271 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see , that he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son ." And he said to him, "Here I am." 2 Isaac said , "Behold now , I am old and I do not know the day of my death . 3 "Now then, please take your gear , your quiver and your bow , and go out to the field and hunt game for me; 4 and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love , and bring it to me that I may eat , so that my soul may bless you before I die ." 5 Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau . So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob , "Behold , I heard your father speak to your brother Esau , saying , 7 'Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat , and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death .' 8 "Now therefore, my son , listen to me as I command you. 9 "Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young e goats e from there , that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father , such as he loves . 10 "Then you shall bring it to your father , that he may eat , so that he may bless you before his death ." 11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah , "Behold , Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man . 12 " Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight , and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing ." 13 But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son ; only obey my voice , and go , get them for me." 14 So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother ; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved . 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son , which were with her in the house , and put them on Jacob her younger son . 16 And she put the skins of the young e goats e on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck . 17 She also gave the savory food and the bread , which she had made , to her son Jacob .
18 Then he came to his father and said , "My father ." And he said , "Here I am. Who are you, my son ?" 19 Jacob said to his father , "I am Esau your firstborn ; I have done as you told me. Get up, please , sit and eat of my game , that you may bless me." 20 Isaac said to his son , "How is it that you have it so quickly , my son ?" And he said , " Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me." 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob , "Please come close , that I may feel you, my son , whether you are really my son Esau or not." 22 So Jacob came close to Isaac his father , and he felt him and said , "The voice is the voice of Jacob , but the hands are the hands of Esau ." 23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands ; so he blessed him. 24 And he said , "Are you really my son Esau ?" And he said , "I am." 25 So he said , "Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game , that I may bless you." And he brought it to him, and he ate ; he also brought him wine and he drank . 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son ." 27 So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments , he blessed him and said , "See , the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed ; 28 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven , And of the fatness of the earth , And an abundance of grain and new wine ; 29 May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers , And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you."
30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob , and Jacob had hardly e gone out from the presence of Isaac his father , that Esau his brother came in from his hunting . 31 Then he also made savory food , and brought it to his father ; and he said to his father , " Let my father arise and eat of his son's game , that you may bless me." 32 Isaac his father said to him, " Who are you?" And he said , "I am your son , your firstborn , Esau ." 33 Then Isaac trembled violently e e e , and said , " Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came , and blessed him? Yes , and he shall be blessed ." 34 When Esau heard the words of his father , he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry , and said to his father , "Bless me, even me also , O my father !" 35 And he said , " Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing ." 36 Then he said , "Is he not rightly named e Jacob , for he has supplanted me these two times ? He took away my birthright , and behold , now he has taken away my blessing ." And he said , "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" 37 But Isaac replied to Esau , "Behold , I have made him your master , and all his relatives I have given to him as servants ; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then , what can I do , my son ?" 38 Esau said to his father , "Do you have only one blessing , my father ? Bless me, even me also , O my father ." So Esau lifted his voice and wept . 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold , away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling , And away from the dew of heaven from above . 40 "By your sword you shall live , And your brother you shall serve ; But it shall come about when you become restless , That you will break his yoke from your neck ."
41 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself , " The days of mourning for my father are near ; then I will kill my brother Jacob ." 42 Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah , she sent and called her younger son Jacob , and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. 43 "Now therefore, my son , obey my voice , and arise , flee to Haran , to my brother Laban ! 44 "Stay with him a few days , until e your brother's fury subsides , 45 until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there . Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day ?" 46 Rebekah said to Isaac , "I am tired of living because e of the daughters of Heth ; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth , like these , from the daughters of the land , what good will my life be to me?"
281 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, " You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan . 2 "Arise , go to Paddan-aram , to the house of Bethuel your mother's father ; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother . 3 "May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples . 4 "May He also give you the blessing of Abraham , to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings , which God gave to Abraham ." 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away , and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban , son of Bethuel the Aramean , the brother of Rebekah , the mother of Jacob and Esau .
6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there , and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying , " You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan ," 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram . 8 So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac ; 9 and Esau went to Ishmael , and married e , besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael , Abraham's son , the sister of Nebaioth .
10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran . 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there , because the sun had set ; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head , and lay down in that place . 12 He had a dream , and behold , a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven ; and behold , the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold , the Lord stood above it and said , "I am the Lord , the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac ; the land on which you lie , I will give it to you and to your descendants . 14 "Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth , and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south ; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed . 15 "Behold , I am with you and will keep you wherever e you go , and will bring you back to this land ; for I will not leave you until e I have done what I have promised you."
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said , " Surely the Lord is in this place , and I did not know it." 17 He was afraid and said , " How awesome is this place ! This is none other than e the house of God , and this is the gate of heaven ." 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning , and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top . 19 He called the name of that place Bethel ; however , previously the name of the city had been Luz . 20 Then Jacob made a vow , saying , " If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take , and will give me food to eat and garments to wear , 21 and I return to my father's house in safety , then the Lord will be my God . 22 "This stone , which I have set up as a pillar , will be God's house , and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher , I will follow You wherever e You go ." 20 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests , but the Son of Man has nowhere e to lay His head ." 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord , permit me first to go and bury my father ." 22 But Jesus said to him, " Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead ."
23 When He got into the boat , His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold , there arose a great storm on the sea , so that the boat was being covered with the waves ; but Jesus Himself was asleep . 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying , " Save us, Lord ; we are perishing !" 26 He said to them, "Why are you afraid , you men of little faith ?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea , and it became perfectly calm . 27 The men were amazed , and said , "What kind of a man is this , that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes , two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs . They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way . 29 And they cried out, saying , " What business do we have with each other, Son of God ? Have You come here to torment us before the time ?" 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying , "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine ." 32 And He said to them, "Go !" And they came out and went into the swine , and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters . 33 The herdsmen ran away , and went to the city and reported everything , including what had happened to the demoniacs . 34 And behold , the whole city came out to meet Jesus ; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region .
(Read Matthew 8:18-22)
One of the scribes was too hasty in promising; he proffers himself to be a close follower of Christ. He seems to be very resolute. Many resolutions for religion are produced by sudden conviction, and taken up without due consideration; these come to nothing. When this scribe offered to follow Christ, one would think he should have been encouraged; one scribe might do more credit and service than twelve fishermen; but Christ saw his heart, and answered to its thoughts, and therein teaches all how to come to Christ. His resolve seems to have been from a worldly, covetous principle; but Christ had not a place to lay his head on, and if he follows him, he must not expect to fare better than he fared. We have reason to think this scribe went away. Another was too slow. Delay in doing is as bad on the one hand, as hastiness in resolving is on the other. He asked leave to attend his father to his grave, and then he would be at Christ's service. This seemed reasonable, yet it was not right. He had not true zeal for the work. Burying the dead, especially a dead father, is a good work, but it is not thy work at this time. If Christ requires our service, affection even for the nearest and dearest relatives, and for things otherwise our duty, must give way. An unwilling mind never wants an excuse. Jesus said to him, Follow me; and, no doubt, power went with this word to him as to others; he did follow Christ, and cleaved to him. The scribe said, I will follow thee; to this man Christ said, Follow me; comparing them together, it shows that we are brought to Christ by the force of his call to us, Romans 9:16.
(Read Matthew 8:23-27)
It is a comfort to those who go down to the sea in ships, and are often in perils there, to reflect that they have a Saviour to trust in and pray to, who knows what it is to be on the water, and to be in storms there. Those who are passing with Christ over the ocean of this world, must expect storms. His human nature, like to ours in every thing but sin, was wearied, and he slept at this time to try the faith of his disciples. They, in their fear, came to their Master. Thus is it in a soul; when lusts and temptations are swelling and raging, and God is, as it were, asleep to it, this brings it to the brink of despair. Then it cries for a word from his mouth, Lord Jesus, keep not silence to me, or I am undone. Many that have true faith, are weak in it. Christ's disciples are apt to be disquieted with fears in a stormy day; to torment themselves that things are bad with them, and with dismal thoughts that they will be worse. Great storms of doubt and fear in the soul, under the power of the spirit of bondage, sometimes end in a wonderful calm, created and spoken by the Spirit of adoption. They were astonished. They never saw a storm so turned at once into a perfect calm. He that can do this, can do any thing, which encourages confidence and comfort in him, in the most stormy day, within or without, Isaiah 26:4.
(Read Matthew 8:28-34)
The devils have nothing to do with Christ as a Saviour; they neither have, nor hope for any benefit from him. Oh the depth of this mystery of Divine love; that fallen man has so much to do with Christ, when fallen angels have nothing to do with him! Hebrews 2:16. Surely here was torment, to be forced to own the excellence that is in Christ, and yet they had no part in him. The devils desire not to have any thing to do with Christ as a Ruler. See whose language those speak, who will have nothing to do with the gospel of Christ. But it is not true that the devils have nothing to do with Christ as a Judge; for they have, and they know it, and thus it is with all the children of men. Satan and his instruments can go no further than he permits; they must quit possession when he commands. They cannot break his hedge of protection about his people; they cannot enter even a swine without his leave. They had leave. God often, for wise and holy ends, permits the efforts of Satan's rage. Thus the devil hurries people to sin; hurries them to what they have resolved against, which they know will be shame and grief to them: miserable is the condition of those who are led captive by him at his will. There are a great many who prefer their swine before the Saviour, and so come short of Christ and salvation by him. They desire Christ to depart out of their hearts, and will not suffer his word to have place in them, because he and his word would destroy their brutish lusts, those swine which they give themselves up to feed. And justly will Christ forsake all that are weary of him; and say hereafter, Depart, ye cursed, to those who now say to the Almighty, Depart from us.
