z Jacob ated ſubtilly in this Afffair ; he knew that delays were dangerous ; and Eſa's conſideration, or ſecond thoughts, might have ſpoiled his Bargain, and therefore he requires haſte, as in the Sale, fo in his Oath ; wherein he addeth another Sin, in hurrying his Brother into an Oath by precipitation, which neither his Bro- ther ſhould have taken, nor Jacob ſhould have adviſed him to take without mature Advice. y
\. 34 Then Jacob gave Eſau bread and pottage of len- tiles ; and he did cat and drink, and roſe up, and went his way &: thus Eſau deſpiſed bis birth-right 7. |
k Secure and impenitent, without any remorſe for his ingrati= tude to God, or the injury which he had done to himſelf and to all his Poſterity. ! Preferring the preſent and momentary ſatisfaCti- on of his Luſt and Appetite, before God's and his Father's Bleſſing and all the glorious Priviledges of the Birth-right. :
CH A P. XXVI.
A famine in the land ; Iſaac goes to Gerar, x. God direfs him to abide there, and promiſes to be with him ; the covenant with Abraham alſo made with Iſaac, 2--==5, Through fear he denies Rebekah T7. Abimes= lech, ſeeing Iſaac and Rebekah together, concludes hey ro be bis wife 5 charges him with it, he confeſſes it, 8, g« Abimelech reproves him charging his people not to touch them on pain of death, 1x. Iſaac Bleſſed with great plenty, 12----14. The Philiflines envy him ; fop his wells 15. Deſirehim to depart, 16. He removes to the valley of Gerar 7. There he digs wells, but the herds-men ſlrive with him about them 18----21. He hath reft, 22. Removes to Beer-ſheba, 23. The Lord renews his covenant, 24. Hecalls on the name of the Lord, 25. Abime- tech convinced that the Lord was with Iſaac, deſires to make a covenant with him, 26----29. They make a feaft, and ſwear to one another, 171. Eſau being forty years old, taketh to him wives of the Canaanites. 34- Iſaac and Rebekah grieved hereat, 35. ;
N D there was a famine in the land, * beſides the firft famine that was in the days of Abraham.
And Ifaag went unto * Abimelech « king of the Phili-
ſtines, unto Gerar.
a Not he mentioned, Gen: 20: 2: but moſt probably his So Succeſſor, called by his Fathers name. q F mem
2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and ſaid, Go
not down into Egypt: dwellin the Land which I ſhall tell thee of. | *
6 Whitherit ſeems Iſaac intended to go, it being a very fruitful place, and being encouraged to doſo by his Fathers Example upon the ſame occaſion. But God ſaw good reaſons to forbid J1ſaac to "cog whichit is needleſs to enquire, and not difficult to con- jecture. _ : :
3 Sojourn 1n this land, and I will be with thee, and will bleſs thee : for unto thee, and unto thy ſeed c * I will give all theſe countries, and I will perform * the oath 4 which I ſware unto Abraham thy father:
c To thee, to enjoy for thy preſent Comfort,and to them to poſ- ſeſs as zn Inheritance. See the Notes on Gen: 13: 15: and 15: 18. d (i: e:) The promiſes confirmed by Oath, Ger: 22: 16, &c.
4 And I will make thy ſeed te multiply as the ſtars of heaven, and will give unto thy ſeed all theſe coun- cries: and in thy {ced ſhall all the nations of the earth be * bleſled:
5 Becauſe that Abraham ebeyed my voice e, and
kept my charge, my commandments, my ſtatutes, and my laws. |
__e Here was a Covenant made between God and Abraham ; and as, if Abraham had broken the condition of walking before God requi- red on his part, God had been diſcharged from the Promiſe made on his part ; fo contrarily, becauſe Abraham performed his conditi- on, God engageth himſelfto perform his Promiſe to him, and te his ſeed. Bur as that Promiſe and Covenant was made by God of meer Grace, as isevidentand confeſſed ; ſo the Mercies promiſed and performed to him and his, are ſo great and vaſt, that it is an idle thing to think they could be merited by ſo mean a Compenſa= tion as Abraham's Obedience, which wasa Debt that he owed to God, had there been no ſuch Covenant or Promiſe made by God
and which alſo was an effe& of God's Graces to him and in him. '
6 4 And Ifaac dwelt in Gerar,
7And the men of the place asked him of his wife ; and
.he ſaid, She is my ſiſter: for:he fearedto ſay, - Sbe is
my wife, leſt, ſaid be, the men of the place ſhould kilt me for Rebekah, becauſe ſhe was fair to look upon.
8 Anditcameto paſs, when he had becn there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philiſtines looked out at a window, and ſaw, and behold, Iſaacwas ſport- ing with Rebekah his wife g. '
£ Uſing more free and familiar carriage than became a Brother and Sifter, but ſuch as was allowable between Husband and Wife. See Deut. 24. 5. Prov.s5. 18, 19. But that this was not the Conjugal at, may eaſily. be gathered from the circumſtances of the time,and place, which was open to Abimelech's view ; and therefore that was
”
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not conſiſtent either with 7aac's modeſty, or with his prudence, be«
cauſe he would not have her thought to be his Wife.
9 And Abimelech called Iſaac, and ſaid, Behold, of a ſurety ſhe is thy wife : and how ſaidſt chou, She is m ſiſter ? And Iſaac faid uno him, Becauſe I faid, leſt F dic for her, - ; no And
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10 And Abimelech Taid, What zs this thou haſt done
unto us 2 one of the people might itzntly have hen with
Chap- thy wife b, and * thou jhouldeit have brought 7 guilti-
2.9. neſs UPON Us 2, ET es :
+ tHicb. ”* 7, Becauſe the Heathens eſtcemed PFornication either no Sin,or a
very litcle one. i The guilt of Adultery, which was heinous and
formidable even among the Heathens, and cſpecially here,becauſe
it was freſh in memory how ſorely God had punithed 4bimelech,and
all his Family, only for an intention of Adultery, Ger. 20, Note
here, they take it tor granted, that their Ignorance had not been a ſufficient excuſe for their Sin. 4s ;
1x And Abimelech charged all his people, ſaying,
THe that.toucheth & this man or his wife, fhall ſurely be
put tO death. ; | & (5. e. ) Hurteth-or injureth. So that word isufecd, wer. 29, and of. 9. 19.P/al.:05.15. Zech,2.8. and being applied ro a woman, it is 1ſed for the dehiling or humbling of her, asGenr, 20.6. Prov. 6. 29. 12 Then Iſaac ſowed in that land /, and | received in the ſame year an hundred fold w, and the LORD
bleſled hum