The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 279

truest representative of all their race found strength and solace and salvation. 'l'hus this appellation here given to God, "the Portion of Jacob," was calculated to waken up many very tender and holy memories, and might lead, as was sorely needed, to a better mind towards God amongst those to whom the prophet spoke, and to a turning away from those idolatries by which now and for so long they had been sinnin" against God and destroying themselves. And the Portion of Jacob waits to be ours a~ well as his. Jacob was not only a representative Jew, but also a representative man. For meu are but rarely cast in the heroic mould of Abraham, nor is their career .quiet and uncheckered like that of Isaac. But i!l the sins and sorrows, the struggles and falls, the temptations and trials of Jacob they behold themselves. God by this name declares himself to be the God of, the Portion of, all sinful, sorrowing, struggling, and much-tried men everywhere and at all times; the God, therefore, that we need, the Ilclpcr we want. He is the God who is revealed to us in our Lord Jesus Chris~, in: whom there is neither Greek nor Jew, no distinct.ion of any kind, but who is "the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe." If, then, this Portion of Jacob may be our Portion too, we shall consider with more interest what that Portion consists of, what it was that Jacob possessed in God. And to see this let us recall to our minds the records that are given of the patriarch's career. As we study them we shall readily see wha.t portion Jacob had in God, and how precious a possession it .was. And- I. IN GoD RE FOUND UNSPEAKABLE GRACE. Was there ever a more wretched, guilty sinner than Jacob, when he fled away from his home in just fear of his outraged brother's wrath? He had entrapped him once and again, inflicting on him grievous wrong ; he had deceived his aged father; be had lied again and again in the basest and most hypocritical way. Altogether the man was odious in the sight of all; all our sympathies go over in a rush towards the frank if foolish Esau. Jacob's character· was at this time nothing less than repulsive. His mother was probably. the only living soul who had either faith in or affection for him. He had deserved the reprobation of all. And we cannot but believe that he must h:we felt very much of this, and that it was with a sense of deepest sin and shame. he fled away to Padan- aram, from his father's and mother's home. Man had cast him off; would not God do the like? For his sin had not been that of one who had never known God. God had been about him all his days; be had learnt to know, to fear, and desire God. He bad been, as all knew, an avowedly religious man. His sin was therefore all the more unpardonable, as his guilt was all the greater. He is shown to us out on the wide stony track over the mountains which form the backbone. of Palestine: The day has ended, the sun gone down ; he is all alone, the night is gathering round him. 'l'he ground is strewn with huge fragments of the bare, barren rock of which the mass of those mountains is composed. On the cold hard ground he lays himself down t9 rest,, helpless, hopeless, forsaken., he might well think, ooth of God and man. But it was not so, for God came to him there. "In the visions of the night the rough stones formed thelllselves into a vast staircase reaching into the depth of the wide and op13n sky, which without any interruption oi tent or tree was stretche<l over the sleeper's Lead. On the steps of that staircase were seen ascending. and descending the mes- sengers of God; and from above there came the Divine voice, which told the houseless wanderer that, little as he thought it, he had a Protector there and everywhere; that even in this bare and open thoroughfare, in no consecrated grove or cave, 'the Lord was in this place, though he knew it not.' This was Bethel, the house of God, the, gate of heaven." What the effect of this glorious vision must have been upon him we can hardly ever estimate. The nearest Scripture parallel probably would be the c!Icct of ihe father's gracious reception upon the returning prqctigal. Somewhat akin to Lis feelings must have been those of Jacob at this time, For what he had seen aud heard had shown him beyond doubt that God had not cast him off, had not dealt with him after his sins nor rewarded him according to his iniquities. It was like the kii;s of the Divine forgiveness, the joy of conscious realization of God's. redeeming love. Yes; Jacob found this Portion in God, the fulness of forgiving love. But .is not this the Portion we want, the God we need to know? Not one who will cast us away from his pr~se~~ aud throw us over when we have done wrong. If God were strict to mark m1qU1l1C:s, who of us could stand? But the God, the Portion of Jacob, meets our need; for as Jacob was sinful and often falling into sin> so are wo. cu. x. 1-25.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHE'r JEREMIAH. 279