HOMILETICS. Vei:s. 10-22.-J~?b at .B_etkel, or keaven opened. I. THE LONELY BLEEPER. l. His desolate conduwn. Exiled from home, fleeing from the murderous resent- ment of a brother, o'er-canopied by the star-lit firmament, remote from human habitation, and encompassed by a heathen population, on the bleak summit of the Bethel plateau, upwards of sixty miles from Beersheba, the wandering son of Isaac makes his evening couch with a stone slab for his pillow, an emblem of many o!1other footsore and dc~ected traveller upon life's. journey._ 2. _Hu in~ar~ cogita- twns. The current of his thoughts needs not be difficult to 1magme. Mmghng with the sadness of leaving home, and the apprehension with which he regarded tho uncertain future, there could not fail to be a sense of security, if not a gleam of hope, arising from the consciousness that he carried with him his father's blessing ; in this again affording a reflex of most men's lives, in which joy and sorrow, hope and fear, continually meet and strangely blend. 3. His heavenly msitation. If the dream by which J acob's slumber was disturbed was occasioned by unusual cerebral excitement, if its psychological framework was supplied by the peculiar colour of his meditations, it is still true that it was made the medium of a Divine theophany and revelation. So God, who is "never far from any one of us," is specially near to his children in solitude and sorrow, "in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed, opening the ears of men, and sealing their instruction" (Job miii. 15, 16). II. THE MIDNIGHT DREAM. 1. Tke celesti,al vision. (1) A ladder reaching from earth to heaven ; suggesting the thought of an open pathway of communication between God and man, and in particular between the heirs of the promise and their covenant God. (2) The angels of God ascending and descending upon it; symbol- ising God's providential government of the world by means of the celestial hosts (Ps. ciii. 20, 21 ; civ. 4), but especially the ministry of angels towards the heirs of 11alvation (Ps. xci. 11; Heb. i. 14). A truth henceforward to be exemplified in the experience of Jacob, and afterwards more fully, indeed completely and ideally, realised in Christ. (3) Jehovah standing above it, The situation occupied by the symbolic presence of Jehovah was designed to indicate two things: first, that Jehovah was the true and only source whence blessing could descend to man; and, second, that the pathway which had been opened up for sinful man conducted straight into God's immediate presence. Thus it was a visible unveiling of the grace and glory comprehended in the covenant, and now fully revealed by the gospel. 2. The accompanying voice. (1) Proclaiming the Divine name, as the covenant God of Abraham and of Isaac, of which the New Testament interpretation is the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the true seed of Abraham. (2) Renew- ing the covenant promises-of a land, of a seed, of a blessing. (3) Personally engaging to extend to Jacob continual attendance,-" Behold, I am with thee,"-con- stant protection,-" and will keep thee in llll thy goings,''-complete fidelity,-'' I will not Iea,e thee," &c.; in all which again the voice was but an anticipatory echci. of the heavenly voice that sounds in the gospel. IIL THE AWE-STRUCK AWAKENING. 1. Devout impress-ion. The night having passed in contemplation of the unseen world, the morning found the startled sleeper with a strong sense of the supernatural upon his soul, which filled him with alarm. Even to God's reconciled children awe-inspiring (cf. Job xiii. 6; Isa. vi. 5; Luke v. 8; Rev. i. 17), a vivid realisation of the Divine presence is to the sinful heart overwhelmingly terrible. 2. Reverent adoratwn. "This is none other but the house of God "-implying ideas of Divine residence,-" Surely the Lord is in this place I "- Divine provision,-thc thoughts of" bread to eat and raiment to put on" appear to have been suggested to Jacob'e mind,-and Divine communion-Jacob realises as never before the conception of personal intercourse between Jehovah and his people; -" and the gate of heaven "-in which lie embedded the fundamental notions of nearness, vision, entrance. 3. Grateful commemoration. (1) He sets up the stono 11lab on whirh l,i~ head had re~ted as a visible memorial of the sublime trrm~action OH. xxvm. 10-22.) 'fHE BOOK OF GENESIS. 353
which ha.d there occurred, and in token of his gratitude pours the only gift he carried with him on it, viz., oil Sincere piety demands that God's merciful visitatious should be remembered and thankfully acknowledged by offerings of the choicest and best of our possessions. (2) He calls the name of the place Bethel: in the mean time with a view to his own comfort and satisfaction, but also, there is little doubt with an eye to the instruction and encouragement of hie descendants. It is clutifui in saints not only to rejoice their own hearts by the recollection of Divine mercies. but also to take measures for transmitting the knowledge of them to future generations. IV. THE SOLEMN vow. 1. Faith's expectation. In a spirit not of mercenary stipulation, but of believing anticipation, Jacob expresses confidence in henceforth enjoying (1) Divine companionship-" If," or since, "God will be with me;" (2) Divine protection-" and will keep me in this way that I go;" (3) Divine suste- nance-" and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on;" (4) Divine favour-" so that I come again to my father's house in peace;" and (5) Divine salvation-" then," or rather, and since, "Jehovah shall be my God; ''-five thing-s prumised to the poorest and most desolate of heaven's pilgrims. 2. Faith's resolit- tion. Confidently anticipating the fulfilment of God's promises,Jacob resolves-(1) To erect an altar at Bethel on returning to the Holy Land, a vow which he afterwards :fulfilled. \Vhatever vows God's people make should be paid, and no vows are more agreeable to God's will than those which have for their objects the cultivation of personal piety and the perpetuation and spread of bis religion among men. (2) To consecrate the tenth part of his increase to God, i. e. to the maintenance of God's worship-an example of pious liberality which has seldom been approached by Christ's followers, though, considering their higher privileges and obligations, it ought to have been frequently surpassed.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS.