1. It is the property of wicked oppressors to boast of their strength, which is more than they have.

2. Wicked injurious men boast that they can do mischief against the righteous (Psalm 52:1).

3. The hand of the wicked is ready to oppress the innocent, if God hinder not.

4. Wicked oppressors complain that God hinders them in their cruel designs.

5. The ungodly will not learn to own God, though they find Him too mighty for them.

6. Fear of self-destruction keeps oppressors from destroying saints.

7. God worshipped in truth by His, is stronger than God falsified by the wicked.

8. God maketh the wicked enemy confess His sovereignty sometimes against their will (Deuteronomy 31; Deuteronomy 32:29).

(G. Hughes, B. D. .)

2. Just fear of violence is a just ground of the saints escaping it, under God's call.

3. God's call and saints' fear of dangers from men may well consist together.

4. Violent rapture of wives and children by cruel men may make the saints afraid of, and fly from it (ver. 31).

5. Holy souls abhor idols, and much more the covering of them.

6. Innocency is not afraid to put itself upon trial of life.

7. Plain honest hearts dare put themselves upon the search and judgment of their enemies.

8. Good fathers of families would have all with them innocent its themselves.

9. Good men may be too confident of the goodness of such as are under them.

10. Ignorance of other's hearts and actions makes men so rash and confident of them (ver. 32).

(G. Hughes, B. D. .)

2. God in His wisdom useth the sins of one creature to frustrate the sin of others (ver. 31).

3. Sin once committed putteth souls upon more sin to conceal it.

4. Hypocrisy and lying is the way that sinners use to cover stealing.

5. God may bear with the iniquity of some to clear the innocency of others.

6. Such as seek occasion against the saints, God so orders, that they find it not (ver. 35).

(G. Hughes, B. D. .)

1. Jacob had sought by fraud, position and possession in his father's house. He is now an exile from his father's house — an outcast and a wanderer.

2. He who had defrauded Esau, is now himself defrauded by Laban.

3. He who had deceived his father was afterwards himself deceived by his sons.

4. Another form of retribution that awaited Jacob, was the having to encounter and deal with the brother whom he had so cruelly and foully wronged.

II. THE DISCIPLINARY CHARACTER OF THE RETRIBUTIONS THAT MARKED THE LIFE OF JACOB. We are slow to learn the lessons of a godly life by precept. God therefore teaches us them by experience. Jacob's character did certainly advance under the discipline.

1. At Haran he applied himself at once to honest industry, instead of having recourse to artifice and cunning.

2. A spirit of magnanimity marked many of his dealings with his uncle, contrasting favourably with his earlier indications of self-seeking.

(W. Roberts.)

1. His trials. And among these we should rank, as of the first importance, that he had been compelled by circumstances to dwell beyond the range of true piety, and to sojourn in an idolatrous land, and with an idolatrous family. Another of the trials to which Jacob was exposed, was the footing on which he stood in the family of Laban. The whole period had been to him a time of affliction; and, but for the favour of his God, this lengthened service, hard as it was, would have terminated in poverty. "Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty." Jacob had no reason to expect such treatment as this from a cousin and a father-in-law. A third trial which Jacob had to endure was, to a feeling mind, peculiarly severe. His attachment to Rachel appears to have been sincere and ardent. He could not, then, but feel deeply the deception that was practised upon him. Among Jacob's trials we must enumerate also many of the scenes of domestic life.

2. We come to notice Jacob's errors.

3. But we turn now to a more gratifying subject of consideration, when we notice, the personal piety of Jacob — the influence which, during twenty years of trial, his principles had upon his personal character.(1) With reference to his sobriety, excepting the error of polygamy, which was indirectly sanctioned, there is nothing on record against him. He was not guilty of any of that violence which had filled. the earth, or of those vices which were too general all around him.(2) With reference to the righteousness of his dealings with his fellow-men, he was zealous in the service of his master, moderate beyond measure in his requirements, and faithful in his engagements. He could appeal to Rachel and to Leah, "Ye know that, with all my power, I have served your father." And he had their testimony, and even that of Laban, to the faithfulness of his service.(3) Of his godliness there can be no question. It is manifest that he dwelt with God, and God with him. His habits were those of piety and communion with God; and even the language of Leah and of Rachel show that, by his influence, they were led to cultivate the same spirit. We are told that they prayed, and that God hearkened to them. "The God of my fathers hath been with me, God suffered him not to hurt me." "God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me." And again, "Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty." "God hath seen my affliction, and the labour of mine hands, and rebuked thee yesternight." And this view of Jacob's devotional habits is confirmed by the testimony of the sacred writer, that God really was with him.

II. But before we draw a practical conclusion from these things, there is another point on which we shall do well for a moment to delay. IT IS THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO HIS SERVANT. God had made a covenant with Jacob by promise; and when Jacob journeyed onward from Bethel, the promise of Divine favour rested upon him. Jacob was pious, because God was gracious. Jacob persevered, because God was faithful. His God had promised "to be with him, and to keep him in all places whither he should go"; and not one word failed of all that the Lord had spoken to him of. The secret agency of God's providence availed for his protection, and for his correction in righteousness. From this period, then, of the Patriarch's life, let us learn the wisdom of confiding ourselves to the care of the Almighty God. "He careth for us." You, then, who are only entering upon the world, or are now struggling with its cares and its temptations — who feel how difficult it is to walk humbly, circumspectly, and without offence — let the twenty years of Jacob's hard service teach you a useful lesson. The path of probity and rectitude is the path of honour, happiness, and success. It is not man, but God that you serve, and He will not forget you. At the same time this history will administer to you a salutary caution. You must not expect deliverance precisely when you wish it, nor in the way most satisfactory to yourself. Clouds may gather when you look for sunshine. Look to the covenant of His grace, and lean upon it, for "it shall not be moved"; and determine, that by His grace you will faithfully fulfil all the relative duties of life, however painful and distressing.

(E. Craig.)

2. Heat and cold consumptions with restless nights will grace incline to endure to honour God in service.

3. Such faithful service is a testimony against the wrongs and injustice of cruel masters (ver. 40).

4. Unwearied doth grace make souls to be in the service to which they are called by God.

5. Faithfulness will not let a soul to take wages or receive good gratis.

6. The best service may be repaid with hardest measure from griping masters.

7. Good service will rise in judgment against the hard dealings of evil rulers (ver. 41).

8. Where man is injurious God Himself will plead for righteous servants.

9. The true God is known to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

10. Propriety in God and fear of Him is the best way of knowing God.

11. It is the design of wicked men to undo those in this world whom God doth own and will prosper in it.

12. God takes special notice of the sufferings and faithful doings of His servants towards wicked men.

13. God rebukes the envious and malicious spirit of cruel men against His righteous servants.

14. God's approbation of His own and reprehension of the wicked is a full defence against false charges or criminations (ver. 42).

(G. Hughes, B. D.)

(M. Dods, D. D.)

     1409   dream
     4957   night
     5548   speech, divine

Genesis 31:1-24

     5095   Jacob, life

Appendix xvi. On the Jewish views About Demons' and the Demonised,' Together with Some Notes on the Intercourse Between Jews and Jewish Christians in the First Centuries.
IT is not, of course, our purpose here to attempt an exhaustive account of the Jewish views on demons' and the demonised.' A few preliminary strictures were, however, necessary on a work upon which writers on this subject have too implictly relied. I refer to Gfrörer's Jahrhundert des Heils (especially vol. i. pp. 378-424). Gfrörer sets out by quoting a passage in the Book of Enoch on which he lays great stress, but which critical inquiries of Dillmann and other scholars have shown to be …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

How the Rude in Sacred Learning, and those who are Learned but not Humble, are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 25.) Differently to be admonished are those who do not understand aright the words of the sacred Law, and those who understand them indeed aright, but speak them not humbly. For those who understand not aright the words of sacred Law are to be admonished to consider that they turn for themselves a most wholesome drought of wine into a cup of poison, and with a medicinal knife inflict on themselves a mortal wound, when they destroy in themselves what was sound by that whereby they ought, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Epistle Xlix. To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch .
To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch [35] . Gregory to Anastasius, &c. I received the letters of thy Fraternity, rightly holding fast the profession of the faith; and I returned great thanks to Almighty God, who, when the shepherds of His flock are changed, still, even after such change, guards the faith which He once delivered to the holy Fathers. Now the excellent preacher says, Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus (1 Cor. iii. 2). Whosoever, then, with love of …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Great Shepherd
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. I t is not easy for those, whose habits of life are insensibly formed by the customs of modern times, to conceive any adequate idea of the pastoral life, as obtained in the eastern countries, before that simplicity of manners, which characterized the early ages, was corrupted, by the artificial and false refinements of luxury. Wealth, in those …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

And He had Also this Favour Granted Him. ...
66. And he had also this favour granted him. For as he was sitting alone on the mountain, if ever he was in perplexity in his meditations, this was revealed to him by Providence in prayer. And the happy man, as it is written, was taught of God [1112] . After this, when he once had a discussion with certain men who had come to him concerning the state of the soul and of what nature its place will be after this life, the following night one from above called him, saying, Antony, rise, go out and look.' …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

A Treatise of the Fear of God;
SHOWING WHAT IT IS, AND HOW DISTINGUISHED FROM THAT WHICH IS NOT SO. ALSO, WHENCE IT COMES; WHO HAS IT; WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS; AND WHAT THE PRIVILEGES OF THOSE THAT HAVE IT IN THEIR HEARTS. London: Printed for N. Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, over against the Stocks market: 1679. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "a fountain of life"--the foundation on which all wisdom rests, as well as the source from whence it emanates. Upon a principle …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Meditations for the Morning.
1. Almighty God can, in the resurrection, as easily raise up thy body out of the grave, from the sleep of death, as he hath this morning wakened thee in thy bed, out of the sleep of nature. At the dawning of which resurrection day, Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints; and every one of the bodies of the thousands of his saints, being fashioned like unto his glorious body, shall shine as bright as the sun (2 Thess. i. 10; Jude, ver. 14; Phil. iii. 21; Luke ix. 31;) all the angels shining …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament