Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 1 · Chapter 28
XXVIII. Verſ. 1. Iſaac called Jacob, and bleſſed him]
HE doth not rate him, or rail at him. Anger muſt have an end. The Prodigals father met him, and kiſt him, when one would have thought, he ſhould rather have kickt him, kill'd him. Pro peccato magno, Terent.paululum ſupplicii ſatis est patri.
Verſ. 2. Ariſe, go to Padan-aram] Jacob was no ſooner bleſt, but baniſht: ſo our Saviour was no ſooner out of the water of Baptiſm, and had heard, This is my beloved Son, &c. but he was preſently in the fire of temptation, and heard, If thou be the Son, &c. When Hezekiah had ſet all in good order, 2 Chron. 31. then up came Sennacherib with an army, Chap. 32.1. God will put his people to it; and often, after ſweeteſt feelings.
Verſ. 3. And God Almighty bleſs thee] Here Iſaac ſtabliſheth the bleſſing to Jacob, leſt haply he ſhould think, that the bleſſing ſo got, would be of no force to him. God paſſeth by the evil of our actions, and bleſſeth the good.
Verſ. 4. And give thee the bleſſing of Abraham] Here he is made heir of the bleſſing, as are alſo all true Chriſtians, 1 Pet. 3.9. Caeſar, when he was ſad, ſaid to himſelf, Cogita te eſſe Caeſarem: ſo, think thou art an heir of heaven, and be ſad if thou canſt.
Verſ. 5. Iſaac ſent away Jacob] with his ſtaff onelyonly, Gen. 32.10. and to ſerve for a wife, Hoſ. 12.12. It was otherwiſe, when a wife was provided for Iſaac. But Jacob went as privately as he could, probably, that his brother Eſau might not know of his journey, and wait him a ſhrewd turn by the way. Hoſ. 12.12. he ſled into Syria.Theodoret ſaith, it was, that the divine providence might be the better declared toward him, no better attended or accommodated.
Verſ. 6. When Eſau ſaw, foreign.&c.] But he was ever too late, and therefore that he did, was to little purpoſe. An over-late ſight is good neither in piety nor policy. They will finde it ſo, that are ſemper victuri; and never can finde time to begin, Seneca.till they are ſhut out of heaven for their trifling. How many have we known taken away in their offers and eſſays, before they had prepared their hearts to cleave to God!
Verſ. 7. And was gone to Padan-aram] Which was diſtant from Beer-ſheba almoſt five hundred miles. This was the father of the brood of travellers; and his affliction is our inſtruction, Rom. 14.4. 1 Cor. 10.11.
Verſ. 8. pleaſed not his father] Whether himſelf or they pleaſed God, or not, was no part of his care. God is not in all the wicked mans thoughts. That he ſtrives for, is, to be well eſteemed of by others, to have the good will and good word of his neighbours and friends, ſuch eſpecially as he hopes for benefit by. Thus Julian counterfeited zeal, till he had got the Empire: afterwards, of Julian, he became Idolian, as Nazianzen ſaith he was commonly called, becauſe he ſet open again the Idols temples, (which had been ſhut up by Conſtantine) and reſtored them to the Heathens.
Verſ. 9. Then went Eſau unto Iſhmael] Stulta haec fuit foreign, & hypocriſis, ſaith Pareus rightly. Apes will be imitating men: Spiders have their webs, and Waſps their honey-combs. Hypocrites will needs do ſomething, that they may ſeem to be ſome-body: but, for want of an inward principle, they do nothing well: they amend one errour with another, as Eſau here; and as Herod prevents perjury by murther. Thus, while they ſhun the ſands, they ruſh upon the rocks; Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.and while they keep off the ſhallows, they fall into the whirl-pool. Sed nemo it a perplexus tenetur inter du vitia, quin exitus pateat abſque tertio, ſaith an Ancient.
Verſ. 10. And Jacob went out from Beer-ſheba] A long journey; but nothing ſo long as Chriſt took, from heaven to earth, to ſerve for a wife, his Church; who yet is more coy then Rachel, and can hardly be ſpoken withal, though he ſtand clapping and calling, Open to me, my ſister, my ſpouſe. Stupenda dignatio, ſaith One; a wonderful condeſcending.
Verſ. 11. And he lighted upon a certain place] Little thinking to have found heaven there. Let this comfort travellers, and friends that part with them. Jacob never lay better, Mal… cubans ſuaviter dorm… & ſ…licitèr ſom…t.then when he lay without doors; nor yet ſlept ſweeter, then when he laid his head upon a ſtone. He was a rich mans ſon, and yet inured to take hard on.
Verſ. 12. Behold a ladder] Scala eſt piorum in hoc mundo peregrinatio, ſaith Pareus, after Iunius. But beſides this interpretation, our Saviour offereth us another, Ioh 1.51, applying it to himſelf, the true ladder of life, per quem ſolùm in coelum aſcendere poſſimus. He that will go up any other way, muſt, as the Emperour once ſaid, erect a ladder, and go up alone. He touched heaven, in reſpect of his Deity; earth, in reſpect of his humanity; and joyned earth to heaven, by reconciling Man to God. Gregory ſpeaks elegantly of Chriſt, foreign, that he joyned heaven and earth together, as with a bridge; being the onelyonly true Pontifex, or bridge-maker. Heaven is now open and obvious, to them that acknowledge him their ſole Mediator, and lay hold, by the hand of faith, on his merits, as the rounds of this heavenly ladder: Theſe onelyonly aſcend; that is, their conſciences are drawn out of the depths of deſpair, and put into heaven, as it were, by pardon, and peace with God, reſt ſweetly in his boſom, calling him Abba Father; and have the holy angels aſcending, to report their neceſſities; and deſcending, as meſſengers of mercies. We muſt alſo aſcend (ſaith S. Bernard) by thoſe two feet, (as it were) Meditation, and Prayer: yea, there muſt be continual aſcenſions in our hearts, as that Martyr ſaid: M. Philpot.And as Iacob ſaw the Angels aſcending and deſcending, and none ſtanding ſtill; ſo muſt we be active, and abundant in Gods work, as knowing, that our labour is not in vain in the Lord; Bern.and that, non proficere, eſt deficere; not to go forward, is to go backward.
Verſ. 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham, &c.] What an honour is this to Abraham, that God was not aſhamed to be called, His and his ſons God! Euſeb…s the Hiſtorian, was called Euſebius Pamphili, for the love that was betwixt him and the Martyr Pamphilus, as S. Hierome teſtifieth. Friend to Sir Philip Sidney is ingraven upon a Noble-mans Tomb in this Kingdom, The old Lord Brook.as one of his Titles. Behold the goodneſs of God, ſtooping ſo lowe, as to ſtile himſelf, The God of Abraham, and Abraham again, The friend of God.
Verſ. 14, 15. And thy ſeed ſhall be as the dust] Againſt his fourfold croſs, here's a fourfold comfort, (as Pererius well obſerveth) a plaiſter as broad as the ſore, and ſoveraign for it. Againſt the loſs of his friends, I will be with thee: 2. of his country; I will give thee this lond: 3. againſt his poverty; Thou ſhalt ſpread abroad, to the eaſt, west, &c. 4. his ſol…tarineſs and aloneneſs; Angels ſhall attend thee; and, Thy ſeed ſhall be as the dust, Num. 23.10.&c. And who can count the dust of Iacob? ſaith Balaam, that Spelman of the devil, as One calls him. Whereunto we may adde that which ſurpaſſeth and comprehendeth all the reſt; In thee, and thy ſeed ſhall all the families of the earth be bleſſed. Now whatſoever God ſpake here with Iacob, he ſpake with us, as well as with him, ſaith Hoſea, Chap. 12.4.
Verſ, 16. And I knew it not] Viz. that God is graciouſly preſent in one place, as well as in another. Our ignorance and unbelief is freely to be confeſſed, and acknowledged. Thus David, Pſal. 73.22. Agur, Prov. 30.2. Pray for me, In his Letter to Ridley, Act. & Mon. 1565. Se…m. in 3 Sund. in Advent.ſaith Father Latimer to his friend; pray for me, I ſay: for I am ſometimes ſo fearful, that I would creep into a mouſe-hole. And in a certain Sermon; I my ſelf, ſaith he, have uſed, in mine earneſt matters, to ſay, Yea by S. Mary; which indeed is naught.
Verſ. 17. How dreadful is this place! The place of Gods publike Worſhip, is a place of Angels and Archangels, foreign.(ſaith Chryſoſtom;) it is the Kingdom of God; it is very heaven: What wonder then, though Iacob be afraid, albeit he ſaw nothing but viſions of love and mercy? Pſal. 5.7.In thy fear will I worſhip toward thy holy temple, ſaith David. The very Turk, when he comes into his Temple, lays by all his State, and hath none to attend him all the while. Omninò oportet nos, orationis tempore, curiam intrare coeleſtem, (ſaith S. Bernard) in qua Rex regum ſtellato ſedet ſolio, Bern. de diverſ. 25.&c. Quanta ergo cum reverentia, quanto timore, quantâ illuc humilitate accedere debet e palude ſuâ procedens & repens vilis ranuncula? Our addreſſes muſt be made unto God, with the greateſt reverence that is poſſible.
Verſ. 18. And ſet it up for a pillar] The better to perpetuate the memory of that mercy he had there received; and that it might be a witneſs againſt him, if hereafter he failed of fulfilling his vow. It is not amiſs, in making holy vows, to take ſome friend to witneſs, that, in caſe we be not careful ſo to fulfil them, may minde us, and admoniſh us, of our duty in that behalf. Iacob, that was here ſo free, when the matter was freſh, to promiſe God a Chappel at Bethel, was afterwards backward enough; and ſtood in need that God ſhould pull him by the ear, once and again, with a Go up to Bethel, and puniſh him for his delays, in the rape of his daughter, cruelty of his ſons, &c. Gen. 35.
Verſ. 20. And Iacob vowed a vow] The firſt holy votary that ever we read of: whence Iacob alſo is called, The father of vows; which, out of this Text, may be thus deſcribed A Vow is nothing elſe, but a religious promiſe made to God in prayer, and grounded upon the promiſe of God; whereby we tie our ſelves, by way of thankfulneſs, to do ſomething that is lawful, and within our power; with condition of obtaining ſome further favour at the hands of God. Thus Iacob vows to God onelyonly: he is the ſole object of Fear, therefore alſo of Vows. See them ſet together, Pſal. 76.11. Next, he prays when he vows. foreign: a vow and a prayer are of neer and neceſſary affinity. See Pſal. 61.6. Iudg 11.30, 31. That was a blaſphemous vow of Pope Iulius, that ſaid, Act. & Mon.he would have his will, al deſpito di Dio. And not unlike of Solyman the Great Turk, in a Speech to his Souldiers: So help me great Mahomet, Turk. hiſt.I vow, in deſpite of Chriſt and Iohn, in ſhort time to ſet up mine Enſignes with the Moon, in the middle of the Market-place in Rhodes. Iacob, as he vowed onelyonly by the Fear of his father Iſaac; ſo he preſented his vow in an holy prayer, not in an helliſh execration. I adde, that it is a promiſe, grounded upon Gods promiſe: ſo was Iacobs here, in all points; as is to be ſeen, if compared with verſe 15 of this Chapter. Next, I ſay, that by this Vow we binde our ſelves, &c. Not as caſting any new ſnare upon our ſelves thereby; but rather a new provocation to the payment of an old debt. For what can Iacob vow to God, that he he owes him not before hand, without any ſuch obligation? This he doth too, by way of thankfulneſs; as doth likewiſe David, Pſal. 116.8, 9. and other-where. And that which he voweth, is lawful, and poſſible: not as theirs was, that vowed Pauls death, Acts 23. or as Iulian the Apoſtata's; who, going againſt the Perſians, made this vow, that, if he ſped well, he would offer the blood of Chriſtians. Act. & Mon. 1914.Or as that Conſtable of France, who covenanted with God, that if he had the Victory at S. Quintins, he would ſet upon Geneva. Theſe men thought, they had made a great good bargain with God; but did not his hot wrath kindle againſt them? Camd. Eliſab. fol. 258. A. D. 1583.So Gerald Earl of Deſmond's Iriſh men were juſtly conſumed with famine…d ſword, which had barbarouſly vowed to forſwear God, before they would forſake him. Laſtly, all this that Iacob doth, is on condition of ſome further favour: If God will be with me, and will preſerve me, and provido for me, &c. All which he doubts not of, as having a promiſe; but yet helps forward his faith by this holy vow; then ſhall God have the utmoſt, both in inward and outward worſhip: for God ſhall be his God; and he will build him an houſe, and pay him Tythes, &c. [And will give me bread to eat] Having food and raiment, (ſaith the Apoſtle) let us therewith be content. Nature is content with little; grace, with leſs. Inſaniae damnandi ſunt, quitam multa, Vir bonus paucis indiget.tam anxiè congerunt, quum ſit tam paucis opus, ſaith Lud. Vives. foreign, ſaith Clem. Alex. Cibus & potus ſunt divitiae Chriſtianorum, ſaith Hierome. Bread and water, with the Goſpel, are good chear, ſaith Greenham. Cui cum paupertate bene convenit pauper non eſt. Seneca.The diſciples are bid pray for bread, not bisket: they dined, on a Sabbath-day, with corn rubb'd in their hands, with broiled fiſh, Melch. Adam.&c. Luther made many a meal of a herring; Junius, of an egge. One told a Philoſopher, If you'll be content to pleaſe Dionyſius, you need not feed upon green herbs. He replied; And if you be content to feed upon green herbs, you need not pleaſe Dionyſius.