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15. DEATH OF ABRAHAM; BIRTH AND YOUTH OF ESAU AND JACOB.

[GENES. XXV.]

Abraham had attained the good old age of a hundred and seventy-five years when he died. The two brothers Isaac and Ishmael met to mourn for their father. The wild huntsman came back from the desert to the tents at Gerar, and forgetting their ancient strife and animosity, the brothers performed together their last melancholy filial duty. They buried the patriarch by the side of Sarah in the cave of Machpelah. The Bible mentions six other sons of Abraham born to him by another wife, Keturah; these sons, after receiving gifts from their father, were sent to the extreme east, and did not share the inheritance of Isaac. Ishmael, the mighty man of the desert, became the father of twelve great nomad chiefs. They took up their abodes in all parts of Arabia, and intermarried with the daughters of the native people. They became the ancestors of the roaming Bedouins of the wilderness, and of the sheikhs who dwell in towns and villages; their descendants spread all over the Arabian peninsula, some living in Arabia Felix, others between Arabia Proper and the Syrian Desert, others taking possession of the heights of Ituræa, or wandering in the tracts of Arabia Deserta.

Ishmael died at the age of a hundred and thirty-seven years, honoured by the numerous and powerful clans which had gradually sprung up at his side.

Isaac had been married twenty years and as yet no children had been born to him. Grieved and depressed, he prayed earnestly to God that Rebekah might be blessed with offspring. God heard the supplication, and Rebekah became the mother of twin sons, who were called Esau

and Jacob. Before their birth, it was revealed to her, that these sons should be the fathers of powerful nations, but that the elder should be under the dominion of the younger. Though twins, they were utterly unlike one another, and as they grew in years, this difference became more and more striking. Esau resembled Ishmael in vigour of person; he was fond of danger and adventure; he loved the chase, and wandered forth day after day, absorbed by his favourite pastime. Jacob, on the other hand, was pensive and gentle like Isaac, a righteous man dwelling in tents.' But Isaac loved his eldest son Esau, and ate of the venison which he brought home from the chase, while the younger and more peaceful son was the favourite of the mother, who perhaps kept in faithful remembrance the promise that Jacob was to rule over his brother.

One day Esau returned from his usual exciting pursuit, wearied and worn by his toils. His younger brother Jacob had a dish of lentils before him, a tempting meal for the tired hunter. Esau eagerly begged for the 'red, red pottage,' which he longed to devour. Jacob, calm. and self-possessed, probably despising the coarseness of his brother Esau, was determined to take advantage of his exhaustion. Therefore, he said shrewdly, Sell me to-day thy birth-right.' Esau, fainting with hunger, cared at that moment little for his natural privileges, as Jacob's keen penetration had divined. He ceded to him his right of seniority, and confirmed the cession by an oath. Then he received the much wished-for pottage, and he ate and drank, and rose, and went away, and despised his birth-right.'

The Bible tells this remarkable transaction in the shortest and simplest manner. A few pithy lines suffice to show us the weary huntsman falling into the net of his crafty brother, and the sacrifice of the rights of primo

geniture for the satisfaction of the moment. We cannot help condemning Jacob; yet though we pity Esau, our pity is weakened when we see his utter indifference to all the higher prerogatives of his birth; he did not possess the qualities essential to a descendant of Abraham, the destined father of a holy nation; he was as unworthy as he was unmindful of propagating the noble truths entrusted to his race; but although this was evident to the more cultivated and more aspiring Jacob, he debased himself in the eyes of God by trying to fulfil the prophecy of his birth by his own unjustifiable means. For Jacob, unlike Abraham, was insincere and ambitious; great sorrows and manifold trials were necessary to elevate his faith and purify his life.

16. ISAAC IN GERAR.

[GENES. XXVI.]

Once again there was a famine in the land, just such another scourge as there had been in the days of Abraham, when he wandered southward into Egypt. But Isaac was commanded by God not to enter into that country of superstition and idolatry; so he left Beerlahai-roi, and went to Gerar to the king Abimelech, who had been so devoted an ally of the great patriarch. Before Isaac set forth with his vast possessions, God blessed him and promised to fulfil all the pledges He had given to Abraham-because Abraham obeyed My voice, and observed My observances, My commandments, My statutes, and My doctrines.' So Isaac settled in Gerar; but like his father Abraham, he dreaded the people's recklessness, and apprehended they might kill him for the sake of his beautiful wife Rebekah. So he resorted to the same stratagem, and made her pass for

his sister. But his true relation with Rebekah was discovered; and as before, the worshipper of the true God was reproved by the heathen king. Abimelech, however, not only allowed the patriarch to dwell in his land, but gave him his powerful protection. Thus in Gerar Isaac's numerous tents were pitched, and his flocks and herds grazed in undisturbed tranquillity.

Meanwhile the two brothers Esau and Jacob grew in years and in vigour. We may suppose that Esau followed the chase with the Philistine hunters; while Jacob dwelt among the tents, and cultivated the rich and blooming land which rewarded the husbandman's industry a hundredfold, and was an unfailing source of wealth and influence.

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When the Philistines saw the stranger becoming exceedingly great,' they envied him and showed their illfeeling by trying to vex and molest him. As a rich herdsman, Isaac must have taken possession of a large number of wells, which were of course indispensable for the maintenance of his cattle. Most of these wells had been dug by the servants of Abraham, who had jealously guarded them from the herdsmen of Abimelech. But the envious Philistines, not daring to make an open struggle for the wells, had secretly stopped them up with earth. Abimelech, foreseeing serious contentions, said to Isaac: Go from us; for thou art mightier than we.' Peaceful and animated by good-will towards the king, Isaac left the district which was yielding him such rich harvests, and went down into the valley of Gerar, where he fixed his abode. But here again the wells became a cause of strife: the Philistines had stopped up those which Abraham had dug, so that the herdsmen of Isaac had to recommence their labours. And when at last the refreshing springs burst forth from the depths of the valley, the herdsmen of Gerar claimed the water as their

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own. Isaac gave to the well the appropriate name of Esek (contention), and with his usual meekness he left it to commence his work afresh. But again the native herdsmen took possession of the well, which Isaac called Sitnah (strife). Anxious to avoid further dissensions, he removed to another part of the valley, where he again dug a well. This time his gentle forbearance was rewarded; he was not annoyed by the Philistines, and he gave to the happy spot the name Rehoboth (enlargement), exclaiming with pious gratitude, For now the Lord has enlarged us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.' Near this spot was Beer-sheba, where Abraham and Abimelech had made their covenant of peace. Here the great patriarch had built an altar to God and had invoked His name. At this sacred place, Isaac was favoured with a Divine vision: the Lord appeared, bidding him to be firm and fearless, for he was blessed as the son of Abraham. Beneath the shade of the tamarisk-tree which his father had planted, he built up an altar where he paid homage to the name of the Lord, and there he remained, and there again he dug a well.

Whilst living at Beer-sheba, in his quiet and sacred retirement, three powerful men came to him, the king Abimelech, his councillor Ahuzzath, and the general of his army Pichol. Isaac, astonished at their arrival, at once imagined some evil design, and asked distrustfully, 'Wherefore do you come to me, and you hate me, and have sent me away from you?' But the king had come in peace and friendship. Convinced that Isaac was under the special protection of the Lord, he longed for his alliance; therefore he renewed with him the covenant which he had made before with Abraham. As a sign of friendship the Philistines ate and drank with the patriarch, and before their departure on the following morning, they swore fidelity one to another. In commemoration

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