July 14

Genesis xxvii.—6. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

7. Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord, before my death.

9. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

10. And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

14. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved.

15. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob, her younger son;

16. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck;

17. And she gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

18. And he came unto his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I: who art thou, my son?

19. And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that

thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

21. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau, or not.

22. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father: and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice; but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

24. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

25. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

27. And he came near, and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:

28. Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

29. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

The honesty of the Bible, in narrating, without extenuation, the failings and sins of God's own people, is a token both of the historic truth and the divine wisdom of the record. The fact that God turns the wrong doings of men to the furtherance of his own plans is never used to justify, or even to palliate, the sin. In this unhappy affair, all the parties were wrong. It was known to Isaac that Jacob was announced to be the heir of the promise; but his partiality for Esau led him to attempt to forestall Divine Providence by giving his blessing in secret. Esau had rashly sold his birthright for a mess of pottage; but he should have regarded his oath to his brother, and have accepted the consequences. Jacob had taken a mean advantage of his necessity, and showed a disposition to

overreach him. Though he shrank, at first, from the deception which his mother proposed,—lest his father should discover the cheat, and give him his curse instead of his blessing,—yet the temptation proved too strong; and, consenting to the first step, he was led from one fraud to another, until he even invoked the name of God to a lie: so easy is it to slide from sin to sin! But Rebekah was the chief offender. She plotted the deception of Jacob, the imposition upon her aged and blind husband, the wrong to her first-born. She attempted to make sure a divine promise by a pious fraud; but she brought strife and bitterness into the household, and sorrow upon herself and her favorite son. Self-kness always brings sorrow, even when it puts on the guise of love.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 115, 124, 136.

O thou Spirit of truth and holiness! we pray thee to keep us from every sin. May we be mindful of thy presence as a holy guardianship from wrong! and may we so delight in God, that we shall live above the power of temptation and evil, and, while diligent in business, be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord! Help us to be true and faithful, just and kind, gentle and loving, pure and holy. May we, as a family, live without partiality and without hypocrisy! [May these children delight in one another's happiness, and be free from envy and deceit!]

We thank thee for another night of rest, and pray that this day we may be free from worldly care. May all things work together for good! and do thou, O Lord! bring good out of evil.

Bless the Church in this community with thy reviving grace; visit our land with thy salvation; and fill the whole earth with thy praise.

Finally, we pray thee, bring us to thyself in joy and glory everlasting; bring us to the realization of thy presence, that we may be satisfied with thy likeness. And to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be glory forever. Amen.