2. I observe again, that Jacob, the younger, had the precedency and principal blessing, and therefore he is named first. Tiiere are two parts of this observation — (1.) The younger brother is preferred ; (2.) The quality of his blessing, that it was choice and principal blessing.
[1.] The younger brother was preferred. It is a course the Lord often took, even from the beginning of the world, to take the younger and leave the elder to perish in their own ways. Abel, the younger, was preferred before Cain ; the Lord accepted him to be a priest.
VeR. 20.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 383
For that was the contest between tliera, when they made their offer- ings to the Lord, they were then appearing before the Lord ; as Moses bid Korah and his accomplices take censers, and see Avhom the Lord woukl own ; so Cain and Abel were appearing to see whom he would own as priest and prince of the family, that should continue the line of the church, and be accepted ; and there Abel, the younger, is preferred before Cain, the elder. And afterwards Abraham, the younger, is taken to be God's favourite. And next there is Jacob's blessing, and by the direction of God he preferred Ephraim, the younger, before Manasseh, the elder son of Joseph. So Shem was preferred before Japheth ; the Spirit of God takes notice of this, he is called ' the brother of Japheth, the elder,^ Gen. x. 21. And afterwards David, who was the youngest, the ruddy youth, is chosen to be the man after God's own heart. What doth the Lord signify by such a dispensation as this ? Some think that which is natural is first, and then that which is spiritual. Others, the preferment of the gentile, the younger brother in grace, before the Jew, the elder ; and that many times it falls out, they that are first shall be last, and they which are last shall be first. But rather, hereby the Lord would manifest the freedom of his counsels. In election God hath no respect to age ; and the order of nature and grace is not the same : Mai. i. % ' Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? ' Were they not in all points like ? or if there was any preferment, it was on Esau's side ; was he not the elder brother ? ' Yet Jacob have I loved.' God would still write, as with a sunbeam in the course of his providence, the liberty of his counsel, and that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy ; a dispensation which we must admire and adore God for the wisdom of it, but not murmur against him. But then —
[2.] For the other part of the observation, namely, the quality of his blessing. If we look into the letter of the words, when Isaac comes to bless Jacob, you will find nothing but what is of a temporal concern- ment, and little differing from the blessing of Esau : Gen. xxvii. 28, therefore saith he, ' God give thee of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine ; ' this was Isaac's blessing. Now compare it with ver. 38, 39, when Esau came to him, ' Hast thou but one blessing, 0 my father ? And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above.' When you compare these two blessings together there is little difference, only that Jacob should have the pre-eminence above Esau ; therefore where lies the peculiarity of this blessing ?
I answer, If there had been nothing spiritual in the promise, it would have been no comfort to Jacob at all, for the temporal blessings here mentioned did not concern his jierson, for he was to be tossed up and down, and pass through many hazards and uncertainties of his life — ' Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been,^ as he gives an account to Pharaoh, Gen. xlvii. 9. And the bowing down of the nations concerned his posterity. And if this had been all his por- tion, it had been no such matter of envy to Esau, for Esau hated him, and had a purpose to kill him. Gen. xxii. 41, because he had got away 'the blessing,' the chief blessing, the peculiar ble.ssing. Isaac's eyes were grown dim, hastening to the grave, and now he was about to dis-
384 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XT. [SeR. LIV.
pose of the great promises (for the blessing of the patriarchs was a kind of enfeoffment or investing of them in the right of the great pro- mises ; he was now to put Jacob into the possession of the great pro- mises), that was his intent ; and the very words Isaac useth do imply something spiritual When lie speaks of submission to his posterity, he chiefly intends the dominion and sovereignty of the Messiah — ' Let the people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee,' ver. 29 ; that is, to the top branch that shall come and proceed from thee ; and the bow- ing down of his brethren to him literally implies he should be the top branch of the family, and he should have the priestly dignity. And where- as itis added at the end of hisblessing — ' Cursed be he that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee ; ' it is part of God's blessing to Abraham, Gen. xii. 3. And therefore we must understand Jacob's blessing according to the latitude of the blessing which was bestowed upon Abraham : Gen. xii. 3, ' In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' That is, in him that shall proceed from thee in the Messiah. Therefore this is clearly intended, and is that which is in the bowels of it, that the Messiah should come from Jacob ; and all that would not acknowledge him, a curse should be upon them. Nay, when the bless- ing is repeated by Isaac, for he blessed Jacob twice, first by mistake, afterward solemnly and purposely : Gen. xxviii. 4, ' God give the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger.' What was that blessing of Abraham ? To be the head of the blessed line of which the Messiah should come, to be the priest that should continue the worship of God and teach the laws of God, and to be in covenant with Qod — these were the great blessings. And there is added the possession of Canaan, where the Lord meant to record his name, and to continue and preserve his people. Well then, we see what was Jacob's blessing. Besides much temporal felicity, there are three special things I shall take notice of that were Jacob's privileges, and that appertain to Jacob's blessing : there was the being the father of the Messiah, the continu- ance of the priesthood, and so of the church, in his family, and the entering into covenant with God. Esau was rejected, and Jacob taken into covenant with God, and so the blessing of Abraham came upon liini — ' I will be thy God, and the God of thy seed.'