feud with the Israelites. The conflict began before Palestine was conquered; Saul marched into their territory; David carried on a sanguinary war against them, and stationed garrisons in their land, though, in Solomon's time, they attempted a revolution under the leadership of Hadad. After the division of the empire, they remained subject to Judah; but under the reign of king Joram (B.C. 890), with a return of their old spirit of independence, they broke their yoke, proclaimed their own king, and remained free for a considerable time. Under Ahaz (741), they even invaded Judea, and enjoyed complete liberty, until they were at last subjected by the Chaldean conquerors. Thus the prophecy of Isaac was realised in the distant future, and Esau himself, the wild and impetuous man of nature, was a type of his descendants, the Edomites. The grieved and wounded spirit of the elder brother now burnt with hatred against Jacob; in his passion he felt as if he could slay his brother, although he knew the agony which such a deed would cause his father. Rebekah heard with dismay the anger of Esau; fearful for her favourite son, she bade him flee from Beer-sheba, and go to the home of her youth, to her brother Laban, who still lived in Haran. There he should remain in safety until Esau's wrath was calmed down. Then appealing to Isaac, she urged him to allow his son to depart for might he not, if he stayed in Canaan, marry a Hittite maiden, as Esau had done, and thus make her own life a burden? Isaac shared her apprehensions and her feelings on this point; he, therefore, readily consented, recommended his son to take a wife from the daughters of Laban, and dismissed him with a fervent and affectionate benediction: And may God the Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojourn, which God gave to Abraham.' So Jacob departed for Padan-aram. When Esau heard of the blessing of Isaac, and of the solemn injunction upon Jacob not to marry a Canaanite, he felt that his own two Hittite wives were offensive to his parents; and, desirous to please them, he chose another maiden, a daughter of Ishmael, one of his own kinswomen, and made her his third wife. 18. JACOB'S JOURNEY TO MESOPOTAMIA. [GENES. XXVIII.] We have seen how Jacob, partially by cunning and skill, partially by more spiritual and higher yearnings, won for himself his brother's birth-right and his father's blessing. We now follow him on his journeys, as he goes forth armed with that prudence which never forsook him, and with that energy which enabled him to struggle against adversity and hardship. And yet, although Jacob had not the sublime faith of Abraham, nor the pious obedience of Isaac, he stood under the special protection of the Lord, because he was to be the propagator of the true faith. Jacob left the south of Palestine, and turned towards Mesopotamia, towards the land whence Abraham had emigrated. The day waned, and night found the wanderer in an open field before the town Luz, still within the territory of Canaan. Weary from his journey, he took stones for his pillow, and lay down to rest; and with the earth for his couch, and the bright starlit heavens for his canopy, he fell asleep. And in his rest he was favoured by a marvellous dream. A vast ladder seemed to rise beside him, whose foot rested upon the earth, and whose top reached to heaven. Up and down this ladder ascended and descended the angels of God. From above came the voice of the Lord, as it had come to Abraham and Isaac, promising him strength: 'I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee shall I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and I shall guard thee wherever thou goest, and shall bring thee back into this land; for I shall not leave thee until I have done that of which I have spoken to thee.' When Jacob awoke out of his sleep he felt the profound reality of his dream, and he exclaimed, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not; and he was afraid, and said, 'How awful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' And instead of Luz he called the town Beth-el, the house of God,' a name which has since been applied to every sanctuary throughout the world. Jacob's words, The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not,' have a peculiar fitness. There is, indeed, in the region round Beth-el nothing to indicate the Divine Presence; no religio loci, no awful shades, no lofty hills. Bare, wild rocks, a beaten thoroughfare; these are the only features of the primeval sanctuary of that God, of whom nature itself there teaches us, that if He could, in such a scene, so emphatically reveal Himself to the houseless exile, He is "with him," with His true servants everywhere, and will "keep them in all places whither they go." The stone that had been Jacob's pillow was sanctified by the vision of the night. Jacob set it up for a memorial, anointed it with oil, and thus it became an object of veneration for many later ages. The sacred narrative constantly returns to it, and we shall see 1 Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 220. 6 Beth-el reappear in future centuries as one of the holy places of the kingdom of Israel, where the grossest idolatry was practised. Before Jacob left the spot, he offered up a vow, promising true and faithful worship to God and devoted charity to man. "This stone,' he declared, which I have set for a monument shall be a house of God, and of all that Thou wilt give me, I shall surely give the tenth part of it to Thee.' 19. JACOB'S SOJOURN WITH LABAN, HIS [GENES. XXIX-XXX. 24.] Jacob departed from the solitary field, and traversing the desert tracts in the east of the Jordan, he at last drew near to the town of Nahor. A well, surrounded by herdsmen with their cattle, showed him that he was approaching the dwelling-place of man. The shepherds came from Haran, and were of course acquainted with the wealthy Laban. Whilst they were answering the questions of Jacob, they saw advancing towards them Rachel, the daughter of Laban, driving her flock of sheep before her. Like Rebekah, her occupations led her out into the field; like Rebekah, she was respectful and courteous towards the stranger. Now, the shepherds were obliged to delay the watering of their flocks until all the herdsmen of the neighbourhood had assembled, for it was only by their united efforts that the heavy stone, which covered the mouth of the well, could be rolled away. Jacob, however, was determined to show by an act of attention his friendship for his kinswoman. When, therefore, Rachel approached, he went to the well, and with his own. unaided strength performed the feat of removing the F ponderous stone. Filled with tenderness for the child of his mother's brother, Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. Then he told her that he was the son of Rebekah, her father's sister. Placing full reliance in the stranger, she at once hastened home to inform her father of his arrival. Laban, the cordial and hospitable Laban of old, came forth to the well to meet his kinsman, and to bring him back as the honoured and loved guest of his house. He was delighted with his young relative, and exclaimed, 'Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.' But Jacob, full of strength and activity, could not bear to eat the bread of idleness; he took part in all the occupations of the house and the field, and Laban felt that, in all justice, his kinsman should not serve him without a reward. Laban had, besides Rachel, another and older daughter, Leah. But Rachel was very beautiful, while the eyes of her sister were weak and dim. Jacob loved Rachel, and he offered to Laban to work for him during seven years, if, at the end of that time, he might receive Rachel for his wife. Laban apparently assented to the proposal, and replied, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man; abide with me.' So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days for the love he bore to her.' The time for the marriage had approached; but Laban felt vexed and disappointed that the younger sister should marry before the elder. With the deceit worthy of his sister Rebekah, Laban bethought himself of a scheme by which he might substitute Leah for Rachel. Taking advantage of the long and thick veil worn by the eastern maiden on her marriage-day, he brought Leah, thus closely shrouded, to the unsuspecting Jacob, who learnt the dishonesty of Laban too late. As he had deceived his father, so his own kinsman now deceived him. When he upbraided |