01.3. Issachar

Chapter 3.

ISSACHAR, OR THE COUCHING BETWEEN TWO BURDENS.

" Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens: and he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute." - Genesis 49:14-15 In the blessing of Jacob, from which the words just read are taken, there are many hidden wonders. Its immediate application had respect to the outward condition of the ten tribes, and the things of this world: but if we penetrate somewhat deeper, by the aid of the Spirit of God, and pierce through the outer surface, we shall discover a rich vein of spiritual truth and knowledge which we greatly stand in need of, and which demands, and will repay our closest investigation. When, a short time ago, we dwelt upon a few words of this remarkable prophecy, namely, that portion which relates to Judah, we already suspected that a mine of wealth lay concealed here, and that the ground sounded, as it were, hollow beneath our feet. And it is upon the self-same ground that we meet to-day, prepared, by the help of the Spirit, to dig silver and gold, where there is only the appearance of hay and stubble.

If we look at Issachar after the flesh, the fifth son of Jacob, the meaning of the text is very evident. It is were foretold that he should dwell in an inland situation, and that his tribe should be agricultural. But the prophecy refers also to the spiritual Issachar. Would to God that his tent were never pitched in the midst of ourselves. It is to the spiritual application of this prophecy, so strikingly portrayed in our text, that we would now direct your attention.

We see here, 1. The position of Issachar.

2. How he came into that state.

3. The toil and danger to which he is subjected in the same.

1. THE POSITION OF ISSACHAR.

" Issachar is a strong ass." There is nothing prepossessing in this comparison. Judah is a lion’s whelp. Naphtali is a hind let loose. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over a wall. Jonathan is an eagle; the Shulamite a dove; Israel is a rose. In all these figures there is something agreeable to the mind. But ― a strong ass ― the name is in itself sufficient to deter us from seeking a near acquaintance with the person whom it designates. And yet who can tell how many of us may come under this description in the book of God! On what account Issachar is so named we shall better understand when his spiritual state, as contained in the figure, is unveiled to us. Where do we behold Issachar? " Between two burdens." In these words the patriarch gives no pleasing representation of his son. If he had described him as moving onward between two burdens, or borders, (as by some the word is rendered,) we should have said " Only’ wait a little; his present difficulties will be surmounted, and the glorious land will be found!" But no, he is couching down, and therefore his case is the worse. To be so circumstanced is always dangerous. How alarming is the denunciation of God against the lukewarm! " I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou were cold or hot. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16) See how God condemns the wavering and undecided, who are neither faithful to his own colors nor to those of the world; who do not, indeed, reject him, yet they choose not his service, and thus vacillate between both their friends and foes. He distinctly declares that they are his enemies, and shall be treated as such. " He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." (Matthew 12:30.) And if we suppose the Lord in these our days to examine his church, and see how many thousands of those who wish to be regarded as his faithful ministers, halt in their preaching between the pure gospel and their own wisdom, we may well imagine Him to say, ’’ I would that ye were either believers or unbelievers; but ye are neither one nor the other." Yes, unbelief itself would seem to be better than this unholy indecision, this uncertainty and want of determination in a matter of infinite moment. But Issachar does not properly belong to those who are neither cold nor hot, neither for nor against Christ ― neither Christians nor heathen. He is for Christ, and so far, in a certain sense, may be said to believe; he appears to belong to the kingdom of God, and yet it is far from being well with him. He lies between Canaan and Egypt, between the state of a converted and unconverted man. We cannot account him one of the men of this world, much less can we esteem him a child of God. We dare not say that he still belongs to the ranks of the crooked and perverse generation of the ungodly, nor yet can we number him among the elect, who are kings and priests unto God for ever and ever. The position which he occupies is a middle one, between the kingdom of grace and that of Belial. And, remaining there, the lot which will hereafter be assigned him, will not be to sit down with the citizens of Zion, in the kingdom of their God, but to be cast into outer darkness, with the workers of iniquity, where there is weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

Let us consider our Issachar more closely, and examine both his spiritual and external condition. His outward circumstances, his life, and course of conduct, appear really commendable, and produce a very favourable impression on the mind. Do you think that you will find him walking in the counsel of the ungodly, or standing in the way of sinners, or sitting in the seat of the scornful?(Psalms 1:1) No. You do him great wrong in seeking for him there. He has left this spiritual Sodom, and separated himself far from it. He no longer burns incense on the high places and in the groves, and the assemblies of those who drink iniquity like water, are his abhorrence and aversion; he hates and opposes their evil courses. You can never discover him among the haunts of the wine-bibber, or in the public assemblies, where a blind and deluded world, as if possessed by a spirit of giddiness and infatuation, madly rages and tumultuates in unbridled pursuit of the phantom pleasure, and where the people dance to the sound of the pipe, Satan himself conducting their orgies. He has nothing in common with those who use as their watch-word " Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die;" and he wallows not with the swine in the mire. Nor can you find him among the followers of a fond and flattering morality, who walk indeed uprightly, and conduct themselves with propriety, but desire to know nothing of a godly or God-fearing life, being fully satisfied with the rectitude of their intentions; who cast away from them the word and the sacraments, the commandments and the kingdom of God, as old and tattered garments, or who despise them as the playthings of the childish and the weak. No. Among the quiet in the land, among them that fear God doth Issachar abide. Where the gospel is faithfully preached; where the banner of the cross is unfurled; where men confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father; where the word of Christ dwells in men richly in all wisdom, and they teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and holy hands are lifted up to heaven; (Colossians 3:16.) where they lie down in the green pastures of the everlasting gospel, and drink from the living fountains of the sure mercies of David, life and fulness of joy; there is Issachar to be found; there hath he pitched his tabernacle and tent. He dwells among the saints, unto their assembly is he united.

What! ’ Issachar, then, a hypocrite, and a deceiver? By no means. That cannot be said of him. Hypocrites are altogether a different class. This generation of Pharisees do not couch between two boundaries, but are still in the midst of Egypt.

What then? If Issachar attaches himself to the church and people of God, of whom the world is not worthy, and that with uprightness and sincerity, what lacketh he then? Alas! much, very much; yea, all that is essential to a state of grace. He dwells in the congregation of the righteous, but only outwardly, not in spirit and in truth. He is no living member of that holy body of which Christ is the head; united, indeed, externally, but not really incorporated into the body of Christ. He is no fruitful branch of the tree of God; nor a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree. (Romans 11:17.) He is not so engrafted in it, as to bloom and flourish by the communication of its sap and life. The bond which unites him to the church of God is human only, and corruptible, not spiritual and divine. Do we look at his state? It is no longer that of Egyptian darkness, arising from the prevalence of strong delusions. No. He is rich in the knowledge of salvation; he knows the catechism by memory, is well read in the Bible, and familiar with multitudes of sweet and animating hymns, and many accounts of awakened sinners and established saints.

What then is his state? It is one of proud self-sufficiency, of reliance on supposed merit and righteousness of his own, a condition of fancied security, attained by efforts which he has put forth alone and unaided. In hearing and reading, in his separation from the world, and in all his experience and attainments, all his hopes and dependences have centred in self. The Holy Ghost has no part in his illumination. He is not taught of God. What he has thus acquired remains crude and undigested, administering neither to his nourishment nor strength; or it is as ill-gotten wealth, locked up in coffers, and making no return; or as costly ointment, which yields no perfume. Do we observe his course of life? Here there is nothing particular to be remarked. Issachar maintains an irreproachable conduct in the eyes of mankind. He lives in quiet, is domestic, retiring, well-conducted, active, honorable. He chooses the society and friendship of Christians, and despises the pleasures of the world. But is this the walk of which God speaks, when He says, " I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect?" (Genesis 17:1.) And to which Isaiah refers in the exhortation, " house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord;" (Isaiah 2:5.). And of which the apostle makes mention, "Our conversation is in heaven;" (Php 3:20.) and, again, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25.) Can we recognize in Issachar the operation of the Spirit of God? Can we perceive in him indications of the presence of that well of water, which springeth up unto everlasting life? Alas! what can he be? He is partly the child of good education, and good habits; partly of a self-sought spirituality, which the Holy Ghost never will own, since he has indeed no share in effecting it. Do we regard Issachar, as it respects the peculiar duties of religion? Here, too, is the appearance of that which is good and right; but are those prayers and praises which he daily offers up, either at home or in the great congregation, acceptable to God? Are they a sweet smelling savour, which ascends before the throne, from gifts which have been first received from heaven? Are they incense kindled by the Spirit of God, and arising from the censer of a broken and a contrite heart, which, in God’s sight, is of great price? Oh no! He has, on the contrary, prepared his offering himself, having first obtained it from his own resources! Issachar prays when he will pray, not when he is moved and constrained to pray. It is Issachar that prays, not Christ and His Spirit praying within him.

How unhappy is his state between the two burdens. He is a Christian, without the new birth; he knows the lost state of man, without himself having felt it; he is learned in spiritual things, without being enlightened, and believes in Jesus, without reposing confidence in His merits; he esteems himself righteous, and yet is not so; he speaks of the evidences of a state of grace, while he is not in that state himself; he imagines that his life and conversation accord with the requirements of the gospel, and yet he is nothing more than a natural man, one who has experienced no real change within, nor can show even the smallest work which bears the impress of the Spirit of God, but only that which his own hands have effected. The new man is not created in him, but the old man has put on the garb of piety.

Such is the state and condition of Issachar, no longer in Egypt, nor yet in Canaan. He has come out of the world, in a certain sense at least, but has not approached the kingdom of grace. He bears the Christian form, and is evangelical in his notions and in his course of conduct; but he does not possess that life which is the gift of God alone ― a new heart.

2. THE MOTIVES WHICH SWAYED ISSACHAR.

Issachar couches between two burdens. But how has he come into this situation? Our text informs us briefly, but pointedly. " He saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant." Issachar attained his position not by the drawing of the Father and the call of grace, or the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit; but by the impulse of his own natural heart. Did the painful sense of sin drive him to the Saviour? Did the thick clouds and darkness of Sinai, the thunder of Ebal, the earnest desire of redemption, the anxious solicitude for the salvation of his soul, impel him to flee for refuge, to lay hold of the hope set before him in the gospel! No! Far different were his motives and feelings in assuming the profession of religion.

" He saw that rest was good." What kind of rest? That which is vouchsafed is in Christ? Peace with God? Deliverance from the curse and the power of sin, and from the miserable bondage and tyranny of the law? No, brethren. The rest which he sought was entirely of another description.

" He saw the land that it was pleasant." What land? Was it that land of beauty and of brightness in the world on high, to which Jesus is himself the way or was it the kingdom of grace watered by the dews of heaven, and on which the Sun of Righteousness ever sheds his invigorating rays? Did his thoughts and desires tend thither? Did he feel a secret longing after that as his home? No; this cannot be said of Issachar. The goodness of the rest, and the pleasantness of the land which Issachar desired, were quite of another kind. And what were they? The causes, brethren, which move men to enter upon so dubious and unsanctified a state, are various. One man feels himself attracted by witnessing the concord and brotherly love which prevail among the quiet in the land. He has, perhaps, had bitter experience of the falsehood and treachery of the world, and has thus learned that it can neither be trusted nor believed, and that it is, moreover, full of rancor and animosity. He has confided in friends, and been grievously betrayed. Deeply pained, he looks around him for rest. His eyes fall upon the congregation of the saints. He perceives that they are of one heart and one mind, and are united to each other by the sacred bonds of love, and dwell together as brethren. This pleases him well. He sees that it is good, and his resolution is fixed. He joins himself to the society of the pious.

Another man has, by nature, a tender disposition; he is easily moved, and loves affecting sights and sacred solemnities, and the pleasing emotions which they are calculated to excite. The occupations of the children of God, therefore, their zeal and ardor in the service of religion, and their fervent devotion, present to him no inconsiderable attractions. He sees the land that it is pleasant, and says, " it is good to be here. Here will I build my tabernacle, and seek my rest." A third has a mind of a contemplative and thoughtful character. He meets with the word of God. Here he finds food in abundance; here he can exercise his intellect and powers of thought, and give them full scope. With lively interest he applies himself to reading and diligent investigation. It is his delight henceforth to dwell among those who make the Bible the rule of their lives, and he takes pleasure with them in a mutual communication of Christian ideas and hopes, and in scriptural researches. It is from choice that he associates himself with the people of God, without being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever, (1 Peter 1:23.) A fourth, gifted with a quick perception of the sublime and beautiful, is delighted with the glowing visions and delineations, with the attractive similitudes, with the lovely and affecting representations, and the splendid imagery with which the word of God abounds. He reads the inspired volume with the warm enthusiasia with which he takes up a brilliant production of an earthly poet; and he professes the religion of the Bible from the intellectual pleasure and mental gratification which it affords. There is no conversion here. A fifth observes, that in the houses of the just infinitely more order prevails than in those of the children of this world. The peace which is found here, and the quiet, the love, and the continual cheerfulness; the blessing also of the Lord, which ever rests upon them, and their prosperity ― O, how do all these things commend themselves to his notice, especially if he considers the great difference which there is between his own house and theirs. "He sees this rest that it is good." "I am wearied, he thinks, with incessant noise and bickering. It shall hereafter be otherwise. I will erect an altar in my house." And he does erect one. He reads, and sings, and prays. The noise and tumult cease, and behold the house is changed and renewed. Yes, brethren, the house only, alas! not the heart. The body is there, and the exterior of religion, but the Spirit and the life are wanting. It is the form of godliness, without the power thereof. The man draws nigh unto God with his lips, but his heart is far from him. He has gone out of the worlds but the world has not gone out of him. The garment is changed, but the person remains the same.

Behold, my brethren, such is Issachar, couching between two burdens. " He sees that rest is good, and the land that it is pleasant." He is not conscious of the longing for salvation, and the hunger and thirst after righteousness, nor of the Holy Ghost moving him to the gospel; but the privileges of this present life, in which the children of God rejoice, excite his desire to partake of them. He becomes pious in his own way, quiet retiring, observant of the duties of religion by his own endeavors. He applies himself to religion as he would apply himself to a business, a study, or one of the liberal arts, and appropriates to himself whatsoever belongs to the life and being of the Christian. Two things only are wanting, and with them all that constitutes spiritual existences, that marks and distinguishes the character of the child of God; namely, the broken and contrite heart, in which alone the Lord will dwell, and the Holy Spirit, respecting whom it is said, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

Issachar! ah! unhappy Issachar, who couches between two burdens, and seest that rest is good, and the land that it is pleasant, ― the land that is beyond the Jordan shalt thou never inherit, nor enjoy the eternal Sabbath, that rest which rernaineth for the people of God!

3. THE TOIL AND DANGER OF ISSACHAR.

We have seen the position of Issachar, and we know also the motives by which he was influenced. Let us now glance for a moment at the toil and danger to which he is subjected. His pain and misery are set forth in the text, " He bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute."

He bowed his shoulder to bear. There lies a heavy weight upon him, under which he sighs and pants; and this burden is ― his sins perhaps? 0, would to God that they were felt as such, then would he soon be in a better state! It is, on the contrary, the religion which he has assumed that is his burden. Our Saviour says, indeed, " My yoke is easy, and my burden is light;" but of this Issachar is not sensible.

Let me request you to turn to Isaiah 10:27. It is there said, " and it shall come to pass in that day," the day of the New Testament, ― " that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed, because of thy anointing." The yoke falls off, when the neck is bathed with oil. And when we are anointed with the Holy Ghost, and made partakers of his grace, then is the burden taken off our shoulder; then are the law and the service of God no longer an oppressive yoke, a heavy burden, but easy and pleasant, our comfort and our joy. We stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and are not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Christ having made us free, we are free indeed. (Galatians 5:1.) But Issachar is not anointed, and therefore his shoulder is bowed down to bear, and sinks under the weight. He has not gone to the Saviour with a heart deeply sensible of its need, and moved to repentance, to receive out of his fulness, and grace for grace. Issachar has changed and renewed himself, and would, by his own endeavors, walk in the path of the true Christian. He would assume the character of a child of God; he would soar upwards, but has no wings; he would sing and pray, but has neither the spirit by which believers are actuated, nor their delight in holy exercises; he would run and walk on the way to Zion, but is lame, and has not applied to the good Physician to be healed; he would keep the law, but alas! He is destitute of power and love, of joy, and of strength!

O how hard is the service in which he is engaged, how grievous the bondage under which he is oppressed, how vainly does he weary himself in the course which he has chosen; in the hopeless endeavor to save himself by works and righteousness of his own; in labour without fruit, toil without reward!

Issachar bowed his shoulder to bear; and what is he? A servant unto tribute. What a striking representation! His prayers and services, both in public and private, are but as tribute, which he knows that he must pay; and he brings it, not as a child, willingly and joyfully, but as a servant, by compulsion, as though it were extracted with reluctancy from his hard earned pittance. The Spirit of grace and supplication has not been poured out upon him. He has no real union with Him in whom is life. From the children of God, the tribute of prayer and praise flows freely, as water from the fountain; but Issachar is a dry well; how can it flow from thence When the hour arrives for the payment of his tribute, he feels that he is compelled to lay down the sum required, and, with much labour, it is produced and cast down before God; but the coin is base, and will not be accepted, for since it bears not the image of the second, but of the first Adam, it will never be received into the treasury of God.

Behold, such is Issachar; not a child of the house, but a poor " servant of tribute," who has nothing, and yet must pay, and who, moreover, discharges his debt, with base coin, which, as such is rejected. Since he is the bearer of such a burden, and groans under the galling yoke of self-imposed services, and bends beneath the severe rod of the law, without vigor and animation, he is thence called " a strong ass."

And, O, it is painful and distressing to think of his misery and danger. The man imagines, in his blindness, that he really belongs to the kingdom of God; but, alas! he ranks as much with " them that are without," as the careless and unthinking world. He has apparently succeeded well in conforming his life to that of the children of God, and therefore cherishes the vain delusion, that he is one of their number; and as he is frequently regarded and treated as such by true believers, his blindness becomes the more hopeless, and he is confirmed in his carnal security. The poor, pitiable man! He thinks that he dwells in Canaan, but his tent is near to Tophet, and on the brink of the pit of destruction. He dreams that he is in Jerusalem, but, alas! he couches not far from the Dead Sea, near Adma and Zeboim. And when the Lord shall come with fire and brimstone, He cannot spare Issachar; and when his heart within him would almost break with compassion towards that unhappy one, couching between the burdens, He must consume him in his wrath, and sweep him away together with the rest of the ungodly, with the besom of destruction. (Isaiah 14:23.)

O let every one of us, therefore, who believes himself to he in Jerusalem, come now before God with the earnest supplication of David, " Search me, God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalms 139:23-24.) Be assured, that in the last day nothing will avail but that which the Holy Ghost has witnessed and wrought in us, and enabled us to do. All that is our own will be burned up as hay. All self-sought spirituality and self-imposed service; all self-wrought piety and holiness, will be deemed of no value, and committed to the flames. Then no inquiry will be made after the knowledge which you have attained, merely by catechisms and preaching, but only after what you have learned of the Holy Spirit in the school of Christ. It will not then be asked how often you have prayed and given thanks: but whether your prayers and thanksgivings were uttered in the Spirit, in the name of Jesus. No examination will then be instituted with regard to your communion with believers upon earth, but respecting your union with him who is the life ― whether you are one with Christ, who is the Living Head.

Alas! many are the unhappy Issachars in the world, who couch between two burdens, who assume the profession of religion from some unhallowed motive, receiving no sanction in the word of God, and who are not indebted to the Spirit of God for the least portion of their religion. God be merciful unto them, and open their eyes, that they may see their real state. Many, no doubt, are self-deceived and dazzled by the gospel form and complexion of the religion which they have assumed. It is but an outward appearance; it is no reality. The covering is there; but where, under the covering, is the broken heart, the contrite spirit, the seed of the heavenly birth, the new creature? Where is the thirst after the living water, after the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Jesus? Where are all these things which are of the operation of the Holy Ghost, and which alone constitute a Christian? They are wanting.

O may a God of mercy preserve us from such a fearful delusion, which must eventually overwhelm the deceived soul in everlasting destruction. May he terrify us with the thunders of his power and with the voice of the trumpet, from couching down, in this unholy state, between the borders of Egypt and Canaan, and conduct us all to that blessed rest into which they that believe have already entered, that we may say in truth, " The Spirit of God hath created me, and the inspiration of the Almighty hath given me life."

Amen.