The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles — Section 37

Ver. 1.-Jacob-IsraeZ. :Mistake is often m:ide concerning Jacob, and his character 11.nd conduct are very imperfectly estimated. He is set in contrast with the open-heal'ted, impulsive, and generous Esau, to his great disadvantage. Ilut we forget that we nre able to estimate Jacob's character more fully because the process of his moral and spiritual training, in the Divine providential leadings, is detailed, and we therefore have so much of his badness revealed to us in the process. ·we do not really know Esau as we know Jacob. The accounts that have reached us concerning him only deal with what appc:irs to be attractive and good, and we see very few indications of the badness which his complete story might bl'ing to light. Jacob is set befol'e us as a man under immediate ]Jivine training, and something like the accomplishment of one great stage of the Divine purpose is indicated in the bestowment of the new name, Israel. The meaning of the two names Jacob-the supplanter, Israel-the prince of God, should be given; and the circumstances connected with the affixing of each name should be recalled. They serve to note the marked features of the two distinct portions of Jacob' s life. I. JAcon's FIB.ST NAME-THE SUPPLANTER. This declares the infirmity of his natural disposition. ] t is clear, from the record given in Genesis, that he began life under very serious <lisnbilities, heavily weighted. 'l'he doctrine of heredity finds forcible illustration. He inherited his mother's disposition-a tendency to scheme, to outwit others, to take advantage of them, to trip them up, to get one's own good even at the expense of other people's loss; the planning, bargaining, keen-dealing spirit. This inherited evil disposition so influences him that he "entrapR his brother, he deceives his father, he makes a bargain even in his prayer; in his dealings with Laban, in his meeting with Esau, he still calculates and contrives ; he distrusts his neigh- bours . . . he repels, even in his lesser traits, the free confidence that we cannot with- lwld from the patriarchs of the elder generation." What he might have become but for the grace of God is well indicated in Dean Stanley's description of the ordinary Arab sheikh: "In every respect, except that which most concerns us, the likeness is complete between the Bedouin chief of the present day and the Iledouin chief who came from Chaldrea nearly four thousand years ago. 'l'he more we see the outward ~ouformity of Abraham and his imme<liat'3 descendants to tbe godless, grasping, foul- mouthed Arabs of the modern desert, nay, even their fellowship in the infirmities of their common state and country, the more we shall recognize the force of the religious faith which has raised them from that low estate to be the heroes and saints of their people." To add to Jacob's natural disabilities, he was the favourite child of his mother, and, for long years, was placed under her influence a_nd the p~rsuasio~ of her mischieTous example. This tended to remove the sense of evil from bis schermng and deceivin" ways. Ancl circumstances seemed to favour him; his brother's hunger ancl bis fathe";.'s blindness seemed to be providential openillgs for carrying out his mother's 1ilan for securing the birthright and the blessing.. So often we ~cceive o~rselves with the idea that Providence helps us to do what we, m our mere wilfulness, mtend to do. All we can say of Jacob, under his first name, is that there is force of character, if only it can be toned aright; and there is an interest in religious thingR, a religiou11 thoughtfulness, which gives promise of a ~rue and nob]~ lifo whe_n ~e has p~ssed tbrou_gh a loug period of trial and sorrow and discipline. With all his mfirm1~ies, and with 1 lint sad absence of simplicity and uprightness in him, there is yet the mak_rng of the good wan. And so, eren in these fir~t etaie8, his story carriell lessons of hopclt1lr.esH to those Ort, tt. 1-56.] TIIE F1US1' tlOOlt or ':nm CilflONlCLES.