes were mustered in the wilderness Ephraim was more
numerous than Manasseh
and had the standard of that squadron
Numbers 1:32
33
35-2:18
20
and is named first
Psalms 80:2. Joshua was of that tribe. The tribe
of Manasseh was divided
one half on one side Jordan
the other half on the
other side
which made it the less powerful and considerable. God
in bestowing
his blessings upon his people
gives more to some than to others
more gifts
graces and comforts
and more of the good things of this life. And he often
gives most to those that are least likely: he chuseth the weak things of the
world
raiseth the poor out of the dust. Grace observes not the order of
nature
nor doth God prefer those whom we think fittest to be preferred but as
it pleaseth him.
Verse 21
[21] And
Israel said unto Joseph
Behold
I die: but God shall be with you
and bring
you again unto the land of your fathers.
I die
but God shall be with you
and bring
you again — This assurance was given them
and
carefully preserved among them
that they might neither love Egypt too much
when it favoured them
nor fear it too much when it frowned upon them. These
words of Jacob furnish us with comfort in reference to the death of our
friends: But God shall be with us
and his gracious presence is sufficient to
make up the loss. They leave us
but he will never fail us. He will bring us to
the land of our fathers
the heavenly Canaan
whither our godly fathers are
gone before us. If God be with us while we stay behind in this world
and will
receive us shortly to be with them that are gone before to a better world
we
ought not to sorrow as those that have no hope.
Verse 22
[22]
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren
which I took out
of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
He bestowed one portion upon him above his
brethren. The lands bequeathed are described to be those which he took out of
the hand of the Amorite with his sword and with his bow. He purchased them
first
Joshua 24:32
and it seems was afterwards
disseized of them by the Amorites
but retook them by the sword
repelling
force by force
and recovering his right by violence when he could not
otherwise recover it. These lands he settled upon Joseph. Mention is made of
this grant
John 4:5. Pursuant to it
this parcel of ground
was given to the tribe of Ephraim as their right
and the lot was never cast
upon it: and in it Joseph's bones were buried
which perhaps Jacob had an eye
to as much as to any thing in this settlement. It may sometimes be both just
and prudent to give some children portions above the rest: but a grave is that
which we can most count upon as our own in this earth.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Genesis》
48 Chapter 48
Verses 1-7
Thy two sons
Ephraim and Manasseh
. . . are mine:--
Jacob’s adoption of Joseph’s two sons
I.
THE
AUTHORITY WHICH HE CLAIMED FOR THIS ACT. He refers to a leading point in the
covenant history. God the Almighty
who is able to perform His Word
had
appeared to him
had promised to make him a great nation
and to give his seed
the land of Canaan (Genesis 48:3). God had spoken to him
and
this is his authority. On this he bases all the family hopes. The mention of
God’s appearance and promise would inspire confidence in Joseph.
II. THE PURPOSE HE
HAD IN VIEW.
1. To deliver them from the corrupting influences of the world.
Though they had an Egyptian mother
and belonged to that nation by birth and
circumstances
yet they were not to be suffered to remain Egyptians. Ordinary
men would regard them as having brilliant prospects in the world. But it was a
far nobler thing that they should espouse the cause of God
and cast in their
lot with His people.
2. To give them a recognized place in the covenant family. This
would impart a dignity and meaning to their life
and an impulse and an
elevation to all their thoughts Godward.
3. To do special honour to Joseph.
III. THE SAD
MEMORIES WHICH AWOKE.
1. They were selected in the room of Jacob’s two sons
who had
forfeited the blessing. Instead of Reuben and Simeon. They had grievously
sinned
and thus lost their inheritance. The portion of Reuben was given to
Ephraim; and of Simeon to Manasseh. The grounds of this are given in 1 Chronicles 5:1; see also Genesis 34:1-31; Genesis 49:5-7; Numbers 26:28-37; 1 Chronicles 7:14-29.
2. They reminded him of one whom he had loved and lost (Genesis 37:7). (T. H.Leale.)
Jacob adopts Joseph’s sons
I. THE OLD MAN’S
SICKNESS. The pain and sorrow of dying mitigated by the presence and kind
offices of dear friends. The joy of Jacob when it is told him that Joseph is
coming. He strengthened himself
and sat up. Good news infuse new life. How
strong in death are those who feel that Christ
the Great Deliverer
is near.
II. THE OLD MAN’S
MEMORY. In youth hope is strong
in old age
memory. The memory of the aged
recalls distant things. The recent are apt to be forgotten. Before the old
man’s mind memory rolls out the picture of his journey from Padan. Happy shall
we be if
among our memories of the past
we can recall an early attachment of
truth
&c.
especially to Jesus. The past never dies. Memory carries the
present forward into the future.
III. THE OLD MAN’S
BLESSING.
1. Valuable. The blessing of a good old man not to be slighted. The
blessing of such a man as Jacob most precious. It involved the transmission of
covenant mercies. Jacob’s relation to the people of God
federal and
representative.
2. Discriminating. He distinguished between the elder and younger
son. By supernatural illumination he specially indicated the supremacy of the
younger.
3. Prophetic. He not only foretold the pre-eminence of Ephraim
but
predicted their admitted greatness by all Israel.
4. Practical. He gave
as the covenant owner of the promised land
great material wealth to these adopted children of Joseph. His blessing had the
force of law--a last will and testament. The bequest was allowed.
5. Pious. He referred what he did to the will of God. Acknowledged
the good hand’ of the Lord his God
and the angel who redeemed him from all
evil. Learn:
Manasseh and Ephraim
We have in this chapter a further illustration of the truth
which
runs throughout Scripture
of the first-born being set aside and the younger
being chosen. So bent are we upon expecting God to move in our own circle
and
according to our ideas of things
that it is hard to dislodge it from the mind.
It is well that this law should be reversed
to show us that “ God’s thoughts
are not our thoughts
nor His ways our ways
” and lest we should imagine that
grace must always wait upon nature. It is a truth with which we are presented
in every phase of our history
that God is constantly reversing our order of
things. These crossed hands of blessing meet us everywhere. Like Joseph here
we have some favourite plan or scheme
and we are always expecting God will
bless it. He suddenly crosses all our plans and puts before us not only what we
had never thought of
but perhaps something we had despised. Or we had prayed
for some favourite son on whom we had set very high expectations
when we find
God crossing our plans
and blessing another whose talents or abilities we had
looked down upon. Like Joseph we are constantly thrusting forward some Manasseh
to bless
and God is continually crossing us by taking up some Ephraim and
blessing him. Like Joseph
too
we are “displeased” when things do not turn out
as we expected them
but in some very opposite way
and we rush to set God
right by taking up some other course of our own. Sometimes we never can
understand the meaning of these crossings in life. They baffle us
and we begin
to think God is neither hearing our prayers nor caring for us. We are
constantly saying as Joseph
“Not so
my father; for this is the first-born:
put thy right hand on his head.” “Not this course
not this plan
not this way
not this place”--such are some of the thoughts which possess us
and which we
are constantly thrusting before God. It needs a lifetime’s discipline sometimes
to make men see that “God’s ways are not our ways
nor His thoughts our
thoughts.” The soul has to be constantly emptied from vessel to vessel
to be
bruised and broken
before it can learn it. Mark
in the next place
the
character of the blessing: “And he blessed Joseph and said
God
” &c. Here
we have distinctly the Triune blessing brought before us--the grand source from
which all blessings flow. The first clause is that of the Father; the second
that of the Holy Spirit; the third that of the Son. God in His threefold Person
and office as the Almighty Father
the Supplier of all grace to the soul
and
the Redeemer from all evil. From such a source we are warranted in expecting
large blessings
even that Ephraim’s seed should become “a multitude of
nations
” or
as the word means
“the fulness of nations.” And where and when
is this blessing to be fulfilled? It will be fulfilled in Israel’s own land
when the Lord shall return from heaven the second time as “the King of the
Jews
” to reign over them. And so God declares
through Jacob: “Behold
I will
make thee fruitful and multiply thee
and I will make of thee a multitude of
people
and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting
possession.” Mark the words
“this land”; and “for an everlasting possession.”
Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. The Turk may hold it temporarily
or any other
power
but they are usurpers. Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. God gave it them.
It is
and is shall be
theirs “for ever.” (F. Whitfield
M. A.)
Verses 8-14
Israel beheld Joseph’s sons
Lessons
1.
Prudence
in good men may divert nature from the remembrance of sad events. About Rachel.
2. Weak nature may see in part that which it doth not discern. So
Jacob.
3. Reason suggests inquiry to know what sight doth not discern (Genesis 48:8).
4. Sons in strength should help the weakness of aged parents. So
Joseph to his father.
5. It concerns fathers to own their children especially in order to a
blessing. So Joseph his.
6. Godly parents account their children God’s gift unto them. So
Joseph.
7. It is a mercy remarkable to have children for blessing in a
strange place.
8. Gracious fathers desire their children’s children to bless them (Genesis 48:9).
9. Old age makes the saints subject to the same infirmities as other
men. So to Jacob.
10. Dimness of sight is a usual symptom of old age.
11. Weakness in sight makes mistakes that need direction in the
holiest men.
12. Good fathers yield to the desires of bringing children to them
that can bless them.
13. Kisses and embracings are not unseemly from holy ancestors to
their seed’s seed in order to blessing (Genesis 48:10).
14. It is meet for the holy ancestors to acquaint the sons of God’s
dealings
with them.
15. Hopelessness of mercy with good souls makes them remember it more
sweetly.
16. God’s mercies sometimes over-reach hope and expectation of His
people.
17. Saints delight to show their over-abounding mercies to His praise
(Genesis 48:11).
18. Suitable motions to dispose for a ministerial blessing is but
meet.
19. Filial obeisance in honour of parents is a just duty in
expectation of a blessing (Genesis 48:12).
20. There are right-hand and left-hand blessings
which God giveth by
His ministers
greater and less.
21. Good men may aim one to the right
and another to the left.hand
blessing
whom God changeth.
22. It is needful to come near So the ministers of blessing if men
desire to have it (Genesis 48:13). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Verse 15-16
And he blessed Joseph
and said
God
before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac did walk
the God which fed me all my life long unto this
day
the Angel which redeemed me from all evil
bless the lads
&c
Jacob’s deathbed
When St.
Paul wished to select from the history of Jacob an instance of faith
he took
the scene described in the text
when Joseph brings his two sons to the
deathbed of his father. The text is therefore to be considered as one in which
faith was signally exhibited.
I. Jacob seems to
make it his object
and to represent it as a privilege
that he should take the
lads out of the family of Joseph
though that family was then one of the
noblest in Egypt
and transplant them into his own
though it had no outward
distinction but what is derived from its connection with the other. Faith gave
him this consciousness of superiority; he knew that his posterity were to
constitute a peculiar people
from which would at length arise the Redeemer. He
felt it far more of an advantage for Ephraim and Manasseh to be counted with
the tribes than numbered among the princes of Egypt.
II. Observe the
peculiarity of Jacob’s language with regard to his preserver
and his decided
preference of the younger brother to the elder
in spite of the remonstrances
of Joseph. There was faith
and illustrious faith
in both. By the “Angel who
redeemed him from all evil
” he must have meant the Second Person of the
Trinity; he shows that he had glimmerings of the finished work of Christ. The
preference of the younger son to the elder was typical of the preference of the
Gentile Church to the Jewish. Acting on what he felt convinced was the purpose
of God
Jacob did violence to his own inclination and that of those whom he
most longed to please.
III. Jacob’s
worshipping (referred to in Hebrews 11:1-40.) may be taken as proving
his faith. What has a dying man to do with worshipping
unless he is a believer
in another state? He leans upon the top of his staff as if he would acknowledge
the goodness of his heavenly Father
remind himself of the troubles through
which he had been brought
and of the Hand which alone had been his guardian
and guide. (H. Melvill
B. D.)
The last days of Jacob
I. WE SEE HERE
THE BEAUTY OF FILIAL PIETY. Jacob was only a shepherd
and Joseph was an
exalted and powerful statesman. Had there been a trace of meanness and pride
and self-seeking in the son
he might easily have waited till the patriarch was
dead before doing him honour. Death often compels a child to respect a neglected
parent. But Joseph was a great man
so great that the distinction of station
had no influence upon his mind. Like many other great men
his personal
attachments were intense
and his loyalty to his family was deep and unchanged.
Besides this
his father was the heir of the covenant whose mercies would
enrich him more than all Egypt’s lands
and he could not alienate himself from
that future commonwealth of Israel to which his faith pointed. This journey of
Joseph to his father shows the man
and the man of God. He felt that the less
was to be blessed of the greater.
II. WE ARE
INTERESTED IS JACOB’S OWN VIEW OF HIS LIFE. When Israel strengthened himself
for this last interview
and there came to him a flash of his old prowess and
undaunted vigour
his memory was aroused
and the past in its great features
lay spread out before him. The dark parts of his life seemed to remind him of
Divine mercies
and from the summit he had gained appeared to him only as the
shadows of summer clouds on distant hills.
III. THE BLESSING
WAS A SOLEMN ACT OF PROPHECY
FAITH
AND WORSHIP.
IV. SEE HERE THE
DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY
Oldest son
the most promising child
does not always
perhaps not usually
share the largest part of the joys and honours of life.
Parental hopes are often thwarted
and we desire in vain to change the manifest
development of character and circumstance. In the history of nations
outside
Israel
we witness the same phenomenon
and wonder why the race is not to the
swift nor the battle to the strong; why smaller states eclipse greater ones
and why heroes and leaders spring from such unexpected quarters. All is of God.
In the workings of redemption around us every day we meet the same fact. One is
taken and another left. Nor can we read the reasons. (E. N. Packard.)
The blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh
I. ITS NATURE AND
PROSPERITY.
1. They were blessed in the person of Joseph. He is blessed in his
sons (verses 15
20). The principle is recognized of blessing mankind in the
name and for the sake of another.
2. With the covenant blessing. Not with that of the gods of Egypt
though he had cause to be grateful to that nation. He would have his children
to know the true fount of blessedness. He invoked the blessing of the God of
his fathers (verse 15). The assurance that others have shared the gifts of
grace with us is a support to our faith. We of the Church belong to a holy
nation
which has a great and venerable past.
3. With the blessing of which he himself had experience. “The God
which fed me all my life long until this day” (verse 15). He felt that God had
tended and cared for him like a shepherd.
4. With a different blessing for each. He bestows the larger
blessing upon the younger (verse 19).
II. ITS OUTWARD
FORM. It was conveyed by the imposition of hands (verse 14). The blessing was
not merely a wish or a hope
but a reality
This laying on of hands was the
outward means or symbol of its conveyance. Outward forms impress
they steady
the mind
and assist contemplation. The blessing was as real as the outward act
which accompanied it
the reality of nature leading on to the reality of grace.
III. ITS WARRANT.
1. The covenant position in which God had placed him. He stood with
his fathers
Abraham and Isaac
in the same covenant relation with God (verses
15
16).
2. The act was Divinely directed. Old Jacob crossed his hands
and
thus in bestowing the blessing reversed the order of nature (verses 14
17). He
refused to be corrected by Joseph
for though his sight was dim
his spiritual
eye discerned the will of God. He guided his hands “wittingly
” with full
knowledge of the decree of the Most High. God
who distributes His gifts as He
will
prefers the younger to the elder. Nature and grace often take cross
directions. (T. H. Leale.)
Jacob’s prayer for the sons of Joseph
I. THE GLORIOUS
PERSONAGE ADDRESSED. “The Angel
” &c.
1. The title of this glorious personage.
2. His achievements.
II. THE
INTERESTING PRAYER PRESENTED.
1. What is sought? “Bless.”
2. Who should thus pray?
3. The manner of presenting this supplication.
The last days of Jacob
I. THE HEIRS OF
THE BLESSING--A SURPRISE.
1. The adoption of Joseph’s two sons to be reckoned among the
patriarchs
equal with Jacob’s own sons
while Joseph personally is left out
was doubt]ass a surprise.
2. This adoption of Joseph’s two sons was by Divine direction.
II. THE CHARACTER
OF THE BLESSING IS SUGGESTIVE.
1. The “elevated glow” of the dying patriarch must be regarded as
the result of the Divine power that wrought upon him.
2. The spirit and terms of the blessing are very touching and
instructive.
3. The sovereignty of God in the expression of His choice of the
younger over the elder must be fully recognized.
III. THE
PATRIARCH’S PERSONAL CONDITION WHEN THE BLESSING WAS BESTOWED.
1. Physical.
2. Mental.
3. Spiritual. Lessons:--
1. The sovereignty of God.
2. Divine sovereignty is not exercised in unreasoning arbitrariness
but in perfect harmony with the laws of justice and love.
3. Learn how gloriously a child of God can die. (D. C. Hughes
M.
A.)
Jacob owning Divine care
and blessing his grandchildren
I. To ILLUSTRATE
THE TEXT.
1. Here is Jacob’s recollection and acknowledgment of the Divine
goodness and care. He acknowledgeth God
as the God of his pious ancestors
and
as his constant preserver and benefactor.
II. TO CONSIDER
WHAT INSTRUCTIVE LESSONS AGED CHRISTIANS MAY DRAW FROM HENCE.
1. It is their duty to recollect and acknowledge their long
experience of God’s goodness and care.
2. It is the duty of aged and dying Christians to bless and pray for
their descendants.
Concluding reflections:
1. Let children desire and value the prayer and blessing of their
aged
dying parents.
2. Let the children of good men labour to secure the blessing for
themselves. (J. Often.)
The last days
There is a splendour peculiar to the meridian sun. There is a
majestic and uncontrollable energy
and boldness
with which it spreads light
and blessedness on all around. The sun shining in its strength is a grand and
exhilarating sight. But there is a still deeper interest attendant on its
decline; when the warm and mellow tints of evening soften the dazzling
brightness of its ray; and when surrounded
but not obscured by clouds
and
rich in a golden radiance
on which the eye lingers with chastened and inexpressible
delight
it sinks below the horizon. It is with similar feelings that we regard
the faithful servant of God
when he comes towards the close of a long
consistent
and useful life. It is when viewed in this light
that the last
hours of the patriarch Jacob become valuable to us. All is resolved into the
Divine care. All the vicissitudes of his course
when thus scrutinized
by the
accurate discernment of one who from long experience could not be deceived
appear but as evidences to him of the gracious and providential guardianship of
his Almighty Friend and Father.
1. He admits without reserve the providential care of God through a
long life. “God Almighty that appeared unto me in the land of Canaan
and
blessed me
hath fed me all my life long unto this day.” Many there are whose
last year’s savour of a very different spirit from this. They have set out in
life with false and unwarranted expectations of prosperity. They began without
God for their friend
and they lived a life of business or of folly. They never
cherished any hope
but the hope of extracting happiness from a world which was
never calculated to give it. And what has been the result? Year after year has
brought its disappointments.
2. There is another essential point of difference between the
experience of this venerable Patriarch and yours. Jacob recognizes fully the
gracious
as well as the protecting care of his God. In looking back upon his
way
he broadly and joyfully admits the truth of God’s redeeming mercy. This is
the great secret of the exalted sublimity of his character
and the serenity of
his end. We can recognize then in the creed of Jacob
precisely the same ground
of hope as that of which we ourselves now rest. As truly as we see
Christians in the full confidence of the faith of the gospel
approaching their dying hour
and saying
“I have fought the good fight
I have
kept the faith
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.”
“To me to live is Christ
and to die is gain”; so truly do we see Jacob in the
exercise of the very same faith--a faith in a nameless Saviour. Learn that you
can leave no better blessing to your children and your friends
than the mantle
of your own piety--a measure of your own Christian hope. The last lesson is
encouragement. Be encouraged to seek the Lord early
and to trust him through
life. Jacob is one of an innumerable host of instances adducible in proof of
the faithfulness of God. “He will never fail them that trust in Him.” (E.
Craig.)
Joseph’s blessing
1. Though Ephraim and Manasseh were each constituted heads of
tribes
yet they were blessed in the person of their father Joseph. Here
as
elsewhere
God would exemplify the great principle on which He designed to act
in blessing mankind in the name and for the sake of another.
2. Jacob
though now among the Egyptians
and kindly treated by
them
yet makes no mention of their gods
but holds up to his posterity the
living and true God. In proportion as Egypt was kind to the young people
such
would be their danger of being seduced; but let them remember the dying words
of their venerable ancestor
and know from whence their blessedness cometh.
3. The God whose blessing was bestowed upon them was not only the
true God
but the God of their fathers; a God in covenant with the family
who
loved them
and was loved and served by them. “God
before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac
did walk.” How sweet and endearing the character; and what a
recommendation of these holy patterns to the young people! Nor was He merely
the God of Abraham and Isaac
but Jacob himself also could speak well of His
name; adding
“The God who fed me all my life long unto this day!” Sweet and
solemn are the recommendations of aged piety. “Speak reproachfully of Christ
”
said the persecutors to Polycarp
when leading him to the stake. “Eighty six
years I have served Him” answered the venerable man
during all which time He
never did me an injury; how then can I blaspheme Him who is my King
and my
Saviour?” Hearken
oh
young people
to this affecting language! It is a
principle dictated by common prudence
“Thine own friend
and thy father’s
friend
forsake not”: and how much more forcibly does it apply to the God of
your fathers!
4. This God is culled “the Angel who redeemed him from all evil.”
Who this was it is not difficult to decide. It was the Angel
no doubt
with
whom Jacob wrestled and prevailed
and concerning whom he said
“I have seen
God face to face
and my life is preserved.”
5. The blessing of God under all these endearing characters is
invoked upon the lads
their forefathers’ names put upon them
and abundant
increase promised to them. Surely it is good to be connected with them that
fear God; yet those only who are of faith will ultimately be blessed with their
faithful predecessors. (A. Fuller.)
A bit of history for old and young
1. Our text tells us that Jacob blessed Joseph
and we perceive that
he blessed him through blessing his children; which leads us to the next
remark
that no choicer favour could fall upon ourselves than to see our
children favoured of the Lord. Joseph is doubly blessed by seeing Ephraim and
Manasseh blessed.
2. Those of us who are parents are bound to do our best
that our
children may be partakers with us of the Divine inheritance. As Joseph took
Ephraim and Manasseh to see their aged grandfather
let us bring our children
where blessings may be expected.
3. Furthermore
observe that if we want to bless young people
one
of the likeliest means of doing so will be our personal testimony to the
goodness of God. Young men and women usually feel great interest in their
fathers’ life-story--if it be a worthy one--and what they hear from them of
their personal experience of the goodness of God will abide with them. This is
one of the best ways in which to bless the lads. The benediction of Jacob was
intertwisted with his biography; the blessing which he had himself enjoyed he
wished for them
and as he invoked it he helped to secure it by his personal
testimony.
4. One thing further: I want you to note
that Jacob
in desiring to
bless his grandsons
introduced them to God. He speaks of “ God before whom my
fathers did walk: God who blessed me all my life long.” This is the great
distinction between man and man: there are two races
he that feareth God
and
he that feareth Him not. The religion of this present age
such as it is
has a
wrong direction in its course. It seeks after what is called “ the enthusiasm
of humanity
” but what we want far more is enthusiasm for God. We shall never
go right unless God is first
midst
and last. All this is introduction; so now
we must come at once and plunge into the discourse.
Jacob’s testimony
wherewith he blessed the sons of Joseph
has in
it four points.
I. First HE
SPEAKS OF ANCESTRAL MERCIES he begins with that” God
before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac did walk.” As with a pencil he sketches the lives of Abraham
and Isaac.
1. They were men who recognized God and worshipped Him
beyond all
others of their age. God was to them a real existence; they spake with God
and
God spake with them; they were friends of God
and enjoyed familiar
acquaintance with Him.
2. They not only recognized God
but they owned Him in daily life. I
take the expression
“God
before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk
”
to mean that He was their God in common life. They not only knelt before God
when they prayed
but they walked before Him in everything. This is the kind of
life for you and for me; whether we live in a great house or in a poor cottage
if we walk before God we shall lead a happy and a noble life
whether that life
be public or obscure. Oh that our young people would firmly believe this!
3. They walked before God; that is they obeyed His commands. His
call they heard
His bidding they followed. To them the will of the Lord was
paramount: He was law and life to them
for they loved and feared Him. They
were prompt to hear the behests of God
and rose up early to fulfil them. They
acted as in the immediate presence of the All-seeing.
4. To the full they trusted Him. In this sense they always saw Him.
We sometimes talk about tracing Him. We cannot trace Him
except as we trust
Him; and because they trusted
they traced Him.
5. They enjoyed the favour of God
for this also is intended by
walking before Him. His face was towards them: they sunned themselves in His
smile. God’s love was their true treasure. God was their wealth
their
strength
their exceeding joy. I say again
happy sons who have such ancestors!
happier still if they follow in their track! So Jacob spoke of Abraham and
Isaac
and so can some of us speak of those who went before us. Those of us who
can look back upon godly ancestors now in heaven must feel that many ties bind
us to follow the same course of life.
6. There is a charm about that which was prized by our fathers.
Heirlooms are treasured
and the best heirloom in a family is the knowledge of
God. The way of holiness in which your fathers went is a fitting way for you
and it is seemly that you maintain the godly traditions of your house. In the old
times they expected sons to follow the secular calling of their fathers; and
although that may be regarded as an old-world mistake
yet it is well when sons
and daughters receive the same spiritual call as their parents. Grace is not
tied to families
but yet the Lord delights to bless to a thousand generations.
Very far are we from believing that the new birth is of blood
or of the will
of the flesh
or of the will of man. The will of God reigns here supreme
and
absolute; but yet there is a sweet fitness in the passing on of holy loyalty
from grandsire to father
and from father to son. A godly ancestry casts
responsibility upon young people. These Ephraims and Manassehs perceive that
their fathers knew the Lord
and the question arises
Why should they not know
Him? Oh my beloved young friends
the God of your fathers will be found of you
and be your God. The prayers of your fathers have gone before you; let them be
followed by your own. A godly ancestry should invest a man’s case with great
hopefulness. May he not argue
“If God blessed my ancestors
why should He not
bless me?”
II. Now he comes
to deal with PERSONAL MERCIES. The old man’s voice faltered as he said
“The
God which fed me all my life long.” The translation would be better if it ran
“The God which shepherded me all my life long.”
1. He spoke of the Lord as his shepherd. Jacob had been a shepherd
and therefore he knew what shepherding included: the figure is full of meaning.
There had been a good deal of Jacob about Jacob
and he had tried to shepherd
himself. Poor sheep that he was
while under his own guidance he had been
caught in many thorns
and had wandered in many wildernesses. Because he would
be so much a shepherd to himself
he had been hard put to it. But over all
despite his wilfulness
the shepherding of the covenant God had been exercised
towards him
and he acknowledged it. Oh dear saints of God
you to whom years
are being multiplied
give praise to your God for having been your shepherd.
Bear your witness to the shepherding of God
for this may lead others to become
the sheep of His pasture.
2. This shepherding had been perfect. Our version rightly says that
the Lord had fed Jacob all his life long. Take that sense of it
and you who
have a daily struggle for subsistence will see much beauty in it. Mercies are
all the sweeter when seen to come from the hand of God. But besides being fed
Jacob had been led
even as sheep are guided by the shepherd who goes before
them. His journeys
for that period
had been unusually long
perilous
and
frequent. He had fled from home to Padanaram; after long years he had come back
again to Canaan
and had met his brother Esau; and after that
in his old age
he had journeyed into Egypt. To go to California or New Zealand in these times is
nothing at all compared to those journeys in Jacob’s day. But he says
“God has
shepherded me all my life long”; and he means that the great changes of his
life had been wisely ordered. Life ends in blighted hope if you have not hope
in God. But with God you are as a sheep with a shepherd--cared for
guided
guarded
fed
and led
and your end shall be peace without end.
III. Thirdly
bear
with me while I follow Jacob in his word upon REDEEMING MERCIES. “The Angel
which redeemed me from all evil.” There was to Joseph a mysterious Personage
who was God
and yet the Angel or messenger of God. He puts this Angel in
apposition with the Elohim: for this Angel was God. Yet was He his Redeemer.
Brothers and sisters
let us also tell of the redeeming mercies of the Lord
Jesus towards us. You remember
too
when that pinch came in business
so that
you could not see how to provide things honest in the sight of all men; then
Jesus revealed His love and bade you think of the lilies and the ravens
which
neither spin nor sow
and yet are clothed majestically and fare sumptuously.
Many a time has the Lord delivered you because He delighted in you.
IV. Jacob has
spoken of ancestral mercies
personal mercies and redeeming mercies
and now he
deals with FUTURE MERCIES
as he cries “Bless the lads.” He began with blessing
Joseph
and he finishes with blessing his lads. Oh dear friends
if God has
blessed you
I know you will want Him to bless others. There is the stream of
mercy
deep
broad
and clear; you have drunk of it
and are refreshed
but it
is as full as ever. It will flow on
will it not? In closing
I wish to bear a
personal testimony by narrating an incident in my own life. I have been
preaching in Essex this week
and I took the opportunity to visit the place where
my grandfather preached so long
and where I spent my earliest days. Last
Wednesday was to me a day in which I walked like a man in a dream. Everybody
seemed bound to recall some event or other of my childhood. What a story of
Divine love and mercy did it bring before my mind! Among other things
I sat
down in a place that must ever be sacred to me. There stood in my grandfather’s
manse garden two arbours made of yew trees
cut into sugar-loaf fashion. Though
the old manse has given way to a new one
and the old chapel has gone also
yet
the yew trees flourish as aforetime. I sat down in the right hand arbour and
bethought me of what had happened there many years ago. When I was a young
child staying with my grandfather
there came to preach in the village Mr.
Knill
who had been a missionary at St. Petersburg
and a mighty preacher of
the gospel. He came to preach for the London Missionary Society
and arrived on
the Saturday at the manse. He was a great soul-winner
and he soon spied out
the boy. He said to me
“Where do you sleep? for I want to call you up in the
morning.” I showed him my little room. At six o’clock he called me up
and we
went into that arbour. There
in the sweetest way
he told me of the love of
Jesus
and of the blessedness of trusting in Him and loving Him in our
childhood. With many a story he preached Christ to me
and told me how good God
had been to him
and then he prayed that I might know the Lord and serve Him.
He knelt down in that arbour and prayed for me with his arms about my neck. He
did not seem content unless I kept with him in the interval between the
services
and he heard my childish talk with patient love. On Monday morning he
did as on the Sabbath
and again on Tuesday. Three times he taught me and
prayed with me
and before he had to leave
my grandfather had come back from
the place where he had gone to preach
and all the family were gathered to
morning prayer. Then
in the presence of them all
Mr. Knill took me on his
knee
anal said
“This child will one day preach the gospel
and he will preach
it to great multitudes. I am persuaded that he will preach in the chapel of
Rowland Hill
where (I think he said) I am now the minister.” He spoke very
solemnly
and called upon all present to witness what he said. Then he gave me
sixpence as a reward if I would learn the hymn--
“God
moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.”
I was made to promise that when I preached in Rowland Hill’s
chapel that hymn should be sung. Think of that as a promise from a child I Would
it ever be other than an idle dream? Years flew by. After I had begun for some
little time to preach in London
Dr. Alexander Fletcher had to give the annual
sermon to children in Surrey Chapel
but as he was taken ill
I was asked in a
hurry to preach to the children. “Yes
” I said
“I will
if the children will
sing ‘God moves in a mysterious way.’ I have made a promise long ago that so
that should be sung.” And so it was; I preached in Rowland Hill’s chapel
and
the hymn was sung. My
emotions on that occasion I cannot describe. Still that
was not the chapel which Mr. Knill intended. All unsought by me
the minister
at Wotton-under-Edge
which was Mr. Hill’s summer residence
invited me to
preach there. I went on the condition that the congregation should sing
“God
moves in a mysterious way”--which was also done. After that I went to preach
for Mr. Richard Knill himself
who was then at Chester. What a meeting we had!
Mark this! he was preaching in the theatre! His preaching in a theatre took
away from me all fear about preaching in secular buildings
and set me free for
the campaigns in Exeter Hall and the Surrey Music Hall. How much this had to do
with other theatre services you know. After more than forty years of the Lord’s
loving-kindness
I sat again in that arbour! No doubt it is a mere trifle for
outsiders to hear
but to me it was an overwhelming moment. The present
minister of Stambourn meeting-house
and the members of his family
including
his son and his grandchildren
were in the garden
and I could not help calling
them together around that arbour
while I praised the Lord for His goodness.
One irresistible impulse was upon me it was to pray God to bless those lads
that stood around me. Do you not see how the memory begat the prayer? I wanted
them to remember when they grew up my testimony of God’s goodness to me; and
for that same reason I tell it to you young people who are around me this
morning. God has blessed me all my life long
and redeemed me from all evil
and I pray that He may be your God. You that have godly parents
I would
specially address. I beseech you to follow in their footsteps
that you may one
day speak of the Lord as they were able to do in their day. Remember that
special promise
“I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall
find Me.” May the Holy Spirit lead you to seek Him this day; and you shall live
to praise His name as Jacob did. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Jacob blessing Joseph’s children
I. First of all
THE REFERENCE TO JACOB’S FOREFATHERS: he says
“God
before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac did walk.” How various must be the thoughts suggested to all
our minds by that same expression--“God
before whom my fathers did walk!” How
many of us can say that it was the God of Abraham before whom our fathers did
walk? How many must be constrained to say that it was the “god of this world .
. . before whom their fathers did walk!” It is an awful question which we read
in the prophet
“Your fathers
where are they?” How solemnly it recalls the
history of our own youth! How solemnly it bids us ask
“Were those we loved in
the flesh in Christ
or were they out of Christ? “But I stay not to dwell upon
that: it is clear that the feelings which were in the mind of the patriarch
were those of joy and gratitude; he knew who was “the God of his fathers”; he
knew that their God was his God. In the expression
therefore
“God
before
whom my fathers did walk
” he doubtless had reference to the sovereign grace of
God
which had called Abraham from the midst of an idolatrous nation
to be “
the father of the faithful”--to be he in whose “seed all the families of the
earth should be blessed.” His mind
therefore
was filled with lone to that God
who had made Abraham “to differ
” and who had so mercifully kept Abraham
even
to the end.
II. But
secondly
let us speak of THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT WHICH IS HERE GIVEN OF JACOB’S EXPERIENCE
when he says
“the God which fed me all my life long unto this day
the Angel
which redeemed me from all evil.” He appears here
I think
to refer to God’s
providential care of him
as well as to the spiritual mercies vouchsafed to
him
when he says
“the God who fed me all my life long.” For he would refer to
His support in his early days at home. He would refer also to the manifest way
in which God’s presence was vouchsafed to him at the time he was in the family
of Laban; and even perhaps now he was referring also to the mysterious manner
in which God had been pleased to allow his son--his beloved son Joseph--to be
taken from him for a times when he was constrained to exclaim
“All these
things are against me.” But now
having been taught of God the reason of the
Lord’s dealings; having seen how good was brought out of evil; having perceived
that the Lord had sent Joseph before him
so that he might be the instrument in
the Lord’s hand of feeding him in the time of want and famine
he says
“the
God which fed me all my life long unto this day.” But I apprehend that
grateful as the patriarch must have felt for these temporal mercies
his
feelings upon this point were very far less intense than they were for those
spiritual mercies which God had so graciously vouchsafed to him; for we see him
also saying
“the Angel which redeemed me from all evil
bless the lads.” “The
Angel who redeemed.” And who was this Angel whose blessing he was invoking? Had
it not been the Angel of the covenant
the very expression made use of by the
patriarch must have been the language of blasphemy; but
instead of that
we
know that it was the Angel of the covenant
even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself;
and from that we gather what the nature of those spiritual mercies are to which
the patriarch more especially alludes: “The Angel which redeemed me from all
evil
bless the lads.”
III. But
thirdly
we must remark upon THE BLESSING WHICH IS INVOKED: the patriarch says
“bless
the lads.” He doubtless desired that there should be daily food provided for
them; he doubtless desired that God’s care should constantly watch over them;
but there was something far greater than this he desired for them. He desired
the full blessings of God’s redeeming love
so that he might be able to feel
that that Angel which had “redeemed him from all evil” would also redeem those
children which were before him
and that they might have all that comfortable
experience which he himself enjoyed. And what could be the groundwork of such
anticipations existing in the aged patriarch’s breast? Think you
he considered
that they would merit these blessings at the hands of God
while he disclaimed
all merit himself? There were no feelings of this kind in his breast
for he
had been taught of God; but he knew what God he had to deal with; he felt that
he had to deal with a covenant-keeping God
and he was assured that all those
blessings which he besought were covenant mercies in Christ Jesus. (H. M.
Villiers
M. A.)
Jacob blessing Joseph
I. WE ARE TO
CONSIDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE IMPORT OF JACOB’S BLESSING: “And Jacob
blessed Joseph.” But more particularly--
1. Contemplate the persons before us: Jacob
Joseph
and his two
sons.
2. Mark now the place where these persons met.
3. Remember the time when these persons met. It was the time of
Jacob’s death.
4. Observe the import of the solemn action in our text. It is a
dying blessing! “God-bless the lads!” God is the author of every blessing. We
are
secondly--
II. To CONSIDER
THE INSTRUCTION WHICH THE BLESSING CONVEYS.
1. This blessing teaches the nature of true religion. It is “walking
before God.”
2. This blessing teaches the benefits of practical godliness.
3. This blessing teaches the advantages of pious parents. “The God
of my fathers.” The children of pious parents have the advantage of religious
instruction. Again: such children have the advantage of fervent and constant
prayer for their eternal welfare. Further: such children have the advantage of
religious example. Finally: such children
like Jacob’s sons
may have the
advantage of their parents’ dying testimony and last blessing.
4. This blessing teaches the importance of educating the young. (J.
Cawood
M. A.)
An old man’s blessing
I. A DISTINCTION
OF BLESSING. Jacob was
doubtless
divinely guided to make this distinction.
The choice he made was inspired by God; and God’s will was discerned and
obeyed. We may learn to avoid pride
envy
and ambition
and to abide by God’s
will and the Divine disposal of events and circumstances (comp. 1 Samuel 2:7; Psalms 75:6-7; 1 Corinthians 12:11).
II. A CONTINUITY
OF BLESSING (read Genesis 48:15; Genesis 16:1-16
and note the reference
to Abraham and Isaac).
III. A FUTURITY OF
BLESSING.
IV. A UNITY OF
BLESSING. The lots of one and another among God’s people may differ. But all
that is good
and hopeful
and blessed
comes from the One source of
blessing--the One God
Guide
Deliverer. Conclusion: Let us ask ourselves these
questions: Are we trying to learn from our elders God’s truth? Are we seeking
to live as those who look for God’s blessing as the best thing? Do we wish to
hand down the truth and premises of the Lord to those that come after us (Psalms 78:3-4)? (W. S. Smith
B. D.)
And he blessed Joseph
In blessing his seed
he blesses himself. In exalting his two sons
into the rank and right of his brothers
he bestows upon them the double
portion of the first-born. In the terms of the blessing
Jacob first signalizes
the threefold function which the Lord discharges in effecting the salvation of
a sinner. “The God
before whom walked my fathers
” is the Author of salvation
the Judge who dispenses justice and mercy
the Father
before whom the adopted
and regenerate child walks. From Him salvation comes
to Him the saved returns
to walk before Him and be perfect. “The God
who fed me from my being unto this
day
” is the Creator and Upholder of life
the Quickener and Sanctifier
the
potential Agent
who works both to will and to do in the soul. “The Angel that
redeemed me from all evil” is the all-sufficient Friend
who wards off evil by
Himself
satisfying the demands of justice and resisting the devices of malice.
There is a beautiful propriety of feeling in Jacob ascribing to his fathers the
walking before God
while he thankfully acknowledges the grace of the Quickener
and Justifier to himself. The Angel is explicitly applied to the Supreme Being
in this ministerial function. The God is the emphatic description of the true
living God
as contra-distinguished from all false gods. “Bless the lads.” The
word “bless” is in the singular number. For Jacob’s threefold periphrasis is
intended to describe the one God
who wills
works
and wards. “And let my name
be put upon them.” Let them be counted among my immediate sons
and let them be
related to Abraham and Isaac
as my other sons are. This is the only thing that
is special in the blessing. “Let them grow into a multitude.” The word “grow”
in the original refers to the spawning or extraordinary increase of the finny
tribe. The after-history of Ephraim and Manasseh will be found to correspond
with this special prediction. (Prof. J. G. Murphy.)
The redeeming Angel
I wonder if you know who the “Angel” is? Who do you think is “the
Angel that redeemed him from all evil”? Do you know what the word “angel”
means? It means a messenger--a good messenger. And the angels in heaven are so
called because they carry messages. It is a nice thing to carry messages
if we
carry them well. If we carry kind messages
and do it in an accurate way
like
Christ
it is being like the angels in heaven--it is being like Jesus Christ. I
hope you will be all good messengers. Perhaps you will have a very important
message to carry
and you ought to do it well. I have a very important one to
carry to-day. Therefore I am an angel
for ministers are angels. But it is not
an angel from heaven
it is not a minister
it is not a common man
that is
meant here. Jesus Christ is meant--Jesus Christ is the “Angel.” I want to help
you now to understand another word. What is it to be “redeemed”? “Which
redeemed me from all evil.” Can you think? Does “redeemed” mean “saved me
”
“delivered me”? Is it the same as if it said
“The Angel that delivered me from
all evil”? Not quite. That would only be half the meaning. If I were to save
you from being drowned
and it was no trouble to me to save you
and if I did
not expose my own life
I should not “redeem” you; but if I did it at great
danger
at great pain
or at great loss to myself
then it might be called
“redeeming.” To “redeem” is to save at great cost to one’s self; because the
word means “buy”--to buy back. Therefore
if I spend a great deal of money
and
become much poorer by it
in order to do you good
then I “redeem” you. That is
the meaning of the word “redeemed.” Did you ever think what was the value of
your soul--how much? When I see something very valuable
I sometimes say
“How
much did it cost?” “How much did that watch cost?” “How much did that diamond
cost?” How much did your soul cost? Thousands of thousands of pounds? The
earth? The world? All the stars? Everything that was ever made? Much more! It
cost Jesus Christ
who made everything--the life of Jesus Christ! And how had
He “redeemed” us from sin? A poor heathen
who had become a Christian
wanted
to explain how he became a Christian to another heathen who did not know
anything about it; and he took a little worm--a poor
little
miserable worm;
and he put the worm on a stone; and he put all round the stone where the worm
was some straw. He then lighted the straw
and when it was all blazing he ran
through the lighted straw
and took up the little worm in his hand when it was
wriggling in the fire. The hot fire had scorched and drawn it up. “This
” he
said
“is just what I was--a poor
miserable worm
with afire all round me; and
I should have died
and gone to hell; but Christ ran in
took me up in His
arms
and saved me; and here I am
a saved one.” I will tell you a remarkable
thing which happened in a town in the West of England. One Sunday a clergyman was
to preach a sermon. The people in the town did not know him--he was a stranger
there; but he was known to be a very excellent clergyman
and a very clever
man. A great many people went to hear him preach; and when the prayers were
over
the clergyman went into the pulpit. The congregation noticed that he
seemed to feel something very much; for he was silent some time
and could not
begin his sermon. He hid his face in his hands
and the congregation thought he
was unwell; but he was not. However
before he gave out his text
he told them
something like this: “I want to say something. Fifteen years ago I was in this
town
and I was in this church. I was then very young
and I came to hear the
sermon. That evening three young men came to this church. They were very wicked
young men. You may suppose how wicked
for they came not only to laugh
but
they came actually to throw stones at the clergyman. They filled their pockets
with stones
and determined they would throw at him. When the sermon began they
were sitting together: and when the clergyman had gone on a little way
one
said to the other
‘Now throw! now throw!’ This is what they said
‘Now throw
at the stupid old blockhead I now throw! ‘The second said
‘No; wait a little;
I want to hear the end of what he is saying now
to see what he makes of it.’
They waited. But presently he said
‘Now you can throw: I heard the end of it;
there was nothing in it.’ The third said
‘No
no; don’t throw: what he says is
very good; don’t hurt the good old man.’ Then the two others left the church
saying something very wicked; they swore at him
and went away very angry
because he had spoiled their fun in not letting them throw.” The clergyman went
on to say: “The first of those three young men was hanged some years ago for
forgery; the second was a poor
miserable man
brought to poverty and rags
miserable in mind
and miserable in body; and the third is now going to preach
to you! Listen!” So “the Angel” “redeemed” that poor boy (for he was only a boy
when he went to throw stones) “from all evil.” It is not only sin; there are
other “evils.” There are a great many troubles in life
are not there? Have not
you a great many troubles? I am sure you have some. It is a great mistake to
say to children
“Oh! you have no troubles.” I think children have quite as
many as grown-up people--perhaps more. But people often say to children
“You
have no troubles now; you have them all to come by-and-by.” That is not the
case. I believe you have quite as many troubles as we have; but Christ
“redeems” you from all trouble. Now there are two ways Christ can do it.
Perhaps Christ will say
“Trouble shall not come to that boy or girl.” That is
one way; but He could do it another way. He could say
“Yes
trouble shall
come; but when it comes
it shall be turned into joy. I will make him so happy
in his troubles
that he shall be glad. His sorrow shall be turned into joy.”
Which
think you
will be the best: for trouble not to come at all
or
when it
comes
to be turned into joy? I will tell you now about God “redeeming” a
little girl in another way. Her name was Alvi
but she was always called Allie.
She was three years old; and one day little Allie jumped upon her father’s
knee
and said
“Pa
when’s spring?” Her papa stroked her little curly head
and patted her on her cheeks
and she looked up and smiled
and said
“I fat as
butter.” She said again
“I loves my pa
I does; I loves my pa.” And her papa
loved her very much. She said
“When’s spring
pa?” The father said
“Why do
you want to know when spring is? Do you want to see the pretty flowers
and
hear the birds sing
and play in the sunshine?” She said. “No
pa; me go to
church in spring.” “Do you wish to go to church
Allie?” “Very much
pa.” “Why
Allie?” “God there
God there!” “And do you love God
Allie?” “Oh! so much
papa
so much!” “Well
my dear
” papa said to little Allie
“to-morrow is
spring; spring will be to-morrow.” And little Allie jumped down from her
father’s knee
saying
“To-morrow! to-morrow! Allie is so happy! To-morrow!
to-morrow! to-morrow!” And she went about the house singing
“Allie is so
happy! To-morrow
to-morrow
to-morrow! Allie so happy!” That night Allie was
very tired; she wanted to go to bed an hour before her proper time. During the
night she fell into a burning fever
and they sent for a doctor. When he came
he shook his head and said
“Too late! too late! nothing can be done.” They
sent for four doctors
and all said
“Too late! too late!” And when the morning
came
little Allie was dead; she was gone to heaven. Her mamma stood and looked
at her
and thought of what she had said the day before--“To-morrow
to-morrow!
Allie so happy to-morrow! “And she wiped away her tears at the thought. So God
“redeemed” little Allie. (J. Vaughan
M. A.)
The dying blessing
A few days previous to his death
Dr. Belfrage
of Falkirk
hearing his infant son’s voice in an adjoining room
desired that he should be
brought to him. When the child was lifted into the bed the dying father placed
his hands upon his head
and said in the language of Jacob: “The God before
whom my fathers did walk
the God who fed me all my life long to this day
the
Angel who redeemed me from all evil
bless the lad.” When the boy was removed
he added: “Remember and tell John Henry of this; tell him of these prayers
and
how earnest I was that he might become early acquainted with his father’s God.”
Happy are they who have their parents’ prayers.
Verse 21-22
Behold
I die
Jacob in the prospect of death
We have here a threefold picture.
I. OF STRENGTH IN
WEAKNESS.
1. The strength of faith.
2. The strength of godliness.
3. The strength of peace.
II. OF SUCCESS IN
FAILURE.
III. OF LIFE IN
DEATH. (T. H. Leale.)
Closing days
I. A PERIOD OF
UNRUFFLED PEACE AND PROSPERITY.
II. A SEASON OF
GRATEFUL RETROSPECT.
III. A SUBLIME
DEATH-SCENE. (T. S. Dickson
M. A.)
Death contemplated
I. AN ABSORBING
CRISIS.
1. Its nature.
2. Its cause. Result of sin.
3. Its consequences. Everlasting.
II. AN AWAKENING
CONSIDERATION. “Behold.” That word suggests to us suitable preparation. In
prospect
then
of that amazing hour we ought--
1. To review our past lives.
2. To realise our dying hour.
3. To think of our future prospects. (C. Clayton
M. A.)
The dying believer
I. LET US
CONSIDER THE SPIRIT OF THE WORDS OF THE DYING PATRIARCH IN REFERENCE TO
HIMSELF. “I die
” as if he had said
I die in peace; I die without reluctance;
I have lived long enough; I am satisfied with life; I am willing to depart.
What may have been the considerations which induced this state of feeling?
1. He was satisfied with the amount of enjoyment which the God of
his life had granted him.
2. The patriarch was satisfied with that duration of life which had
been allotted him.
3. The dying patriarch was satisfied with the prospect of a better
life which was opening before him. Having thus considered the words of the
text
in reference to the views entertained by the patriarch as to himself
let
us regard them.
II. As SUGGESTIVE
OF THE REASONS OF HIS REPOSE IN REFERENCE TO HIS SURVIVING RELATIVES.
1. The manifestations of the Divine mercy to himself
encouraged his
hopes as to his surviving relatives.
2. He was persuaded that the paternal benediction he was authorized
to pronounce
had an aspect peculiarly favourable to his descendants.
3. The patriarch felt assured that the covenant made with Abraham
and Isaac
and himself
secured the presence and blessing of God to his
survivors
even to the remotest age. (H. F. Burder
M. A.)
Premonitions of death
The first symptom of approaching death with some
is the strong
presentiment that they are about to die. Oganan
the mathematician
while in
apparent health
rejected pupils from the feeling that he was on the eve of
resting from his labours; and he expired soon after
of an apoplectic stroke.
Fletcher
the divine
had a dream which shadowed out his impending dissolution
and believing it to be the merciful warning of Heaven
he sent for a sculptor
and ordered his tomb. “Begin your work forthwith
” he said at parting; “there
is no time to lose.” And unless the artist had obeyed the admonition
death
would have proved the quicker workman of the two. Mozart wrote his Requiem
under the conviction that the monument he was raising to his genius
would
by
the power of association
prove a universal monument to his remains. When life
was fleeting very fast
he called for the score
and musing over it
said
“Did
I not tell you truly that it was for myself that I composed this death chant.”
Another great artist in a different department
convinced that his hand was
about to lose its cunning
chose a subject emblematical of the coming event.
His friends inquired the nature of his next design; and Hogarth replied
“The
end of all things.” “In that case
” rejoined one
“there will be an end of the
painter.” What was uttered in jest was answered in earnest
with a solemn look
and heavy sigh: “There will
” he said; “and the sooner my work is done the
better.” He commenced next day
laboured upon it with unremitting diligence
and when he had given it the last touch
seized his pallet
broke it in pieces
and said: “I have finished.” The print was published in March under the title
of “Finis”; and in October
the curious eyes which saw the manners in the face
were closed in the dust. Our ancestors
who
prone to look in the air for
causes which were to be found upon the earth
attributed these intimations to
various supernatural agencies. John Hunter solved the mystery
if so it can be
called
in a single sentence. “We sometimes
” he says
“feel within ourselves
that we shall not live; for the living powers become weak
and the nerves
communicate the intelligence to the brain.” His own case has often been quoted
among the marvels of which he offered this rational explanation. He intimated
on leaving home
that if a discussion which awaited him at the hospital took an
angry turn
it would prove his death. A colleague gave him the lie; the coarse
word verified the prophecy
and he expired almost immediately
in an adjoining
room. There was everything to lament in the circumstance
but nothing at which
to wonder
except that any person could show such disrespect to the great
genius
a single year of whose existence was worth the united lives of his
opponents. Hunter
in uttering the prediction
had only to take counsel in his
own experience
without the intervention of invisible spirits. He had long
laboured under a disease of the heart
and he felt the disorder had reached the
point at which any sharp agitation would bring on the crisis. Circumstances
which at another time would excite no attention
are accepted as an omen when
health is failing. The order for the Requiem with Mozart
the dream with
Fletcher
turned the current of their thoughts to the grave. Foote
prior to
his departure for the continent
stood contemplating the picture of a brother
author
and exclaimed
his eyes full of tears
“Poor Weston!” In the same
dejected tone he added
after a pause
“soon others shall say
Poor Foote! “And
to the surprise of his friends
a few days proved the justice of his
prognostication. The expectation of the event had a share in producing it
for
a slight shock completes the destruction of prostrate energies. The case of Wolsey
was singular. The morning before he died
he asked Cavendish the hour
and was
answered “past eight.” “Eight of the clock!” replied Wolsey
“that cannot be;
eight of the clock
nay
nay
it cannot be eight of the clock
for by eight of
the clock shall you lose your master.”
The day he miscalculated
the hour came true; on the following
morning
as the clock struck eight
his troubled spirit passed from life.
Cavendish and the bystanders
thought he must have had a revelation of the time
of his death; and from the way in which the fact had taken possession of his
mind
we suspect that he relied on astrological prediction
which had the
credit of a revelation in his own esteem. Persons in health have died from the
expectation of dying. It was common for those who perished by violence to
summon their destroyers to appear
within a stated time
before the tribunal of
their God; and we have many perfectly attested instances in which
through fear
and remorse
the perpetrators withered under the curse
and died. Pestilence
does not kill with the rapidity of terror. The profligate abbess of a convent
the Princess Gonzaga of Cleves
and Guise
the profligate Archbishop of Rheims
took it into their heads
for a jest
to visit one of the nuns by night
and
exhort her as a person who was visibly dying. While in the performance of this
heartless scheme
they whispered to each other
“She is departing.” She
departed in earnest. Her vigour
instead of detecting the trick
sank beneath
the alarm; and the profane pair discovered
in the midst of their sport
that
they were making merry with a corpse. (T. Walker.)
Jacob’s death bed
This is the nearest approach in the Bible to that which is
commonly termed a death-bed scene. There is no sadder phrase than that--“a
death bed scene”; for a man
when he comes to die
has something different to
do than mere acting; it is not then his business to show other people how a
Christian can die
but prepare himself to meet his God. It is sad also because
the dying hour is often unsatisfactory
often far from triumph; in the Book of
Ecclesiastes we read
“How dieth the wise man
as the fool.” For there is
stupor
sadness
powerlessness; and spiritual darkness also frequently clouds
the last moments of the pious man. This dying hour must however have made an
impression on these young men. In death itself there is nothing naturally
instructive; but in this death there was simplicity
they saw the sight of an
old man gathered ripe unto his fathers
and they would remember in their gaiety
and strength what all life at last must come to. Consider too the effect that
must have been produced on Joseph. There had been nothing
that we are aware
of
with which he had to reproach himself in his conduct to his father; there
was therefore no remorse mixed with his sorrow
he was spared the sharpest pang
of all. How different must the feeling of the other brethren have been; they
would remember that there lay one dying whom they had wronged
one whom they
had deceived. (F. W. Robertson
M. A.)
The last days of Jacob
The history is a simple one
yet with wondrous perspective.
Seventeen years did Israel dwell in the land of Egypt
in the country of
Goshen
and when he was a hundred and forty and seven years old
the time drew
nigh that Israel must die. Who can fight the army of the Years? Those silent
soldiers never lose a war. They fire no base cannon
they use no vulgar steel
they strike with invisible but irresistible hands. Noisy force loses something
by its very noise. The silent years bury the tumultuous throng. We have all to
be taken down. The strongest tower amongst us
heaven-reaching in its altitude
must be taken down--a stone at a time
or shaken with one rude shock to the
level ground: man must die. Israel had then but one favour to ask. So it comes
to us all. We who have spent a life-time in petitioning for assistance have at
the last but one request to make. “Take me
” said one of England’s brightest
wits in his dying moments
“to the window that I may feel the morning air.”
“Light
more light
” said another man greater still
expressing some wondrous
necessity best left as a mystery. “Bury me not
I pray thee
in Egypt
” said
dying Jacob to his son Joseph
“but bury me in the buryingplace of my fathers.”
What other heaven had the Old Testament man? The graveyard was a kind of
comfort to him. He must be buried in a given place marked off and sacredly
guarded. He had not lived up into that universal humanity which says--All
places are consecrated
and every point is equally near heaven with every other
point
if so be God dig the grave and watch it. By-and-by we shall hear another
speech in the tone of Divine revelation; by-and-by we shall get rid of these
localities
and limitations
and prisons
for the Lion of the tribe of Judah
will open up some wider space of thought
and contemplation
and service. With
Joseph’s oath dying Jacob was satisfied. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Jacob’s end
The close of Jacob’s career stands in most pleasing contrast with
all the previous scenes of his eventful history. It reminds one of a serene
evening
after a tempestuous day: the sun
which during the day had been hidden
from view by clouds
mists
and fogs
sets in majesty and brightness
gilding
with his beams the western sky and holding out the cheering prospect of a bright
to-morrow. Thus is it with our aged patriarch. The supplanting
the
bargain-making
the cunning
the management
the shifting
the shuffling
the
unbelieving selfish fears--all those dark clouds of nature and of earth seem to
have passed away
and he comes forth
in all the calm elevation of faith
to
bestow blessings
and impart dignities
in that holy skilfulness
which
communion with God can alone impart. Though nature’s eyes are dim
faith’s
vision is sharp. He is not to be deceived as to the relative positions assigned
to Ephraim and Manasseh
in the counsels of God. He has not
like his father
Isaac
in chapter 27.
to “tremble very exceedingly
” in view of an almost
fatal mistake. Quite the reverse. His intelligent reply to his less instructed son
is
“I know it
my son
I know it.” The power of sense has not
as in Isaac’s
case
dimmed his spiritual vision. He has been taught
in the school of
experience
the importance of keeping close to the Divine purpose
and nature’s
influence cannot move him from thence. In Genesis 48:11
we have a very beautiful
example of the mode in which our God ever rises above all our thoughts
and
proves Himself better than all our fears. “And Israel said unto Joseph
I had
not thought to see thy face; and
lo
God hath showed me also thy seed.” To
nature’s view
Joseph was dead; whereas in God’s view he was alive
and seated
in the highest place of authority
next the throne. “Eye hath not seen
nor ear
heard
neither hath it entered into the heart of man
the things which God hath
prepared for them that love 1 Corinthians 2:9). Would that our
souls could rise higher in their apprehension of God and His ways. (C. H. M.)
Jacob and Israel
It is interesting to notice the way in which the titles “Jacob”
and “Israel” are introduced in the close of the Book of Genesis; as
for
example
“One told Jacob
and said
Behold thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and
Israel strengthened himself
and sat upon the bed.” Then
it is immediately
added
“And Jacob said unto Joseph
God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz.” Now
we know
there is nothing in Scripture without its specific meaning
and hence
this interchange of names contains some instruction. In general
it may be
remarked
that “Jacob” sets forth the depth to which God has descended;
“Israel
” the height to which Jacob was raised. (C. H. M.)
Men die but God remains
When John Owen was dying
he said
“I am leaving the ship of the
Church in a storm; but whilst the Great Pilot is in it
the loss of a poor
under-rower will be inconsiderable.” And when a young man whose heart was in
the foreign mission work
had to die
he said
“God can evangelize the world
without me.” So when we may lose earthly friends
comforters
guides
and
helpers
we may and ought ever to fall back on our all-sufficient and
ever-present God and Heavenly Father. All the lamps in a house or in a town may
be extinguished when the sun rises; all the pumps may also be demolished or
taken away
whilst there is a reservoir ever full
from which every one may
have an abundant supply of the best water. So we need not be dismayed when we
lose any or all earthly friends and advantages
so long as we have God left.
They who have God for their Father
and Friend
and Portion
have all things in
Him. He is the best Teacher
Guide
Protector
and Provider. But sometimes God
has to deprive us of our earthly friends and possessions in order to lead us to
trust Him as we ought.
The folly of anxiety about death
What if the leaves were to fall a-weeping
and say
“It will be so
painful for us to be pulled from our stalks when autumn comes?” Foolish fear!
summer goes
and autumn succeeds. The glory of death is upon the leaves; and
the gentle breeze that blows takes them softly and silently from the bough
and
they float slowly down like fiery sparks upon the moss. It is hard to die when
the time is not ripe. When it is
it will be easy
we need not die while we are
living. (H. W.Beecher.)
Death
a ferry-boat
Death to God’s people is but a ferry-boat. Every day and every
hour the boat pushes off with some of the saints
and returns for more.
Waiting for death
The Christian
at his death
should not be like the child
who is
forced by the rod to quit his play
but like one who is wearied of it and
willing to go to bed. Neither ought he to be like the mariner
whose vessel is
drifted by the violence of the tempest from the shore
tossed to and fro upon
the ocean
and at last suffers wreck and destruction; but like one who is ready
for the voyage
and
the moment the wind is favourable
cheerfully weighs
anchor
and
full of hope and joy
launches forth into the deep. (Gotthold.)
Peace in death
The ship has set sail
and kept on her course many days and
nights
with no other incidents than those that are common to all. Suddenly
land appears; but what the character the coast may be
the voyagers cannot
discern through the tumult. The first effect of a near approach to land is a
very great commotion in the waters. It is one of the coral islands of the South
Pacific
encircled by a ring of fearful breakers at some little distance from
the shore. Forward the ship must go; the waves are higher and angrier than any
they have seen in the open sea. Presently through them
partly over them
they
are borne at a bound; strained
giddy
and almost senseless
they find
themselves within that sentinel ridge of crested waves that guard the shore;
and the portion of sea that still lies before them is calm and clear like
glass. It seems a lake of paradise
and not an earthly thing at all. It is
inexpressibly sweet to lie on its bosom after the long voyage and the barren
ridge. All the heavens are mirrored in the waters; and along its edge lies a
flowery land. Across the belt of sea the ship glides gently
and gently touches
soon that lovely shore. So many a Christian has been thrown into a great tumult
when the shore of eternity suddenly appeared before him. A great fear tossed
and sickened him for some days; but
when that barrier was passed
he
experienced a peace deeper
stiller
sweeter
than any he ever knew before. A
little space of life’s voyage remained after the fear of death had sunk into a
calm
and before the immortal felt the solace of eternal rest. (W. Arnot.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》