These are the days of the years of Abraham's life: Genesis 25:1-7 The last years of Abraham T. H. Leale. I. ON THEIR NATURAL SIDE. Active to the last. II. ON THEIR SPIRITUAL SIDE. He provided for the purity and peace of the chosen family, by sending away the sons of his concubines. He did this (1) to prevent confusion of race, (2) to avoid disturbance and quarrels. ( T. H. Leale. ) Life and character of Abraham T. H. Leale. I. THE FIRST PERIOD. I. ABRAHAM COMES BEFORE US AS AN EMIGRANT. II. ABRAHAM COMES BEFORE US AS A STRANGER. III. ABRAHAM COMES BEFORE US IN AN ASPECT OF BRIGHT MORAL BEAUTY ( Genesis 13:5-18 ). IV. A MORE OPEN AND SIGNAL EVIDENCE OF THE DIVINE COUNTENANCE AWAITS THE PATRIARCH (chap. Genesis 14.). V. CONSIDER ABRAHAM IN HIS PRIVATE COMMUNION WITH GOD. II. THE SECOND PERIOD. Abraham has shown how unreservedly he can give credit to God for the fulfilment of His mere word, however incredible it might seem to the eye of sense. Will he also and equally give credit to God for the fulfilment of it in His own way? I. IN THIS NEW TRIAL, THE PATRIARCH'S FAITH APPEARS AT FIRST TO FAIL. II. THE MANNER OF THE PATRIARCH'S REVIVAL IS EMINENTLY GRACIOUS (chap. Genesis 17.). III. THE CULMINATING POINT OF ABRAHAM'S EXALTATION IN CONNECTION WITH HIS CONDUCT TOWARDS LOT (chaps. Genesis 18, 19.). IV. THE NEXT SCENE PRESENTS TO US THE PATRIARCH GRIEVOUSLY HUMBLED (chap. Genesis 20.). V. THE ACTUAL FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE DOES NOT COMPLETELY ABOLISH ALL STRIFE BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT. VI. THE SCENE ON MOUNT MORIAH FORMS THE CLIMAX OF ABRAHAM'S WALK OF FAITH. VII. THE CLOSING INCIDENTS IN ABRAHAM'S EVENTFUL LIFE. ( T. H. Leale. ) Lessons G. Hughes, B. D. 1. Piety as well a nature teacheth men to dispose of their estates which God hath given them unto their seed. 2. Abraham may not, will not alter the portion of the child of promise which God ordained. The best portion is for the children of promise. They have all (ver. 5). 3. Some portion below, the children of the flesh do carry away as theirs. 4. It is wisdom for good fathers to settle their families, while they are alive and stirring. 5. Some difference between the portion of the children of the flesh and of the promise God makes here below. 6. Transplantation into places not inhabited, to people, is a design allowed by God (ver. 6). ( G. Hughes, B. D. ) Educated by illusion F. W. Robertson, M. A. Let us hastily recapitulate his history, so chequered by vicissitudes. He began his wanderings at Chanan; then seeking a new country, he entered Canaan, feeding his flocks there as long as pasture lasted, and then passed on. After that we find him still a wanderer, driven by famine to Egypt; then returning home, parting with Lot, losing his best friend, commanded to give up the dearest object of his heart, and at the close of life startled almost to find that he had not a foot of earth in which to make for his wife a grave. Thus throughout his life he was a pilgrim. In all we see God's blessed principle of illusion by which He draws us on towards Himself. The object of our hope seems just before us, but we go on without attaining it; all appears failure, yet all this time we are advancing surely on our journey and find our hopes realized not here but in the kingdom beyond. Abraham learnt thus the infinite nature of duty, and this is what a Christian must always feel. He must never think that he can do all he ought to do. It is possible for the child to do each day all that is required of him; but the more we receive of the spirit of Christ, the larger, the more infinitely impossible of fulfilment will our circle of duties become. ( F. W. Robertson, M. A. ) Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and fall of years; and was gathered to his people. Genesis 25:8-10 Abraham's departure A. Maclaren, D. D. "Full of years" is not a mere synonym for longevity. The expression is by no means a usual one. It is applied to Isaac at the close of his calm, contemplative life, to David at the end of his stormy and adventurous career, to the high priest Jehoiada, and to the patriarch Job. We shall understand its meaning better if, instead of "full of years," we read "satisfied with years." The words point to a calm close, with all desires granted, with hot wishes stilled, and a willingness to let life go, because all which it could give had been attained. We have two main things to consider. 1. The tranquil close of life.(1) It is possible, at the close of life, to feel that it has satisfied our wishes. Abraham had had a richly varied life. It had brought him all he wished. Satisfied, yet not sickened, keenly appreciating all the good and pleasantness of life, and yet quite willing to let it go, Abraham died.(2) It is possible at the end of life to feel that it is complete, because the days have accomplished for us the highest purpose of life.(3) It is possible, at the end of life, to be willing to go as satisfied. 2. Consider the glimpse of the joyful society beyond, which is given us in that other remarkable expression of the text, "He was gathered to his people." The words contain a dim intimation of something beyond this present life:(1) Dimly, vaguely, but unmistakably, there is here expressed a premonition and feeling after the thought of an immortal self in Abraham, which was not in the cave at Machpelah, but was somewhere else, and was for ever.(2) Abraham had been an exile all his life; but now his true social life is begun. He dwells with his own tribe; he is at home: he is in the city.(3) The expression suggests that in the future men shall be associated according to affinity and character. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) The death and burial of Abraham T. H. Leale. I. HIS DEATH. 1. The peaceful close of a long life. 2. The close of a satisfied life. 3. An introduction to a new and better life. II. HIS BURIAL. 1. An honourable one. 2. An occasion for peace among the members of his family. 3. The occasion of further blessing to the living (ver. 11). ( T. H. Leale. ) Abraham's death The Congregational Pulpit. I. ABRAHAM DIED. 1. The best of men die. 2. The conquest pilgrimage ends. 3. Abraham was brought down to the grave in honour and peace. 4. He being dead, yet speaketh. II. MARK HIS FAITH (See Hebrews 11:13 , &c.). 1. His faith related to his posterity and the land of promise. Hence his interment in this particular cave. The field of his sepulchre was his own possession. 2. It related to himself. Though losing the earthly Canaan, he was sure of the heavenly Canaan. He was confident of a future life; and knew that his faith and piety would not go unrecognized or unrewarded in the world to come. So when we die, let it be in faith. ( The Congregational Pulpit. ) Abraham's death in old age A. Fuller. The inscription on his tomb, if I may so call it, was " He died in a good old age." On this I have two remarks to offer —(1) It was according to promise. Upwards of four-score years before this, the Lord told Abraham in vision, saying, "Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace: thou shalt be buried in a good old age." In everything, even in death, the promises are fulfilled to Abraham.(2) It is language that is never used of wicked men, and not very commonly of good men. It is used of Gideon, and of David; and I know not whether of any other. The idea answers to what is spoken by the Psalmist, "They shall bring forth fruit in old age"; or that in Job, "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season." ( A. Fuller. ) Lessons G. Hughes, B. D. 1. God records the time of His saints' lives to set out the continuance of their faith and patient waiting for God and His promise (ver. 7). 2. Saints give up spirits to God; they are not snatched away. 3. It is good dying in an age full of goodness. 4. Saints, as Abraham, depart full and satisfied with life below. 5. Saints are gathered to their own people in their death (ver. 8). 6. Honourable burial is due to saints deceased by their surviving seed, or friends. 7. God was as good as His word to Abraham in his death (ver. 9). ( G. Hughes, B. D. ) Signs of age Heber Evans. We are as immortal as the angels until our work is done, and, that finished, the best thing that can happen to us is to be called home to rest at once rather than to be here, weak and worthless, in our tents waiting on the plains of Moab. When Dr. Bees preached last in North Wales a friend said to him — one of those who are always reminding people that they are getting old — "You are whitening fast, Dr. Bees." The old gentleman did not say anything then; but when he got to the pulpit he referred to it, and said, "There is a wee white flower that comes up through the earth at this season of the year — sometimes it comes up through the snow and frost; but we are all glad to see the snowdrop, because it proclaims that the winter is over and that the summer is at baud. A friend reminded me last night that I was whitening fast. But heed not that, brother; it is to me a proof that my winter will soon be over, that I shall have done presently with the cold and east winds and the frosts of earth, and that my summer — my eternal summer — is at hand." ( Heber Evans. ) What men reap in age Dr. Talmage. A young man came to a man of ninety years of age and said to him, "How have you made out to live so long and be so well?" The old man took the youngster to an orchard, and, pointing to some large trees full of apples, said, "I planted these trees when I was a boy, and do you wonder that now I am permitted to gather the fruit of them?" We gather in old age what we plant in our youth. Sow to the wind and we reap the whirlwind. Plant in early life the right kind of a Christian character, and you will eat luscious fruit in old age, and gather these harvest apples in eternity. ( Dr. Talmage. ) Age and Christ A distinguished Oneida chief, named Skenandon, having yielded to the instructions of the Bey. Mr. Kirkland, and lived a reformed man for fifty years, said just before he died, in his hundred and twentieth year, "I am an aged hemlock; the winds of one hundred years have whistled through my branches; I am dead at the top" (he was blind); "why I yet live the great good Spirit only knows. Pray to my Jesus that I may wait with patience my appointed time to die; and when I die, lay me by the side of my minister and father, that I may go up with him at the great resurrection." Weakness of age Life of the Rev. John Brown of Haddington. To an acquaintance who inquired about his welfare, he gave this account: "I am but weak; but it is delightful to find one's self weak in everlasting arms; oh, how much do I owe my Lord! What a mercy, that once within the covenant, there is no getting out of it again; now I find my faculties much impaired." His relations answering that it was only his memory which seemed to be effected with his disease: — "Well," said he, "oh, how marvellous that God hath continued my judgment, considering how much I have abused it; and continued my hope of eternal life, though I have misimproved it!"... Speaking on the same topic afterwards he said very beautifully, "Were I once in heaven, a look of Christ would cure my failing memory, and all my other weaknesses. There I shall not need wine nor spirits to recruit me; no, nor shall I think of them, but as Christ was through them kind to me." ( Life of the Rev. John Brown of Haddington. ) Gathered to his people A. Maclaren, D. D. Dimly, vaguely, veiledly, but unmistakably, as it seems to me, is here expressed at least a premonition and feeling after the thought of an immortal self in Abraham that was not there in what "his son Isaac Ishmael laid in the cave at Macpelah," but was somewhere else and was for ever. That is the first thing hinted at here — the continuance of the personal being after death. Is there anything more? I think there is. Now, remember, Abraham's whole life was shaped by that commandment, "Get thee out from thy father's house, and from thy kindred, and from thy country." He never dwelt with his kindred; all his days he was a pilgrim and sojourner, a stranger in a strange land. But now he is gathered to his people. The life of isolation is over, the true social life is begun. He is no longer separated from those around him, or flung amidst those that are uncongenial to him. "He is gathered to his people"; he dwells with his own tribe; he is at home; he is in the city. Further, the expressions suggest that in the future men shall be associated according to affinity and character. "He was gathered to his people," whom he was like and who were like him; the people with whom he had sympathy, the people whose lives were shaped after the fashion of his own. Men will be sorted there. Gravitation will come into play undisturbed; and the pebbles will be ranged according to their weights on the great shore where the sea has cast them up, as they are upon Chesil beach, down there in the English Channel, and many another coast besides; all the big ones together and sized off to the smaller ones, regularly and steadily laid out. Like draws to like. Our spiritual affinities, our religious and moral character, will settle where we shall be and who our companions will be when we get yonder. Some of us would not altogether like to live with the people that are like ourselves, and some of us would not find the result of this sorting to be very delightful. Men in the Dantesque circles were only made more miserable because all around them were of the same sort, and some of them worse than themselves. And an ordered hell, with no company for the liar but liars, and none for the thief but thieves, and none for impure men but the impure, and none for the godless but the godless, would be a hell indeed. "He was gathered to his people," and you and I will be gathered likewise. What is the conclusion of the whole matter? Let us follow with our thoughts, and in our lives those who have gone into the light, and cultivate in heart and character those graces and excellences which are congruous with the inheritance of the saints in light. Above all let us give our hearts to Christ, by simple faith in Him, to be shaped and sanctified by Him. Then our country will be where He is, and our people will be the people in whom His love abides, and the tribe to which we belong will be the tribe of which He is Chieftain. So when our turn comes, we may rise thankfully from the table in the wilderness, which He has spread for us, having eaten as much as we desired, and quietly follow the dark-robed messenger whom His love sends to bring us to the happy multitudes that throng the streets of the city. There we shall find our true home, our kindred, our King. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) God blessed his son Isaac. Genesis 25:11 Divine blessing D. G. Watt, M. A. Two large and perpetual principles, on which the government of God proceeds, are involved in such commonplace incidents, as death, benefits received, and access to a well of water —(1) that God repeats Himself in His modes of training men; and(2) that God does not repeat Himself. God had blessed Abraham, and He blessed Isaac; He repeated His procedure. Isaac received the Divine blessing at the well Lahairoi — where Abraham did not dwell: God did not repeat Himself. I. I ask you, fathers and mothers, to CONSIDER THE BEST INHERITANCE WHICH CAN BE LEFT TO CHILDREN. It is not property or riches. If your children never inherit from you anything but a few cheap well-used articles of furniture, yet can point to your grave and say, "Under that grassy mound lie the remains of one who lived a life of faith in the Son of God, and tried to make the world of his neighbourhood better," be sure they will inherit from you that which is more helpful and ennobling than cartloads of gold or silver. Be it yours to secure that. II. LET EACH ONE CONSIDER THE NECESSITY OF PERSONAL OBEDIENCE TO GOD, IN ORDER TO BE FULLY BLESSED. You may have not a few rich temporal blessings, but if you have not received the grace of the Holy Spirit so as to call Jesus Christ Lord, then you are rejecting that which alone conveys the favour in which is life eternal. No one can acquire this blessing for you. III. CONSIDER THE VARYING CONDITIONS TO WHICH THE DIVINE BLESSING COMES. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob — so different in their character — all were blessed by the Lord. IV. IN ORDER TO OBTAIN AND RETAIN DIVINE BLESSING, WE MUST KNOW THE SECRET OF SECURING IT. Isaac's knowledge of it is suggested by the words, "He dwelt by the well Lahai-roi" — the well of the Living, Seeing One. Have you no memory of a private room, or a sick bed, or a communion, when there came a flow of light and impulse into your heart, and Jesus appeared to be your life as never before? Do you never return in spirit to that scene, and endeavour again to refresh yourself with its intimations? The Lord who blessed you then is the same still. ( D. G. Watt, M. A. ) A word for quiet people Mark Guy Pearse. 1. After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac. What a contrast meets us as we turn to him. The longest lived of the patriarchs, yet what a little space he fills. Abraham has many chapters — so has Jacob, but Isaac has scarcely a single chapter to himself, this is the lesson of his life. We talk of most men because of their importance. I want to talk of Isaac because of his unimportance. His are the annals of a quiet life. God is the God of Abraham. Yes, we do not wonder at that — Abraham the hero, the warrior, the father and founder of great nations — the man of such gifts and such achievements. But God is the God of Isaac, too — the God of the quiet uneventful life. The heavenly Father hath room in His heart for all His children. He who maketh us to differ, loves us in all the separateness of our character. 2. Remember that Isaac is needed as well as Abraham. It is well that there should be some few men here and there, lifted up above the rest like the high hills that touch the sky. The sight of them is needful to refresh us, to expand our thought, to break the dead level of life, and to bring down blessings from heaven. But we need the quiet fields as well as the mountain heights — they give us the grass of the meadow and the corn of the valley. Earth has need of common people — and indeed most need of them. Some one said one day to Abraham Lincoln, referring to some prominent man, "He is a common-looking person." "Friend," said Abraham Lincoln, "the Lord prefers common-looking people, that is why He has made so many of them." If folks were all splendid geniuses, whirling to heaven in chariots of fire, who would do the humdrum work of life? Let us learn to think rightly of common-place people, including ourselves. George Eliot preaches a needed gospel when she writes of one of her characters, "He whose fortunes I have undertaken to relate was in no respect an ideal or exceptional character... a man whose virtues were not heroic, and who had no undetected crime within his heart; who had not the slightest mystery hanging about him, but was palpably and unmistakably common-place .... But, dear madam, it is so very large a majority of your fellow-countrymen that are of this insignificant stamp. Yet these common-place people — many of them — bear a conscience, and have felt the sublime prompting to do the painful right; they have their unspoken sorrows and their sacred joys; their hearts have perhaps gone out towards their first-born, and they have mourned over the irreclaimable dead. Depend upon it you would gain unspeakably if you would learn to see more of the poetry and pathos, the tragedy and comedy, lying in the experience of a human soul that looks through dull grey eyes and that speaks in a voice of quite ordinary tones." 3. Remember the advantages of such a life. "Isaac went into the field at eventide to meditate." Of such life, this is its distinction. If it have less of action, it certainly has more room for meditation. If it knows fewer things, yet it generally knows them better and deeper. If it has less glory and triumph, yet it has closer and steadier communion. If it cannot fight the Master's battles, it can sit at the Master's feet and learn of Him. The quiet life has its blessings. Down by the stream the little meadow lay; and it heard afar off the roar of the great city, and it saw the ruddy glare of its lights flung up against the murky sky. "Alas!" it sighed, "how dull a life is mine! Yonder, in the city, with its thousands, one might do some good. But I am so far away and useless." But in the night time came the stars and sang to it — "Foolish creature, we are thine in all our silvery brightness, we whom they scarcely see in the city." Then the dew fell and whispered to its heart — "And I am thine, I that am of no use on the hard city ways." And up rose the sun and woke the flowers and painted them afresh, and it said — "I am thine, I who have to fight with city fogs for many an hour yonder." And the meadow thought it had something to sing about after all, and the lark went soaring heavenward with music. But one day it heard some stray city sparrow tell a tale about the hungry little children, and the drunken men, and the wretched women, and about weary rich folks. And it grew sad again and said — "What can I do down here, out of the way, and so common-place!" Then came the breeze and it cried in a hurry, "Quick! give us your freshness and fragrance that we may bless the crowded courts and streets," and it was off. And there came some that picked the flowers from beside the stream, and told how they should gladden many a weary heart, and smile upon sick children, and light up many a dreary home. Then the meadow sang a sweeter song than ever, and was glad that He who maketh all hath so much room for the quiet and unknown, and can turn these to such good account. God blessed Isaac. 4. Remember, again, that if quiet people do not go up so high as others, they do not go down so low. "Happy is the nation whose annals are dull," said an authority. Think of Abraham and David and Elijah, and you will see that the life of Isaac has its compensations. 5. Again-there is a special beauty of character belonging to the quiet life. Take another of the few incidents in Isaac's life — that recorded in the sixty-seventh verse of the twenty-fourth chapter — "And he brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah's tent, and he loved her, and was comforted after his mother's death." The gentle heart grieving for his mother, and solaced by the love of Rebekah, is an aspect of the quiet life worth lingering over. These are the gifts with which the quiet people do enrich the world. We do not wonder now that God blessed Isaac. 6. Notice further — that the quiet life has its trials. We see it in the picture of the dim-eyed Isaac sitting in the tent door, bidding his son fetch for him the venison which his soul loved — an ease that breeds a self-indulgence is the besetment of the quiet life. It needs to be stirred up, and that sharply at times, and so there comes the famine, rousing him-making the somewhat sluggish life beat more vigorously. Bringing new wants that require new devices. Bringing new conditions that must be dealt with. No harvest ever did so much for Isaac as that famine. Yet another tendency of the quiet life is to fear and to cunning. We see it in Jacob the quiet man, the smooth man. But here in Isaac is the possibility. The story of the men of Gerar and Rebekah shows this tendency in Isaac. They who are weakest need most of all the help of God and have most room for it. They who have no other gifts must make the most of this. 7. Again, the quiet uneventful life has its victories — victories as brave and oftentimes alike more noble and complete than the victories of the warrior. Isaac pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar and dwelt there, and Isaac digged the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father ( Genesis 18:23 ). Then the Philistines came and stopped up the well. Ishmael would have fought for it, but that would have taken time and men's lives, and have established a feud between himself and his neighbours. And after all he would have had to dig out the well again. So it was a saving of trouble and time and of much else at once to dig the well. So he digged again, and the Philistines came and filled that also. Again he might have fought about that too — but all that made it worth while to dig before made it worth while to dig again. So he removed from thence and digged another well; and for that they strove not. He had got to Rehoboth — "room." It is a good place to live, Rehoboth — where there is room for forgiveness and patience there is room for peace. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee." Where there is room for love there is room for God. Then came the kings and chief captains who had sent him away and won by his gentleness, they sought an alliance with him — "We saw certainly. that the Lord was with thee: and we said, let there now be an oath betwixt us, and let us make a covenant with thee. Thou art now the blessed of the Lord. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink." It was a great triumph of peace principles; as pure a victory as was ever won. So the quiet man was a hero all unbeknown to himself, and won a more noble victory then ever came of cruel bloodshed. These gentle souls have a mighty power, mightier than we reckon — like the silent stars that rule the darkness by shining. Lastly, let us remember that it was not Isaac's natural character that singled him out for distinction; but it was his relation to the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This was Abraham's greatness; and here was Isaac as great as Abraham. And herein is our greatness too. Not in what we are can we find our glory, but in Him, our Saviour and our King. ( Mark Guy Pearse. ) Isaac G. Woolnough, M. A. I. THE PERSONAL CHARACTER OF THIS MAN TAKES ROOT IN THE BLESSING OF GOD. 1. His natural life commences with a special benediction, for he was a child of promise. 2. Isaac had a remarkable dedication in his youth. 3. But it is now, when Abraham is dead, that he more largely receives the blessing. 4. More deeply impressed at the last than at the first, he solemnly prepares transmit that blessing which he had inherited. II. THIS MAN'S MARKED INDIVIDUALITY GROWS UP AND SHAPES ITSELF IN THE GODLY HABITS OF A PROTRACTED LIFE. 1. His habit of thought. 2. His habit of dealing with men. 3. His habits at home. III. THE MARKED INDIVIDUALITY OF THIS MAN IS SEEN IN THE AMPLE FRUIT WHICH IT BORE. 1. It is in Isaac that we get the best expression of patriotism. 2. Come within the radius of this man's influence, and you feel that he, too, in the best sense, was a man of the world. 3. But notably you feel in Isaac's case what is that influence which leads a man to make ample and timely disposition of his secular affairs, that he may give himself more fully to better things. ( G. Woolnough, M. A. ) These are the generations of Ishmael. Genesis 25:12-18 I. The generations of Ishmael T. H. Leale. I. THAT THOSE WHO ARE NOT APPOINTED TO THE MOST HONOURABLE PLACE ARE YET CARED FOR BY PROVIDENCE. II. THAT PROVIDENCE AFFORDS ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR THE SUPPORT OF FAITH AND VIRTUE. III. THAT THE FAITHFULNESS OF PROVIDENCE MAY BE PROVED ON DIFFERENT LINES. Past and present condition of (1) Jews, (2) Ishmaelites. ( T. H. Leale. ) The genealogies of the wicked G. Hughes, B. D. 1. The genealogies of the wicked, God sometimes recorded for His own glory and the sake of the Church (ver. 12). 2. God doth by name punctually perform His promise unto His servants, though it be concerning the wicked. 3. God doth vouchsafe a more abundant seed sometimes to the children of the flesh than to the children of the promise. Ishmael hath many sons, it is long till Isaac hath any. 4. Great dignities, commands, and powers below God doth cast upon bondmen in the Church (ver. 16). One drachm of grace is above monarchies. 5. A long age may betide an Ishmael, but not a good one. 6. A like death may seem to be both to the righteous and the wicked, but it is not so in truth. 7. The wicked in death are gathered to their people as well as the righteous unto theirs (ver. 17). 8. God giveth the lot of habitation, motion and cessation unto the worst of men on earth (ver. 18). ( G. Hughes, B. D. ) The generations of Isaac. Genesis 25:19-23 The holy seed G. Hughes, B. D. 1. God hath a special care to commend unto posterity the line of His Church, and His providences towards it. 2. The eminent line of the Church visible begins from Abraham (ver. 19). 3. The holy seed run not foolishly nor hastily into the marriage covenant, but in maturity and prudence. 4. God separates the mother of His Church from all superstitious relations. In calling any to His Church God separates them from corrupt relations (ver. 20). ( G. Hughes, B. D. ) Lessons G. Hughes, B. D. 1. In God's answer of prayer the greatest mercies may be given in, with the greatest temptation. 2. Hard temptations may sometimes cause gracious souls to be discontented with their mercies. 3. In such temptations gracious hearts make their resource to God to know His mind and do it (ver. 22). ( G. Hughes, B. D. ) Lessons G. Hughes, B. D. 1. Jehovah vouchsafes answers to His troubled petitioners suitable to their desires. 2. God hath by natural symptoms in some declared the two great parties of the world and of the Church. 3. God's oracle hath foretold heavy divisions between them. 4. God hath so ordered that the people of the world may be outwardly stronger than the Church. 5. It is God's oracle that the greatest in the world shall serve the least in the Church. 6. The preferring or undervaluing of creatures either for outward or inward, temporal or eternal good, depends wholly upon God's will (ver. 23). ( G. Hughes, B. D. ) Rebekah's barrenness M. Dods, D. D. The intended mother of the promised seed was left for twenty years childless — to contend with the doubts, surmises, evil proposals, proud challengings of God, and murmurings, which must undoubtedly have arisen even in so bright and spirited a heart as Rebekah's. It was thus she was taught the seriousness of the possession she had chosen for herself, and gradually led to the implicit faith requisite for the discharge of its responsibilities. Many young persons have a similar experience. They seem to themselves to have chosen a wrong position, to have made a thorough mistake in life, and to have brought themselves into circumstances in which they only retard, or quite prevent the prosperity of those with whom they are connected. In proportion as Rebekah loved Isaac, and entered into his prospects, must she have been tempted to think she had far better have remained in Padanaram. It is a humbling thing to stand in-some other person's way; but if it is by no fault of ours, but in obedience to affection or conscience we are in this position, we must, in humility and patience, wait upon Providence as Rebekah did, and resist all morbid despondency. This second barrenness in the prospective mother of the promised seed was as needful to all concerned as the first was; for the people of God, no more than any others, can learn in one lesson. They must again be brought to a real dependence on God as the Giver of the heir. The prayer with which Isaac "entreated" the Lord for his wife "because she was barren" was a prayer of deeper intensity than he could have uttered had he merely remembered the story that had been told him of his own birth. God must be recognized again and again and throughout as the Giver of life to the promised line. Learn, therefore, that although God has given you means of working out His salvation, your Rebekah will be barren without His continued activity. On His own means you must re-invite His blessing, for without the continuance of His aid you will make nothing of the most beautiful and appropriate helps He has given you. It was by pain, anxiety, and almost dismay, that Rebekah received intimation that her prayer was answered. In this she is the type of many whom God hears. Inward strife, miserable forebodings, deep dejection, are often the first intimations that God is listening to our prayer and is beginning to work within us. ( M. Dods, D. D. ) Twins. Genesis 25:24-26 Birth of Esau and Jacob T. H. Leale. I. THEIR MARKED INDIVIDUALITY. II. HOW HEREBY IS POINTED OUT THEIR FUTURE DESTINY. III. HOW THEIR CHARACTERS, SO EARLY DEVELOPED, AFFECTED THE PREFERENCES OF THEIR PARENTS. ( T. H. Leale. ) The twins M. Dods, D. D. The children whose birth and destinies were thus predicted, at

Benson Commentary Genesis 25:1 Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. Genesis 25:1 . Five and thirty years Abraham lived after the marriage of Isaac, and all that is recorded concerning him during that time lies here in a very few verses; we hear no more of God’s extraordinary appearances to him or trials of him; for all the days even of the greatest saints are not eminent; some slide on silently; such were these last days of Abraham. We have here an account of his children by Keturah, another wife, whom he married after the death of Sarah. He had buried Sarah, and married Isaac, the two dear companions of his life, and was now solitary; his family wanted a governess, and it was not good for him to be thus alone; he therefore marries again. By Keturah he had six sons, in whom the promise made to Abraham, concerning the great increase of his posterity, was in part fulfilled. The strength he received by the promise still remained in him, to show how much the virtue of the promise exceeds the power of nature. Genesis 25:2 And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. Genesis 25:3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. Genesis 25:4 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. Genesis 25:5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. Genesis 25:5 . And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac — As he was bound to do, not only in justice to Sarah his first wife, but also to Rebekah, who married Isaac upon the assurance of it. Genesis 25:6 But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. Genesis 25:6 . Abraham gave gifts — Or portions. Abraham may be an example to us in almost every circumstance of life: we find him, with great prudence: making, in his lifetime, proper provision for his sons by his secondary wives, Hagar and Keturah, and sending them away from Isaac; whereby, in all probability, he prevented great animosities and dissensions. How happy would it be if all parents, in the time of health, would take care to settle, by will, the division of their goods among their children! What confusion! what quarrels! what discord! what never to be reconciled animosity among brethren, might this prevent! These sons of the concubines, as they are here called, were sent into the country that lay east of Canaan, and their posterity were termed the children of the east, famous for their number. Their great increase was the fruit of the promise made to Abraham, that God would multiply his seed. Genesis 25:7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. Genesis 25:7 . These are the days of Abraham — He lived just a hundred years after he came to Canaan; so long he was a sojourner in a strange land. Genesis 25:8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years ; and was gathered to his people. Genesis 25:8 . He died in a good old age — As God had promised him; good, through grace, his hoary head being found in the way of righteousness; and naturally good, he being free, it seems, from many of the infirmities and calamities of old age. Full of years — Of years, is not in the Hebrew, it is only, an old man, and full, or satisfied. He had fulfilled the divine will, and served his generation, and was fully satisfied with life. A good man, though he should not die old, dies full of days; satisfied with living here, and longing to live in a better world. And was gathered to his people — His body was gathered to the congregation of the dead, and his soul to the congregation of the blessed. Death gathers us to our people, to those that are our people while we live, whether the people of God, or the children of this world. Reader, to whom, at death shalt thou be gathered? Genesis 25:9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; Genesis 25:10 The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. Genesis 25:11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. Genesis 25:11-12 . God blessed Isaac — For the blessing of Abraham did not die with him, but was perpetuated to his posterity, and especially to the children of the promise. The generations of Ishmael — God had made some promises concerning him, and this account of his posterity is given that we may know the accomplishment of them. He had twelve sons, the names of whom are here recorded; two of them, Midian and Kedan, we often read of in Scripture. They are termed twelve princes, Genesis 25:16 , or heads of families, which, in process of time, became nations, numerous, and very considerable. And his posterity had not only tents in fields, wherein they grew rich in time of peace, but they had towns and castles, wherein they fortified themselves in times of war. Their number and strength were the fruit of the promise made to Hagar, concerning Ishmael, Genesis 16:10 ; and to Abraham, Genesis 17:20 ; Genesis 21:13 . Genesis 25:12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham: Genesis 25:13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, Genesis 25:14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Genesis 25:15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: Genesis 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. Genesis 25:17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. Genesis 25:17 . He lived a hundred and thirty-seven years — Which is recorded to show the efficacy of Abraham’s prayer for him, Genesis 17:18 , O that Ishmael might live before thee! Then he also was gathered to his people. And he died in the presence of all his brethren — With his friends about him. Who would not wish so to die? Genesis 25:18 And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren. Genesis 25:19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac: Genesis 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. Genesis 25:20 . And Isaac was forty years old — Not much is related concerning Isaac, but what had reference to his father, while he lived, and to his sons afterward; for Isaac seems not to have been a man of action, nor to have been much tried, but to have spent his days in quietness and silence. Genesis 25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. Genesis 25:21 . And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife — Though God had promised to multiply his family, he prayed for it; for God’s promises must not supersede, but encourage our prayers, and be improved as the ground of our faith. Though he had prayed for this mercy many years, and it was not granted, yet he did not leave off praying for it. Genesis 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. Genesis 25:22 . The children struggled within her — In an unusual and painful manner; a presage of the enmity of these two sons and their posterities. If it be so, or since it is so, why am I thus? — That is, as some interpret it, “If I am with child, what is the reason of this unusual commotion I feel?” Or, as others explain her exclamation, “If I must suffer such uncommon pangs, why did I conceive?” Before, the want of children was her trouble; now, the struggle of her children is no less so. She went to inquire of the Lord — Probably she consulted Melchizedek, or some other holy person, who was favoured with divine revelations: or perhaps the expression only means that she addressed herself to God in prayer. The Word of God and prayer, by which we now inquire of him, give great relief to those that are, upon any account, perplexed. It is a mighty ease to spread our case before the Lord, and ask counsel at his mouth. Reader, let this be thy practice in all thy difficulties and perplexities. Genesis 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. Genesis 25:23 . Two nations are in thy womb — The fathers of two nations, namely, of the Edomites and Israelites; two manner of people, which should not only greatly differ from each other in religion, laws, manners, but should contend with each other, and the issue of the contest should be, that the elder should serve the younger, which was fulfilled in the subjection of the Edomites, for many ages, to the house of David. Genesis 25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. Genesis 25:25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. Genesis 25:25 . Red, like a hairy garment — With red hair all over his body, as if he had been already a grown man, whence he had his name, Esau, made, reared already. This was an indication of a very strong constitution, and gave cause to expect that he would be a very robust, daring, active man. But Jacob was smooth and tender, as other children. Genesis 25:26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. Genesis 25:26 . His hand took hold on Esau’s heel — This signified, 1st, Jacob’s pursuit of the birthright and blessing; from the first he reached forth to have caught hold of it, and if possible to have prevented his brother. 2d, His prevailing for it at last: that, in process of time, he should gain his point. This passage is referred to, Hosea 12:3 , and from hence he had his name, Jacob, which means, He took him by the heel, or he supplanted. Genesis 25:27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Genesis 25:27 . Jacob was a plain man — This probably means, that he was of a mild and gentle nature, of a contemplative turn of mind, and delighting in a pastoral life. Genesis 25:28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. Genesis 25:28 . Isaac loved Esau — The conduct of both these parents was blameable: they had but these two children, and the father was peculiarly attached to the one, and the mother to the other. And this improper partiality gave occasion to that strife which once threatened their being deprived of them both. Such partiality should be carefully guarded against in parents, as being both sinful in itself, and of dangerous tendency. It is true some children may be of a much more amiable spirit and conduct than others of the same family; yet all ought to have a due share of parental regard, and none be in any manner slighted or neglected. Genesis 25:29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: Genesis 25:29-32 . Sod — That is, boiled. Edom, or red. Sell me this day thy birthright — He cannot be excused in taking advantage of Esau’s necessity; yet neither can Esau be excused, who was profane, Hebrews 12:16 , because for one morsel of meat he sold his birthright. Various have been the opinions what this birthright was which Esau sold, but the most probable is, that, together with the right of sacrificing, and being the priest of the family, it included the peculiar blessing promised to the seed of Abraham, that of being the progenitor of the Messiah, and the heir of the special promises of God, respecting Christ’s kingdom. It was at least typical of spiritual privileges, those of the firstborn that are written in heaven. Esau was now tried how he would value those, and he shows himself sensible only of present grievances; may he but get relief against them, he cares not for his birthright. If we look on Esau’s birthright as only a temporal advantage, what he said had something of truth in it; our worldly enjoyments, even those we are most fond of, will stand us in no stead in a dying hour. They will not put by the stroke of death, nor ease the pangs, nor remove the sting of it. But being of a spiritual nature, his undervaluing it was the greatest profaneness imaginable. It is egregious folly to part with our interest in God, and Christ, and heaven, for the riches, honours, and pleasures of this world. Genesis 25:30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage ; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. Genesis 25:31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. Genesis 25:32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? Genesis 25:33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Genesis 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:34 . He did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way — Without any serious reflections upon the ill bargain he had made, or any show of regret. Thus Esau despised his birthright — He used no means to get the bargain revoked, made no appeal to his father about it; but the bargain which his necessity had made, (supposing it were so,) his profaneness confirmed, and by his subsequent neglect and contempt, he put the matter past recall. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Genesis 25:1 Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. ESAU AND JACOB Genesis 25:1-34 "He goeth as an ox goeth to the slaughter, till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life."- Proverbs 7:22-23 THE character and career of Isaac would seem to tell us that it is possible to have too great a father. Isaac was dwarfed and weakened by growing up under the shadow of Abraham. Of his life there was little to record, and what was recorded was very much a reproduction of some of the least glorious passages of his father’s career. The digging of wells for his flocks was among the most notable events in his commonplace life, and even in this he only re-opened the wells his father had dug. In him we see the result of growing up under too strong and dominant an external influence. The free and healthy play of his own capacities and will was curbed. The sons of outstanding fathers are much tempted to follow in the wake of their success, and be too much controlled and limited by the example therein set to them. There is a great deal to induce a son to do so; this calling has been successful in his father’s case, what better can he do than follow? Also he may get the use of his wells- those sources his father has opened for the easier or more abundant maintenance of those dependent on him, the business he has established, the practice he has made, the connections he has formed-these are useful if he follows in his father’s line of life. But all this tends, as in Isaac’s case, to the stunting of the man himself. Life is made too easy for him. Isaac has been called "the Wordsworth of the Old Testament," but his meditative disposition seems to have degenerated into mere dreamy apathy, which, at last, made him the tool of the more active-minded members of his family, and was also attended by its common accompaniment of sensuality. It seems also to have brought him to a condition of almost entire bodily prostration, for a comparison of dates shows that he must have spent forty or fifty years in blindness and incapacity for all active duty. Neither can this greatly surprise us, for it is abundantly open to our own observation that men of the finest spiritual discernment, and of whose godliness in the main one cannot doubt, are also frequently the prey of the most childish tastes, and most useless even to the extent of doing harm in practical matters. They do not see the evil that is growing in their own family; or, if they see it, they cannot rouse themselves to check it. Isaac’s marriage, though so promising in the outset, brought new trial into his life. Rebekah had to repeat the experience of Sarah. The intended mother of the promised seed was left for twenty years childless-to contend with the doubts, surmises, evil proposals, proud challengings of God, and murmurings, which must undoubtedly have arisen even in so bright and spirited a heart as Rebekah’s. It was thus she was taught the seriousness of the position she had chosen for herself, and gradually led to the implicit faith requisite for the discharge of its responsibilities. Many young persons have a similar experience. They seem to themselves to have chosen a wrong position, to have made a thorough mistake in life, and to have brought themselves into circumstances in which they only retard, or quite prevent, the prosperity of those with whom they are connected. In proportion as Rebekah loved Isaac, and entered into his prospects, must she have been tempted to think she had far better have remained in Padanaram. It is a humbling thing to stand in some other person’s way; but if it is by no fault of ours, but in obedience to affection or conscience we are in this position, we must, in humility and patience, wait upon Providence as Rebekah did, and resist all morbid despondency. This second barrenness in the prospective mother of the promised seed was as needful to all concerned as the first was; for the people of God, no more than any others, can learn in one lesson. They must again be brought to a real dependence on God as the Giver of the heir. The prayer with which Isaac "entreated" the Lord for his wife "because she was barren" was a prayer of deeper intensity than he could have uttered had he merely remembered the story that had been told him of his own birth. God must be recognised again and again, and throughout, as the Giver of life to the promised line. We are all apt to suppose that when once we have got a thing in train and working we can get on without God. How often do we pray for the bestowal of a blessing, and forget to pray for its continuance? How often do we count it enough that God has conferred some gift, and, not inviting Him to continue His agency, but trusting to ourselves, we mar His gift in the use? Learn, therefore, that although God has given you means of working out His salvation, your Rebekah will be barren without His continued activity. On His own means you must re-invite His blessing, for without the continuance of His aid you will make nothing of the most beautiful and appropriate helps He has given you. It was by pain, anxiety, and almost dismay, that Rebekah received intimation that her prayer was answered. In this she is the type of many whom God hears. Inward strife, miserable forebodings, deep dejection, are often the first intimations that God is listening to our prayer and is beginning to work within us. You have prayed that God would make you more a blessing to those about you, more useful in your place, more answerable to His ends: and when your prayer has risen to its highest point of confidence and expectation, you are thrown into what seems a worse state than ever, your heart is broken within you, you say, Is this the answer to my prayer, is this God’s blessing; if it be so, why am I thus? For things that make a man serious happen when God takes him in hand, and they that yield themselves to His service will not find that that service is all honour and enjoyment. Its first steps will often land us in a position we can make nothing of, and our attempts to aid others will get us into difficulties with them; and especially will our desire that Christ be formed in us bring into such lively action the evil nature that is in us that we are torn by the conflict, and our heart lies like the ground of a fierce struggle, seamed and furrowed, tossed and confused: As soon as there is a movement within us in one direction, immediately there is an opposing movement: as soon as one of the natures says, Do this; the other says, Do it not. The better nature is gaining slightly the upper hand, and by a long, steady strain, seems to be wearying out the other, when suddenly there is one quick stroke and the evil nature conquers. And every movement of the parties is with pain to ourselves; either conscience is wronged, and gives out its cry of shame, or our natural desires are trodden down, and that also is pain. And so disconnected and connected are we, so entirely one with both parties, and yet so able to contemplate both, that Rebekah’s distress seems aptly enough to symbolise our own. And whether the symbol be apt or no, there can be no question that he who enquires of the Lord as she did, will receive a similar assurance that there are two natures within him, and that "the elder shall serve the younger"; the nature last formed, and that seems to give least promise of life, shall master the original, eldest born child of the flesh. The children whose birth and destinies were thus predicted, at once gave evidence of a difference even greater than that which will often strike one as existing between two brothers, though rarely between twins. The first was born, all over like a hairy garment, presenting the appearance of being rolled up in a fur cloak or the skin of an animal-an appearance which did not pass away in childhood, but so obstinately adhered to him through life that an imitation of his hands could be produced with the hairy skin of a kid. This was by his parents considered ominous. The want of the hairy covering which the lower animals have, is one of the signs marking out man as destined for a higher and more refined life than they; and when their son appeared in this guise, they could not but fear it prognosticated his sensual, animal career. So they called him Esau. And so did the younger son from the first show his nature, catching the heel of his brother, as if he were striving to be firstborn; and so they called him Jacob, the heel-catcher or supplanter-as Esau afterwards bitterly observed, a name which precisely suited his crafty, plotting nature, shown in his twice over tripping up and overthrowing his elder brother. The name which Esau handed down to his people was, however, not his original name, but one derived from the colour of that for which he sold his birthright. It was in that exclamation of his, "Feed me with that same red," that he disclosed his character. So different in appearance at birth, they grew up of very different character, and as was natural, he who had the quiet nature of his father was beloved by the mother, and he who had the bold, practical skill of the mother was clung to by the father. It seems unlikely that Rebekah was influenced in her affection by anything but natural motives, though the fact that Jacob was to be the heir must have been much on her mind, and may have produced the partiality which maternal pride sometimes begets. But before we condemn Isaac, or think the historian has not given a full account of his love for Esau, let us ask what we have noticed about the growth and decay of our own affections. We are ashamed of Isaac; but have we not also been sometimes ashamed of ourselves on seeing that our affections are powerfully influenced by the gratification of tastes almost or quite as low as this of Isaac’s? He who cunningly panders to our taste for applause, he who purveys for us some sweet morsel of scandal, he who flatters or amuses us, straightway takes a place in our affections which we do not accord to men of much finer parts, but who do not so minister to our sordid appetites. The character of Jacob is easily understood. It has frequently been remarked of him that he is thoroughly a Jew, that in him you find the good and bad features of the Jewish character very prominent and conspicuous. He has that mingling of craft and endurance which has enabled his descendants to use for their own ends those who have wronged and persecuted them. The Jew has, with some justice and some injustice, been credited with an obstinate and unscrupulous resolution to forward his own interests, and there can be no question that in this respect Jacob is the typical Jew-ruthlessly taking advantage of his brother, watching and waiting till he was sure of his victim; deceiving his blind father, and robbing him of what he had intended for his favourite son; outwitting the grasping Laban, and making at least his own out of all attempts to rob him; unable to meet his brother without stratagem; not forgetting prudence even when the honour of his family is stained; and not thrown off his guard even by his true and deep affection for Joseph. Yet, while one recoils from this craftiness and management, one cannot but admire the quiet force of character, the indomitable tenacity, and, above all, the capacity for warm affection and lasting attachments, that he showed throughout. But the quality which chiefly distinguished Jacob from his hunting and marauding brother was his desire for the friendship of God and sensibility to spiritual influences. It may have been Jacob’s consciousness of his own meanness that led him to crave connection with some Being or with some prospect that might ennoble his nature and lift him above his innate disposition. It is an old, old truth that not many noble are called; and, seeing quite as plainly as others see their feebleness and meanness, the ignoble conceive a self-loathing which is sometimes the beginning of an unquenchable thirst for the high and holy God. The consciousness of your bad, poor nature may revive within you day by day, as the remembrance of physical weakness returns to the invalid with every morning’s light; but to what else can God so effectively appeal when he offers you present fellowship with Himself and eventual conformity to His own nature? It has been pointed out that the weakness in Esau’s character which makes him so striking a contrast to his brother is his inconstancy. "That one error Fills him with faults; makes him run through all the sins." Constancy, persistence, dogged tenacity is certainly the striking feature of Jacob’s character. He could wait and bide his time; he could retain one purpose year after year till it was accomplished. The very motto of his life was, "I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me." He watched for Esau’s weak moment, and took advantage of it. He served fourteen years for the woman he loved, and no hardship quenched his love. Nay, when a whole lifetime intervened, and he lay dying in Egypt, his constant heart still turned to Rachel, as if he had parted with her but yesterday. In contrast with this tenacious, constant character stands Esau, led by impulse, betrayed by appetite, everything by turns and nothing long. To-day despising his birthright, to-morrow breaking his heart for its loss; to-day vowing he will murder his brother, tomorrow falling on his neck and kissing him; a man you cannot reckon upon, and of too shallow a nature for anything to root itself deeply in. The event in which the contrasted characters of the twin brothers were most decisively shown, so decisively shown that their destinies were fixed by it, was an incident which, in its external circumstances, was of the most ordinary and trivial kind. Esau came in hungry from hunting: from dawn to dusk he had been taxing his strength to the utmost, too eagerly absorbed to notice either his distance from home or his hunger; it is only when he begins to return depressed by the ill-luck of the day, and with nothing now to stimulate him, that he feels faint; and when at last he reaches his father’s tents, and the savoury smell of Jacob’s lentiles greets him, his ravenous appetite becomes an intolerable craving, and he begs Jacob to give him some of his food. Had Jacob done so with brotherly feeling there would have been nothing to record. But Jacob had long been watching for an opportunity to win his brother’s birthright, and though no one could have supposed that an heir to even a little property would sell it in order to get a meal five minutes sooner than he could otherwise get it, Jacob had taken his brother’s measure to a nicety, and was confident that present appetite would in Esau completely extinguish every other thought. It is perhaps worth noticing that the birthright in Ishmael’s line, the guardianship of the temple at Mecca, passed from one branch of the family to another in a precisely similar way. We read that when the guardianship of the temple and the governorship of the town "fell into the hands of Abu Gabshan, a weak and silly man, Cosa, one of Mohammed’s ancestors, circumvented him while in a drunken humour, and bought of him the keys of the temple, and with them the presidency of it, . for a bottle of wine. But Abu Gabshan being gotten out of his drunken fit, sufficiently repented of his foolish bargain; from whence grew these proverbs among the Arabs: More vexed with late repentance than Abu Gabshan; and, More silly than Abu Gabshan-which are usually said of those who part with a thing of great moment for a small matter." Which brother presents the more repulsive spectacle of the two in this selling of the birthright it is hard to say. Who does not feel contempt for the great, strong man, declaring he will die if he is required to wait five minutes till his own supper is prepared; forgetting, in the craving of his appetite, every consideration of a worthy kind; oblivious of everything but his hunger and his food; crying, like a great baby, Feed me with that red! So it is always with the man who has fallen under the power of sensual appetite. He is always going to die if it is not immediately gratified. He must have his appetite satisfied. No consideration of consequences can be listened to or thought of; the man is helpless in the hands of his appetite-it rules and drives him on, and he is utterly without self-control; nothing but physical compulsion can restrain him. But the treacherous and self-seeking craft of the other brother is as repulsive; the coldblooded, calculating spirit that can hold every appetite in check, that can cleave to one purpose for a life-time, and, without scruple, take advantage of a twin-brother’s weakness. Jacob knows his brother thoroughly, and all his knowledge he uses to betray him. He knows he will speedily repent of his bargain, so he makes him swear he will abide by it. It is a relentless purpose he carries out-he deliberately and unhesitatingly sacrifices his brother to himself. Still, in two respects, Jacob is the superior man. He can appreciate the birthright in his father’s family, and he has constancy. Esau might be a pleasant companion, far brighter and more vivacious than Jacob on a day’s hunting; free and open-handed, and not implacable; and yet such people are not satisfactory friends. Often the most attractive people have similar inconstancy; they have a superficial vivacity, and brilliance, and charm, and good-nature, which invite a friendship they do not deserve. Parents frequently make the mistake of Isaac, and think more highly of the gay, sparkling, but shallow child, than of the child who cannot be always smiling, but broods over what he conceives to be his wrongs. Sulkiness is itself not a pleasing feature in a child’s character, but it may only be the childish expression of constancy, and of a depth of character which is slow to let go any impression made upon it. On the other hand, frankness and a quick throwing aside of passion and resentment are pleasing features in a child, but often these are only the expressions of a fickle character, rapidly changing from sun to shower like an April day, and not to be trusted for retaining affection or good impressions any longer than it retains resentment. But Esau’s despising of his birthright is that which stamps the man and makes him interesting to each generation. No one can read the simple account of his reckless act without feeling how justly we are called upon to "look diligently lest there be among us any profane person as Esau, who, for one morsel of meat, sold his birthright." Had the birthright been something to eat, Esau would not have sold it. What an exhibition of human nature! What an exposure of our childish folly and the infatuation of appetite! For Esau has company in his fall. We are all stricken by his shame. We are conscious that if God had made provision for the flesh we should have listened to Him more readily. "But what will this birthright profit us?" We do not see the good it does: were it something to keep us from disease, to give us long unsated days of pleasure, to bring us the fruits of labour without the weariness of it, to make money for us, where is the man who would not value it-where is the man who would lightly give it up? But because it is only the favour of God that is offered, His endless love, His holiness made ours, this we will imperil or resign for every idle desire, for every lust that bids us serve it a little longer. Born the sons of God, made in His image, introduced to a birthright angels might covet, we yet prefer to rank with the beasts of the field, and let our souls starve if only our bodies be well tended and cared for. There is in Esau’s conduct and after-experience so much to stir serious thought, that one always feels reluctant to pass from it, and as if much more ought to be made of it. It reflects so many features of our own conduct, and so clearly shows us what we are from day to day liable to, that we would wish to take it with us through life as a perpetual admonition. Who does not know of those moments of weakness, when we are fagged with work, and with our physical energy our moral tone has become relaxed? Who does not know how, in hours of reaction from keen and exciting engagements, sensual appetite asserts itself, and with what petulance we inwardly cry, We shall die if we do not get this or that paltry gratification? We are, for the most part, inconstant as Esau, full of good resolves to-day, and to-morrow throwing them to the winds-to-day proud of the arduousness of our calling, and girding ourselves to self-control and self-denial, tomorrow sinking back to softness and self-indulgence. Not once as Esau, but again and again we barter peace of conscience and fellowship with God and the hope of holiness, for what is, in simple fact, no more than a bowl of pottage. Even after recognising our weakness and the lowness of our. tastes, and after repenting with self-loathing and misery, some slight pleasure is enough to upset our steadfast mind. and make us as plastic as clay in the hand of circumstances. It is with positive dismay one considers the weakness and blindness of our hours of appetite and passion: how one goes then like an ox to the slaughter, all unconscious of the pitfalls that betray and destroy men, and how at any moment we ourselves may truly sell our birthright. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.