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THE 
 
 TYPES OF GENESIS. 
 
THE 
 
 TYPES OF GENESIS 
 
 BRIEFLY CONSIDERED 
 
 AS RKTEALING THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 BY 
 
 ANDEEW 4UKES. 
 
 " Tne invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are 
 clearly oeen, being understood by the things that are made." 
 
 Rom. i. 20. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION, 
 
 THOMAS WHITTAKER, 
 NEW YORK. 
 

 PEEFACE 
 
 I WISH, by way of Preface, to throw together a few 
 thoughts on the mystic character of Scripture, and on 
 other kindred matters. 
 
 Many are aware that the books of Moses deal largely 
 in typical representations, that is, figures of spiritual 
 things, both facts and doctrines, of the Christian dispen- 
 sation. We cannot read St. Paul without perceiving that he 
 saw far more in Genesis than the mere letter. The creation 
 with him is the figure of another work, which God accom- 
 plishes in every saved sinner. " God, who commanded 
 the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our 
 hearts." Then, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
 creature : old things have passed away ; behold, all things 
 are become new." As much as to say, that just as God 
 began to work upon this earth, when all was dark and 
 without form and void, and worked upon it, step by step, 
 bringing forth fruits and forms of life, until the image of 
 God, the man created in righteousness, was seen to rule it 
 all ; so is it with the soul of man, from " Let there be light, 
 and there is light," till the new man in us rules every 
 
vi Pi*eface. 
 
 faculty. The story of Hagar and Sarah too, as is well known, 
 has with St. Paul a sense far deeper than the mere letter.^ 
 Melchisedek is another example, the import of whose 
 name and acts is familiar to all readers of the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews.2 These and St. Peter's allusion to the flood,^ 
 as a figure of that judgment of the first creation which 
 haptism declares, are too well known to need comment. 
 In every age they have witnessed to the most unwilling 
 that Genesis has treasures richer than those upon the sur- 
 face, secrets of Grod's purpose and of man's ways, which 
 the spiritual man may search, for the Spirit searcheth all 
 things, yea the deep things of God. 
 
 But though many have a general notion that Genesis 
 contains these types, few have any idea of the immense ex- 
 tent or depth of this hidden wisdom. Just as in nature the 
 distinct orders under which plants are found to range are 
 (juite beyond the conception of any but a botanist, though 
 every one must have generally noticed their great differ- 
 ences, or marked some peculiarity of this or that flower : 
 as it needs the patient study of years to make an astro- 
 nomer, though every educated man understands some- 
 thing of the phenomena of the heavenly bodies : so is it 
 with the Word. And in this book of Genesis, diligence and 
 prayer and God's Spirit will bring to light worlds of truth 
 infinitely beyond the conception of the carnal mind ; and 
 humble faith will discover systems of wisdom as complete 
 and wondrous in the Word, as science with all her researches 
 has found in the material universe. We may indeed read 
 the Scriptures, as men cultivate the earth, simply to find 
 > Gal. iv. 22-27. ^ Heb. vii. 2. MS. Pet. iii. 20, 21. 
 
Preface. vii 
 
 food to support the life which God has given. But we may 
 also read with higher views, to know the ways of God. He 
 who has given us the earth to bring forth food, has shewn 
 us vast and mysterious heavens above, the contemplation 
 of which is fitted to raise and humble and spiritualize us. 
 In the Word are not only fruitful fields, but heavenly depths 
 full of unnumbered lights. Often as we regard them 
 must we confess our ignorance. Why should we scruple 
 to do so, when even in nature the keenest eye, and the 
 mightiest mind, is baffled on every hand? Errors even 
 may mingle with views in the main correct, as men have 
 erred in studying the phenomena of the heavens, and 
 indeed must err until they have learnt to correct the read- 
 ings of sense by the conclusions of a higher faculty. Yet 
 diligence reaps its fruits, which, though open to abuse, 
 may also be an offering to God's glory. 
 
 The form of the Word, however, and the wisdom of its 
 form, is a subject which yet waits to receive that attention 
 which is its just due. Four Gospels have forced some in 
 every age to notice the distinct purpose of God in each 
 Gospel. But for the rest of Scripture, why its form is 
 what it is, — why like a man, and with man, it grew from 
 age to age, — why it looks and is so human, — what con- 
 nection all this has with the mystery of the Holy Incarna- 
 tion, — these are questions seldom asked, or, if asked^ 
 rarely answered as befits His dignity from whom we say 
 the Scripture came. 
 
 I do not attempt here to enter on the reasons for tliis 
 form ; but I notice one fact, namely, that the Word is 
 given to us in many books or sections, each of wliich, I 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 am assured, is a divine chapter, with one special end 
 illustratino; something: in Grod and man, or the details of 
 some relation between the Creator and the creature.' As 
 in the Gospels, one is to shew Christ as David's Son ; the 
 next to reveal Him, not so much as King, as the meek 
 and true Servant ; the third, to set forth the Son of Adam ; 
 the fourth, the Son of God ; each giving a distinct view of 
 the various relationships of the same One Lord : so it is in 
 the rest of Scripture ; each book has its own end, and the 
 order and contents of all, as they describe the progressive 
 ways of God with man, answer to His ways in every soul, 
 for within and without His ways are one, and His work 
 the same from age to age. 
 
 As a base or ground for what is to follow, we first are 
 shewn what springs from man, and all the different forms 
 of life, which either by nature or grace can grow out of 
 the root of old Adam. This is the book of Genesis. Then 
 we see, that be it bad or good which has come out of 
 Adam, there must be redemption ; so an elect people by 
 the blood of the Lamb are saved from Egypt. This is 
 Exodus. After redemption is known, we come to the 
 
 ' As to the form of the Old Tes- Lamentations.) The fact that part 
 
 tament, Jerome notices that the num- of the Book of Proverbs, (chap, xxxi . 
 
 Ler of the books, according to the 10 — 31,) the whole of the Lamenta- 
 
 Jewish division, (five books of the tions, and seven Psalms, (namely, 
 
 Law, eight of the Prophets, and nine xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxi. cxii. cxix. 
 
 Hagiographa, ) answers exactly to and cxlv.,) are acrostics, founded on 
 
 the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew the Hebrew alphabet, leads him to 
 
 alphabet ; and that as there are five suppose that there is some mystery 
 
 double letters in the Hebrew, so in these twenty-two sounds, which 
 
 there are five double books, namely, form all words, connected with the 
 
 two Samuels, two Kings, two Chro- comprehensive character of the Word, 
 
 nicies, two Ezras, (which we call Prol. Galeat. 1-8. Modern criticism 
 
 Ezra and Nehemiah,) and two Jere- may smile, but there is far more in 
 
 miahs, (that is, Jeremiah and the this than appears at first sight. 
 
Preface. ix 
 
 experience of the elect as needing access, and learning the 
 way of it, to God the Eedeemer in the sanctuary. This 
 we get in Leviticus. Then in the wilderness of this world, 
 as pilgrims from Egypt, the house of bondage, to the 
 promised land beyond Jordan, the trials of the journey 
 are learnt, from that land of wonders and man's wisdom, 
 to the land flowing with milk and honey. This is the 
 book of Numbers. Then comes the desire to exchange the 
 wilderness for the better land, from entering which for a 
 season after redemption is known the elect yet shrink; 
 answering to the desire of the elect at a certain stage to 
 know the power of the resurrection, to live even now as in 
 heavenly places. The rules and precepts which must be 
 obeyed, if this is to be done, come next. Deuteronomy, a 
 second giving of the b.w, a second cleansing, tells the way 
 of progress. After which Canaan is indeed reached. We 
 go over Jordan : we know practically the death of the 
 flesh, and what it is to be circumcised, and to roll away 
 the reproach of Egypt. We know now what it is to be 
 risen with Christ, and to wrestle, not with flesh and blood, 
 but with principalities and powers in heavenly places. 
 This is Joshua. Then comes the failure of the elect in 
 heavenly places, failure arising from making leagues with 
 Canaanites instead of overcoming them. This is Judges. 
 After which the different forms of rule, which the Church 
 may know, pass in review in the books of Kings ; from the 
 first setting up of rule in Israel down to its extinction, 
 when for their sin the rule of Babylon supersedes that of 
 the elect. When this is known with all its shame, we see 
 the remnants of the elect, each according to its measure. 
 
X Prejace. 
 
 doing what may be done, if possible, to restore Israel ; 
 some like Ezra returning to build the temple, that is, to 
 restore the forms of true worship ; and some coming up 
 like Nehemiah to build the city, that is, to re-establish 
 by Grentile permission a feeble imitation of the ancient 
 polity ; while a third remnant in Esther is seen in bonds, 
 but faithful, providentially saved, though Grod's name (and 
 this is characteristic of their state) never appears through- 
 out the whole record. 
 
 This subject would of itself fill a volume. I touch it 
 here, not only to shew that each book has its own peculiar 
 end, each being but the illustration of some one truth or 
 fact, on which a revelation from God was needed by us ; 
 but to call attention also to their order and gradation, 
 answering so exactly to the steps by which truth is ever 
 apprehended by us in the world of thought within. In 
 this light the position of Grenesis is most suggestive. Its 
 purport is to shew what Adam is, and what can spring out 
 of him. And just as in our souls the Spirit of God first 
 comes to shew us ourselves, that so " coming to ourselves," 
 like the Prodigal, we may then " come to our Father" also ; 
 so does the Word open with the same, with Adam and his 
 seed, that is the fruit of human nature. This, as it is the 
 ground of all that follows, is not only an introduction : it 
 is also an abridgment or summary of all the books. For 
 what is the series but a revelation of God, shewing His 
 resources by the very wants and fiiilure of the creature. 
 Genesis, in shewing us Adam and his outcome, man by 
 grace and nature, reveals in embryo the whole mystery of 
 grace and natme in the creature. It is thus an abstract 
 
Preface, xi 
 
 of the Bible, with the long sum of the Divine counsels 
 worked out and expressed in God's algebra. 
 
 Genesis then reveals to us all that can spring out of 
 Adam. In the letter it gives us the story of Adam and 
 his sons. Here we may read how Adam behaved, and what 
 races and peoples sprung out of him. In spirit we may 
 learn how old Adam behaves, what the old man is in each 
 of us, and all the immense variety which can grow out of 
 him. And what an outcome it is. Some forms of life 
 there are which spring out of Adam or human nature, 
 simply by nature, according to the course of nature ; and 
 some forms of life there are which spring out of Adam by 
 grace, which are the result of a divine seed sown in that 
 poor soil, contrary to nature, and to the common course of 
 nature. It is a wondrous tale, yet within and without it 
 is but one. For the development of Adam or human nature 
 in the great world without, has its exact image and coun- 
 terpart in the little world within ; I call it " little," though 
 indeed it is not little ; for if " the kingdom of God is with- 
 in us," there must be room enough. And what confusion 
 it seems ; life and death, evil and good, love and hate, and 
 pride and meanness, everywhere : men praying, cursing, 
 blessing ; palaces and hovels, churches and armies, schools 
 and markets, jails, cities, asylums, unions ; such are some 
 of the fruits of old Adam, in whom all this was before it 
 was seen, and is only seen without because it was and is 
 within him. 
 
 But whether within him or without, man finds it hard 
 to unravel all this tangled skein of life and being ; for man 
 looks only on the outward appearance ; God who looketh 
 
xii Prpface, 
 
 upon tlie lioart only knows and can trace out the whole 
 development. In the book of Genesis He tells the story, 
 liow l...t]i liuman society and divine spring by grace or 
 nature from the same root. To illustrate this subject is 
 my aim in this volume, the details of wiiich I will not 
 liere anticipate, further than to say that there are seven 
 very distinct forms of life, owned by God, which this 
 book of Genesis fully reveals to us; first Adam, then 
 Abel, then Noah, then Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob, 
 then at last Joseph. These seven are the various shades 
 of the true light of life, as it appears when refracted through 
 body, soul, and spirit, the triangular prism of human 
 natiure ; from the red of Adam on the one hand, up to that 
 regal purple, in which he may be said to shine who com- 
 pletes and is over all the rest. Connected with all these 
 are otlier forms of life disowned of God, various shades, 
 that is, and degrees of darkness ; but these seven lives give 
 us all the light which beams through this book. These 
 are all representative men. In Adam we see the old man, 
 human nature as it is in itself, ready to trust the tempter, 
 and to distrust God and rob Him of His glory ; then hiding 
 from His presence, and covering its nakedness with fig 
 leaves, and laying the blame on the very gifts which God 
 has given it ; yet pitied and visited with a promise and a 
 gift, — a promise that, weak as he is, the Seed of the woman 
 shall at length prevail, — a gift by which, naked as he is, 
 his nakedness may be covered. All that can be said of mere 
 human nature, — of man as man, — is set forth in the 
 history of poor, fallen, yet pitied and redeemed Adam. 
 Soon we have anotlier stage or picture. In Adam's sons, 
 
TrefacQ, xiii 
 
 the elder and younger, a type is given us of the two seeds, 
 the flesh and spirit, the natural and spiritual, which have 
 grown by nature or by grace out of the root of old Adam. 
 That is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural. 
 Both are seen here in all their main outlines. Then comes 
 Noah who is more than the spiritual man ; for there may 
 be spiritual men who have not passed the mystic waters. 
 Noah is a type of the regenerate, of those who know what 
 it is to be taken out of one world and placed in another. 
 His seed shew us all the works which may be, and have 
 been, wrought by those who are regenerate. Then Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, set forth those fom- great 
 forms of life, which are known and enjoyed after regenera- 
 tion has been fully reached by us ; Abraham being the life 
 of faith, shewing how the man of faith goes forth, not 
 knowing whither, yet seeking to go to Canaan ; Isaac, re- 
 vealing the life of sonship in the land, dwelling by wells 
 of water, with many joys and few conflicts ; Jacob, the 
 life of service, begotten on resurrection ground, and going 
 down into the far country, to win a bride and flocks, 
 whom he may bring back to share his joy in heavenly 
 places ; Joseph, the last, most perfect life, the life of suffer- 
 ing, which first dreams of rule, and ends with all things 
 brought into subjection to it. 
 
 How the order of these lives answers to the development 
 of Adam in us is sufficiently known to all who understand 
 much of that development. First, we learn old Adam ; 
 then the difference of flesh and spirit; then the way 
 through the flood, that is, regeneration : after whicli faith 
 begets sonship, and sonship service, and service that life of 
 
xiv Preface. 
 
 siitrering, \Yliicli now, as then, ends in glory. The series 
 never changes, nor do its stages come by chance. Abraham 
 or faitli now and ever precedes sonship, even as sonship 
 will ever precede that evangelic service of which Jacob is 
 the figure. All the path we may not know, but as far as 
 we know it, the order will be that set forth in Grenesis. In 
 each newborn man is some portion of this history fulfilled, 
 from the day when he knows not that he is naked, when 
 the thing which is true for him in fallen Adam is not yet 
 realized, (for as things are true for us in Christ before we 
 experimentally know them, so is it in old Adam,) until 
 stage by stage the things which have been realized by man, 
 both the old man and the new man, are all part and parcel 
 of his own experience. Thus Grenesis and its history 
 becomes again incarnate. He, in whom man is developing 
 after God, will have lived as in the world before the flood. 
 He has known, because he is by nature in Adam, what it is 
 to live in the old world, in the first creation, before its 
 judgment. He has known too, like Noah, the judgment 
 of the first creation, and that there is a way of safety 
 through the deep waters. And he may know, if he is 
 faithful, the walk and life in the new creation, and the 
 many developments there, from sonship to service, and 
 from service to glory ; if unfaithful, other developments, 
 the forms of which are foretold, and which though par- 
 taking of some of the blessings of the elect are not elect. 
 
 Tlie measure therefore in which these truths will be ap- 
 prehended will depend on the difference of spiritual expe- 
 rience or growth of different souls. Experience is proving 
 the truth ; and just in proportion as we have proved these 
 
Preface. xv 
 
 truths, so far shall we be able to enter into the lives here 
 depicted. Thus I can foretell that, inasmuch as all know 
 something of human nature, all will have some under- 
 standing and apprehension of the parable set forth in 
 Adam's life. Those who can discern the flesh and spirit 
 will decipher Cain and Abel ; those who have reached to 
 regeneration will understand Noah ; those who know the 
 path of faith will be at home in Abraham's trials ; while 
 the spirit of sonship will open Isaac's path. In like manner, 
 service will explain Jacob, and suffering, Joseph ; the like- 
 ness in each case being easily to be recognised by those 
 who know and love the original. If we will do the works, 
 we shall know of the doctrine. 
 
 But is not this all mere imagination ? What proof have 
 we that there is anything but fancy to support all this ? I 
 am not careful to answer this ; first, because I write for 
 those, who, though requiring help, fully believe that some 
 such secrets are treasured here ; and also because the 
 spiritual sense is its own proof, as a key by opening a com- 
 plicated lock sufficiently proves that it has been designed 
 for it ; a proof indeed which requires some capacity in the 
 observer, and some exercise and intelligence in the things 
 of Grod, but which will, I am assured, be increasingly satis- 
 factory to those who will test it in the daily study and 
 meditation of the Word of God. 
 
 Do I then despise the letter ? God forbid. With sin- 
 cerest faith I receive it, and thank God for it, throughout 
 Scripture. Most precious is it, speaking to all in words of 
 truth, shewing how the outward daily life on earth may be 
 
xvi Preface. 
 
 sanctified, and is watched and cared for by Grod. Espe- 
 cially now, when so many act as if the earthly calling were 
 a path of which God took no notice, and in which faith 
 availed us nought, most precious is the letter, as shewing 
 God, for He changeth not, in all His providence over the 
 outward path of those who love and fear Him ; shewing 
 liow the path of lonely men, if they walk with Him, their 
 wells, and sheep, and feasts, and wars, are all His interests ; 
 that not a marriage, birth, or death, — not the weaning of 
 a child, or the dismissal of a maid, — not the bargain for a 
 grave, or the wish respecting the place of burial, — but He 
 watches and directs it. Thus precious is the letter ; a daily 
 iruide and comfort to us as dwellers here. 
 
 But holding this, I see much more, — that while the letter 
 is a guide for things on earth, in spirit it veils and yet 
 reveals to us the things of heaven ; in this like the w^orld 
 around us, which, while supplying means for this life, in 
 those very supplies sets before the opened eye the secrets 
 and treasures of the world within the veil ; in this too like 
 the Lord, coming under our hands in human form, under 
 that lowly form veiling yet revealing the glory of the 
 eternal Son. Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, seems to 
 me, not an illustration only, but a proof, both of the pre- 
 ciousness of the letter, and of the deeper spirit which 
 everywhere underlies the letter throughout the Word of 
 God. He was man, but He was God. There was the 
 human form of the Word, the outcome of David and 
 Abraliam, for He sprung out of Judah. This was the 
 humble form which men despised ; but besides and under 
 this was the Divine, full of the unspeakable depths of the 
 
Preface. xvii 
 
 wisdom of Almighty Grod ; giving forth draughts of that 
 wisdom, emitting rays of that light, to as many as had 
 capacity to receive of His fulness ; and yet in mercy hiding 
 from others awful depths which they were unfit to know ; 
 being, like the world His hands had made, an " open 
 secret " to all around Him. 
 
 Such also is the Written Word. Coming to us in human 
 form, as the outcome of David or of some other Israelite, 
 and judged by most as Joseph's son, it has a higher birth, 
 truly human indeed, and yet no less divine ; in its letter, 
 in its human form, coming down to teach men upon the 
 earth, full of lessons of love and truth for us as pilgrims 
 here ; in its spirit to shew us the things within the veil, 
 and to lift us up to live and walk and dwell above ; in the 
 letter, even as the flesh of Christ, " never to see cor- 
 ruption," though rejected ; and in spirit to be seen as 
 shining with unearthly glory. I have known Christ after 
 the flesh. I can never cease to adore the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ for the grace of the mystery of 
 His Holy Incarnation, by which He has come as a man to 
 speak to men ; but I have also seen His glorious resurrection 
 and ascension, and the coming of the Holy Grhost. So have 
 I known the Word in the letter. Most sweetly has it 
 spoken. WTien I walked, it led ; when I slept, it kept ; 
 when I awaked, it talked with me.^ It has been my guide, 
 my staff, my bread, my counsellor, my comfort, all through 
 this lonely pilgrimage. But I have also felt its spirit, and 
 seen the depth within the veil, where I could but fall 
 down, and cry, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord Grod Almighty. 
 
 * Prov. vi. 22. 
 
 a 
 
XVI 11 
 
 Preface. 
 
 And to turn from God's Word to man's, our own words, 
 wliich in their very form confess that human language 
 can only speak of spiritual things under outward images, 
 might prepare us to find that Grod, who is a Spirit, in 
 speaking of outward things, in them is teaching spiritual 
 things. All our words for spiritual things are, if we mark 
 them, figures. We take something from outward nature and 
 apply it morally. The language which forms the medium 
 of our intercourse with heaven, is constituted out of the 
 forms of this world, and if we look at its letter only points 
 us to the outward world around. Thus sin (a/xapTLa) is 
 simply missing the mark ; grace is outward beauty ; right is 
 straight ; wrong, twisted ; spirit is wind ; transgression is a 
 stepping over ; error is only wandering. The same is true of 
 countless other words, which, originally forms of outward 
 life, through that mysterious correspondence which exists 
 between all the works of the Divine Word, have come to 
 express the relations of the mind and world within. For, 
 indeed, His works are words. There is a word in the 
 forms of things, by which they are prepared to represent 
 what is inmost in our souls. There is a word in all nature, 
 in light and darkness, cold and heat, in summer and 
 autumn, in fruits, in storms, in sunshine. There is a 
 word in the lives of men, yea, even in beasts and birds, 
 each saying somewhat to us, not unintelligibly. Day unto 
 day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth know- 
 ledge. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and 
 their words unto the end of the world. Surely " there are 
 many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is 
 without signification." 
 
Preface, xix 
 
 Wondrous, therefore, as it is, that the facts of man's 
 first and natural development should figure the growth 
 and progress of his spiritual life, — that a chain of events, 
 such as Genesis records, should spiritually express all the 
 manifold history of man's inward life in every age, — it is 
 but the wonder which meets us everywhere, that all we 
 see, and far more than any see, — every law of nature, the 
 seasons, the days, every tree in its laws of growth, each 
 beast and creeping thing, — speak to our souls of other 
 higher things, and have been so felt to speak by man in 
 every age. We do not make these things significant. 
 Light, darkness, cold, warmth, spring, and winter, are in 
 themselves significant. Why they are so, few may under- 
 stand. The fact remains still .undeniable. And as the 
 growth of seeds is to the eye of Paul a silent yet sufficient 
 witness of higher things ; ^ so the growth of the human 
 tree, as it is drawn in Genesis for us by One who knows 
 it perfectly, tells of another higher growth in man, in 
 which God's spiritual image may be discerned yet more 
 perfectly. 
 
 But it is not a point for debate. He who walks as 
 becomes his calling, will sooner or later, if he can bear it, 
 have all the proof before him. From others it may be 
 wisely hid. Arguments are of little service here. He who 
 saw Christ as the Eternal Word, whose eye, divinely taught, 
 discerned in that human form, not so much the Son of 
 Abraham or Adam, as the Only Begotten Son, characterizes 
 himself as " the disciple which testifieth ; " ^ agreeably to 
 
 « 1 Cor. XV. 35, 36. ' John xxi. 24. 
 
 a2 
 
XX 
 
 Preface. 
 
 ^vllich his Gospel, and his only, is peculiarly marked by 
 the reiterated " Verily, Verily ; " for testimony, not proof, 
 is all that disciples can offer to the world, on those subjects 
 which eye hath not seen, but which are revealed by Grod's 
 Spirit. Paul may argue, if he will ; but John, though he 
 tells what he has seen and handled of the Word of Life, 
 only testifies. The " Verily, Verily," has spoken to him. 
 He relies on its finding its own witness in other hearts. 
 
 To brethren, therefore, who love the Word, who have 
 seen cure upon cm'e wrought by it, but have not yet seen 
 how its very form may be transfigured and shine with 
 heavenly glory, I say, — Yet love and abide by the Word ; 
 it may be you shall not taste death, until you see some- 
 thing of this transfiguration ; and if you see not here on 
 earth, you shall see it in heaven, where He who loves you 
 is gone to prepare a dwelling. Yet if we walk with Christ, 
 daily walking by the Word, (for of His disciples all do not 
 follow all His steps, and therefore see not His transfigura- 
 tion,) — if we will not leave Him, no not for a day, but 
 will yet walk with Him, — not by what this or the other 
 man saith, but by the simple Word alone, living by it 
 hour by hour, — we may see it changed before us. Then 
 the raiment of the letter shall be filled and beam with 
 heavenly glory ; the human form, which we have so long 
 taken for a true prophet indeed, but only as the out- 
 come of David, will shew with unearthly glory that it is 
 something far higher ; and we shall see Moses and Elias, 
 hiw and prophets, not in the flesh, but transfigured also, 
 shining like Him of whom they bear witness ; no longer a 
 mere letter, much less a dead letter, but full of God, and 
 
Preface, xxi 
 
 radiant with His brightness. We must indeed come down 
 again from thence ; for though, as Peter says, " it is good 
 for us " to be there, it is better for others that we descend 
 to those who stay on lower ground ; but they who have 
 seen the glory there, even if they come down from that 
 mount, at once to meet a devil,^ will not forget the glory, 
 or the shining raiment of Moses and Elias, or the voice 
 from heaven, witnessing to Him, who, though He veiled 
 Himself, was the Only Begotten Son. 
 
 Others there are, hoping in the Word, who may see 
 their likeness in that blind man who sat beside the way 
 by Jericho ; ^ like him in darkness, nigh to that cursed 
 and mystic city, whose walls, once blown down by the 
 blast of rams' horns, have been rebuilt to tempt some 
 Israelites again to seek a dwelling there. ^^ And there 
 they sit, both poor and blind ; yet they sit " by the way." 
 They have not rightly seen the Word, even in the flesh or 
 letter. They cry, " Thou Son of David," little thinking 
 that the Word which is so nigh them has glories greater 
 than those of David's Son. And some disciples, whose 
 eyes are open to see and confess the Son of God, bid the 
 blind to hold their peace, because they give not the Son 
 His due title. Not so the living Word. Such as seek 
 Him shall be healed. They may not see His transfigura- 
 tion, but with opened eyes they shall follow in the way. 
 
 I would that all who touched the Word were thus 
 
 ^ See Matt. xvii. 1-18. cared for by the ffood Samaritan, 
 
 ^ Mark X. 46-52. -svas "going down from Jerusalem to 
 
 "• Joshua vi. 26. The man, also, Jericlio." — Luke x. 30 
 who fell among thieves, but was 
 
xxii Preface. 
 
 climbing the holy mount, or having blind eyes opened 
 by the wayside near Jericho. There are, alas, many 
 more who say and think they see, — who see the letter, 
 even as the Jews saw the flesh of Christ,— who yet nor 
 love nor follow His ways, and yet can sit and judge, and 
 justify to themselves their own narrow views of the eternal 
 Word. To them the Word is Joseph's son. They know 
 exactly wlience it is. They have never seen that human 
 form transfigured ; therefore it cannot be. With such 
 souls, all that is above them is " imagination ; " all that is 
 below them is " carnal formalism." What they see,— 
 where they are, — that is right. What they cannot re- 
 ceive is, if not downright error, at least questionable. 
 Such souls, instead of trying to understand what others 
 speak, try rather to make others speak only what they 
 understand. Thus their ignorance measures all things. 
 But they too shall see one day, when the veil is taken 
 away, and the Truth returns to judge all things. 
 
 The question is one of fitness to receive the Word ; for 
 He who is THE TRUTH, because He knows all men, and 
 knows what is in man, will not commit Himself to all 
 men, because all are not prepared to receive Him.'^ 
 If He has told us earthly things, and we believe not ; 
 how shall we believe if He tell us of heavenly things ? 
 But just as we can receive Him, so will He reveal Him- 
 self; shewing Himself after the flesh to fleshly men;^* 
 in the glory of His resurrection only to the elect and spi- 
 ritual.i3 But whether He veils or unveils, all is love. H He 
 
 " John ii. 24, 25. >2 pgalm xTiii. 25, 26. '^ ^^^^ x. 40, 41. 
 
Preface. xxiii 
 
 unveils, it is that we, with open face beholding as in a glass 
 the glory of the Lord, may be changed into the same image. 
 If He veils Himself, it is because He knows that His bright- 
 ness would destroy us ; therefore He tempers for us the glory 
 through the cloudy veil. We cannot yet bear the best things. 
 He has many things to say, which for a season His children 
 cannot bear. Isaac, the seed of promise, has but milk till 
 he is weaned : when he is weaned, a great feast is made in 
 Abraham's house ; ^* even as to this day there are fat things 
 on the lees for weaned souls, which unweaned souls receive 
 not, only because they cannot bear them. For the spiritual 
 man may say with Paul, "For me to depart, and be 
 with Christ," — for me to pass away from earthly things to 
 the Word within the veil, to Christ out of sight of men in 
 His heavenly glory, where Moses and Elias witness of 
 Him, — " this is far better. Nevertheless to abide in the 
 flesh," — in that which the world can apprehend, in out- 
 ward forms of truth, — " for others, this is more needful." 
 So Paul abides on earth, saying little of what he had seen 
 when he was caught up into Paradise ; while John is per- 
 mitted to record some of the wonders which an opened 
 heaven had revealed to him. 
 
 All this, because unaccustomed, may to some seem 
 strange. Then " as a stranger give it welcome : " receive 
 the stranger ; " for thereby some have entertained angels 
 unawares." What is foreign to our notions, or to the 
 notions of our age, may to us be new, while yet not new 
 to saints. It is mere folly to condemn, because what 
 
 '♦ Gen. xxi. 8. 
 
XXIV 
 
 Preface. 
 
 meets us is new to us, and greater folly to mock things as 
 mere dreams or fancies because we cannot see them. The 
 wisdom of man is as nothing to a beast ; so is the wisdom 
 of God counted as nothing by carnal animal men. The 
 chariots of fire were round Elisha, though his servant saw 
 them not, until in answer to prayer the young man's eyes 
 were opened to see what to the seer had all along been 
 open vision.^* A voice may come from a cloud, understood 
 by sons of God, although scoffing Jews, who have no ears 
 to hear, " said it thundered." ^^ Even a prophet may be 
 blind, and animal natures, like Balaam's ass, see more 
 than those who ought to guide them.^^ Not without rea- 
 son theretore is the prayer, " Open thou mine eyes, that I 
 may behold wondrous things out of thy law." For " the 
 natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither 
 can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned ; but 
 he that is spiritual discerneth all things, while he himself 
 is discerned of no man."^^ 
 
 For the views here given, there is the authority, not of 
 one or two, but of many saints through many hundred 
 years. And though these things were not first shewn me 
 by the Fathers, but opened in solitary communings with 
 the Word of God ; yet I am thankful to see that I am in 
 the same great circle and in the same spirit with the 
 Church of other days. With them I see the letter, and 
 within it what I call an inward, an outward, and a dispen- 
 sational application. They may call these moral, allegoric, 
 and anagogic senses; but the thing meant remains the 
 
 '* 2 Kings vi. 13-17. i' Numb. xxii. 23, 31. 
 
 •• John xii. 28, 29. " i Cqj.. ji. u, 15. 
 
Preface, xxv 
 
 same, namely, a perception of tbe same work of Grod on 
 different platforms. For they saw how God's work is re- 
 flected in many spheres, in the world within, and without, 
 and through extended ages ; His work on earth shadowing 
 forth still hio'her forms of the same work of the same 
 unchanging Lord.^^ Thankful am I that brethren gone 
 before had eyes to see and hearts to apprehend all this. 
 For what I owe them too I am thankful, thus proving that 
 the members of the body from age to age are not indepen- 
 dent of one another. Besides, some will not take truth 
 for authority, but want authority for truth. Such may 
 hearken to the witness of saints of other days. The 
 spiritual sense has indeed a witness far higher than holy 
 men : its works will prove from whence it is : but as the 
 Son of Grod received John's witness, so may the spiritual 
 sense, while possessing a higher testimony, refer to the 
 witness of the burning and shining lights of other days. 
 I have, therefore, added a few quotations from the Fathers. 
 Some may hearken to Augustine, who would not receive 
 truth as truth on its own authority. Such, having first 
 heard the witness of men, may at length hear the witness 
 
 '^ Readers of the Fathers know " Litera gesta docet ; quod credas, 
 
 that these different senses or appli- allegoria ; 
 
 cations of Scripture were generally Moralis, quod agas ; quo tendas, 
 
 received, and the principle of them anagogia." 
 apprehended, l)y the Church in earlier 
 
 days. What I have called the mwarc? Any one who cares to see the 
 
 application, they call 7;iora^ or i!roj5o- ground or principle of this triple 
 
 logic; what I call the outward or interpretation of Scripture will find 
 
 historic spiritual fulfilment, they call the question briefly but clearly stated 
 
 allegoric ; while the future or dis- by Thomas Aquinas ; Sumrti. Theol. 
 
 fcnsational iAx\^\me\-itthejc>\Vi a7ia- pt. i. qu. i. art. 10. Nicholas Lira 
 
 gogic, (from 01/070), to load upwards also, in the Prologue to his Notes 
 
 or onwards.) according to the well- on the Bible, goes fully into this 
 
 known lines, — subject. 
 
xxvi Preface. 
 
 of the Trutli itself. But such lights shew where those are 
 who need tliem ; for the light of the heavenly city and its 
 inhabitants is the Lamb. 
 
 Meanwliile He that hath the key of David is not far off. 
 He can shut so that none can open, and open that none 
 can shut. And my prayer is, that, where these things 
 should be liidden, they may be hidden, and where they 
 can be opened, they may be yet more opened. The book, 
 tliougli sealed with seven seals, opens to the once slain 
 Lamb. And if we, as members of His body, reach to par- 
 ticipation in His cross and resurrection, — if with Him 
 we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, daily dying 
 tliat we may live another higher life, — things once sealed 
 will open, being opened by the Lamb to those who are 
 partakers with Him in His death and resurrection. For it 
 is the death of nature, not its improvement, which takes 
 us through the veil. Improved nature will only better 
 shew us the things of nature. But let nature die, — let 
 the flesh be judged, — the spiritual world will dawn with 
 glories never to pass away. 
 
 r now submit these Notes to my brethren, in a deep 
 sense of their imperfectness. I have written the things 
 which I have seen ; and they are the things which are. 
 and the things which shall be. But I am assured that my 
 view is but one of many, and if it is definite, it is only 
 because I have not touched what is infinite. Of this view 
 I have attempted to trace the fulfilment, not only within, 
 but without, and in the dispensations. For in the world- 
 fulfilment of some of the scenes of man's development, 
 every eye will see the figure, which few will have eyes to 
 
Preface. xxvii 
 
 discern in the little sphere of their own soul. In a larger 
 sphere we may see what is beyond us in a smaller. In a 
 globe of quicksilver we see the whole horizon reflected; 
 but if this drop be shaken or sublimated so as to divide ard 
 form a hundred or a tliousand smaller spheres, in each orje 
 of the globules every object will be reflected as perfectly 
 as in the larger globe, though now the reflection on each 
 is quite beyond the range of our unaided vision. Thus 
 the world-fulfilment of the outcome of Adam will be per- 
 ceived by many, who cannot see the same fulfilment as 
 wrought within themselves. Let each learn what he may. 
 The lengths and depths of this ocean are all unfathomed 
 and unfathomable. 
 
 For myself, as one has said, to whom I am a debtor, " I 
 now return from the utterance of words, to the chamber of 
 my heart, to examine myself, whether in attempting right 
 things I have spoken the truth in a wrong way. For a 
 thing is rightly spoken, when he who speaks it seeks by 
 what he says to please Him alone from whom he has 
 received it. And though I am not conscious of having said 
 wrong things, I do not maintain that there are not any. 
 If I have said any true things by a gift from above, it is 
 my own fault that they are spoken so imperfectly. Yet 
 when I look closely at the very root of my intention, I 
 find that in this work I wished to please God ; and yet the 
 desire of human praise in some secret way may have crept 
 in ; and when at last and slowly I discern this, I find that 
 I do a thing in one way, which I know I began in another. 
 I believe it is worth my while to disclose this to my 
 brethren ; for since in my writing I have expressed my 
 
xxviii Preface. 
 
 better thouglits, in this my confession I would not hide 
 my failings. And because in the Church there are not 
 wanting little ones, whom I may teach, nor yet great ones, 
 who may pity and help my weakness, when made known 
 to them, from the one I withdraw not the help of my 
 words, from the othsr I conceal not the pain of my infir- 
 mities ; by my words seeking to confer assistance on some 
 at least of my brethren, by my confession hoping to receive 
 aid in return from them. I therefore beg every one who 
 reads this book, to give me before the Holy Judge the solace 
 of his prayers, and with tears for me to wash away every 
 filthiness he may discover in me. My reader will surpass 
 me in his recompense, if, where he receives words by my 
 means, he gives me tears in return." ^^ 
 
 2» Greg. M., Moral, in Job, 1. xxxv. c. 16. 
 
 November 30, 1857. 
 
^"^V^ ^<^'i:'>(yq'^^^:0:k;^ 
 
 :^^^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE WORK AND REST OF GOD. 
 
 (chapters I. II.) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I.— The Work of God 5 
 
 II.— The First Day 11 
 
 III. — The Second Day 14 
 
 IT.— The Third Day 18 
 
 v.— The Fourth Day 25 
 
 VI.— The Fifth Day 32 
 
 VII.— The Sixth Day 36 
 
 VIII.— The Seventh Day 42 
 
 PART I. 
 ADAM, OR HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 (CHAPTEB III.) 
 
 I. — Adam, or Man 63 
 
 II. — Man's Way 69 
 
 m.— The Fruit of Man's Way 76 
 
 IV.— The Remedy for Man 80 
 
 PART II. 
 CAIN AND ABEL, OR THE CARNAL AND SPIRITUAL MIND. 
 
 (chapters IV. V.) 
 
 I. — Cain and Abel, or the First and Second Birth . . . .88 
 
 II. — The Carnal and the Spiritual 94 
 
 III. — Their Lives 97 
 
xxs Contents. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 NOAH, OR REGENERATION. 
 (chapters vi.-xi.) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ,._Noah on the Ground of the Old Man 105 
 
 II. — Noah in the Waters 115 
 
 in.— Noah on the Earth beyond the Flood 122 
 
 IV. —Noah's Sons . . . . . • . . • .131 
 V. — Noah's Failure 142 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 ABRAHAM, OR THE SPIRIT OF FAITH. 
 
 (CHAPTEES XII. -XX.) 
 
 I. — Abrara's Separation from his Country and his Father's House . 163 
 
 II. — Abram's Separation from Lot 181 
 
 III. — Abram's Conflicts to deliver Lot 192 
 
 IV. — Abram's Trials through the Word of God and Prayer . . 202 
 
 V. — Abram's Efforts to be fruitful by Hagar 210 
 
 VI. —The true Way for Abram to be fruitful . . . .218 
 
 VII.— The End of Lot 228 
 
 VIII. — Abraham in the Philistines' Land 239 
 
 PART V. 
 
 ISAAC, OR THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP. 
 (chapters xxi.-xxvi.) 
 
 I. — The Birth of Isaac, and its Results 251 
 
 n.— The Offering up of Isaac 258 
 
 III. — Sarah's Death, and Isaac's Union with Rebekah . . . 265 
 IV. — Keturah, and Isaac at Lahai-roi 277 
 
 V. — The Trials of Isaac respecting Seed 285' 
 
 VI.— Isaac's Two-fold Seed, the Elder and the Younger . . .291 
 vn. — Isaac in the Philistines' Land 301 
 
Contents. xxxi 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 JACOB, OR THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE. 
 (chapters xxvii.-xxxvi.) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. — Jacob's Carnal Means to gain God's Ends .... 315 
 
 II. — The Motives to Service, and Encouragements by the Way . 324 
 
 III. — The Service for Wives and Flocks 332 
 
 IT. — The Departure from Laban 346 
 
 v.— The Journey to Canaan, and Change of Name . . . 351 
 
 VI. — The Sojourn in Succoth, and Dinah's Fall 357 
 
 VII.— The Return to Bethel 364 
 
 VIII.— The Seeds of Jacob and Esau 369 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 JOSEPH. OR SUFFERINa AND GLORY. 
 
 (chapters xxxvii.-l.) 
 
 I. — Joseph's Dreams, and Suffering from his Brethren . . . 381 
 II. — Judah's History ......... 386 
 
 III. — Joseph in Potiphar's House 394 
 
 IV. — Joseph in Prison ......... 399 
 
 V. — Joseph exalted over all Egypt ...... 408 
 
 INDEX 415 
 
Ej 5e eV) Twj/ TTjs KTiffews evia fihu avdK€irai t^ 0f^, evta 8e Kal ds yvaxriv 
 iKljkvde TTjv rjixerepav, ri ;(aA.e7rbj' et Kal rwv eV Ta?s ypa<pous Qqrovix^vwv, '6\wv 
 rwv ypacpwu TTvevixaTiKwv ovawv, %via fiev iiriXiofiev Kara x^P*'' Q^ov, ej/ja Se 
 dca/ceio-eTai to; ©eijS, Kai ou ^uo'voi' alwi^i iu r^ vvvl, aXXa Kal eV t^ fxeXKovri ; 
 fvo dfl uer ^ ©f^s SiSdcTKri, &ydp(airos Se Std Travrbs fiavddvp irapa Qeov. 
 
 Irenseus c. Her. 1. ii. c. 28. § 3. 
 
INTEODUCTIOK 
 
 THE WORK AND REST OF GOD. 
 
 (CHAPTERS I. II.) 
 
 " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away ; behold 
 all things are become new." 2 Coit. v. 17. 
 
 " God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, 
 to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 
 
 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 
THE WORK AND REST OF GOD 
 
 (chapters I. II.) 
 
 Genesis, like all the other books of Scripture, has its own 
 special end. Its object is to shew us the outcome or deve- 
 lopment of Adam or human nature, — to trace all the 
 different forms of life, which, either by grace or nature, 
 can grow out of the root of old Adam. In the letter we 
 are shewn here how old Adam acted, and what races and 
 peoples sprung out of him. In spirit we see how the " old 
 man " acts in us, and all the immense variety which can 
 and does grow out of him. Thus some forms of life are 
 presented to us which spring out of Adam or human 
 nature, simply by nature, according to the course of nature ; 
 and some forms of life there are which spring out of Adam 
 by grace, which are the result of a divine seed sown in that 
 poor soil, contrary to nature and to the course of natm-e. 
 It is a wondrous tale throughout, but all its secrets are 
 here, told out as none but Grod could tell them. 
 
 As a divine preface to this book, which shews us what 
 man is, and the fruit which his earthy nature can produce 
 under the creative word and will of Grod, we are shewn 
 what this earth was, and the gradual steps of its adorning, 
 from the time when it was " without form and void,"' with 
 
 B 2 
 
4 The Work and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 " darkness upon the face of the great deep," until after 
 liglit and life and fruit, " the image of God," the man 
 created in righteousness, is seen to rule it all. A fit 
 preface ; for in a man or world the work is one ; and, 
 indeed, man is himself a world, with realms within him 
 vast and affluent.' Darkness and light, and a great deep, 
 and earth and heaven, are in him. Passions move him 
 as the storms : volcanic fires rage or smoulder in him. 
 Thoughts too, as the work of God proceeds, stir in him, 
 and the realms within are peopled by them, as the air 
 with birds, the sea with fish, and the earth with living 
 creatures. Lest, therefore, our blindness should be unable 
 to trace God's work in the inner world of man, God writes 
 it in creation on the broad platform of an outer universe. 
 Lest we should be perplexed by the long detail of the 
 gradual development of Adam and his seed, God gives 
 the outline of it in the work of seven days. In each there 
 is a work of God upon an earthly creature. In each we 
 are shewn what in successive stages can be brought by 
 grace out of the creature. Thus the seven days of creation 
 are a type of. all God's work. Nothing is afterwards 
 revealed, but the seed of it is to be found in the days of 
 labour or in the day of rest. For in Genesis is hid all 
 Scripture, as the tree is in the seed ; and in the days of 
 creation is the seed of all Genesis. We shall see how 
 exactly the special work of the six days and the seventh 
 day's rest answer in their order to the stages of develop- 
 ment which are depicted in the seven great lives of 
 Genesis. The tale is one, like Ezekiel's vision, " a wheel 
 within a wheel," with " rings high and dreadful and full 
 of eyes on every side." 
 
 ' "Fst ergo hie mundus divince Hcx.\.\.q.^.^o\jOO Greg. M. Moral. 
 epecimoi) oporationis," &c. — Ambros. in Job. 1. \\. c. 16, § 20. 
 
iNTROD. The Work and Rest of God. 5 
 
 To this tale of creation I would now turn. Each part 
 will amply repay us. We may consider first the outline, 
 then some of the details, as illustrating the new creation 
 or regeneration. 
 
 § I. — The Work of God. 
 
 First then there is a creation of God announced — then a 
 partial ruin — then a restoration. " In the beginning God 
 created the heavens and the earth." ^ Of these first 
 " heavens" nothing further is here revealed to us;^ but of 
 tlie "earth" we read that it was " without form and void," 
 language used by the prophets to describe a state of 
 judgment and utter ruin.^ In some way not revealed 
 God's work had been destroyed. God then, in the six 
 days, restores that earth, not made dark by Him, yet now 
 in darkness ; and on this ruined earth His work proceeds, 
 till His image is seen, and He can rest there. Thus a 
 creation utterly wrecked is the ground for the six days' work. 
 On this dark and ruined mass appears what God can do. 
 
 The nature and state of the mass here worked on — the 
 means of its change — the steps of the work — all speak a 
 lesson not to be forgotten. 
 
 For its nature, it is " earth ; " its state, " without form 
 and void," with " darkness on the face of the great deep." 
 Nevertheless, it is not un cared for. God's Spirit broods 
 over it : — " the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
 waters."'* 
 
 This is yet true of the creature before God's work begins. 
 
 ' Chap. i. 1. words occur in Isa. xxxiv. 11, there 
 
 2 " Coelum ilia creatura invisibi- translated " confusion and empti- 
 lis supereminentium potestatum." — ness." Cf. Isa. xlv. 18. 
 
 Aug. d.i' Gen. ad lit. lib. impcrf. c. 3, * Chap. i. 2. " DDmJD, id est, in- 
 
 § 9. We find the same interpreta- cul)ebatvelfovebat, more volucris ova 
 
 tion, Conf. 1. xii. 13. 17. calore animantis." — Hieroii. Q. Hib. 
 
 3 Jt-r. iv. 23. The same original S« too Ambros. Hex. 1. i. c. 8, § 29. 
 
6 The Work and Rest of God, in-thod. 
 
 AVhy it is what we see it to be, is another deeper question 
 —one liere left unsolved — but its state remains a fact. Be- 
 fore God's word is heard, the creature, which is earthy, is 
 vt)id and formless, with an unkno^vn deep within. Upon 
 this deep all is darkness; yet God's Spirit is broodinor 
 there. The creature is helpless, but God is very near."^ 
 
 This creature begins nothing, continues nothing, per- 
 fects nothing. Of its change the agent is throughout the 
 ^^\)r(l of God. Life and power is in the Word. " God 
 said : " — this is the means, as in the first, so in the new, 
 creation. In both the first move is on God's part. When 
 nothing else moved, " the Spirit of God moved upon the 
 iiice of the waters." In both each new transformation is 
 the work of the Word, and its extent in exact proportion 
 to the measure in which the creature hears it. 
 
 All this is the A B C of Christian experience. Those, 
 in whom the work goes on, know that each succeeding step 
 is simply by the Word. From everlasting all the work had 
 been hid in Christ, the Eternal Word. Then, in time, 
 that which was in the wisdom of God is wrought actually 
 in the creature. Whether light, or a heaven, or fraits, or 
 heavenly lights, or the living creatures, or the man in 
 God's image, — each form of light and life, once hid in 
 Christ, is reproduced, manifested in the creature to the 
 Creator's praise. What was in Christ is step by step ac- 
 complished in the earth by the ^ ransforming power of the 
 same Word of God.^ Without this no change is or can be 
 wrought. No saint can grow or live without the Word. 
 
 * Soo Aug. Conf. 1. xiii. c. 12. insinunt exordium creatiirse, existen- 
 
 • "Cum dicitur, ^ In privclpw tis ab illo : perverbiim, perfectioiiem 
 fecit Dean! commemoratio Filii fit, creaturse ab illo ad ipsum revocatre, 
 qnia principium est • sed eum dicitur, lit formaretur inh?erendo Creatori.'* 
 ' JHxit DiiiR, fiat' rommomoratio, — Aug. de Ge?!. ad lit. Li. c. 4. 
 quia verbum est. Per priucipium, 
 
ixTROD. Tlie Work and Rest of God. 7 
 
 What was in the Word from everlasting, by the Word is 
 wrought in us, just in proportion as we are subject to it. 
 Observe two men, both Christians ; one neglects the Word, 
 and can pass day after day, buried in earthly things, witli- 
 out Grod's Word or meditation. Compare with him the 
 man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who 
 meditates therein day and night. The one is barren ; 
 there is no aptness to receive, and nothing is received. 
 The other grows like a tree planted by the rivers. 
 
 As to the steps of the work, its details must be traced, 
 if we would have anything like a just view of the wonder- 
 ful stages of regeneration. It may be well, however, to 
 premise a few remarks as to the general character of this 
 amazing work. 
 
 I observe then first, that the work was progressive. Not 
 at once, but through six successive days, was the crea- 
 tion perfected. In nature we have first the blade, then the 
 ear, then the full corn : the babe, the child, and then the 
 perfect man. So is it in grace. Days of labour, stage on 
 stage, must intervene, after which those in whom God 
 works may surely look for rest. Further, in spirit as in 
 letter, the work proceeds in all its stages from evening to 
 morning, from growing darkness to growing light, with 
 alternations of either, but ever from night to day, and not 
 from day to night.^ The evening and the morning make 
 the day. Though the light has come, darkness still at 
 times seems to threaten to resume its ancient reign. The 
 shades of temptation and the light of faith alternate for 
 awhile, till the day of rest comes, without an evening : the 
 one to remind us again and again of what the creature is 
 in itself; the other, what it is in Christ, the Word of 
 
 ' "The evening and tlie morning were the first day." Chap. i. 5. And so 
 of the other days. 
 
8 The Work and Rest of God, i> trod. 
 
 God.^ Thus from all things wrong does the work advance 
 step by step, till all is "very good." Let none forget this ; 
 for some there are who seeing Grod's end, to shew His glorious 
 image in the creature, forgetting the steps to this end, 
 ])itterly judge themselves, because as yet the image of God 
 is not revealed in them. Let such wait in patience. He 
 who hath begun the good work will perform it unto the 
 day of Jesus Christ. 
 
 P'urther, each stage, though imperfect, was " good " in 
 God's eyes. At each step it is repeated, " And God saw 
 that it was good." ^ To the awakened soul, feeling its im- 
 perfections, this is blessed, that from the first God can find 
 something which He pronounces "good." Not till the 
 sixth day is God's image seen. Then "behold, it is very 
 good." ^^ But from the first, at every step, " God saw that 
 it was good." At first nothing was changed : waters still 
 reigned everywhere : but the light had broken in. Dark- 
 ness at least now had a name : its character was perceived ; 
 and God saw this, that " it was good." 
 
 •* " Nequaquam in hac vita per ex- Moral, in Job. 1. viii. c. 10, § 21, Au- 
 
 ercitationem justitiae peccatum dese- gustine's mystic explanation here, 
 
 ritur, ut in ipsa iuconcusse maneatur, that the eveniiig describes what the 
 
 quia si jam a cordis habitaculo cul- creature is in itself, the morning 
 
 pam rectitudo eliminat, ipsa tamen what it is in the Word of Grod, is 
 
 culpa quae repellitur, cogitationis only another view of the same thing. 
 
 nosLrae foribus assidens, ut sibi ape- " Multum enim interest inter cogni- 
 
 riatur, pulsat. Quod Moyses spiritu- tionem rei in Verbo Dei, et eogni- 
 
 alitor innuit, dicens, Facta est lux, tionem ejus in natura ejus ; ut illud 
 
 ?it(\ue ])-du\6 ipost, Factum est vesj^ere. merito ad diem pertiueat, hoc ad 
 
 Creator quippe omnium humanse vesperam." — De Gen. ad lit. 1. iv. e. 
 
 culp* prsescius, tunc expressit in 23, § 40. 
 
 tempore quod nunc versatur in mente. ' In our version, and in the He- 
 Lumen namque rectitudinis umbra brew, this is omitted in the work of 
 sequitur tentationis. Sed quia elec- the second day ; but it is to be found 
 torum lux tentatione non extingui- here in the LXX. There may, how- 
 tur, nequaquam nox, sed vespera ever, be a reason for this omission 
 facta perhibetur ; quia tentatio in on the second day. 
 corde rectorum lumen justitise ab- '" Cbap. i. 31. 
 scondit, non interimit."' — Gre^. M. 
 
ixTKOD. The Work and Rest of God. 9 
 
 It is thus with God. When He looks upon us, He ever 
 sees what is of Christ, while a carnal brother perhaps is only 
 seeing the sin and failure in us. It is God-like to see 
 Christ in each other in the first stage of His work. One 
 can scarce fail to see Him when the image of God is come. 
 The thing is to see Him, as God sees Him, in the crea- 
 ture's change from the first. St. Paul in his Epistles 
 always does this. If he reproves the darkness and calls it 
 by its name, he sees the light also. Every Epistle begins 
 with a recognition of what was good in each Church. The 
 same may be seen in the Epistles to the Apocalyptic 
 Churches. So Barnabas, who " was a good man, and full 
 of the Holy Ghost," when he went to Antioch, " saw the 
 grace of God" in the disciples. ^^ Pilate would have seen 
 only their weakness. For a devil can mark our faults, but 
 it needs the grace of God to mark the dawn of grace. And 
 even if the fruit is not mature, if the juice be sour, grace 
 yet will say, " The vine with the tender grape gives a good 
 smell" ^2 
 
 One thing more I notice here. The work of creation has 
 two great parts ; the work of the first three days answering 
 to, and yet remarkably differing from, the work of the last 
 three. In each half the order is alike, and the part of creation 
 touched is the same. The difference is, that in the first 
 three days the work is hounding and dividing; in the last 
 three, furnishing and adorning,^^ In the first three days 
 a separation takes place between, or is caused by, that 
 
 " Acts xi. 23, 24. ris, sed in suae praedestinatione est 
 
 '2 Canticles ii. 13. "Viditqnia voluntatis, laudat singula, quasi con- 
 
 bonum. Vidit mihi, probavit mihi. venientia futuris : laudat plenitudi- 
 
 Quod Deus probavit, tu reprehensi- nem singulorum vcnustate composi- 
 
 bile ne dixeris. Quod Deus mun- tiim." — Ambros. Hex. 1. ii. e. 5. 
 
 davit, tu commune ne dixeris. ... '^ " Opus distinctionis primis tri- 
 
 Nec mirum si apud quern rerum per- b\is diebus, opus ornatus aliis tribiis 
 
 fectio, non in consummatione ope- sequentibus." — Lira, Fostill. in luto. 
 
10 The ^Vork and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 which is created of the Lord, and that which is proper to 
 the creature; by which what is natural to the creature is 
 restrained and bound : then the character of each is marked 
 by a name bestowed on each, the creature being thus made 
 to know the thoughts of God. On the first day light shines 
 out, and is divided from the darkness. Thus darkness at 
 once receives a bound. Then the light and darkness have 
 each a name bestowed : — " God called the light. Day, and the 
 darkness. Night." '* On the second, the expanse comes in to 
 bound and divide the waters : then comes its name : — " God 
 called it, Heaven." ^^ On the third, the earth appears, and 
 is divided from the seas, both at once receiving a name 
 from God in like manner. ^^ Thus far the work is dividing 
 and bounding. In the next three days the order is the 
 same, but the work is furnishing. In these days we do 
 not find "'God called,'' but ''God macZe;"^^this latter half 
 being throughout j)^^f acting. 
 
 All this is yet fulfilled in regeneration, and will be ap- 
 prehended by those who press on to " the perfect man." ^^ 
 Half the process is hounding; a dividing in the creature 
 between that which is of self and that which is of God. 
 At this stage we are submitting to have what is natural to 
 us restrained, and thus learning to distinguish His work 
 from what is om-s in us. At the same time we are taught 
 to call things as God calls them. After this, after the 
 third day, when resurrection power is known, (for on the 
 "third day" here as elsewhere resurrection comes out 
 clearly,) the work is to adorn or perfect rather than to 
 divide and bound. Light, and heaven, and earth now 
 are not only distinguished from their opposites ; but each 
 gets furnished with the life or light suited to it. At this 
 
 " Chap. i. 5. »6 Chap. i. 10. is j^^i^^ [y^ 13, 
 
 "Chnp. i. 8. ''Chap. i. 16, 21, 25. 
 
iKTROD. The Work cuul Rest of God. 1 1 
 
 stage we perceive " God onade,'" for, as tlie work proceeds, 
 it is more and more seen that all is done by GodJ^ From 
 the first God had said, "Let there be," and "It was so:" 
 but now it is seen, not only that " He spake and it was 
 done," but further that " He did it." So true is it that 
 advance in grace shews that all things are of God, and 
 that only of His own do we give Him. We shall see this 
 better as we come to each successive step ; best of all, if 
 we experimentally know the work within. 
 
 I now turn to the special work of each of the days in 
 order, to trace the progressive steps of the new creation ; 
 for though the work has two great parts, first bounding, 
 then adorning, yet each of these has steps, answering to 
 the successive days. In these steps we shall be shewn 
 how all the mind of God, that which was in the Son from 
 everlasting, — whether light, or a heaven, or fruits, or 
 heavenly lights, or the living creatures, or the man in 
 God's image, — each form of light and life, once hid in 
 Christ, is by the Word reproduced and manifested in the 
 creature. The depths here are unfathomed ; what is upon 
 the surface will suffice to shew lengths and breadths more 
 than enough for us. 
 
 § II.— The First Day. 
 
 The work begins with light. God said, " Let there he 
 light," ^ and at once light shone where all before was dark. 
 God says, "Eepent ye — the kingdom of heaven is at 
 
 " '• Fides autem nostra quodam Ne vere increata et sine 
 
 gressu crescit: ideo primo fecit principio crederentur," &c. — Am- 
 
 Deus, postea venust<wit Et bras. Hexmn. 1. i. c. 7. 
 
 fortasse dicant, cur non sinuil or- ' Chap. i. 3. 
 
 natiis coneruoo donavit elemeutib 'i 
 
12 Tlie ]york and Rest of God. introt). 
 
 hand :" then our darkness displeases us, and we are turned 
 to light.* Tluis of all those blessings hid in Christ from 
 everlasting, and which are predestinated to be accom- 
 plished in the creature, light is the first that is bestowed : 
 " God shines in our hearts to give the light of the know- 
 ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." ^ 
 But the " heaven " announced "at hand" is yet unformed. 
 No sun yet shines, no fruits adorn the creature. Many 
 steps remain before the image of God will come, the man 
 created in righteousness, to rule all things. But the light 
 is come, and it is good : " truly the light is sweet," though 
 as yet we cannot add, " and a pleasant thing it is to see the 
 sun."'* It is, however, yet " light " rather than " lights ;" ^ 
 not defined as it shall be ; for as the voice differs from the 
 word, so this light differs from that sun which appears in 
 due season. Whether it is the reflected light of faith 
 resting on the Church's witness, or the direct light of 
 truth from Christ Himself within us, or whether it be 
 something more undefined, is not yet perceived : it is at 
 least " light," and" it is good." " God saw the light that it 
 was good." After awhile the day-star too shall rise within.^ 
 Then at once comes a division between what is of God 
 and what is not ; between the natural darkness in the 
 creature and the light which God has made.^ The dark- 
 
 ^" Terra nostra antequara acci- ^ The word here translated "%/;/," 
 
 peret formam doctrinse invisibilis is different from that used on the 
 
 erat et inoomposita, et ignorantiie fourth day, and which is rendered 
 
 t«iiebris tegebamur. Sed quia Spi- ^'lights.'" The Vulgate translates the 
 
 ritus tuus ferebatur euper aquam, first by lux, the latter by luminaria. 
 
 non reliquit miseriam nostram mise- thus marking the difference. The 
 
 ricordia tua, et dixisti, ' Fiat lux,' LXX. also translate with two differ- 
 
 'penitentiara agite, appropinquavit ent words, using (pws in the third 
 
 enim regnum ccelorum,' " &c. — Aug, verse, and ^a'o-TTjpes in the fourteenth. 
 
 iJonf. 1. xiii. c. 12. « 2 Pet. i. 19. 
 
 3 2 Cor. iv. 6. » Chap. i. 4. 
 
 ♦ Ecel. XX. 7. 
 
:iNTROD. TliG TTor/j and Rest of God. 13 
 
 ness is yet unchauged, but it is bounded by the light ; 
 each by its nature more clearly shewing what the other 
 is : and these not mingled together, for " what fellowship 
 hath light with darkness?" but separate, as it is written, — 
 " Grod divided the light from tlie darkness." This is a 
 well-known stage. The light shines in darkness, but the 
 darkness comprehends it not. Two conflicting powers 
 are striving each to gain the day, making the old domain 
 of darkness a continually shifting but ceaseless battle 
 field. 
 
 Then a name is given by God both to light and dark- 
 ness ; " that is, the character of each is learnt according to 
 the mind of Grod. It is not yet seen indeed how the 
 creature's darkness, like death, will bring to view still 
 greater wonders of Grod's work in worlds of light innu- 
 merable. This is seen at a later stage, when in our night 
 and darkness, yea even by it, the countless forms of 
 Grod's light in heavenly places, which the day hides from 
 sight, are made manifest. But now the darkness has 
 at least a name. What God calls it, we call it. His 
 thoughts are not altogether strange to us. Natural as the 
 .darkness may seem to the creature, God calls it " night,^^ 
 or deviation. It is a turning from the right or straight 
 line.^ The light is " day,^^ or movement : there is a dis- 
 turbance of the darkness. Death rules no longer ; life 
 with light is come.^° Besides in this name there is a 
 form given to both. Until now light and darkness were 
 
 • Chap. i. 5. light." "A good telescope (on a 
 
 ' The word n^v. ^iff^i, means hot day, the naked eye) will shew 
 
 deviation, from a root signifying to us what a tumult arises in th« air 
 
 wind or turn. See Parkhurst's note from the agitation of the rays of 
 
 lon the word. light at noonday," &c. — Wi/lia/n 
 
 '» The day, D1V "from D'»,7W(9^io7?, Jones's Principles of Natural Phl- 
 
 ifrom the agitation of the celestial losophj/, -p. 2-il, quoted hyFdTkhx\i6t, 
 
 fluid, under the influe. ce of the sub voce. 
 
14 The ]Yorh and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 iiiiformod, but "day" and " night " intimate order and 
 distribution. Night is darkness put within limits. So 
 with light ; it is not " day," till it is arranged and put in 
 form and order. '^ ^Yhen thus arranged, we can say, not 
 of night only, but of darkness, " The day is thine, the 
 night is thine also." ^^ And though as yet on the face of 
 the creature little is wrought, though as yet salt and 
 barren waters may extend everywhere, a change has been 
 effected by the light, the importance of which none can 
 fully estimate but those who from being once darkness 
 are now light in the Lord, and which shall advance step by 
 step till Grod's will is done in the earth as it is in heaven. 
 Of this day I only add, that on it the creature's state is 
 very slightly, if at all, realized. Whether waters cover it, 
 — whether there is or is not a heaven, — (there is, I need 
 not say, no heaven upon the first day,) — whether firm 
 ground exists or not, this is not yet noticed. The second 
 day must come before the tossing waves, which are up- 
 permost everywhere, begin to be perceived. So with us. 
 There is at first a general sense of sin ; but what is the 
 exact state of things is not perceived. There is light and 
 darkness ; but that no heaven is formed within, no firm 
 earth, this as yet is overlooked. And great mercy is it 
 that we learn what we are and lack by degrees ; else surely 
 we should at first despair. 
 
 § III. — The Second Day 
 
 The second day's work is the forming of an expanse or 
 heaven in the creature, by which the hitherto unbounded 
 
 " "Non enim omnis lux dies, aut nilms appellantur." — Aug. d.e Gen, 
 
 omnos teni-brse nox ; sedlux ettene- ad lit. lih. imperf. c. 26. 
 l;r?e certis inter se vicilms onlinate "' Psalm Ixxiv. 16. 
 
 atque dihUnctaj, diei et noctis nomi- 
 
 
iNTROD. The Work a)ui liest of God. 15 
 
 waters are divided frora the waters. God then names the 
 expanse.* At this stage the state of the creature, that it is 
 drowned in waters, begins to be perceived. 
 
 Such is the second state or stage in the new creation. 
 In the midst of the waters a heaven is formed in the once 
 benighted creature. That unstable element, so quickly 
 moved by storms, is the well-known type of the restless 
 desires of the heart of fallen man ; for " the wicked are 
 like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters 
 cast up mire and dirt." ^ Before regeneration, unquiet 
 lusts everywhere prevail : the whole man or creature is 
 drowned and buried in them. In the progress of the new 
 creation, these waters are not at once removed : indeed, 
 they are never wholly removed till that other creation 
 comes, when there is " no more sea." ^ They are first 
 divided by a heaven ; then bounded on the third day 
 when the dry land rises up out of them. This heaven 
 represents the understanding opened, as the rising earth 
 upon the third day shews us the will liberated. For till 
 now, " the understanding has been darkened ; " ^ nay, it is 
 written of the natural man that he has " no understand- 
 ing." ^ But now the heaven is stretched. Christ " opens 
 the understanding " of those who before this had been His 
 disciples.^ And thus another precious gift, once hid with 
 Christ in God, now by Christ is wrought in us also. A 
 heaven is formed within the creature ; a heaven into which 
 
 * Chap. i. 6-8. sideriis rectis inhseremus, jam prava 
 
 2 Isa. Ivii. 20. So Gregory the opera foris abscindimus ; sed tamen 
 
 Great, — " Quid est mare, nisi cor latenter intus ea, cum qua hue veni- 
 
 nostrum, furore turbidum, rixis mus, vitseveterisprocellafatigamur." 
 
 amarum, elatione superbise tumi- Moral, in Job. I. xxviii. c. 19, § -iS. 
 
 dum, fraude malitise obscurum ; quod ^ Kev, xxi. 1. 
 
 mare, quantum sseviat, attendit quis- * Eph. iv. 18. 
 
 quis in se occultas cogitationum ' Rom. iii. 1 1 
 
 tentationes intelligit. Ecce enim * Luke xxiv. 45, and compare Col. 
 
 jam perversa relinquimus, jam de- i. 9, ii. 2, and 1 John v. 20. 
 
16 The Work and Rest of God, introt*. 
 
 darkness may return, and through which clouds shall pour 
 as well as bright sunshine ; a heaven which for sin may be 
 shut up and become like brass,^ but which was made to be 
 the home and treasure-house of sweet and dewy showers ; 
 a heaven, like Israel's path through the sea of old, sorely 
 threatened by dark and thick waters, but, like that same 
 path, a step to resurrection power, and worthy to be 
 called " heaven," even by Grod Himself ; influencing the 
 eartli in untold ways, here attracting, there repelling ; the 
 great means after light of arranging and disposing all 
 things.^ By it the waters are bounded. Until now, they 
 have flowed hither and thither without a bound, and without 
 a rest also. But the heaven is formed ; then a bound is 
 set, where hitherto the restless waters have prevailed. 
 
 Then again comes division. A heaven in the creature 
 at once " divides the waters from the waters." ^ Some 
 remain below ; some are above or in the heaven. The 
 waters henceforth are rent in twain. Some rise, purged 
 of their saltness, and become the fruitful clouds, in which 
 the bow of the covenant shall be set in due season. Some 
 are yet the barren sea. And so within. Of our desires 
 and affections, some are raised and purified, not without 
 sore rendings ; and some are as before, unquiet and un- 
 bounded, save by the heaven over them.^° 
 
 After this the expanse receives a name from Grod. It is 
 called " heaven" that is the arranger :^^ so called, because 
 
 ' Lev. xxvi. 19 ; 1 Kings viii. 35. '" " Ketulerint aliqui coelos coelo- 
 
 ^ "Hoc nomine firmamenti ipsa rum ad intelligibiles virtutes, firma- 
 
 tranquillitas et magna pax reriira meutum ad operatorias . . , . Alii 
 
 significari potest ; nnde illud in quoque purificatorias virtutes inter- 
 
 Psalmis, ' Et Veritas tua usque ad pretati sunt aquas quae super coelos 
 
 nubes.' Nihil enim firmius et sere- sunt." — Avibros. Hexcem. 1. ii. c. 1, 
 
 nius veritate." — Aug. de Gen. ad lit. § 17. 
 
 lib. impcrf. c. 14, § 45. " " Heb. D''tDSJ^. the placers or 
 
 * Chap. i. 7. arrangers, from Qt^, to t.et or place; 
 
iNTROD. The Work and Rest of God. 17 
 
 this heaven, in ways above our thoughts, is the great agent 
 in arranging everything. Little do men now think of the 
 heavens, or perceive what forces around us are at work 
 everywhere. We speak in our wisdom of the " three king- 
 doms," — the animal, vegetable, and mineral, — as if these 
 three were all. Genesis will shew us yet another, on which 
 all these depend. For as the animal depends upon the 
 vegetable, and that upon the mineral, so the mineral 
 itself depends upon another kingdom, which was yet 
 earlier. Some have called it the meteoric. On this the 
 mineral world depends, as the very names of some of 
 the metals, come down to us from days when there was 
 greater insight, yet testify. Now this " heaven," or meteoric 
 kingdom, — formed of old over the eartli, before the 
 mineral, as that before the vegetable and animal, — was 
 called by God the arranger^ to effect great marvels, by 
 what we now call attraction, repulsion, electricity, or eva- 
 poration. And so the " heaven," which is formed within 
 by the Word, is the arranger^ and in that inward world 
 must precede the gold and fruits and living creatures. 
 Some have tried without tliis " heaven " to have gold and 
 fruits and life. What have they got ? Not God's work, 
 but Satan's imitation. The heaven must be first within, 
 if we would have true fruits, even as true fruits must 
 precede the living creatures. 
 
 because tho heavens are the agents which are attributed to them in Scrip- 
 in arranging things on earth, "Ttiis ture, and which it has been of late 
 appeUation was first given by Grod years the fashion to ascribe to al- 
 io the celestial fluid or air, when it traction, aravitation, &c." — Park- 
 began to act in cZi67Josm(7 or arm/ ww^ hurst's Hch. Lex. sub voce. It is 
 tho earth and watt-rs. And since that worthy of notice that the ancient 
 lime the CDLJ' have been the great Greeks derived Q^ohsivomQiais; for 
 agents in fZi.9po67»^ all material things the same reasons. — Hcrodot. 1. ii. c. 
 in their places and orders.and thereby 62 
 producing all those wondurtul eflfects 
 
18 TJie Tror/u and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 Further, I observe, on this second day, that the crea- 
 ture's state begins to be discerned. The waters now are 
 not overlooked, as upon the first day. It is now noticed 
 that below the heaven all is buried in them ; and this dis- 
 covery, though painful, is a step to better things. Still, as 
 yet there is no earth, nothing " stablished, strengthened, 
 settled ; " ^^ but this, too, comes in due season. 
 
 § IV. -The Third Day. 
 
 For on the third day the earth emerges from the waters.* 
 Up to this point the unquiet element, which is naturally 
 uppermost in the creature, has prevailed everywhere. 
 Light has come, and shewn the waste ; a heaven is formed 
 within it; but nothing fixed or firm has yet appeared. 
 Just as in the saint there is first light, and a heaven too 
 within, while as yet he is all instability, with nothing firm 
 or settled. But now the firm earth rises. The state de- 
 sired by Paul, — " that we be no more tossed to and fro with 
 every wind of doctrine, but may grow up in all things into 
 Him who is the Head, even Christ," ^ — here begins to be 
 accomplished. Now the will, long buried and overwhelmed 
 with tossing lusts, rises above them to become very fruitful ; 
 and the soul, once lost in passions, emerges from the deep, 
 like " the earth which He hath founded for ever." 
 
 This earth rises out of the waters. Above their storms 
 and waves something fixed appears, setting a limit to 
 them. Seas yet may remain ; at times they roar against 
 the land; but from this time they cannot overflow it. 
 *• He hath set a bound that they may not pass over, that 
 they turn not again to cover the earth." ^ "He hath 
 
 '2 1 Pet. V. 10. ' Chap. i. 9. - Eph. iv. 14, 15. ' Psalm civ. 9. 
 
iNTRoi). The Work and Rest of God. 19 
 
 placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual 
 decree that it cannot pass it ; and though the waves thereof 
 toss themselves, yet can they not prevail ; though they 
 roar, yet can they not pass over it." ^ And when we think 
 what a bound it is — the shifting sand ; when we think 
 how, as the wise man says, " all the rivers, — all the tor- 
 rents of passion, — run into the sea, yet it overflows not ; " ^ 
 when we think how oft it rages under the gales of lust, 
 and yet the dry land fails not, nor sinks before it ; we must 
 confess God's hand in its preservation, as in its first ap- 
 pearing, and that it is His word and will that keep the 
 bound. For " He shut up the sea with bars and doors, 
 when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb : 
 He said. Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further, and 
 here shall thy waves of pride be stayed."^ Nay, more. 
 Here, as in all things, " out of the eater comes forth meat, 
 and out of the strong comes forth sweetness." "^ Not only 
 do the waves not destroy the earth, but the rough gales 
 borne from their vexed bosom are full of health and 
 bracing. We could not atford to lose them. Trying as 
 they are for a while, and most hurtful if we have not gome 
 protection, the gales of lust and temptation will strengthen 
 while they move us : by them noxious exhalations are 
 carried far away. In the world to come we shall want no 
 storms ; therefore " no sea " is there. Here we need it ; 
 therefore it is left in love to try us. Yea, these seas and 
 their roaring may praise the Lord, for He sitteth King 
 above the water-floods ; and all their tempests within, like 
 the wrath of man without, in ways above our present 
 thoughts, yet praise Him.® But the work here, the rising 
 
 * Jer. V. 22. ^ Job xxxviii. 8, 11. 
 
 * Eccl. i. 7. ' Judges xiv. 14. 
 
 Psalm Ixxvi. 10. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 The ^Vorh and Rest of God, inteod. 
 
 earth, is to restrain these waves. Good may come out of 
 their roarings; the greater good, the special work of this 
 flay, is to bound them, to form a fixed and quiet habitation. 
 So the earth is freed. Need I repeat the lesson here, that 
 it is by checking our desires — by bounding the unstable 
 clement in us — that the man is made free ? ^ 
 
 There is yet more for us to mark in this emerging earth. 
 Not only does it escape the floods : it comes up also into 
 the expanse of heaven. That creature, so long buried, now 
 mounts up to meet the skies, as though aspiring to touch 
 and become a part of heaven ; while on its swelling bosom 
 rest the sweet waters, the clouds, which embrace and kiss 
 the hills. When the man by resurrection is freed from 
 re.^tless lusts ; when he comes up from under the do- 
 minion of passions into a state of rest and peace; not 
 only is he delivered from a load, but he also meets a 
 piuer world, an atmosphere of clear and high blessing: 
 where even his hard rocks may be furrowed into channels 
 for the rain ; heaven almost touching earth, and earth 
 heaven. 
 
 Not without awful convulsions can such a change be 
 wrought. The earth must heave before the waters are 
 gathered into one place. The Psalmist marks this, when 
 he says, " The waters stood above the hills:" then — "at 
 
 ' " CoDclusit ostiis mare ; quia Quia vero ea, quse cernimns, sequi 
 
 nisi ab ipso cogitiitionis primordio prohibemur, quia a corporearum 
 
 cordis fluctus gratia divina retineret, rerum delectatione retundimiir : li bet 
 
 ttntationum procellis mare sseviens rtiam ad invisibilia oculos mentis 
 
 tf-rram proculdubio humanse mentis attollere," &c. — Grecj. M. Moral, in 
 
 obniissfct : ut salsis fluctibus perfu.sa Job. 1. xxviii. c. 19, § 43. The 
 
 aresceret, id est, perniciosis car- whole passage to the end of the 
 
 nis voluptatibus delectata deperiret. book is very striking, and will amply 
 
 Solus ergo Dominus ostiis mare repay any reader the trouble of 
 
 conoludit, qui pravis motibus cordis turning to it. 
 cldustra iuspirata lormidiuis objicit. 
 
iKTROD. The Work and Rest of God. 21 
 
 thy rebuke they fled ; at the noise of thy thunder they 
 hasted away : tliey go up by the mountains, they go down 
 by the valleys, unto tlie place which Thou hast founded 
 for them." ^° Some have felt all this within : the eartli 
 clean dissolved — the earth broken down and moved ex- 
 ceedingly — the earth reeling like a drunkard, and re- 
 moved like a cottage — preparatory to binding the host of 
 lusts which have held sway over it ; till they are gathered 
 together as prisoners in a pit, and shut up in their prison. 
 Many a soul shews rents and chasms like the steep moun- 
 tains. Nevertheless, " the mountains bring peace, and the 
 little hills righteousness." 
 
 And this is effected on the third or resurrection day ; for 
 in creation, as elsewhere, the " third day " always speaks of 
 resurrection.^^ We shall see in the development of Adam 
 or man that the third great life, I mean Noah's, is regene- 
 ration ; for in man, as in the earth, much is wrought ere 
 the flood is passed. The earth rises not before the third 
 day. Just so in the world within: much is done before 
 this day, before we know anything of " the power of resur- 
 rection." '2 But " after two days He will revive us ; in the 
 third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. 
 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord."'^ 
 
 Then the earth being raised, and so separated from the 
 waters, a name is bestowed on both by God. " The dry 
 land He called Earth ; and the gathering together of the 
 waters. Seas." ^'* Here, as elsewhere, the name is character- 
 istic ; and, in this instance, it seems easy to trace the 
 
 '" Psalm civ. 7, 8. cus will be unintelligible till we see 
 
 " The" third day" is TeBxirrection this. Compare Hosea vi. 2 ; Lake 
 
 in one aspect, as deliverance from the xiii, 32 ; 1 Cor. xv. 4. 
 
 grave; fur there are other aspects '^ Phil. iii. 10. 
 
 of resurrection, as the " first'' and '^ Hosea vi. 2, 3. 
 
 ''eighth" day. The book of Leviti- '■» Chap. i. 10. 
 
22 The ^York and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 tlioiiolit intended to be conveyed by these titles. The 
 word " seds,''^ in the Hebrew, means tumults or agita- 
 tions.^^ The word " earth,^^ like our word " ground," 
 describes a substance which will suffer itself to be re- 
 duced to powder, and so is fitted to take any form as 
 God pjeases ; ready to be framed by the will and wisdom 
 of the Great Potter, to be animal or vegetable, as He 
 willJ^ For, indeed, tree or beast, of earth they are, to 
 earth they return. Earth is the pliant clay from which 
 their forms come. It is ''earth;" therefore a creature 
 meet to be used, ready to be transformed into fruits or 
 bodies, according to the will of God. Need I apply this 
 within? Surely, till we are such "earth" or "ground" 
 broken and ready to take what form He pleases, though 
 the light is come, fruits will be wanting ; for to this day it 
 is " out of the ground that the Lord God makes every tree 
 to grow." ^^ 
 
 Then the earth brings forth fruit. ^^ Fruitfulness, hitherto 
 delayed, at once follows the bounding of the waters. For, 
 " being made free from sin, we have fruit unto righteous- 
 ness, and the end everlasting life." ^^ The order of the 
 produce is instructive ; first the grass, then the herb, then 
 
 '^ Heb. COV from Q**, tumult. or its usefulness in continually sup- 
 
 '* Heb. |"1X. " Various etymo- plying the waste of vegetable and 
 
 logi'es have been by learned men animal bodies, must depend. It is 
 
 proposed of this word; the most not improbable that the Greek word 
 
 probable seems to be that which de- x^'^''» from the Hebrew f\'2, to pound 
 
 rives it from |>-), hrcaking in pieces, to pieces, the Latin terra, from tero, 
 
 crumbling. 'The matter of earth,' A>wmr aw'ay, and the English ^ro?/w<:?, 
 
 says the great Boerhaave, ' appears from grind, all aimed at the same 
 
 friable or crumbling, so long as it etymological reasons." — Parkhurst, 
 
 continues under the observation of Heh. Jax. sub voc. 
 our senses, as it always readily '^ Chap. ii. 9. 
 
 suffers itself to bo reduced to a finer '^ Chap. i. 11. 
 
 powder.' And it is manifest, that '^Rom.Ti.22. " Si enimistas aquas 
 
 on this remarkable property o^ Earth, qusesunt sub ccelo non separavimus a 
 
 its answering the end of its creation, nobis, id est peccata et vitia corporis 
 
iNTROD. The ]Vorlx. and Best of God. 23 
 
 the fruit-tree yielding fruit after liis kind ; ^^ as ever, the 
 blade before the ear, the small before the great, from im- 
 perfection onwards to perfection. The first thing borne 
 is " grass," the common emblem of the flesh. ^^ Is it asked 
 how the risen creature can bring forth fruits, which are, 
 like the goodliness of the grass, of the flesh and carnal ? 
 Because for long the regenerate man is yet " carnal," and 
 his fruits are in the flesh, though with sincere desires for 
 God's glory. The development of Adam, as exhibited in 
 the Word, not to say experience, gives proofs on proofs of 
 this. The Corinthians, too, were " carnal," though with 
 many spiritual gifts.^^ But after " grass " comes " herb 
 and tree," with " seed and fruit ; " some to feed the hungry, 
 some to cure the serpent's bite ; some hid in a veil of 
 leaves, or bound in shapeless husks ; some exposing their 
 treasures, as the lovely vine and olive ; the one to cheer 
 man's heart, the other to give the oil to sustain the light 
 for Grod's candlestick. Such is the faithful soul, with many- 
 coloured fruits, " as the smell of a field which the Lord 
 blesses." 2^ The form of the fruit may vary ; its increase 
 may be less or more — some thirty, some sixty, some an 
 hundredfold; for " the fruit of the Spirit may be love, or 
 peace, or faith, or truth, or gentleness;"^'* but all to the 
 praise of His grace, who bringeth forth fruit out of the 
 earth, '' fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ."^'' 
 
 nostri, arida nostra non poterit appa- aLjiciamus a nobis." — Origen. in 
 
 rere, nee habere fi'luciam procedendi Gen. Horn. i. fol. 1. 
 
 ad lucem. (Referring to the connec- 2" Chap. i. 11. 
 
 tion between this day's work and the ^' 1 Pet. i. 24. 
 
 lights on the fourth day, to which 2- Compare 1 Cor. i. 4, 7, with 
 
 this third day was a step.) Omnis 1 Cor. ii. 1, 4. 
 
 enira qui male agit odit lucem, et ^^ Gen, xxvii. 27. 
 
 non venit ad lucem, ut non manifes- ^^ Gal. v. 22. 
 
 tarentur opera ejus: qu;eutique fidu- " pjiji \ jj^ «• At animns siti- 
 
 cianon aliterdabitur,nisiyelutaquas entes tibi, et apparentes tibi alio 
 
24 The }yovh and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 Nor let lis forget, — " wliose seed is in itself, after his 
 kind." 2" God's fruits all multiply themselves : this is their 
 constitution. The tree propagates itself; every fruit pro- 
 duces more : so every act of charity has in it the seed of 
 other acts. As one lie breeds another, so one truth pro- 
 duces more. Love bears love, anger, anger, and kindness, 
 kindness. There is another and higher fruitfulness, 
 which we get on the last two days ; yet this of the third 
 day is lovely in its season. The law of creation cannot 
 change. God has said, " Let the tree yield fruit after his 
 kind, whose seed is in itself." Every act, therefore, will 
 yield its fruits ; " the seed is in itself," to propagate itself 
 in increasing measure from age to age, even for ever. 
 
 It only remains to notice that at this important stage 
 the state of the creature is no longer unperceived. What it 
 shall be, is not known ; but what it is, seems realized on 
 this third or resurrection day. Not till this stage is the 
 creature known. And so throughout the Jewish age, the 
 creature was not known, because resurrection was not appre- 
 hended. But after resurrection it is seen what the creature 
 is in itself, and the change which God has wrought in it. 
 On this day the light is seen, the seas are seen, the heaven 
 is seen, and, last in order, the earth is seen with herb and 
 
 fine distinctas a societate maris, oe- vellemus opem ferri, si eodem modo 
 
 culto et dulci fonte irrigas, ut et indigoremiis ; non tantum in facili- 
 
 terra det fructura suum, et dat fruc- bus, tanquam in herba seminal i, sed 
 
 tum siuim,et tejubente Domino Deo etiam in protectione adjutorii forti 
 
 ^uo germinat anima nostra opera mi- robore, sicut lignum fructiferum, 
 
 sericordiae, secundum genus, diligens prsebendo protectionis umbraculam." 
 
 proximura in subsidiis necessitatum Auff. Confess. 1. xiii. c. 17, § 21. 
 
 carnalium, habons in se semen se- So, too, Gregory the Great, Moral. 
 
 oundtini similitudinem, quoniam ex in Job. 1. vi. c. 35, § 54. So also 
 
 nostra infirmitato compatimur ad Origen. Hoyn. i. in Gen., and Am- 
 
 Bubveniendum indigentibus : simili- bros. Hex. 1. iii. c. 7, § 31. 
 
 ter opitulantes quemadmodum nobis ^s Chap. i. 11. 
 
iNTROD. The Work and Rest of God. 25 
 
 tree. On tliis day the separating process ends ; for things 
 are known. What is now wanted is perfecting ; and this 
 is next accomplished.'^^ 
 
 Such is the work of the first three days, deepening at 
 every step ; first li(jJd upon the deep ; then a heaven in 
 the midst of the waters, which lie uppermost; then a 
 lifting up and working upon that which was lower still, 
 the earth, which until now had been buried and concealed. 
 Some have learnt this deepening process. I observe, too, 
 that the work was comparatively slow until the third day. 
 Upon this day God speaks twice ;^*^ and the amount of 
 work is equal to or exceeding that of the two preceding- 
 days. Surely it is a mighty change. Twice on the third 
 day is it repeated, " And God saw that it was good." ^'^ If 
 we have reached the third day, we shall know how good it 
 is. If we have not reached it, let us pray and wait for it. 
 
 § v.— The Fourth Day. 
 
 Hitherto we have traced but one half of the work which 
 God accomplishes vipon the creature which is subject to 
 His word. Now, having reached " the third day," we pass 
 from the stages in which tlie work for the most part 
 
 2^ Augustine thus briefly sums lia et spiritalia, sicut inter aqua,s 
 
 up the inward fulfilment of the work inferiores et su{)eriorps. Tertio die, 
 
 of the first three days: — "Habot quo mentem suam ad ferendos bo- 
 
 etiam unusquisque nostrum in bonis norum operum fructus, a labe et 
 
 operibus et recta vita tanquam dis- fluctibustentationumcarnalium, tan- 
 
 tinctos istos sex dies, post quos debet quam aridam terra m a perturbationi- 
 
 quietem sperare. Prime die lucem bus maris secernit, ut jam possit 
 
 fidei, quando prius in\nsibilibus ere- dicere, Mente servio legi Dei, carne 
 
 dit, propter quam fidem Dominus autem legi pecoati." — I)f Gen. con- 
 
 visibiliter apparere dignatus est. Se- ira Manick. 1. i. c. 25, § 43. 
 
 cundo die tanquam firmamentiim -■'* Chap. i. 9. 11. 
 
 discipiinae, quo disceruit inter carua- '^^ Chap. i. lU, 12. 
 
26 The Work and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 is bounding and resfralnlnfj^ to those where the work 
 is adorning and perfecting; when, the distinction being 
 clearly made between what is of Grod and what is natural 
 to the creatnre, He proceeds to furnish all the various 
 parts with the forms of light and life suited to each. At 
 this stage, when the earth is raised into heavenly places, 
 many seem to think the work is done. But now begins 
 tlie perfecting and adorning process, which does not cease 
 until " the image of Grod" appears. So St. Paul, writing 
 to the Colossians, exhorts to growth in grace in language 
 exactly answering to the stages of creation which we are 
 now to enter on ; starting from, " If ye be risen," and 
 leading on the Church to " put on the new man, which is 
 renewed in the image of Him that created him." ^ So he 
 says, '' If ye be risen, seek things above : " look for things 
 in heaven, to comfort and enlighten you. Lights to guide, 
 hitherto unknown, will shine upon you, making alternate 
 seasons rich witli blessing. Then again advance : — " Put 
 on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, hum- 
 bleness of mind, longsuffering." Put on the graces which 
 are prefigured in the dove and lamb and ox, which appear 
 in season upon the fifth and sixth days. And then " put 
 on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the 
 image of Him that created him." So writes Paul, " with- 
 out a veil ; " so writes Moses, " with a veil," " which veil 
 is done away in Christ." ^ 
 
 We are then to trace the stages after resurrection-life is 
 known, through resurrection-lights, till we reach " the 
 moving creature," first creeping, then walking, but with 
 face earthwards ; and then " the man," with open face, 
 erect, and looking upward. 
 
 ' CcI. iii. 1, 10. 2 2 Cur. iii. U. 
 
iNTROD. The TTor/i; and Rest of God. 27 
 
 The fourth day's work is " lights set in heaven: "^ a 
 mighty work : more glorious far than the " light " upon 
 the first day. Then the light was undefined. Now lights 
 are come ; the one with warmth ; the other cold but shin- 
 ing : each defined ; one direct, the other reflex ; but both 
 to rule and mightily affect, not the earth only, but even 
 the wide waters : giving another check, too, to darkness, 
 not only taking from it Day, but invading and conquering 
 it by the moon and stars in its own domain of Night. 
 
 And so after that the seas of lust are bounded, and the 
 fruits of righteousness begin to grow and bud, a sun, a 
 mighty light, is kindled in our heaven, — Christ dwells 
 there, God's eternal word and wisdom, — no louger unde- 
 fined, but with mighty warmth and power, making the 
 whole creation to bud and spring heavenward ; while as a 
 handmaid, another light, of faith, grows bright within, — 
 our inward moon, the Church's light, or truth received on 
 testimony ; for as men say, Christ is the sun, the Churcli 
 the moon, so is faith our moon within to rule the night."* 
 Of these two, the lesser light must have appeared the first ; 
 for each day grew and was measured " from the evening 
 to the morning ; " just as faith, with borrowed light, in 
 every soul still precedes the direct beams of the greater 
 light of the Word or Wisdom in us. Now both shine to 
 pour down light. Oft should v/e err, if, when darkness 
 fell, our moon of faith rose not to rule the night. Yet fair 
 
 ^ Chap. i. 14, 15. the Jewish dispensation, which stood 
 
 * Those instructed in the Word on law or works, and Sarah is tho 
 
 will not only find no difficulty in Christian Church, which stands on 
 
 seeing how the moon, which out- faith. But these dispensations of 
 
 wardly is the Church, is faith in- G-od have their course in individual 
 
 wardly, but further know that there souls, and in this inward application 
 
 must be this double application, as Ilagar is law, and Sarah the promise, 
 
 iu the well-known case of Ilagar or the gospel. See Gal. iv. 22, 31. 
 and Sarah. Outwardly, Ilagar is 
 
28 The Work and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 a^^ she is, she but reminds us of present night, making us 
 sigh for the day-star and the perfect day. Thus are " the 
 two great lights" now given by Him who began His work 
 bv giving " light." Now He gives the word of wisdom, 
 that is the greater light; and again the word of know- 
 ledge or faith, that is the lesser light ; then tongues, or 
 discerning of spirits, or healings, like the stars, lesser 
 manifestations of the same one Spirit.-"^ 
 
 That such lights, so different and so defined, may be 
 within, is never known by some who yet have been en- 
 lightened. The first day's light has reached them : per- 
 haps the heaven has come ; but the waters are not bounded ; 
 the earth as yet is not fruitful. To such the difference of 
 lights and their distinct powers must be unkno^vn. Let it 
 not therefore be unlocked for by them. Not till the earth 
 has brought forth fruit are these bright lights set in 
 
 * This is Augustine's exposition. sapientise.quogaudet prsedictus dies, 
 
 Speaking of this fourth day, he says: tantuni in principio noctis sunt," &c. 
 
 — " iEterno consilio propriis tempo- Confess. 1. xiii. c. 18, § 23. The 
 
 ribus bona ccelestia das super terrain, place here given to sacraments is 
 
 Quoniam ahi datur per Spiritum worthy of notice. Augustine makes 
 
 bernio sapientiae tanquam luminare them only parts of the lesser light, 
 
 majus, propter eos qui perspicuae They are no part of the sun, which 
 
 veritatis luce delectantur tanquam rules the day, but only of the moon, 
 
 in principio diei ; alii autem sermo that is, the word of faith or know- 
 
 scientiae secundum eumdemSpiritum, ledge, ^en •a\so Avg. de Ge7i.e. Man. 
 
 tanquam luminare minus ; alii fides, 1. i. c. 25, § 43. Origen's comment 
 
 alii douatio curationum, alii pro- is the same in substance: — "Sicut 
 
 phetia, alii dijudicatio spirituum, in firmamento isto, quod jam ccelum 
 
 alteri genera linguarum ; et liaec fuerat appellatum, jubet Deus fieri 
 
 omnia tanquam stellae. Omnia enim luminaria, ita et in nobis fieri potest, 
 
 hsec operatur unus atque idem Spi- Si studeamus vocari et effici ccelum, 
 
 ritus, faciens apparere sidera in ma- luminaria habebimus in nobis, quae 
 
 nifestatione ad utilitatem. Sermo illuminentnos, Christum etecclesiam 
 
 autem scientiae, qua continentur om- ejus. . . . Quae sunt autem in nobis 
 
 Ilia sacramenta, quae variantur tern- stellae, id est in cordis nostri ccelo ? 
 
 poribus tamquam luna, et ceterae Moyses stella est in nobis quae lucet, 
 
 notitiae donorum, quae deinceps tan- et Esaias, et Daniel," &c. — Rom. i. 
 
 quam stella^ cnmmemorata sunt, in Gen. 
 quantum dilierunt ab iilo candore 
 
iNTROT». The ^York and Rest of God. 29 
 
 heaven. The lower fruitfulness of action must precede the 
 higher delights of heavenly contemplation. Not till some 
 fruits appear shall we be adorned with heavenly lights. 
 Then not only is the earth blessed with dews and showers, 
 " the precious things of heaven ;" but " precious things are 
 now brought forth by the sun, and precious things put 
 forth by the moon also."^ Now we perceive wherein the 
 borrowed light of faith, resting on witness, differs from the 
 direct light of truth and love, from Christ within. Hence- 
 forward even the night is bright with stars : darkness is 
 conquered even within its own borders. Faith invades 
 the gloom, turning it at times almost to day, an approach 
 to the glory, when " no night is there ;"7 now waxing, 
 now waning, but never to fall or fail, until " our sun shall 
 no more go down, neither our moon withdraw itself."* 
 Now we see, too, how the creature's darkness, like death, 
 only brings into view the greater wonders of Grod's work in 
 heavenly places. Darkness shews us that the earth has a 
 celestial suite, bright companions in heaven night and day 
 waiting on it ; moving it with celestial influences, its air, 
 its earth, its tides ; giving colour, warmth, motion, life, 
 everywhere. Who can count all that is given from on 
 
 ^ Deut. xxxiii. 13, 14. "Bene " Sed prius lavamini. mundi estote, 
 
 autem terra germinavit primo, et aufcrte nequitiam \it appareat arida, 
 
 postea facta sunt himinaria ; quia Discite bonum facere, ut germinet 
 
 post bona opera venit illuminatio, terra herbam pabuli et lignum fruc- 
 
 qua vidf'tur species supernae verita- tiferum ; . . . ut fiant luminaria in 
 
 tis." — Isidor. in Gloss. Ordinar. Au- firmamento cceli,"&e. Id. ibid. %'M. 
 
 gustine notices the same : — '-Quibus He goes on to instance the young 
 
 in terra natis fructibus, et erumpat man in the Gospel, (Matt. xix. 16.) 
 
 temporanea lux nostra, et de ista as one who, because he bore not fruit, 
 
 inferiori fruge actionis in d^•licias couldnotadvance to seethe heavenly 
 
 contemplationis verbum vit?e supe- lights, 
 
 rius obtineutes, appareamus sicut lu- " Rev. xxi. 25. 
 
 minaria in firmamento cohgerent^b." ^ Isa. Ix. 19, 20, 
 Confess. 1. xiii. c. 18, § 22. Again, 
 
30 The Work and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 liit^h, when we can see that our wondrous path is not 
 indeed a lone one, — that a heavenly sun attracts, — that a 
 heavenly moon follows, — that, though darkness may visit 
 us, henceforth it does not rule us, but is ruled, and that 
 even in the night which still remains in us, we liave the 
 presence ol Jesus the mediator of the better covenant, and 
 the Church of the First-born, and the spirits of just men 
 made perfect, and an innumerable company of holy angels, 
 who, like the morning stars, are singing all around ? In 
 bright days their quiet song, wherein they tell God's glory, 
 may not be heard ; yet they watch and sing and go with 
 us. The gloomy night will bring them into view, still 
 ready to teach us if we have a heart to learn. 
 
 These lights are " for signs and for seasons and for 
 years," and " to rule over the day and over the night also."^ 
 For " signs " — first, of what we are. We have thought this 
 earth is fixed : but sun and moon shew that we are but 
 wanderers here. We have supposed ourselves the centre ; 
 that it is the sun that moves. The lights will teach us in 
 due time that he is steadfast: it is we who journey on. 
 Again, these lights are " for a sign " how we stand, and 
 where we are ; by our relative positions toward them shew- 
 ing us, if we will learn, our real situation. For the moon 
 is new and feeble, when, between us and the sun, it 
 trenches on his place, and sets at eventide. So is our 
 faith : put in Christ's place, it must be weak : dsirk will be 
 our night : we shall move on unillumined. Not so when 
 in her place, not in His, but over against Him, our moon 
 of faith rises at even, as our Sun withdraws Himself. Now 
 she trenches not upon Him ; therefore she is full of light, 
 making the rdidnight almost as the noon-day. So it is 
 
 » Chap. i. 14, 18. 
 
iNTROD. The Wovh and Rest of God. 31 
 
 said, " Blow up tlie trumpet in the new moon ; " ^° and 
 when the moon is full " eat ye the Paschal Lamb ; " ^^ that 
 is, let the trumpet of the gospel sound, when faith is 
 weak : when faith is strong, rejoice together in communion. 
 Thus are the lights ^' for signs " of what and where we are. 
 Dimmed by mists, they tell also of what remains in us. 
 Turned to darkness and to blood, they forewarn of awful 
 fire, when the earth and the works therein shall be burned 
 up.^^ Signs they are, too, to the man, when at length he 
 walks upon the earth, — the image of God, wliich after 
 fruits and lights is formed in us, — to guide him through 
 the wastes within the creature, as he seeks to know its 
 lengths and breadths that he may subdue it all. 
 
 Thus are the lights " for signs : " but they are " for sea- 
 sons " also ; ^^ to give healthful alternations of cold and heat, 
 and light and darkness. Sharp winters with their frosts, 
 chill and deadness in our affections, and the hours of dark- 
 ness which recur to dim our understandings, are not 
 unmixed evil. In the coming rest such alternations will 
 not be needed : therefore no summer or winter or shades 
 of night are there. Here, like the gales from the ocean, 
 they remind us of our state, and in that state work in the 
 creature what is really best for it. We could not bear, 
 while as we are, unbroken day. It would, though we know 
 it not, destroy the creature. Ceaseless summer would wear 
 us out : therefore the lights are " for seasons," measuring 
 out warmth and light as we can profit by it. So faith 
 wanes and waxes, and Christ is seen and hid, each change 
 making the creature learn its own dependence ; forcing it 
 to feel, that, though blessed, it is a creature, all who^e 
 springs of life and joy are not its own. 
 
 '" Psalm Ixxxi. 3, 5. '- Luke xsi. 25, ;ind 2 Pet. iii. 
 
 1* Exod. xii. 6, &c. » Chap. i. 14. 
 
32 Tlte Work and Rest of God. . introd. 
 
 Tliese lights, too, are " to rule over the day and over the 
 night." To rule the creature, much more to rule such gifts 
 as the day, wrought by God Himself in it, as yet has been 
 unknown. Even to bound the natural darkness hitherto 
 has seemed high attainment. Now we learn that the pre- 
 cious gifts, whicli Grod vouchsafes, need ruling ; an earnest 
 this of that which comes more fully on the sixth day. A 
 sun "to rule the day" leads to the man "to have dominion," 
 set to rule, not the day only, but every creature. It is no 
 slight step, when God's aim, hitherto unknown, is learnt ; 
 that in His work this gift is for this, that for the other 
 purpose ; when it is felt that the best gifts may be misused 
 and wasted ; that they need governing, and may and must 
 be ruled. No young Christian feels this ; but as he grows 
 up into Christ, his day not only shines, but is divinely 
 governed. The sun now marks the hours, setting to each 
 their bound : morning is discerned from noon, and noon 
 from evening. blessed day, when the creature comes 
 to bask in sunshine ; gift on gift poured on it in due order 
 from the God of all grace ! 
 
 § VI. — The Fifth Day. 
 
 The fifth day's work is the peopling of the sea and air.' 
 Animate life now is added to inanimate. The waters 
 swarm with life, and the air with winged tribes, which 
 wake the woods and vales with melody. Thus, too, is it 
 within, when on us the fifth day dawns. Now higher 
 forms of life appear everywhere ; each new form yet more 
 revealing in the creature that which hitherto had only been 
 treasured up in the mind of God for it. For we must 
 
 ' Chap. i. 20, 21. 
 
iNTROD. The ^Yorh and Rest of God. 33 
 
 never forget, that all tins wondrous work, wliicli step by 
 step is thus produced in us, is only the developing in the 
 creature of that which had been in Christ, the wisdom of 
 God, from everlasting. For Grod will stamp Himself upon 
 us. His will is that His fulness should be revealed in us ; 
 that as we have borne the image of the earthy, we now may 
 bear the image of the heavenly. We have seen how several 
 glories, — light, a heaven, fruits, and lights, — once hid in 
 Him, by Him are wrought in us. Each of these was a 
 precious gift, and worthy of the Lord, transforming the 
 creature from its natural state of ruin to light and fair 
 order. But now come higher blessings, forms of life 
 unknown before, multiplying first in the air and waters, 
 then upon the dry land. 
 
 We have seen what the waters and the heaven are 
 within, — the former the desires, the latter the understand- 
 ing. With the waters until now little has been done save 
 to bound them. Desires are checked in us, but this is all. 
 Now new life moves in them, the varied fish and fowl, all 
 figuring some of the countless forms of Christ's spirit. 
 For such is Christ's fulness, that no one type can express 
 it ; and His will is that of this fulness we should be filled 
 also ; " to know the love of Christ which passeth know- 
 ledge, that we might be filled with all the fulness of 
 Grod." 2 The light, or a heaven, or the seed, or sun and 
 moon, each was but some manifestation in the creature of 
 what had been in Him. So the turtle and the eagle, now 
 created, are but types of some fresh gift or grace of Christ's 
 spirit ; " diversities of gifts, but the same spirit ; differ- 
 ences of administration, but the same Lord."^ For just as 
 in nature matter is one in all its forms, so in the new 
 creation is the spirit one in all its transformations. The 
 
 2 Eph. iii. 19. » 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5. 
 
 D 
 
34 The IFo/'/o and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 revelation only widens as the work proceeds. In due time 
 the lion and ox and man are seen also ; each a yet fm'ther 
 expression of something in God's mind, which by His 
 Word tlirough grace is wrought in us. 
 
 But the forms and natures of the creatures made this 
 day, like the light and fruits, will best explain themselves. 
 The dove is the well-known figure of meek innocence. So 
 at Christ's baptism the Spirit "like a dove" came and 
 abode on Him."* The eagle's lofty flight and keen vision 
 represent but another form of the same Divine Spirit. He 
 wlio says, " I bare you upon eagles' wings," ^ gives us also 
 to " mount up with wings as eagles ; " ^ for *' of His fulness 
 we all receive, and grace answering to His grace." ^ The 
 other fowls of heaven, as the law shews us, both the clean 
 and the unclean, each taught their own lesson ; expressing 
 in the difference of their lives and natures those faculties 
 and emotions which give a form to life.* Since the fall 
 these emotions are mostly evil. Hence, in Scripture, birds 
 are generally a type of evil spirits.^ The dragon and the 
 whale too are used as evil.^° But they are only evil be- 
 cause fallen. In themselves they simply represent certain 
 forms of life, good if dependent, evil if independent. Just 
 as Satan, once an angel, is now a devil, and all his light and 
 knowledge are accursed ; so the powers of the understand- 
 ing, figured by the birds, are good, and through self-will 
 only become evil.^^ I know the eagle-eye which loves to 
 gaze on light, and the soaring thought which delights to 
 
 * Matt. iii. 16. " This explains how the same 
 
 * Exod. xix. 4. type may be either good or bad. 
 " Isa. xl. 31. Christ is a " lion." Eev. v. 5. But 
 ' John i. 16. Satan also is a " lion." 1 Pet. v. 8. 
 " Lev. XI. D-23. The same is true also in countless 
 
 * Matt. xiii. 4 ; Rev. xxxW. 2. other instances. 
 ><> Ezek. xxix. 3, and xxxA. 2. 
 
iNTROD. Tli.e Work and Rest of God. 35 
 
 mount upward, and the searching spirit which finds a plea- 
 sure in fathomino- great deeps, — "for the spirit searcheth all 
 things, yea the deep things of God," — may all be misused 
 through self, and so be spoilt ; for I know no good gift of 
 God which ma}^ not become a curse to us. But the faculty 
 as given by the Lord is good, and the thoughts or emotions 
 which are formed to soar upward, or to dive into that depth 
 which yet remains in us, may all tell forth the Lord's 
 glory. Therefore " the dragons, and the beasts, and creep- 
 ing things, and flying fowl," as much as " sun and moon, 
 and heaven, and fruitful trees," are called to praise Him.*'-^ 
 As formed upon the fifth day they speak His praise, " say- 
 ing. Glory to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the 
 Lamb for ever." ^^ 
 
 The details here would open an endless field ; for the 
 natures of these creatures vary, yet cannot be misunder- 
 stood. We have seen the dove and eagle, but others 
 preach also, exliorting us to look for like powers to be 
 
 *2 Psalm cxlviii. Dei producuntiir ab aqnis repentia 
 
 '^ Rev. V. 13, 14. Augustine ex- et volatilia. Videamus quomodo 
 
 plains the "moving creatures" to secundum nostrum firmamentura 
 
 be eviotions. " Pisces maris et vola- cceli, id est mentis nostrse vel cordis 
 
 tilia cceli et repentes omnes quae soliditatem, hffic eadem fiant. Ap- 
 
 repunt super terram . . . recte in- bitror quia si mens nostra illuminata 
 
 telligantur spiritualiter ut omnes fuerit a nostro sole Christo, jubetur 
 
 affection es et motus animi, quos postmodum ex his qupe in ea sunt 
 
 habemus istis animalibus similes." aquis producere repentia et volatilia, 
 
 De Got. c. Manich. 1. i. c. 20. id est cogitationes bonas. ... Si 
 
 Further on in the same book. c. 25, sit in nobis sensus ut etiam si duo 
 
 he says, " Fortior effectus incipit minuta habeamus, hsec ipsa pro mi- 
 
 quinto die operari . . . producere sericordia offeramus in dona Dei, 
 
 animarum vivarum reptilia, id est iste sensus avis est, nihil de terrenis 
 
 opera quae prosint animis vivis, et cogitans. ... Si ascendat nobis 
 
 cetos magiios, id est fortissimas sensus et cogitatio talis, ut usque ad 
 
 actiones, quibus fluctus s?eculi di- mortem pro veritate certemus .avis 
 
 rumpuntur. et volatilia coeli, id est hffic, a terrenis ad superna consccn- 
 
 voces coelestia praedicantes." See deus. Similiter etiam de caeteris," 
 
 also Confession. 1. v. c. 3, § 4. Ori- &c. — Horn. i. in Gen, 
 gen says, " Secundum litoram jusf-u 
 
 D 2 
 
36 The Work and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 created in us ; some to sing- by day, as the thrush ; and 
 some, like the nightingale, to wake the dark hours.; some 
 with clarion, like the cock, to foretell the morning, and 
 bid the sleepers arise to greet the day ; some, like vul- 
 tures, far-seeing, to seek their meat from far ; some, like 
 the swallow, to live as pilgrims here ; some, like cranes, to 
 fly in ranks, and know the seasons, and watch while others 
 sleep around ; some to care for the aged, as the stork ; or, 
 like the turtle, once widowed, never so to pair again. 
 Each tells its own story of what G-od can work, and the 
 rich profusion of form in which the same life may shew 
 itself. And these increase. Some heavenly gifts, as the 
 lights of the fourth day, can never multiply. They may 
 rise and set, and bring round springs and winters; but 
 they do not increase by generation. But when the fifth 
 day comes, the forms of heavenly life then given may 
 increase greatly. For God has said, " Be fruitful and 
 multiply." ^^ And just as the fruits formed upon the third 
 day, " whose seed is in themselves," reproduce themselves 
 and gTow rapidly, so do the graces of the fifth day spread 
 wondrously. And when this has come, the image of Grod 
 is near, when the work shall cease, for all is " very good." 
 
 § VII.— The Sixth Day. 
 
 To this last stage of the work we now proceed, when the 
 earth also having brought forth its living creatures, man, 
 the image of God, His last and crowning gift, is set to 
 rule as lord of all. This is the sixth day's work. Now 
 the life of the Lamb and ]Man is added to the likeness of 
 the Dove in the redeemed creature 
 
 ^* Chap, i. 22. 
 
iNTROD. The Work and Rest of God, 37 
 
 These forms speak for tlieraselves. They are but the 
 continuation, in greater perfection, of the work of the 
 fifth day. Then the work was in the seas and heaven : 
 now the eartli, that is the will, brings forth in like 
 manner. I need not here repeat what I have said, upon 
 the fifth day, as to the principle on which these living 
 creatures are to be interpreted ; how they represent emo- 
 tions good in themselves, only evil when fallen and inde- 
 pendent ; the living creatures of the earth representing 
 the emotions connected with the will ; the birds of heaven 
 those connected with the understanding.^ The instinct 
 of mankind has always read these forms aright, nor has 
 the difference of age or country made any difference in 
 their interpretation. To this day, wherever the primitive 
 language of symbol yet remains, the passions are still 
 characterised by the names of different beasts. And those 
 to whom heaven is opened see "the living creatures" there, 
 in the midst of the throne of Grod, and round about it.-^ 
 proving that powers like to these creatures, if not in God, 
 may yet be most holy and very near to Him. It was but 
 the perversion of this very truth, seeing in these creatures 
 some trace or glimpse of the Divine, which ended in the 
 worship of the creature, as in Egypt, where the ox and 
 other beasts were deified ; just as, to this day, in mystic 
 Egypt, those gifts which are given as witnesses for God 
 are made to take His place ; the creature, in whom some 
 trace of God is seen, being worshipped instead of the 
 Creator. Still the gifts are good, each added form ex- 
 pressing but some further fulness which was in Christ 
 Jesus : the ox, the spirit of unselfish toil ; ^ the lion, that 
 
 • Respecting the heaven and the the second and third days. Both 
 earth, as figiirin^ the understaiulinG: have their own emotions, 
 and will respectively, see above on '^ Kcv. iv. 6, 8. * 1 Cor. ii. 9. 
 
38 Tlir ^Yovh and Rest of God. introd, 
 
 holy wrath, in which we may judge and be angry, and yet 
 sin not;'* the lamb, that meekness which beareth all 
 things, which is oppressed and afflicted, and yet openeth 
 not its mouth.^ Tliese and like gifts now appear, till at 
 length the man is seen, the " image of Grod," to crown and 
 perfect all. 
 
 What is this image ? It is the mind of God ; for Christ 
 is that Mind or Word to rule in us. The man is Christ, 
 the perfect mind of Grod. The light, and heaven, and 
 herb, and moving creature, were all but partial glimpses of 
 Him, preludings of that perfect revelation which should 
 be seen in God's image. That image now is come, to rule 
 all things, itself containing all within itself. the depth 
 that opens here ! Who shall take the measure of that 
 which is the likeness of the immeasurable God ? For He 
 made the heaven, and yet He rested not, — the earth and 
 its fruits, and yet He rested not, — the sun, and the moon, 
 and the creatures of the sea, and sky, and of the earth, 
 and yet He rested not. But He made man. His image in 
 the earth, and then He rested ; for it was " very good." 
 
 This image is the mind of God in us. When this is 
 come, the " man " is formed, erect in walk, and looking 
 upward, able to recognise the mind and will of One above 
 him, with an understanding to know, and a will to love, 
 God. This it is which marks man : a mind able to under- 
 stand and bow to a superior. Lose this, and we at once 
 become as beasts, incapable of recognising, save by force, 
 the will of One above us ; " like the horse or mule w-hich 
 
 * Eph. iv. 26. tures" were apt representations of 
 
 * Isa. liii. 6. It is well known those peculiar relations of Christ, 
 that the early church applied these which are respectively set forth in 
 figures, the lion, the ox. the man, the four Gospels. See Ambros. Pro/. 
 and the eaplo, to the four Gospels, i7i Lucam, § 8. 
 
 conceiving tliat these " living crea- 
 
iNTROD. The Work and Rest of God. 39 
 
 have no uiiderstandiDg, whose mouth must be held in with 
 bit and bridle ; " ^ or like Nebuchadnezzar, in vain self- 
 exaltation, losing his reason, and with a beast's heart, 
 becoming as a beast.^ The " man " is not strength, or 
 grace, or piercing sight ; but a mind thinking Grod's 
 thoughts, and in communion with Him. Strength, and 
 grace, and sight, and light, and warmth, are in him ; for 
 the inward as the outward man is in himself a little world. 
 But a mind to recognise and hold communion with One 
 above him, is that w^hich, above all, marks and makes the 
 man. And this is the secret of his rule over others ; as it 
 is said, " Subdue, and have dominion." ^ For no one can 
 rule who is not ruled. And just as Adam, while subject 
 to Grod, had power over every living creature, a power he 
 lost as soon as he rebelled, and instead of being subject 
 became independent ; so in us the " man " has power over 
 beasts, that is the emotions within, only while it remains 
 subject. Let the reason take God's place, then the beasts 
 will be unruled until Grod again is recognised. This, I 
 may add, is true on every platform. It is only the recog- 
 nition of One above which gives power. It is the lack of 
 this that now makes the rulers of this world helpless. 
 Beasts are rebelling against them, because they have 
 rebelled. 
 
 And here let none forget the weighty fact, that the best 
 powers in the new creation need ruling. Grood as the ox 
 is to labour, he needs a lord ; man, herefore, is given to 
 subdue and guide him ; as God said, " to have dominion 
 over all fish and fowl, and every living thing that movetli 
 on the earth." ^ Proofs abound on every hand that God's 
 gifts need rule. How often is the " ox," — the spirit of true 
 
 « Ps. xxxii. 9. ' See Dan. iv. « Chap. i. 28. » Chap. i. 28. 
 
40 The Work and Rest of God, introt). 
 
 service, — unless subdued by the " man," found wasting its 
 strength, or even grossly misusing it I Have fences never 
 been broken down by strong oxen ? Have weak children 
 never been sorely injured ? Have sweet vines never been 
 crushed or trodden under feet, which were set as plants to 
 clieer both God and man ? These things have I beheld, 
 where the " man " is not yet seen. And so of every bless- 
 ing ; whether lion, lamb, or eagle, all require rule. With- 
 out it, the very abundance of gifts will only cause confusion. 
 The Church of Corinth is a proof, enriched with knowledge, 
 but carnal, for the " man " had not yet come. The gifts 
 indeed were there, but the mind of God was wanting. 
 They need one like Paul, in whom the " man " is come, to 
 set them riglit. Some yet have to learn this, who have 
 reached the fifth day stage, and to whom the eagle's eye 
 and soaring wing are not wanting. They will find the 
 '• man " to rule must come at length, God's Mind directing 
 God's Spirit. In a word, that as in nature the powers God 
 gives, strength, speech, or desire, if unruled by reason, 
 become curses ; so in grace the higher powers of God's 
 Spirit must be subject to His Mind, or Word, or Reason, 
 that is, Christ, in us. 
 
 This man was created "male and female," that so 
 he might be a perfect image of God. God is infinite 
 Wisdom and Love. No image of Him would be complete 
 which did not express both. Man, as His image, is, 
 therefore, male and female, that he may be a figure both 
 of the wisdom and love of God ; the man representing the 
 understanding, the woman the will or love-part of the 
 mind, which united make up that inward man or mind, 
 by which we can both know and love, and so commune 
 witli, God. The seventh day will shew us more of thi?, 
 when the taking of the woman out of the man is clearly 
 
The liVorh and Rest of God, 
 
 41 
 
 set forth. But, seen or not, a work is now wrought in ue;, 
 the type of which is the man and the woman. Saints in 
 bygone days have thought and spoken much of this, 
 though few now care for such matters. ^° As to the food of 
 this man, too, much is taught here.^^ The fruits of the 
 third day sustain the "man "in vigour. Just as faith, 
 which is the mother of all the virtues, is often when weak 
 supported and nourished by her children ; so the " man," 
 the highest form of the life of Christ in us, is sustained by 
 the lower acts and fruits of righteousness. But all this, 
 and much more, will meet the prayerful reader, who looks 
 for teaching from above. 
 
 At this stage the work ends, and then the seventh day 
 
 '° See Augustine's interpretation 
 of this in his Confessions, book xiii. 
 chaps. 24 and 32. Also in his First 
 Book against the Manichets, chap. 
 25, and book ii, chaps. 11-15. The 
 following passage is from liis work 
 Le Opere Monach. c. 32, § 40: 
 " Illam quippe mulieres significant 
 partem, eo ipso quo mulieres sunt, 
 quae concupiscentialis dici p'jtest, cui 
 mens dorainatur, etiani ipsa subdita 
 Deo suo. quando rectissime et ordina- 
 tissime vivitur. Quod ergo est in uiio 
 homine mens et ooncupiscentia, (ilia 
 enim regit, h?ec regitur ; illadomina- 
 tur, hgec subditur) ; hoc in duobus ho- 
 minibus, viro et muliere secundum 
 sexum corporis figuratur." So too 
 De Civitat. Dei, 1. xv. c. 7, ad Jinem. 
 Origen gives the same explanation, 
 Honi. in Gen. i. fol. 4. The follow- 
 ing passage, from a modern writer, 
 speaks the same language : " Man, 
 that he might be capable of being 
 an image of God, was endowed ^-ith 
 two faculties, designed for the re- 
 ception of love and wisdom from his 
 Maker. These are known by the 
 names of the will and the under- 
 
 standing, the will being designed for 
 the reception of the divine love, the 
 understanding of the di^^ne wisdom, 
 lam aware that, although theaneient 
 metaphysicians universally adopted 
 this general division, some of the 
 moderns have doubted its correct- 
 ness Respecting the under- 
 standing, there can be little dispute ; 
 nor, I should think, respecting tlio 
 ■will. ... As to the will, a man 
 assuredly wills whatever he loves. 
 Thus every species of love that can 
 have an abode in his mind, may be 
 considered as belonging to a certain 
 general faculty, which is most cor- 
 rectly denominated the will. The 
 mistake seems to have ai'isen from 
 confounding this general faculty, by 
 which we are only inclined to cer- 
 tain actions, with the determination 
 to action, which is the result of the 
 operation of the will and under- 
 standing together." — Noble on Inspi- 
 reition, p. 79. See the quotations 
 from the Fathers on this subject 
 below, pp. 53, 54. 
 " Chap. i. 29. 
 
42 The Work and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 comes, the day of rest, without an evening ; after which 
 the creature is shewn in another form ; when a garden 
 is seen, with trees of life and knowledge ; and God Him- 
 self walking in the midst of it, conversing with the 
 man ; and when for unquiet seas there are only sweet 
 rivers. Who shall attempt to count the blessings here ? 
 When this comes, can anything be asked or added ? A 
 lieart to praise only then is needed ; nor is this wanting ; 
 for every faculty in the rest of the new creation praises 
 God.^^ * 
 
 § YIII. — The Seventh Day. 
 
 To this day of rest I now would pass, a stage attained by 
 few, for few pursue it. For it is now, as of old : the Lord 
 may work in many a house ; He can find a rest in very 
 few. So He works in many souls, and comes to give of 
 His fulness ; but few so entirely yield to Him, as to let 
 Him indeed rest there. Foxes have holes, and birds of 
 the air have nests in us, but few hearts give Christ a true 
 resting-place. Yet this is the stage here drawn, the state 
 of " full age," or " perfection," ^ when, instead of growth 
 and change, and the varying life of faith, and the struggle 
 between the old state and the work of God within us, we 
 reach the life of vision and of rest, where the man through 
 grace is drawn to live in a life of love above such strivings, 
 not converted only, or even gifted, but at rest and full of 
 peace, and, because at rest, reflecting God and heaven, 
 like the deep still stream, which can give back each hue 
 and cloud of heaven, while the restless soul flows on, a 
 
 '- Bernard has a A'ery l^eantiful vicissitiidines actionum in tranqiiillo 
 
 pupsage, on tlie inward application of charitatis, quasi in vero mentis sab- 
 
 the -work of the Six Days, beginning, bate respiremus." &c. — De Amove 
 
 "Sicut sex dieb\is, ita et sex virtu- Dei, 1. iii. c. 14, §52. 
 tibus exercemur, ut post sacrarum ' Phil. iii. 15 ; Heb. v. 14. 
 
iN-TROD. TIlc ^yovk and Rest of God, 43 
 
 brawling river, reflecting nothing, though the light has 
 come, upon its troubled bosom. Sucli is this day of 
 rest, when heaven is seen in the creature, and the 
 " powers of the world to come " are already more than 
 tasted.2 
 
 Its cause is first described. The rest is come, because 
 tlu'ough the Word of God His will is done perfectly.^ No 
 rest can come until His will is done. When it is so 
 accomplished, whether for us or in us, for us or in us 
 there may be rest. For us there is a rest, when we see 
 the work perfect for us in Christ Jesus. In us there is 
 the selfsame rest, when that work is perfected in us by the 
 same Christ Jesus. He gives Himself for us, and thus by 
 faith His rest is ours, so soon as our faith apprehends Him 
 now in rest for us. But He also gives Himself to us, to 
 work in us that which once through grace He wrought for 
 us. Our faith, from the first day when it takes Christ for 
 us, can rest in Him, for His work is perfect. But in us, 
 as well as for us, in experience as in faith, the rest will 
 come, when in us, as for us, His work and will is done. 
 Thus the rest is in His, not in our own, will done. Our 
 wdll can never give us rest. If His will rules, there will 
 be a rest. Two wills struggling may prove life or growth, 
 but no Sabbath. Grod will not, cannot rest, save where 
 His will is done. Hence, at first, there cannot be this 
 rest, for the flesh and the spirit strive together, and the 
 man, who as yet is double, and lives in both, though " at 
 peace with Ood by faith," ^ cannot know " the peace of 
 Clod which passeth all understanding ; " ^ the law in his 
 members warring against the law of his mind, even though 
 God's true work is growing there. But in time the flesh 
 
 2 Heb. vi. 1-5. ^ c^^.^p ^ 2. * Eom. v. 1. ^ Pliil iv. 7. 
 
44 The Work and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 is nailed to the cross, and now the man is no longer 
 double, but single and simple. One life now rules him, 
 and this is God's; and so the day of rest begins to dawn. 
 For tliis is rest, to yield ourselves to God, to turn away 
 the foot from doing our own pleasure ; not doing our own 
 ways, nor speaking oiu* own words, nor seeking to find 
 our own pleasure : then shall we delight ourselves in the 
 Lord, and the creature find joy in God, and God joy in 
 the creature.^ 
 
 But to speak of the rest itself. Much is said descriptive 
 of the nature of this true Sabbath. 
 
 And, first, it is " God's rest." It is not said, " the 
 creature rested," but " God rested ; " ^ not as though He 
 could be weary, but to shew His satisfaction, and to teach 
 that as the work was His and not the creature's, so the 
 rest was His also. For God Himself has joy in seeing 
 His work perfect. And if in the days of labour it is seen 
 that all progress is because He works in us, much more is 
 this felt when the day of rest is come, as it is written, 
 " God rested from all His work which He created and 
 made." For He works that He may rest in us. Let us 
 not forget the complacency with which He surveys His 
 own workmanship, and that each fresh act of submission 
 to His Word leads to His, even as to our, rest. 
 
 Further, this rest is " blessed." We read, " God blessed 
 the seventh day and sanctified it." He blessed the day. 
 
 ® Isa. Iviii. 13, 14. See also the said, I thank Thee, Father, for thus 
 
 connection of the well-known words it pleaseth Thee." And then at once 
 
 in Matt. xi. 25-30. John, his wit- turning to those around, haring 
 
 ness, in bonds, seems to doubt, and shewn how He could find a rest in 
 
 asks, " Art thou He that should come, God's will. He says, " Come unto me, 
 
 or look we for another?" Then and I will give you rest. Take my 
 
 that generation, whether mourned or yoke, and learn of me, and ye shall 
 
 piped to, mock ; and the cities which find rest." 
 
 liave beheld His works reject Him. ^ Chap. ii. 3. 
 " At thut time Jesus answered and 
 
ixTROD. The Ifor/j and Rest of God, 45 
 
 In the six days of labour God had blessed certain .shifts, as 
 the " living creatures," that is, certain powers or faculties 
 divinely given. Now a day is blessed, that is, the 
 creature's state, as well as some of its peculiar powers, 
 obtains the Lord's blessing. And " God sanctified," that 
 is, took it for Himself. In the days of labour God does 
 not get His o^vn. But the day or state of rest is wholly 
 His. By it, in holy contemplation, far more than in 
 action, is tiie creature perfected. God may get some- 
 thing from our works : He gets much more when we rest, 
 and so pass out of self and its variableness wholly into 
 His will. 
 
 On this day there is " no evening " seen.® In the days of 
 labour, though the night is never once mentioned, from 
 first to last the evening reappears. The evening and the 
 morning make the day. But on the seventh day we read 
 of no evening. And this omission, like those noticed of 
 Melchisedek by St. Paul, is significant and full of deep 
 teaching.^ Evening is the state preceding and tending to 
 night or darkness. Morning is the state succeeding it. 
 Hence the evening suggests decline of light ; a relapse or 
 tendency, however brief, to the creature's own darkness. 
 All the days of labour have this evening, for they need it ; 
 
 ^ This is observed by nearly all mother, having neither beginning of 
 
 the Fathers: by Augustine, Strm. ix. clays nor end of life; " an omission 
 
 (vol. V. p. 53, ed. 1679,) and De very unusual in Scripture with per- 
 
 Ge7i. ad lit. 1. iv. c. 18, &c.: by sons of note, but here with purpose, 
 
 Jerome, E^nsf. :&:s.[. De Celehratione as the Apostle teaches. Other omis- 
 
 Vaschm : by Bernard, Be Amore Dei, sions in Scripture are as instructive. 
 
 1. iii. c. 13, &c. Those in St. Mark's Gospel, as com- 
 
 ^ In his Epistle to the Hebrews pared with St. Matthew, are within 
 (chap, vii.) the Apostle points out the reach of most readers. The con- 
 how much is to be learnt from the trast between the books of Kings 
 simple fact that in the histury of aid Chronicles is as marked; the 
 Melchisedek nothing is mentioned omissions of the hitter being, like the 
 either of his birth or death : he is additions, full of meaning, 
 presented to us " without father or 
 
46 The Work and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 tlioiigli even then each stage proceeds " from evening to 
 morning ; " with morniDgs which steadily grov/ into the 
 day, unlike that fitful light from the cold north, that 
 Northern Morning,'^ which without warmth at times 
 shoots up at night, to go out and fade at midnight sud- 
 denly. Such northern lights are not the morning. But 
 now the day of days has come without an evening. Now 
 no darkness or shades return. And good as are tlie days 
 when the work goes on from evening to morning, — yea, 
 good as are the nights, while yet we need them, — far 
 more blessed is the day of rest without an evening. For 
 then is the dawn of heaven itself, when " at even time it 
 shall be light," for the days " shall be as one day ;" ^^ when 
 the soul is fit to bear unbroken day, and its very " dark- 
 ness can be even as the noon day." ^^ Then comes this 
 day of days, when " the sun shall no more go down, 
 neither shall the moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall 
 be our everlasting light, and the days and nights of mourn- 
 ing shall be ended ;" ^^ a day "as the days of heaven," 
 whose " light is sevenfold, as the light of seven days ; " '"* 
 when " no night is there," ^^ nor toil, nor change, but 
 God's rest, and our rest in Him for ever ; as Enoch's life, 
 who " walked with God, and was not, for God took him," 
 whose life, the " seventh from Adam," '^ being a true 
 sabbath of rest, could know no evening. Such ia this 
 seventh day, a walk with God, uniting earth to heaven in 
 blessedness. If we know it not, let us wait; to those who 
 wait, it will surely come, it will not tarry. 
 
 And as to God Himself, what is revealed of Him after 
 this rest, shews Him to us in a new and higher character ; 
 
 '" Aurora borealis. '* Isa. xxx. 26. 
 
 " Zeeh. xiv. 7. '^ IJev. xxi. 25. 
 
 '2 Is . Iviii. 10. >« Jude 14. 
 '3 Isa. Ix. 20. 
 
iNTKOD. Tlte Work and Rest of God. 47 
 
 for names denote character, and God is known hy another 
 name after the seventh dayJ^ Thronghout the days of 
 labour, He is " God." But now He is the " Lord God." i« 
 Tlie title " God " tells what He does. Elohim is One whose 
 power and oath we may rely on. It speaks rather of His 
 works than of Himself. " Lord " or Jehovah tells what He 
 is, in His own perfections.^^ At first what God has done or 
 will do, is far more to us than what He is ; for we need His 
 wa^rk ; the names therefore which recall it will be those by 
 which we best know Him. When the rest is come all this 
 remains : His name as connected with His work cannot be 
 forgotten : it is and ever will be precious ; but we learn to 
 add what He is to what He does for us. We all have felt 
 how much Christ's work in the newly awakened soul takes 
 the place of Christ's person ; and how the questions which 
 then arise are of the nature and extent of His work, more 
 than of Himself. Then prayer and praise both speak His 
 work. The earlier part of the Book of Psalms is full of 
 such utterances. But we close the course by praising 
 Him, not only " for his mighty acts," but " for His excel- 
 lent greatness ; "^"^ on earth, with Paul, while God works 
 in us, blessing Him as " the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ," for all that blessed work in Him, in that 
 
 ^' Perhaps what is recorded from '^ Chap. i. passim, with chap, ii. 
 
 chap. ii. 4-25, though, as following 4-9. 
 
 what is written of the seventh day, •'' "God," Heb. Q^ri/'X. fi'Oii^nT'S. 
 
 it may be regarded as shewing what to swear, speaks of One who is 
 
 is apprehended after the true rest is pledged by oath and covenant ; while 
 
 known by iis, has also another far the plural form of the name points 
 
 deeper teaching and purpose. I tis to the Three Persons in tho 
 
 think it has. Ijut here, and indeed Godhead, the Father, the Sou, and 
 
 all through these Notes, I touch the Holy Ghost, by whose agency 
 
 what maybe opened to all, rather the covenant is fulfilled. "Lord" 
 
 than the deeper mysteries here is Jehovah, ninV the Self-existing, 
 
 shadowed, which it is not possible who is what He is, above our high- 
 
 for a man to utter. est tlioughts. 
 
 " Psalm el. 2. 
 
48 The Work and Rest of God. txtkob. 
 
 "He hath loved and raised us up in Hira ; " ^i in heaven to 
 liear a hiolier strain, " resting not day nor uioht, saying, 
 Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which wast, and 
 art, and art to come ; for Thou art worthy ; for Thou, 
 Lord, liast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they 
 are and were created : " ^'^ a song praising Him for what 
 He is, yet not forgetting what He has done ; in His 
 presence and His rest seeing Him above His works, Him- 
 self far more glorious. Work indeed reveals the worker ; 
 but if somewhat of G-od is known in and by His work, 
 how much more of Him is learnt in and by His rest, when 
 His will can shine out perfectly ! Oh, to know that rest 
 yet more, to know Him more ; and to know Him more, to 
 know yet more of rest. 
 
 Nor is it Grod alone who shines out more fully after the 
 seventh day : the creature itself thenceforth is changed, 
 presented to us in another higher form. For instead of 
 " herb and tree," we have now " a garden drest," whose 
 position is " eastward " and " in Eden ; " ^^ words full of 
 meaning, and suggesting rising light, and pleasures at 
 God's right hand for evermore. For the " East " speaks 
 plainly of advancing light and warmth ; while " Eden " 
 means pleasure, and is so translated in not a few versions.-"* 
 The " garden " too speaks far more than we can bear of 
 that Paradise into which some like Paul have been caught 
 
 2' Eph. i. 3, and ii. 4-6. coirumpitur, qua berftse animse pa- 
 " Rev. iv. 8, 11. scuntur; 'ad Orientem,' lucem sa- 
 "^^ Chap. ii. 8, 15. pientise ; ' in Eden,' id est, in deliciis 
 2^ Heb. py, i.e. delight. The immortalibnsetintolligibilibTis. Nam 
 LXX. and Vulcate both translate delieicie, vel vohiptas. vel epuhim hoe 
 the word thus : the former rendering verbo significari dicitur, si ex He- 
 it Tpv(t>ris, the latter, voluptatis. Aw- brseo in Latinum vertitur," &c. — 
 gustine says, " Intelligamus nostra Be Gen. c. Manich. 1. ii. c. 9, § 12. 
 gaudia spiritaliasignificareomuelig- See also Amhros. de Parad. c. 3. 
 num. form-isum ad adspectum intel- See more respecting "Me East" be- 
 ligeiitiifi. ct boiium adescamquteuon low, on Greu. xi. 2. 
 
iNTROD. The Work and Rest of God. 49 
 
 up; '^^ a state not of faith but of vision, where the things 
 within the veil, which " it is not lawful to utter " without 
 the veil, are made manifest. Such is this " garden," 
 now opened and revealed, far more glorious than the 
 herbs and fruits upon the third day. Now instead of 
 " seas," we have only sweet " rivers." ^^ The man, too, 
 instead of subduing every beast, is seen exercising toward 
 them something like divine power. For before this day, 
 in the first three days, names were bestowed on parts of 
 the creation by the Creator : — " God called the dry land. 
 Earth, and the waters. Seas, and the expanse He called. 
 Heaven." But now man is permitted to shew his like- 
 ness to his Maker by giving names to the living creatures, 
 thus shewing his insight into God's work ; — '• the Lord 
 God brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call 
 them : and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, 
 that was the name thereof." ^^ Further, much is now 
 shewn of the " woman," his help-mate, whose relation to 
 the "man," as made out of him, is now discerned.^^ 
 The apprehension, too, of the '• trees of life and know- 
 ledge " is something quite peculiar to this stage.^^ All 
 these things shew the creature in a form far higher and 
 more removed from carnal conception than any hitherto 
 presented to us. Whether we are fit even to look at such 
 blessings, is a question for each to lay to heart. For 
 surely not in vain was disobedient man shut out from 
 that Paradise, the figure of which is here presented to us, 
 — shut out in love, — for all God does is love, lest he 
 
 ^^ 2 Cor. xii. 4 ; Rev. ii. 7. which seems to intimate more care 
 
 -'* Chap. ii. 10-14. It is to be and cultivation. Earth might be 
 
 observed, too, that whereas in the uncultivated. 
 
 six days we only get |>")X, earth, -'' Chap. ii. 19. 
 
 after the seventh day we have the -* Chap. ii. 20-25. 
 
 additional word n^^lX) ground, "^ Chap. ii. 0, 16, 17. 
 
 E 
 
50 Tlie ^Vork and Rest of God. ixtrod. 
 
 should have a worse judgment. The disobedient cannot 
 enter here. Such contemplations do not suit, and would 
 not help them. But humble souls, at peace in Christ, 
 may see here what may be enjoyed when we rest in God's 
 rest, because His will is done. 
 
 What, then, are these '' rivers " of which we read, not 
 here only, but in all the prophets ; which are known 
 after the day of rest is reached, and which now take the 
 place once occupied by salt and tossing waters ? In Eden 
 tlie stream is one, but " from thence it is parted," and 
 becomes four distinct rivers.^'' What is this, but that 
 stream of living waters, which one and undivided for 
 those who enter Paradise, — and without a name while it 
 is there, for in its undivided flow the one stream is beyond 
 all human description, — without the garden is parted 
 into four streams, giving its waters to the world as Pison, 
 Grihon, Euphrates, and Hiddekel. For divine truth, 
 which is the living water, to those who can see it as it is 
 within the veil, is one full stream, in undivided flow ; but 
 to us on earth it ever comes by four distinct channels. It 
 may be said in general that there are four sources of 
 truth, and but four, which are accessible to men, which 
 are like rivers, in the fertility they produce upon their 
 banks, and in the glorious power they all possess of re- 
 flecting heaven; first, intuition, by which we get an 
 acquaintance with moral or spiritual things, which are not 
 objects of sense; second, per cei^tivn, through the senses, 
 by which we only get an acquaintance with material 
 things and their properties ; third, testimony, by which 
 we learn what others have found out through perception 
 or intuition ; fourth, reasoning or reflection, a process of 
 the understanding, by which we unfold what is contained 
 
 " Chap. ii. 10. 
 
iNTROD. The Tfo/'/j and Rest of God, 51 
 
 or implied or suggested by the perceptions, intuitions, or 
 testimony. If I err not, the first of these is Pison ; the 
 second is Gihon, or Nile, — since the fall the stream of 
 Egypt ; ^^ the third is Hiddekel, that is the Tigris ; ^^ and 
 the fourth river or channel of truth is Euphrates. Of the 
 first of these we know little after the fall, but " it com- 
 passeth the land of Havilah, where there is gold ; " ^^ the 
 land that is of much increase, where the waters produce 
 much fruit, while they also roll down rich treasures. As 
 seen on the day of rest these are all good, like the birds 
 and beasts of the fifth and sixth days ; yet like those 
 same creatures all capable of perversion, as the best 
 things may be perverted, by the fall. We know that 
 the fall has affected all gifts, — that some of the best 
 powers are become most devilish. So of these rivers 
 some are now the streams of Egypt and Babel, instead of 
 making glad the city and garden of the Lord. Euphrates, 
 the great head or stream of reasoning, has become the 
 channel of the strength and wealth of great Babylon ; 
 while Grihon, or the Nile, the channel of knowledge 
 through the senses, is the river of Egypt, from which we 
 are redeemed. But here they are seen pouring out their 
 streams according to God's purpose and to God's glory. 
 And if we can but reach the seventh day of rest, then 
 again not only Pison and Hiddekel, but Gihon and 
 ETiphrates also, reasoning and sense as well as faith and 
 intuition, all give their waters to the creature's joy and to 
 God's glory. Then, to use the prophet's words of a like 
 
 "' In Jeremiah ii. 8, the LXX. ^- The LXX. here translate Hid- 
 
 translate Gihon for Nile. Angus- dekel by Tigris. So, too, in Dan. 
 
 tine, Ambrose, Jerome, Josephus, x. 4. It is eas^^ to see how the one 
 
 I?-idore, and I know not how many name might change into tlie otlier. 
 more, tell us the same. They all ''^Chap. ii. 11, 12 Havilah means 
 
 agree al?o in saying that Pison is "to brin(/ forth." 
 the Gangf'S. 
 
 £ 2 
 
52 Tlte Work and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 day, " Israel shall be the third with Egypt and Assyria, 
 whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be 
 Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and 
 Israel mine inheritance."^'* 
 
 At this stage too we learn much of the " woman." Till 
 the sixth day we saw no man or woman. Fruits may bud 
 on the third or resurrection day, and yet nothing be seen 
 of the " man " in Grod's image ; for he is not seen till the 
 " dove " and ^' lamb " appear, that is, until the sixth day. 
 Then we learn that the man is " male and female." But 
 now that the day of rest is come, we see her " taken out of 
 him ; " not from his thinking head or nervous arm, but 
 from that region of the heart, where man is least man ; 
 where the heart's throbs are felt, and the fount of life 
 wells up, the conceded dwelling place of love and the 
 affections. Thence came forth woman, the type in her 
 very nature, as in her birthplace, of those affections; 
 formed to yield to the man or understanding, as he to 
 rule : the two, the understanding and will, making up the 
 man created male and female. Now it is seen that there 
 are two distinct lives in man, one of the intellect, the 
 other of the affections, which, though now separate in the 
 human mind, unite as far as may be, and by their union 
 
 ^* Isa. xix. 24, 25. The Fathers, pels, regarding each as one of the 
 
 while holding the inward application channels by which the li-^irig waters 
 
 of these four rivers, as representing of Divine truth flowed forth into the 
 
 certain powers or faculties of the world. (Aug. de Civit. 1. xiii. c. 21.) 
 
 soul, when it has reached the se- In this application, if I err not, St. 
 
 venth day, (see Aiig. de Gen. c. Ma- John is plainly Pison, " where there 
 
 nich, 1. ii. c. 10, § 13 ; Amhros. de is gold, and the gold of that land is 
 
 l^ar. c. 3, &c.) and connecting these good." St. Luke, I think, is Gihon ; 
 
 with the fourfold sense of Scripture, St. Mark, Hiddekel ; and St. Mat- 
 
 i.e. its literal, inward, outward, and thew, Euphrates. In the Epistles, 
 
 dispensational applications, which also, wo can trace these four rivers ; 
 
 are apprehended by these faculties, in Paul's arguments, Euphrates ; in 
 
 (see Gloss. ()rdi?i. in loco,) in a James's moralising, Gihon ; inPeter, 
 
 more outward application referred Hiddekel ; in John, Pison. 
 these four streams to the four Gos- 
 
The Wovh and Rest of God, 
 
 53 
 
 produce all those forms of life which grow in and out of 
 man. By these do we commune with God ; the under- 
 standing, as it is the image of God's wisdom, being the 
 vessel to receive His truth and wisdom ; the will, as it 
 reflects His love, to receive His goodness and love ; the 
 two together formed to bring forth spiritual fruit to God, 
 and be the means of making known and working His 
 mind and will in the lowest and outmost part of the 
 creature. But the mysteries here cannot be spoken. This, 
 however, is sure, that the divided life of the man and of 
 the woman, full of blessing as it is, shall turn one day to 
 a united life, which is " neither male nor female, but all 
 one in Christ Jesus." These things are indeed unspeak- 
 able, but they are seen in measure after we reach the rest.^'^ 
 
 3^ On this subject the Fathers have 
 •written much. Ambrose says, "Nam 
 ante nos fuit qui per voluptatem et 
 sensum praevarieationem ab homine 
 memoraverit esse commissam, in 
 specie serpentis figuram accipiens 
 delectationis, in figura mulieris sen- 
 sum animi mentisque constituens, 
 quara oXaQ-qcriv vocant Graeci : de- 
 cepto autem sensu, praevaricatricem 
 secundum historiam mentem adse- 
 ruit, quam Graeci vovv yocant. Kecte 
 igitur in Graeco vovs viri figuram 
 accepit, atffQ-qais mulieris. Unde et 
 quidam Adam vovv terrenum inter- 
 pretati sunt. . . . Bestise autem agri, 
 et volatilia cceli, quae adducuntur ad 
 Adam, nostri irrationabiles motus 
 sunt, vel turbulentiores, vel etiam 
 languidiures. Volatilia autem cceli 
 quid aliud aestimamus nisi cogita- 
 tiones quae velut volatilium more 
 nostram circumvolant mentem. Prop- 
 terea nullus inventus est menti nos- 
 trae similis adjutor, nisi sensus, hoc 
 est aXaQficris. Similem solam vovs 
 noster potuit invenire." — De Farad. 
 c. 2, § 11, and c. 11, § ol. Augus- 
 tine gives the same interpretation, 
 
 only more fully, Be Gen. c. Mani- 
 chceos, 1. ii. c. 11, § 15, &c. :— "Fce- 
 mina facta, dicitur, in adjutorium 
 viri, ut eopulatione spiritali spiritales 
 foetus ederet, id est bona opera divinae 
 laudis, dum ille regit, haec obtempe- 
 rat . . . . ideoque dicitur, ' Non est 
 bonum solum hominem esse.' Ad 
 hoc enim erat, quod fieret, ut non 
 solum anima corpori dominaretur, 
 qiua corpus servilem locum obtinet, 
 sed etiam virilis ratio subjugaret sibi 
 animalem partem suam, per quod 
 adjutarium imperaret corpori. Ad 
 hujus rei exemplum foemina facta 
 est, quam rerum ordo subjugat viro ; 
 ut quod in duobus hominibus evi- 
 dentius apparet, id est in masculo et 
 foemina, etiam in uno homine consi- 
 derari possit ; ut appetitum animae, 
 per quem de membris corporis opera- 
 mur, habeat mens interior tanquam 
 virilis ratio subjugatum," &c. In 
 c. 13 of the same book, he says the 
 woman is "inferior animi pars, quam 
 prudentia rsitionalis regit." Gregory 
 the Great gives the same interpre- 
 tation, Mara/, in Job. 1. xxx. c. 16, 
 § 54: — "Nos ipsos intuemur, ut 
 
54 The Work and Rest of God. introd. 
 
 The " trees," too, as seen at this stage, are wondrous. 
 Trees were formed and seen upon the third day. But the 
 clear perception of their varied ends, and of Grod's will 
 respecting them, is not discovered till this day. These 
 trees, like all else wrought by God in the creature, repre- 
 sent some form or manifestation of the Divine Word or 
 Wisdom, by the Word reproduced in us ; their perishable 
 nature, — for both grass and wood are perishable, — setting 
 forth some gift or grace which is least enduring, as we 
 know that both faith and knowledge shall vanish away.^^ 
 Here, through grace after we have reached the day of rest, 
 we learn to distinguish between the tree of life and know- 
 ledge, and to understand how the last, through misuse and 
 disobedience, may become a means of death to us. Know- 
 ledge is not evil. The tree itself was good, and only e\dl 
 through man's weakness ; like the law, (and indeed law is 
 but knowledge,) which is ''holy, just, and good," and yet 
 "works condemnation."^^ But good as it is, let us take 
 heed how we use it. Wisdom is the tree of life ; — " She 
 is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her ; " ^^ and he 
 
 sciamus, in nobis aliud esse rationale rinth. ad Jin. The same tradition 
 
 quod regit, aliud animale quod re- Cleraent of Alexandria repeats, and 
 
 gitur . . . quod bene Adam dormi- thus explains :— "Ort bv/xhu /xev &p- 
 
 cns figuravit, de cujus latere mulier pfva dpfx^v, ^v^dav 8e tV iTnOvfiiav 
 
 processit. Qui enim ad interioi^a in- alviTr^rai... '6rav ovu /iTjre tis dv/xcS, 
 
 telligendarapitur, intelliget in seipso /u//t' iTriOvfxia x^pi^c^f^^^os, aX\' airo- 
 
 aliud esse quod regere debeat, tan- Svadixevos tt^v ck tovtwv ax>^vi/, 4k 
 
 quam vir ; aliud qnod regatur, tan- fxeravoias Karaiax^vQiih, Trvev/xa Kal 
 
 quam fcemina." As to the final union ij/i/xV kvdoaci Kara ttjj/ tov Aoyou 
 
 of these in Christ, I subjoin the v-waKoriv • rt^re, ws 6 UavK6s ^-qcriv, 
 
 following very remarkable passage ovk ivi iv vixlu ovk &ppev oh ^rjKv. 
 
 from Clement of Eome, or rather ^A-Koaracra yap roDSe tov (rxTj/iaros, 
 
 from the epistle which goes under ^ diaKpiv^rai rh &pp€v koI rh l^rjXv, 
 
 his name : — 'EirfpurrjOds yap curbs ^vxh jJ^^TariQerai ds epoxrii', oijG' <et€- 
 
 6 Kvpios xm/> rivos, irSre rj^ei avrov 7] pov oZaa, k.t. A. — Stro?n. 1. iii. C. 13. 
 
 /3acrt\€ia, elirfp, "Orav iarai ra hvo eV, ^^ 1 Cor. xiii. 8. 
 
 Ka\ rb 6^0) d'S rh eaw, Ka\ rh &p(r(u ^" Rom. vii. 7-13. 
 
 uera ttjs drjXiias, ovTe &pcr(v oC/re 38 p^oy, ijj^ ig. 
 drj\v.—Clcm. Horn. 2 Ep. ad Co- 
 
iNTROD. The Work and Rest, of God. 55 
 
 that eats of her shall live by her ; ^^ but knowledge, even 
 of divine things, may but reveal our nakedness. The 
 day of rest will shew, not only that good gifts of God 
 need ruling, but that some may only judge us more, if 
 by them we think to be as gods in independence.'*'^ For 
 higher gifts involve a deeper judgment, if they are not 
 used aright. 
 
 I say no more, therefore, on this day, though each word 
 here involves a mystery. He who sees the " rivers," and 
 the " trees of Eden," and the " East," and the " keeping 
 of the garden," and the " naming of the creatures," and 
 the " woman for the man," will see yet more to fill him 
 with adoring praise and wonder. For truth is throughout 
 so closely connected, that one truth cannot be opened 
 without opening with it many others. Eye hath not seen, 
 nor ear heard, the things which Grod hath prepared for 
 them that love Him ; but Grod hath revealed them to us 
 by His Spirit ; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the 
 deep things of God. 
 
 Such is the Work and Rest of God, in a soul or world 
 the same story. It is the self-same work which is onlv 
 set forth more fully in the seven great lives recorded in 
 Genesis; the order of which accords with the steps of the 
 work and rest of God in creation. Thus, the first day 
 revealed the creature's state, when light shone in, and 
 shewed the earth's voidness. So Adam is the first great 
 life in Genesis, discovering what the creature is, out of 
 which and in which God purposes to work such great 
 marvels. What he lacks is not yet known, nor is there 
 
 ^^ John vi. 57- against the Gnostics, whom lie 
 
 *" Iren3eus(l. V. c. 20, Contr.H(Br.) charges with preferring tlie tree of 
 makes a very striking use of this knowledo-e to the tree of life. 
 
56 The Work and Rest of God, ixthob. 
 
 yet any understanding' of what by grace can be brought 
 forth out of him ; but the darkness which his fall has 
 wrought is seen under the light of the promise, which, 
 while it lessens the darkness, reveals its gross unsight- 
 liness. The second day then gives a heaven to earth, an 
 expanse into which the breath of heaven may come, and 
 which it may iill as its own proper dwelling place, dividing 
 the waters from tlie waters, shewing that some are salt 
 and eartliy, and some heavenly. So Cain and Abel are 
 something more than the " old man." Two lives, of the 
 flesh and spirit, as unlike each other as heaven and earth, 
 are shewn by nature or by grace growing out of the root 
 of old Adam. Then, the third day revealed a rising 
 earth, with herb and fruit-tree yielding fruit after his 
 kind. And so the third great life, namely Noah's, sets 
 forth regeneration, in which the creature is brought to 
 know something of the power of resurrection ; delivered 
 out of that which hitherto had precluded fruit, into a 
 state of purer and higher blessing, where, the flood of 
 waters being already passed, vines may be planted, and 
 become very fruitful. After this, the fourth day's work is 
 lights; the sun and moon appear to rule the day, and 
 still more to conquer darkness ; as Abraham's life, which 
 is the fourth great stage, shines out, not with mere light, 
 but with the lights of faith and charity, emitting rays 
 like sun and moon, by which the light, which we have 
 already received, is governed, and the remaining darkness 
 overcome. Till on the fifth day comes life in the air and 
 sea, the eagle-eye and gentle dove are now visible ; 
 answering to which is Isaac's heavenly life, the fifth great 
 form of life divinely given, in whose spirit of meekness 
 and understanding the very grace itself is shewn which 
 the dove and eagle of the fifth day are formed to repre- 
 
iNTRDD. The ^Yorh ami Rest of GocL 57 
 
 sent, — grace peculiar to the spirit of the Son, who is 
 known as such when the Spirit " like a clove " descends 
 and rests upon Him ;''^ and whose portrait, as drawn by 
 the beloved Apostle John, has ever been distinguished 
 from other manifestations of the same Life by the form 
 and "face of an eagle." "^^ After which we reach the sixth 
 day's stage, with beasts from the earth, the sheep and 
 oxen strong to labour ; a hint of Jacob and all his long 
 service, toiling for others, sighing to rule, yet not ruling ; 
 till at the close of this stage the man appears, the image 
 of God, the first who is called to rule all things, like to 
 Joseph, the last great life, the crowning work, the one 
 who after many struggles knows both rest and glory. I 
 do not attempt to explain all this. But light shews many 
 a link, where the darkness of a less instructed eye can only 
 see confusion. And the tale which to some is but an end- 
 less and entangled skein, to those who possess the clue 
 is full of unity as well as deepest wisdom. 
 
 And I may add that as this work is fulfilled within, so 
 is there also an accomplishment in the dispensations. In 
 this application "one day is as a thousand years." '^^ Six 
 thousand years of labour precede the world's Sabbath. 
 The parallel here has been often traced. Thus the first 
 day gave light to the dark and fallen world. So the light 
 of the promise of the woman's Seed is the great object 
 which attracts us amid the deep gloom of the first thousand 
 years. At this stage the waters (and in this view " the 
 waters are peoples,"*'*) are not only unquiet, but undivided. 
 But the second day divides the waters, as we know the 
 sons of God and the sons of men became distinct and 
 
 *• Luke iii. 22. Gospel, as revealing Christ in the 
 
 ** The fourth cheru"bic face, "as relationship of Son of God. 
 
 of an eagle," by the consent of all " 2 Pet. iii. 8. 
 
 ages has been applied to St, John's ** Kev. xvii. 15. 
 
58 The Work and Rest of God, introd. 
 
 divided during the second thousand years. After this, on 
 the third day, the earth appears ; something firm and 
 fruitful now is seen above the waters ; just as Abraham 
 and his seed were called out of the world to be as the 
 fruitful earth amid the restless and fruitless nations. In 
 this day we see the righteous grow like the palm-tree, 
 and fruits of divers forms are borne to Grod's glory. Then 
 come lights upon the fourth day, the sun and moon and 
 stars, divine gifts of government and prophecy, to be a 
 light to all nations ; a sun indeed one day to be turned to 
 darkness, and the moon into blood. After which, on the 
 fifth and sixth days, higher life appears, beasts, first in the 
 seas, then upon the dry land ; as in the fifth and sixth 
 thousand years a form of life appeared on earth, unlike 
 all that went before it ; first, the beast from the sea, which 
 St. John saw in his Revelation ; and then, on the sixth 
 day, the beast from the earth ; ^^ and then the man to 
 rule, the image of Grod on earth, to spend the blessed 
 seventh day, the seventh thousand years, of rest in joy 
 and heavenly blessedness.'*^ 
 
 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and know- 
 ledge of Grod I Lo, these are a part of His ways ; but 
 how little a portion is heard of Him.''^ 
 
 <* Eev. xiii. 1, 11. early Church, will find a mass of 
 
 *^ Augustine, in his First Book quotations in Cotelerius' Annotations 
 
 against the Ma?iickers, goes very fully on the General Epistle of Barnabas, 
 
 into this dispensational application, § 15, and in the Commentary of 
 
 in chaps, xxii. and xxiii. §§ 33-41. Corn, a Lapide, On the Pentateuch, 
 
 Any reader who wishes to sec how on Gen. ii. 1, p. 62. 
 general this interpretation was in tlie " Job xxvi. 6-14. 
 
PART I. 
 
 ADAM, OR HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 (chapter III.) 
 
 ■ The first man is of the earth, earthy."—! Cor. xv. 47. 
 
 ' The old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts."— Eph. iv. 22. 
 
ADAM, OR HMAN NATURE. 
 
 (chapter ni.) 
 
 G-ENESis opens wondrously ; first announcing a creation ; 
 then shewing it marred ; then a restoration. " In the 
 beginning God created the heavens and the earth." As 
 for Grod, His work is perfect. If He created, His work 
 must have been good. And yet the next Ihing is a dark- 
 ened world. For " the earth was dark and without form 
 and void." In some way, not revealed, Grod's work had 
 been destroyed. Grod, then, in the six days, restores that 
 earth, not made dark by Him, yet now in darkness ; and 
 on this ruined earth His work proceeds till His image is 
 seen, and He can rest there. 
 
 This wonder, of a work of God soon self-destroyed, 
 meets us again in the beginning. Scarcely is God's image 
 seen in man, before that spiritual work is marred in Adam. 
 The creature formed to bear God's image falls, and thus 
 becomes a platform for another work. In each case mys- 
 tery shrouds the fall. How the earth became " without 
 form and void and dark," is not told us. And how the man, 
 God's image, falls, is a great deep: for great is the mystery 
 of godliness, and not less the mystery of iniquity. But 
 the fact is here. We see man made by the Divine Word ; 
 and then man, as he makes himself by disobedience. 
 
62 Adam, or Human Nature, part i. 
 
 In this way the fall is shewn not to be man's normal 
 state. Man, like Adam, may be far off from God, yet in 
 his heart, as in Scripture, a witness will be heard, saying 
 that this distance is through self-will. He may live in 
 sin ; but he knows that such a life is opposition to the 
 will and purpose of his Maker. Sin is not the law of our 
 being, but a struggle against it, as conscience tells every 
 man. Therefore is God's work shewn before the fall, to 
 confirm the voice which speaks in every heart, and which 
 declares that though all men walk as Adam, sin is no part 
 of God's work, but its opposite. Man's proper place is 
 seen in Christ. Out of Christ we are not lost only, but 
 rebellious. Man, through self, may be all that we see in 
 disobedient Adam, debased and sunk from God and heaven 
 into self, from joy and glory into misery ; and yet in Christ 
 man has been, and is, set in all that glory which God's 
 work and rest typify ; so that Paul can say, " God hath 
 raised us up, and blessed us with all spiritual blessings in 
 heavenly places in Christ."^ Adam, ruling all creatures, 
 is the type of man in Christ, as God makes him ; fallen 
 Adam, of man in self, as he makes or unmakes his own 
 nature. The one, with glories more than eye can see, 
 figured in the blessings bestowed in Paradise on the crea- 
 ture ; the other, losing all through sin, with mind and will 
 subject to, instead of ruling, lower creatures. 
 
 This latter sight, what man is in self, — how he falls and 
 departs from his Creator, — how the understanding errs, — 
 how the will is seduced, — how these highest powers yield 
 to lower ones, — how the end is shame and distance from 
 God, — how the Lover of men in grace meets and conquers 
 this, — all this is shewn as in a glass, man's self being here 
 presented to us. As Adam fell, we fall each one ; for 
 
 » Eph. i. 3. 
 
PART I. Adam, or Ilayuaii Nature. 63 
 
 Adam lives yet in his progeny. And, fallen in him, we 
 prove he is in us, by walking just as he walked. Adam 
 yet re-lives old Adam's life, as Christ in us yet lives Christ's 
 life. And just as things are true for us in Christ, which, 
 if we are in Him, must in due time be true in us also, as the 
 cross and resurrection ; so, being fallen in Adam, we shall 
 find his fall to be true also in our experience. Adam in 
 us still lives old Adam's life. His life is the figure of our 
 life when " we walk as men."^ 
 
 I proceed, then, to trace his course ; first wdthin, then in 
 its more outward application. We shall see how, in spite 
 of every gift, man as man is prone to ruin all. 
 
 § I. — x\dam, or Man. 
 
 First, to trace this path in that world of thought and will 
 which is within ; for, to this day, when we sin, nothing else 
 is done but what is here set forth in the man, the woman, 
 and the serpent.^ In this view the man is the understand- 
 ing, the woman the w^ll or affection,^ the serpent some 
 animal faculty or emotion in us— good, when in subjec- 
 
 - 1 Cor. iii. 3. which we are inclined to certain 
 
 > " Etiam nunc in unoquoqne actions, rather than for that cleter- 
 
 nostrum nihil aliud agitur, ciim ad mination to action, which is now 
 
 peccatum quisque delabitur, quam generally called the "will," bnt 
 
 tunc actum est in illis tribus, ser- which is, according to the view we 
 
 pente, muliere, et viro," &e. — A)'.- th,ke of it, either the source or result 
 
 gustin. de Gen. c. Manich. l.ii. c. 1-i, of the united operation of the affec- 
 
 § 21. "Serpens enim muliereni tion and understanding. See note 
 
 decepit, virum mulier ad prye- 10, p. 41. If the forms of language 
 
 varicationem de veritate deduxit. are any guide, (and surely they of > en 
 
 Serpeutis typum accepit delcctatio utter the results of true and deep 
 
 corporalis; mulier symbolum sensiis insight.) such words as OeXriixa and 
 
 est nostri ; vir, mentis. Delectatio fo/«(«/«5 may be quoted as describing 
 
 itaque sensum movet, sensus menti the will as the organ of affection 
 
 transfundit passionem," &c. — Am- and desire, rather than of deter- 
 
 bros. de Par. c. 15, § 73. mination; and in this scute I here 
 
 * I use the word " wiU" here for use the word, 
 that general faculty of the mind by 
 
64 Adam, or Human Nature. part i. 
 
 tion, but winch may be a means, under the influence of 
 the evil spirit, to tempt the will, and lead it to disobe- 
 dience and independence, and so to misery. For the will, 
 not the understanding, is that in us which is first assailed, 
 seduced by some lower sense or emotion, which seems to 
 promise more happiness. But for the will, the emotions 
 would not be felt, but only thought about : but they are 
 felt : hence they are passions ; for we really suffer, though 
 we should command, them. Only thus is man led away. 
 For our understanding, — that is, the man, — cannot be led 
 to consent to sin but by the will ; that is, that part of the 
 mind which loves, and which, as the woman to her 
 husband, is formed to be subject, and ought to be obe- 
 dient.^ Here the will acts in independence. If this will 
 stood firm, the temptation would be overcome. But the 
 will yields, and becomes self-will, and then by it the man 
 or understanding is seduced. The head goes wrong 
 because the heart is first seduced, while yet the 
 head or understanding is the man, whom the heart 
 or woman should obey. But in every fall the heart per- 
 verts the head, the will tempts the understanding, as in 
 every restoration it is out of the heart or will that tJie new 
 life must come, " the woman's Seed," which is divinely 
 given to overcome the evil. And yet what zeal is shewn 
 to enrich and deck the understanding, which, at the best, 
 is only half our nature, while those affections are unkept, 
 which, as being the spring and womb of every form of 
 
 ^ " Sed tamen per mulierem de- Gen. c. Manich. 1. ii. e. 14, § 20. 
 
 cipit ; non enim etiam ratio nostra Again he says, — " Hie manifest^ 
 
 (i. e. the man) deduci ad consensio- ostenditur, non posse nos a diabolo 
 
 nem peccati potest, nisi cum dolec- tentari, nisi per illam animalera 
 
 tatio mota fuerit in illk parte animi, partem, quse quasi mulieris imaginem 
 
 quae debet obteniperare rationi, tan- vel exemplum in uno ipso homine 
 
 quam rectori viro," &c. — Aug. de ostendit." — Id. ibid. c. 18, § 28. 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human Nature. 65 
 
 future life, are ever the first and special object of the 
 tempter. Alas ! we learn all this too soon by falls, in 
 which the promise of forbidden knowledge is yet the bait 
 to draw us aside. To know is yet the snare ; and the will, 
 once set on this, is quickly overcome. Then, " when lust 
 hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is 
 finished, bringeth forth death."'* Thus falls the will, 
 throwing off dependence at the suggestion of a lower 
 Dature in us, which is very near it.^ 
 
 The results I need not follow here : for it is the same 
 story in the outward application. But I may note the 
 sentence on the " woman," — pain in bringing forth, and 
 subjection to her husband ; as it is said, " And he shall 
 rule over thee;" on the "man," bread by the sweat of 
 his brow, with the earth cursed henceforth with thorns 
 and briers.^ For the fallen will, if it travails to bring 
 forth other forms of life, produces them with pain and 
 much difficulty : but, having done so, is more than ever 
 subject to reason.^ While the understanding, — that is 
 the " man," — finds the earth full of thorns : not easily 
 does it gather truth, the bread of life ; for, as the wise 
 man says, " the corruptible body presseth down the soul, 
 and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that 
 museth upon many things."^ On the one hand, there are 
 
 * James i. 14, 15. ditum est, ' et erit tihi conversio ad 
 
 * Augustine marks that this is virum tuum, et ipsetuido^ninahitwr* 
 done in the evening, " in the cool of quia ilia pars animse, quae earnalibus 
 the day," (chap. iii. 8,) when the sun gaudiis tenetur, cum aliquam malam 
 of love and light is declining: — consuetudinem volens vincere, passa 
 " Bene ' ad vesferam,^ id est cum fuerit diflficultatem et dolorem, atque 
 jam ab eis sol occideret, id estaufer- ita peperit consuetudinem bonam, 
 retur ab eis lux ilia interior verita- cautius jam et diligentius ration! 
 tis," &c. — Aug. de Gen. c. Manich obtemperat tanquam viro," &c. — 
 1. ii. c. 16, § 24. Aug. de Gen. c. Manich. 1. ii. c. 19, 
 
 « Chap. iii. 16-19. § 29. 
 
 ^ " '/w doloribus paries JiUos,^ ad- " Wisdom ix. 15. 
 
66 Adam, or Human Nature. part i. 
 
 the thorns and briers of perplexing questions, which, un- 
 less they are rooted out, will choke the good seed. On 
 the other, the understanding itself is weaker, and must 
 " sweat " for that, which once grew without labour. Thus 
 truth, like fruit, has to be sought and waited for ; the toil 
 to gain it being ordained to strengthen, even while it 
 corrects and humbles us.^ And if the man will not accept 
 this sentence, the ground is quickly filled with thorns and 
 thistles, so that he who will not eat by the sweat of his 
 brow here, will have to gather bitter things both here and 
 in another world. ^^ 
 
 I cannot write what crowds upon me here, as to the 
 *• woman," and her " Seed," who shall destroy and bruise 
 the serpent; or how Christ, if He be "formed within," ^^ 
 is made of the woman in us, that is the human will ; 
 growing thence, out of the womb of human affections, 
 not by man, but by the Holy Ghost, who begets that new 
 life, to be in due time born amidst beasts, out of a pure 
 virgin affection, like Mary, in us ; which is itself the 
 fruit of numberless other affections, some grievously 
 defiled, as Eahab and Thamar, which have gone before. ^^ 
 For from Adam to Christ are seventy-two generations, as 
 from Abraham to Christ are forty- two ; ^^ that is, many a 
 form of life is produced, and many an inward travail and 
 
 ' " Pater ipse colendi sunt labores et tristitise quas habet 
 
 Haud facilem esse viam voluit," &e. homo ex terra ; ac spinse ac tribuli 
 
 Georg.i. 121. sunt punctiones tortuosarum quses- 
 
 '" " Cert^ manifestum est quod tionum, quge nisi exstirpentur, et de 
 
 nemo evadat istam sententiam, ' In agro Dei projiciantur, suffocant ver- 
 
 tristitia raanducabis ex ea omnibus bum, nefructificetinhomine." — Auy» 
 
 diebus vitae tuge; spinas et tribulos de Gen. c. Manich. 1. ii. e. 20, § 30. 
 
 pariet tibi, et edes pabulum agri in " Gal. iv. 19. 
 
 sndore vultus tui,' &c. Hoc ipsum '^ Rahab and Thamar are men- 
 
 pnim, quod in hac vita quisque natus, tioned in the Lord's genealogy, 
 
 diificultatem inveniendae veritatis Matt. i. 
 
 babet ex corruptibili corpore, ipsi '* See Matt. i. and Luke iii. 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human Nature. 67 
 
 death is known by us, before the will brings forth that life 
 of faith, of which Abraham is the appointed figure. And 
 after Abraham, or faith, more births will there yet be, in 
 which the energy of nature is more or less manifest, be- 
 fore that form of life appears, which is of the Holy Ghost, 
 and is the "perfect man." Some of these, as David and 
 Solomon, are like, but yet are not, the perfect man, but 
 only carnal forms or copies of Him ; as we know, that, 
 before Grod's image comes in us, certain outward like- 
 nesses, and carnal prefigurings or preludings of it, in 
 different measures will appear in us. Many a form of 
 life grows, toils, withers, and dies, having produced 
 another to succeed it, which again dies out, and this many 
 times, before the image of God, the perfect man, the true 
 Seed, comes. But it comes at last, and the serpent's head 
 is bruised. She, by whom came death, brings forth the 
 Life-giver.^'* 
 
 And very wondrous is the woman's name ; for " Adam 
 called his wife's name, Eve," or Life, not while she stood, 
 but after she had fallen, and by her fall had brouglit in 
 death. '^ So within, the fallen will is "Eve ;" fallen, and 
 yet indeed the true " mother of all living." Only by the 
 will is another life produced. It is the opener of all evil 
 or good in the creature. As we love, we live. Therefore 
 
 ^* Any one who cares to see how (1. i. c. 6, § 9,) where he says, " Et 
 
 generally received this mystic appli- ecce infantia mea olim inortua est, 
 
 cation of Christ's genealogy was et ego vivo, &c." So Chrysostoni 
 
 among the Fathers, may do so by says, " Dost thou not see every day 
 
 consulting the Catena Aurea on the a resurrection and a death taking 
 
 Grospels, Avhere the inward fulfil- place in the periods of our life?" 
 
 meut is given in loco. See also Horn, on 1 Thess. iv. 15, page 41fl 
 
 the extract from the Ordinary Gloss of the Oxford Translation, 
 
 further on upon the fifth chapter, '^ Chap. iii. 20. Eve, ITeh. nin. 
 
 in note 13, p. 92. Augustine just The LXX. here translate Zcd^ for 
 
 glances at this succession of foi'ms Eve: — KaJ e/caAeo-ei' 'A5a/x to Ouo^ct 
 
 of life in us, in his Confea.siuns, t^s yuvaiKbs avrov Zwtj. 
 
 V 9 
 
68 Adam, or Human IS'ature, part t. 
 
 must we " keep the heart with all diligence, for out of it 
 are the issues of life,"^^ good or bad. So the Lord 
 teaches, — " From within, out of the heart, proceed 
 evil thoughts," and every form of evil living ;^^ and 
 out of the affections grows that life which is life, and is 
 eternal.*^ 
 
 And yet the man, and woman too, though she is the 
 mother of all living, are shut out of Paradise. A flaming 
 sword keeps the way, while at its gate are placed cheru- 
 bim. The fallen mind in mercy is shut out, because unfit 
 to deal with heavenly things ; while forms of truth (for 
 these cherubim were such forms) reveal, as through a 
 veil, some ray of glory such as the fallen mind and will 
 can bear. For now a coat of skin in mercy covers 
 both. Other things therefore in grace are made to agree 
 thereto. 
 
 But all this may be more clear to some, if we trace its 
 fulfilment in the outward kingdom. The tale is one 
 within or without, enacted before the face of the world, 
 or carried on invisibly in the inmost soul of man. 
 
 Outwardly then we here have man as man. Human 
 nature in its ways and griefs and hopes is drawn for us, 
 with the exactness of One who views it as it is, and who 
 
 '^ Prov. iv. 23. Quare ergo non ilia pars nostra, quse 
 
 '' Mark vii. 21. tanquam viro debet obtemperare ra- 
 
 '* " Quern autem non moveat, tioni, cum per ipsam rationem de 
 
 quod post peccatum et sententiam verbo recto vivendi sarcinam con- 
 
 .ludicis Dei voeat Adam mulierem ceperit, appelletur, Vita, et vivorum 
 
 suam, Vitam, quia vivorum ipsa sit mater ? " &c. — Aug. de Gen. c. Man. 
 
 mater, posteaquam meruit mortem, 1. ii. c. 21, § 31. To the same effbct 
 
 etmortales foetus pareredestinata est, is the well-known prayer in the 
 
 nisi quia illos foetus adtendit Scrip- Litany, — " to receive the word with 
 
 tura, de quibus superius dictum est. pure aflfectAon, and (so) to bring 
 
 Nam vita qu;e in peccatis est mors torth the fruits of the Spirit." 
 ar>Dellari in Scripturis solet. . 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human Nature. 69 
 
 presents the perfect figure of it in Adam to us, that, if we 
 cannot look within, we may yet learn by Adam's ways to 
 know our own tendencies. We are shewn here, first, the 
 way of man ; then, the consequences ; then, the remedy. 
 
 § II.— Man's Way 
 
 As to the way of man, as man, it is from God to self and 
 independence ; a way not without its marked stages, — for 
 there is first temptation, then sin, and disobedience, — and 
 each of these has its own steps, but the steps and stages 
 are all away from God. Such is the way of man. If he 
 returns, that return is God's way for man, and not mere 
 man's way. 
 
 First in this way comes the temptation. This at once 
 touches a field of mystery, assuming the existence of an 
 enemy of God and man ; though how he became such, or 
 whence or what he was, or how he had power to reach this 
 world, and to use its creatures, is not told us. What we 
 know is this, that man is tempted, and that by some of 
 the common creatures which surround him here ; the 
 weaker vessel being ever first assailed, as being more 
 likely to yield, and in yielding to draw the stronger with 
 her. Christ w^as " tempted of the devil," and could say, 
 " Get thee behind me, Satan," ^ for the New Man sees a 
 spiritual world. But man as man sees but the creature, 
 some outward thing, and not a spirit under it. Some 
 paltry thing, the smallest, commonest creature, may be, 
 and is often, used to ruin us. A tree or beast may stir 
 our lusts, and a garden or fruit awaken passions and 
 desires, which may prove too strong for us. For though 
 
 » Matt. iv. 1-10. 
 
70 Adam, or Human Nature. part i. 
 
 man, as Adam, sees but the creature, a world of spirits is 
 working under it, by the creature tempting man to trust 
 in self and creatures more than God. 
 
 Yet with this difference, that Adam saw onl}^ the 
 creature, whilst Christ in His temptation "recognised the 
 devil as the direct agent in it, the two temptations varied 
 not. The serpent's words in substance exactly answer to 
 those recorded in the Grospel ; first suggesting doubts as 
 to Grod's love, then as to His truth, then openly attempt- 
 ing to put the creature into Grod's place. Such is the 
 trial here : such was Christ's : and such is man's tempta- 
 tion yet. There is indeed no other. 
 
 First comes a suggestion questioning God's love ; and 
 this is put with great subtlety, suggesting that the com- 
 mandment was merely arbitrary, imposed by power, ratliei 
 than ordained in love : — '" Hath God said. Ye shall not 
 eat?"^ As much as to say. He grudges; He cannot 
 really love you. Keeping out of sight what God has 
 done, His unnumbered gifts and proofs of love everywhere, 
 the serpent fixes on the one thing denied, and brings 
 this forward in the way most likely to awaken hard and 
 evil thoughts. Yet he only puts a question as to God. 
 He questions what God does : thus he opens the tempta- 
 tion. 
 
 If we question what God does, we judge God ; we get 
 out of our place, and put Him out of His. For simple as 
 the question seemed, by it the serpent was drawing Eve 
 to be God's judge, rather than His worshipper : — an 
 awful place for men, yet one into which our adversary is 
 
 ^ Chap. iu. 1. It is noteworthy with verses I, 8, 9, 13, 14, &e., 
 
 that the serpeut always substitutes where in every instance we have 
 
 Efo him for Jehovah. — "HathElohim Jeliovah Elohim, is suggestive and 
 
 Kaid," &c., vv. 1, 3, 5. This, compared signiticant. 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human Nature. 71 
 
 ever drawing us ; to lead ere long to make ourselves as 
 gods, and to make God a liar. A really humble soul 
 never judges God. It may not have peace or joy, but at 
 least it will not judge God; submitting rather to His 
 sovereign will ; tempted to question, yet not qestioning. 
 Such a soul has broken through the snare. It is safe, for 
 it will not entertain questions as to God's ways. 
 
 Eve, however, meets the question, as men yet meet it, 
 with knowledge. She answers with the truth of God;^ 
 shewing how the serpent misrepresented God. And yet 
 she fails. ^Yhat was wrong here ? This, that the woman 
 was parleying with Satan instead of worshipping. Could 
 Satan have gone on with success, if the woman, instead of 
 arguing the point, had at once given God His place by 
 worship and submission ? Then God and the creature 
 would both have had their place, and the serpent's 
 subtlety would have been foiled. But Eve utters truth, 
 while her soul drinks in the lie. Unconsciously she is 
 taking the place of judging God. 
 
 And truth held away from God will not preserve : on 
 the contrary, it may very readily be used against us. 
 Balaam had the truth ; but he walked not with God. 
 Instead of helping him, therefore, the truth only judged 
 him.'* And we too may have some well-known text, when 
 Satan, "that old serpent,"-^ suggests that God does not 
 love us. Will it help us against the tempter's wile, if we 
 are parleying with him, instead of worshipping ? Alas I 
 We all know how powerless truth is, if we are admitting 
 questions suggesting doubts as to God's love. 
 
 Such is man's first trial ; and thus, in doubts of God's 
 love, comes in creature love. All the world is doing what 
 
 » Chap, iii. 2, 3. * Numb. xxiv. 17, and xxxi. 8. ' Eev. xii. 9. 
 
72 Adam, or Human. Nature, part t. 
 
 Eve did. They think God does not love tliem : they must 
 therefore love themselves. So man turns to find his joy 
 out of God, in things which cannot satisfy. This is the 
 fundamental lie, — God does not love. Every other lie is 
 possible after this. This it is which leads man away from 
 God. Distance from Him is easy, if the poison of this lie 
 is really rankling in us. Oh how deep this lie has gone ! 
 Who likes to be at the mercy of God in everything ? Men 
 will trust a strong box more than God, because they are 
 not quite certain that He so loves, that at every step He 
 will order what is best for them. God will stint them, 
 they fear. God cannot make them happy now. This tree 
 or that will give far more joy than God can ; for love is 
 joy, and, if God loves us not, we can but try self and 
 creatures and creature love. 
 
 The next step is the denial of God's truth. " The ser- 
 pent said. Ye shall not surely die."^ Love being doubted, 
 truth is next assailed. God now is treated as a liar. He 
 said indeed, Ye shall die, if ye transgress. But fear not : 
 ye shall not die. 
 
 Now here, as before, if God lose His place, something 
 else must take it. If the truth is doubted, some lie will 
 be believed. Where God is not trusted, Satan will be ; 
 and, indeed, the world's happiness consists in trusting 
 him. To this day, wherever man is doubting God, he is 
 building his happiness upon the devil's lie. Could men, 
 if they believed God's word, go on happily in a course of 
 disobedience and self-will ? But they believe a lie. Their 
 happiness in sin rests on believing the devil. Carnal 
 happiness apart from God could not live for a day under 
 a faith that God is true, and will fulfil His word on those 
 who disobey him. 
 
 Chap. iii. 4. 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human Nature. 73 
 
 The truth is, man must trust some one. Boast as he 
 may, he cannot stand alone. The man, therefore, who 
 doubts the love and truth of Grod, having given up God, 
 must trust the creature. If, therefore, creatures ask him 
 to sin, he will obey them ; for they are now in the place 
 of God to him. If we believe God, we are free. If we 
 will not trust Him, we are the tool and slave of any thing 
 or any one who is stronger or cleverer than we are. 
 
 And now God's love and truth being denied, the next 
 step is to take God's place openly. So the serpent says, 
 " Ye shall be as gods."^ He now can dare to say any 
 thing ; for if the poison of the first two lies has entered, 
 God has quite lost His character in the heart of man. 
 Self now may therefore seek to be " as God ; " so en- 
 tirely is spiritual perception gone when we begin to doubt 
 God. 
 
 Some may not see the sin of this. Sin blinds us so 
 that we do not know what is sin. Men see no harm in 
 seeking to be gods, in setting themselves up to know or 
 judge both good and evil.^ Self-glorying therefore is 
 thought to be no sin, till some wretched fruit of exalting 
 self opens our eyes to see it ; while judging good and evil 
 seems almost to be our work, so readily do we pass 
 sentence on everything, as though neither sin nor danger 
 were connected with it. But both are sin, for they rob 
 God. They take His place, to put self into it. God 
 
 ^ Chap. iii. 5. voluit obedientem esse raandato . . . 
 
 8 The expression, " knowing good Itaque quoniam judicare voluisti, 
 
 and evil," may mean sitting in judg- ideo addidit, ' Ecce Adamfactus est 
 
 ment on it. as in2 Sam. xiv. 17, and tanquam unus ex nobis, ut Bciat 
 
 1 Kings iii. 9. Ambrose so takes bonum et malum.' Voluisti tibi 
 
 it: — «' Sciebat Deus te judicare non arrogare judicium, ideo poenam pravi 
 
 posse ; ideo dixit, ' Nolite judicare, judicii refutare non debes," &c.— 
 
 ut non judicemini.' Ergo quia scivit Be Farad, c. 11, § 52. 
 inlirmum te esse ad judicandum, 
 
74 Adam, or Human Nature, part i. 
 
 must be the centre where He is known. Let Him be dis- 
 honoured, self will be the centre ; and each fair gift is 
 turned into a curse, the creature exalting itself at the ex- 
 pense of God's glory ; till, as in Nebuchadnezzar, loss of 
 understanding is the result, and man becomes as a beast 
 for his self-exaltation, " until seven times pass over him."^ 
 Grod does, indeed, call us to glory, but by glorifying Him, 
 not by self-glorying. And in that day we too may judge, 
 for man shall "judge the world," yea, "judge angels." ^^ 
 But the way thither is the way of Christ, who " grew in 
 wisdom," while in subjection even to His earthly parents ; 
 in meekness and obedience offering Himself to Grod, 
 taking man's place and giving to Grod His place. In such 
 a path, blessing must be man's, for in it God is glorified. 
 Let man arrogate the glory, blessing will depart, until 
 God receives His own again. ^^ 
 
 Still the serpent spoke some truth. They " became as 
 gods." God Himself declares, — " The man is become as 
 one of us." ^^ And this is yet the tempter's way : he does 
 not put forth a lie only, with the uncomeliness of a mere 
 lie ; but first a question full of plausibility, then a lie, and 
 then a truth out of its place, working as a lie, and used 
 to deceive us. For he can tell much attractive truth ; but 
 never for God against self, always to nourish self and self- 
 will against the will of God. And there is a point where 
 truth becomes the surest snare, aiding to fix us in the most 
 awful self-deception ; while held in sin, without conscience, 
 to exalt self, it becomes our worst punishment. So a 
 saint, when asked, " What was the most dangerous doc- 
 trine?" replied, "God's own truth held carnally and to 
 
 » Dan. iv. 30-32. xxix. 1, 11, and xcvi. 7-10. 
 
 »° 1 Cor. vi. 2. 3. >« chap. iii. 22. 
 
 " Compare Mai. ii. 2, and Psalm 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human Nature, 75 
 
 exalt self." For His light may blind, His ark destroy, 
 His sanctuary smite, His table be damnation. ^^ And a 
 truth perverted may be tlie firmest chain to hold and 
 bind and blind us for ever. 
 
 I might speak much here of other outward things, 
 which had their weight in this temptation ; such as the 
 lust of the flesh, for " the tree was good for food ;" the 
 lust of the eye, for it " was pleasant to the eye, and fair 
 to look upon ;" and the lust of the mind, the pride of 
 knowledge, for it was " a tree to be desired to make one 
 wise." ^^ All these concur, and thus falls man : thus grows 
 the "evil heart of unbelief;" and God, — Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost, — gives place to that other trinity, the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil. The Father is superseded 
 by the world : creature love serves now instead of God's 
 Love. The Son, God's Truth, is doubted, and at once 
 Christ's opposite, the devil, "who abode not in the truth," 
 must be trusted. Then the Holy Ghost is grieved and 
 assailed ; and in His place the flesh or self is glorified.*'^ 
 In this order does the evil work, as then, so now, in every 
 man ; till man actually believes that sin is blessedness : 
 not to sin and do as he will is now considered bondage. 
 So deceived is he, that he thinks the evil good, and 
 counts self-pleasing to be joy, though he finds no peace 
 in it.i6 
 
 " Lev. X. 1,2; 1 Chron. xiii. 9, flesh. See 1 John ii. 15, 16 ; lii. 8 ; 
 
 10 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 18-20 ; 1 Cor. Gal. v. 17. 
 
 xi. 29. '* For many of the best thoughts 
 
 '* Chap. iii. 3. in this section, I am indebted to a 
 
 15 The New Testament is full of paper, entitled " Tho Rejected Man," 
 
 these contrasts ; tlie Father is ever being No. 41 of the series, " Words 
 
 set against the world. Christ against of Truth." 
 
 the devil, and the Spirit against the 
 
76 Adam^ or Human Nature, 
 
 § III.— The Fruit of Man's Way. 
 
 But what are the real fruits of this way ? The first is a 
 bad conscience : — " Their eyes were opened, and they knew 
 that they were naked." ^ Then under a sense of their shame, 
 they seek to hide it. " They sewed fig-leaves together, 
 and made themselves aprons." 
 
 Such a conscience, such an "opening of the eyes, 
 though it may precede conversion to God, is not conver- 
 sion. It is not even one of the good things that survived 
 the fall. It was acquired in the fall, and in itself drives 
 man away from G-od, and only proves that he now sees 
 himself. Man cannot bear his condition, or change it ; 
 therefore he hides it. But hiding it is not repentance. 
 Where there is true repentance, there is ever open and 
 unreserved confession. 
 
 So they made for themselves "aprons," not coats. 
 " Grod made them coats ;" ^ but they were content to hide 
 so much only of their nakedness as they saw before them. 
 God covers all by that which has died. But as long as the 
 shame alone of sin is upon us, we shall seek to hide it, 
 rather than to find atonement. Some creature or gift of 
 God will be used, to keep us from seeing what we are, and 
 to hide us from our own eyes. This is the reason why men 
 so love the world, because the utter loss of outward things 
 would shew us what poor, naked, shameful, restless, aching 
 souls we are ; while the abundance of outward things in 
 some measure hides this from us, and keeps us from the 
 humiliating perception of what we are. Should not then 
 our shame be hid ? Surely. God would have it covered, 
 
 » Chap. iii. 7. " ^ chap. iii. 21. 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human NahiTe. 77 
 
 but with that wliicli, while it covers, is also a witness of 
 our true state, — which confesses what we are, and that sin 
 has brought death, though almighty grace out of death 
 brings forth righteousness. 
 
 This leads to a further fruit of sin. " They hid them- 
 selves from the presence of the Lord."^ God has now 
 to call out to them, "Where art thou?" How comes it 
 you are not with me ? Oh, how much is there in these 
 words ! God finds His creatures hiding from Him. He 
 would let them learn the position into which they have 
 brought themselves by disobedience. Does He do this by 
 reproaches ? He simply says, — Where art thou ? How 
 comes it you are not with me ? Adam had his excuse at 
 hand, and man's excuse is yet the same. 
 
 In this excuse of Adam's we may see a yet further fruit 
 of disobedience. Guilty man attempts to clear himself by 
 throwing blame upon some other one."* The righteous 
 ever justify God ; the sinner's great mark is self-justifica- 
 tion ; accusing God, or man, or Satan, without one word of 
 self-renunciation. And, observe, the excuses were all true, 
 but no recognition of God's claims or open confession of 
 guilt is to be found in them. God asks, — How comes it 
 you are not with me ? We answer, — Because some creature 
 has beguiled us ; which is true, but no fit answer for a 
 sinner. Nor does it spring from, nor produce, a good con- 
 science. And truth wjthout a good conscience will not 
 help ; rather it may become a snare, serving to root us in 
 the most awful self-deception. Admitting sin is not con- 
 fessing it. Extorted concession is not confession. But if 
 God has not His place, all spiritual sense is gone. That 
 which has made us err in heart, makes us err in under- 
 standing also. 
 
 3 Chap. iii. 8. * Chap. iii. 12, 13. 
 
78 Adam, or Human Nature, part i. 
 
 But there are other fruits of sin more external, and 
 having to do with man's body and his dwelling place. The 
 earth is cursed, and lienceforth sorrow and toil are to be 
 man's due portion, until he return to the dust whence he 
 was taken :^ a lot which seems hard, and yet is mercy ; 
 by toil to draw man out of self, and then by death to 
 destroy him that hath the power of death, that is the devil. 
 But on this I need not enter here. This part of man's lot 
 has ample illustration everywhere. 
 
 One consequence of sin remains, characteristic of the lot 
 of man as man, namely, exclusion from paradise. Fallen 
 man is driven out, lest as fallen he eat and live for ever.^ 
 This, too, is love. Old Adam is shut out, but the Seed 
 can enter through the flaming sword and past the che- 
 rubim. The Head first passed, and then the members ; 
 and though man as man, that is the first Adam, without 
 sore peril may not enter into that from whence God has 
 excluded him, yet for man in Christ, the Second Man, the 
 way is open, and we are invited thitherward.^ Paul was 
 caught up, how he could not tell, whether in the body or 
 out of it, into paradise ; ^ and John, and others too, have 
 passed that sword, which turns every way to shut out old 
 Adam. For saints the way is open yet. But for man as 
 man to seek by magic arts, as many have sought, without 
 God's truth and love, in selfhood to enter into paradise, to 
 hold communion with the spirit^ there, from which as 
 fallen God in mercy has excluded them, only tends to 
 make men into devils ; for fallen man deceived and now 
 akin to evil, by laws he little knows of, will come into 
 contact with his like, even with evil, and by it will be yet 
 more deceived, even while he thinks an angel of light is 
 
 » Chap. iii. 16-19. ' Eev. ii. 7. 
 
 « Chap. iii. 22-24. « 2 Cor. xii. 3, 4. 
 
PART I. Adam, or Human Nature, 79 
 
 teaching him. To man, tlierefore, as man, the way is 
 closed. Paradise suits him not ; therefore he may not 
 enter there. But, instead, at the gate are forms of the 
 Divine, cherubim, veiling and yet revealing God's glory ; 
 " figures of the true," such as fallen man can bear, instead 
 of purely spiritual communications, serving as a veil for 
 heavenly things, and yet, like the veils of the tabernacle, 
 which were covered with cherubims,^ in and by the veil 
 itself revealing heavenly things. Israel; therefore, is for- 
 bidden to hold any unlawful intercourse with the spiritual 
 world by means of " enchanters, witches, charmers, con- 
 suiters with familiar spirits, wizards, or necromancers," as 
 the nations of Canaan had done, because the Lord would 
 speak to them by a Man, a Prophet like unto Moses.^^ 
 Such is God's provision for fallen man, — forms of truth for 
 those unfit for spiritual things ; not leaving the creature in 
 the spiritual world to an intercourse with spirits, for which, 
 as fallen, it is incompetent ; but giving, instead, a human 
 form, (the cherubim had "the likeness of a man,"^^) by 
 the mystery of the Incarnation in all its forms to teach us 
 in the flesh such things as man can profit by, and yet 
 ordained to shew us higher things, and to be the door to 
 open, even while it shuts, paradise ; by that very door 
 
 ' Exod. xxvi. 31, and xxxvi. 25. evangelium, quod in uno Spiritu 
 
 '" See the context, Deut. xviii. coutinetur. Quemadmodum et Da- 
 
 9-19. vid postulans ejus adventum ait, 
 
 " See Ezek. i. 5, and x. 15. The ' Qui sedes super cherubim appare,' 
 
 application of these cherubic forms, etenim cherubim quadriformia et 
 
 the lion, the ox, the man, and the formse ipsorum imagines sunt dispo- 
 
 eagle, to the four Gospels, or rather sitionis Filii Dei." — Adv. Hcer. 1. iii. 
 
 to the four views of Christ which c. 11. Ambrose says, " Plerique pu- 
 
 they respectively set forth, is well tant ipsura Dominum nostrum in 
 
 known. Irenaeus, in the second cen- quatuor evangelii libris quatuor for- 
 
 tury, writes thus : " Qui est omnium mis animalium figurari, quod idem 
 
 artifex Verbum, qui sedet super che- homo, idem leo, idem vitulus, idem 
 
 rubim, et continet omnia, declaratus aquila, esse comprobatur," &c. — 
 
 hominibus, dedit nobis quadriforme Prolog, in Luc. § 8. 
 
80 -4 Jam, or Human Nature. part i. 
 
 teaching man how to pass it, through the fiery sword and 
 past the cherubim. For if we enter, we must yet pass the 
 figures and the sword to that which is within. Any coming 
 into heavenly places is through this narrow gate. If I do 
 but die to my own righteousness, and seek to come into 
 that rest and joy which is by faith, the flaming sword at 
 once meets me. What pains has even this amount of 
 dying and entering cost many ! Much more, if faith turn 
 to experience, shall we find how sharp that sword is. Mere 
 flesh cannot pass it ; but it may be passed, and must be 
 passed, if we would enter paradise. And awful as it ap- 
 pears, by it is cut off much of tliat which is our sorrow 
 here. 
 
 § IV. — The Remedy for Man. 
 
 Such is man, — such is his way, such are its fruits. Now 
 let us see the remedy. This too has stages, all of Grod ; 
 first a Call, then a Promise, then a Gift, from Him. 
 
 First comes a Call, a voice which will be heard, to con- 
 vince man of his state, saying, " Where art thou ? " ^ A 
 voice which may sound in different ways, but which in all 
 is crying to draw man back again ; at first only convicting 
 of sin, yet by this very conviction laying the foundation 
 for man's recovery; leading man to come to himself 
 before it is too late, that he may come to his Father, and 
 from Him receive another life ; and asking, though man 
 oft turns a deaf ear, why we are not with Him, who still 
 loves and yearns over us. 
 
 Then comes a Promise, full of grace and truth, touching 
 the woman's Seed ; ^ a promise not to old Adam, for the old 
 
 ' Chap. iii. 9. 2 ci^ap. iii. 15. 
 
to 
 
 PART I. Adam, or Human Nature, 81 
 
 man is fallen, and must pay the penalty : — no reprieve is 
 ^iven to the flesh : the cross which saves us is Adam's con- 
 demnation : — but a promise to the Seed or New Man, 
 who shall be born, in and by whom man shall regain para- 
 dise. And as the promise is not to Adam, so, strictly 
 speaking, there is now no trial of him. What Adam is, has 
 been already proved. Blessed with every gift, through 
 self he spoils all. Man therefore must die, but in the 
 Son of Man man's line is restored and raised up again. 
 The fall of man, like the fall of the year, by God's almighty 
 love and wisdom opens the door for broader and richer 
 seed-times. The very grave becomes the cradle of life, 
 and death the way to resurrection. The new man springs 
 out of the old, and from its grave, as a fair flower 
 in spring out of the dark earth. For the Son of Man is 
 indeed true man, though every man is not a son of man.^ 
 In the Son or Seed the curse is overcome. All that rose up 
 in man falls in and by the Son of Man ; and all that fell 
 in man is raised again in the Son of Man, the Seed, the 
 heavenly man. The promise cannot fail to this Seed. 
 Unlike the first covenant, which, being of law, needed two 
 
 ' Man and the Son of Man are homo, sed non filius hominis. Qu:i- 
 
 not the same. Adam, for instance, propter hinc jam licet adtendere 
 
 vas man, but not the son of man. atque discernere, qnid hoc in loco 
 
 The son of man is the new man, which inter hominem et filium hominis dis- 
 
 grows by grace out of the old man. tet: nt qui portant imaginem terreni 
 
 So David says : " What is man that hominis, qui non est filius hominis, 
 
 thou art mindful of him, or the son hominum nomine significentur ; qui 
 
 of man that thou visitest him?" autem portant imaginem ccelestis 
 
 Again, " Thou preservest man and hominis, filii hominum potius appel- 
 
 beast, but the sons of men put their lentur. lUe enim et vetus homo di- 
 
 trust under the shadow of thy citnr ; iste autem novus. Sed novus 
 
 wings." — Psalm viii. 4, and xxxvi. ex vetere nascitur, quoniam spiritalis 
 
 7. Augustine speaks much of this regeneratio mutatione vitie terrenae 
 
 difference : " Omnis filius hominis iiichoaiur, et ideo iste filius hominis 
 
 homo: non omnis homo filius homi- nuncupatur." — Enar. in Psalm, viii. 
 
 nis possit intelligi. Adam quippe § 10. 
 
82 Adam, or Human Xature, part t. 
 
 parties, the better covenant needs but one, for it is a pro- 
 mise, and is fulfilled by the Promiser. Henceforth blessing- 
 stands not on a creature's will, but on deeper, safer ground, 
 even the Lord's will. " Thou shalt " now gives place to 
 " I will." If we are heirs, it is " according to the pro- 
 mise."" 
 
 Nor is the promise all. God adds a Gift : — " The Lord 
 God made them coats of skins and clothed them,"^ a 
 clothing indeed of humiliation, and like the cross, which 
 it foreshadowed, a seal of death and condemnation, — a 
 covering fit rather for beasts than men, and like the 
 badger's skin, appointed for the tabernacle,^ telling by its 
 very form that man is now in the wilderness ; but which 
 yet fulfils its purpose for a season, till man in resurrection 
 shall be once more clothed upon with his own proper 
 glory. Again therefore God works, for sin had broken 
 His rest ; working, as ever, to restore blessedness ; to 
 cover not with fig-leave screens only that part of our 
 nakedness which is before each of us ; but to give us, 
 upon us, in token of our state, — for the skins spoke of 
 death, and so confessed trespass, — a covering which, while 
 it puts us in our place, as sinful creatures, yet shelters us.'^ 
 
 Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all 
 deeps ; fire and hail ; snow and vapours ; stormy wind ful- 
 filling His word ; mountains, and all hills ; fruitful trees, 
 and all cedars ; beasts, and all cattle ; creeping things, and 
 
 * Gal. iii. 29. of skins as representing our present 
 
 * Chap. iii. 21. fallen body of humiliation, in the 
 
 * Exod. xxvi. 14. likeness of which Christ died, and 
 ^ The Fathers in the coat of skins which must die ; but which both by 
 
 all see the cross. Nor is it any con- its death and life serves us while 
 
 tradiction to thisviewthat Augustine we are fallen. Here again we 
 
 with some others, {A7fff. de Gen. c. touch on things which are all but 
 
 Manich. ii. 41, and again Enar. in unspeakable. 
 Psalm, ciii. 2.) takes this same coat 
 
PART t. Adam, or Human Nature. 83 
 
 flying- fowl ; kings of the earth, and all people ; princes, 
 and all judges of the earth ; both young men, and maidens ; 
 old men, and children ; let them praise the name of the 
 Lord ; for His name alone is excellent ; His glory is above 
 the earth and heaven. 
 
 There is yet another view of man, which gives us the 
 dispensational fulfilment of the same history. In this 
 view Christ and the Church appear. He is " tlie Man," 
 who " left father and mother and was joined to His wife." 
 While He slept, she was made out of Him ; and they two 
 became one flesh. ^ This is " the woman, which is of the 
 ]Man," and this is "the Man who is also by the woman."^ 
 For Christ is both the woman's Seed and Lord : the " Man 
 who was not deceived,"'^ but who by the woman and for 
 her came under judgment. And in this view the expres- 
 sion here used as to the formation of the woman shadows 
 forth a mystery. For we read " He huilded a woman ;"*^ 
 and of the Church it is often said, that she is " builded." 
 " All the building fitly framed together groweth unto a 
 holy temple in the Lord ; in whom ye also are builded 
 together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." ^=^ 
 
 * Eph. V. 31, 32, " Viro dormi- facta est ecclesia," &c. Enar. in 
 
 ente. Eva facta est; moriente Christo, Psalm, cxxvi. (A'. V. 1 27,) § 7. This 
 
 ecclesia facta est : et ilia de latere interpretation is common to all the 
 
 viri, ciim eosta detracta est ; et ista Fathers, 
 
 de latere viri, quando latus lancea ^ 1 Cor. xi. 12. 
 
 percussum est, et sacramenta pro- '^ 1 Tim. ii. 14. 
 
 flnxerunt."— ^2/^. in Psalm, cxxvii. " Chap. ii. 22. Margin, Heb. 
 
 {E. V. 128,) § 11. "Quando dor- p>. '* Non solum de costa Adam 
 
 mivit in cruce signum gestabat, in typum ecclesise semel sedificavit 
 
 immo implebat quod significatura Evam.sed quotidi^credentesetmem- 
 
 est in Adam: quia cum dormiret bra corporis sui sedificat, et de terris 
 
 Adam, eosta illi detracta, est, et Eva ad coelum \Q\d,t"— Huron, in Amos 
 
 facta est. Sic et Domino cum dor- ix. 6. 
 
 mi ret in cruce, latus ejus percussum '^ Eph. ii. 21, 22. 
 est, et sacramenta proHuxerunt, unde 
 
 G 2 
 
84 A.dam, or Human Nature. part i. 
 
 So gifts are " for the building of the body of Christ :"^^ 
 a building which grows without sound of axe or hammer. 
 Without it the Man is not perfect : the woman is " the 
 filling up of Him that filleth all in all.''^^ Such is the 
 Church in its relation to Christ : one flesh, one life, one 
 spirit, with Him ; bearing His upright form, made like to 
 Him, to be an imitator of Grod, with a nature more than 
 animal, — for " among the beasts there was no help-meet 
 for Adam,"^^ nor can His Bride " bear the mark or number 
 of the beast." •^ For she is one, pure, holy Church ; a 
 body of many members, not united by likeness of outward 
 form, — for the eye is unlike the hand and foot, and some 
 are outward and seen, and some are unseen, — but linked 
 together by the bond of common life, each in its place 
 and measure completing the body, which is one Church, 
 one " Mother of all living," the Bride, all whose members 
 are encircled in the divine arms, and included in the 
 divine love, which, because it is divine and eternal an(i 
 almighty, has breadth and length and depth and height 
 enough to hold them all. This is the Church, the woman 
 whose "power is on her Head," and whose Head and 
 Lord is "the image and glory of God,"^^ formed in the 
 earth to rule all beasts and creatures, and to have " all 
 things put in subjection under His feet."*® This is indeed 
 " a great mystery," when seen as " concerning Christ and 
 the Church ; *' *^ and leads to depths where fallen creatures 
 cannot follow, for "no man knoweth the Son but the 
 Father." ^^ But this we know, that in Him we have life ; 
 and what we know not now, we shall know hereafter. 
 
 '3 Eph. iv, 12, els oIkoSoix^ju, k.t.\. " 1 Cor. xi. 7, 10. 
 
 •♦ Eph. i. 23. "» Heb. ii. 8. 
 
 »^ Chap. ii. 20. " Eph, v. 32. 
 
 " Ely. xiii. 17. 20 jyi^tt. xi. 27. 
 
PAKT 11. 
 
 CAIN AND ABEL, 
 
 OR 
 
 THE CARNAL AND SPIRITUAL MIND. 
 (chapters IV. V.) 
 
 " That is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural ; and afterwards that 
 which is spiritual."—! COR. xy. 46. 
 
 " The flesh lusteth against the spirit."— Gal. v. 17. 
 
CAIN AND ABEL, 
 
 OB 
 
 THE CAENAL AND SPIRITUAL MIND. 
 
 (chapters IV. V.) 
 
 Adam did not live very long, before two other forms of life 
 might be perceived proceeding from him. In these, the sons 
 of old Adam, we have the first and second births of human 
 nature, those forms of life, both carnal and spiritual, which 
 by nature or grace grow out of the old man in each of us. 
 And very different are these forms, though, like chaff and 
 wheat, they spring both out of one root. Their order 
 never changes. That is not first which is spiritual, but 
 that which is natural. Age after age it is the same, within, 
 or without, or in the dispensations. The outcome of Adam 
 varies not. Some forms of life there are, which are " of 
 old ordained to condemnation."^ These are the wild 
 natural fruits ; and, the root being known, its fruit is fore- 
 seen as surely as that brambles will only bear brambles. 
 But besides these there are other forms of life, springing 
 out of man, the fruits of " the engrafted word,"^ which are 
 predestined to glory. Each of these I would now trace, 
 first within, and then more outwardly. The tale is one on 
 
 ' Jude 4. 2 James i. 21. 
 
88 Cain and Abel, or part n. 
 
 every platform. The outward fulfilments are Lut the 
 manifestations that such or such a life prevails within. 
 
 § I. — The First and Second Birth. 
 
 We have then here in Adam's sons, (that is, if we trace 
 the story in its inward application,) the ways and works of 
 the carnal and spiritual mind, which spring from the con- 
 junction of the understanding and will, the inward man 
 and woman. ^ That is not first which is spiritual, but that 
 which is natural ; and afterwards that which is spiritual.^ 
 What is first developed out of man is carnal, — that 
 " carnal mind, {(jypoprjfjua aapKos,) which is enmity against 
 God ; which is not subject to the law of Grod, neither 
 indeed can be."^ This is Cain. But there is a second 
 birth ; another life is born, which by grace springs out of 
 the same old Adam; and this second birth, this "spiritual 
 mind," {(fypovrjfia irvsv^aros,) is Abel, who so lives that he 
 obtains witness of Grod that he is righteous. Long ere 
 Adam dies, — and he must die in us, before the world of 
 blessing rises beyond the flood of waters, — long ere we 
 
 * The Ordinary Gloss here is as Ordin. iv loco. Ambrose adds: " Et 
 
 follows: " Adam vero cognovit uxo- sicut fceminis dedit vulvam natura. 
 
 rem suam. Hie agitur de prolifica- in qua uniuscujusque animantis ge- 
 
 tione, per quam intelligitur operatic neratio formatur, ita est quaedam 
 
 humana, ad quam conveniunt vir et virtus animae, quae velut quodam 
 
 mulier, id est, ratio et pars sensitiva. vulvae genitalis secreto cogitationum 
 
 Haec operatio producitur a rafione nostrarumsusciperefcemina, concep- 
 
 et parte sensitiva .... operatio mala, tus fovere, partus solet edere. Neque 
 
 per Cain significata : Abel autem enim aliter diceret Esaias, ' In utero 
 
 operatio bona. Abel enim Hebraic^ accepimus, etparturivimusspiritura,' 
 
 dicitur 7iri. quod est vapor, cujus nisi vulvam animae novisset," &e. — 
 
 propriumest ascendere sursum, sicut De Cain et Abel, 1. i. c. 10, § 47. 
 operatio bona tendit ad Deum. Cain ^ i Cor. xv. 46. 
 
 autemaDeomaledicitur, quia malum ^ Eom. viii. 7. 
 
 opus a Deo punitur," &c. — Gloss. 
 
TART 11. The Carnal and Spiritual Mind. 89 
 
 know the risen life, we may perceive the workings of these 
 two minds, the flesh and the spirit, striving together in us : 
 the carnal seed, the firstborn, lusting against the spirit ; 
 while the spiritual mind, by its desires to please God, 
 seems but to raise the flesh to greater acts of carnal oppo- 
 sition."* 
 
 The workings of these two minds are shewn out here. 
 The carnal mind, like Cain, ignoring sin and the fall, is 
 busy to improve the fallen creature ; offering the fruit and 
 cultivation of the cursed earth to Grod, as though such 
 things could please Him; while the other, that is the 
 spirit, confessing sin, by a sacrifice which involves, not the 
 improvement of the earth, but the death and suffering of 
 the creature, confesses death and yet looks for help in God, 
 trusting His love and truth to meet us in our helplessness. 
 To Cain it is quite natural to be out of paradise. The 
 world never strikes him as being anything but what it 
 should be. Abel's eye cannot but see that sin is in the 
 world, and his religion is an open confession of death, 
 though also of atonement through death. In both the 
 worship is offered "to the Lord;"^ for the flesh can be 
 sincere in its religion, and yet mistake grievously. Cain, 
 as much as Abel, sought acceptance ; but his desire is wit- 
 nessed in the form of his oblation. The flesh seeks to be 
 accepted as it is ; not to be changed from what it is by 
 dying to its selfhood ; but to be accepted, and yet remain 
 
 * " Illud igitur quod inter Cain et vit sententiam. . . . Et ideo in 
 
 Abel exortum est, inter duas civi- nobis ant^ nascitur Cain, seipsum 
 
 tates, Dei et hominum, inimicitias praeferens : postea Abel generatur, 
 
 demonstravit. Et in uno quippe in quo fit reverentia divinitatis. . . 
 
 homine ' caro concupiscit ad versus Has duas sectasanima una parturit," 
 
 spiritum, et spiritus adversus car- &e. — Avibros. de Cain et Abel, 1. i. 
 
 nem,'" &c. — Aiig. de Civitat. 1. xv. c. 1, § 4, and c. 3, § 10. 
 
 c. 5. " Adjecit, inquit, parere Abel, * Chap. iv. 3. 
 hoc est meliorem Eva ex se genera- 
 
90 Cain and Abel, or part n. 
 
 the same old Cain : and with a true and holy God this is 
 impossible. Therefore the flesh is angry with the spirit, 
 and rises, and overcomes, and for a season quenches it. 
 But God raises it up again in Seth, that other seed, " which 
 God appointed instead of Abel." ^ Thenceforth Cain, that 
 is the flesh, is " cursed ;" '^ a judgment which was not pro- 
 nounced on old Adam ; for man as man, though fallen 
 under death, and with the earth cursed for his sake, is not 
 directly cursed. But Cain is cursed : — " Cursed art thou 
 from the earth : " even as the carnal mind is cursed which 
 lusts against the spirit. 
 
 Then come the fruits of these two lives, for they too, 
 each in their own way, must further develope themselves. 
 Each bears its proper fruit in us, in an order and succes- 
 sion which is invariable. The names of the seed describe 
 the progress of each, but their acts speak even more 
 plainly. The one, the carnal mind, " goes out from the 
 presence of the Lord,"^ and busies itself with *' cities," and 
 with " works in brass and iron ; " building on the earth, 
 instructing artificers in varied works in brass and iron, 
 establishing itself in what it is and has, instead of dying 
 to what it is, that it may reach better things ; while the 
 other life, that of the spirit, finds its rest in God, and 
 suffers and dies in hope of resurrection ; one form of life 
 after another passing away and dying out, to be replaced 
 by still better thoughts and affections. " And he died," 
 never noted throughout Cain's line, (for the flesh hates to 
 think of such a change as is implied in dying,) is the 
 understood portion of all Seth's line, save of him who was 
 not, for God took him.^ And the metals in which Cain's 
 
 « Chap. iv. 25. • Chap. iv. 16. 
 
 ' Chap. iv. 11. » Chap. v. 8, 11, 14, 17, &c. 
 
PART II, The Carnal and Spiritual Mind. 91 
 
 seed are workers, shew in figure the sort of truths with 
 which the carnal mind is occupied. For the metals all 
 figure truths ; gold and silver, those which are more pre- 
 cious and spiritual ; brass and iron, those of an inferior 
 class, connected with the outward world, and merely 
 natural things. In this hard world, iron is most useful. 
 Cain's seed therefore prefer it to the gold or silver 
 which may be used in God's tabernacle. Nevertheless, the 
 Lord, foreseeing better days, has said, " For brass I will 
 bring gold, and for iron silver, and for wood brass ; " ^^ fore- 
 telling an increase and advance of truth in the last days. 
 It is noteworthy, too, that the lives before the flood in 
 each of these lines are of a length never known after it. 
 So the forms of life, wliich succeed each other in us before 
 we have been brought to know regeneration, are mucli 
 longer in coming to their end, than those which we know 
 after we have passed the mystic waters. But long as these 
 first lives are, they all die out, and of the fleshly seed not 
 one survives the first world. The other seed is carried 
 through the flood : the life which grows out of the spiritual 
 mind, not only is not destroyed, but is much strengthened 
 by that judgment. But the carnal mind never reaches 
 the new earth, where the rainbow is set as a token of the 
 covenant. 
 
 ^'' Isa. Ix. 17. Compare also the veroaurum, nisisapientiamappellat, 
 
 " nations ruled with a rod of iron," de quadicitur, ' Thesaurus desidera- 
 
 (Rev. xii. 5, xix. 15,) and the bilis in ore sapientis est;' quae et 
 
 "golden mercy-seat" for redeemed rect^auriappellationesignatur, quia 
 
 Israel. (Heb. ix. 4, &e.) See, too, sicut auro temporalia, ita sapientia 
 
 what is said of the " river Pison, bona aeterna mercantur . . . Quid 
 
 which compasseth the land of Havi- etiam per argentum nisi divina elo- 
 
 lah, where there is gold, and the quia figurantur, de quibus dicitur, 
 
 gold of that land is good." (Gen. ii. ' Eloquia Domini argentum igne ex- 
 
 11,12.) Gregory the Great thus aminatum,' " &c. — Mural, in Job. 
 
 explains these figures: — "Quid 1. iv. c. 31, § 61. 
 
92 Cain ami Abel, or part it. 
 
 If we look further at the names in these two lines, — for 
 the names in Scripture ever denote character, — we shall 
 learn yet more of the different forms of life, which succeed 
 each other in us, both in the flesh and in the spirit. For 
 flesh and spirit, though in substance unchanged, take fresh 
 forms at different stages. A life of faith, or of sonship, or 
 service, are all at root the same elect spirit ; but this one 
 spirit shews itself in different forms, according to the 
 varying degrees of its development ; as the self-same tree 
 or flower looks different at different stages of its growth. 
 These different forms, which succeed each other, are here 
 represented to us by different men, each of whom figures 
 one stage or form of the inward life. Cain means a pos- 
 sessio7i,^^ a name pointing, as his life, to hopes fixed on 
 earthly things. Abel, that is a vapour, ^^ speaks of soon 
 passing hence, and of mounting up into another higher 
 atmosphere. The names of this line, as raised up in Seth, 
 tell all the different parts of the same mystery. We first 
 have Seth, that is replaced; then Enos, that is infirm 
 man ; then Cainan, that is lamentation ; then Mahalaleel, 
 that is praising God. After this comes Jared, that is, 
 strong, or commanding ; then Enoch, that is dedication ; 
 tlien Methuselah, that is the spoiling of death; then 
 Lamech, that is humbled ; then Noah, quietness. Thus 
 goes this life. Instead of Adam three is a life replaced 
 in a state to serve Grod. Then comes the sense of wretched 
 tveakness ; then lamentation for this ; then praise and 
 thanksgiving ; after which comes strength to command 
 
 *' Heb. J»p. " Every man living is vanity," or 
 
 '* Heb. 73n, a vapour, or vanity, Abel. Every living man is Abel. He 
 
 So the Preacher says in Ecclesiastes, who saves his life shall lose it ; and 
 
 '•Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." he who loses, saves it. See note 1, 
 
 ^3n ?D D^73n *?2n ; and, again, p. 88. 
 
pARt 11. The Carnal and Spiritual Mind. 
 
 93 
 
 and overcome ; then a life of real dedication ; then the 
 spoiling of death; then true humiliation; and then a 
 life of rest^ which passes from the world of the curse to 
 that beyond the deep waters.^^ Such was the course; 
 such is it now. I need not trace Cain's line, though there 
 too the names are significant. But I note that in Cain's 
 seed we find an Enoch, though at a much earlier stage 
 than in the other line ; while in both, the last but one is 
 Lamech, that is the humbled one, or humiliation. For 
 the flesh professes soon to reach that dedication, (Enoch is 
 dedication,) which the spiritual seed is long waiting for ; ^^ 
 while the fact that in both seeds a stage is reached which 
 
 " The Ordinary Gloss, which is 
 but a summing up of the comments 
 of the Fathers, is as follows here : — 
 "Interpretatio nominum hujus ge- 
 nerationis mysterium signat. Adam 
 interpretatur homo vel ruhra terra ; 
 Seth, posUio vel rtsurrtctio ; Enos, 
 homo ; Cainan, lamentatio ; Mahala- 
 lel, laudans Deum ; Jared, rohora- 
 tus ; Enoch, dedicatio ; Mathusalam, 
 mortis emissio ; Lamech, humiliatus ; 
 Noe, requies. Procedeng ergo, homo 
 de terra, resuryens a peccatis, erit 
 homo deflens peccata pristina, et in- 
 vnca7is Deum ; sicque laudans Deum, 
 roboratus Spiritu Dei, dedicatur in 
 vitim aeternam. Atque victor mortis, 
 Deo suhjectus, requiem possidet sem- 
 pitemam, quam significat Noe, qui 
 requies interpretatur. Et notandum 
 quia in generatione Seth nulla foe- 
 mina ponitur nominatim, sicut in 
 generatione Cain : justorum enim 
 est omnia viriliter agere, nihil foe- 
 mineum, nihil fragile usurpare. 
 Procedit etiam hsec generatio per 
 denarium usque ad Noe, in quo 
 prgeceptorum significatur impletio, 
 sicut per undcnariura in generatione 
 
 Cain transgressio. In generatione 
 injustorum primus Enoch ponitur, 
 qui dedicatio interpretatur, quia re- 
 probi in prsesente vita spei suae ra- 
 dicem figunt. In generatione jus- 
 torum Enoch ab Adam Septimus 
 ponitur, quia hie manentem civita- 
 tem non quserunt, sed expectationera 
 usque in finem temporis extendunt, 
 quod septeuaria revolutione termi- 
 natur, cum aeternitas octava succes- 
 serit ; unde iste Enoch, qui ponitur 
 Septimus, translatus est,"&c. — Gloss. 
 Ord. in loco. See also Aug.de Civit. 
 XV. c. 17, 18. 
 
 " In the first line, Enoch is the son 
 of Cain. (Chap. iv. 17.) The elect 
 Enoch comes in the seventh stage. 
 (Chap. V. 21, and .lude 14.) " In 
 stirpe Cain, Enoch, qui dedica- 
 tio interpretatur, primus nascitur: 
 in electorum vero progenie Enoch 
 Septimus perhibetur. Quia vide- 
 licet reprobi in hdc vit4, quge ante 
 est, semetipsos sedificando dedicant. 
 Electi vero aedificationis suae dedi- 
 cationem in fine temporis, id est in 
 septimo, exspectant," &c. — Greg. M. 
 Moral, in Job. 1. xvi. c. 10, § 15. 
 
94 Cam and Ahel, or part n. 
 
 is, and is felt to be, indeed Lamech, only shews how the 
 flesh, as well as the spirit, may be at length both pooi^ 
 and humbled; the one humiliation, like the care and 
 sorrow of the world, only to bring forth a worldly pos- 
 session which runs or floivs aivay ; '^ the other, like that 
 godly sorrow, which brings forth a 7'est and repentance 
 never to be repented oV^ 
 
 But this inward view of the two seeds will not be seen 
 by all. I turn, therefore, to the outward fulfilment of the 
 same history. 
 
 § II. — The Carnal and the Spiritual. 
 
 In this view Adam's sons represent the two great classes 
 of the sons of men, in whom respectively the flesh and 
 spirit rule, and who, by the preponderance of the one or 
 of the other, fall under one or other of those two great 
 classes, the carnal and spiritual, which make up the human 
 family ; who, though born by nature from the same womb, 
 and nursed at first by the same mother, in their ways and 
 ends are most distinct, both worshipping indeed the same 
 Grod, but very differently ; the one, offering Him the im- 
 provement of the creature, — for carnal men must have a 
 religion as well as spiritual men, — the other, accepting 
 judgment for sin, pouring out a life to Him, in hope of 
 resurrection : the one, ignoring the fact of the curse, and 
 going out to fill the earth with crimes, and arts, and ener- 
 gies ; the other, suffering as martyrs here, and departing 
 
 " Lamech's sons (Cain's Lamech) Jabal mean " that vhick runs or 
 
 ■were Tubal-cain, Jubal, and Jabal, flows away." The other Lamech's 
 
 (Chap. iv. 22.) Tubal-cain means son was Noah, or " ?-ts^." 
 
 ^'worldly possession." Jubal and '^ 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
The Carnal and Spiritual Mind. 95 
 
 to find, what they had not liere, a home, in another world. 
 For "by faith Abel offered unto God." ^ He saw the 
 curse, and instead of hiding from himself that sin and 
 death are here, he makes this the base of his religion, 
 looking to Grod for better things to come. And his seed 
 offer still by faith. They see the curse, that they are sinful 
 creatures, for their sin cast out of paradise. But the death 
 of the Lamb, though it seals the judgment on sin, pledges 
 to them that there is a way through death out of it. 
 Therefore they are content to give up their lives. Others 
 may seek to improve self; they will rather die to self. 
 Their acceptance is not in self improved, but in deliverance 
 out of self by the cross, through a Deliverer. Hence they 
 take willingly the sinner's place ; first by baptism confessing 
 death in them ; (for baptism is burial,^ and we do not bury 
 live things, but dead things ;) and then living a life of 
 daily death in hope of resurrection. 
 
 Not so the other seed. Cain's line are all for cultivating 
 the ground, that is, improving the fallen creature. When 
 most religious, they yet spare the flesh. They like what 
 is beautiful in religion; they can appreciate good fruits. 
 But let there be the shedding of blood, a life poured out, 
 such self-mortification is with them rank superstition; 
 while the judgment of the pride of reason and of sense 
 is treason against Him who suffered us to become such 
 creatures as we now are. They are not, they feel, in Eden, 
 but in a world where sin and sorrow reign on every hand. 
 Death is here : blink it they cannot. A curse is working 
 in that soil, on which they spend so much labour. But 
 they will approach God as though no sin were here ; as if 
 in soul and body all were right and normal. What have 
 
 ' Heb. xi. 4. 2 Rom. yi. 4 ; Col. ii. 12. 
 
96 Cain and Abel, or rAi?T-n., 
 
 they to do with anything so horrid as the cross? No 
 bloodshedding — no '' religion of the shambles " — for such 
 worshippers. Hence the efforts to seem other than they 
 really are. Hence the wrath, if anything open their eyes 
 to see their state in God's sight. Then these men, who 
 mock at the blood poured out, who say that crosses and 
 mortifications are brutal and brutalizing, will not scruple 
 to hate a brother worshipper, if he be holier, or more 
 accepted, than they are ; like their father Cain, who would 
 not offer the blood of the Lamb, but could stain his hands 
 in his own brother's blood. Surely " the way of Cain "* 
 remains ; and the objectors to a worship by blood are yet 
 " murderers ; "'* though, like Cain, they profess not to be 
 conscious of it. 
 
 Is, then, the improvement of the creature wrong ? Are 
 good fruits not acceptable ? On the contrary, God accepts 
 them as a meat offering, where the blood (" for the blood 
 is the life,"^) has first been shed in a burnt offering. For 
 man's duty to his neighbour (and the meat offering is this) 
 is accepted, if God first has His portion.^ But to think that 
 these fruits can alone satisfy God is just Cain's error, and 
 must meet with reprobation. God will accept anything He 
 can — anything which proceeds on real ground ; but take a 
 place which does not belong to you, then God, because He 
 
 ^ Jude 11. But the fruit of the herb and of 
 
 * " He that hateth his brother is the tree was man's allotted portion; 
 a murderer." — 1 Jolin iii. 15. (Gen. i. 29 ;) as such, it is the figure 
 
 * Lev. xvii. 13, 14. of man's claim, or of "what we owe 
 ® The difference of the burnt of- to man. What we OAve to God or 
 
 fering and meatoffering was this : — to man is respectively our duty to 
 
 a life was offered in the one, fruits either. Thus, in the burnt offering, 
 
 ill the other. (See Lev. i. ii.) Life the surrender of a life figured man's 
 
 is that which God clMimed as His duty to God ; while fruits, in tlie 
 
 portion in creation ; (Gen. ix. 4 ;) as meat offering, represented ninn's 
 
 an emblem, therefore, it represents duty to his neighbour, 
 what the creature owes to God. 
 
PART Ti. The Carnal and Spiritual Mind. 97 
 
 is true, cannot meet you there ; for He deals with realities, 
 and the course you pursue is not a reality It does not 
 confess your place as fallen ; therefore He cannot meet it, 
 though it may have cost you much. But only be true ; 
 and without attempting to meet Grod with the fruits which 
 the cursed earth produces, only confess, by act and voice, 
 that you are fallen, and that in this state, though sin be 
 in the world, you yet give Grod credit for grace and power 
 to meet it ; then, as in Abel's case, so in yours, the faith 
 that puts you on such ground must be accepted. Ke- 
 member, Cain, because he got off true ground, lost the 
 help of the true God. Abel, because confessing the truth 
 of sin and death, found acceptance and all the help he 
 needed. 
 
 § III. — Their Lives. 
 
 And the lives of these two seeds are as marked as their 
 religions. As it was in Cain's day, so is it now. The 
 seed, whose religion is to improve the fallen creature, 
 " goes out from the presence of the Lord," and seeks to 
 make a ruined world happy without God, by *' building 
 cities," and "inventing harps," and "instructing every 
 artificer in brass and iron ; " * in a word, by civilising the 
 world with arts, striving to make life easy, and the world 
 a safe dwelling place. The other are happy in God with- 
 out the world ; dying out of it, or rising to a better world. 
 The one judge and slay their brother : the other do not 
 judge even the murderer ; but, inasmuch as the world is 
 not purged from blood, they are as yet strangers and 
 pilgrims in it. The one call lands after their own names, 
 
 ' Chap. iv. 17, 21, 22. 
 
 n 
 
98 Cain and Abel, or part n, 
 
 and cities " after the names of their sons," to make the 
 world their o-vvn, and not the Lord's, if possible.^ The 
 other " call themselves by the name of the Lord," and 
 would make themselves the Lord's and not their own, 
 with His name upon them.^ So the one live, — for as I 
 have already said, no death is recorded in any of Cain's 
 seed ; the other die, writing death as their portion ; " And 
 he died," is recorded of every one of them, save of him 
 " who was not, for Grod took him ;" while they count their 
 years by days, as it is written of each, " All the days oi 
 such a one were so many years, and he died."'^ So run 
 the seeds each in tlieir course. The carnal line have by 
 far the most to shew on earth ; but the end of their cities 
 and music is foreseen ; Enoch warns of the day when the 
 Lord shall come, and all His saints with Him ; when the 
 earthly city shall fall, and " the voice of harpers and musi- 
 cians and trumpeters shall no more be heard in her ; when 
 no craftsman, of whatever craft he be, shall be found in her; 
 because in her is found the blood of the saints, and of all 
 that are slain upon the earth." ^ 
 
 Further distinctions are shewn in other points recorded 
 here. There are, however, some similarities. The last 
 generation but one in each line is Lamech ; and as 
 name denotes character, this sameness of name marks 
 some resemblance. For the Churcli and world, the carnal 
 and spiritual seed, in the long run, and just before the 
 judgment, become too much alike. Still they differ. 
 Lamech " dies " in Seth's line : he yet has faith of better 
 things ; while his speech (for the words of both are re- 
 corded) points out how deep a difference exists under the 
 outward similarity. For Lamech in Cain's line boasts that 
 
 ' Conipnre chap, iv, 17. * ^ce chap. v. passi?n. 
 
 * Chap. iv. 20, margin. ^ liev. xviii. 22-2-t. 
 
PART 11. Tlic Carnal and Spiritual Mind, 99 
 
 Cain had been preserved spite of Ins sin, and argues from this 
 that he may also sin with impunity : — " I have slain," he 
 says, " a man to my wounding, and a young man to my 
 hurt ; " but since God has set a mark on Cain, lest he be 
 destroyed, " if Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, surely 
 Lamech seventy and seven-fold : " ^ that is, God has spared 
 one who sinned like Cain ; how much more will He preserve 
 me, though I too am a murderer. So from grace this 
 Lamech argues that sin may abound. The other l^amech 
 also speaks, but it is of " the ground the Lord hath cursed," 
 and of the " rest " out of it, which " shall comfort them : " 
 — " This same shall comfort us concerning our toil, be- 
 cause of the ground which the Lord hath cursed."" The 
 one says in effect, "Where is the God of judgment ?" The 
 other confesses sin, in hope of better things. All this is 
 timely truth for us ; for the days are near of the last judg- 
 ment of the first creation. The time has come when the 
 Church and world are both Lamech, that is " poor," with 
 small difference to be seen anywhere. And yet, under 
 this, some misuse grace to sin, and some by grace look for 
 a Deliverer ; while a remnant escapes who see not death, 
 and another is saved even through the judgment. 
 
 I add but a word on the dispensational fulfilment of 
 this. In this view the two seeds, the elder and the younger, 
 are the Jew and the Christian Church. That was not first 
 which is spiritual, but that which is natural. First came 
 the fleshly dispensation, and then the spiritual. The Jew 
 seeking to improve the earth ; ^ Christ and the Church 
 giving a life to God. The Jew slaying the righteous seed, 
 which yet is raised up ; the Church dying in hope of 
 resurrection. Both of these are Adam's sons ; both acknow- 
 
 « Chap. iv. 23, 24. ' Chap. v. 28, 29. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 Cain and Abel. part n. 
 
 ledge the same one God, though in very different life and 
 worship ; the one, departing to be with Christ ; the other, 
 going out " from the presence of the Lord," as " fugitives 
 and vagabonds in the earth ; " * finding no ease or rest for 
 the sole of their feet, and fearing, where no fear is, that 
 every one that findeth them shall slay them ; ^ but, like 
 Cain, providentially preserved, for the Jew has a mark set 
 upon him, lest he be slain. The Lord yet preserves him 
 wondrously. But to the end his portion is of this earth, 
 in the first, not in the new, creation. ^^ 
 
 So the last shall be first, and the first last. The dead 
 shall live, and earthly life shall pass away. And the 
 souls under the altar shall be at rest, for they have washed 
 their robes in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 * Chap. iv. 16. "Figura Synagogse et Ecclesiae in 
 
 ^. Compare chap. iv. 14, and Deut, his dnobus fratribus . . . Cain et Abel, 
 
 xxviii. 65, 66. Per Cain parricidialis popnlus Intel- 
 
 '" Augustine {Contr. Faust. Man. ligitur Juaseorum, qui Domini sui et 
 
 1. xii. c. 9, and 13,) goes very fully secundum Marige virginis partum 
 
 into the dispensational application Fratris, ut ita dicam, sauguinem per- 
 
 of all this history, dwelling par- secutus est. Per Abel autem intel- 
 
 ticularly on the fact that the Jew, ligitur Christian us adhaerens Deo," 
 
 like Cain, was preserved, and had a &c. — De Cain et Abel, 1. i. c. 2. See 
 
 mark set on him. Soo, too, Ambrose : John viii. 44. 
 
PAET III. 
 
 NOAH, OR BEGENERATION. 
 
 (chapters YI. — XI.) 
 
 ' The world that then was being overflowed with water perished."— 2 Pet, iii. 6, 
 ' The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save ua."— 1 Pet. iii. 21. 
 
NOAH, OR REGENERATION 
 
 (CHAPTEES VI. — XI.) 
 
 The line of Seth has several generations before Noah 
 comes, in whom, through the judgment of the first crea- 
 tion, man is taken out of the sphere of fallen Adam, into a 
 world beyond the flood, where he is set in new blessedness. 
 So the spiritual mind goes through successive steps or 
 forms, before that form of life appears which passes the 
 waters, and thus knows regeneration. For souls may be 
 quickened, and know that life in which the flesh lusteth 
 against the spirit : and in spirit, like Abel, offer spiritual 
 sacrifices, as many offered under the Jewish dispensation ; 
 and as many yet offer, who in spirit are no further ad- 
 vanced than those righteous souls, " who through fear of 
 death were all their life-time subject to bondage;"' and 
 yet not know that way through the flood, which is fellow- 
 ship in Christ's death and resurrection ; a stage in which 
 the Word not only comes into our lot, and in union witli 
 us here quickens and sanctifies us as in the first creation ; 
 but in which by that same Word we come into His lot, 
 and by Him find ourselves delivered out of this present 
 world, as baptism typifies ; through the travail pains and 
 
 1 Heb. ii. 15. 
 
104 Koah, or Regeneration. part ni. 
 
 groans of this first creation, brought forth into another 
 spliere, where we are not begotten or quickened onl}', but 
 truly born. Such a stage arrives in its season, and of it 
 Noah is the divinely appointed figure, in whom the whole 
 course of regeneration is set forth, every secret of this 
 great mystery being here drawn for us as God alone could 
 draw it. 2 
 
 The subject is immense, whatever view we take of it, 
 whether inward, outward, or dispensational. Its length, 
 and depth, and breadth cannot be told. It has " wheels 
 within wheels, full of eyes, and looking every way." Any 
 attempt therefore to know it must be " in part," and even 
 of that part still less can be expressed. But if the excess 
 of light here dazzles as yet, let us rejoice that we may 
 possess these things with little or no knowledge of them. 
 To be born, it is not needful to know how we are born. 
 We must grow to manhood, or even age, ere we can think 
 on such things. So with the new birth, we must be born 
 again, and grow up in Christ, ere these things open to us. 
 To apprehend therefore is well : but far better is it to be 
 apprehended for these things in Christ Jesus.^ Yet let 
 him that hath anointed eyes behold the wonders of the 
 work of God here shadowed forth for our learning. 
 
 We have then here Regeneration ; the way by which 
 man, already quickened and possessing spiritual life, is 
 borne, through the waters, to a world of light beyond. 
 The work is wrought within, as well as without us. Yet 
 it is the self-same work and Worker everywhere, who, 
 like some musician in solo or in chorus repeating the 
 same sweet strain, repeats His work in a soul, or church, 
 or age, making each to echo back the same melody. 
 
 Noah then is the spiritual mind, — for he is only the 
 2 1 Pet. iii, 20, 21. » Phil. iii. 12. 
 
PART Til. Koah, or Regeneration, 105 
 
 continuation of Seth's line, and figures the form of life 
 which the spiritual mind takes at this stage in its develop- 
 ment, when it has come so far as to know the judgment of 
 the old creation, and the way through that judgment to a 
 cleansed and better world. This stage, if we regard it 
 closely, will be seen to embrace several distinct parts ; for 
 we may see Noah as in the world to be judged, still in the 
 midst of its sins, though undefiled by them ; or as going 
 through the waters, and tossed by them, separated from 
 the old world, and yet not come to the cleansed world ; or, 
 as on resurrection ground, coming out of the ark into that 
 sphere where judgment is past, and he in joyful liberty. 
 Each of these are stages of regeneration. There is, first, 
 the discovery of the sin which is working in the first crea- 
 tion, upon the ground of the old man ; then the experience 
 of the judgment of that old man, during which we are 
 tossed about, and the waves and billows of God's judg- 
 ments are inwardly passed through ; and lastly, the rest in 
 resurrection life, when we feel and know ourselves in 
 liberty and redemption beyond those dark waters. And 
 each of these stages has its own parts, for in grace as in 
 nature each general truth comprises many others. The 
 outline may first be seen, then the particulars : first the 
 dark cloud, then the countless rain-drops, full of beauties, 
 if the sun shines. So is the truth, that heavenly rain, 
 which, like its Maker, challenges our wonder on every 
 hand the more we contemplate it, 
 
 § I.— Noah on the Ground of the Old Man. 
 
 (Chapter vi.) 
 
 Noah first is seen as still in the old world, in the midst of 
 the sins of Adam's sons, yet separate from them. Evil 
 
106 Koah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 springing out of Adam bad now become monstrous. " God 
 b)oked upon tbe eartb, and bebold, it was corrupt, for all 
 fiesb bad corrupted his way upon tbe eartb." But in the 
 midst of this, "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his 
 generations, and Noah walked with Grod." ^ So while the 
 flesh or carnal mind in us goes on from step to step bring- 
 ing to light its own corruption, tbe spiritual mind within 
 like Noah is true to God, and bears witness against tbe 
 evil of the carnal mind, wliicb is continually more and 
 more displaying its enormity. Tbe fruit and corruption 
 of tbe carnal mind in man, like the seed of Cain, must 
 sliew itself before we fully know regeneration ; for regene- 
 ration is not tbe improvement but the judgment of the old 
 man, out of which tbe spirit is saved by a mystic death 
 and resurrection. As an introduction therefore to this 
 form of life we are first shewn tbe state into whicb both 
 the lines of Cain and Seth are now fallen. Both flesh and 
 spirit fail. But these very sins are through God's grace 
 the occasion for lifting man, in Noah, into another world. 
 For Noah, as I have said, is tbe spiritual mind, at tbe 
 stage when it has come to know tbe utter corruption of the 
 old creation, and that its deliverance must be through the 
 death and judgment of tbe whole ground and works of the 
 old man. Through sin and its judgment is man advanced. 
 Noah is not brought out of tbe Adam world into the world 
 of tbe rainbow beyond the deep waters, until Adam's seed 
 are proved to be so corrupt, that they and their world must 
 be condemned together. And just as Noah was not taken 
 to a world of blessing through tbe waters, until tbe evil 
 of man bad fully shewn itself; and just as the doctrine of 
 regeneration was not preached to men, till by their rejec- 
 tion of God's Son they bad proved their utter fall and per- 
 
 > Chap. vi. 0, 12. 
 
PART III. Koah, or Rcrjeneration. 107 
 
 versity; so within, regeneration is not readied but through 
 the discovery of the awful evil which is the legitimate 
 fruit and development of the old man. Regeneration can- 
 not be truly known till we have proved the corruptness 
 and helplessness of all that springs from old Adam. For 
 regeneration is no improvement of the old man, but a 
 new birth out of its death and dissolution. 
 
 And indeed we shall find this law throughout, that the 
 failure of one thing through grace brings in a better thing. 
 Where sin abounds, grace yet more abounds. Thus that 
 short-sighted wisdom which would prevent falling, would 
 by so doing prevent all progress to higher things ; for each 
 advancing form of life, which God takes up, springs out of 
 the failure of that which has preceded it. The seed falls 
 into the ground, and dies, and becomes rotten ; but tlie 
 result is the resurrection of many seeds. So the juice of 
 grapes or corn is put into the still ; and thence, by de- 
 composition and fermentation, (both forms of corruption,) 
 is evolved a higher purity and spirituality. So is it here. 
 The evil fruit of Adam becomes the occasion for Grod to lift 
 the race in Noah to higher privileges. Now therefore is 
 felt, what may have seemed like exaggeration till we reacli 
 this stage, that " every imagination of the thoughts of 
 man's heart is only evil continually." ^ But the spiritual 
 mind by all this is being led, it knows not how, to liberties 
 and glories, which as yet it has not dreamt of. Meanwhile, 
 like Noah in the world of old, it is a witness against all 
 the evil which has sprung out of old Adam. Great are 
 the confusions amongst which it dwells. Little may it be 
 able to correct the evil. It seems, and is, part of the same 
 creature. It may be tempted to think it will be destroyed 
 with that sin which riots round it. But the Lord sees how 
 
108 Noah, or Regeneration, part ht. 
 
 different this mind is from that in which it dwells, and in 
 His time surely will deliver it. 
 
 The details in this view are most striking, as they are yet 
 fulfilled in each regenerate soul, though, from our blind- 
 ness as to the workings of our inward man, and our want 
 of words to describe the processes of the inward life, it is 
 difficult to express the spiritual reality ; for the spiritual 
 can only be uttered through the natural ; and from the 
 imperfection of the medium some darkness will come in. 
 But the figure here is divinely complete, little as the mind 
 of man as yet may be able to interpret it. The state of 
 the creature is thus described : — " Men multiplied on the 
 earth, and daughters were born to them."^ " Men,'' as we 
 have seen, are certain minds or thoughts ; and a host of 
 thoughts are now discerned to be alive within us ; their 
 " daughters " are the affections springing from them, 
 which, by the words, " daughters of men," are shewn to be 
 corrupt and carnal.'' Then the " sons of Grod," that is, 
 thoughts which are not of the earth, mix with " daughters 
 of men," that is, impure affections.^ If the world within 
 
 ' Chap. ^^. 1, 2. and compare Luke xx. 36. I am 
 
 ♦ See what is said of the "man" sure that in the inward fulfilment, 
 and the " woman," above, pp. 41 and the state described here is not only 
 53 ; and of Cain and Abel, p. 90. the corruption of the human spirit, 
 Ambrose, who in his book De Noe but something worse, through fallen 
 e?" yirm, has gone at great length into spirits. Justin M., (ApoL i. § 21, 
 the inward sense of all this history, ii. § 6,) Irenseus, {Adv. Har. I. iv. 
 makes the "sons" " viriles qusedam c. 36, § 4,) Clement of Alexandria, 
 et fortiores disceptationes," and the {Stroyn. 1. iii. § 7,) Cj^rian, {De 
 " daughters," " molliores cogitatio- Hab. Virg. c. 9,) Ambrose, {De Noe, 
 nes," (c. 21,§ 77.) Augustine is more c. 4, § 8,) TertuUian, {De Hab. Mid. 
 exact in the passage cited above. c. 2.) and others, take the " sons of 
 
 * It is generally assumed now God" here to be angels. The words, 
 that by the " sons of God " here, rhv oixoiov tovtois rp6iroi', in Jude 6, 
 the children of Seth are meant. I 7, declaring the similarity between 
 doubt it, as the Old Testament usage the sin of Sodom and that of the 
 of the words seems to point to an- angels who fell, are very remarkable, 
 gels. See Job i. 6 ; ii. 1 ; xxxviii. 7 ; 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration. 109 
 
 could be seen, and the workings of spirit laid open, 
 this is what would appear before regeneration. There 
 is awful inward confusion, the result of the mixture of 
 the flesh and of the spirit ; the affections of the flesh 
 seducing the higher thoughts of the spirit, and so pro- 
 ducing " giants," that is, earthborn thouglits, which are 
 full of crime and violence. Those who by grace have 
 reached regeneration, know perhaps as little of the exact 
 working of the evil in them, which they have groaned over, 
 as Noah knew of the sin and corruption of the carnal seed ; 
 but they will remember the awful sense of inward confu- 
 sion which preceded their deliverance, and how their spirit, 
 though it sought to walk with Grod, was constantly grieved 
 by the dreadful workings of the fleshly mind within them. 
 Such as know most of this stage will best see the figure, 
 as it is drawn for us in this history. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the midst of these confusions, which are 
 the ripe and rotting fruits of old Adam, Noah, the spiri- 
 tual mind, remains incorrupt, like the remnants which sur- 
 vive each fallen dispensation, not only bearing witness that 
 judgment must come, but in act and deed passing sentence 
 upon the old creation, laying the axe to the root of the 
 trees,^ in a work of faith, which is the divinely appointed 
 way of safety. The ark, by which he goes through the 
 judgment, formed by cutting down and judging the 
 pride and strength of that soil in which the curse work?, 
 figures the cross by which we are severed from the world, 
 by which it is crucified to us, and we unto the world. 
 As that ark was made up of many beams, so is the cross 
 which delivers us from the world composed of many parts ; 
 smaller crosses, all of which we need, add to its length and 
 breadth, nor may we cut off any of them. A time will 
 
 ^ Matt. iii. 10. 
 
110 Xoah, or Rf'geiieratlon. part ut. 
 
 oome, if we reach the risen life, when we may go forth 
 free ; but while in the old world, or amid the waves, the 
 cross, like the ark, is our safety : we dare not shorten it. 
 In it is light, a " window " and a " door."^ In it is food, 
 " all food that may be eaten."® In it are "heights and 
 depths." ^ By it alone can the flood be passed. Let us 
 bear it, for it will bear us.^^ 
 
 In or by this ark the man is saved, and with him a 
 remnant of all the beasts, both clean and unclean. This is 
 a great mystery. Some speak as though in regeneration all 
 the evil of the old nature were entirely left behind, so that 
 nothing should remain of it. Hence they are surprised to 
 see evil passions in regenerate souls. But a remnant of 
 beasts goes through the flood of waters. These beasts, as 
 we have seen, figure certain animal faculties or powers in 
 the creature. Some are gentle and clean, as lambs and 
 doves ; some unclean and fierce, as wolves, or swine, or 
 foxes. Yet even of the unclean a remnant lives. Eegene- 
 ration does not wholly take away or abolish bad tempers. 
 While man is conscious of the judgment, tossed with its 
 waves, and so dying daily to the old nature, these evil 
 powers or desires are so far checked as to cease for awhile 
 to be hurtful to him. By providence and grace they are 
 
 ' Chiip. vi. 16. Some have sup- '" So Augustine says, " Mysteriura 
 posed that this ''window,'" in^ a coramendahat ... ut per lignum libe- 
 word only occurring here, was an in- raretur figura orhis terrarura, quia 
 ward lamp or light ; connecting the in ligno Agenda erat Vita orbis terra- 
 word with inV"* or " oil" and that rum,'' &c. — lujohan. tract, ix. c. 11. 
 again with the xp'^^f^°^ mentioned He gives the same interpretation, i^c 
 1 John ii. 27, " tlie anointing," Civifat. 1. xv. c. 26. So, too, Jus- 
 whieh makes the light or instruc- tin Martyr: 'O 70^ Xpiarhs .... 
 tiou of this world unuecessarj'. But apxv t^o^i-v 6.\\ou yeuous -y^yoviv rov 
 the spiritual sense will be substan- avayevvT]d4vrosvTr' avrovZ^ v^arosKoX 
 tially the same, whichever view we iriaTioos koX ^v\ov, tov rh jxvaTrjfjiui/ 
 take of this zoliar or " window." tov a-ravpov exovros- hv rpoirov Koi 6 
 
 " Cliai*. vi. 21. Nwe if ^v\o: diecrwdrj, ict.\. — Did/, c. 
 
 3 Chap. vi. 15, 16. 7ryy7^. c. 138. 
 
PART in. Noah, or Regeneration. 1 1 1 
 
 so stilled, and by circumstances so modified and weakened 
 in us, that for a season at least they are subject to the 
 man ; the Lord thus repairing in regeneration the loss 
 which human nature had sustained in Adam's fall ; for in 
 Noah man recovers power over beasts : but they are not 
 annihilated. And, indeed, just in measure as the man 
 obeys God, are tlie beasts or lower powers subject to him ; 
 bears and lions and wolves, fierce and devilish spirits in 
 us, being subject when our inward man is subject to the 
 Lord.'i 
 
 Such is the stage which issues in regeneration ; first, a 
 discovery of the monstrous evil which is working in the 
 creature, in the midst of which the spiritual mind by the 
 cross is prepared for deliverance out of the sphere of the 
 old man, the beast-like powers meanwhile being by grace 
 restrained. At this point comes the second stage, in which, 
 though we have not reached the cleansed world, we are 
 yet by the waves of judgment separated from the former 
 
 '* Origen goes at some length into animalia, memoria, intellectus, ex- 
 
 this inward fulfilment. He says: — aniinatio, &e. : immunda, ira, et con- 
 
 '• Si quis est, qui crescentibus malis, cupiscentia," &c. — Ho/h. ii. in Gen. 
 
 (these are the giants,) et inundanti- So also Cvril of Jerusalem:— "ncTrtp 
 
 bus vitiis, convertere se potest a re- yap eV e/ceiVou, Sia iJjKov Kai SSaroy 
 
 bus fluxis et pereuntibus, et audire avrols fxev iyevero r] (TWTrjpla, Kaiu?]s 
 
 verba Dei. ac praecepta coelestia, hie Se yivio-eccs apxh. nal t] Trfpiffrfpa 
 
 intra cor suum arcam salutis redifi- dye'c-Tpei^e irphs avrhv. . . . ovru Kal 
 
 cat. et bibliothecam (ut iUl dieani) rh Trvivjxa rh ayiuv KarrjXOev iirl rhu 
 
 intra se divini consecrat verbi." He aK-qQivhv Nwe, Thv rifs divrtpas yfve- 
 
 then goes into the dimensions, and (reus Troi-nTT)v, rwv vavroiuiv ytvuv 
 
 says that this inward ark is formed Trpoaip4(reis ds rh aurh awayovra ' wv 
 
 of truths of the cross, trees cut down, rvirov e(pepov at Sidcpopai twv iv tt} 
 
 which are built together; not the ki^wtw (wcav KaTaaraffeis, k.t.K. — 
 
 truths of heathen authors, which are Ca f rch. xxi'i. §10. So Ambrose: — 
 
 like leafy trees, uncut and unpruned, '• Justus habet in area bestias graves, 
 
 and under which Israel have often Nulla enim mens, nulla anima. quae 
 
 committed fornication, as the pro- non reeipiat etiam malanuu mcjtug 
 
 phets say. and which are of no use agrestcs cogitationum." — De yoc, 
 
 to build this ark. He then speaks c. 15, § 57- 
 of the animals ; — " Munda quidem 
 
112 Noah, or Regeneration, pakt m. 
 
 world. After which comes the perfect deliverance into 
 rest and liberty beyond the waters. To these later stages 
 we will come in order. But first I would note the outward 
 fulfilment of the scene, which we have already traced 
 inwardly. 
 
 In this outward view, the world that then was, on which 
 the threatened flood of waters was hastening, figures the 
 world around, the home of the old man, on which judg- 
 ment must come for men's wickedness. In this world two 
 families of men are seen, both of which in different ways 
 have shewn their own weakness. Everything is out of 
 course. The sons of Grod and the daughters of men are 
 mingled. The wickedness of man is great upon the earth, 
 and the thoughts of his heart are proved to be evil con- 
 tinually. The crowning sin is the mixture of seeds. " The 
 sons of God " contract ungodly alliances. If the " sons of 
 God " here spoken of were angels, the fact foreshadowed is, 
 that fallen spirits are allowed in some mysterious way to 
 mix with mankind ; whose monstrous fruit necessitates that 
 flood of judgment which is threatened upon the last great 
 form of evil, when the Antichrist shall be revealed, and 
 men will be possessed by " him, whose coming is after the 
 working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying won- 
 ders." ^2 In a lower sense, this mixture of seeds is to he 
 seen in that confusion between the carnal and spiritual 
 which is so common everywhere. God's children mingle 
 with the world. Oh, how different are the thoughts of 
 God to the thoughts of His sons, except they walk with 
 Him! "God saw the wickedness of men, that it was 
 great :" — " the sons of God saw the daughters of men that 
 they were fair." So " they took of all that they chose." ^^ 
 
 '2 2 Thess. ii. 9. 3 Chap. vi. 2. 
 
PART III. Koah, or Regeneration, 1 1 3 
 
 Tlie world cannot always reach God'is sons to entangle and 
 defile them. But the sons of God can always reach the 
 world, and sink down to act on worldly principles. We 
 read, " They saw," and " they chose ; " that is, men walked 
 by sight and not by faith, and by self-will, not by God's 
 will. And the result was, " giants, men of renown," 
 and through them gigantic wickedness. Increased power 
 brought increased crime : " the earth was corrupt, and full 
 of violence." So is it now. The power and sin of Chris- 
 tendom are but tlie necessary result of this same mixture 
 of the flesh and spirit ; with just so much of truth as to 
 enable men to trust each other, and just so much of 
 worldly principles as to please and win the world; just so 
 much of God's Spirit as to bring in power, and so much of 
 the flesh as to abuse that power to maintain carnal prin- 
 ciples. And yet there is a remnant witnessing against 
 the corruption, whom God through this very confusion 
 is leading to a full deliverance out of it. Such souls at 
 first, though quickened in spirit, like the believers in 
 the Jewish dispensation, and though they " follow Christ 
 in the regeneration," ^"^ do not yet fully know that 
 perfect deliverance out of the sphere and judgment of 
 the old man, to which they are called by "the washing 
 of regeneration," ^^ which is indeed participation in Christ's 
 death and resurrection. But spite of their conflicts, God 
 will bring them to this rest, and even the confusions 
 amongst which they dwell serve God's saints, driving them 
 from the ground of the old man into a purer and better 
 world. 
 
 To this end the ark is the appointed means, figuring, 
 in the outward as in the inward kingdom, the self-same 
 
 " Matt. xix. 28. " Titus iii. 5. 
 
114 Noah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 cross of Jesus Christ, or more vaguely, the Church, 
 whose strength is the cross ; which, safe in the covering 
 of atonement,*^ bears those who trust it, through the 
 waters. The elect are delivered, first mystically by bap- 
 tism, that passage through the waters, which figures death 
 and resurrection ; ^^ and then actually, through that dying 
 to the world and nature, which is both the judgment of 
 the old, and the way for Grod's children to the new, crea- 
 tion. In this ark are lower, second, and third stories ; *® for 
 within the one same faith of the cross of Christ, very 
 different is the attainment in the knowledge of that 
 cross, even among those who by it pass through the one 
 baptism. Few can enter into all the heights and depths 
 opened to them ; for few even of the saved here bear the 
 image of their Head. Few are the sons of the Man of 
 Rest, knowing the joys of sonship with Him, and with 
 capacities to share all His experiences. For one such son 
 are many who are as beasts, animal natures, rough, irra- 
 tional creatures ; who yet are saved, both the clean and 
 the unclean, the Jew and Gentile, the fearful and the 
 violent ; and who are served and ruled by those in whom 
 is seen more of the image of Him who is their Head and 
 Lord. For it is not the spiritual only who are saved. In 
 the one ark are found many carnal souls, living far more 
 as beasts than as men, who yet being cleansed of God 
 may not be cast off as common or unclean. ^^ These can- 
 
 '* The word here translated "|)27c^," on the day of atonement, is from 
 
 (chap. vi. 14,) Heb. "133, is the same the same root, 
 •word which is commonly used to '^ 1 Pet. iii. 20. 21. 
 
 exy'vess ato)ie>nent, iis in 'Exod. xx\x. "* Chap. vi. 16. Compare with 
 
 36, XXX. 10; Lev. xxiii. 27, 28, licc. this the three stories of the Temple, 
 
 It means, primarily and simply, a 1 Kines vi. 4-8, which is hut au- 
 
 coveriva. The word rn£D- ^licrci/- otht'T view of the same mystery. 
 !>cui, wjierp the blood was sprinkled '^ .\.ct:s x. 15, 28. 
 
PART III. Koah, or Rege)ieraiwn. 115 
 
 not know the heights of the cross,^" j^et are they saved by 
 grace, even as the spiritual ; tlieir evil natures being 
 cliecked by that cross wliich is for tliem and for all the 
 common deliverance. In one body are they saved to- 
 gether, all the members more or less comely ; ^^ and 
 thoiig'h with unequal, yet each with perfect joy, they shall, 
 whether beasts, or creeping things, or flying fowls, whether 
 young men or maidens, or old men or children, whether 
 fathers or babes and sucklings in Christ, yea and tlie 
 dragons also, all praise the Lord, in that cleansed earth 
 which is beyond the waters.^^ 
 
 § II. — Noah in the Wateks. 
 
 (Chapters vii. and viii. 1-14.) 
 
 Let us now pass on to that stage in Noah's life, to that 
 point in regeneration, when by the cross our inner man is 
 separated from the old world, and yet not come experi- 
 mentally to the better world. This is a well-known stage, 
 and as safe, if not as blissful, as that which follows it. 
 
 Seven distinct steps are marked in it, the order of which, 
 like all the rest, is wonderful. 
 
 (i.) First (I trace it within) man is " shut in " by the 
 Lord: he enters the ark, but "the Lord shuts him in," ' 
 
 '^° " Area in summis angustatur, milia Christi per baptismum crucis 
 
 usque ad unum cubitum, quia in passioiie signatum," &c. So too 
 
 Ecclesia, quanto sanctiores, tanto Ambrose, De Noe et A)x-a ; Gregory 
 
 pauciores/' &c. — Greg. M. iii Expos. the Great, In Ezek. Horn. xvi. ; and 
 
 sup. Evang. Horn, xxxviii. § 8. In Expos. Evang. Hoiu. xxxviii. 
 
 ■■^' 1 Cur. xii. 22-25. § 8; Origen, Horn. ii. in Gen.; Je- 
 
 '-•' Psalm cxlviii. 7-13. The Fa- rome, Contr. Jovin. 1. i. ; Cyprian, 
 
 thers are full of references to this Epist. 69, and many others. Imleed, 
 
 outward application of this history. St. Peter's direct reference to this 
 
 Augustine {Contr. Faust. Manich. type, (1 Pet. iii. 20, 21,) gives the 
 
 ). xii. c. 14-21,) goes into it at clue to the whole of it. 
 
 ^Teat length: — " Noe cum suis per > Chap. vii. 16. 
 aqiiam ct lignum liberatur, sicut fa- 
 
 I 2 
 
116 Noah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 that is, secures him. So the soul which has embraced the 
 cross, and has long waited by it to be saved and lifted up 
 from Adam's world, comes to a point when that cross 
 holds him as with nails, " shut in," so that now he could 
 not, even if he would, turn from it. Thus " shut in," 
 prisoners of hope, are we preserved ; and dark and narrow 
 as this lot appears, we would not change it for the freedom 
 of those without, who may mock at our straitness, but 
 who, if not so " shut in," must all perish. Thanks be 
 unto Him who shuts us in, — who will not let us leave the 
 narrow cross, which, to some a stumbling-block and to 
 others foolishness, to them that are called is both the 
 power and the wisdom of God ; cutting us off from com- 
 munication with what is without, restraining what is 
 within, and yet saving us. Blessed are they who are thus 
 « shut in." 
 
 (ii.) Then comes the flood : — " The flood was upon the 
 earth ; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and 
 it was lifted up above the earth." ^ So is it witliin. The 
 day arrives when the inward deep is moved mightily. 
 The unquiet element in us is loosed. Now the floods of 
 temptation and lust seem to break out everywhere. Oh, 
 what fluctuations, tossings, and swellings are there ! Such 
 a flood has arisen within as Jonah passed, when he cried, 
 " The waters compass me ;" ^ or such as David knew, when 
 he said, "Deep calleth unto deep, at the noise of thy 
 waterspouts ; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over 
 me." ^ Now the fountains of the great deep seem broken 
 up, and the windows of the heavens only pour down 
 judgment. We are, as we say, " overwhelmed within 
 us." A flood is out, destroying and changing the life of 
 
 2 Chap. vii. 17. •• Psalm xlii. 7. See also Ixix. 1, 
 
 • Jonah ii. 5. 2, 15. 
 
PART m. 
 
 Noah, or Regeneration. 
 
 11 
 
 man, crushing the life of nature out of us. But this, too, 
 painful and awful as it is, and itself the judgment of the 
 sin of the old man, and certain destruction if we do not 
 know the cross, leads the spirit to greater joys and greater 
 liberty. Thus is self and selfhood destroyed in us. We 
 tremble and are astonished and cry out for fear, and yet 
 by such a death the Lord frees us.* 
 
 There remains indeed another baptism. The creature 
 cleansed by water must one day be purged by fire also. 
 The old Adam world, the ground of the old man, beinu,- 
 overflowed with water, perishes. But the heavens and the 
 earth which are now beyond the water shall be baptized 
 witli fire, and that fire shall purge the floor, and crystallize 
 the earth into transparent gold.^ So within, there is first 
 
 * The experience of every age sup- 
 plies illustrations of this stage ; but 
 the following letter of Terstegen is 
 so beautiful and apposite, that I in- 
 sert it here. It may comfort some : 
 "My dear sister, — Notwithstand- 
 ing the wretched state in which you 
 describe yourself to be, I am still 
 quite at ease regarding it, and am 
 under no apprehension of evil con- 
 sequences. Were I concerned for 
 you after the manner of men, and 
 were I glad to see your own life, the 
 life of self, preserved, I might have 
 reason to fear, because our Lord 
 attacks it so forcibly and severely, 
 and pursues it so warmly, that it 
 must soon give up the ghost, which 
 takes place and is accomplished by 
 tlie complete and eternal resignation 
 of yourself into the free hands of 
 God. You see and feel nothing 
 but sin and corruption within you. 
 Whithersoever the mind turns and 
 directs its ^'iew, everything is misery, 
 grief, and sin ; and the way to 
 escape from it is closed, and appears 
 
 as if it were always to continue so. 
 Ah I thinks subtle self-love, could I 
 only find a little nook to which I 
 might retire, and t-ake a little rest. 
 Listen, O soul ! cease thy turning : 
 the more thou seekest to make mat- 
 ters the better, the worse tliou makest 
 them. Therefore as long as it pleases 
 God to leave you miserable, corrupt, 
 and without strength, let it also 
 please you. You behold your real 
 self at present, as you are in your- 
 self. Thank God for having thus 
 disclosed your inward wound to your 
 view. Previously, when the dealings 
 of grace with you were so gentle, 
 nature and sense occasionally parti- 
 cipated in it; but in the way in 
 which you are at present, thty are 
 deprived of all support. It is impos- 
 sible that nature and sense should 
 acqiiiesce in this total destruction. 
 But they must die. Commit your- 
 self, therefore, wholly to God ; 
 trust Him, and you shall be healed * 
 — Letter XX. 
 
 « See 2 Pet. iii. 6, 7. 
 
118 Koah, or Regeneration. part m. 
 
 wacer, then fire ; and by fire the heavens as well as the 
 earth are purified. In both the Lord appoints the flood 
 for good ; and as when we pass through the waters, be- 
 cause He is with us they do not overflow us, so He says, 
 " When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be 
 burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." ^ 
 
 (iii.) So the ark goes through the flood ; we read, " The 
 ark went upon the face of the waters." ^ It goes through 
 them. We are not saved from death and judgment, but 
 through it, and out of it. Grod does not save us from 
 temptation. He Himself may loose the doors of the 
 great deep within us. Even yet He leads His sons to be 
 tempted ; ^ for temptation is a necessary step to regenera- 
 tion ; that we, thus knowing how helpless we are in self, 
 how lost on the ground and home of the old man, may 
 resign all hope in self, and, knowing the worst, may yet 
 triumph in deliverance out of it. The regenerate soul 
 has known the worst, and through grace has come safe out 
 of it. And jufit as the Lord uses our " clay," our very 
 faults, when touched by virtue from His lips, to open 
 blind eyes,^^ so does He use the great deep within us, 
 which He has loosed in judgment because of abounding 
 sin, to drive us from all hopes of creature help. Thus 
 are we saved, not from, but through, the waters ; and by 
 death is he destroyed who has the power of death.'^ 
 
 (iv.) Then comes the wind from the Lord : — " Grod 
 remembered Noah, and caused a wind to pass over the 
 earth, and the waters assuaged." ^^ Here is a wondrous 
 change. " Shut in," " lifted up," or " passing through 
 the waters," the spkitual mind is safe. But now come 
 
 ' Isa. xliii. 2. "> John ix. 6. 
 
 8 Chap. vii. 18. " Heb. ii. 14. 
 
 » Matt. iv. 1. ° Chap. viii. 1. 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration. 119 
 
 gentle gales, the breathings of that Spirit which stills the 
 floods and refreshes the weary voyager. The Spirit 
 breathes, and the waters assuage. In other judgments 
 a wind from the Lord was the agent of deliverance. Tlie 
 locusts of Egypt were thus destroyed : — " The Lord 
 turned a strong east wind, which took away the locusts." ^^ 
 So the way through the Red Sea was made by the wind : — 
 " The Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east 
 wind." ^* So again shall it be in the day '' when the 
 Lord with His mighty wind shall smite the tongue of the 
 Egyptian sea, and make men go over dryshod." ^^ And 
 so within. God remembers His servant, and the breath 
 of the Lord works for his deliverance. From this time 
 forth the tossings decrease. The rest now is very nigh. 
 
 (v.) For the next step is the grounding of the ark. 
 Now it rests firmly on the unseen world, though the waste 
 of waters is still abroad, and no portion of that better 
 land is yet visible.^^ The cross has brought us to another 
 sphere. The fact is not cognisable by sight, nevertheless 
 it is felt, for settledness is attained to. The future home 
 is not yet seen. A veil of waters yet covers it. But the 
 ark has brought us to " the everlasting hills ; " and God, 
 after that we have suffered awhile, now stablishes, 
 strengthens, settles us.^'^ 
 
 '^ Exod. X. 19. mysteries ; but I do not attempt to 
 
 >* Exud. xiv. 21. touch the subject. The Fathers. 
 
 '5 Isa. xi. 15. however, boldly enter on it. See 
 
 '« Chap. viii. 4. Augustine. {Cnntr. Faust. Manich. 
 
 " 1 Pet. V. 10. The day of the I. xii. c. 15-18,) for his views on 
 
 ark's re.'ting. if I err not, was the the times and numbers here ; and 
 
 day of Christ's resurrection, viz., for some very suggestive thoughts on 
 
 " the seventeenth day of the seventh the subject of numbers generally, see 
 
 month." which, after the redemption his work, Dc lib. Ar/ntr. 1. ii. c. 11. 
 
 from Egypt, was called the first Surely if all creation be a type, 
 
 month. Here, as in all the allusions numbers and time must be signifi- 
 
 to time, are, I am assured, many cant. 
 
120 Noah, or Regeneration. part m. 
 
 (vi.) Soon more is reached. After the tossings cease, 
 " the window is opened," and a new world appears. 
 " The tops of the mountains are seen." Its light shines 
 in.^^ What is seen at first appears isolated. The con- 
 nexion is not seen between the points which we do see. 
 The waters still only permit us glimpses, unconnected 
 glimpses, of the coming world. Yet there it is — faith is 
 turned to sight. These hill-tops are pledges of untold 
 and unknown scenes of future joy. For many a day we 
 have been shut up, and our way has been simply a path of 
 faith ; but now the floods assuage, and light breaks in, 
 and we can cry " As we have heard, so have we seen." ^^ 
 For now we belong to the new creation, now that the 
 old man and his monstrous progeny are destroyed and 
 dead. 
 
 (vii.) After this, and just before the going forth to 
 enjoy the better world in full liberty, "the dove and 
 raven are sent forth," ^o figuring (for they are birds of 
 heaven, and the heaven is the understanding,) certain 
 powers or emotions of the understanding, both pure and 
 impure.^^ In the actions of these is shewn the working 
 of the good and evil which to the last remains with us. 
 For of the impure a remnant still exists. The raven, 
 finding its food in carrion, figures those inclinations which 
 feed on dead things. The dove is that spirit of gentleness 
 and peace, which, though with us before, appears more 
 boldly now as heaven opens to us, to witness, like the 
 dove which came down on Christ, that, though the cross 
 may yet remain, there is promise of better things. The 
 ark does not change the raven. The cross may restrain, 
 
 ** Chap. viii. 5, 6. *' See on the work of the fifth 
 
 '» Psalm xlviii. 8. day, pp. 33, 34. 
 
 *'"' Chap. viii. 7 
 
PAKT in. Koah, or Regeneration, 12\ 
 
 but does not alter impure desires. To the end the dead 
 things of the world are attractive to certain inclinations in 
 each of us. If, therefore, this raven can be free, it will 
 not return. But the inward man will not trust to such 
 guidance. He wants better proof, and this the dove sup- 
 plies ; when the time is come for the olive to bud she 
 brings a token. And the man understands, for now the 
 risen world is near. Then, but not till God plainly 
 directs it, the cross which has saved us is exchanged for 
 the enjoyment of that resurrection rest to which it has 
 carried us.^^ 
 
 Such is this stage within. Without, its accomplishment 
 is only the same workings on a larger scale. Shut up, safe 
 in the cross, the elect of Grod by judgments on the world 
 are lifted heavenward. Death buries one and then another 
 earthly hope. The highest hills, to which the world look 
 for succour, all are overflowed. But the Church by the 
 cross goes safe, though containing some, who, like the un- 
 clean raven, if they might, would leave it. Such shew 
 their nature ere the rest is reached.^^ After this the elect 
 
 " Ambrose, throughout his whole (c. 17, § 62:) the dove is " sim- 
 comment, Be Noe et Area, gives the plicitas." (§ 64.) The raven, "ma- 
 inward sense of all this history. He litia, diluvium araat." The dove 
 says, '• Diluvii species typus est pur- will not stay abroad while the flood 
 gationisanimse i]ostr8e."(c. 13, § 46.) remains ; " tard^ enim inter ssecu- 
 Referring to " Noah, the just man," larium fluctus cupiditatum portuni 
 he asks, '• Quisest 'Justus" in nobis, solet inveuire simplicitas." (c. 18, 
 nisi mentis vigor, qui intra istam § 64.) 
 
 arcam inclusit omne animantium ge- '^^ " Illas duas aves misitNoe. Ha- 
 
 nus, . . . omnes irrationabiles sensus," bebat ibi corvum, habebat et colum- 
 
 &c. (c. 9, § 30.) The flood is, bam. . . Videtis utique quia necesse 
 
 " EbuUiuut omnes foiites cupidita- est ut in isfo diluvio saeouli utrum- 
 
 tum," (c. 9, § 30:) " omnibus pariter que genus contineat Ecclesia, et eor- 
 
 ingruentibus passionibus,' &c. (c.l4, vum, et columbam. Qui sunt corvi ? 
 
 § 49:) its cessation, "aflBuentia Qui sua quaerunt. Qui columbse? 
 
 erroris cessat." (c. 17, § 59 ) The Qui ea quae Christi sunt qua>runt." 
 
 raven is " impudentia et malitia, Aug. in Johan. Tractat. vi. § 2. 
 quae mortuis pascitur, sicut corvus : " 
 
122 Koah^ or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 also have another, larger, freer, fairer, dwelling-place. 
 But this leads us to another stage, when Noah emerge* 
 into the world beyond the waters. 
 
 § III. — Noah on the Earth beyond the Flood. 
 
 (Chapter viii. 15-22, and ix. 1-17.) 
 
 The scene here changes as from earth to heaven ; from sin 
 and floods to joy, and rest, and liberty. Blessed had been 
 the transition from the old world of sin to the safe but 
 dark and narrow ark ; for, with all its straitness, blessed 
 is the cross : we are shut up indeed and tossed, yet safe 
 and not forgotten. But now comes a fm-ther wondrous 
 change, from straitness to freedom, and from floods to 
 quietness. We have felt what it is to be in the old world, 
 grieved by its confusions and corruptions, which we can- 
 not remedy. We have known the stage when we are 
 separated thence by the cross, and yet have not reached 
 the better world. Now we reach that land of rest, and 
 stand, as Noah here, on a new and purged creation, 
 brought forth from that earth on which we were born, to 
 a new world where death and judgment are behind us. 
 Man in Christ has long since reached this. Baptism is 
 our profession of faith, that as Christ is risen, and we are 
 in Him, we too are risen with Him.^ But now in ex- 
 perience our spirit comes there, from the things of the 
 old man to a sphere where Adam and his carnal seed can- 
 not enter. In one aspect, as in Adam, we are still in the 
 
 ' Col. ii. 12. In baptism "we.ire wliicliPaul longed for. (Phil.iii. 10.) 
 
 liuried and risen with Christ through This latter is experience rather than 
 
 faith ; " but this is very different from faith. 
 "the power of Christ's resurrection," 
 
PART III, Noah, or Regeneration. 123 
 
 old world, still on this side deatli, sliiit out from Paradise. 
 In another, as Noah, as the spiritual mind which has 
 experienced the judgment of the old creation, we are 
 risen with Christ, consciously brought with Him into 
 another world. 
 
 The blessings and responsibilities of this high calling 
 are shewn in seven distinct particulars recorded here of 
 Noah. 
 
 (i.) First, "They went forth." ^ This is true liberty, 
 known in word perhaps, but not in power, save by the 
 fellowship of Christ's sufferings and the power of His 
 resurrection. Up to this point the elect is more or less 
 in bondage, a " prisoner of hope," secure, yet still a 
 prisoner. But when through grace we have so passed 
 the judgment of the first creation, and have felt the 
 tossings cease, and then have seen the hill-tops, and re- 
 ceived the olive-leaf, the earnest of the inheritance, from 
 the mouth of the gentle dove, which thus assures us of a 
 world beyond the water-floods, then our freedom is near ; 
 all things are lawful, if all things are not expedient, for 
 us. Many a conscientious doubt as to rules, or times, or 
 places, now is resolved for us. To the pure all is pure. 
 Henceforth we are free ; we may " go in and out and find 
 pasture."^ 
 
 (ii.) But there is more than freedom here; for now 
 " Noah builded an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt - 
 offerings."'* This is worship, in the main like that of 
 Abel, though the burnt-offering testifies rather of obedi- 
 ence and acceptance than of sin and trespasses ; in answer 
 to which God opens all His heart, with secrets of love 
 never fully told in Adam's world. Now beside the altar, 
 those who have passed the flood understand Grod's heart, 
 
 2 Chap. viii. 18. ^ John x. 9. * Chap. viii. 20. 
 
124 Koah, or Regeneration, fart m. 
 
 saying, " I will not curse again." Yea, " thougli man's 
 lieart is still evil," Grod's heart speaks out, " I will not 
 curse or smite again."* The risen man cannot say that 
 in selfhood his imaginations even now are other than evil 
 continually. But he knows that, spite of this, God is 
 saving and has saved him. Here, too, lie learns how the 
 changes in the earth are all divinely regulated : — " While 
 earth remains, seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, sum- 
 mer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease." ^ 
 Before this, as darkness fell, he may have feared that the 
 light was for ever leaving him, and that his fits of cold- 
 ness would have no limit. Now he learns that these things 
 are part of a divine plan. Darkness brings into light 
 heavenly things unseen before. By the cold many a weed 
 is nipped and withered, and many a hurtful worm perishes. 
 " While earth remains " such changes are well. When 
 earth is passed, we may be fit for changeless things. All 
 this in its depth is learnt at this place, by the holy altar of 
 burnt offering. Oh, how many things are only cleared up 
 here ! The same man who said, " Thy way is in the sea, 
 and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are 
 unknown," says again, " Thy way is in the sanctuary : 
 who is so great a God as our God ? " '^ 
 
 iii.) Fruitfulness is another special blessing of this 
 stage: — " God said. Be fruitful and multiply."® Just as in 
 creation, when the third day rose, and the waters were 
 restrained, the earth was made fruitful ; so now in Noah, 
 the third great stage in man, the flood being passed, man 
 increases wonderfully. " Except the corn of wheat fall 
 into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it 
 bringeth forth much fruit." ^ Now having died to the 
 
 » Chap. viii. 21. ' Psalm Ixxvii. 13, 19. « John xii. 24. 
 
 « Chap. viii. 22. « Chap. ix. 1. 
 
TART in. Noah, or Regeneration. 125 
 
 world by the cross, and the evil fruits which grow out of 
 old Adam lieing judged by the overflowing waters, the new 
 man within increases yet more. Being purged, he brings 
 forth much fruit. ^^ 
 
 (iv.) But the blessing goes further. Power is given 
 over beasts : — " The fear and dread of you shall be upon 
 every beast, and upon every fowl, and upon all the fishes 
 of the sea: into thy hand are they delivered." ^^ Animal 
 faculties now are not only restrained by the ark or cross, 
 but reduced to submission : the man or reason governs 
 them. The ox strong to labour, the strength in us formed 
 to serve, is not henceforth to spend its energies without 
 direction. The lion and the bear, fierce thoughts, must 
 be still. And if, when night comes down, these beasts 
 will yet creep forth, and the young lions roar against their 
 prey, — for in hours of darkness these beasts at times will 
 still be heard, — when the sun ariseth they must lay them 
 down in their dens, for then man goeth forth to his work 
 and labour until the evening.^^ I know indeed that even 
 after this, after man has passed the flood and is regenerate, 
 lions may be loosed in judgment by the Lord : the man in 
 us may be slain, and the beast may be seen standing by 
 the carcase ; ^^ or, as in another case, the man may be 
 blind, and the beast, which should be guided by the man, 
 
 >« John XV. 2. " Non est igitup " Chap. ix. 2. 
 
 utile, ciim vitiorum aliqua confusio '^ Psalm civ. 20-23. " Domitis 
 
 est quae mentem occxipet, serere ali- igitur non solum terronis omnibus 
 
 quas cogitationes, atque generare et passionibus, sed etiam sensibus cor- 
 
 parturire mentem. Cum autem com- poralibus, bestias sibi quodam ter- 
 
 pressae fuerint cupiditites, et mens rore subjicit et timore, in quibus 
 
 requieverit, tunc virtutes possunt et species videtur inesse malitiae atque 
 
 bona opera germinari .. . Sic Justus feritatis Omnibus ergo his 
 
 multitudinevirtutisaugetur,etreplet imperat Justus, cupiditate, tristitia, 
 
 terram, quasi cor :. .ita nihil vacuum timore," &.c. — Ambros. dc Noe ct 
 
 sapientise essp patitur."— ./iw7;ros. de Area, c. 24, § 87. 
 Noe, c. 21, § 77, and c. 24, § 87. " 1 Ivings xiii. 24, 25. 
 
126 Koah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 may see more than that inward man which was formed to 
 i.;overn it.^^ All this may be through sin. Yet our 
 calling as regenerate is to rule the beasts, not to be ruled 
 by them. If the animal in us is not subject to the mind, 
 it is because the mind or man is not subject to the Lord, 
 (v.) Further, on this ground flesh is given to man for 
 food. Before the flood man's food is " the green herb." 
 He has "for meat every herb bearing seed, and every 
 tree, in which is the fruit of a tree." ^^ Now it is said, 
 " Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you : 
 even as the green herb have I given you all things."*^ 
 Before the flood the bodies of beasts had been consumed 
 by the fire of God : they had been His meat : their death 
 had satisfied Him. Now, on resurrection ground, man 
 too can eat, that is, find satisfaction in the same sacrifice. 
 Before we know resurrection life, while we are yet in the 
 world before the flood, in the home or sphere of the old 
 man, we feed on the fruits of the earth, those fruits of 
 righteousness, which, whether in Christ or in ourselves, 
 naturally afford man some satisfaction. As yet the death 
 of the creature is no satisfaction to the elect, though G-od 
 is satisfied and we are clothed thereby. God's fire may 
 fall and consume the offering : we give it up, but we do 
 not really eat with Him. It is otherwise when this stage 
 is reached. Then the death of what is animal is not only 
 a witness, but it affords us food. We, too, can now be 
 satisfied in the giving up of life, and great is the strength 
 which the spiritual man derives from the meat which is 
 thus given to him.^^ 
 
 '* Numbers xxii. 23-31. beant menti sapientis. ut olera nis- 
 
 '^ Chap. i. 29. tico esse subjecta, atquc ita his 
 
 '® Chap. ix. 3. utamur lit agricola oleribiis," &c. 
 
 " Amlirose says, " Significatur De Koe. &c. c. 25, § 91. Aiicfiis- 
 
 quod irrationabiles passiones ita de- tine adds, respecting the pouring out 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration, 127 
 
 (vi.) At this stage God gives authority to man to judge 
 that which quenches the life which " was formed in Grod's 
 im"ge ; " for Grod, having now by regeneration restored 
 that image in man, would not have it again mutilated. 
 At the hand of every man, therefore, He now requires the 
 life of man, for in the image of Grod made He man.^*^ 
 Before the flood it was not so ; on the ground of the old 
 man, Seth's line do not avenge the blood of Abel ; just as 
 before regeneration, while we yet abide in the sphere of 
 the old man, the spiritual mind bears witness against the 
 sins which in us grow out of old Adam, but has not power 
 to correct or judge them ; for on that ground the evil 
 cannot be remedied. The old man is corrupt, with liis 
 works. God's image cannot be seen in him. God will 
 not therefore prune his branches ; for He is resolved to 
 cut him down. But after the washing of regeneration, 
 when the image of God is again brought forth through 
 the judgment of the old man, when the spiritual mind 
 has reached the risen life, and looks on Adam and his 
 works as judged of God, with Him it judges any reviving 
 remnant of them ; for, being regenerate, it has power to 
 correct wickedness. All murder therefore now is judged ; 
 and since " he that hateth his brother is a murderer," ^^ 
 for hate destroys the inward man, all such workings of 
 the flesh must be sharply judged by the regenerate. Woe 
 to us, if we use not the power committed to us, if the 
 hateful works of the old man are suffered in us without 
 self-condemnation. 
 
 (vii.) And now, to crown all the gifts peculiar to this 
 stage, the covenant is re-made, and a heavenly token given 
 
 of the blood, which is commanded tur, sed habe.it ta-nquam effiisionera," 
 
 here (v. 4) — " Ejecto sanguine ju- &c. — Confr. Faust. 1. xii, c. 22. 
 bentur manducare, ne vita pristina '* Chap. ix. 5. 
 
 quasi suiiucata in consciuntia, teuea- '" 1 John iii. 15. 
 
128 Noalu or Regeneration. pakt m. 
 
 <»f it: — "And I, behold, I, establish my covenant with 
 you, and with your seed after you, and with every living 
 creature that is with you. And this is the token of the 
 covenant : I do set my bow in the cloud ; and it shall 
 come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that 
 the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember 
 my covenant which is between me and you and every 
 living creature of all flesh ; and the waters shall no more 
 be a flood to destroy all flesh.'' This is the " new and 
 better covenant," not " of law," with " Thou shalt," but 
 " of grace/' saying, " I will." " I ivill establish my cove- 
 nant with you . . . and I will remember my covenant . . . 
 and / IV ill look on the bow in the cloud, and the waters 
 shall no more destroy." For now man has learnt that 
 all is of grace, resting not upon his own, but upon the 
 Lord's, will. 
 
 Oh, that the force of this " new covenant," and all the 
 difl^erence between ^'Thou shaW and ''I will^'' were fully 
 known by Grod's children ; and that in every soul the " Thou 
 shalt" of the old, had given place to the " I will" of the 
 new and better, covenant ! Let this be understood. The 
 covenant of law, as given to the old man, first and last, is 
 all ''Thou shalV So God to Adam said, *'Thou shalt not 
 eat of it ; in the day thou eatest, thou shalt surely die : " 
 and by Moses repeating the same covenant of law, each 
 command reiterates the same, "Thou shalt .'^^ — "Thou 
 shalt love the Lord with all thy heart ; " " Thou shalt not 
 steal ; " " Thou shalt not covet." Such a covenant is all 
 " of works." There is a command to be fulfilled by man, 
 and therefore its validity depends on man's part as w^ell as 
 God's being performed perfectly. Such a covenant cannot 
 stand, for man is always sure to fail in his part. Thus the 
 covenant of law or works to man is and must be only 
 condemnation. But, finding fault with this, the Lord will 
 
PART in, Noah, or Regeneration, 129 
 
 make " a new covenant ; " and this new covenant or gospel 
 says throughout, not " Thou shalt," but " I will." It is 
 " the promise," as St. Paul says to the Galatians.^*^ All 
 that it requires is simple faith. " This is the covenant I 
 will make in those days, saith the Lord ; / will put my 
 laws in their hearts ; and / will write them in their 
 minds ; and / luill be merciful to their transgressions ; 
 and their sins I will remember no more ; / will dwell in 
 them, and walk in them, and I tvill be unto them a God, 
 and they shall be unto me a people." It is this " I will" 
 which Noah now hears, and to which at this stage Grod 
 adds "a token" set in heaven. 
 
 This token is " the bow set in the cloud." Before the 
 flood, the elect, though not so fully instructed, yet had 
 "the covenant." 21 But of its "token" nothing had been 
 heard : for this is only learnt experimentally, when we 
 have known and in spirit passed the deep waters. This 
 token now appears " in the cloud." The cloud, brought 
 over the earth, was not only a remembrance, but some- 
 thing like a remnant, of the judgment. We therefore 
 sometimes "fear to enter the cloud." 22 If it might be so, 
 we would have " tokens " of the covenant without the 
 dark waters. But it cannot be. Only in dark and cloudy 
 days can the bow of heaven be seen spanning the lower 
 earth. Then, mid dark waters, when the sun breaks out, 
 though the cloud may be dark, a bow appears amid the 
 darkness; half a ring — half that ring with which the 
 regenerate soul is now married to the Lord, and assured 
 of endless rest with Him. The lower world yet hides the 
 rest of the ring ; but on high " a rainbow" shall be seen 
 " in a circle round the throne." ^^ 
 
 20 Gal. iii. 16-18,21, 22, 29. 22 j^^q Jj. 34. 
 
 2' Chap. vi. 18. 23 So we read, Zpt j kukAcJ^ci'. Rev. 
 
130 Noah, or Regeneration, part in. 
 
 Such are the joys to which we are called by the power 
 of Christ's resurrection and the fellowship of His suf- 
 ferings. 
 
 And this, too, is fulfilled without. In this more outward 
 view, Noah's blessings here are the joys of the Church as 
 dead and risen with Christ. The Man of Eest and His 
 sons are brought by the washing of regeneration to things 
 which fallen Adam never heard of. Here freedom, and 
 worship, and increase, and power, — power over those who 
 are as beasts, — is freely given to them. Here the death 
 of the flesh, in ourselves or others, is found to be, even as 
 good fruits, the means of strengthening life. Here, too, 
 sin is judged. In the world saints judge not: — "What 
 have I to do to judge them that are without P"^"* In that 
 sphere our work is to set forth grace, even while we witness 
 that God's judgment is hastening. But in that Church 
 which stands on risen ground, we must " put away from 
 ourselves the wicked person." ^^ Would to G-od that this 
 were laid to heart. But too often judgment is exercised 
 in the world, where grace should be manifested ; while 
 excuses are offered for want of discipline in that redeemed 
 body, where all evil should be rooted out. Labour enough 
 is spent to correct a ruined world : nothing is done to 
 purge a failing Church. But this leads us to another 
 stage, where the failure of the regenerate is fully revealed 
 to us. 
 
 iv. 3. Ambrose has another thought vult, quam ferire," &c. — De Noe, &c, 
 
 here: — '-Iris, quasi arcus contentus, c. 27. 
 
 sed careus sagitta, magis terrere nos ^4 j Qqj.^ ^^ 12. 25 ^ ^or. y. 13. 
 
PAST in. Noah, or Regeneration. 131 
 
 § IV. — Noah's Sons. 
 
 (Chapter ix. 18-29, and x.) 
 
 We are now to see what man brings forth, when grace has 
 brought him through the judgment of the first creation 
 into another sphere. Spite of all his gifts, nay by his gifts, 
 Noah, that is, regenerate man, fails even as the unregene- 
 rate. His blessings ensnare him. Here we are shewn the 
 agents and stages of this tragedy, from Noah's first error, 
 and his children's crimes, down to all the confusions of 
 Great Babylon. For Babylon the Great, with all her 
 abominations, cannot precede, but follows regeneration. 
 
 First, we are shewn what springs out of Noah, that is 
 all the forms of life which grow out of the regenerate. 
 We may for a moment look at this, after which the diffe- 
 rent phases of failure will be manifest. 
 
 To speak then of these seeds as seen within. Noah is 
 the spiritual mind, brought forth from the ground of the 
 old man into a purer world. His sons represent those 
 forms of life, which, produced by the spiritual mind in us 
 before regeneration, — as Shem, Ham, and Japhet, were 
 born before the flood, — develope themselves in us after 
 we have known the judgment of the first creation. For 
 regeneration bears in us more than one mind or form ot 
 life; and whichever of these is the master-life within 
 stamps us either as Shems, or Hams, or Japhets ; just as 
 he who lives in the animal or beast-like life may be de- 
 signated as a fox, or wolf, or serpent, according to the form 
 of life which most predominates. For there are in us 
 many forms of life. Even the animal life (and in its place 
 it is subservient to our blessedness) is full of variety. 
 And no less does the higher life of the man or mind 
 
 K 2 
 
1 32 Noah, or Regeneration. part m, 
 
 witliin take, as we have seen in Adam's sons, many 
 different forms at different stages of its development. In 
 Adam's sons we saw the different forms of life which grow 
 out of old Adam, that is the natm-al man. Now in Noah 
 and his sons we are shewn all the forms which the regene- 
 rate mind may produce in each of us. 
 
 Now the forms of life which regeneration produces are 
 as different as Shem, Ham, and Japhet ; for man is com- 
 posed of body, soul, and spirit, a wondrous compound of 
 very different worlds ; and of each a germ or seed buds 
 out within, produced in man, as Noah's three sons, before 
 regeneration, which after the flood shew whence and what 
 they are, and their respective natures, whether of the 
 body, or of the soul, or of the spirit ; whether Ham, 
 Japhet, or Shem, whose very names tell what they are, 
 very different, yet all fruits of one common regeneration. 
 There is, first and highest, the contemplative life, which 
 delights in things unseen, in adoring love and holiness. 
 There is again the active life, which is good, and does 
 good, but deals more with external things. Besides these 
 there is the doctrinal life, a mind occupied with truth, 
 without the savour and power of it ; a form of life, which, 
 though growing out of the regenerate mind, is nigh to 
 evil, and must be subdued and fought against. Shem is 
 the first of these ; Japhet, the second ; the third is Ham, 
 the father of Canaan, whom Israel have to overcome. For 
 Shem, meaning name, represents that mind, which, know- 
 ing the Name which is above every name, — that Grod is a 
 Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in 
 spirit and in truth, — is set, as names are set for things, to 
 witness for His Name, and so reflect something of Him.* 
 
 > The word Shem, or name, is de- put, apparently for this reason, that 
 rived from the verb QtJ', to place or a 7iame is i^laced or substituted for a 
 
Koak, or Regeneration, 
 
 133 
 
 Japhet, that is, enlargement, goes forth, in the sense of 
 the freedom which is the portion of the regenerate soul, 
 to spread abroad on the face of the earth something of 
 that large blessing which God has given it.^ Ham, signi- 
 fying burnt or black, is the mind which is " seared as 
 with a hot iron ;"3 knowing but not living in the truth ; 
 and thus producing Canaan, that accursed form of life, 
 which is the inevitable fruit of a life of doctrine without 
 love or communion. In point of honour Shem stands 
 first, but in their development Japhet's and Ham's sons 
 are given before Shem's ; shewing, what indeed is proved 
 by all experience, that the highest life in us is the last to 
 develope itself.'* " Of these was the whole earth over- 
 spread." And hence spring all the forms of regenerate 
 life, good, bad, or indifferent.^ 
 
 thing, as its sensible sign. The 
 word is also closely connected with 
 the D'»Dt^) or heavens. Indeed the 
 latter word is but a masculine plural 
 of the same word, Shem. These 
 "heavens" are they who "declare 
 the glory of God," and " in whom 
 (as in Shem's family) God hath set 
 a tabernacle for His sun." — Psalm 
 xix. ] , 4. 
 
 2 I may note how unchangeably to 
 the present day the sons of Shem, 
 even in the letter, that is the Asia- 
 ties, are men who love the contem- 
 plative life ; while Japhet's sons, 
 that is the European family, as much 
 prefer the active life. 
 
 3 1 Tim. iv. 2. 
 
 * Compare the order in chap. ix. 
 18, and chap. x. 1, with that in 
 chap. X. 2, 6, 22. 
 
 * Chap. ix. 19. Ambrose, as usual, 
 thus gives the inward sense : — "In- 
 terior significatiodemonstrat'justum 
 virum,' (he is speaking of Noah when 
 come forth out of the ark,) tanquam 
 
 arborem fructuosam, internecatis quae 
 escam ejus sole bant arrodere, coar- 
 tare processus ramorum, velut ex- 
 sortem irrationabilium passionum, 
 solum remansisse cum suis. ' Sui ' 
 autem sunt animi disceptationes." 
 De Noe, &c. c. 15, § 55. He thus 
 explains these " sons " more parti- 
 cularly : — "Huic vero tres filii nati, 
 Sem, Cham, Japhet, qusenomina sig- 
 nificant bonum, et malum, et indiffe- 
 rens; ut et naturae gratia bonitatem 
 habuisse, et malorum tcntamenta ei 
 nequaquam defuisse, et indifferenti- 
 bus, hoc est, velut supellectili virtu- 
 tum abundasse videatiir." — Id. c. 2, 
 § 3. " Sunt enim cogitationes men- 
 tis contrariae," &c. — Id. c. 2, § 5. 
 In the same chapter (§ 5) he ex- 
 plains Shem and Ham as " bonitas 
 et malitia mentis ;" adding, " Cete- 
 rum non tam hie homines quam 
 mores comprehenduntur, . . . nam 
 Cham calor, Chanaan commotio est," 
 &a.—Id. c. 32, § 121. 
 
134 Noah, or Regeneration. part m. 
 
 But this may be more plain to some in its outward 
 fulfilment as seen in the professing Church. Only, when 
 we look at evil without, let us not forget that the germ 
 of it all is within our own heart ; and that evil men 
 around are only what they are by crushing in their souls 
 the seed of the divine life, and by sinking into some one 
 or other of those lower forms of life, which though work- 
 ing in us are not elect, that is, not our true life. This is 
 our trial, whether we will be beasts, or Cains, or Shems, 
 or Hams, or Japhets. Blessed are they, who, dying to 
 that in them which is opposed to Grod, forsaking self and 
 the fruits of that self, which stage after stage so persever- 
 ingly revives in us, step by step come back out of self to 
 God, to the life which is not of self, but of Him, and to 
 His glory. 
 
 To look then at this scene without. Noah and his sons 
 figure the regenerate Church, who with differing forms of 
 life have one root, brought through the one baptism from 
 the world of Adam, to new gifts and higher responsibilities. 
 Noah represents the Church generally : his sons, its com- 
 ponent parts and varieties ; differing from one another as 
 Peter, Paul, and John,^ and to differ yet more in their 
 development, but all part and fruit of one same tree, 
 whose produce shews its soil as well as its own distinct 
 
 ^ The thought, that Peter andJohn altera in mercede contemplationis, 
 
 are types of different forms of Chris- .... ista significata est per Apo- 
 
 tian life, is very common in the old stolum Petrum, ilia per Johannem." 
 
 writers; John being taken as the Tractat. in Joha7i. cxniv. Eomanism 
 
 type of the life which is by vision of and Protestantism shew for them- 
 
 Christ ; Peter, of that which is by selves that they are respectively 
 
 faith and conflict. So Augustine: Peter's and Paul's children. John's 
 
 " Duas itaque vitas sibi divinitus lineof things is less capable of being 
 
 praedicatas et commendatas novit systematized and less corruptible, 
 
 Ecclesia, quarum est una in fide, al- and " will tarry till the Lord come." 
 
 tera in specie, una in labore, altera John xxi. 22, 23. 
 in requie, una in opere actionis, 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration, 135 
 
 vegetable life and constitution. As in the case of Jacob 
 and his sons, each son or tribe figures the distinctive 
 character of some part of the spiritual Israel, who are 
 either Levis, addicted to service, or Naphtalis, satisfied 
 with favour, or Judahs, possessing the gift of rule ; so is 
 it with Noah's sons : each presents one class of the re- 
 generate : Shem, those who love the inner life ; Japhet, 
 the men of action ; Ham, the men of mere doctrine ; and 
 Canaan, those unhappy souls, who, from being hearers 
 only, have come, still self-deceived, to be deceivers also. 
 These three, or if we count Canaan, (and he is named,) 
 these four, represent the great distinguishing classes into 
 which the Chiuch may be divided. For as in the four- 
 fold results of the Sower's work,^ so here, we have three 
 classes springing from the original seed, and a fourth class, 
 which, though not actually from it, is yet mentioned in 
 connection with it. There is true inward religion, and 
 true outward religion ; these are Shem and Japhet. There 
 is also false inward religion, and false outward religion : 
 these are Ham and Canaan. Every possible form of 
 Christian life is the development sooner or later of one or 
 other of these four great classes. 
 
 Let this solemn truth sink into our hearts. There is a 
 form of life which grows out of the regenerate, which is 
 accursed. For regeneration not only spares the beasts, 
 though it gives us power to subdue and govern them, but 
 it leaves in us a mind like Ham, which revives the ways of 
 the old man in the regenerate soul. Hence the Clmrch 
 has had its Hams, and from them has grown up Grreat 
 Babylon.^ All history shews, not that it is likely, but 
 certain, that in the Church's own bosom will be nursed its 
 
 "> Matt. xiii. 18-23. 
 
 * Babel is the work of the seed of Ham. Chap. x. 6-10. 
 
136 Noah, m^ Regeneration. part m. 
 
 worst enemies. Heresy cannot exist without the truth ; 
 and " thei^e must be heresies, that they which are approved 
 may be made manifest."^ Then, and after the division in 
 the days of Peleg, Eber's son, — for Grreat Babylon has then 
 been built up, — the elect Hebrew is as distinct from the 
 rest of Noah's sons, as Noah himself had been from the 
 world before the judgment. Then the word is, " Gret thee 
 out from thy country, and from thy kindred, and from 
 thy father's house, into a land which I will shew thee."^^ 
 
 It would be full of deepest interest to trace the course 
 of these different families through their successive gene- 
 rations. For in them is prefigured the parentage and 
 birth of every sect and heresy which has sprung out of 
 and troubled the bosom of the regenerate Church. Here, 
 had we opened eyes, we might see how from the Apostolic 
 Church has sprung, as from a common source, all that 
 endless train of error which is around us in the different 
 forms of Eomanism and Protestantism. Here we might 
 trace the lineage of faith and love, and not less of false 
 spirituality, fanaticism, ignorance, rationalism, and reli- 
 gious formalism. These neglected genealogies give it all. 
 Here we have the true " Theory of Development," given 
 by One who cannot lie, and given " for our learning and 
 instruction in righteousness."^^ Few, however, care to 
 think on these things, or consider how surely certain forms 
 of life gradually produce other forms most dissimilar ; how 
 the true spiritual seed, the men of holy contemplation, 
 may beget a seed, as Shem begat Asshur, in whom the 
 contemplative life is changed to one of mere reasoning, 
 whence grows Assyria, with all its cities and its crimes. ^^ 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. xi. 19. '^ Asshur, the father of the Assy- 
 
 '" Chap. xii. 1. rians, was Shem's son : chap. x. 22. 
 
 ** Kom. XV. 4, and 2 Tim. iii. 1 6. 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration. 137 
 
 Few think how the Japhets, that is the men of active 
 life, may produce sons who sink ere long into what is 
 merely outward, and become as the nations; or how 
 surely the men of mere doctrine, like Ham, will produce 
 families in which their evil will increase, until 'Egypt, and 
 Babel, and cursed Canaan are manifested ; these last as 
 truly sons of Noah as Shem, but like the chaff, though 
 springing from the same root as the wheat, destined to be 
 one day awfully separated. 
 
 Without pretending to go into details, a few general 
 points in this development of the regenerate may be for 
 profit here. 
 
 And first let us mark the respective proportions of the 
 three great families which grew out of Noah. Seventy- 
 two names in all are given us.^^ Of these, thirty-one are 
 of Ham's, twenty-seven of Shem's, and fourteen of Japhet's 
 line ; so much more prolific is evil than good, even in 
 regenerate man : reminding us of the lists of sins, so 
 greatly outnumbering the catalogue of graces, enumerated 
 by the Apostle ; ^^ and of the number of " the works of 
 the flesh," as compared with " the fruits of the spirit." ^^ 
 So is it without, even as within. The evil seed, whose life 
 is one of doctrine rather than of love to Grod and man, is 
 that which under a variety of forms, for the present at 
 least, most spreads and multiplies. " Broad is the way 
 that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go 
 in thereat." ^^ 
 
 '' Chap. X. 1-32. The numbers '* Rom. i. 25-31, and 2 Tim. iii. 
 
 here, I am assured, are all full of 2-5. 
 
 divine mysteries ; as some of old '* Galatiansv. 19-23. Seventecii 
 
 have marked. Our version gives "works of the flesh " are recorded, 
 
 only twenty-six names h^re from besides the comprehensive word, 
 
 Shem. The LXX. add one more, " and suchlike; " nine " fruits of the 
 
 Cainan, between Arphaxad and Sa- spirit." 
 
 lah. St. Luke follows the LXX., '« Matt. vii. 13. 
 chap. iii. 36. 
 
138 Noah, or Regeneration. part m. 
 
 Of these three lines, all whose outcome is shewn here, 
 it may sujffice to note a few particulars. I have not a 
 doubt that every name recorded describes some distinct 
 character. And though to a mere English reader any 
 comment on names may seem fanciful, if not hazardous, 
 yet to a thoughtful mind the names simply translated 
 would, I believe, suggest many things. In reading Bunyan, 
 when we meet with "Faithful," and "By-ends," and 
 " Evangelist," and " Griant Despair," and others ; or when 
 we hear of places, such as " Slough of Despond," or 
 " Vanity Fair," or " Mansoul," with its " Eyegate," and 
 " Eargate," and " Mouthgate," the name suggests some 
 mystery. But Bunyan, in writing thus, was only copying 
 the style of Grenesis, in which the names always express 
 character ; for I think no one can imagine that such 
 names, as some here, would be given or recorded without 
 some deep reason. 
 
 But I shall not attempt to trace all the line. This, 
 however, I would repeat, that from Ham, that is the life 
 of mere doctrine, — of truth without love, — proceeds a 
 seed, which, being called Nimrod or the rebel, " becomes a 
 mighty one ;" in whom first the patriarchal life is changed 
 into " a kingdom at Babel," a kingdom over brethren ; ^^ 
 while another branch of the same stock of Ham is the 
 renowned Mizraim or Egypt,^^ which as much as Babel, 
 though in other ways, becomes a snare to Grod's elect. 
 What these represent we may hereafter see ; suffice it now 
 to mark that Babel and Egypt both grow out of Ham ; 
 the greater number of whose sons bear names which are 
 connected with, or descriptive of, war and strife and 
 
 •^ Chap. X. 8-10. _ Mizraim is the Hebrew name for 
 
 '" Chap. X. 6. It is scarcely ne- Egypt, 
 cessary, I suppose, to add, that 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration, 139 
 
 bloodshedding.^^ Shem's line tell out yet more solemn 
 truths. From him springs the Assyrian, as well as the 
 true Israelite. Asshur no less than Eber is his son ;'^° so 
 surely does the contemplative life, which produces true 
 holiness, tend also to beget that spirit of mere reasoning, 
 of which Asshur, or Assyria, is the appointed type. So 
 near is the false to the true ; so quick the descent from 
 that which is, to that which is not, acceptable. I need 
 not repeat what I have said of Japhet. Let us not forget 
 how soon his seed, that is the fruit of active life, dege- 
 nerates into that which Grod counts as the world, into a 
 mere Grentile life which knows not Grod.^^ 
 
 Such are the seeds, whose fate is foretold in that pro- 
 phecy of their father Noah, with the literal fulfilment of 
 which we are so familiar : the spiritual sense of which no 
 less reveals the course and end of those different forms of 
 life which have been developed in the regenerate. 
 
 The fate of Ham comes first. In his seed Noah foresaw 
 one who would be "cursed Canaan ;" who though called, as 
 a son of this house, to liberty, would become " a servant of 
 servants to his brethren." ^^ These are they who, knowing 
 much of the truth, " walk after the flesh in the lust of 
 uncleanness, and despise government; presumptuous are 
 they, self-willed ; they are not afraid to speak evil of dig- 
 nities." ^^ Such, though they appear to have escaped the 
 
 •^ To trace only tlie names of the slaughter: "Dedan," solitary, or 
 
 sonsofCush, Ham's firstborn: (chap. perhaps, who judgeth : names all 
 
 X. 7:) " Seba " is taking, or being akin to strife and misery. — Cf, Hie- 
 
 taken in battle : ' ' Havilah," labourhig ran. No?)i. Heb. 
 
 or bringing forth: " Sabtah" (a word 20 c^ap. x. 21, 22. 
 
 connected with besit^giug strong " Chap. x. 2-5. " By these {i.e. 
 
 places) means going round or com- Japhet's sons) were the isles of the 
 
 passing: " Raamah " is a voice of Gentiles divided," &c. 
 
 thunder, as of an army shouting for 22 Chap. ix. 25. 
 
 the battle: " Sabtecha," the cause of " 2 Pet. ii. 10, 11. 
 
140 Noah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, again entangled therein 
 and overcome, find their latter end worse than the begin- 
 ning. But it is happened unto them according to the true 
 proverb, — The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and 
 the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 
 That the Church has such a seed needs no proof : but that 
 it " serves brethren," — that it subserves a good end, — is 
 not always seen sufficiently. Yet it must be so ; for the 
 Lord has said, " A servant of servants shall he be unto 
 his brethren." Surely this is true within and without. 
 And when we reach this stage of regeneration, like Noah, 
 we see, that as dung upon the earth, or as the bitter bile 
 which is secreted in the natural body, even so does the 
 evil in the Church work for good, and the ungracious acts 
 of false brethren serve to polish and bring out the grace 
 in truer souls. " All things are ours, if we are Christ's." ^'^ 
 Even sin and false brethren shall be our Gibeonites, 
 " hewing wood " at least for us,^^ preparing to our hand 
 something which we may use in self-sacrifice. 
 
 I need not dwell on Shem or Japhet's lot : each gets 
 the blessing which is best suited to it; Shem to have 
 " Jehovah for his God ; " Japhet to be " enlarged by God, 
 and to dwell in Shem's tabernacles." ^s But why of Shem 
 is this alone pronounced ? Is not Jehovah the God of all 
 Noah's progeny ? Is not the Name of the Lord known to 
 all who are born and grow up in the house of the regenerate? 
 Look for answer at the Church. Is God known there ? 
 
 " 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. est servus, est fratrum bonorum, cum 
 
 2* Joshua ix. 27. These Gibeon- vel ad exereitationem patientiae, vel 
 
 ites were Canaanites. " Cham porro, ad profectum sapientise scienter utun- 
 
 quod interpretatur calidus, . . . quod tur malis boni," &c. — Aug. de Ciuii. 
 
 significat nisi hsereticorum genus ca- 1. xvi. c. 2. 
 
 lidum . . . Sed malus frater in filio ** Chap, ix, 26, 27 
 
 6U0, hoc est in opere suo, puer, id 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration. 141 
 
 Might not many, even true souls, almost as well be 
 without God ? Are they not doing all for Him, leaving 
 Him nothing to do ? Are they not thus, like Japhet, 
 with all their blessings tending to Gentilism ? They may, 
 indeed, load altars with gifts, but are not their altars 
 inscribed, " To the Unknown GodV Is not this their 
 thought : — There is a Grod — all we know of Him is, that 
 we must offer to Him. " To Him,^^ not" From jfZ'im,"is their 
 motto ; and this, though He is shewing out on every hand, 
 that He is not to be worshipped as though He needed any- 
 thing, seeing He giveth to all life and breath and all 
 things ; and has not left Himself without witness, in that 
 He does good, and gives us rain from heaven, and fruitful 
 seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.'-^^ Shem 
 has learnt the Name which tells all this. What God is in 
 Himself is Shem's security. The Lord is what He is, and 
 this is enough. He is Love, and because He is Love, He 
 must go out of Himself in endless, countless kindnesses. 
 Hence Shem's motto is,'' From the Lord,the known GodJ^ 
 Shem has an altar "whereof he may eat,"^® by grace 
 spread for him. Shem can sing : — " He prepareth a table 
 for me even in the presence of my enemies." ^^ Whatever 
 else Shem lacks, he has a God ; and, having Him, in Him 
 possesses all things. Japhet's blessing is the gift ; Shem's 
 is the Giver. Japhet rejoices iu the blessing ; Shem in 
 Him who is the Blesser. If Japhet is blessed himself, 
 it is enough for him ; he knows not what it is to " thirst 
 for God, even for the living God:" while Shem cannot 
 rest in gifts short of God, sighing, "When shall I come 
 and appear before God ?"^° But Japhet one day shall be 
 "enlarged," and then "he too shall dwell in Shem's 
 
 2' Acts xvii. 23-25, and xiv.17. ^^ Psalm xxiii. 5. 
 
 '^ Heb. xiii. 10. s" Psalm xlii. 2. 
 
142 Noah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 tents." Then, wide as the sphere of the active life may 
 seem, it shall find yet greater lengths and breadths in the 
 realms of contemplation : when the name of the Lord, 
 and what He is, appears ; and " according to His Name, 
 so is His praise in all the earth." ^^ 
 
 " These are the families of the sons of Noah, and by 
 these were the nations divided in the earth after the 
 flood." ^^ These are the developments of regenerate man, 
 and by these come all the divisions in that Church which 
 professes " one baptism." The field here is one in which 
 much gold lies hid. Blessed are they, who, finding it in 
 humble prayer, use it in a still humbler walk on earth to 
 God's glory. 
 
 § V. — Noah's Failure. 
 
 (Chapter ix. 18-29 ; x. ; xi. 1-9.) 
 
 It remains to note the peculiar forms of failure which are 
 manifested in Noah and his sons, that is, in man regenerate. 
 Sad is the contrast between Noah going forth with joy, and 
 Noah drunken and exposing his nakedness ; between " the 
 whole earth of one lip and of one speech," and Grreat 
 Babylon, with " tongues confounded," and its sons sepa- 
 rated; between the first full joy of the regenerate soul, 
 and the experience which follows of gifts misused and 
 curses treasured up ; or, to trace it without, between the 
 Church as it was, when "the multitude which believed 
 was of one heart and of one soul, neither said any that 
 ought that he possessed was his own, and they had all 
 things common,"^ and the Church as it is now, with 
 
 "» Psalm xlviii. 10. ' Actsii. 42-47: and iv. 32-34. 
 
 32 Chap. X. 32, 
 
PART III. Noah^ or Regeneration. 143 
 
 " departures from the faith, raen giving heed to seducing 
 spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, 
 with conscience seared, lovers of themselves, covetous 
 boasters, proud, blasphemers, having -withal a form of 
 godliness without the power." ^ But such is the fruit and 
 fall even of regenerate man. 
 
 Three chief forms of failure are described ; first Noah's, 
 then Nimrod's, then Great Babylon. Each differs in form, 
 with a gradual advance in crime. In the first two, good 
 things are misapplied. In Noah, we have blessings ex- 
 ternal to him misused, to his own hurt. In Nimrod, 
 personal gifts are perverted to injure others. In Babel 
 we have more open apostasy, and a systematic departure 
 from the right position, with untrue and creature things 
 substituted for true, and self-exaltation instead of God's 
 glory. 
 
 In each regenerate soul all this may be. First, misuse 
 of privileges leads to spiritual intoxication. The vine — 
 some precious grace of Christ in us — tends, if misused, 
 to make us forget ourselves, and to expose our nakedness ; 
 the failure of the ruling mind within giving an occasion 
 to the other thoughts in us to shew themselves. Thus do 
 our failings help to discover to us what different minds, 
 after regeneration, yet remain in us, some of which we 
 learn now must be judged, as being only subtle forms of 
 the condemned old man. Shem, the mind which loves 
 contemplation, and Japhet, that which purposes and per- 
 forms true outward service, are each recognised ; but Ham 
 is cursed in his seed ; the fruits of knowing and not doing 
 are foreseen and reprobated. Nevertheless out of Ham 
 the evil grows. Nimrod, a form of life the fruit of mere 
 
 2 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2 ; and 2 Tim. iii. 1-5. 
 
144 Noah, or Regeneration. part m. 
 
 intellect, aspires to rule and be the master-mind ; gifts of 
 knowledge claim a place in us, which God cannot approve ; 
 the result of which is a " kingdom at Babel," that is, some 
 rule or rules which cannot sanctify. After which Babel 
 itself grows up ; some form, which, though great and ap- 
 proved in man's eyes, in Grod's is simply confusion. We 
 build up likenesses of truths within: we strengthen and 
 fortify some opinion or imagination; and we may call it 
 edification ; but self is at work, usurping the Lord's place, 
 and self-love, and thoughts of self-exaltation, "to make 
 us a name," are indeed perverting everything. Thus a 
 tower of pride springs up within, which we may hope will 
 be a means to reach to heaven, (for in building this Babel 
 we are self-deceived, and may be seeking right things in a 
 wrong and self-invented way,) but which will only draw us 
 from the true high ground of light, and leave us inwardly 
 distracted and full of confusion. All this may be, and is, 
 within, after we are through grace truly regenerate ; for 
 no evil is without, the seed of which is not within : it may 
 be hid, as the night is hid in the day, if the light of heaven 
 rules us ; yet the root of self remains, and in it lies the 
 germ of a Babel, a beast, an Antichrist, ready to make tlie 
 temple of God his seat, if we depart from the cross of 
 Jesus. Christ. But the inward kingdom is not seen by all ; 
 the outward manifestation of it, therefore, may be more 
 useful here. 
 
 To trace it then without. Noah's fall comes first. This 
 is the failure of the true elect through the abuse of good 
 gifts. Noah's care in the cleansed earth is the vine.^ In 
 the sphere of old Adam, and before the flood, that is, be- 
 fore regeneration, Noah was no planter. There his work 
 
 5 Chap. ix. 20. 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration* 145 
 
 was the ark : there, day and night, instead of planting the 
 vine, he was cutting down the high trees ; as the work of 
 the elect in the world is to lay the axe to the root of men's 
 pride ; to lay them low, that by the experience of death 
 they may reach a better life. But in the Church, regene- 
 rate man has other work. There the vine is to be trained, 
 and pruned, and cultivated; there its precious juice, which 
 gladdens Grod and man, is to be drunk with thankfulness 
 and joy to Grod's glory. Yet this may be misused. Has 
 the " cup of blessing " never been taken and perverted to 
 men's own condemnation ? Alas I not a few, like Noah, 
 have profaned that wine which was given in love to 
 "make us forget our poverty."'* The truth of Christ's 
 sufferings for us, carnally received, used as a reprieve to 
 the flesh, has come back as a curse to those who have so 
 regarded it; for, "the grace of God being turned into 
 lasciviousness,"^ men have but " eaten and drunk their 
 own damnation : '' while even Christ's sufferings in us 
 may be perverted if they minister to our pride or vain 
 self-satisfaction. If, instead of walking in watchfulness 
 and prayer, men put some gift in the place of meekness 
 and humbleness, if they do not "watch and keep their 
 garments," the result is always this, — " they have walked 
 naked, and men have seen their shame." 
 
 Two things are brought out by this fall ; sin in some, 
 and grace in others, of the Church's children. Ham not 
 only sees, but tells the shame abroad, without an attempt 
 
 * Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. Augustine bearing upon the failure of the re- 
 
 {Be Civit. 1. xvi. c. 2,) and Cyprian generate. The reason is clear; be- 
 
 (Epist. 63.) both refer this cup of cause in their days the evil, of which 
 
 Noah to Christ's blood and the Nimrod and Babel were the figure, 
 
 Lord's Supper. But neither Angus- had not developed itself in the 
 
 tine, nor any of the early Fathers, so Church, as it has since then, 
 
 far as I am aware, speak distinctly * Jude 4. 
 of the failure of Noah's sons, in it3 
 
146 Noah, or Regeneration. part m. 
 
 to place so much as a rag on that nakedness, which, as the 
 sin of one so near to him, should have been his own shame. 
 Shem and Japhet will not look upon it, but " walking 
 backward," — a path not taught by nature, but grace, — 
 cover their father's nakedness.^ So is it yet. We see 
 what is akin to us. The evil have an eye for evil, while 
 the good and loving are engaged in acts of charity. Thus 
 He, whose work it is to bring to light the hidden things of 
 darkness, by the failure of one, often reveals another's 
 heart. The Church's fall, the misuse of gift in some, is 
 made the occasion for stripping the self-deceiver bare. 
 Men sit in judgment on the evil in the Church, full of 
 impatience and self, laying all iniquity bare, not waiting 
 for the righteous Judge ; little thinking that, whilst they 
 are judging evil, God by the evil may be trying and 
 judging them ; or that the spirit, which exposes others' 
 sin, may be far more hateful to Him than some misuse of 
 privileges. For Noah's fall was a misuse of blessings : 
 Ham's exposure of it was want of love. Grod may, indeed, 
 convince of sin, but never without ministering better 
 things. We too, at times, must strip deceivers bare ; but 
 to see evil and accuse it, without a helping hand or pitying 
 eye, is devilish. Shem and Japhet cannot do so. With 
 such souls, the Church's failure only brings to view graces, 
 which, were there no failure, could not be manifested. 
 We mourn because the Church is fallen. But does not 
 the Church's fall give larger opportunities for love and 
 self-sacrifice ? Every trying thing — every humbling and 
 shameful thing — is but the occasion of shewing grace, if 
 grace be there. Circumstances do but prove us. And that 
 same trial, which shews the carnality of the carnal, only 
 elicits grace in gracious souls ; and that very infirmity, 
 
 « Chap. ix. 22, 23. 
 
PART in. Noah, or Regeneration, 147 
 
 which is an occasion of falling to us, if we walk by nature, 
 is an occasion of victory, if we walk by grace. 
 
 But a worse form of evil soon appears.^ Noah misused 
 blessings to injure and expose himself : Nimrod exalts 
 himself to lord it over brethren ; for of those over whom 
 he ruled all had sprung, and this within a few generations, 
 from one common father. Little is told us of this second 
 form of apostasy ; but that little is enough. And indeed 
 the steps by which lordship over brethren is reached are 
 not many. 
 
 The author of it is Nimrod, the son of Cush. Sprung 
 from that seed, who, having been scorched by the truth, 
 have " seared consciences," his very name, Nimrod or 
 rebel,^ points out the character of those actings, by which 
 the family and patriarchal government instituted by God 
 was changed into a kingdom ruled by violence. 
 
 The stages are these : " He began to be a mighty one ;" 
 this is the first step in the transition from " ensamples to 
 the flock " to " lords over God's heritage;"^ after which 
 " a mighty hunter " follows, one who can first slay for us 
 the wild beasts which threaten us ; but who, having hunted 
 them, will then hunt his brethren, till they too are en- 
 snared and captivated. And all this shall be " before the 
 Lord ;" " even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the 
 Lord." It was so in Israel, when faith in God and com- 
 munion failed ; a king was sought under whose shadow 
 they might dwell safely, who might " fight their battles 
 and go before them,"^^ and do for them what God had 
 covenanted to do. In a word, a gift of God was sought 
 for more than God ; and the result, in Saul's case, as in 
 
 Chap. X. 8-10. less one," 2 Thess. ii. 8. 
 
 * Heb., n-i?OJ. from n-iO, to rebel; » 1 Pet. v. 3. 
 
 reminding us of 6 ^uo/xos, " the law- '" 1 Sam. viii. 20. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 Noah, or Regeneration, part in. 
 
 Nimrod's, was that the " mighty one " became a " mighty 
 hunter," pursuing those, who, like David, because they 
 walked with God, could not be taken by all this mighti- 
 ness. 
 
 It is well known how that which first was shewn in 
 Nimrod again reappeared on resurrection ground, and was 
 again enacted in that redeemed family, of which the Lord 
 said, " Ye all are brethren." As it was foretold Antichrist 
 should come, so did he come, and the success of the 
 " rebel," or " lawless one," is but too well known. Men 
 arose, with mighty gifts, used first to slay the lion and the 
 bear, but soon to bring the congregation of the Lord into 
 bondage. They stood in the Church for Grod and His 
 Christ, as though God and His Christ were absent, rather 
 than as witnesses that " the Lord God yet dwelt among 
 them."^^ Thus did the best gifts become curses. Nim- 
 rod's course became a proverb : — " Wherefore it is said, 
 Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord." Is 
 it not a proverb, that spiritual dominion, or rather that 
 which has claimed to be such, is too often a " mighty 
 hunter," a spirit of domination, ever seeking to enslave, 
 and to impose a yoke, not on the bodies only, but upon 
 the minds of brethren ? Christ's true rule aims to make 
 all free : false rule to make all slaves, under the pretence 
 of serving them. The Church of Rome, where " the 
 rebel's " rule has been most seen, is proof enough ; but it 
 
 " Psalm Ixviii. 18; Eph. iv. 8. ei descendejites confundamus,'' (quod 
 
 The connection is mr-st noteworthy intelligitur angelis dictum,) nisi quia 
 
 between God's "giving gifts to men," per angelos descendebat, qui in an- 
 
 and the aim or end of this, " that the gelis descendentibus erat. Et bene 
 
 Lord Ood might dwell among them ;" non ait, Venite, et descendentes 
 
 not that they shoiild take Ills place. confundite ; sed ' Covfimdamus ibi 
 
 Augustine recognises the same truth Ihiguam eorum;^ osteudens ita se 
 
 in the Lord's words here respecting operari per ministros suos," &c. — 
 
 Babel: — " Quid sibi vult, * Venite, De Civit. 1. xvi. c. 5. 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration. 149 
 
 is not tliere alone that the works of the " mighty hunter " 
 may be seen. 
 
 So Nimrod makes a " kingdom in the land of Shinar, 
 whose beginning was Babel," that is, confusion. This 
 leads to another form of evil : men's tongues are con- 
 founded, and then the one family splits and separates. 
 But ere this is described, a fact is named, shewing the 
 effect of Nimrod's course on Shem's purer seed. 
 
 We read : — " Out of that land went forth Asshur, and 
 builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth and Calah."^^ 
 Asshur is the son of Shem,^^ and here we have Asshur 
 going forth from Nimrod's kingdom, to imitate him in 
 building, if not a Babel, at least a Nineveh or a Calah. 
 Nimrod's invention cannot be confined to Great Babylon. 
 Other cities, "the cities of the nations," soon arise. 
 Cities in type are systems or polities, very unlike those 
 primitive pilgrim dwellings, " the tents of Shem." Here 
 we have foreshewn the rise of those " cities of the nations," 
 those national systems of religion, seen by the Apostle 
 John, whose fate is connected, even as their birth, with 
 Babylon the Great, and who, when she falls, fall with 
 her.^'* Nor does the fact that these cities are the work of 
 Asshur, the son of Shem, save them from the destruction 
 that will one day overtake the works of Nimrod. What 
 avails it for national churches to point to the elect seed 
 who built them ? The question is not, What seed were 
 they ? — but, What has been the building ? Whence got 
 they their pattern ? Out of what land came they ? Have 
 they built " cities," or were they content, like Paul, to be 
 "tentmakers?"^^ Alas, even Asshur finds pilgrimage 
 
 " Chap. X. 11. Tabernacle in the wilderness, that 
 
 " Chap. X. 22. movable tent, which, until Canaan 
 
 '* Rev. xvi. 19. was reached, was their place of as- 
 
 '* Origen, in commenting on the eembly and worship and sacrifice, 
 
150 Noah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 hard travail : hence Asshiir builds cities, and becomes 
 almost as Babel. Assliur it is who carries Israel captive ;^^ 
 Asshur it is who joins with Israel's foes ;^^ Asshur upholds 
 the mart of nations ;^® therefore "Asshur and his company 
 go down into the pit.^^ Wherefore let Israel say, " Asshur 
 shall not save us,"^^ though he is strong and buildeth 
 mighty cities ; " for ships shall come from the coast of 
 Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and he also shall perish 
 for ever." 2^ 
 
 The third form of failure among Noah's seed is the 
 building of Babel, with the consequent scattering and 
 confusion of the hitherto united family.^^ This form of 
 evil, though allied to Nimrod's, is worse ; for it is no good 
 gift misapplied, but rather a systematic departure from 
 the original position, with imitations of the true instead 
 of truth, and self-exaltation instead of Grod's glory. 
 
 The course of this apostasy is soon traced ; and nothing 
 can be more striking than the contrast here drawn between 
 the primitive state of the redeemed family, and that which 
 their sin brought upon them. Their original state is thus 
 described : — " And the whole earth was of one language 
 
 thus connects that tent with Paul's bernaculis terrenis, ad ccelestia ta- 
 
 Tocation : — " Uncle ra^\\ yidetur non bernacula construenda tralatus sit. 
 
 fortuito contigisse ut Petrus quidem . . . FacittabernaculaPaulus, etcum 
 
 et Andreas et filii Zebedsei, arte ab Hierusalem in circuitu usque ad 
 
 piscatores invenirentur, Paulus vero Illyricum replet evangelium, Dei ec- 
 
 feber tabernaculorura. Et quia illi clesias construendo ; et hoc mode 
 
 vocati ab arte capiendorum piscium, facit et ipse tabernacula ad simili- 
 
 mutantur et fiunt piscatores homi- tudineni tabernaculorum ccelestium, 
 
 num, dicente Domino, ' Venite post quae ostendit Deus in montem Moy- 
 
 rae, et faciam vos piscatores homi- si." — Horn. xvii. in Hum. 
 
 num : ' non dubium quin et Paulus, '^ Ezra iv. 2. 
 
 quia et ipse per Dominum nostrum '^ Psalm Ixxxiii. 8. 
 
 Jesum Christum vocatus apostolus '* Ezek. xxvii. 3-27. 
 
 est, simili artis suae transformatione '^ Ezek. xxxii. 22, 23. 
 
 luutatus sit: ut sicut illi ex pisca- ^° Hosea xir. 3. 
 
 toribus piscium piscatores homi num ^^ Numb. xxiv. 24. 
 
 facti sunt, ita et iste a faciendis ta- ^2 Chap. xi. 1-9. 
 
PART m. Noah, or Regeneration, 151 
 
 and of one speech." Difference of age we know there 
 was ; difference, too, in character ; some were Shems, 
 some Hams, some Japhets. But, spite of this, as yet 
 " they all spake the same thing ; " as yet " there were no 
 divisions among them." As in the early Church, where 
 " the multitude of them that believed were of one heart," '^ 
 there was but "one lip and one speech" among them. 
 Love enabled them, though not of one stature, to be of' 
 one mind. As yet they could understand one another and 
 walk together. 
 
 Not long did this continue : soon apostasy begins. The 
 first step is, "They journeyed from the east." The day- 
 spring is in the east. There, to them that love the light, 
 " the Sun of Eighteousness ariseth with healing on His 
 wings." 2^ But now the company of resurrection pilgrims 
 are seen with their backs toward the east : their faces see 
 not this light; they are turned away from it.^^ Then 
 " they found a plain :" they leave their first high ground. 
 This plain, doubtless, like the plain of Sodom to Lot, had 
 its attractions ; so " they dwelt there." And now, their 
 pilgrim character being at an end, their thoughts turn to 
 their own glory and establishment. Grreat Babel is the 
 result. " And they said one to another, Gro to ; let us 
 make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had 
 brick for stone, and slime for mortar. And they said, Gro 
 to ; let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may 
 reach to heaven ; and let us make us a name, lest we be 
 
 " Acts iy. 22. aliquorum abOriente,hocestChristo, 
 
 2* Mai. iv. 2 ; Luke i. 78. (de quo dicitur Zachar. vi., ' Ecce 
 
 25 "Per labium intelligiturprsedi- vir, Oriens nomen ejus,') turris su- 
 
 catio et doetrina. Istud autem la- perbiae fabricuta est, ex quA, secuta 
 
 bium ab ecclesiae principio fuitunum est divisio linguarum, per doctrinam 
 
 praedicando et docendo unum Deum, et prsedicationem hseresium diversa- 
 
 unam fidem, unum baptisma, sicut rum." — Gloss. Ordin. in loco. 
 dicitur Epkes. ix. Sed in recessu 
 
152 Noah, or Regeneration, part m. 
 
 scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth." Thus 
 arose Grreat Babylon. Let us not pass from this scene till 
 we understand it, for even yet Babylon is " mystery " — a 
 thing unintelligible to not a few. 
 
 Its preparatory stages we have noticed. Men journey 
 from the east ; then they settle down ; then they begin to 
 build. At this stage, the scene presented is man taking 
 counsel of man, and not of Grod. "They spake one to 
 another ;" and the result of the deliberation is an attempt 
 to imitate Grod ; first in His words, then in His works. 
 They said, " Let us make." Grod once had said " Let us 
 make." 2^ Here man takes upon him to speak as God. 
 Then comes out their work : " They had brick for stone, 
 and slime for mortar." Brick is stone artificially made, — 
 man's imitation and substitute for God's creative work. 
 Babylon is built of brick ; so, too, Nineveh is built of 
 brick. The prophet who foretells her downfall notes this, 
 bidding her to " tread the clay, and make strong her 
 brick-kilns; yet shall the fire devour them all."^^ In 
 Egypt, too, brick-making is common. Egyptians like 
 nothing better than to see captive Israelites toil in making 
 brick.2^ Great Babel is built of brick, and for cement 
 they have slime, as it is written, " And slime had they for 
 mortar." This slime was that sulphureous compound, of 
 which the region of the Dead Sea, and the plain of Baby- 
 lon, are even now so full — a compound formed, as it is 
 supposed, from the corruption of animal and vegetable 
 substances. Well does it represent that dangerous ce- 
 ment — so ready to burst out into a blaze — that cement 
 of self-love and lust of power, by which mystic Babylon 
 is now held together. It is a " daubing of untempered 
 mortar." Jerusalem is not so built, nor of her does man 
 
 « Gen. i. 26. " Galium iii. U, 15. 2« Exod. v. 7, 8. 
 
PART III. Noah, or Regeneration, 153 
 
 say, " Let us make ;" but the Lord Himself says, " I will." 
 "Tlius saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay thy stones 
 with fair colours, and I will lay thy foundations with sap- 
 phires ; and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy 
 gates carbuncles, and all thy borders pleasant stones." ^^ 
 So another saith, " Ye also, as lively stones, are built 
 up a spiritual house :"^° and again, "Ye are God's 
 building."^^ 
 
 Babel is built by other hands, and with other aims. 
 Here man is working to ascend up to heaven. Self- 
 elevation is the aim ; self-energy the means : it is but 
 consistent that self-glory, " to make us a name," should 
 be the motive. And withal, (let not this be forgotten,) 
 the reason assigned seemed good ; — they wished for unity ; 
 their fear was, " lest they should be scattered ;" therefore 
 they built their high tower. We know too well how others 
 also have builded, with the self-same aim, professing and 
 perhaps really seeking catholic unity ; and the result has 
 only been greater scattering among those who were to be 
 united. But when man builds for self-glory, and with 
 imitations of the true instead of the true, the end may 
 surely be foretold. When will men learn that catholic 
 unity is not to be so attained ? On such ground we may 
 build, "lest we be scattered;" but the labour is in vain, 
 and will only produce more scattering. The present state 
 of Christendom, only more and more divided, the more 
 carnal union is sought, should at last teach us by sight, 
 even if we cannot walk by faith. The one remedy is 
 Pentecostal grace, — that Spirit which can yet change 
 carnal disciples into spiritual, and give them a message 
 which their carnal brethren, dwellers in Mesopotamia, iu 
 Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, Parthians, 
 
 " Isa. liv. 11. 12. '» 1 Pet. ii. 5. »' 1 Cor. iii. 9. 
 
1 54 Koah, or Regeneration. part m. 
 
 Medes, and Elamites, Cretes and Arabians, who understand 
 not each other, will yet all understand :^^ because it is 
 not in the letter which divides, but in the One Spirit of 
 Christ, which melts, and unites, and reconciles. Nothing 
 else will heal the confusion : no outward form, however 
 good, can ever accomplish it. Men at last will learn this 
 in self-despair: till they learn it, each fresh effort can 
 only produce confusion worse confounded. 
 
 It would exceed my limits to give examples of the 
 "• brick for stone," as it is to be seen this day in Great 
 Babylon ; but this I may say, the city is not only built up, 
 but filled also with images of all Grod's truths and ordi- 
 nances ; yea, real vessels of the sanctuary may be there ; 
 true gold carried away with captive Israelites. On her 
 outside is the likeness of a heavenly church, the likeness 
 of priesthood and ministry, the likeness of the ordinances, 
 duties, and ways of holiness. On her inside is the like- 
 ness of good knowledge, the likeness of repentance and 
 conversion, the likeness of faith, the likeness of zeal for 
 Grod, the likeness of love to Grod and His saints, the like- 
 ness of the Lamb's meekness and innocency, the likeness 
 of justification, the likeness of sanctification, the likeness 
 of mortification, the likeness of peace, joy, rest, and satis- 
 faction ; for as a fallen world is full of shadows of truth, 
 so is the fallen Church rich in forms, which to the opened 
 eye witness of a life which should be there ; but the sub- 
 stance, the truth, the virtue of all these is wanting to her, 
 and she herself is found persecuting that very thing, 
 where it is found in truth, the image of which she cries 
 up so boastfully. This is the woman that hath bewitched 
 the whole earth, even as Jannes and Jambres withstood 
 Moses, by imitating the works of Grod's elect. And of 
 
 " Actsii. 7-11. 
 
PAKT III. Noah, or Refjeneration. 155 
 
 what truth shall we not find the likeness in Great Babel ? 
 She has priesthood, and altars, and fine linen, and the 
 cross, and incense, and chrism, and rule, and discipline. 
 She has the form of every truth, to meet and seduce those 
 who as,k for the reality. Do we " look for a city which 
 ha til foundations ? " Then Babel will forestall it, and be 
 a city too. As the Father of Lights will have His city, so 
 has the prince of dai'kness his, to tempt souls to rest short 
 of the city of the mystery of life, in the city of the 
 mystery of deceit and imitation. 
 
 Such are the failures on resurrection ground. Eegene- 
 ration, so far from ending all man's wickedness, discovers 
 in man new forms of evil. So in the Revelation which 
 was manifested to the beloved John, he saw that red 
 horses, and earthquakes, and blood, and hail, and fire, 
 and beasts, and Great Babylon, were all part of the 
 "Eevelation of Jesus Christ," ^^ — a necessary result of 
 such a seed falling into such a soil. If He is to be re- 
 vealed in the earth, it must be thus. The revelation 
 cannot, and in love may not, at once be perfected. In 
 my soul, too, I know that red horses, and beasts, and 
 earthquakes, and Babel, with her filthiness, must come in 
 me after regeneration, and after Christ's first coming to 
 my soul in grace has quickened it, before heaven opens, 
 and He comes the second time to rule all the creati::re, and 
 to make all things new. Then, when He who has come 
 in grace comes again in great power, the Eevelation of 
 Jesus Christ shall be perfected ; but ere that is done, 
 much will intervene, and the very beasts are stages in the 
 way. The evil destroys and punishes itself throughout. 
 In its very nature it carries the seeds of its own 
 " Rev. i. 1, and vi. 4, 12 ; viii. 7 ; xiii. 1; xvii. 4, 5. 
 
156 Noah, or Regeneration, pabt m. 
 
 dissolution ; while grace, out of every fall, brings forth 
 fresh blessings, proving that, if sin abound through man's 
 weakness, grace shall yet much more abound. Thus it 
 was with the fall of Noah's sons. The confusion of 
 tongues issues in the call and life of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob ; in each of whom the development of man pro- 
 ceeds, with fresh discoveries of the riches of the God of 
 all grac3. 
 
PART lY. 
 
 ABRAHAM, OR THE SPIRIT OF FAITH. 
 
 (CHAPTEKS Xir. — XX.) 
 
 "Abraham believed God."— Rom. iv. 3. 
 
 " He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but vvaa strong in faith 
 giving glory to God."— Rom. iv. 20. 
 
ABRAHAM, OR THE SPIRIT OF FAITH. 
 
 (CHAPTEBS XII.-XX.) 
 
 T^E progress and development of the natural life in man 
 is, perhaps, the best figure of the progress of the spiri- 
 tual life. In both One Hand is seen. Adam, Abel, and 
 Noah, shew how in the spiritual, just as in the natural, 
 there is first a stage, when we are begotten and yet not 
 quickened; then a stage, when we are quickened and yet 
 not born, — when we draw that nourishment which contri- 
 butes to our growth through the medium of natural things, 
 as the child in the womb receives strength through the 
 mother ; and a third stage, when, after we are quickened, 
 we are born, out of that in which we were, into another 
 sphere of gTeater liberty. Adam answers to the first ; Abel, 
 to the second ; Noah, to the third of these. In Noah, man, 
 already quickened, is brought, through the travail pains 
 and groans of the first creation, into a sphere, where, like 
 a new-born child, he is delivered out of the first world, 
 into more perfect light and liberty. And this conscious 
 exchange of one world for another, — this coming out of 
 one sphere into another, is regeneration. 
 
 We are now to see how after we are thus born, in the 
 spiritual just as in the natural world, we walk first by faith. 
 
160 Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith, part it. 
 
 implicitly trusting another. This life of faith is perfectly 
 figured and set forth in Abraham. Then, as dear children, 
 in the intelligent enjoyments of sonship, all the joys and 
 experiences of which Isaac's life figures to us, we dwell 
 awhile in peace by wells of water, till, fit for service, we 
 go forth to toil like Jacob, and thence advance to suffering 
 and glory, as is set forth in Joseph. No wonder, there- 
 fore, that Abraham's life in every age has suggested 
 lessons of deepest import to thousands. It is the picture 
 of that stage when life is strong; when the heaven-born 
 child, in the energy of heavenly youth, is being exercised 
 in all that may increase strength and skill and blessedness ; 
 when the Father of spirits is leading His child to know 
 both himself and Him who has created and will not forsake 
 him.^ 
 
 In saying that Abraham is the life of faith, I do not 
 mean that there has been no faith before this stage. There 
 must have been faith at every stage, else there could have 
 been no blessedness. Without faith Adam could have 
 found no peace in the promise of the Seed : Abel offered 
 
 * The Gloss, in the Catena Aurea, ei ad justitiam.' Isaac significat 
 
 on the Genealogy of Christ in St. spem. quia interpretatiir risus ; fuit 
 
 Matthew, — while explaining Abra- enim gaudium parentum. Spes vero 
 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, as figuring similiter est gaudium nostrum, dum 
 
 certain successive forms of life in seterna bona sperare facit, et de eis 
 
 man, which end after many confu- gaudere. Abraham ergo genuit 
 
 Bions in Christ, the image of God, Isaac, quia fides generat spem. (Cf. 
 
 wrought in us, — interprets Abra- Eom. t. 3, 4, o.) Jacob autem sig- 
 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the lives nificat charitatem. Charitas enim 
 
 of faith, hope, and charity, respec- amplectitur duas vitas, activam per 
 
 tively. But this is only another way dilectionera proximi, contemplati- 
 
 of expressing what I have said; for vam per dilectionem Dei; activa per 
 
 the spirit of sonship is hope, and Liam, contemplativa perEachel, sig- 
 
 true service is practical love or cha- nificatur. Lia enim laborans inter- 
 
 rity. The passage is as follows : — pretatur, quia activa in labore est: 
 
 " Moraliter autem Abraham nobis Rachel, visum principhan, quia per 
 
 virtutem fidei per exempla Christi contemplativam priucipium, id est 
 
 significat, ciim de eo legatur, ' Abra- Deus, videtur." 
 ham credidit Deo, et reputatum est 
 
PAUT IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 161 
 
 by faith : Noah was saved by faith. But tliere may be, 
 and are, such acts of faith, before we reach the stage which 
 is a walk of faith distinctively. Just as Christ was begot- 
 ten of the Holy Grliost, and yet had the Spirit given at 
 His baptism, after which His life, already of the Holy 
 Ghost, took another form in the manifestation of that 
 same Spirit ; so in us faith works from the first, but we go 
 some way before we reach that stage in which the walk of 
 faith is manifested. But this walk it is of which Abraham 
 is the type, a form of life always following the full appre- 
 hension of regeneration.^ 
 
 This stage is introduced by the description of the pro- 
 gress of regenerate man, before that life of faith appears 
 which Abraham typifies. Therefore is the course of Shem's 
 line given here, as the introduction to the life of Abra- 
 ham,^ For these ten generations prefixed to Abraham's 
 life, shewing us all the steps from Shem to Terah, Abra- 
 ham's father, give us all the phases or forms of the 
 contemplative mind, after regeneration, till it produces 
 Abraham, that is, the life of faith. Here, in the genera- 
 tions from Shem downwards, we are shewn how the con* 
 templative mind, after regeneration, for a while degenerates. 
 If the successive names are beyond us, this at least is clear, 
 that Shem's line in Terah now worshipped idols.'* Then 
 
 2 Those who care to trace this after regeneration we get Trpev/xa iri- 
 
 further, will find some teaching in arcws, or Trvev/j-avlodecrlas, that is, t//c 
 
 the difference between (pp6v7}fxa irvev- spirit of faith, or the spirit of adop- 
 
 fiaTos, (Eom, viii. 6,) and irfevfia Hon. The marked distinction in 
 
 ificreus or Trveu^a vlodea-ias, (2 Cor. these expressions of St. Paul may 
 iv. 13, and Rom. xiu. 15,) as used - help some to see the reality of the 
 
 by St. Paul. The <pp6v7)ixa -rrvev- difference between the Abel and the 
 
 jwaTos is not exactly the same thing Abraham stage. And as this is true 
 
 as TTvevfxa iriffTecos. "We get the (pp6- within, so is it in the dispensations. 
 y-qfia irv^v^a-os, that is, the mind- ^ Chap. xi. 10-26. 
 
 ing of the spirit, at the Abel st<'ige, * Joshua xxiy. 2. Those who 
 
 before we pass the mystic flood ; but wish to look further into the import 
 
162 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, part iv. 
 
 out of this bursts forth again the brighter stage set forth 
 in the life and path of Abraham. 
 
 Here then, as in the previous steps, we see that this new 
 form of life grows out of the discovery of failure in the 
 former stage. Abel was not seen till Adam fell ; nor Noah 
 till the earth was full of violence. Each morning sprang 
 out of a night ; and so here, out of the decline of light in 
 Noah's seed, a fresh day breaks forth again with greater 
 light in Abraham. Just as in a tree, each new growth 
 follows a winter ; and the whole clothing of leaves, which 
 had been put ou in the former stage of growth, is put off 
 preparatory to another great advance, which bursts forth 
 out of the bonds of the winter, which has seemed to freeze 
 and make the tree almost as dead ; so is it in the soul of 
 man : his development is a law of progress, but of progress 
 through checks and conflicts ; through winters which strip 
 us, and leave us bare and apparently dead, without that 
 clothing which has been thrown around us ; yet not so 
 dead but that the rays of heavenly light can again clothe, 
 enlarge, and quicken us. Such is our life, progress through 
 conflicts and apparent defeats ; the harmonies of grace 
 l)eing as those of nature ; night and day, cold and heat, in 
 elemental strife, working out the appointed end through 
 the balance of opposing forces everywhere. So we travel 
 on : hindrances aiding our advance ; castings down lifting 
 us up ; death bringing forth life ; separation working a 
 higher and purer unity ; a wonder and a riddle even to 
 ourselves. 
 
 And this darkness, out of which that walk of faith springs 
 forth, of which Abraham is the appointed figure, is, I sup- 
 pose, common experience. The liberty we have, as dead and 
 
 of the ten names, from 8hem to subject in Parker's Bibliotheca Bi- 
 Abram, will find a good deal on the bliea, part 1. pp. 286-289. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 1G3 
 
 risen with Christ, may be and is perverted for a season ; 
 nor is the walk of faith reached till the soul has learnt 
 some of the perversions which follow regeneration. The 
 decline of Shem's seed shews this in type. Our souls, if 
 we have ever reached to true Christian liberty, may witness 
 the sad reality. As a Reformer said, " We prayed more 
 in the days of our darkness than now." Thus practical 
 antinomianism will more or less shew itself after regene- 
 ration. Then out of such a state comes the stage we are 
 to trace, a walk of obedient faith with Him who says, 
 " Get thee out of thy country to the land that I will shew 
 thee." All the steps of this walk are here described, from 
 Ur of the Chaldees, where Terah lingers, till we reach the 
 better land beyond Jordan. There trial on trial comes in 
 the way : there faith learns itself, and that its fruit is all 
 of God : there at length another form of life appears, 
 in which man is yet more advanced and perfected. It is 
 an oft-told tale, but, like man's life, no less wondrous 
 because it has been repeated on earth a hundred thousand 
 times. 
 
 But to trace each step in order. "We shall see that here, 
 as ever, there is first a separating process, then a perfect- 
 ing one. 
 
 § I. — Abram's Separation from his Country and his 
 Father's House. 
 
 (Chapter xii.) 
 
 " Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get thee out of thy 
 country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's 
 house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will 
 make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and 
 make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And 
 
 M 2 
 
164 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that 
 curseth thee ; and in thee shall all the families of the 
 earth be blessed." ^ 
 
 Thus begins the life of faith. As Noahs, that is, in 
 regeneration, we come from the Adam world to a new 
 world beyond the waters. As Abrams, that is, in the walk of 
 faith, we start from Mesopotamia, the ground between the 
 mystic Tigris and Euphrates, that is, tradition and reason- 
 ing.- This Avalk begins not of man, but of Grod. It is His 
 call, wholly of grace, which leads at once to separation. 
 For the called one was one of an apostate race, an 
 idolater,^ and the husband of a barren woman,'* in Ur of the 
 Chaldees, that is, not far from Great Babylon, the ground 
 of false and perverted worship and self-exaltation. Still he 
 was of Shem's line ; for the spirit of faith grows up, though 
 amid awful confusions, out of the contemplative mind. But 
 the fine gold of Shem ere this has changed : the contem- 
 plative mind has fallen grievously. What hopes could 
 one of such a fallen line have of being made very fruitful 
 and blessed in a better land? Could such a dry tree look 
 for fruit? Yet Grod speaks, and, as at creation, great 
 results follow. By this Word of Grod fresh life flows in and 
 shews itself, as the sun's heat penetrating a tree causes it to 
 come up out of the dark earth and spread heavenward. So 
 vs'orks the call of Grod, itself the spring and strength of all 
 the faith that follows it. Babels may grow from men's 
 words one to another, saying, " Go to, and let us make." 
 The walk of faith begins not from man : the Word is itfe 
 author and finisher. 
 
 As to the call, it was, and yet is, personal ; addressed, not 
 
 ' Chap. xii. 1-3. " Joshua xxiv. 2. 
 
 ^ Eespectiug these rivers, see on * Chap. xi. 30. 
 
 chap. ii. pp. 50, 51. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 165 
 
 to the outward man, but to Abram, the fallen inner man. 
 To this God says, " Get thee out, and I will bless thee,'' 
 The prophets mark tliis : speaking of this act, the Lord 
 says, " I called him alone, and blessed him'^^ For the call 
 of God, to be of any use, must be personally felt and 
 realized by the inner man. The flesh may hear of it ; yea, 
 as with those who went with Paul, it may be struck to the 
 ground by the glory of the revelation : the senses may wit- 
 ness some of the outward circumstances accompanying the 
 call : but as Paul says, " They heard not the voice of Him 
 tliat spake to me."^ For the outward man knows not the 
 call of God, and will prove that it knows it not, by 
 abiding to the last far off from Canaan, on the ground of 
 sense rather than on that of promise ; while the spirit of 
 faith goes forth, it knows not wliere, to stand in the strength 
 of the Lord on the high and heaven-watered hills of 
 promise, which flow with milk and honey. 
 
 This call of God contains both grace and truth ; grace in 
 the promise, the New Covenant " / lulll,''' which said, " / 
 ^uill shew thee a land, I will make thee fruitful, / ivlll 
 bless thee ; " truth in the separating word, " Get thee out,''' 
 obedience to which was the proof that Abram believed the 
 " / will.'' This promise was the gospel. So St. Paul, 
 alluding to it, says, that in it " the gospel was preached to 
 Abram." ^ The gospel is — I must repeat it- — a promise of 
 God, a report concerning future glory and an inheritance ; 
 w^hich men may believe or disbelieve, but which is true, 
 because it is God's word, and to meet which faith alone is 
 needed. Men are slow to apprehend this. Feelings, or 
 works, or something in us, is looked for as the ground of 
 future blessing and salvation. But the Spirit and the Word 
 
 « Isa. li. 2. « Acts xxii. 9. ' Oa]. iii. 8. 
 
166 Abraham, or the SpiHt of Faith. part it. 
 
 >vith one voice testify that it is the Lord Himself who saves ; 
 and that to receive the salvation, faith, that is, taking God 
 at His word, is the simple and blessed means. God is the 
 Saviom* ; and faith takes God to be God, resting on Him 
 in every fresh discovery of need and barrenness, and finding 
 Him to be all He has promised, in His own unfailing 
 " I will." 
 
 But there is more than promise in the call. Promise is 
 its strength ; but linked with this there is the separating 
 word, " Get thee out," calling for prompt obedience. 
 Grace saves. It is the promise which sets the heart at 
 rest ; which brings us from idolatry and distance to happy 
 confidence. But the faith, which rests on God's " I will," 
 hears God's purpose also to separate His saved ones unto 
 Himself. There is to be, not only peace, but separation. 
 So the word of truth comes, commanding sanctification. 
 Man has often divided between grace and truth, preaching 
 God's ''I will" without the accompanying " Get thee out;" 
 or attempting to separate men to God with a " Get thee 
 out" without a full apprehension of God's " / will" The 
 result has proved that this is not God's call. Where He 
 calls, both grace and truth are ever found. So with the 
 Apostles. Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, (Galilee of 
 the Gentiles, the people that sat in gross darkness,) saw two 
 brethren, Simon and Andrew, casting a net into the sea ; 
 and He called them and said, " Follow me : " — here is 
 separation :— " and I will make you fishers of men : " — here 
 is the never-failing " I will." ^ So again, " Come unto me, 
 all ye that labour : " — here is separation, for He was 
 " separate : " ^ then follows the promise, " I will give you 
 rest." ^^ So again, in the well-known words, '' I will dwell 
 in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and 
 
 8 Matt. iv. 19. 3 Heb. vii. 26. " Matt. xi. 28. 
 
PART IT. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 167 
 
 they shall be my people : wherefore come out and be 
 separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, 
 and I will receive you." ^' 
 
 And these two points are yet in the Lord's call, nor can 
 the spirit of faith afford to part mth either. At times, in- 
 deed, for " the flesh is weak," even faith may shrink from 
 all that the separating word claims from it. We are slow 
 to believe that apostate things are to be forsaken, not im- 
 proved. We would fain mend them, rather than leave 
 them. How many, both in the world within and without, 
 are attempting to put the evil to rights, when Grod's word 
 respecting both is only, " Gret thee out." But the Lord is 
 faithful ; and where He has appeared, the way of separa- 
 tion or sanctification will be trodden : and, indeed, " the 
 spirit is willing," if the flesh is weak. 
 
 But this leads us to the way in which the call was obeyed. 
 The word was, — " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy 
 kindred, and from thy father's house." Abram gat him 
 out from his country, and even from his kindred, but not 
 from his father's house. He attempts to take his father, 
 and his father's house, with him.^^ jj^ obeys, but not 
 wholly. So is it yet. The spirit of faith in us, when 
 called to go forth from the outward things of Ur of the 
 Chaldeans, — the ground of reasoning, where Babel is built 
 up, — is called of God to leave, not only the more outward 
 things, such as " thy country," but the more inward also, 
 the " kindred and father's house." Some are more outward, 
 as natural pleasures and affections ; and some more inward, 
 as " the old man," and " father's house." Of these the 
 outward things are sooner left than the inward ; for nature 
 yet is strong, and the old life is still very near and dear to 
 
 » 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18 »= Chap. xi. 31. 
 
168 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part it. 
 
 lis. So, like Abram of old, the spirit of faith in us endea- 
 vours to take with it into the land of promise the old man 
 (^f our corrupt mind which has never truly known the call 
 of God. But this old man, though ready to start for 
 Canaan, never reaches it. It cares not to go so far. Nay, 
 while it lives, even the elect, if he abides with it, cannot 
 reach his destination. Joiu*neying thus, Abram gets half- 
 way to Canaan : so we read, — " They went forth to go into 
 the land of Canaan, and they came to Charran and dwelt 
 there." And there they stopped until this old man died. 
 Then Abram starts again : and now nothing stops him ; 
 for now, " they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, 
 and into the land of Canaan they came."^^ Stephen, 
 alluding to Abram's call, specially marks this : — " The Grod 
 of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in 
 Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said. Get 
 thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come 
 into the land which I will shew thee. Then came he out 
 of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran ; and 
 froTifi thence, when his father ivas dead, he removed him 
 into this land, wherein ye now dwell." ^'^ 
 
 " So Abram departed." So starts the spirit of faith. 
 Great is the struggle to leave " country and kindred and 
 
 " Comparechap. xii. 5, aiidxi. 31. tud,' id est de corpore tuo. Exivit 
 
 '* Acts vii. 2-4. Ambrose thus de hac terra ills, cujus conversatio 
 
 gives the inward sense:— " Hoc enim in coelis est. ' Et de cognatione^ 
 
 Legislator provide egit, ut quemad- inquit, ' tud' Cognati sunt animse 
 
 modum lapsum mentis domonstravit, nostrse corporis sensus. . . . '■ Et de 
 
 (Adam enini mcntem diximus, Evani domo tud ; ' domus enim mentis pro- 
 
 sensum esse sienificavimus,) ut illas lativura est verbum. . . . Ergo qui 
 
 erroriscaveremus semitas ; itaetiam vult perfectam purgationem conso- 
 
 processum mentis et quemdam supe- qui disjungat se ab his tx'ibus, a cor- 
 
 riorem reditum significaret. . . . Ifjcc pore, a sensibus corporalibus, a voce ; 
 
 ergo mens erat in Cliarra, id est, in in quibus sunt omnes circumscrip- 
 
 cavernis, obnoxia variis passionibus. tiones sensuum, quibus deeipimur," 
 
 Ideoque dicitur ei, ' Exi de terra &c. — Ambros. de AbrA.u. c. I. 
 
PART IV. Abraham., or the Spirit of Faith. 169 
 
 father's house." To go forth " not knowing whither we 
 go " is trial enough. To go forth from " father's house" 
 at once seems impossible. Thus the old man of our 
 fallen spiritual life, though it cannot really lielp us to 
 Canaan, is still clung to. Indeed, at first it seems to help 
 us. It is written, not Abram took Terah, but " Terah took 
 Abram ; " ^^ for often some energy, which is really corrupt, 
 is active, apparently in a good direction, when the elect is 
 called. But Terah never passes Jordan ; he can but reacli 
 Charran. Having got thus far, he has been pilgrim long 
 enough ; and so " he dwells there." ^^ 
 
 We are slow to learn this lesson, but it must be learnt. 
 Even faitli cannot take the old man into the place of pro- 
 mise. Jordan is not really passed. Often has it been 
 tried ; but the old life cannot be brought into heavenly 
 places beyond that " stream of judgment," with its deep 
 waterfloods.^^ Thus we are in a strait. A new bond draws 
 us heavenward, but the old one as yet has claims on us. 
 So we start with both : we get " out of our country," and 
 the old man for many stages bears us company ; but at 
 length he wearies of this path ; Canaan is too far off : 
 and so with him for a season faith too settles down. But 
 in due time we are freed. The time must come at last. 
 
 ^^ Chap. xi. 31. Israel, if they would enter Canaan, 
 
 '^ This place is mentioned as La- is the well-known figure of that 
 
 ban's home, Gen. xxvii. 43 ; as a death by which we enter heavenly 
 
 place easily conquered by the king things. If, however, with Augustine, 
 
 of Assyria, 2 Kings xix. 12; and, (Enar. in Psalm. xU. \E.V. 42,] 6,) 
 
 lastly, as havnng an extensive trade and Gregory the Great, {Moral, in 
 
 with Tyre, Ezek. xx^^i. 23. All this Job. 1. xxxiii. c, 6, § 13,) we derive 
 
 is significant. the word from TT*, to come down, 
 
 '' Jordan, (Heb. pT*) meaning and regard Jordan as the figure of 
 
 '■^ the stream of nidgrnent'' — if with that self-abasement, wliich is a death 
 
 Jerome we derive it from n, {Hicron. to self, through which every one 
 
 Comment, in Ezccli. yl\-\\. 18,) the must pass who would enter into rest, 
 
 stream which must be passed by the lesson is, iu substance, the same. 
 
170 Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. paut iv, 
 
 when we discover this much loved old man to be dead, 
 and that he must be buried out of sight. Hitherto, spite 
 of the call, we have acted as though the old man might be 
 saved, or improved, or taken with us. But now the mean- 
 ing of our baptism dawns upon us ; the call is recollected, 
 and we become once more pilgrims. This is no fable. 
 Once, with the old man leading us, we went forth to go 
 into the land of Canaan ; but we only got to Charran, and 
 dwelt there. But the old man was buried : then again Ave 
 started to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land 
 of Canaan we came. 
 
 But though Terah cannot enter Canaan, Lot, another 
 form of life, closely allied to the old man of our former 
 conversation, and from which Abram, or the spirit of faith, 
 has at length to be separated, goes on some stages further 
 with him.^® Our blindness makes it hard to speak of this. 
 Few perceive that the inward man, or mind, like the body, 
 is not one member, but many, consisting of many faculties, 
 both of the understanding and affections, the former of 
 which are figured by men, the latter by women, throughout 
 Scripture. But thus it is ; and Lot is one of these. As 
 the son of Abram's elder brother, he is the continuation 
 and fruit of what is first and natural, the same old life, 
 only in another form ; submitting awhile to be under the 
 direction of true faith, to shew at last its true character. 
 Lot is the natural upright mind in us, not spiritual, yet 
 respecting truth, and, to a considerable degree, following it ; 
 scarcely to be distinguished at first from the spirit of faith 
 in us, but with undeveloped tendencies such as the spirit 
 of faith never manifests ; just,^^ yet loving what the spirit 
 of faith loves not, and at length resting, or seeking to rest, 
 
 '8 Chap. xii. 4. »» 2 Pet. ii. 7. 
 
PART IV. Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. 171 
 
 where the spirit of faith cannot rest ; till it bears sad fruits, 
 which faith could not produce, and whicli at a further stage 
 are, like Moab and Ammon,^^ in direct opposition to God's 
 elect Israel. Such a mind still dwells with us, though our 
 old man, like Terah, is confessed to be both dead and 
 buried.^^ But this will not be clear to all ; for souls, as 
 bodies, live in happy unconsciousness of what is working 
 in them. And indeed though the workings of nature and 
 grace are a sight for some, they work on as well, perhaps 
 even better, unperceived by us. 
 
 Having thus passed Jordan, let us mark the trials into 
 which the spirit of faith at once is introduced. Many for 
 lack of knowing this are stumbled, even when through 
 grace they are in the right way, finding it so unlike that 
 which flesh and blood would have chosen. We read here of 
 pilgrimage and difficulty and want, yet of communion with 
 Grod and happy worship. And these are still some of the 
 chief marks of the position into which true faith brings 
 the believer. 
 
 Pilgrimage is noticed first. "Abram passed through 
 the land, to the place of Sichem, and to Moreh ; and he 
 removed from thence into a mountain, and pitched his 
 tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east ; 
 and Abram journeyed, going and journeying still toward 
 the south." -^ Nahor abides without change where his 
 fathers dwelt before him, and builds a city, which he calls 
 after his own name.^' Abram dwells in tents to the end, 
 possessing nothing abiding here, save a burial-place. 
 
 2" Moab and Ammon are thechil- Ambrose also, I)e Ahr. 1. ii. e. 2, and 
 
 dren of Lot, chap. xix. 37, 38. 6. Tn this viewwe should not forget 
 
 2' Origen alludes to this inward that Lot's name signifies a covering. 
 
 Lot, in his comment on John A'iii. He is not the true inner man. 
 39 : — Oifiai Se ort eV toTs apxah koX ^^ Chap. xii. 6-9. 
 
 sTTLiroaov 6 Awt (ipeTai Vfxiv, k.t.A. ^^ Chap. xxiv. 10. 
 
172 AbvaJtmn, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 And the spirit in us which obeys Grod's call will even 
 yet dwell in tents and be a pilgrim. The old man may 
 rest in outward things and be settled, but the spirit of 
 faith has here no certain dwelling-place. Its tent is often 
 searched by rains and winds ; yet by these very trials it 
 grows strong and is kept from many snares. For the 
 called one cannot be as Moab, " settled on his lees." 
 " Moab hath been at ease even from his youth ; he hath 
 settled on his lees ; he hath not been emptied from vessel 
 to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity ; therefore 
 his taste remaineth in him, his scent is not changed." ^^^ 
 Abram, and David, and Israel, have all been emptied from 
 vessel to vessel. Pilgrimage is their appointed lot, be- 
 cause true life is always progressing, moving. In the course 
 of this discipline, trials befall them which others never meet 
 with ; failures, too, are seen, such as we never see in the 
 prudent, worldly man. When did Nahor go down to 
 Egypt, or deny his wife ? When did Saul, like David, go 
 do\vn to Achish, and play the madman? But in this same 
 course Grod is seen, and man is learnt. Man, indeed, is 
 abased, but Grod is glorified. The pilgrim " learns what is 
 in his heart." He cannot easily forget what his pilgrimage 
 has taught him of his own weaknesses. Once he might, 
 like Eve, have believed the word, " Ye shall be as gods." 
 Pilgrimage has proved that even faith is not a god, but 
 only a vessel to receive Grod. Thus by trial does faith 
 learn Grod ; and the true discovery of Him more than com- 
 pensates for all the self-despair, which has been the means 
 of making us acquainted with Him. 
 
 Thus Abram passed from place to place ; from Ur to 
 Haran, then to Sichem and Moreh, thence to Bethel and 
 
 " Jer. xlviii. 11, 
 
Abraham, or the Sjoirit of Faith. 173 
 
 Hai, and so on.^^ He was what some now call changeable. 
 And further, he went " he knew not whither." This is yet 
 the common charge against the walk of faith. How often 
 have I heard it urged against those, who, in faith and 
 obedience to the call of God, have made no small sacrifices, 
 that they are changeful, here to-day, and there to-morrow ; 
 that it is difficult from year to year to know where we may 
 find them. Others, if they are snugly housed in some " city 
 of the nations," some great or small system or polity of 
 man's making, may be reckoned on with some certainty. 
 'We can tell where to find them even to the end. They can 
 boast, too, of their consistency. Where they were at first, 
 there they are still. They have never altered a single view, 
 because the}- have never taken a single step forward. But 
 tins faith, which talks of God's having called it, is un- 
 manageable. Men in whom such a spirit rules, however 
 comfortably they are settled to-day, may be off, we know 
 not where, to-morrow. And what do they get by it ? 
 Plainly nothing. One thing only is plain : a man who 
 talks of the call of God is not the man to be trusted with 
 the care of this world's cities. He is a madman. So the 
 world has judged long since : so it judges yet : nor 
 indeed is it wholly in the wrong. A madman is one who 
 
 -^ On the mystic import of each usque pervenerit." — De Abr.\. i.e. 2. 
 
 of these places, the early Fathers As to the " mountain on the oast of 
 
 have written much. Ambrose says, Bethel," he adds, — " Eecessit iude 
 
 " Egressus perambulavit terram us- in montem contra orieutem Bethel ; 
 
 que ad Sichem, quod interpretatione incrementum dcvotionis montis sig- 
 
 Latina dicitur humerus vel cervix, nificat eminentia," &c. — Ibid. 1. ii. 
 
 per quae executionem praescripti c. 3. We may compare with this 
 
 operis intelligimus. . . . Unde per Augustine's spiritual interpretation 
 
 figuram locorum id expressum ad- of Sichem, on the words. '• I will di- 
 
 vertimus, quod devotiunem suam vide Sichem." — Enur. in Psalm, lix. 
 
 sanctus Abram, non solum studio, {E.V. 60,) § 8. St. Paul's expla- 
 
 sed etiam efficacia probaverit fruc- nation of Salem is well known, Heb. 
 
 tuosa, qua 'ad quercum,' (/.e. Moreh.) vii. 2. 
 
174 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. paut iv. 
 
 sees, or thinks he sees, what others see not ; and seeing 
 such things, he walks accordingly. The called of God has 
 seen what others see not, and he walks accordingly ; and 
 those who see not what he has seen must think him mad ; 
 and his failures and inconsistencies, the fruits of his imbelief 
 in the path of faith, only make him more unintelligible. 
 Nevertheless the Lord knoweth them that are His. And, 
 much as there is for self-humiliation in the ^Dath of such, 
 there are eyes which can see how these very changes, and 
 even failures, only shew more clearly that the path trodden 
 is one, not of sight or nature, but of faith. All this will 
 probably appear very absm'd to those who think that a walk 
 of faith begins or is carried on from some calculations of its 
 effects on others, or of the credit it may bring. That 
 inward man, which hears God's call and walks with Him, is 
 led often it knows not whither. Scarce understanding 
 itself, often misunderstanding its appointed way, no wonder 
 if others misunderstand it. But the Lord knoweth the 
 path of His elect ; and when He hath tried them, they shall 
 come forth as gold. 
 
 But the spirit of faith is not a pilgrim only : Abram 
 has an " altar " as well as a tent ; in worship receiving 
 fresh revelations. " The Lord appeared to Abram, and 
 said, Unto thy seed will I give this laud : and there he 
 builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name 
 of the Lord."2s In Ur of the Chaldees God had said, — 
 " A land which I will sheiv thee :" now He says, — " A land 
 which I will give thee." And let it be observed, that here 
 " the Lord appeared." Before this He had " called," and 
 " spoken " to Adam, and Cain, and Noah, and Abram ; but 
 we never hear of His " appearing " until now ; for it is to 
 
 26 Chap. xii. 7, 8. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 175 
 
 the spirit of faith, above all others, tliat tlie Lord shews 
 Himself; for faith brings man into trial, and trial needs 
 special revelations, and these are not withheld. Angels' 
 visits are only few and far between, because we so seldom 
 are in the place really to require them. 
 
 The special trials of this stage are, first, " the Cana- 
 anite," and then " a grievous famine," in the land." 
 Canaan, the son of Ham, as we have seen, figures that 
 mere outward religiousness which grows even out of the 
 regenerate man.^^ This is felt by the spirit of faith, when 
 it attempts to enter into heavenly things. The famine 
 shews how the ground on which true faith must stand is 
 indeed a " land of promise," not of present rest. The 
 Canaanite holds it, and famine strips it, till the spirit of 
 faith knows scarcely where to turn itself. And this is the 
 walk with Grod, with the sense of sin and want sorely 
 pressing us. We may once have hoped through obedience 
 to be wholly freed from such. We may yet think it strange 
 that such fiery trial should be needed, or that the rest so 
 surely promised should yet be kept from us by others, and 
 they the Lord's enemies. Yet such is the path ; for the 
 question is, — Can we be satisfied with Grod? And many 
 a weary step is trodden before we have made this attain- 
 ment. 
 
 In Abram's case the trial led to failure for a while. The 
 Canaanite and the famine drove him down to Egypt. The 
 faith which gets on to the ground of promise at firyt has 
 not strength to be steadfast there. Indeed, it requires more 
 grace to stand on the ground to which faith brings us, than 
 to get upon it. Peter had faith to step out on the waters, 
 but he had not faith to walk far when there : he had faith 
 
 " Chap. xii. 6, 10. ** See above, on chap. ix. and x. 
 
176 Abraham, or tJie Sjylrit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 to follow Jesus into the high priest's palace, but he lacked 
 faith wliile there to witness faithfully. Every act of faith 
 brings us into greater trials, where greater faith will be 
 needed. Thus it is that many who walk by faith have 
 failures, which those know not who do not attempt so much. 
 So it was with Abram. Two stages are marked in his 
 failure: first, trial leads him down to Egypt, and then 
 Egypt leads him to deny his wife. The first step led to the 
 second ; for one wrong step, like one lie, if it be not im- 
 mediately retraced, requires another. The first error was 
 walking by circumstances. Then a step is taken to avoid 
 trial, without asking the Lord's counsel. Then the Lord, 
 and His counsel and care, being for the time forgotten. 
 His promise respecting the seed is forgotten also ; and the 
 result is, Sarah is soon in Pharaoh's house ; while failing 
 Abram is well entreated for her sake : — " He had sheep, 
 and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid- 
 servants, and she-asses, and camels." ^^ 
 
 Egypt, meaning straitness, or that straitens,^^ is the 
 ground of sense ; outwardly, those who are living the life 
 of sense, that is, in seen things ; as Asshur or Assyria is 
 the type of reasoning; outwardly, of those whose life 
 being one of reasoning, by such reasonings pervert and 
 
 2° Chap. xii. 15, 16. natur ad earnalesroliiptates, quibus 
 
 2" Heb. D>~|^*D- This type is very infirraa subjicitur, fortior non tene- 
 
 geuerally understood. Ambrose, on tui'," &c. — Be Abr. 1. ii. c. 4, § 13. 
 
 this chapter, says, — " Caro nostra Augustine says, — "^gyptus autem, 
 
 jEgyptus nostra est: in hanc de- quoniam interpretatur affligois vel 
 
 scendit mens nostra, quando cogitat a viprimens, s^epe in imagine ponitur 
 
 quae carnalia sunt. Tunc autem ad- hujus sseculi, a quo spiritaliter rece- 
 
 scendit, qiiando invisibilia desiderat. dendum est, ne sinius jugum dueen- 
 
 Ideo et Abi'am dicitur descendisse tes cum infidelibus." &c. — Enar.in 
 
 in ^gj'ptum. . . . Patitur hoc mens Psalm, cxiii. {E. V. 114,) % 3. So 
 
 nostra interdum . . . propter colli- too Gregory the Great, Moral, in 
 
 gationem animse et corporis incli- Job. \. xxvi. c. 13, § 21. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, 177 
 
 darken truth.'* These both are snares on the right and 
 left for Israel ; though both at length to be used and 
 blessed, as the Lord distinctly promises.^^ For when " the 
 Egyptian serves with the Assyrian " both are " blessed." 
 But here Abram, the spirit of faith, tried by the difficulties 
 on the ground of promise, goes down to seek rest in Egypt, 
 that is, the ground of sense ; rightly called straitness, for 
 it is indeed a narrow land, not watered as Canaan with tlie 
 rain of heaven,^' but by its river, which one day threatens 
 to destroy the sons of Israel. Yet not to Egyptians only 
 is Egypt an enchanting land ; it has charms which are 
 felt even by God's elect, treasures gathered up through 
 years of proud empire, and a wisdom which leaves no room 
 for faith. Here comes the elect, thinking to find some 
 refuge ; and here Sarah is at once denied with an equivo- 
 cation. Women, in this inward view, are certain affections. 
 Sarah is the affection or principle of spiritual truth.''' In 
 Egypt Sarah is denied : those affections which the spirit 
 of faith ought to defend and cherish most carefully, (for 
 from them must spring the promised fruit,) are brought 
 into danger of defilement from earthly things. For 
 Pharaoh at once desires to have Sarah, and is only kept 
 from violating her by the Lord's immediate judgments. 
 So does sense now seek to enter into the things of faith, 
 and, could it do so, it would at once violate them. But 
 the Lord saves them : Sarah is not defiled ; and Abram, 
 being reproved, turns again, and so departs from Egypt. 
 
 But this will be clearer to some as seen without. In 
 this view Abram is the type of those in whom faith is the 
 
 3' Asshur, "ll^X, means steps. " Deut. xi. 10; Zech. xiv. 18. 
 
 Reasoning is a series of sleps, ^* See below on chap. xvi. p. 210. 
 
 »2 Isa. xix. 23-25. 
 
178 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 ruling life, that is, the men of true faith. Such are found 
 by Grod, when menabers of a fallen Church, serving* idols, 
 and barren, and nigh to Grreat Babylon. There the Lord's 
 voice is heard, and they who hear it start at once, leaving 
 kindred and country, to go they know not whither. These 
 are the works of Abraham, which must be done, if indeed 
 and in truth we would be Abraham's children : for the 
 Truth has said, " If ye were Abraham's seed, ye would do 
 the works of Abraham ;"^^ and his first work was to go 
 forth with Grod, not knowing whither he went. So walk 
 the men of faith, whose faith is believing in God, not in 
 what others believe about God. Nevertheless, for awhile 
 they seek to take some with them, who, never having per- 
 sonally heard the inward call of God, though ready to begin 
 the course, will never be willing or able to cross over 
 Jordan. With such even believers can only go half-way. 
 But in due time the Terahs are found to be dead ; when, 
 leaving them, not without tears, the elect gird up their 
 loins and go on over Jordan. Then come the first trials 
 of the promised land, Canaanites and famine, which drive 
 us down to Egypt. There, while seeking a little rest, Sarah 
 is denied, that is, the spiritual principles of the New Cove- 
 nant. Believers hope, by denying their true relation to 
 this, to gain greater safety and liberty. Who knows not 
 how common this is ? Sarah, the principle of grace, is 
 denied, that failing Abrams may have, as they say, greater 
 liberty, a wider field of usefulness. Take an example. Cir- 
 cumstances of trial have brought believers off their true 
 ground of promise into worldly things. Such love Sarah. 
 Nothing is dearer to them than the covenant of grace. Yet 
 
 " John viii. 39. Origen's com- very striking thoughts. See Co)n. 
 ment on this verse contains many in Johan, torn. xxi. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 179 
 
 Sarah is again and again denied. And as of old, so now, 
 the thing is done with an equivocation : — " Say thou art 
 my sister." Words are used to Egyptians, which, though 
 true in a sense, are not true in the sense in which Egypt- 
 ians take them. So now, men called of God, who believe 
 we are saved by grace, and that neither ordinances nor 
 flesh can make a Christian, will so far practically give up 
 Sarah as to lead the world to think that, as the world, 
 the New Covenant can yet be theirs. This may be done in 
 many ways. JMeanwhile the men who know tlie truth and 
 love it, and yet act thus, have an equivocation which they 
 think clears them. They do not mean by certain w^ords 
 what others naturally gather from them. And though 
 they see they are misunderstood, they still persist. Ac- 
 cording to these men, the equivocation, '^ Say thou art my 
 sister," is all right. It is no harm running the risk of 
 mixing or defiling the holy seed. According to these men, 
 Sarah may be a mother of Egyptians ; and no thanks to 
 such if God's grace prevents it. The consequence is, even 
 an Egyptian can rebuke Abram. So far from a greater 
 sphere of usefulness, the equivocation deprives the elect of 
 all power over the other's conscience. But Sarah cannot 
 be a mother of Egyptians. The Lord appears to vindicate 
 Himself and free His failing servant. " The Lord plagued 
 Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because of Sarai, 
 Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said. What 
 is this that thou hast done unto me ? Why didst thou not 
 tell me that she was thy wife ? Why saidst thou. She is 
 my sister ? So I might have taken her to me for wife. 
 Now therefore behold thy wife : take her and go thy way. 
 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and 
 they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had."**^ 
 
 "6 Chap. xii. 17-20. 
 N 2 
 
180 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. paet iv. 
 
 Thus was Abram delivered : thus even now are individuals 
 freed : thus shall the poor captive Church escape at last. 
 The world will not have us among them, because our prin- 
 ciples judge them : and Grod will not have us there. In 
 this one thing G-od and the world agree. Both, at last, say 
 to us, " Behold thy wife : take her and go thy way." ^"^ 
 
 Such was and is the path of faith. To not a few now 
 living, these first stages are well known, and familiar as 
 household words. I knew a man in Christ, above fourteen 
 years ago, — no question is it, whether he was in the body, 
 — who being called by grace, when he was serving other 
 gods, obeyed in part, seeking to take the uncalled with 
 him into the promised land. And I knew such a man, 
 that, though he went forth to go into the land, yet he only 
 got half way, and dwelt there ; the old man, whom he took 
 with him, hindering his advance, until, as days passed on, 
 he found the old man dead ; when, having buried him, he 
 became what the men of that country called '' unsettled," 
 seeking to go further. So he went forth again to go into 
 the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan now he 
 came. Heavenly things and places, once heard of, were 
 seen ; but withal, there was trial, and ere long famine. 
 Then Egypt was turned to, and Sarah was denied, till 
 grace restored the wandering pilgrim. And that grace is 
 yet as near as of old. None can look for it far off or near, 
 and look in vain. Is a ruined world around us, with 
 monstrous births, gigantic evils, the fruit of strange unions 
 between the sons of God and men ? — then an ark is pre- 
 
 ^' Augustine, {Contr. Faust. Man. body, which, in its way to the land 
 
 1. xxii. c. 38.) traces at considerable of rest, gets into the world's house 
 
 length the dispensational fulfilment for awhile, but is not suffered to be 
 
 of this history. In this xie-w Sarah deliicd there. 
 is the Chiirch, or New Covenant 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 181 
 
 pared, to admit not only the Noahs, but even for unclean 
 
 and creeping things, if they will enter it ; which shall take 
 
 them from the world of the curse, and of the thorn, to the 
 
 world of the covenant and the rainbow, beyond the waters. 
 
 Is the ruin deeper still, a ruined Church, which, brought 
 
 through the waters, has misused its blessings and exposed 
 
 its shame ; which has bred fierce hunters, or built great 
 
 Babels ? — Grod yet remains ; and His grace, if sought, is 
 
 yet enough for every failure, in the world, in the Church, 
 
 in our flesh, or in our ways. He cannot fail. He grudges 
 
 nothing. He has freely given His Only Son. In Hici 
 
 are hid for us eternal countless gifts. In Him, the true 
 
 Restorer of all things, we are accepted ; and He waits that 
 
 those things, which are hid in Him for us, may by Him be 
 
 wrought in us through His Spirit. And if, to know His 
 
 fulness, we need to know our emptiness, — if our ruin is 
 
 the complement of His sufficient grace, — most gladly let 
 
 us glory in our infirmities, that the power of Christ may 
 
 rest upon us. 
 
 But it is time to pass on to another stage in this path. 
 
 § II. — Abram's Separation from Lot. 
 
 (Chapter xiii.) 
 
 We saw in creation a separating process, before a per- 
 fecting one : we shall see it again and again in man's 
 development. Abram separated from Ur, and from Terah, 
 and from Egypt, has further to be separated from Lot 
 also, before he can be perfected ; for it is only " after 
 that Lot was separated from him, that the Lord said unto 
 him. Lift up now thine eyes, for all the land which thou 
 seest, to thee will I give it." The particulars of this 
 
182 Abraham, or the SplHt of Faith. part iv. 
 
 separation are fully given ; and painful as it is, bappy are 
 they in whom it is accomplished. 
 
 Abram and Lot, as we have seen, within, represent 
 the spiritual and the upright natural mind respectively, 
 which seem at first so closely united, that for awhile we 
 are scarcely conscious of any distinction or difference be- 
 tween them ; so unitedly do they move and act together, 
 like the shell and kernel of a nut, which in its unripe state 
 are scarcely to be distinguished, still less to be separated, 
 but which, in proportion as they ripen, acquire and mani- 
 fest a distinct separateness. So Lot, our upright natural 
 mind, for a season, takes step for step with the spirit of 
 faith in our advance to good things ; but as we proceed 
 we see they are not one, for nature at its best desires and 
 longs for that which faith has given up. From the first 
 God sees they are distinct ; for Abram " walks with God," 
 but Lot, (again and again is it noticed,) "walks with 
 Abram." ^ Nevertheless, long after faith perceives the old 
 man to be dead, it yet strives, if possible, to bring the 
 natural mind into unity with itself; toiling that the out- 
 ward should be as the inward, the natural as the spiritual, 
 for it feels the bond of kindred to this outward man, 
 saying as Abram to Lot, "We are brethren.""^ It seeks, 
 therefore, first by grace to take it heavenward ; yet the 
 giving of it up may be the real way to greater perfection 
 
 ' See chap, xii, 4, xiii, 1, 5, &c. autera rationabile, virtutum habet 
 
 - Chap. xiii. 8. Ambrose, after copulam. Unde fraterna quadam 
 
 giving the outward application of sibi copulantiir necessitudine vitia 
 
 these words, "Homines nos fratres A'irtutesque hominis ; quia iUa car- 
 
 sumus, . . . omnes enim homines nalis, istse rationabilis animse sunt," 
 
 unius naturse partus sunt," adds, &c. — Be Abr. I. ii. c. 6, ^28. Origen 
 
 " Multo autem verius ad unam re- {Horn, yi. m Ge7i.) gives in substance 
 
 fertur animam, cujus rationabile, (/. e. the same interpretation, part of which 
 
 Abram,) cognatos habet, ut supra is quoted below, on chap. xix. 
 diximus, sensus irrationabiles : quod 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 183 
 
 in the inner man : for the outward man being thus allowetl 
 to go his way, the spirit of faith may be freer and have 
 less distraction. So Paul, while praising a single life, and 
 the higher privilege of an entire victory over natural affec- 
 tions and the natural man, writes to the Corinthians, that, 
 if they cannot at once restrain those affections, which though 
 lawful are merely natural, they may yield to them.^ What 
 is this but letting Lot, the outward man, have his way, for 
 the greater peace and freedom of the inner man. So the 
 spirit of faith in us, finding this outer man to be, like Lot, 
 though "righteous," yet earthy, gives it its way; and thus 
 gradually learns both to be and to feel itself more distinct 
 and really separated from it ; though for stages after this, 
 faith yet sighs over it, and makes more than one effort to 
 save it from the judgments which it brings upon itself/ 
 
 Such is the general import of this scene, as wrought 
 within ; but the particulars are, for such as can read them 
 in this light, no less instructive. For instance, the ground 
 where this takes place is not in Egypt, but when Abram 
 has come back again to the place whence trial had driven 
 him ; for, be it observed, Abram is brought back to that 
 very point from which he had swerved to go down to 
 Egypt, even " to the place where his tent was at the first." ^ 
 Places figure certain states; indeed, the word "state" 
 
 3 1 Cor. vii. 7-9. dum quseritur eontinentia, obrepat 
 
 * The inward fulfilment of each impudicitia. Ideoque bonorum ma- 
 
 particular here is traced at consider- gister, 'Dico,' inquit, ' non nuptis 
 
 able length by Ambrose : — "Ergo et Adduis, bonum est illis si sic per- 
 
 mens viri sapientis ejusdem animge maneant, sicut et ego ; quod si non 
 
 irrationabiles motus studet corrigere, contineant, nubant : melius est enim 
 
 sibique conjungere. Potest enim nubere, quam uri' . . . Rocte igitur 
 
 fieri ut quae interdum displicent, Abram cum bona venia voluit nepo- 
 
 emendentur gratia . . . quod si emen- tern dimittere," &c. — Be Abr. 1. ii. 
 
 dare non potest, non exasperet in- c. 6, § 31. 
 temperantia. Deprehendit ardorem * Chap. xiii. 3. 
 
 libidinis quam conjugio coeroeat; ne 
 
184 Abraham^ or the SpiHt of Faith. part iv. 
 
 simply means a " standing place." ^ So the soul comes 
 back to the ground it once held, with increased appre- 
 hension of its value, after the experiences of Egypt. And 
 here, on the ground of promise, it is that Lot finds an 
 occasion to depart from Abram ; here, while the spirit of 
 faith would stand on the promise, the outward man makes 
 some gift the occasion of going his own way. Thus does 
 the advance of our spirit ever bring out and test the old 
 man. None have so proved what the natural man is as 
 those who have come into the light of heavenly things. 
 For heavenly things and places, if they do not excite, at 
 least expose, the flesh. The natural man, which can be 
 quiet in natural things, cannot rest when we approach to 
 what is spiritual ; so true is it that what is good for the 
 pure is evil to the impure, so that heaven is hell to some, 
 and darkness and blindness are mercy to those who do not 
 love the light. Thus Abram's advance brought out what 
 was in Lot ; but Lot's gifts or riches helped to bring about 
 the separation, being not the cause, indeed, but the occasion 
 of strife. Abram and Lot were both rich, although in 
 different ways. "Lot had flocks, and herds, and tents." 
 Abram had these, but was "very rich in silver and in 
 gold" also.'' The outward man can and does possess much ; , 
 but the gold and the silver, that is, the higher forms of 
 truth, are not those which he obtains, or even wishes for.^ 
 
 ^ Status, from stare, to stand. sermonein fidei colore splendidum, 
 
 ' Chap. xiii. 2, 5. purgatumspiritalisgratiadisciplinae: 
 
 8 See above, respecting the metals, habebat mentem plenam prudentiae. 
 
 on chap. iv. p. 93. Ambrose, on the Lot quoque dives erat, sad 
 
 different riches of Abram and Lot, Scriptura eum pecoris tantum abun- 
 
 says, "Erat aiitem dives (Al^ram) dantem adserit ; . . . non habebat 
 
 pecoribus, argento, et auro. In pe- argentum, .... etenim argentum ig- 
 
 coribns corporales sen.sus intelligo, nitum lingua justi : non habebat 
 
 quia et ipsi irrationabiles sunt ; in aurum, quod habebat ille qui vidit 
 
 argento sermonem, in auro mentem. Christi posteriora," &c. — De Ah; 
 
 Dives erat Abram, quia regebat 1. ii. c. 6, § 20 and 24. 
 sensus irrationabiles, .... habebat 
 
 J 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 185 
 
 The " flocks" lead to the strife. What are these but those 
 animal emotions wliich, as they belong to Abram or Lot, 
 are under the power either of the spirit of faith or of the 
 outward man ; and the thoughts wliich direct these, and 
 keep them from wandering, are their " herdsmen," who 
 strive together for mastery.^ And faith, not yet possessing, 
 but waiting for, power, yields for a season, receiving in the 
 place of Lot greater revelations of the loving will of Grod. 
 For " the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was sepa- 
 rated from him. Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the 
 place where thou art, northward, and southward, and east- 
 ward, and westward : for all the land thou seest, to thee 
 will I give it. Arise, walk through the land in the length 
 of it and in the breadth of it ; for I will give it unto 
 thee."^^ And so when we reach this stage, and Lot 
 departs, — when the spirit of faith is made to feel its differ- 
 ence even from the upright outward mind, — we find that 
 there are lengths and breadths, toward the north and south, 
 toward the sun-setting, and toward the sun-rising, in 
 
 ^ I am almost afraid to speak of disciplinse gnari et tenaces sunt, non 
 this, though saints of old have done permittunt longius scnsuum gregem 
 so ; but the following extract from vagari, et inutilibus aut noxiis inhae- 
 the comment of Ambrose on this rere pabulis ; . . . . mali autem iuu- 
 chapter, will prove that the inter- tills disceptationis permittunt eos 
 pretation in the text is at least no impetu suo ferri. . . . Hinc ergo co- 
 novelty: — '' iS'ou capiebat eos terra, gitationumnostrarumdiseordia; cum 
 hoc est, una anima motus diversos caro repugnat adversus spiritum, et 
 non recipiebat naturaliter sibi repug- spiritus adversus carnem, non me- 
 
 nantes Qui igitur ' pastores' diocris pugna est." — De Abr. i. ii. 
 
 sint, et quorum animantium, et quae c, 6, § 27- 
 
 rixa inter pastores Abrse et inter '" Chap. xiii. 14-17. " Seqnitur 
 
 pastores Lot consideremus .... Pas- locus, quo evidenter docemur quan- 
 
 tores hos definire possumus. Pasto- tum mens suporfluis portionis irra- 
 
 res, inquit, jumeutorum. Jumenta tionabilis exhaustis proficiat; non 
 
 autem sensus corporis irrationabiles enim otiose Scriptura posuit, ' Et 
 
 significari accipimus. Qui sunt erijo dixit Deus ad Abram, postquam re- 
 
 pastoressensuum, nisi . . . .mentis cessit Lot ab eo, Respioe oculis,'" 
 
 nobtrse cogitationes, qui, si pastoralis &c. — Ambros. de Abr, 1. ii, c. 7. § 37, 
 
186 
 
 Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 directions toward coldness and warmth, toward light and 
 darkness, of which as yet we have not so much as heard ; 
 and all this again and again secured by the unfailing " I 
 will." So faith goes on. Having already reached Bethel, 
 it now comes on as far as Hebron. Bethel is " the house 
 of God;" Hebron is " fellowship." ^^ Having known 
 worship, faith now apprehends communion. In due time 
 it gets still further, but at present it rests at Hebron. 
 
 Such is this scene within. Its fulfilment in the world 
 without may to some be more intelligible. In this view 
 Abram is the man of faith, who, having already left the 
 ground of nature, after some declension is again escaping 
 from the world. Such men of faith, coming up out of 
 Egypt, have to come back to the very point whence trial 
 had driven them.^^ They " come up," ^^ for Egypt is low 
 ground, and the ground of promise, on which they would 
 again stand, needs some patient climbing if vve would pos- 
 
 *' Chap. xiii. 18. The import of 
 the name Bethel (•)Xn''l) is well 
 kuown. Hebron (J1"i3ni ^o™- "IDPI' 
 to be Joined togeihr.) means fellow- 
 ship. Hebron is also called Mamre, 
 see chap. xxxv. 27, meaning vision. 
 See on chap, xviii. 1. 
 
 '- Chap. xiii. 4. 
 
 '^ Chap. xiii. 1, In Scripture, 
 going into Egypt is always ''going 
 down" and coming out of it is always 
 " coming tip." Within the borders 
 of the land also, when the elect goes 
 further into its interior, it always is 
 "going wp." See chap. xxxi. 1; 
 Joshua vii. 2, 3, 4. So too from the 
 interior to Jerusalem is "going up." 
 — 1 Kings xii. 27, 28 ; 2 Kings xx. 
 ^, 8; Matt. XX. 18; Mark x. 33. 
 Tlie reason for this lies, first, in the 
 form of the country, and yet more 
 
 in the spiritual reality of which 
 Canaan and Egypt were formed to be 
 types. Origen goes at great length 
 into this : " Observandum est nobis 
 scripturas sanctas legentibus, quo- 
 modo in singulis quibnsdam locis 
 ascendere commemoratur et descen- 
 dere. Si enim diligentius considere- 
 mus, inveniemus quia nnsquam fere 
 in sanctum quis locum dicitur de- 
 scendisse ; neque ad vituperabilera 
 conscendisse memoratur ; quae ob- 
 servationes osteudunt Scripturam di- 
 vinam, non (ut plurirais videtur) 
 inerudito et agresti sermoue compo- 
 sitim, sed secundum disciplinam 
 divinae eruditionis aptatam ; neque 
 tantumhistoricisnarrationibus. quan- 
 tum rebus et sen si bus mysticis ser- 
 vientem invenies," &c. — Horn. xv. 
 in Gen. xlv. ad init. 
 
PART IV. Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. 187 
 
 sess it. They come, step b}^ step, " from Egypt to the 
 South," then " from the South," then " to Bethel," and so 
 on;^^ for not by a single step can a "believer get right 
 when his failure in faith has taken him out of the way. But 
 having reached Bethel, worship begins again : — " Abram 
 called upon the name of the Lord." In Egypt Abram 
 had no altar, for communion with the world mars com- 
 munion with the Lord ; but as soon as the pilgrimage is re- 
 newed, the altar again has its appointed feast and offering. 
 This is a point on which some have much to learn. 
 They hope for communion with the Lord while still in 
 worldliness, as if the Lord's altar could stand yet in Egypt, 
 and attendance at it be the common privilege of believers 
 and imbelievers ; so little difference do they see between 
 Pharaoh's kingdom and the promised land, between this 
 world and heavenly places. But such things cannot be as yet. 
 Israel may indeed " sigh and cry," even in the house of 
 bondage ; but worship and communion belong to higher 
 ground. So when Pharaoh said to Moses, " Go and sacri- 
 fice to Grod in this land," Moses said, " It is not meet to do 
 so ; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians : 
 lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians 
 before their eyes, and will they not stone us ? "^^ Here is 
 the reason why the elect cannot worship with Egyptians. 
 Because the worship of the Church and world are so 
 opposed, that the one is " an abomination " to the other. 
 Israel slays and sacrifices what Egyptians worship. Israel 
 sees that the ox and lamb must shed their blood. Israel 
 knows why this is, and does not grudge it. Egyptians 
 cannot understand it. The ox is their god. Hence the 
 Church, if bound by the world, ceases to worship, or else, 
 
 ^* Chap. xiii. 1-3. Augustine, to the mystic sense of " the South." 
 {Annot. in Jub. vol. iii. p. 669,) refers '^ Exod. viii. 26, 27. 
 
188 Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith, part iv. 
 
 like the unfaithful remnant in Jeremiah's days, worships 
 as Egyptians do.^^ But here the man of faith is come to 
 Bethel, " to the place of the altar," and there " he calls 
 upon the Lord." 
 
 But this high ground has its own trials. Those who, 
 like Lot, until now have walked with men of faith, when 
 they come to this point find reasons for going back ; and 
 this, though trying to the elect, is good, for as outward 
 men drop away from us, the Lord more and more reveals 
 Himself. 
 
 What Lot is we have already seen. Inwardly, he repre- 
 sents that upright outward mind, which goes some steps 
 with faith towards heavenly things. Outwardly, he repre- 
 sents those in whom this outward mind is the ruling life, 
 whose souls live in religious outward things. Of tliis class 
 some ever start with men of faith. The Abrams " walk 
 with God ; " the Lots " go with Abram."^^ These last are 
 the men who take right steps because others take them, 
 who make sacrifices because others do so, rather than 
 because a present Grod calls for such a step or such a sacri- 
 fice. Such, sooner or later, will shew what they are, 
 righteous souls, but wholly unable to walk where the men 
 of faith walk, leaving them as soon as they resolutely press 
 on to the best things, and destined to beget a seed, like 
 Moab and Ammon, to be a thorn in the side of the seed of 
 the men of faith. 
 
 And gift ever helps on this division : to this day " flocks 
 and herds" are an occasion for manifesting the tastes, 
 and thus of separating the inward and spiritual from the 
 righteous outward man ; while the cause lies in this, that 
 one seeks heaven, the other is still in measure hankering 
 
 '6 Jer. xliv. 15-17. " Chap. xii. 4, and xiii. 1, 5. 
 
PART IV, Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 189 
 
 after this world. Yet the gifts are only the occasion : the 
 cause was this, that one had an eye turned to the plain of 
 Jordan, while the other looked onward into the hills of 
 promise. For we read, that " Lot lifted up his eyes, and 
 saw the plain of Jordan, that it was like the land of 
 Egypt." '^ In this to him lay its attractiveness. Hence, 
 as soon as the "herds" and " flocks" gave an excuse, he at 
 once separates himself, and goes down Jordan-ward. These 
 " flocks," in this view, are those lower natures, those ani- 
 mal souls, who are ruled and led, some by outward, some 
 by spiritual men, — for each have their own flocks, — and 
 the strifes of the herdsmen, who lead these respective 
 flocks, are the occasion for the Lots to leave the Abrams. 
 Oh I what strife has there been about flocks ! It is not 
 numbers, nor an abundance of gift, which can make breth- 
 ren dwell together in unity. Rather will gifts be an occa- 
 sion for strife ; for schism is the growth, not of spiritual 
 poverty, but of spiritual wealth. Hence, at Corinth, where 
 " they lacked no gift," there was strife among the herds- 
 men, the more because the gifts abounded, while they were 
 "yet carnal."'^ 
 
 And this happens not in Egypt, but as soon as the men 
 of faith seek unflinchingly to go up to the higher ground 
 the Lord has promised them. Lot does not depart from 
 Abram in Egypt. While Christians are in the world, 
 its habits and institutions, and the barriers which these 
 raise between man and man, are enough to preclude strifes 
 between brethren. Besides, the outward man has enough 
 while in the world to satisfy his outward tastes. But 
 when Egypt is left, brethren are thrown together in a way 
 hitherto all unknown. Now comes the test to prove their 
 
 " Chap, xiii. 10. '* Compare 1 Cor. i. 7, with 1 Cor. iii. 1. 
 
190 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 grace, for few things search us more than collision with 
 our brethren.'^^ Then the lack of outward things stirs up 
 the outward man. Well do worldly-minded Christians 
 know this, and wisely do they choose the lower ground, 
 where their natural tastes find more that is in accordance 
 with them ; where outward things keep them from coming 
 to themselves, and what they are remains undiscovered by 
 them ; where thus their weakness may be mistaken for 
 strength, and circumstances take the place of grace. For, 
 indeed, till we are stript of things around, we little know 
 what spirit dwells in us ; so much do the things of time 
 and sense without keep us from discovering what really we 
 are within. Hence, some never know what restless selfish 
 souls they have, until the things which have kept them from 
 themselves are for ever taken from them. Others, who 
 by trials get glimpses of themselves, instead of going on to 
 search out the evil hidden in them, that they may over- 
 come it, seek rather to hide it from themselves and others, 
 and, to do this, continually seek more and more of out- 
 ward things. But faith is content to learn itself, if it may 
 learn God. It would rather be weak with Him than 
 strong without Him. 
 
 Thus, for awhile, is the path of faith more lonely. The 
 true believer is more than ever cast on God. The Lots 
 " choose " according to the sight of their eyes ; and so, by 
 degrees, get from communion with the godly to commu- 
 nion with the godless. Unlike souls, sooner or later, must 
 separate. If there be not one spirit, no bond or arrange- 
 ment can keep men long together. Each is gravitating to 
 his own place by a law which none can gainsay, — dust to 
 
 ^^ So Thomas a Kempis says, " It to converse therein without corn- 
 is no small matter to dwell in a re- plaint, and to persevere therein faith- 
 ligious community or congregation, fully unto death." — Book i. chap. 17. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 191 
 
 dust, and the spirit to God, who is a spirit. Let us not 
 forget the steps of Lot. First, '' he saw ; " then " he 
 chose;" then "he journeyed from the east," like some 
 before him ; then " he pitched towards Sodom ; " then 
 " he dwelt there." ^^ In a word, he walked by sight, then 
 by self-will, then away from the light, then towards the 
 unclean world, at last to make his home in it. This is the 
 path of Lots in every age. And such, though " righteous" 
 and "saved," are only " saved so as by fire."^^ 
 
 The separation accomplished, the Lord appears, not to 
 the righteous one who goes towards Sodom, but to him who 
 still abides in the path of faith. To souls left by brethren, 
 the Lord draws near, to tell us that if, by standing on the 
 ground of promise, we lose brethren, we do not lose Him. 
 " The liOrd said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated 
 from him. Lift up now thine eyes." As if to say. Lot 
 hath of his own will lifted up his eyes : he hath seen what 
 he can from his stand-point. Now lift up thine eyes, and 
 see from my stand-point. " Look from the place where 
 thou art, northward, southward, eastward, westward." Fear 
 not to look whence the cold cometh, and towards the place 
 of heat, towards the light, and towards darkness. As yet 
 little knowest thou of all these. But " all that thou seest, 
 to thee will I give it." And mark the advance in the 
 revelation here. First, the promise respecting the land 
 was, " A land which I will shew thee : " then, when come 
 into the land, the promise ran, " To thy seed will I give 
 it : " now it is, " To thee will I give it, and to thy seed for 
 
 ■^ Chap. xiii. 10-12. In our in both places render it dTrbavaroXdj/. 
 
 version, the words QlpJO. in verse The Vulgate also gives. •Vi'i o/7>/;/<'," 
 
 11, which, in chap. xi. 2, are trans- which the Douay Version follows, 
 
 lated '' from the east" are here translating, "/ro^i Me ea5^" 
 simply translated "ca^^;." TheLXX. "^^ 1 Cor. iii. 15. 
 
192 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part tv. 
 
 g^g^"23 Then follows the exhortation, "Arise, walk 
 through the land," — learn by experience what it is, — " in 
 the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it 
 thee." 
 
 Such is another stage of faith's way ; and trying as the 
 separation here described is, both in the inward and out- 
 ward world, it is one we must know, if we would know the 
 best things. Surely he who thus loses brethren or children 
 or lands receives a hundredfold. 
 
 § III. — Abram's Conflicts to deliver Lot. 
 
 (Chapter xiv.) 
 
 We come now to the conflicts into which the spirit of faith 
 is drawn, in its endeavours to deliver and save the outward 
 man, which yet is dear to it. The letter tells of the part 
 which Abram took in the wars which the seed of Shem 
 carry on against the seed of Ham ; for of the kings whose 
 contests are here described, four are of Shem's, and five of 
 Ham's seed.^ In spirit we see here the conflicts into 
 which our faith is dra^vn, through the workings of certain 
 powers springing from the Shem and Ham within us, in 
 hopes of freeing and saving that outward man, of which 
 Lot is the appointed figure. 
 
 First, to mark it within. To understand this we must 
 remember what Shem and Ham represent respectively. 
 They are certain minds growing out of the regenerate soul, 
 which as years roll on produce many varying forms of life.^ 
 Now we read that before Lot left Abram, and before 
 Abram entered into this conflict, the kings of the line 
 
 2' Compare chap. xii. 1, 7, and xiii. 15. * Chap. xiv. 1-16. 
 
 ^ See on chap. x. 
 
PART IV. Abrahaon, or the Spirit of Faith. 193 
 
 of Shem, — Shinar, Elam, and the rest, — had been engaged 
 in overcoming certain giants and others of the line of 
 Ham, that is, certain reasoning powers springing from the 
 contemplative mind in us, though much debased and fallen, 
 as Shinar and Elam were, yet strive to overcome those 
 open and gigantic evils, which, like the Rephaim, spring 
 out of Ham, that is, the darkened and rebellious mind. 
 These gigantic evils are put down by Shem's seed ; but 
 another branch of Ham's race, namely, the kings of Sodom 
 and Gomorrha, rise in rebellion ; when again Shem's seed 
 strive to restrain them, and after sore conflict do overcome 
 them. At this point the conflict of these two seeds touches 
 Abram, that is, the spirit of faith ; for Lot, the outward 
 mind, having departed from Abram or faith, is taken 
 captive by the kings of Shinar and Elam, those reasoning 
 powers which grow out of the contemplative mind, and is 
 only delivered by an effort of faith, and even so only deli- 
 vered for a season, for Lot again returns to dwell in 
 Sodom.^ 
 
 ^ Ambrose thus traces the inward Lot,) oninis his capitur; unde Jo- 
 fulfilment here : — " Quinque rages hannes ait, ' Vge habitantibus in 
 quinque sensus corporis nostri sunt, terra.'" — De Abr. 1. ii. c. 7, § 41. 
 visus, odoratus, gustus, tactus, au- As to the numbers here, viz. five and 
 ditus. Quatuor reges illecebrae cor- four, Augustine says, ih&t five always 
 porales atque mundanse sunt, quo- refers to something connected with 
 niam et caro hominis et mundus e the senses.— Z^ior. i?t P*\ xlix. (£". F. 
 quatuor constat elementis. Merito 50,) §9; Tract, in Johan. xy. §21, 
 reges dicuntur, quia habet suura and xxiv. § 5. He instances the five 
 culpa dominatum, unde Apostolus barley loaves, the five husbands of 
 ait, ' Non regnet peccatum in vestro the woman of Samaria, the five bro- 
 mortali corpore.' Sensus igitur nos- thers of the rich man, and other fives, 
 tri facile delectationiLus saecularibus as all connected with the five senses ; 
 cedunt, et quadam earum potestate while four is always connected with 
 capiuntur. Corporales enim delec- the world. — Serm. cclii. c. 10 ; De 
 tationes et illecebras hujus saeculi diehus Pasch. The mystical serpent 
 non vincet, nisi mens quae fuerit of the Hindoos is generally repre- 
 spiritalis, adhserens Deo, et se totam sentod with five heads, which avu 
 a terrenis separans. Deflexio, {i.e. said to signify the five senses. See 
 
194 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, part iv. 
 
 But all this effort on Lot's behalf, fruitless as it seems, 
 — for Lot returns to Sodom, and settles down where he is 
 only saved so as by fire, — brings into view the mind of 
 faith in its relations to those powers which are figured by 
 the contending kings. Abram stands apart from all. 
 From such powers faith receives no help, waiting for its 
 portion from the Lord Himself, and when it pleases Him ; 
 and while thus refusing to be enriched on earth, suddenly 
 receiving gifts from One, whom as yet it knows but little 
 of. For now the Prince of Peace comes in and makes a 
 feast ; and faith strengthened by such food is proof against 
 all the seductions of the king of Sodom, that is, the defiled 
 and self-loving fleshly mind.* 
 
 Such is the conflict figured here, true in thousands who 
 cannot yet unravel it. They know that before faith comes 
 their reasoning mind has striven to overcome certain 
 gigantic evils in them, that some of these have been over- 
 come, and that after this the evil apparently subdued has 
 again burst out in them, and that again their reason has 
 sought to master it. All this conflict they have known, 
 and further that at a certain point, faith, which has now 
 come, takes part in these struggles, seeking to bring the 
 outward man to walk with the inner man. But the con- 
 flict, though felt, is not understood ; and hence the picture 
 of it here, as set forth in type, is unintelligible. 
 
 Payne Knight's Inquiry into the Sed perfectae mentis est, nihil de 
 
 Symbolical Language of Mythology, terrenis illecebris adsumere. Ideo 
 
 pi 56. Abram dieit, * Nihil sumam de om- 
 
 Denique ubi se vieisse putat, nibus tuis.' Quasi coutagium de- 
 
 4 a 
 
 tentatur Quid enim est quod clinat intemperantiae, quasi labem 
 
 ait, ' Rex Sodomorum exivit obviam refugit corporalium sensuum, delec- 
 
 Abrae,' nisi quod post has luxurise tationes mundi rejicit, quserens quae 
 
 victorias, vis quivdam libidinis potest supra mundum sunt, hoc est, exten- 
 
 rationabili meuti subrepere, ut in- dere manus ad Dominum," &c. — 
 
 fundat ei irrationabiles passiones. Ambros. de Abr. 1. ii. c. 8, § 45. 
 
PART IV. Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. 195 
 
 I therefore turn to trace it without, as it is fulfilled in 
 the outward kingdom of the professing Church. The self- 
 same minds are there at work, but, the field being wider 
 and more outward, their works are more visible. 
 
 In this view Abram's effort to save Lot figures the con- 
 flict into which true men of faith come in their attempts 
 to deliver those ot their brethren, who, like Lot, though 
 righteous, yet cling to outward things, — fightings in which 
 true believers would have no part, were it not for the 
 declension of their brothers, who go down Sodom-ward. 
 
 Here incidentally much light is thrown on the state of 
 that world, from which by grace the man of faith is 
 separated. 
 
 We read that the kings of Sodom and Shinar, with their 
 respective allies, have long opposed each other bitterly ; 
 but all their wars have ended the same w^ay : the king of 
 Sodom is always conquered by Shinar or Babylon.^ The 
 story is told at length. The king of Shinar first masters 
 the king of Sodom. For a certain period, " twelve years," 
 the king of Sodom pays tribute. At the expiration of 
 this time he rebels. Then comes the king of Babylon 
 with his allies, and smites first the Emims and other 
 giants, and then all the country of the Amalekite ; after 
 which he routs the king of Sodom, who loses all his goods, 
 but is not slain.^ 
 
 The import of this is most plain. Shem's sons here 
 strive with Ham's sons ; shewing what bitter strife and 
 keen controversy there is between the religious and the 
 irreligious world, subsequent to regeneration. For the 
 kings of Shinar and Elam are of Shem's seed, sons of him 
 
 * See chap. X. 10, and xi. 2. In " goodly Babylonish garment." See 
 Joshua yii. 21, lyiJK' miX, " the also Dau. i. 2, and Zcch. v. 11. 
 garment of Shinar," is translated the « Chap. xiv. 1-10. 
 
196 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. paut iv. 
 
 who passed the flood, but who have fallen from contem- 
 plation into mere reasonings, and so have perverted the 
 best things. Sodom is the seed of cursed Ham, closely 
 allied to Mizraim or Egypt, and in a land " like the land 
 of Egypt," ^ the figure of those who turn from the truth, 
 and live in open ungodliness and shameless self-love.® Now 
 these two seeds, Shinar and Sodom, have at times great 
 conflict and controversy. But always with one result ; 
 Sodom is no match for Babylon. The religious reasoning 
 world can always master the irreligious world. Yea, though 
 at times Sodom throws off the yoke, Babylon can always 
 reimpose it. In these conflicts, too, Babylon (as a sword 
 of Grod, for even "the wicked are His sword," ^) is used to 
 rid the world of certain gigantic evils : for the king of 
 Babylon " smote the Eephaims, (or giants,) in Ashteroth 
 Karnaim, and the Emims, (who were also giants,) in Kiria- 
 thaim."^° The religious world, in its conflicts with open 
 irreligion, has plainly destroyed some gigantic and crying 
 
 ' Chap. xiii. 10. the kings of the East," (v. 12,)— this 
 
 8 In the Apocalypse, the three is the judgment of Babylon. — Jer.li. 
 
 great forms of the world set before 13, 36, and 1. 38 ; Isa. xliv. 27, 28. 
 
 us are Sodom, and Egypt, and Ba- The " voices, and thunderings, and 
 
 bylon. In Eev. xi. 8, the great city lightnings, and great hail," (v. 18,) 
 
 is seen as '^ Sodom and Eff?/pr, -where — this is the destruction of Sodom, 
 
 also our Lord was crucified." This — Gen. xix. 24, 25. 
 is the sensual and ignorant world. ^ Psalm xvii. 13. 
 
 In chapters xvii. and xviii., the same '" See Deut. ii. 10, 11. I may add 
 
 great city is seen as Babylon: this here, for it is significant, the rest of 
 
 is the religious world. In chap. the history of these Rephaim. They 
 
 xvi., which foretells the " seven last were first smitten by Babylon: a 
 
 plagues," we find the plagues of each remnant, however, was left till Jo- 
 
 of these cities. The " noisome sore," shua's days. — Josh. xii. 4, xiii. 12, 
 
 (v. 2,) the " waters turned to blood," xvii. 15. The last of these giants 
 
 (v. 4,) the " kingdom full of dark- seem to have been slain in the time 
 
 ness,"(v. 10,) — these are the plagues of the kingdom under David. — 
 
 of Egypt.— Exod. ix. 8-11, vii. 17 1 Chron. xx. 4, 6, 8. They are 
 
 -20, X. 21-23. The " drying up never heard of when we get to 
 
 of the Euphrates, and the invasion of Solomon's reign. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 197 
 
 evils. But Babylonians are not therefore Israel: the 
 religious world, though religious, is still the world. 
 Babylonians may destroy Rephaim ; at times it suits 
 their purpose to do so, for there are evils in the world 
 which stink even in the world's nostrils ; nay, they may 
 even " lay waste the field of the Amalekite and Mount 
 Seir," for the flesh in some of its forms is hated by the 
 religious world. ^^ They can do all this, but they cannot 
 walk with Grod. Nevertheless, they can overcome Sodom, 
 though its king escapes them, to meet ere long his 
 destruction from another hand. 
 
 Now "Lot dwelt in Sodom." ^^ This fact links the 
 strifes of the religious and irreligious world with the walk 
 of the man of faith. Abram at Hebron, a stranger with 
 his tent, though he may hear these " rumours of wars," has 
 no personal interest in them. Very different is it with 
 those, who, like Lot, live in the world. To such the strifes 
 of the religious or irreligious world must be of deepest 
 moment. Thus many que'stions, with which we should 
 have nothing to do, touch us simply because we are not 
 where we ought to be ; and thus the faithful too, who are 
 in their place, are involved in conflicts through the cap- 
 tivity of their unfaithful brethren. 
 
 But this is not the doctrine of the world, for Sodom and 
 Babylon both agree that the believer should not stand 
 aloof from such controversies. Often have I heard the 
 
 " Chap. xiv. 7. The Amalekite and at a further stage. See more 
 
 was one of Esau's sons. — Gen. xxxvi. on this under chap, xxxvi. Mount 
 
 1, &c. As such, as the offspring of Seir was Esau's dwelling. — Chap, 
 
 him, who, as the rejected firstborn, xxxii. 3 ; Deut. ii, 5. It is " the 
 
 has ever ieen one chief type of the field of the Amalekite," not the 
 
 flesh, Amalek, even as his father Amalekite,which the king of Shinar 
 
 Esau, stands a typo of the same flesh, now lays waste. This is significant, 
 
 though in rather a different aspect, *- Chap. xiv. 12. 
 
198 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part it. 
 
 grounds on wliicli both sides claim the pilgrim. Babylon, 
 the religious world, cannot understand how persons claim- 
 ing to be the called of Grod can hesitate to join them in 
 opposing open evils. Gigantic evils, such as Emims and 
 Rephaims, — the sphere of the flesh's dominion, " the field 
 of the Amalekite," — and above all, " Sodom," the wicked 
 world, with its many crimes, seem to Babylonians reason 
 enough for the believer to join them in subduing such 
 adversaries. On the other hand, there are some in Sodom, 
 righteous souls living in too great contact with the irre- 
 ligious world, who, having by experience known Babylonian 
 bondage, are content, like Lot, to make common cause 
 even with the godless and unclean, if only they can break 
 the yoke of the king of Babylon. And such would like to 
 see true believers with them ; but from both is Abram 
 separate, till his brother Lot is led away captive towards 
 Babylon. Then does he come down from the quiet hills 
 of promise to the strifes in which his brother is, giving up 
 his ease to rescue a brother out of Babylonian captivity. 
 
 Thus is Abram brought into collision with Babylon, 
 that is, the religious world. We never hear of his fighting 
 with Sodom. His place is separation from and intercession 
 for, not war against, it. But as respects the religious 
 world, the believer at times, to free brethren, is forced to 
 contend with it. And strange as it appears, that believers 
 will not join in the strifes of Sodom or Babylon, it seems 
 yet stranger, that, if either are assailed, the religious 
 world should be that which is fought against. But so it 
 has been from Christ's days to these : Pharisees are judged, 
 while open sinners are pitied. The motives of the men of 
 faith are not seen or understood, and "though he dis- 
 cemeth all things, yet is he discerned of no man." ^^ 
 
 " 1 Cor. ii. 13. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 199 
 
 The result is, Lot is freed by Abram. The pilgrim 
 brother^* is the means through whom deliverance comes. 
 The man who has been alone with God is the man who can 
 break the chains of Babylon for his unfaithful brethren. 
 And many a gift yet comes to failing souls through brethren 
 with whom they hold no communion, wnom they judge 
 as extreme in their views, and to whom they practically 
 prefer the company of such as know not God. Sooner 
 or later, however, God vindicates His own. The pilgrim 
 brother is the helper in time of need. 
 
 This leads to trial of another sort. Abram, victor over 
 the kings of Shinar and Elam, is tempted by the other 
 king ; for " the king of Sodom came out to meet him after 
 his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer ; " but 
 Abram, strengthened by Melchisedek's bread and wine, 
 and blessed by him, refuses the king of Sodom's proffered 
 fellowship. ^^ 
 
 Such a trial meets believers yet ; the rulers of the dark- 
 ness of this world, '^ successfully opposed in one form, meet 
 us in another. The hoiu: of victory is the chosen time. 
 Opposition to one form of evil brings us sometimes very 
 near to other evil ; and he who has been in collision with 
 the religious world will surely be met by another spirit 
 from the irreligious world. If the king of Shinar be slain 
 or put to flight, the king of Sodom is at hand, though 
 humbled, seeking the man of faith. And without God's 
 grace, it would be natiii'al enough for the man who had 
 opposed Babylon to make a league with Sodom. Many 
 have been thus ensnared ; but men of faith, in the hour of 
 
 '* Here, only (chap. xiv. 13,) " Chap. xiv. 17-24. 
 
 Abram is called "the Hebrew," '^ Eph. vi. 12; 1 Cor. ii. 8. 
 
 •-)2Un. rendered by the LXX., 6 
 irepoLTris, or the 'passenger. 
 
200 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 temptation, are met by other help. Thank God, there is a 
 " Priest of the Most High," who is also " King of Eighte- 
 ousness and Peace," who in times of danger draws nigh to 
 the elect, and, by His gifts of "bread and wine," strengthens 
 them. I need not tell what " bread and wine," or what 
 "King and Priest," is represented here,^^ who has said, "Lo, 
 I am ever with you," but who peculiarly reveals Himself 
 when we seem to be tempted above that which we are able, 
 and by foretastes of the good things of Salem leads us to 
 refuse " from a thread to a shoe-latchet " from Sodom's 
 wicked rulers. For the fainting soul, even of a saint, if 
 empty, might thirst after the dross which the king of Sodom 
 offers us. Well does the tempter know his time, and that 
 when the man is "an hungered," then is his opportunity.^^ 
 Israel learnt this in the desert. Water failed them ; then 
 thoughts came in of " the vines and pomegranates of 
 Egypt." Then the Lord gave water ; and he that drank 
 thereof thirsted no more for Egypt, but was satisfied. Then 
 " they sent to Edom, saying, Let us pass, we pray thee, 
 through thy land ; we will not pass through thy fields or 
 through thy vineyards, neither will we drink of the water 
 of thy wells ; we will go by the king's highway ; we will 
 not turn to the right hand nor to the left until we have 
 passed thy borders." ^^ So it is ever. The soul must be 
 filled. If it have not the Lord's comforts, the vines of 
 Egypt will be thought of. If it be full, and the living 
 waters are tasted, the pilgrim can say, " I want not thy 
 goods, only let me go onward along the king's highway." 
 
 '^ See Heb. vii. 1-28. Having 1. i. Ep. 431 ; Augustine, De Civit. 
 
 the comment of an Apostle here, we 1. xvi. c. 22. 
 
 need no others ; bnt the following i" Matt, iv, 2, 3. 
 
 passages in the Fathers may interest '^ See Numbers xx. 5, 1 7, and xxi. 
 
 some: — Clem. Alex. Strom. I. iv. 5,16-22. 
 p. 637 ; Cyprian, Ep. 63 ; Isld. Pelus. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, oi the Spirit of Faith. 201 
 
 And so when men of faith after conflict are faint, the 
 rulers of the darkness of this world meet them, and might 
 entrap them, did not the bread and wine of the King of 
 Salem make them proof against all other blandishments. 
 And "Melchisedek blessed Abram and said, Blessed be 
 Abram of the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and 
 earth ; and blessed be the Most High God, who hath de- 
 livered thine enemies into thine hand." He blesses the 
 believer, and blesses the Most High ; and, foreseeing 
 faith's long trial, reveals God's character under that name, 
 — " Possessor of heaven and earth," — which Abram at that 
 moment most needed ; as if to say. If He is thy God, if 
 thus He meets thee by His Priest, in an hour of weakness 
 feasting thee with bread and wine, for which others have 
 labom*ed, and which cost thee nothing, then thou needest 
 not the gifts of Sodom's fallen king. And Abram feeling 
 this, not only refuses to be enriched by Sodom, but 
 becomes a giver : " He gave Melchisedek tithes of all." 
 For gifts call forth gifts ; and of that which God hath 
 given it, faith gives a portion with gladness to the Lord's 
 Anointed. 
 
 And withal, Abram, while prescribing this high path for 
 himself, can see how vain it is to expect it from those who 
 do not know God. If there is a mark of pretended grace, 
 it is the zeal to make our walk the rule, to raise or cut 
 down all to our standard. Where there is real grace, its 
 possessor knows how He who came down here for men 
 meets them where they really are, and not where they are 
 not ; and that as grace is a gift, if others lack it, no end 
 is gained by laying on them burdens which without grace 
 they cannot bear. So Abram says of those who went with 
 him, — Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, — " Let them take their 
 portion : I have lifted up my hand to the Lord that I will 
 
202 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, part it. 
 
 take nothing." 2<^ These may not know Him. Abram 
 therefore requires none others to walk as he does. If 
 example avails, there is his example ; but life is a reality, 
 not to be copied without power. The true believer, there- 
 fore, would rather that men should be true according to 
 their measure and where they are, than false by pretending 
 to be what they have not attained to. If he gloried in 
 their flesh, it might be otherwise ; but such an one glories, 
 not in disciples, but in the cross of Christ. 
 
 The King of Salem yet lives, " a Priest for ever after 
 the order of Melchisedek ; " and the believer who has 
 striven with the rulers of the darkness of this world, will 
 yet meet Him with His bread and wine in the pilgrimage. 
 " As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the 
 Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God." ^^ 
 
 § IV. — Abram's Trials through the Word of God and 
 Prayer. 
 
 (Chapter xv.) 
 
 But conflict, though it ends in triumph, produces weari- 
 ness. After great efforts and great success the spirit of 
 faith is often suddenly, and, as it thinks, unaccountably, 
 depressed. A reaction is felt, when dryness succeeds to 
 that life and energy which has carried us on hitherto. At 
 such an hour our very blessings try us. That our trials 
 are blessings has been already learnt. Now we learn that 
 blessings are trials too. And though in measure the elect 
 must have proved this before, — for God's call, and Sarah, 
 and Lot, and the flocks and herds, all of which were bless- 
 
 20 Chap. xiv. 22, 23. «» P.>alm xlviii. 8. 
 
PART IV. Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. 203 
 
 ings, had all been trials also, — the lesson now is learnt in 
 reference to a class of blessings from which till now we 
 expected nothing but peace. God's own promise and 
 worship are found to try Abram more deeply perhaps than 
 anything which had as yet befallen him. 
 
 First, the promise tries him. We read, " After these 
 things the word of the Lord came unto Abram, in a vision, 
 saying. Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding 
 great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou 
 give me, seeing I go childless ? " ^ 
 
 Now this answer expresses deep soul-trial, the time of 
 which is specially noted — " after these things." This is 
 not faith's first experience. When the word first calls us, 
 though it costs us outward grief, the joy it gives, not to say 
 the excitement it occasions, keeps us from dwelling on our 
 want of fruit. The Lord has promised a land and a seed. 
 On this w^e can leave our country and kindred, not knowing 
 what the promise will cost us, or how much is to be 
 endured before we obtain the fulfilment of it. We eat the 
 words, and in our mouths they are sweet as honey : we 
 know not that they may be bitter in the belly.^ Even 
 Terah, the old man, is stirred by the call, little knowing 
 what its results may be. So we start with joy ; but years 
 on years pass away : mercies by the way are given, but we 
 have as yet neither the promised fruit nor the inheritance. 
 At last an hour comes when we have counted all things 
 but dross and dung for Christ. The world has come, only 
 to be rejected. Faith, bold to rely on God alone, will not 
 take from it " even a shoe-latchet." At such a moment 
 the Lord speaks again. The old promise is heard. Still 
 we are barren. And the soul, feeling that it is apparently 
 
 ' Chap. XV. 1, 2. 2 jjo^^ ^ 9 
 
204 Abrahara, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 as far from the fulfilment as when it first started, — further, 
 in one sense, for there was then some energy in the flesh, 
 which the trials of the way and weary years have now well- 
 nigh quenched, — answers with something between a sigh 
 and a prayer, saying, "Ah, Lord Grod, what wilt thou give 
 me ? " I have no seed, no fruit : as yet my only heir is 
 this steward born in my house, this " Eliezer of Damascus." 
 Shall he, this spirit of bondage, be the seed ? Can this be 
 the promised blessing ? Surely there must be something 
 better ? So argues faith, even in its depression ; and the 
 Lord at once answers, that this steward, this spirit of 
 bondage, is not the promised seed : " This shall not be 
 thine heir ; but he that shall come forth out of thine own 
 bowels, he shall be thine heir."^ Precious words, but no 
 less a trial to the spirit of faith, which against hope 
 believes in hope. 
 
 A " seed " and a " land " are still the hope which tries 
 the believer. Fruit does not indeed at first much press or 
 exercise us. We look forward to it, because Grod has 
 named it ; but other things surround and occupy us, and 
 its absence for a while does not disquiet us. At such a stage 
 we have enough to do with the old man who goes with us, 
 or with Egyptians, or famine, or strifes with brethren, 
 to think much of the promised fruit. It is far otherwise 
 when the old man has been buried, and we are left alone ; 
 when all having been forsaken, and the tempting world 
 denied, we yet are fruitless and strangers without our 
 inheritance. Earnestly then the soul begins to long for 
 that which Grod has promised it. Fain would it see " the 
 seed," Christ formed within us. Hitherto Christ for us has 
 been enough, the word of God pledged on our behalf. Now 
 
 " Chap. XV. 4. 
 
TART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 205 
 
 Christ in us is loDged for daily, the image of God, the 
 spirit of sonship, to live and grow in us. And God 
 replies that sucn too is His will ; that if we go without 
 this, we lack what He has promised us. " He brought him 
 forth abroad, and said. Look towards heaven, and tell the 
 stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said, So 
 sliall thy seed be." " He brought him forth " out of his 
 narrow tabernacle ; faith is led beyond those limits which 
 flesh and blood throw around it, into that expanse where 
 the breath of heaven may toucli it, and the countless lights 
 of heaven shine on it, and in this freer air God Himself 
 speaks again, saying to faith, " So shall thy seed be.'^'* And 
 although the words, " Lord, what wilt thou give me? " and, 
 " Lord, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? " shew 
 fear as well as faith, yet "Abram believed, and it was 
 counted unto him for righteousness."^ 
 
 So ends the trial through the word, while out of the 
 trial faith reaps fresh blessing, even righteousness. Faith 
 takes God to be God, and thus honours Him far more 
 than by many works. And therefore God honours faith, 
 '• counting it for righteousness," more precious to Him 
 than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Surely in a world 
 where nearly all doubt God, the sight of a poor barren 
 creature in utter helplessness resting on God's promise 
 must be a spectacle even to heavenly angels. Even the 
 eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth, 
 seeking it, and where He finds it, He makes Himself 
 strong in behalf of it.^ 
 
 * " Quid est autem quod ait, velut quamdam descensionem vi- 
 
 ' Eduxit eum foras ' ? Tanquam deat," &c. — Ambros. de Abr. 1. ii, 
 
 foras educitur, ut exeat fores cor- c. 8, § 48. 
 
 poris et angustias carnis operientis, * Chap. xv. 6 ; Rom. iv. 3, 6. 
 
 ac Spiritus sancti infusionem, et ^2 Chron. xvi. 9. 
 
206 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 Faith, however, still must be tried ; and the very 
 worship to which the reception of the word now leads, 
 though the door to fresh blessings, opens through fresh 
 disquietudes. 
 
 The steps are these : the soul believes that it shall be 
 even as the Lord has promised ; but though it believes, it 
 does not understand how or through what experience the 
 blessing is to come to it. In answer, therefore, to the 
 promise, it says, " Whereby shall I know that I shall in- 
 herit it ? " The Lord replies by a command to sacrifice, 
 and in this worship and sacrifice His way is manifested.^ 
 Beside the altar light breaks in. Faith may be strong and 
 grow while yet in outward things ; but light comes, while 
 we stand before the Lord, by the holy altar of burnt- 
 offering. At every stage we prove this truth. Noah is 
 taught much beside his offering.® So, too, is David in 
 later days.^ Abram no less by the altar learns the reasons 
 for the delay in the possession of the inheritance. There 
 is opened the experience of his seed : there again the 
 covenant is renewed and added to. The seed, it is de- 
 clared, shall be a stranger here, but in Grod's time it shall 
 come with great substance to its inheritance. 
 
 To look for a moment at this worship ; for the spirit of 
 faith yet worships in no other way. " The Lord said, 
 Take me a heifer, and a she-goat, and a ram, and a turtle- 
 dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all 
 these, and divided them, but the birds divided he not." 
 This was in substance Abel's offering, the figure of the 
 sacrifice of Christ, both for us, and in us ; though at this 
 stage we have far more detail and greater insight into 
 
 Chap. XV. 9-18. " Chap. viii. 20-22. 
 
 » Psalm Ixxiii. 16, 17. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 207 
 
 particulars. Here all the forms, " bullock, goat, and 
 tui"tle-dove," that is, service, sin-bearing, and innocence, if 
 we take the outward view, — inwardly, all those powers 
 which must die in us, when in and through Christ we pre- 
 sent our bodies a living sacrifice, — are each discerned ; the 
 different parts too are marked ; the head, and legs, and 
 inwards, all being discriminated ; that is, the thoughts, 
 the walk, and the atfections, no longer overlooked in the 
 general thought of offering, now claim our notice as we 
 give them to Grod, a willing sacrifice to His holiness.^^ 
 Faith will not offer less than these, and in thus offering it 
 learns the Lord's purpose. 
 
 And to this da}' sacrifice is the key to the secrets of the 
 Lord's heart. Many a word tries us until the sacrifice for 
 us and in us is apprehended. Then the word is under- 
 stood ; then the oath is heard ; then the reasons, why our 
 Grod acts as He does, open upon us. To how many low 
 and doubting thoughts is the apprehension of Christ's 
 sacrifice for us an answer. To how many struggles is 
 Christ's sacrifice in us the one reply. We wonder we must 
 wait for our inheritance. We wonder we must prove what 
 flesh is ; that it is barren, dead, worthless. The slain Lamb 
 is seen ; that life and death witness that to meet Grod the 
 creature must first suffer ; that we must die to have Grod's 
 life exhibited. If we have presented our bodies a living 
 sacrifice, this truth will be yet more manifest. For the 
 
 '" On this suLject I have spoken innocentiam, capra similitudinem 
 at length in " The Law of the carnis peccati, bos fortitudinem 
 
 pp. 77-83. Lira, in Christi ad sustinendura laborem, 
 
 bis comment on the text, says, maxim^ in passione. Turtur etiam 
 
 '* Praedicta animalia reprsespntabant castitatem Christi significat: co- 
 
 humanitatem Christi, in quantum iumba vero, quae sine felle est, ejus 
 
 fuit instrumentum nostrse redenip- mititatem." — In loco. 
 tionis ; quia ovis reprseseutat ejus 
 
208 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, part tv. 
 
 veil, (and "the veil is His flesh," — that flesh in which He 
 yet walks, for He hath said, " I will walk in them," ^^) 
 when rent by the cross, opens to view the great mystery. 
 Now we can see why we must sufl'er here : faith is almost 
 tm-ned to sight beside the sacrifice. And though even 
 after such communion an hour may come when the soul 
 again is faint because of the way, the remembrance and 
 savour of such hours do not soon leave us : we go on in 
 the strength of it many days. 
 
 Sweet, however, as are the ultimate results of such ex- 
 perience, the apprehension of the cross, in our intercom*se 
 with Grod, at the time costs us not a little. One distrac- 
 tion after another presses the spirit of faith, while it is 
 occupied with the appointed sacrifice. 
 
 First, " the fowls come down on the carcasses." ^^ Xo 
 sooner are the bodies of the beasts offered, and the parts 
 laid open before the eye of God and the worshipper, than 
 the fowls come down, to mar the offering if they can. So 
 when the believer has set before him the sacrifice, and in 
 the contemplation of it would fain learn to see and feel with 
 God, the fowls, " evil spirits in heavenly places," ^^ powers 
 within or without subject to the wicked one, messengers of 
 " the prince of the power of the air," ^"^ come to distract our 
 
 " Heb. X. 20 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16. lectationibustangunt; seddumcitius 
 
 " Chap. XV. 11. manu sanctae discretionis abiguntur, 
 
 " Eph. vi. 12. festine agitur, ne cordis faciem caligo 
 
 '* Eph. ii. 12. The "birds" stole operiat, quse hanc jam ex illicita 
 
 away " the good seed." Our Lord delectatione tangebat. Nam saepe 
 
 explains this by, " Then comeththe in ipso orationis sacrificio important 
 
 devil, and catcheth away that which se cogitationes ingerunt, quse hoe 
 
 ■was sown in their hearts." Matt. rapere, vel maculare valeant, quod 
 
 xiii. 4, 19. Compare also Deut, in nobis Deo flentes immolamus. 
 
 xxviii. 26; Jer. v. 27 ; Rev. xviii. 2. Unde Abram cum ad occasum solis 
 
 Gregory the Great thus beautifully sacrificium oiFerret, insistentes aves 
 
 comments here : — '• Ssepe enimetiam pertulit, quas studios^, ne oblatum 
 
 corda justorum subortae cogitationes sacrificium raperent, abegit. Sic 
 
 polluunt, terrenarumque rerum de- nos cum in axk cordis holocaustum 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 209 
 
 communion, as far as may be. He that has stood beside 
 his offering knows what distractions these winged mes- 
 sengers cause, while we rise up like Abram to " drive 
 them a^Yay." 
 
 Then comes " darkness :" — "when the sun went down, 
 a deep sleep fell on Abram ; and, lo, a horror of great dark- 
 ness fell upon him." ^^ While on earth, our appointed life 
 of faith is one of alternate light and darkness. We would 
 watch while we are beside the altar, though such darkness 
 cover the earth that our very spirit feels it. But it is 
 hard to watch at such times, when nature sleeps. A 
 liorror of great darkness, however, is not overcome by 
 slumbering. We must go through the trial with our Grod: 
 in it we shall learn what purposes He has in trying us. 
 
 Here the hour of trial proves an hour of light ; the dark- 
 ness which shuts out the world does but reveal heavenly 
 things. Abram learns through the darkness more of Grod's 
 will. Before this, he had the promise of a seed. Now he 
 learns some details of the appointed cross, and that only 
 " through much tribulation " the kingdom will be won. 
 The " smoking furnace " is seen, ready to purge away the 
 dross ; but beside it appears the " burning lamp." ^^ 
 
 Thus in light ends this trial. The spirit of faith, 
 awaking to its own barrenness, not only with the heart 
 
 Deo ofFerimus, ab immundis hoe tiniio autem dictum habes, ' quod 
 
 volucribus custodiamus, ne maligni peregrinum. erit semen tmim, et 
 
 spiritus, et perversse cogitationes servifio opprimeutur.' .... Diversi 
 
 rapiant, quod mens nostra offerre enim domini in servitute nos volunt 
 
 Domino utiliter sperat." Moral, in tenere, .... passiones, motusque 
 
 Job. 1. xvi. c. 42, § 53. corporis, (these are the Egyptians,) 
 
 '^ Chap. XV. 12. velut hostes inquietant, . . . donee 
 
 '" Isa. Ixii. 1. " Solis occasu ex- Deus diabolum judicet, passiones 
 
 eessus cecidit super eum,..., desinit restinguat, ac subjiciat menti se- 
 
 enim A-idere ssecularia, qui incipit dulse," &c. Ambros. de Abr. 1. ii. 
 
 audire divina. Unde Abrae tene- c. 9, §§ 61, 62. 
 bras mirari non debes. . , , Con- 
 
210 Abraham, or the SpiHt of Faith, part iv. 
 
 believes unto righteoiisness, but receives in worship en- 
 larged promises. It may yet err in its efforts to bear fruit 
 but henceforth there is no more anxious disquietude. 
 
 § V. — Abram's Efforts to be Fruitful by Hagar. 
 
 (Chapter xvi.) 
 
 Now comes a well-known scene. True faith, though it 
 justifies, does not therefore prevent us (while the Lord 
 yet waits till self-will be dead) from trying our own 
 strength. Here these efforts and their results are shewn, 
 proving that, even of the fruits of faith, " that is not 
 first which is spiritual, but that which is natural." Here 
 the means which the spirit of faith adopts to be fruitful, 
 — how it comes to use such means, — and the result, — all 
 are represented perfectly. 
 
 The means are these. Abram takes Hagar, hoping by 
 her to obtain the promised fruit.^ Women are always the 
 affections of the will. Hagar is the natural self-will, 
 Sarai, the submissive spiritual will : the former the type of 
 that in us which affects law ; the latter, of that purer and 
 truer will which affects spiritual truth ; so that, generally 
 speaking, we may say Hagar is law, and Sarai grace ;2 our 
 
 ■ Chap. xvi. 3. vel etiam dialectiea disciplina ; et 
 2 Gal. iv. 22-25. Origen speaks hsec omnia extrinsecus qusesita ad 
 at great length on this : " Profectus nostra instituta producimus, tunc 
 etenim sanctorum Scriptura iigura- videbimur vel alienigenas in matri- 
 liter per conjugia designat." Then monium sumpsisse, vel etiam con- 
 after speaking of the elect's embracing cubinas." .... He instances Solo- 
 scriptural truths, and the consequent mon as a typical example of this, 
 fruits, he says, " Si etiam ex his and adds, " Et si de hujuscemodi 
 orudilionibus, qua? extrinsecus vi- conjiigiis, disputando, contradicent- 
 dentur esse in sseculo aliquas con- esve redarguendo, convertere aliquos 
 tingimus, (verbi causa) ut est eru- poterimasad fidem Christi, . . . tunc 
 ditio literarum vel artis gramraaticse, ex diabetica vel rhetorica videbimur, 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 211 
 
 principles ever being what our affections are. Here we 
 see both these wills working in connection with the spirit 
 of faith ; and faith, having so long looked in vain to 
 Sarai, now turns to Hagar, hoping by the energy of the 
 flesh or by works to aid, if not to accomplish, God's promise. 
 God's purpose is, out of the death of self, by His own 
 power to bring fortli a heavenly life ; for He knows, if we 
 know not, that the flesli profiteth nothing, and He would 
 in our ruin shew His resources. But without exception, 
 though we are elect, — though tlirough faith righteous, — 
 tliough we have stood beside the sacrifice, — though we talk 
 about the cross, and profess to believe it,-— yet have we not 
 learnt to distrust sense, and put away all fleshly hopes. 
 The truth is on our lips, that by strength no man prevails, 
 — that when we are weak, then are we strong, — that except 
 a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth 
 alone ; but that, if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. As 
 to our acceptance we may have learnt this : but as to our 
 service, as to our fruitfulness, as to our obtaining Christ's 
 image, how few live in it ! We cannot think that the death 
 of our own strength, and of our own will, even when that 
 will is to serve and please God, — that weakness, disap- 
 pointment, failure, in self,— that this can indeed be the 
 right way, — this seems impossible. So we seek to live 
 rather than to die, and strive to call forth our own energies 
 rather than to be patient at their dissolution. It is not till 
 we have got the fruits of such a course, — till we have 
 personally experienced the consequences of having seed by 
 Hagar, — till we have tried all we can do, and having tried 
 it have heard God say, that this fruit which we get by 
 Hagar, that is by the energy of the flesh, is " a wild-ass 
 
 quasi ex alienigcnd qu4dam vel whole passage is woll worth turniug 
 concubina, filios genuisse." The to. Hum. xi. in Ge7i. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. paet iv. 
 
 man,"^ and cannot be the heir, " for in Isaac shall the seed 
 be called," that is, in the son or fruit of the long-barren 
 free-woman ; — it is not till we have expressed our regrets 
 for Hagar's son, and have sighed, " Oh, that Ishmael 
 might live before thee," and have seen all his behaviour to 
 the true seed, and his mockery of him when at last he is 
 given to us ; — it is not till we have gone through all this, 
 and much more, and are worn out, and " as good as dead," 
 that we can give up the flesh with all its hopes, and giving 
 them up find that the death of self, which we have so 
 struggled against, is but the appointed way to gain the 
 promise. So, till we are content to be dead, we take 
 Hagar, and with various experiences of her, and with her, 
 we keep her, till Isaac, the spirit of sonship, being weaned, 
 the bond-maid is no longer wanted, and we learn to say, 
 though not without a struggle even to the end, " Cast out 
 the bond- woman and her son." 
 
 But this is anticipating. We are now to see what 
 woman, spiritually, what principles, the spirit of faith 
 embraces here, as a means to gain the seed. 
 
 She was "a bond-maid," — " Sarai's maid."'* And self- 
 will is yet a " bond-woman," and " gendereth to bondage."^ 
 All the elect learn this. With each a time comes, when 
 fruit is sought " as it were by the deeds of the law," and 
 in our own strength. We long to "bear the image of 
 the heavenly," and we look for it through our own energy. 
 Some fruit is borne : Hagar is not barren : but the spirit 
 of sonship is not obtained in this way. The proof is, a 
 
 3 Chap. xvi. 12. In our autho- in the 'ELehrew cnlled " Sheep-7ne7i;" 
 
 rised version, Ishmael is called QIX |XV. rendered in the common 
 
 here " A wild man." Heb. mj< &<-|D, version, " Flocks of men." 
 
 that is, literally, " A wild-ass man." * Chap. xvi. 1. 
 
 So in Ezek. xxxvi. 38, the elect are ^ (jal. iv. 22-25. 
 
|, PAUT IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 213 
 
 bond-maid yet is in the house, and her fruit, the spirit of 
 bondage, is not cast out. 
 
 Further, this maid was " an Egyptian." Egypt is the 
 ground of sense, that is the outer world. To this Hagar 
 belongs. In her we lay hold of that which in its very 
 nature is of this world. For " the law is not made for the 
 righteous, but for sinners ;"^ in seeking help from it, faith 
 is using a worldly principle. 
 
 But how comes faith to use such means ? Several cir- 
 cumstances combine to lead to this. 
 
 First, " Sarai was barren ; she bare no children."^ Sarai 
 is the principle of grace, the affection of spiritual truth. 
 From this the spirit of faith looks for seed ; but years pass, 
 and there is still barrenness. Faith does not therefore cast 
 out Sarai ; for she is ever loved and regarded as the true 
 wife ; but because she is barren, we look elsewhere, not yet 
 knowing that these inner affections must be fruitless, till 
 the self which yet cleaves to the spirit of faith be " as 
 good as dead." When at last in self-despair we are thus 
 dead, then, and not till then, Sarai will bear fruit. In- 
 deed, if at first we could have had our way, Sarai, even as 
 Hagar, would have been made fruitful through our energy. 
 The principle of grace would have been as another law, 
 requiring strength in us to make it productive ; whereas 
 the truth is, that while we are thus strong the Lord can- 
 not let us have fruit by Sarai. From Hagar, or law, God 
 may grant some fruit, such as it is, through the elect's 
 own energy. But from Sarai no seed shall be so obtained : 
 she is, and must be fruitless, till our own strength is put 
 away. But this is learnt only by long experience. Here 
 faith has not learnt it : therefore, seeing Sarai barren, it 
 is tempted to have recourse to other means. 
 
 6 1 Tim. i. 9. ^ Chap. xvi. 1. 
 
214 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 Then Hagar is at hand: — "Sarai had a handmaid." 
 Abram had not to seek her : there she was, already serving 
 him. How she came to be there is hinted in the fact, 
 incidentally noticed, that Hagar was "an Egyptian;" 
 t^elling that Abram had been in Egypt, and possibly had 
 received this woman as a reward of his unfaithfulness there 
 respecting Sarai. Be this as it may, Hagar now is there, 
 already occupying a position in attendance on the true 
 wife ; and being there, and useful in her place, through 
 the impatience of the elect ere long she usurps another's 
 place. Just so the inner affection of spiritual truth has the 
 principle of law waiting upon it as a servant. And, as a 
 handmaid, law is in its place in Abram's house ; a place 
 whence it should not be expelled, at least until the spirit 
 of sonship has obtained a certain growth. The evil is, that 
 this service of law, though useful in itself, and needed for 
 a season, through the impatience of the elect, becomes the 
 occasion for that further trial of the flesh, which like all 
 such trials is doomed to end in disappointment. 
 
 But Sarai's barrenness and Hagar's being at hand are 
 not Abram's only inducements to turn to the bond-maid. 
 The free-woman herself stirs up Abram to this : — " Sarai 
 said unto Abram, Behold the Lord hath restrained me 
 from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid. It may 
 be that I may obtain seed by her."^ There is a stage 
 when grace itself, and the promise of fruitfulness which is 
 connected with it, by acting on our impatience, may so 
 excite, as to lead the spirit of faith to try carnal means, 
 even though for ends which Grod has promised. Indeed 
 impatience, a zeal for Grod, without a corresponding faith 
 in the zeal of the Lord of hosts, is ever leading to this. 
 Even to faith it is hard to wait on Grod, and let Him do 
 ■ Chap. xvi. 2. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 215 
 
 His own work in His own way. With riobt principles 
 exciting us, we may be marring His work, by our liaste in 
 attempting to do it for Him. So even Sarai may, and 
 does, mislead us, if, instead of patiently awaiting the 
 Lord's time, that inward affection stirs us up, in connection 
 with other means, to try our own strength. Thus did 
 Abram hearken to Sarai ; and thus excited even by the 
 truth, and with right ends, does the elect yet try his own 
 resources. The present age gives countless proofs of this. 
 Christ, the true seed, is by many longed for ardently. 
 Both in Church and world we wait for His appearing. 
 But He tarries. Then Sarai speaks to those, who, though 
 men of faith, are so far from " being as dead," that they 
 are still full of self-will. The result is one scheme after 
 another, all aiming to obtain the promised seed, by doing 
 rather than by dying. Vain hope ! Ishmaels enough may 
 be thus gotten. Isaacs are not so born. 
 
 But to trace the results as figured here. 
 
 The first is, Abram gets a son : Hagar is fruitful ; ^ but 
 her son is not the promised heir. For to Abram and his 
 seed were promises made ; " He saith not. And to seeds, 
 as of many ; but as of one. And to thy seed ; which is 
 Christ." ^° For Abram or faith has many seeds ; but that 
 form of life, which, though of faith, is produced by self- 
 will, (and the first fruit of faith is ever such,) is not elect, 
 and cannot be the true heir. Hagar's son is but " a wild- 
 ass man." The spirit of faith has indeed thus produced 
 another form of life, and thus something at first appears 
 to have been gained. The end proves, that, as far as tlie 
 true heir is concerned, all this effort has availed nothing. 
 Faith by self-will has only got " a spirit of bondage 
 
 9 Chap. xvi. 4. " Gal. iii. 16. 
 
216 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, part iv. 
 
 again to fear." The " spirit of adoption " is not thus 
 begotten. ^^ 
 
 The next result is as unsatisfactory. "When Hagar 
 saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised." If 
 carnal strength succeeds in bearing any fruit, the imme- 
 diate result is contempt of better things. For the flesh 
 can achieve nothing without being exalted. Sarai, there- 
 fore, instead of being " built up," as she hoped, by Hagar, 
 reaps through her fresh humiliation. 
 
 Nor is this all. For this contempt, Sarai deals hardly 
 with the bond-maid, who therefore flees out of the elect 
 house.*^ If through faith's impatience the principle of 
 law is exalted out of its place, and thus dishonour is done 
 to grace, that is the free-woman, a re-action follows, for 
 grace or Sarai is best loved, and though barren never loses 
 her rightful empire over the believing heart. The prin- 
 ciple of law is harshly judged, and so, being abused, for 
 awhile departs and is lost sight of. Who that knows this 
 path but has seen how the affection of law, when contempt 
 
 " Jerome here thus gives the liberos, arbitremnr ; sed etiam de 
 
 inward sense, that while our faith uno eodemque homine ; quamdiu 
 
 deals "with the law and the letter, sequatur historiam, ancillse eum esse 
 
 Isaac is not come, but Ishmael only filium : cum autem, aperiente Jesus 
 
 is born in us; whereas Isaac is come, scripturas, incensum cor ejus, et in 
 
 if we enjoy spiritual things: — " Nunc fractione panis inspexerit eum, queni 
 
 breviter ad altiora tendendum est, antea non videbat tunc et ipsum 
 
 ut dicamus unumquemque nostrum Sarse filium nominari,"&c. — Hieron. 
 
 primum non juxta repromissionem in Epist. ad Galat. 1. ii. c. 4. An\- 
 
 nasci. quamdiu Scripturarum verbis brose too, after tracing the outward, 
 
 simplicibusinstruitur, et Judaicisad- gives in substance the same inward 
 
 hue expositionibusdelectatur: quan- application here: — "Sed etiam in 
 
 do vero ad sublimiora transcenderit, singulis Sara est, et in singulis Agar, 
 
 et legem intellexeritspiritalem, tunc Sara vera sapientia est : Agar autem 
 
 eum de repromissione generari." est versutia, tanquam ancilla perfec- 
 
 Then, after giving the dispensational tioris virtutis. Alia enim sapientia 
 
 fulfilment, he adds: — "Melius esse sj)iritalis, alia sapientia hujus mun- 
 
 iit non solum de his qui in Ecclesia ai," &c. — De Ahr. 1. ii. c. 10, § 73.' 
 sunt intellectum, alios servos, alios '•^ Chap. x\i. 6. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Si^irlt of Faith. 217 
 
 has through it been poured upon a higher principle, is 
 ejected even from that place, where as hand-maid it might 
 be most useful. So does legality lead to antinomianism, 
 and this when law as yet cannot be dispensed with. The 
 time comes, indeed, after Abram is circumcised and Isaac 
 is born, when there is no further need for the bond-maid, 
 and she is cast out for ever. Bat this is not yet. At 
 present the bond-maid is needed. She is therefore sent 
 back by the Lord to her true place as " Sarai's maid." ^^ 
 For " the law is good, if it be used lawfully." ^* The 
 sorrow comes from exalting it out of its proper place. 
 
 Thus goes the life of faith. And here exercises begin 
 in reference to law, which only end in the final dismissal 
 of the bond-maid. At the point where this chapter ends, 
 this conclusion is not foreseen ; for after this the elect yet 
 beseeches that the fruit of the flesh may be his heir.'"^ 
 But exercises of soul here begin which only end in the 
 perfect discovery of Grod's mind upon the subject. 
 
 I need not shew how here, as throughout, this history 
 has had its fulfilment upon every platform where Grod has 
 worked in man. We are familiar with its accomplishment 
 in the dispensations. In the history of Grod's dealings 
 with mankind, before the death of the flesh is known, and 
 before Sarai conceives, that is, before the Grospel times, 
 the actings of the spirit of faith are found in connection 
 with Hagar or law throughout a whole dispensation ; thus 
 on the broadest scale developing the results of dealing 
 with the flesh to gain the seed. We know how when the 
 fulness of time was come, and the true Isaac was born, 
 Ishmael, the seed according to the flesh, mocked and 
 rejected Him ; and we know how since that hour the bond- 
 's Chap. xvi. 8, 9. '* 1 Tim. i. 8. '^ c}^ap. xvii. 18. 
 
218 Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith, part iv. 
 
 maid and her seed have been cast out, though for that seed 
 in its time a suited blessing tarries. This fulfilment in 
 the dispensations is so well known, that I need but allude 
 to it.^^ But there is also the fulfilment in the outward 
 kingdom now. Here, men of faith, because the gospel is 
 so long unfruitful, turn to law, by law and human energy 
 to raise up a seed to fill the elect house. In the Church, 
 because Sarai is barren till the flesh in the elect is dead, 
 the impatience of believers, as yet not dead, by the flesh 
 has sought and obtained a seed. But it is " a wild-ass 
 man,'' with the " mark of the beast " upon it. The true 
 seed now, as of old, only comes out of death and barren- 
 ness through resurrection power.^^ 
 
 Thus are we shewn here, outwardly, what men, — in- 
 wardly, what in man, — shall inherit the kingdom. The 
 inward fulfilment is that which first concerns us. May we 
 there apprehend what we are apprehended for ! 
 
 § VI. — The true Way for Abram to be Fruitful. 
 
 (Chapter xvii.) 
 
 The last scene shewed the efforts of faith to be fruitful by 
 its own energy, and in connection with self-will. The 
 results having proved that this is not Grod's way, the elect 
 comes now to a point where the way of fruitfulness ac- 
 cording to God is fully opened to it. The mind of Grod is 
 
 '^ Jerome says, speaking for antequam Christus de rirgine nas- 
 
 others as well as himself, '• Paeue ceretur," &c. — Comment, in Ep. ad 
 
 cunctorum super hoc loco ista est Gal. 1. ii. c. 4. Ambrose enlarges 
 
 explanatio ; ut Agar anciUam inter- on the same y\e-w,DeAbr. 1. ii. c. 10, 
 
 pretentur in lege et in popnlo Ju- § 72 and 74. Augustine also, ^war. 
 
 da?orum ; Saram autem liberam, in m Psalm, cxix. {E. V. 120.) § 7. 
 
 Ecclesia, quae de gentibus congre- *' Augustine often expounds this 
 
 gata est, quae est mater omnium view ; see Enar. in Psalm, cxix, 
 
 nostrum. Haec diu non peperit, {E. V. 120,) § 7, and elsewhere. 
 
 1 
 
PART IV. Abraliam, or the Spirit of Faith 219 
 
 now revealed, that the promised seed comes after the cir- 
 cumcision of the flesh, not by its energy, but by its mortifi- 
 cation, and by means of a change wrought in faith itself 
 by the inbreatliing of Him who now makes Himself known 
 to us as " God Almighty." This is the lesson of this stage, 
 that faith's true fruitfulness is only in God's strength and 
 through self-renunciation. Where we are more, God to 
 us is less. God will be more, yea everything, to us, when 
 we are nothing. Grace even as nature abhors a vacuum. 
 Only let us be empty, and the breath of heaven will fill us 
 abundantly. The revelation by which Abram learns this, 
 and his submission, figure that instruction which faith yet 
 receives from God, and to which it yet yields the same 
 implicit and prompt obedience. 
 
 We have here, first, the revelation by which Abram 
 learns the true way of fruitfulness. It comes after many 
 weary days, — " when Abram was ninety years old and 
 nine;"^ and even then is given by degrees, first briefly and 
 generally, then in fuller detail, when Abram bows to 
 w^elcome it. It comes not till Abram is hopeless in him- 
 self. Then, as the first brief announcement is met by 
 worship and submissiveness, — for " he fell on his face," — 
 while in this posture the fuller revelation of God's mind is 
 granted to him. How much is here ! We are quick to be 
 up, and while up and doing like Abram we do nothing to 
 any purpose. We are slow to be " on our faces," yet it is 
 here God's mind is learnt, while in the sense and con- 
 fession of our weakness we lie low before Him. 
 
 But to speak of these communications. The first is 
 this, — " I am God Almighty : walk before me, and be per- 
 fect, and I will make my covenant with thee, and I will 
 multiply thee exceedingly." ^ 
 
 * Chap. xvii. 1. ' Chap. xvii. 1, 2. 
 
220 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. patit iv. 
 
 Now this, though brief, contains the germ of all that 
 follows, declaring that the seed depends upon Grod's " I 
 will," because He is " Grod Almighty ; " while as to the 
 means, singleness of eye and heart towards G-od, — " Walk 
 before me, and be thou perfect,""^ — is the great requisite. 
 Here, as ever, there is the " I will " of Grod, pledging the 
 result, and also the sanctifying word, " Walk before 
 me," shewing the path in wliich the elect will find the 
 blessing. 
 
 All this, however, is only more perfectly developed in 
 the second and fuller revelation which God vouchsafes to 
 His servant when he falls down and worsliips. Many 
 particulars are here revealed, as to the source and channel 
 of the blessing, and as to the means both on Grod's and 
 man's part. 
 
 For the source, it is not in the creature, but in Grod. 
 Jehovah, revealed as " God Almighty," here to barren 
 Abram, seven times repeats His " I will : " — " / luill make 
 my covenant with thee, and / will multiply thee, and 
 / luill make thee exceeding fruitful ; and / will make 
 nations of thee, and / will establish my covenant with thy 
 seed after thee ; and I luill give to thy seed the land 
 wherein thou art a stranger, and / will be their Grod."'* 
 As if He had said. Thou child of grace, hast tkou not yet 
 learnt that my word, my " I will," is that which makes 
 thee fruitful ? Xow hear again my covenant, — I will make 
 thee fruitful : not from thyself, but from me is thy fruit 
 found. Not by thy energy out of Hagar, — not by blood, 
 nor of the ^vill of the flesh, nor of the will of man, — but 
 because " I will," shalt thou have the seed. And so of tlie 
 inheritance : thou hast not earned or deserved it, nor can 
 
 ^ "Perfect:" Heb. D^DH. sincere used of Noah, chap. vi. 9. See also 
 or unmixed; the same word as that Deut. xviii. 13. * Chap. xvii. 2-8. 
 
PART IT. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 221 
 
 thy strength win it thee ; but this also is assured to thee, 
 because " I will give it thee." 
 
 The channel, too, by which the seed should come is 
 declared. Faith now learns that Sarai, the barren free- 
 woman, that is, the spiritual will, is to bear the desired 
 fruit.^ Long has this will been fruitless in us : most dear 
 to us, we have yet turned from it, to be built up through 
 Hagar or self-will. But faith now learas God's way of 
 fruitfulness, that He will " make the barren woman within 
 us to keep house, and to be h joyful mother of children." 
 
 As to the means God uses for this. He first changes 
 Abram and Sarai's names, adding to each a letter which 
 is most significant. Abram now is changed to Abraham. 
 A name ever implies quality. Here the Lord takes some- 
 thing of His own name, (for the added H is a special part 
 of the Divine name,) and adds it to the elect, thus in a 
 new name giving him a new character.^ What He adds 
 
 * Chap. xvii. 15-19. -which can and do exist by them- 
 
 •^ Chap. xvii. 5, 15. In Numb. selves, and -which give life and 
 
 xiii. 16, -we find a some-what similar breath to the rest, if -we may so 
 
 change : Oshea's name is changed speak ; -with the double addition of 
 
 to Jehoshua. -with the same spiritual the H, the letter of out-breathing, 
 
 reason. Jerome says on this, — in the middle and end of the name. 
 
 " Diount autem Hebrsei quod ex Luther, in his Comment on the First 
 
 nomine suo, Deus, quod apud illos -07/.P6'a/??w,(onPsalm v. ll.)after 
 
 Tetragrammaton est, n {He) lite- tracing a mystic sense in the letters 
 
 ram Abrae et Sarae addiderit," &c. and form of the name, Jehovah, in 
 
 — Qiuest. Hebr. in Gen. Others -which he sees a figure of tlie Trinity, 
 
 have observed respecting the name — the proportions of the Name (as 
 
 Jehovah, that it is formed simply he says) figuring the procession of 
 
 of the five vo-wels, I, E, O, U, A, the Son and of the Holy Ghost. — 
 
 -with a t-wice-repeated H. The says of the letter H, " The first syl- 
 
 vowels, or vocals, are so called, lable terminates in the letter He, 
 
 because they are sounds by them- -which is a soft breathing, indicating 
 
 selves ; unlike the consonants, which that the proceeding in the Divine 
 
 can only be sounded -with a con- Persons is not carnal but spiritual, 
 
 joined vowel. It is remarkable that and all-sweet, and all-gentle. For 
 
 the name Jehovah, the Self- Ex- if the aspirate letter be extended in 
 
 isting-One, is composed of those sound, it is nothing more than a 
 
 sounds, (and it contains all of them,) certain soft i)roccidinij of -wind or 
 
222 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 is the mystic letter He, (n) tliat sound which is only 
 formed by an out-breathing ; the addition of which, making 
 Abram into Abraham, shewed how the elect should be 
 made fruitful, even by the Lord's out-breath, that is the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 And to bear good fruit the spirit of faith even yet must 
 be breathed on by the Lord, and by that breath be changed 
 from Abram to Abraham. Until we are so breathed upon, 
 though beloved and elect, faith in us is, and will be, 
 barren. To bear fruit we must obtain the " new name ; " 
 a new character must be in-w^rought, the result of the gift 
 of the Spirit or breath of Him, who by communications of 
 Himself moulds us to His pleasure. Surely we are His, 
 beloved and called, long before we know the baptism of 
 the Spirit. Like those of old we follow the Lord, at first 
 knowing Him after the flesh, before we reach to Pente- 
 cost and know Him spiritually. We may like Peter on 
 the Mount even see the glory of the living Word, and the 
 law and the prophets testifying to Him, and yet after this 
 deny Him. But the time arrives when we, who have 
 followed Christ in the flesh, come to be tried by His 
 cross, and to see His resurrection. Then, — when the 
 cross is no more a puzzle, — when we see it is the way to 
 life, and that the flesh verily profiteth nothing, — when we 
 have tarried until we are endued with power, and the 
 Holy Ghost has come on us, the out-breathing of God, 
 
 gentle blast ; so thai it most appro- and proceeding from the first," &c. 
 
 priately figures forth the proceeding — Vol. i. p. 277, of the Translation 
 
 of the Son. And in like manner bj/ Cole. If in the laws of number 
 
 the whole name is terminated in the and of sound nothing is by chance, 
 
 same letter of a soft breathing ; so He who has been pleased to reveal 
 
 that we are to understand that the Himself as Jehovah surely has a 
 
 second lorocecdmg is also spiritual, reason for the very form of this 
 
 and not at all differing froni the name, as indeed for all else, 
 former, except its being the second. 
 
PART IT. Abraham, or the Sjj'nit of Faith. 223 
 
 making us who have once foUowed Christ carnally, spai-ing 
 ourselves, now willino- to follow Him even to tlie death of 
 self, — then are we from Abram changed to Abraham. 
 The Lord hath breathed on iis : we can go and bring forth 
 much fruit. Till this change is wrought, we shall be 
 barren. When, by the Lord's revelation of Himself to us, 
 it is accomplished, the fruit we long for is not far off. 
 
 One thing, however, yet remains to })e done or suffered 
 by the elect. Abraham, as a pledge of his entire depend- 
 ence, must submit to certain appointed suffering, before 
 he can obtain the seed. Because the Lord has covenanted 
 with him, and has breathed on him, and so changed him, 
 therefore Abraham must on his part suffer in his flesh, so 
 testifying that his hope is not in the flesh or its energies, 
 but only in Jehovah, Grod Almighty. So Grod, after His 
 sevenfold promise, and after His gift of a new name, says, 
 " Thou shalt therefore keep my covenant : and this is my 
 covenant, which ye shall keep ; ye shall circumcise the 
 flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the cove- 
 nant betwixt me and you." ^ 
 
 Now this circumcision signified the mortification of that 
 fleshliness which yet cleaves to the elect spirit. Even the 
 spirit needs to be judged, and "true circumcision is that 
 of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter." ^ In cir- 
 cumcision a part of the flesh was cut off: " the filth of the 
 flesh was put away." ^ So faith must judge whatever of 
 the flesh is in it, " laying aside all tilthiness and super- 
 fluity of naughtiness, to receive with meekness the en- 
 grafted word," ^^ — that measure of the Divine which is 
 
 ' Chap. xvii. 9-11. the words, crapKds aiT6de(ns ^unov, 
 
 " Rom. ii. 29. Compare Deut. x. allude to circumcision. 
 16, and Jer. ir. 4. '" James i. 21. 
 
 ^ 1 Pet. iii. 21. I am assured that 
 
224 Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 communicated to it, — that so in the strength of the Lord, 
 and not in self, but rather in self-judgment, it may indeed 
 be fruitful. And this spiritual circumcision, like that 
 which was its type, is not a figure only, but an actual seal, 
 an enduring mark impressed upon us ; for as it declares 
 that we have given up all fleshly confidence, so it shews 
 itself in counting all things but loss for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ Jesus ; reckoning all that the 
 flesh can achieve but as dung, if only the fellowship of 
 Christ's sufl"erings and the power of His resurrection may 
 be apprehended. So Paul says, " We are the circumcision, 
 who worship Grod in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus? 
 and have no confidence in the flesh." ^^ To the eye of 
 sense such an operation seemed not only dangerous to life, 
 but one which, when performed in years, even if the 
 patient survived, would probably preclude all fruitfulness. 
 The offering of Isaac was not a severer trial of faith, or 
 one more apparently opposed to the fulfilment of the pro- 
 mise. Such a trial to the believer is self-mortification. 
 Yet faith triumphs. We are " circumcised with the cir- 
 cumcision made without hands, in putting off the body ot 
 the sins of tlie flesh :" ^^ "by the spirit we mortify the 
 deeds of the body," ^^ and so " bear in our bodies the marks 
 of the Lord Jesus." ^^ 
 
 That this practical judgment of self must precede the 
 fruit of promise is not understood, nor is it required, when 
 we begin our pilgrimage. ^^ At this stage it is revealed 
 to faith. Need I say that this mortification is not our 
 righteousness ; — that is of faith, as it is written, " Abraham 
 
 " Phil. iii. 3, 8, 9, 1 0. mutationem nominis, nihil de cir- 
 
 '2 Col. ii. 13. curacisione praeeipitur. Non enim 
 
 " Eom. viii. 13. poterat, cum adhuc esset Abram, 
 
 •* Gal. vi. 17. susc'ipere circumcisionis insigne," 
 
 '^ " Et primum qiiidem, ante im- &c. — Origen, Horn. iii. in Gen. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, 225 
 
 believed Grod, and it was counted to him for righteous- 
 ness ;" — but this self-judgment comes to seal that righte- 
 ousness, " as the seal of the righteousness of the faith 
 which a believer has, being yet uncircumcised." ^^ Long- 
 before self is mortified, the elect is righteous ; nor are 
 we circumcised thereby to win the promise. On the 
 contrary, God first and freely promises. He says, " I will 
 multiply."' Then He adds, " Therefore thou shalt cir- 
 cumcise." God does indeed look for self-judgment, but 
 not as the ground, rather as the result, of promise. So 
 the Spirit ever speaks : — " I will be their God : therefore 
 come out from among them, and be ye separate : " *^ so 
 again, " Ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify 
 God : " '^ and again, " Ye are risen, and your life is hid 
 with Christ in God; mortify therefore your members 
 which are upon the earth." ^^ 
 
 Would to God that this lesson were learnt ; but, alas, 
 mortification is well nigh out of date. Instead of judging 
 the flesh, on all sides we see attempts to perfect it, and 
 this in the hope of thus seeing the seed of promise. But 
 some by the blood of Christ, shed first at His circumcision, 
 have better learnt God's mind. Only let them be faithful 
 to it. Only let the Church's creed, — " He died and rose," 
 — be her life. Then, as with the Head, so with herself, 
 the dying of the corn of wheat shall result in the bringing 
 forth of much fruit. 
 
 As to the time and subjects of this rite, much is here for 
 such as can receive it. For the time, the "eighth day" is 
 appointed.2^ Seven days in type include the stages or 
 periods proper to the first creation. The eighth day, as it 
 
 '« Rom. iv. 11. >» Col.iii. 3, 5. 
 
 " 2 Cor. vi. 17. ^o Chap. xvii. 12. 
 
 '8 1 Cor. vi. 20. 
 
226 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith part iv. 
 
 takes us beyond and out of these, brings us mystically into 
 a new order of things and times, in a word into the new 
 creation or resurrection. Those even in Abraham's family, 
 who are yet in the first seven days, that is, in the first 
 creation, are not to be circumcised.^^ Inwardly, the men 
 of Abraham's house are all the thoughts which are con- 
 nected with and subject to the spirit of faith. Some of 
 these were strangers, some home-born. All were now by 
 faith and with faith to be circumcised : for now we must 
 " bring every thought into subjection to the obedience of 
 Christ." 22 Outwardly, Abraham's house is the Church, and 
 its inmates the varying natures which fill the house of 
 faith. Of these all who have grown out of the seven days 
 must be circumcised. Practical mortification of the flesh 
 is not to be pressed on babes in Christ, till the eighth day 
 is apprehended by them ; but on all the rest the seal must 
 come, not to make them barren, but that they may be yet 
 more fruitful. 
 
 -' With the same import all crea- vis sacros patres pienos prophetico 
 
 tures newly born were counted in spiritu octayi sacramentum nequa- 
 
 their blood, or unclean, for seven quam lateret, quo significatur resiir- 
 
 days, and might not, before the ex- rectio : (nam et pro octavo Psalmus 
 
 piration of this period, be offered to inscribitiir, et octavo die circumci- 
 
 God. Neither calf, lamb, nor kid, debantur infantes, et in Ecclesiaste 
 
 could be presented as an oblation ad duorura Testamentorum signifi- 
 
 before it was eight days old. — Lev. cationem dicitur, ' Da illis sepiem, et 
 
 xxii. 27. Of the mystic import of illu octo ;'') reservatum est tamen et 
 
 the eighth day, and its connection occultatum," &c. — Epistol. 1. ii. Iv. 
 
 with circumcision, Augustine says, c. 13. 
 
 " Hujus rei signum circumcisio data " 2 Cor. x. 5. Ambrose thus gives 
 
 erat patribus, ut octavo die circum- the inward sense here: — "' Circum- 
 
 cideretur omnis masculus. Circum- cide tuum non solum vernaculum. 
 
 cisio fiebat in cultellis petrinis, quia sed etiam pretio emptura. Vernaculi 
 
 petra erat Christus. In ista circum- sunt motus naturales (mentis ;) pre- 
 
 cisione significabatur exspoliatio car- tio empti, ratione et doctrind ac- 
 
 nalis vitse octavo die per Christi quisiti. Egent autem et illi et hi 
 
 resurrectionera," &c. — Serm. ecxxxi, purgatione et incisions luxurise," &c. 
 
 § 2. Again he says, " Quapropter — J)e Abr. 1. ii. c. 11, ** 79, 
 ante resurrectionem Domini, quam- 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 227 
 
 Now see how the spirit of faith meets this word. Abra- 
 ham receives it with something not unlike questioning : — 
 "He fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 
 Shall a child be born to him that is an hundred years old, 
 and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear ? " But this 
 soon changes to prayer. At first the prayer is lacking in 
 intelligence ; for he said, " Oh ! that Ishmael might live 
 before thee." ^^ Nevertheless, he prays and bows himself, 
 even while pleading for his own will. This struggle too 
 passes. Grod speaks to his heart, telling him that though 
 the fruit of his own energy cannot be the heir of promise, 
 it shall receive a suited blessing; and the elect, though his 
 soul heaves like the sea after a storm, pleads no more for 
 his own will, but obeys promptly and explicitly. " In 
 the self-same day was Abraham circumcised, and all the 
 men of his house with him, as the Lord had said unto 
 him." 24 
 
 How exactly all this is yet fulfilled, those know who 
 from Abram have been made Abraham. The struggle of 
 doubt and hope within, — of our own wishes against the 
 Lord's will, — the desire for the abiding of that which is of 
 self, even when God himself promises better things, — 
 how all this, which so much savours of the will of the 
 flesh, ends in prompt obedience and willing self-renuncia- 
 tion, is experience which not a few have learnt. Happy 
 they who have thus mortified the flesh with its affections 
 and lusts. Painful as the discipline may be, apparently 
 contrary to that which we desire, the end will shew how 
 good it is for us that we have been thus afflicted. Till we 
 are so afflicted we shall lack the promised seed. 
 
 A few words will suffice for the dispensational fulfilment 
 here. Perfection and self-mortification were not required 
 " Chap. xvii. 17, 18. ^* Chap. xvii. 23-27. 
 
228 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. paut iv. 
 
 from men of faith until the time came for Sarah to be 
 fruitful, that is, till Gospel days. But when the time was 
 come for a new and wider revelation, — when God would 
 shew himself as El Shaddai, the Almighty, who could bring 
 fruit even out of death and barrenness, — when His out- 
 breath was given in a way unknown before, making His 
 elect partakers of the Divine Nature, and possessors of 
 His spirit, — then with this grace was a judgment of self 
 demanded, which before this had not been asked of men. 
 How truly did the elect then cry as Abraham here, — " Oh, 
 that Ishmael might live before thee." How earnestly did 
 Paul long for Hagar's son, when he said, " My heart's 
 desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be 
 saved." ^^ But the fruit of the flesh could not be the heir, 
 though even to them a suited blessing is covenanted.* Well 
 might Paul, as he thought upon it, break forth in wonder, 
 " Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and 
 knowledge of God ! " 
 
 § VII. — The End of Lot. 
 
 (Chapters xviii. and xix.) 
 
 Now comes the end of Lot, which must be known before 
 Isaac, the spirit of sonship, is given to us. Thus, one after 
 another of the things once walked with drop off from 
 around Abraham as he advances. For the path of the 
 spirit of faith is one of ever increasing separateness to 
 God ; until, being stripped of all external aids, it is with- 
 out any other hope cast wholly and for everything upon 
 the Lord alone. Terah, the old man, is first left. Then, 
 when we escape from Egypt, Lot separates himself. After 
 
 " Kom. X. 1. 
 
FART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 229 
 
 this, great efforts are made to reclaim him, shewing how 
 much the outward man is yet clung to and yearned over. 
 But a time comes when Lot is seen no more. This stag-e 
 liere begins to open to us. 
 
 "\\Tiat Lot is we have already seen. Inwardly, he is that 
 mind in us, which, though righteous, leans to outward 
 things ; which, therefore, though moved for a while to go 
 with faith, departs from it after Egypt is left, and goes 
 down Sodom- ward. ^ Such a mind is in us at this stage. 
 But the time comes in the life of faith, when Sodom, the 
 work of Ham's seed, must be judged in us ; when divine 
 judgment is seen to consume and overthrow all the plain 
 of Sodom, that is, the ground of self-love. For Sodom is 
 not judged at first. There is a time when self-love is not 
 consumed in us. Now its doom is seen ; and by this is 
 brought out the full difference between the spirit of faith 
 and the upright outward mind. To each the Lord now 
 speaks. The spirit of faith, having judged itself by cir- 
 cumcision, receives the Lord in a way unknown before, 
 with fresh promises, and an enlarged apprehension of 
 God's will ; while the outward mind, still vexed with self- 
 love, and able to receive only an inferior revelation, is 
 rescued thence to produce a shameful fruit, which is 
 destined to become a thorn in the way of Abraham's true 
 seed. After which Lot is seen no more. Having shewn 
 what it is, the outward mind no more affects the path of 
 faith. For a time it tries us, but a day arrives when its 
 full unlikeness to the spirit of faith is seen in a light 
 never to be forgotten. Thenceforth, whatever trials we 
 may have, we know the difference between these, and 
 knowing it walk more simply and intelligently.^ 
 
 ' See on chapters xii. and xiii. ■ inward fulfilment here : — " Loth, qui 
 * Origen at some length traces the non respexit post se, rationabilis 
 
230 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 This outline of the inward sense here may suffice for 
 tliose who can pursue it inwardly. The outward fulfilment 
 will be better known. In this view, Abraham is the type 
 of those in whom the spirit of faith is the ruling life : 
 Lot, of those who, though righteous and saved, are rather 
 outward than inward men, who hold the truth, but never 
 seem to apprehend the inward spirit of it. As if to shew 
 the contrast between these, Lot's path is drawn here beside 
 Abraham's. Both are seen entertaining heavenly visitors ; 
 both gladly welcome such a visit ; this is common to both : 
 but beyond this how different the circumstances, and the 
 results to each, of this intercourse ! 
 
 There is first a difference in the form of the Divine 
 manifestation. In Abraham's case we read, " The Lord 
 appeared to him at midday, and lo, three men stood by 
 him : " in Lot's, " There came two angels to Sodom at 
 even."^ In the first case, the Lord appears in human 
 form, and three persons are apprehended. In the other, 
 only two are seen. By the obedient soul, from Abram 
 changed to Abraham, the promise, " If any man keep my 
 word, lue will come unto him, and make our abode with 
 him,"'' is fully realized. Three persons. Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, will be known, stooping in a form we can bear to 
 come under our roof, not in darkness, but in the light, as 
 guests to commune with us. While those who yet are in 
 the world, like Lot, receiving their heavenly guests, " at 
 
 sensus est ; uxor autem hie carnis gloria et major soror ejus superbia. 
 
 imaginem teneat. Caro est enim, Vide ne te istse filise sopitum ac dor- 
 
 quse respicit semper ad vitia, quae mientem, dum tibi nee sentire nee 
 
 cum animus tendit ad salutem, ilia intelligere videris, complexibus suis 
 
 retrorsum respicit, et voluptates re- instringant. . . . Vigila ergo et ob- 
 
 quirit Vide ne tibi, cum effu- serva ne de his generes filios." — 
 
 gies flammas sseculi, . . . insidientur Ork/. Horn. vi. in Gen. 
 
 duse filise istse, quae a te non disce- ^ Cf. chap, xviii. 1, and xix. 1. 
 
 dunt, sed sequuntur te etiam eum " ■• John xiv. 23. 
 
 ascendis in montem, id est vana 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 
 
 231 
 
 even," that is, in declining light, be their faith what it 
 may, will in experience lose one person, and have less 
 perfect communion.* 
 
 The ground they stand on is as distinct. Abraham is 
 '• in the plains of Mamre, in his tent-door ;" Lot is " sit- 
 ting in the gate of Sodom." True men of faith, as pilgrims 
 with their tent, in obedient self-judgment rest at Mamre 
 or Hebron, that is in vision or communion. Others, 
 righteous but not self-judged, seek to judge "in the gate 
 of Sodom," the defiled world-loving world. ^ The one not 
 only give up the world, but are content to be given up by 
 it, which is far harder. The other take a place of power 
 here, hoping, unjudged as they are, to correct the faults 
 of others who are living in self-love. But can the Lots 
 correct or reform the world ? Eather they themselves are 
 
 * This is the common exposition 
 of the Fathers. Gregory Nyssen says, 
 — " Apparuit enim, inquit, ei Deus, 
 . . , . et ecce, tres viri astabant supra 
 eum. Et ecce, accurrit et adoravit 
 pronus in terram, et dixit, Domine, 
 si nactus sum gratiam coram te. ne 
 praetereas puerum tuum. . . . Ecce 
 igitur dicit quod Deus quidem ap- 
 paruit ei, sed quod tres tamen viri 
 essent, qui conspecti fuissent : ipsum 
 autem rursus uon quasi tribus dix- 
 isse, Domini, si inveni gratiam coram 
 vobis ; sed Dominum singulariter 
 ternos, nominasse, et tanquam unum 
 invitasse ad divertendum." — Test. c. 
 Jud. p. 152 ; Ed. Par. 1638. So too 
 Cyril of Alexandria : — '0(pQr\vai 5e 
 KoX TTore <pif](Ti rcf ^h^paajx, Kadrju^vcf 
 cTfi TJj 5pv\ TTJ Ma/xgpjJ, Tpets avQpu}- 
 TTOvs, Trjs ayias kci bpioovaiou TpidSos 
 eirexovTai rvirov. ETto irphs avrovs 
 (IneTu rhv becmefTiou 'A^paa/ji, ovxi 
 jj.dK\ou Kvpioi, Kvpit 8e jxova^iKuis, 
 K. T. \. — Contra Julian. 1. viii. p. 
 2G8. So too Ambrose, De Ahr. 1. i. 
 
 c. 5, § 33. Origen dwells much on 
 this manifestation being vouchsafed 
 " at mid-day:'''' — " Quod si credimus 
 hsec per Spiritum Sanctum scripta, 
 non puto fnistra placuisse Divino 
 Spiritui ut etiam tempus et hora 
 visionis Scripturse paginis manda- 
 retur, nisi et horse istius et temporis 
 ratio aliquid conferret ad scientiam 
 filiis Abrahffi, quibus utique sicut 
 opera Abrahse, facienda, ita et visita- 
 
 tiones istse speranda? sunt Si 
 
 enim lux quae in ipso est mentis, et 
 puritas cordis clara fuerit, iste meri- 
 dianum tempus in semetipso habere 
 videbitur, et per banc puritatem cor- 
 dis quasi in meridie positus Deum 
 videblt, sedens ad quercum Mambre, 
 quod ad viRionem interpretatur." — 
 Hovi. ii. in Cantica. 
 
 ^ To " &xt in the gate" was to take 
 the place of authority. See Deut. 
 xxi. 19; Ruth iv. 1 ; Lam. v. 14; 
 Psalm Ixix. 12 ; Prov. xxii. 22 : Isa. 
 xxix. 21 ; Amos v. 10, 12, 15 ; Prov. 
 xxxi. 23. 
 
232 Abraham, or the Sph^it of Faith pakt iv. 
 
 only " saved so as by fire." ^ A stage is, indeed, to be 
 reached by grace, when the elect not only " gets him out," 
 as Abram, from the ground of the old man, but when he 
 can go down thither again, as Jacob, to win flocks thence, 
 which he may bring back to Canaan. There is yet a 
 higher stage, when, as Joseph, he can even in Egypt have 
 it all bowed down before him, while he is its deliverer. 
 But at the Abraham stage this cannot be. To Abram the 
 word is, " Gret thee out into a land which I will shew thee." 
 The path of faith as such is not to cleanse the world, but 
 to lift man out of it to dwell in heavenly things. Further 
 on, the elect may be fit for more. As a believer, his place 
 is the ground of promise, in marked separation from out- 
 ward things. True believers, therefore, dwell apart with 
 God, while the Lots, unjudged, and unfit to judge others, 
 dwelling in Sodom, strive by efforts to improve it, to 
 justify to themselves a position which they feel at least 
 questionable. For few have known the true walk of faith, 
 even in the measure Lot knew it when he walked with 
 Abram, but have some misgivings when they compare 
 their position as professed improvers of the world, which 
 yet is not improved, with that of those who in separation 
 from it are bearing witness of a better. So they labour 
 in the fire, comforting themselves, that, while the Abra- 
 hams are useless to the world, they are doing something 
 for it. What they really achieve may teach them at last 
 that Sodom cannot even be helped, much less saved, by 
 unchastened outward men. But Lot has not yet learnt 
 this : while therefore Abraham is at Mamre, Lot is in the 
 gate of Sodom, calling its sinners " brethren."^ 
 
 Another contrast between these men may be seen in 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. iii. 15. ' Chap. xix. 7. 
 
PART IT. Abrahaw, or the Spirit of Faith. 233 
 
 their reception of their guests, and tlie circumstances 
 attending it. In both there is the same desire for commu- 
 nion ; but while in tlie one case this at once is granted, in 
 the other at first it is denied : with the one, communion 
 is undisturbed ; with the other, when at last obtained, it 
 is marred by the intrusion of the men of Sodom. To 
 Abraham's request, " Pass not away, my Lord, but let me 
 fetch a morsel of bread," the answer at once is, " So do as 
 thou hast said." To Lot's petition, " Turn in, my lords, I 
 pray you, into your servant's house," the reply is, " Nay, 
 but we will abide in the street all night." ^ Eventually, 
 indeed, they yield to his importunity, and he sups with 
 them, and they with him. But whereas in Abraham's 
 case, communion is reached, as it were, naturally without 
 an effort, in Lot's there is a struggle of prayer before his 
 desire is granted. By the self-mortified pilgrim commu- 
 nion is easily obtained. Those who live in the world, 
 judging it rather than themselves, though they would 
 gladly welcome the Lord or His servants, find that, before 
 communion can be enjoyed, a temporary denial and a 
 spiritual struggle must be experienced. Further, in Abra- 
 ham's case, the communion is unbroken. No rude alarms 
 from without disturb his quiet intercourse. In Lot's, 
 " the men of Sodom compass the house," and Lot, dis- 
 tracted, " went out at the door to them, and shut the 
 door after him." ^° Abraham, having but One Master to 
 serve, can stand before Him in peace. Lot witli two 
 masters, the Lord and the world, can satisfy neither, nor is 
 himself satisfied. Forced away from his guests by those 
 among whom he dwells, the communion of saints, if 
 known at all, is known with many interruptions. 
 
 * Cf. chap, xviii. 5, and xix. 2. '" Cf. chap, xviii. 8, and xix. 5, G. 
 
234 Abraham^ or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 Other contrasts abound throughout this scene. Of 
 Abraham it is said, " He ran to meet them : " of Lot only 
 that " he rose up."'^ The one, as soon as the Lord appears, 
 instinctively draws nearer to Him : the other, though 
 welcoming Him, does not shew the same alacrity. In the 
 feast prepared, too, a difference may be seen. By Abra- 
 liam "a calf" is slain, — there is the pouring out of a life, 
 — and " fine meal " is added : in the other we find only 
 " unleavened bread and wine," an acceptable service, yet 
 not so costly as the former.'^ And there is yet this differ- 
 ence in the communion of saints. Some can grasp the 
 highest aspects of Christ's death, apprehending Him as 
 the " ox," and the " fine flour," in which was no uneven- 
 ness : others have a lower view of the same offering, seeing 
 it only as " unleavened bread and wine." Happy is it to 
 see Christ in any form, but happiest he, who, walking with 
 the Lord, and giving to Him without grudging, in such 
 acts has the fullest views of Him who has even '^ given 
 Himself" to us. 
 
 A further contrast is to be seen in the state of the 
 respective families of Lot and Abraham. Abraham, to 
 the question, " Where is thy wife," can reply, in words he 
 could not have used in Egypt, "She is in the tent." In 
 Lot's case, the women of his house are in jeopardy, offered 
 to the men of Sodom, in hope of staying worse abomina- 
 tion.^^ Women, in this outward view, are principles.^'* If 
 
 " Cf. chap, xviii. 2, 6, 7, and xix. " a banquet of wine," as in Esther v. 
 
 1. Origen {Ho7n.W. in Gen.) dwells 6, and vii. 7. See also Isa. xxv. G. 
 
 at considerable length on this, and The LXX. here render it bj irdTov, 
 
 on the difference between the feasts " a drinking" 
 prepared by Lot and Abraham. '^ Cf chap, xviii. 9, and xix. 8. 
 
 •'- In the authorised version we ** See what is said of Eve, on 
 
 rea 1, " Lot made a feast, and did chap. iii. ; also respecting " the 
 
 bake unleavened bread." The word daughters of men," on chap. vi. ; also 
 
 nriK'D' ^^t;re translated "feast," is of ^arah and Hagar, on chap.s. xii. 
 
 elsewliere more correctly rendered and xvi. 
 
PART IV Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 235 
 
 we walk with God, we are in no danger of having our 
 principles defiled by the world's rough handling. Not so 
 if our home is the world : there our purest principles are 
 in danger of being abused, nay, often they are abused, for 
 the world, if it touches, cannot but dishonour them. I 
 know, indeed, that in every age men like Lot have been 
 found, who, tempted or forced by their position, prostitute 
 their principles to the use of the ungodly. I know, too, that 
 in so doing they hope to improve the world, and to keep 
 it from worse abominations. So have liberty and peace, 
 and other fruits of righteousness, been pressed upon the 
 world, in the hope that in embracing tliese it may, as the 
 world, be somewhat bettered. And what is the result ? 
 The principles are perilled or defiled, the world meanwhile 
 being not a whit the better. But the Lots do not believe 
 this, until bitter experience proves it. Is then nothing to 
 be done for the ungodly world ? Much surely. Do what 
 Abraham did for Sodom, — pray for it : nay, if you are 
 sent, do what God's messengers did, — testify of coming 
 judgment, and shew the way of safety. Bring those you 
 can out of it. But think not that as a Lot you can reform 
 or change it by your principles. It may defile you and 
 them ; you cannot change it. Were you a Joseph, you 
 might do something. Being only a Lot, or outward man, 
 tliough righteous, you are powerless. 
 
 Further, Abraham waiting on his guests " stood by 
 them " in calm communion. Lot " went out," anxious for 
 his children. Not one word is recorded addressed by him 
 to the heavenly strangers while they are in his house. ^^ 
 Men of faith can speak to the Lord, and in communion 
 receive fresh promises. The Lots can but speak to their 
 
 " Cf. chap, xviii. 8, 9, and xix. 14. 
 
236 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 children or the world, and receive warnings, that, if they 
 flee not, they must be destroyed. Lot's words here are 
 very characteristic. He goes out to direct others, but his 
 preaching is, first, not in exact accordance with the word of 
 the Lord, and then, not in accordance with his own con- 
 duct. The Lord had said, " Hast thou any here ? Bring 
 them out." Lot only says, " Get you out." ^^ It is all the 
 difference between "Come," and "Gro:" and alike as 
 these may seem, the difference is by no means trifling. 
 Again, his preaching is not in accordance with his walk. 
 Lot preaches, " Get you out of this place, for the Lord will 
 destroy it ;" but he himself " lingers." ^^ Here we see his 
 reason for altering the Lord's words. He could not " bring " 
 others out if he tarried there : he must say, " Get you out." 
 How many righteous Lots in Sodom are yet attempting thus 
 to bear the Lord's message. Even while they say. This world 
 is condemned, they linger in it, and are at last only sepa- 
 rated from it by force, against their own will. Yet they 
 hope such preaching will move others. But the truth from 
 such lips is paralysed. Its preachers are its greatest hin- 
 drance : they may like Lot be " saved by fire," but " their 
 works shall be burnt up, and they shall suffer loss." ^^ 
 
 Very different too are the words addressed to Abraham 
 out of Sodom, and to Lot yet lingering there. To both 
 the Lord declares that city's fate, but how unlike to each 
 the terms of the communication. To the one He speaks as 
 to a friend, saying, " Shall I hide from Abraham the thing 
 that I will do ? " To Lot He says, " We will destroy this 
 place : escape for thy life, lest thou also be consumed." ^^ 
 Such as walk with God can in quiet learn of Him. Such 
 
 i« Chap. xix. 12, 14. xv. 6, and 1 Cor. ix. 27. 
 
 »^ Chap. xix. 14, 16. '^ Cf. chap, xviii. 17-21, and 
 
 '8 1 Cor. iii. 15. Compare John xix. 13-17." 
 
i.MjT IV. Abraham^ or the >S;piV'// of Faith. 237 
 
 as walk with the world must, even as the world, be alarmed 
 to " flee for their life, lest they be consumed." A carnal 
 Christian cannot bear spiritual words. Paul, though he 
 might speak wisdom among them that were perfect, could 
 not speak to the Corinthians as unto spiritual.^^ Even the 
 Holy Ghost, whose office it is " to take of the things of 
 Christ " to shew them to faithful souls, to the world speaks 
 only "of sin, and righteousness, and judgment." ^i Worldly 
 Christians therefore, though they talk for ever of assurance 
 and election, so long as they are in the world will hear 
 God's voice warning and alarming them. Out of Sodom 
 they shall hear of peace ; in it, the word, and it is in love, 
 must be a warning, lest they also be consumed. 
 
 Even more unlike are the prayers of these men. 
 Abraham, with confessions that he is " but dust and ashes," 
 waiting on God in Christ-like intercession, yields his will 
 to God's will. Lot, full of self, styling himself God's 
 " servant," prays only for self, in a prayer which through- 
 out is a struggle to obtain his own will.^^ The Lord had 
 said, " Stay not in all the plain : " and Lot answered, " Oh ! 
 not so, my Lord ; " that is, not thy will but mine be done : 
 (is there not too much of such prayer ?) to justify which he 
 speaks of grace ; " Not so, my Lord, for thy servant hath 
 found grace in thy sight." This is ever so : Christians in 
 the world plead grace as a reason for self-indulgence and 
 for obtaining their own will. Then again what confusion 
 is in the prayer. He speaks of the "mercy shewn in 
 saving his life," and yet of "some evil (he knows not what) 
 taking him ;" not saying, "I will not," but "I cannot :" — 
 " I cannot escape to the mountain, lest I die." Thus he 
 
 2« 1 Cor. ii. 6, and iii. 1. Compare " Qf ^.^ap. xviii. 23-33, and 
 
 Heb. V. 11-14. xix. 18, 19. 
 
 2' Compare John xvi. 8, and 13, 14. 
 
238 Abraham, or the SpiHt of Faith. pakt iv. 
 
 pleads for his own way to the end, his last request being 
 for Zoar, a little matter, — " Is it not a little one ? " — the 
 gracious answer to which is one of the unnumbered proofs, 
 that as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is 
 the Lord's mercy to all them that fear Him. 
 
 But one fact more is known of Lot. Sodom is judged: 
 the condemnation of this world is clearly seen. Then 
 Abraham gets up early to the place where he stood before 
 the Lord, as though yet waiting on Him. Lot, unsatisfied 
 with his self-chosen refuge, gets up to the mountain, 
 without a command, only to fall there grievously. '^^ Wine 
 first, and then his daughters, cast him down. So when out- 
 ward men, through mere alarm of judgment, attempt with- 
 out command to walk where faith walks, their very gifts will 
 cause their fall. The higher the ground, the harder for 
 them to occupy it. There the cup of blessing, misused by 
 Lot's daughters, that is, by the evil working of those prin- 
 ciples which have been produced and are most cherished by 
 outward men, will give occasion for those very principles 
 first to corrupt, and then to be themselves corrupted by, 
 those who cherished them. Thus will rigfhteous Lots 
 unintentionally produce out of their own self-defiled 
 principles a seed to their own shame and the grief of God's 
 elect ; a seed which Israel may be forbidden to dispossess,^* 
 but which cannot come into the congregation of the Lord,^^ 
 to the end dwelling nigh to the wilderness, short of the 
 land beyond Jordan. 
 
 Such is the end of Lot. Henceforth he is no longer a 
 snare to the man of faith. Within, when once the outward 
 
 ^^ Compare the Lord's command tuously, without a divin* command. 
 
 to Israel, to go up into the land, — Dent. i. 26-44. 
 whichtheydisobeyed, with the result '^* Deut. ii. 9-12, and 19-21. 
 
 of the self-will of the same men, who " Deut. xxiii. 3, 4. 
 
 afterwards chose to go up presump- 
 
TART IV. Abraham, or the Spirif of Faith. 239 
 
 mind has shewn its full unlikeness to that spirit of faith, 
 with which for a while it seemed so closely linked, it ceases 
 to be a hindrance : it may live, but henceforth it does not 
 trouble faith. So without, the fall of outward men may 
 grieve, but it will not stumble the men of faith. It may 
 even help them, as the removal of dead wood serves the 
 vine no less than the purging and pruning of the fruitful 
 branch. " All things are yours." " In all these things we 
 are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." 
 
 § VIII. — Abraham in the Philistines' Land. 
 
 (Chapter xx.) 
 
 One trial more remains for faith before Isaac, the spirit of 
 sonship, is manifested. Terah and Egypt have long since 
 been left ; Sodom is judged; Lot too is gone, no more to 
 trouble us. In other words, the old man, and sense, and 
 self-love, and the outward man, have all been given up or 
 overcome. At this point another trial meets us. Abra- 
 ham, saved from Egypt, and Sodom, and Lot, comes into 
 the Philistines' land ; and there, through fear lest he should 
 be killed for his wife's sake, is tempted to deny his true 
 relation to her. " Abraham said of Sarah, She is my sister: 
 and Abimelech, king of Grerar, sent and took her." But 
 Grod interferes, making known to the Philistine, that, 
 because she belongs to another, he may not touch her. 
 Sarah, therefore, is restored untouched to Abraham, who 
 with her receives considerable presents from Abimelech.^ 
 
 Thrice does the elect fail thus. In Egypt Abraham has 
 already once given up his wife. Now with the Philistines 
 
 ' Chap. XX. 1-16. 
 
240 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, part iv. 
 
 he repeats the same act. Isaac, too, at a later date fails in 
 like manner.' There must be, therefore, some peculiar 
 tendency in the elect to that form of failure or error, which 
 for our instruction is recorded here. What is it ? Can we 
 be guilty of it ? Or may we say that Abraham's sons do 
 not fail here as their father did ? 
 
 Throughout this book every man or woman, sprung from 
 Adam, figures (if we take the inward application) some 
 mind or affection which by nature or grace springs out of 
 luiman nature. Abraham is the spirit of faith. Sarah, 
 speaking broadly, is the principle of the New Covenant. 
 What is Abimelech ? He was a Philistine. On turning to 
 the chapter^ which gives us the development of the seeds 
 which multiplied on resurrection-ground, we read that the 
 Philistines were the children of Mizraim or Egypt. Egypt 
 is sense ; ^ outwardly, those who live the life of sense, that 
 is, in seen things. The Philistine is only the same spirit, 
 in rather a different aspect, and at a further stage. Thus, 
 if Egypt figures worldly wisdom, that knowledge through 
 the senses which cannot really know God, the Philistine 
 represents the further attainments of the same, when it is 
 seen attempting to enter into heavenly things. For the 
 Philistine stretches out toward the land of Canaan;^ but 
 he would enter that land without circumcision,^ without 
 
 2 Chap. xxvi. 6-11. David also ^ The Philistines are continually 
 " changed his behaviour before Abi- mentioned as " uncircumcised." — 
 melech." — See Psalm xxxiv. title; See 1 Sam. xvii. 26, 36; xxxi. 4; 
 and 1 Sam. xxi. 13. 2 Sam. i. 20, &c. Those who can 
 
 3 Chap. X. 13, 14. trace the mystic significance of num- 
 
 * See on chap. xii. bers will observe that there were 
 
 * A glance at any map, shewing " five lords of the Philistines." — 
 the relative position of the Philis- Joshua xiii. 3; Judges iii. 3; 1 Sam. 
 tines, and Egypt, and Canaan, will vi. 4, 16, 18. Five always refers to 
 make this clearer to those who are something connected with the senses, 
 not fiimiliar with the localities of the — See note above, p. 193. 
 countries named here. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 241 
 
 passing the wilderness, and without crossing Jordan or the 
 Ked Sea. Such is the Philistine, knowledge derived from 
 sense, which seeks to enter into heavenly things without 
 death and resurrection. It is a race famed for giants,^ but 
 with all their might they cannot possess the promised land. 
 Knowledge derived from sense is not elect: it cannot inherit, 
 though it may seek to intrude into, heavenly things.^ 
 
 What is figured here then is this. The spirit of faith, 
 delivered from outward hindrances, discovers that even 
 the knowledge which aims at heavenly things may be a 
 snare to it. An attempt is made by knowledge to take 
 the things of faith, and hereby faith's best things are 
 seriously imperilled. For knowledge may not take the 
 things of faith. Nevertheless, when faith fails to hold its 
 proper truth, knowledge attempts to lay hold on that 
 which as exclusively belongs to faith as Sarah did to Abra- 
 ham. But this is not allowed, and cannot be. The New 
 Covenant or spiritual truth belongs only to the spirit of 
 faith. On the other hand, if faith owns this relationship, 
 then knowledge may strengthen faith, and give it many 
 gifts, which may serve for the veiling or adorning of the 
 truth. For even as Abimelech gave gifts to Abraham, 
 after that he confessed the true relationship in whicli 
 he stood to Sarah, so may knowledge enrich faith witli 
 many useful things, if only the true relationship between 
 
 ' 1 Sam. xrii. 4-7; 2 Sam. xxi. col. liis chief-captain;' see cha|>. 
 
 15, 16, 18, 20. xxvi. 26;) qui tres, ut ego arbitror 
 
 * Origen gives the same interpre- imagijiem totius pliilosophiae tenent, 
 
 tation, taking the Philistine torepre- qnge in tres partes dividitur, logicam, 
 
 sent irorldli/ knowledge ov philosophy : physicam. ethicam, id est, rationa- 
 
 — "Sed et hoc non puto otiose Spi- lem, natnralem. moralem. Kationa- 
 
 ritui Sancto. qMi hsec scribit, curse lis est ilia quae Deum patrem omniuni 
 
 fuerit comprehendere, quod duo alii confitetur, ut est Abimelech,'" &c. — 
 
 ci\m Abimelech venerint; (alluding Horn. xiv. m Gc7i. xx\i. 
 to 'Ahuzzath, liis friend, and Phi- 
 
242 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 faith and the covenant of grace is not denied. It is not 
 lawful by knowledge to take hold of the things of faith, but 
 some of the things of knowledge may be received by faith, 
 and of these a covering may be made for the protection of 
 the things of faith. Faith, holding the truth, can possess 
 the things which knowledge gives, but mere knowledge 
 cannot enter into spiritual truth. 
 
 For example, take the truth of the cross. Mere earthly 
 knowledge never embraces it. But faith, firmly holding 
 this truth, may be confirmed and enriched by many con- 
 siderations, which properly belong to the province of mere 
 worldly knowledge, that is, the Philistine. For even nature 
 says, that the ground must be pierced by spade and plough 
 before it will yield its best fruits, — that thorns may grow 
 without a chastened earth, but that corn-fields only smile 
 after the ploughers have ploughed upon its back and made 
 long furrows. Every creature slain to support our life, the 
 threshing needed to separate the wheat from the chaff 
 which covers it, the crushing of the grape to produce the 
 precious wine, — these "voices in the world "^ all preach the 
 cross, and that life and joy are through death and sorrow 
 everywhere. Thus can faith in us receive from knowledge 
 many things which serve to enrich and strengthen it, while 
 knowledge on its part cannot possess spiritual truth. On 
 the other hand, faith freed from outward things now finds 
 that even knowledge may be a snare to it ; for knowledge 
 attempts to take the things of faith, and faith failing to 
 hold them firmly thereby imperils the promised seed. Had 
 the Lord not interposed, it might have been doubtful 
 whether Isaac were Abraham's seed or Abimelech's. But 
 Grod interferes : the things of faith are preserved inviolate. 
 Faith may fail : Grod never fails. 
 
 » 1 Cor. xiv. 10. 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, 243 
 
 Outwardly too the scene liere is fulfilled, when, through 
 the failure of believers to avow their special privileges, men 
 of mere worldly knowledge are deceived so as to think that 
 as worldlings they can possess the things of faith. That 
 believers fail thus is a fact, shameful and humbling, but 
 as certainly a fact as that Abraliam denied Sarah in the 
 Philistines' land. In this outward view, the Philistine 
 represents those in whom the spirit of worldly knowledge 
 is the ruling life, who, like the Philistine, stretch out to 
 enter holy things without spiritual circumcision, without 
 deatli and resurrection.^^ In the presence of such, through 
 fear of man, the believer is often tempted practically to 
 deny Sarah, by giving worldlings reason to think that as 
 the world, that is, by mere knowledge, without faith, t]ie 
 New Covenant can properly belong to them. The result is 
 that worldlings, knowing no better, think that the New 
 Covenant is something which they may know carnally, and 
 accordingly they so attempt to know it. For this the elect 
 are to blame. Words are used, which, though true in a 
 sense, are not true in the sense in which they are taken by 
 worldly men, and by these the world is deceived. Had 
 Abraham avowed Sarah's relation to him, that she was 
 his wife, Abimelech would in all probability not hav** 
 attempted to meddle with her. And if believers would but 
 say that certain truths belong to certain men, the world 
 would not so often attempt to grasp what is not theirs. 
 But this is shrunk from. And from fear of giving offence, 
 
 ^° Of this outward riew Origen — Horn. vi. in Gen. xx. Augustine 
 
 says, — " Videtur mihi quod hie Abi- traces a yet more general applica- 
 
 meleoh forraam teneat studiosonira tion, seeing in Abimelech the nilers 
 
 et sapientium sseculi, qui philoso- of tliis world, who seek to take the 
 
 phi* operam dantes, licet non inte- Church, not knowing its true rela- 
 
 grnm et perfectam pietatis regulam tioiiships, but are not permitted to 
 
 attigerint, tamen senserint Deuia violate it. — Co7itra Fauiiiu/n,l.7iSAi, 
 
 pfttrejii et regem esse omnium," &c. c. 38. 
 
 B 2 
 
244 Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith, part it. 
 
 by suggesting that there is anything which worldly men 
 cannot comprehend, they are by the Church's culpable 
 equivocation brought into real danger. Not knowing that 
 Sarah belongs to men of faith, they attempt to lay hold 
 of her by knowledge, that is, as Philistines. The soul 
 which believes is not a Philistine. Such a one may freely 
 take Sarah, for such a one is an Abraham, though perhaps 
 only just commencing his path from Ur of the Chaldees. 
 But for others without faith this is not allowed. Sarah 
 cannot be wife or mother of Philistines. 
 
 This is important truth. In our poor pride we cannot 
 believe that anything can be too high or pure for us, or 
 that through our earthliness heavenly things may be a 
 curse, or that as the air of heaven is death to the fish of 
 the sea raised into it, so the things of the Spirit 
 of Grod may only destroy and ruin us. And yet when we 
 think of the way in which He who is Love has given, and 
 still gives, the light of truth to a world which lies in dark- 
 ness, — how He gave it by degrees, under thick veils and 
 shadows, for the space of many hundred years ; not surely 
 because He grudged the light, but because mankind could 
 only bear little ; — when we think how, even when the 
 Light Himself appeared, after so many thousand years of 
 thick darkness. He yet came under a veil of flesh and 
 blood, allowing only a few who loved Him, and just in 
 proportion as they loved Him, to see His true brightness, 
 when His raiment did shine as the sun, and He was trans- 
 figured before them ; — when we think of the heathen 
 world, why. with a God of love, they are so left ; and of 
 the many Christians, who are Grod's beloved children, 
 whom yet He leaves in dimness all their days, seeming- 
 even at times providentially to keep them from more light, 
 though light is all around ; — when we remember that He 
 
PART IV. Abraham, or the Spirit of Faith. 2\5 
 
 who acts thus is the only wise and loving God, we may be 
 sure that the light of truth is awful as well as blessed, and 
 that there are good reasons for giving it little and little, 
 and for leaving man for a season " in the lowest parts of 
 the earth." 
 
 The truth is, things in earth or heaven are good or 
 otherwise to us, not according to their own intrinsic good- 
 ness, but according to our fitness to deal with them. Being 
 what we are, God's best things would consume us. There- 
 fore in love (for indeed God's judgments are love) is 
 fallen man shut out from open vision of heavenly things. 
 Therefore is the Incarnation the way the Lord has met us, 
 a veil covered with cherubic forms, hiding yet revealing 
 heavenly things. Therefore are carnal men kept back 
 from spiritual things, because carnally received they would 
 increase their condemnation. And great as are the sins 
 and judgment of the world, far greater would they be, did 
 not God sometimes interfere to check them in theii 
 advance on holy things. Carnal knowledge of grace 
 would not improve them. In mercy therefore are they 
 withheld from it. But men of faith have failed to declare 
 this as they should, so that worldly men like Abimelech 
 can reprove the Abrahams. And however believers may 
 justify to themselves the equivocations, by which the world 
 are deceived to think that as the world they may have 
 part or lot in the New Covenant, neither God nor man 
 will hold them guiltless. The Lord may indeed forgive 
 the sin, but Abraham must confess it, so that henceforth, 
 if he cannot help, at least he may not by his blessings be 
 a snare to, others. 
 
 This lesson learnt, the believer is not far from tlie 
 attainment of that fruitfulness which he has so long 
 waited for. Being so far purged, he is fit to bear good 
 
246 Abraham, or the SjDirit of Faith. part iv. 
 
 fruit ; and the fruit is borne, not to his own joy only, but 
 like Isaac to the joy of many others. For when Isaac 
 comes, a covenant is made with Philistines J ^ If they 
 cannot be Sarah's sons, they shall in their place at least 
 receive some blessing through Abraham. We shall see 
 this when we come to Isaac's life. Would to Grod that all 
 through grace had reached it. Then the Lord shall hear 
 the heavens, and the heavens hear the earth, and the 
 earth shall hear the corn and wine and oil, and they shall 
 hear Jezreel. For He will sow her unto Himself in the 
 earth, and will say to them that were not His people. Ye 
 are my people, and they shall say. The Lord is our Grod. 
 
 " Chap. xxi. 27-34. 
 
PAET y. 
 
 ISAAC, OK THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP. 
 
 (CHAPTEES XXI. — XXVI.) 
 
 Now we, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."— Gal. iv. 28. 
 
 We have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."— Ron. riii. li 
 
ISAAC, OR THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP. 
 
 (chapters XXI. XXVI.) 
 
 At this stage, when Adam, and Cain and Abel, and Noah, 
 and Abraham and Lot, have already shewn themselves ; 
 when in the inward life we have known the old man, and 
 the strivings of flesh and spirit, and regeneration ; and 
 the spirit of faith has been freed from much that impeded 
 it in the earlier stages of its pilgrimage ; — at this stage 
 appears another form of life, rightly called Isaac or 
 laughter,^ because it brings great joy with it, the spirit of 
 sonship, the fruit of Abraham or faith, another develop- 
 ment of the elect spirit, another shade of the light of life 
 in man. For not only do many forms of life grow out of 
 the old man, before the true spirit of sonship or adoption 
 is born in us ; but even the elect spirit, which in due time 
 is to produce this, (though from the first it contains it 
 as the root holds the flower, and as Levi was in the loins 
 of Abraham when MeJchisedek met him,) does not bring 
 it forth until other forms of life have first been produced 
 and manifested. The stem must bud and grow before the 
 fruit comes forth. So Adam, and Abel, and Noah, and 
 Abraham, that is, the old man, and flesh and spirit, and 
 regeneration, and the life of faith, must precede in our 
 
 > Heb. pr\T, from pnV, to laugh. 
 
250 Isaac, or the Spirit oj iSonship. part v. 
 
 souls (as the root and stalk precede the fruit) tliat spirit 
 of sonship -which Isaac represents, as Isaac or sonship 
 must again precede that evangelic service which Jacob 
 typifies. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are types of the 
 divine life in man, manifesting itself in the spirit, in the 
 understanding, and in the body respectively ; — for this is 
 only another way of saying that they are the spirit of 
 faith, of sonship, and of service : for sonship is the bring- 
 ing of the divine life into our understanding, and service 
 is bringing it into our outward and bodily acts ; — and 
 this cannot be done at once, but by degrees and succes- 
 sively. Sonship is come, when the things which are in 
 the spirit are in the understanding also. Service is come, 
 when the things which have been in the understanding 
 are seen in the body and wrought outwardly. The sub- 
 ject, like all which is of God, is infinite. We only make 
 it definite by not touching the infinite.^ 
 
 Each of these then is the same elect spirit, only seen at 
 different stages of its development, and taking at each 
 stage a different form, by which the same One Spirit may 
 shew itself in its sevenfold variety. The Holy Ghost in 
 all supplies the common light-power; but the creature 
 gives to the colourless light a medium by which it may 
 variously reflect itself. For as the same one light of the sun 
 
 2 It may interest some to mark ters xxii. xxiv. &c., are examples of 
 
 how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as this. Blind leaders of the blind may 
 
 they figure the divine life in man, urge this exposition as opposed to 
 
 also figure something of the life of that which I have given here. But 
 
 God Himself. That they have been the one is the very reason and ground 
 
 80 regarded by some is well known. of the other. Our life as saints is 
 
 The Fathers hesitate not to say, that but the result of our being made par- 
 
 in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they takers of the divine nature. If He 
 
 see types of the ways and works of lives and walks in us, our ways must 
 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy resemble His ways, and hence the 
 
 Ghost. The quotations given below, life of the elect will be a reflection 
 
 on the dispensational view of chap- of His life. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship 251 
 
 appears to us different, tliroiigh the reflecting medium of 
 the atmosphere of the pLanet which intercepts it, by which, 
 according to the peculiar fitness of each for reflection, one 
 star differeth from another star in glory ; so in us the one 
 same Spirit of God shews variously through the different 
 mental atmospheres whicli are furnished by the successive 
 stages of man's development. Fair indeed is the form of 
 life now reached in Isaac, in whom to faith is added 
 knowledge, — for the spirit of sonship is a spirit of under- 
 standing also, — an Isaac indeed, that is, joy, to all who 
 possess it, and bringing gladness not to Abraham's house 
 alone, but to many afar ofi". 
 
 Let us note some of the features of this much longed- 
 for child, the circumstances of his birth, and the treatment 
 which he at once meets with. 
 
 § I. — The Birth of Isaac, ai^d its Eesults. 
 
 (Chapter xxi.) 
 
 Three facts are recorded : — Isaac is born contrary to 
 nature ; then, while yet he is a babe, his blood is shed in 
 circumcision ; then at his weaning he is mocked by Hagar's 
 son. Such is and must be every Isaac's history. 
 
 First, he is born out of the common course of nature, 
 when Abraham and Sarah are both "as good as dead;" 
 for Abraham was now " a hundred years old," and Sarah 
 was " barren " and "past age."^ Then the Lord visited 
 Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as 
 He had spoken. So comes this form of life in us, through 
 despair of self, " not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 
 nor of the will of man, but of Grod." ^ It springs indeed 
 
 > Chap. xxi. 5, 7, and Ileb. xi. 11, 12. ^ j^^i^^^ i 13^ 
 
252 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. vxm v. 
 
 from faith, but not till faith itself by long fruitlessness 
 has learnt its own nothingness, that it is but the channel, 
 not the spring. While therefore the strength of the flesh 
 remains, though other fruit is borne, Isaac is not given us. 
 But Abraham's fleshly strength is now all gone : self- 
 will is no longer looked to as the means of bearing fruit ; 
 the true relationship to Sarah is confessed : then out of 
 that long-barren womb comes the promised seed. Isaac is 
 conceived. A new life grows within, soon to shew itself 
 to the joy of faith and of the inward spiritual will. 
 
 Then, whilst yet a babe, Isaac's blood is shed in circum- 
 cision. " Abraham circumcised Isaac, being eight days 
 old, as Grod had commanded hira."^ Abraham was ninety 
 years old and nine, when he received this seal :'* for the 
 spirit of faith, when it first starts, and even when it has 
 crossed Jordan, may be without self-judgment, unchastened, 
 unmortified. How many, in whom faith lives, are yet 
 unjudged, and have not reached to " the putting away of 
 the filth of the flesh " by inward circumcision. But with 
 the spirit of sonship or adoption this cannot be ; from the 
 very first this pin-e life is truly circumcised ; and that 
 uncleanness, which faith may carry with it many days, is 
 cut off at once from the new form of life which now is 
 given to us. 
 
 Other trials follow, first " weaning," then " mocking." 
 While he is a babe, Sarah herself " gives her son suck." 
 Pure milk at first is Isaac's food. But " the child grew 
 and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the 
 same day that Isaac was weaned." Then " the son of the 
 bond-maid mocks " the heir. " He that was born after 
 the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit."'' 
 
 ^ Chap. xxi. 4. ■• Chap. xvii. 24. 
 
 5 Chap. xxi. 7-9, and Gal. iv. 29. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonahip. 253 
 
 So is it now. While this new life is young, it needs milk. 
 At such a stage the carnal seed of faith does not trouble 
 it. But it grows and is weaned. Tlien a feast indeed is 
 spread, and then the bond-maid's son at once rises up in 
 mockery. If we have reached to sonship, and are in 
 spirit "weaned children," and the milk of our mother 
 can be exchanged for strong meat, then will faith per- 
 ceive how the fruits of Hagar rise against the purer fruit 
 which Sarah now has brought forth.^ Then begin fresh 
 trials to faith ; for faith now sees that its own first fruits 
 are opposed to the purer spiritual life. How many men 
 of faith have not yet a glimpse of this. We go far before 
 we know that the life which faith first produces in us, a 
 seed loved by us, the fruit of oiu: own efforts, and to get 
 which even Sarah has stirred us up, is at heart a mocker 
 and a persecutor. While it is alone, the real mind of this 
 son of the bond-maid is undetected, save by the eye of 
 God. But when the true fruit of grace is come, faith 
 itself perceives the mockings of Hagar's sou. Thus is 
 sonship o]jposed from the first, not least by that which 
 Abraham himself, that is the spirit of faith, has brought 
 forth and nourished up ; by a mind in us, which though of 
 faith is carnal, the fruit of union with Hagar or law, and 
 rather natural than spiritual. But Isaac though mocked, 
 is the heir ; and his coming casts out that which had 
 hitherto occupied the house of faith. 
 
 Let us mark the results of the coming in of this new 
 life, both in and out of Abraham's house. 
 
 ^ " Merito quseritur, cur Abraham magnum gaudium spiritalis setatis, 
 
 nee die quo natus est ei filius, nee quaiido fuerit factus homo novus 
 
 die quo circumcisus est. sed die quo spiritalis, id est non talis qualilnis 
 
 ablacbitus est, epulumfecerit. Quod dicit Apostolus, 'Lac vobis potum 
 
 nisi ad aliquem spiritalem signifii-a- dedi,'" &e. — Aiigusiin. QiKfst. in 
 
 tionem referatur, nulla soiutio quae- Gen. 1. i. n, 50. Origen notices the 
 
 stiouis est, tunc scilicet esse debere same thing. — Ho7}i, vii. in Gen. 
 
254 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, part v. 
 
 Within the house of faith, Isaac's birtli soon leads to the 
 final dismissal of Hagar, with whom her son is sent away. 
 While the new life is yet a sucking babe, Ishmael remains; 
 but when he beg-ins to mock, because " a great feast " is 
 made for the child, who now can bear strong meat, then 
 Sarah says, " Cast out this bond-maid and her son, for the 
 son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, 
 even with Isaac." "^ Sarah yet speaks so, when her son is 
 weaned. While she is barren, while the promise tarries, 
 while as yet the spirit of sonship is not come or only a 
 sucking babe, she endures the presence of the bond-maid 
 and her seed. But when Isaac is mocked, the bond-maid 
 is cast out. Both bondage and law are now dismissed. 
 For a time they have had their place and use with faith. 
 But their work is done when the spirit of sonship is come. 
 They depart now to return no more. 
 
 But this casting out " was very grievous to Abraham," 
 not so much on Hagar's as on her son's account.^ At this 
 stage the giving up of self-will or law is not so trying to 
 faith as the giving up of that form of life which faith has 
 produced out of self-will. But to give up this life, which 
 we ourselves have produced, is " very grievous " even to 
 men of faith. We cling to what we have or are, and are 
 slow to believe that there can be a something better than 
 that we now rejoice in. We cannot think that a life which 
 springs from faith can be cast out, not yet seeing that 
 faith's first fruit is carnal. Faith would, therefore, if it 
 might, keep Ishmael ; but the fruit of law and bondage 
 must be given up. Up and onward is the path for ever- 
 more. One after another of the things of childhood mu&t 
 be put away.^ " Grod said unto Abraham, Let it not be 
 
 » Chap. xxi. 10; Gal. iv. 30. » Chap. xxi. 11. » 1 Cor. xiii. 11. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 255 
 
 grievous in thy sight because of the lad : in all that Sarali 
 hath said unto thee, hearken to her voice." ^^ Trying, 
 therefore, as it is to cast out the bond-maid, let usiiearken 
 to all that Sarah saith unto us ; for " in Isaac only shall 
 the seed be called :" yet also upon the son of the bond- 
 maid will the Lord bestow a suited blessing ; for he shall 
 live and beget a mighty seed, because he also, though 
 carnal, is the fruit of faith." 
 
 Isaac's birth has results also out of Abraham's house. 
 The Philistine, seeing a son born contrary to nature, comes 
 to Abraham, and seeks peace. " It came to pass at that 
 time that Abimelech spake to Abraham, saying, Grod is 
 with thee in all that thou doest. Now, therefore, swear 
 unto me that thou wilt not deal falsely with me. And 
 Abraham said, I will swear." ^^ No sooner does the spirit 
 of sonship come, than worldly knowledge in us feels and 
 confesses that Grod is with faith. Thenceforth, therefore, 
 it submits. And the spirit of faith shews kindness to the 
 strange land in which it dwells. Worldly knowledge is put 
 into its place, but not destroyed. It even receives good 
 things from faith. ^^ It is not allowed to think that the 
 wells are its work. The offered lamb is witness that the 
 waters have been drawn by faith's energy.^'* But withal 
 no unkindness is shewn towards the Philistine. Worldly 
 knowledge still lives, and faith yet sojourns many days in 
 near contact to it.^^ 
 
 Such is this scene within. Without, in substance it is 
 the same thing. In this view Sarah and Hagar are the 
 two covenants. True men of faith beget a double seed. 
 
 •" Chap. xxi. 12. " Chap. xxi. 27. 
 
 » Chap. xxi. 13. '* Chap. xxi. 30. 
 
 >2 Chap. xxi. 22, 23 " Chap. xxi. 34. 
 
256 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 Some are Hagar's and some are Sarah's children. Those 
 begotten through law are yet the bond-maid's sons. Those 
 whose life is of grace are children of the free-woman. 
 Every church or house of faith will produce both of these. 
 As long as the Isaacs are un weaned, the Ishmaels live with 
 them. But the feast of fat things, provided when Sarah's 
 son is weaned, ever calls forth the hatred and mockery of 
 the children of the bond-woman. Then comes a separation, 
 painful indeed to men of faith, which yet Grod sanctions, 
 saying, " Hearken to all that Sarah saith unto thee." So 
 the Ishmaels go forth into a dry land, with some portion 
 of the bread of men of faith ; but the water for them is 
 only in bottles,^^ — doctrine for them is only in certain 
 forms, — and this is soon spent, and though a well is at 
 hand, and they are faint, their eyes see it not. For they 
 are not accustomed to draw for themselves. And so, when 
 the water in the bottles is spent, because they have only a 
 bottle, they almost perish. Isaac lives by wells, and digs 
 them often, and has strifes for them with Philistines. 
 The bond-maid's sons look not for such streams, and see 
 them not, even though a well is close to them ; till Grod, 
 who yet loves them, sends them help, to point out the well, 
 and give them drink out of it. So they live and grow and 
 dwell in a thirsty land. There with worldly principles, 
 that is "an Egyptian wife,"^^ like Nimrod and Esau, they 
 are " archers," ^^ quick to hunt, ready for controversy and to 
 judge evil ; blessed nevertheless for Abraham's sake, and 
 forming a great nation and a mighty people. ^^ 
 
 '*" Chap. xxi. 14-19. fulfilment at considerable length : — 
 
 " Chap. xxi. 21. " Duo sunt ergo filii Abrahge, unus 
 
 ** Chap. xxi. 20. Compare Gen. de ancill4, et unus de libera; uterque 
 
 xlix. 22, 23; Judges v. 10, 11; tamen filius Abrahse, licet non uter- 
 
 Psalm xi. 2, and xci. 4, 6. que de libera. . . . Omnes ergo qui- 
 
 '® Orjgen goes into this outward dem qui per fidem veniunt ad agni- 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sojiship. 257 
 
 The fulfilment of all this in the dispensations is well 
 known. When in the course of ages the New Covenant 
 out of the death of the flesh brought forth the promised 
 seed, and sons indeed were born in the Church, then the 
 fleshly seed, because it mocked, was cast out. St. Paul 
 himself expounds this view : — " Neither because they are 
 the seed of Abraham are they all children, but, In Isaac 
 shall thy seed be called; that is, They which are the 
 children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but 
 the children of the promise are counted for the seed."-*^ 
 In the Acts of the Apostles we may see how the spirit oi 
 faith seems to yearn over Hagar's rejected sons, feeling it 
 " very grievous " to give them up. Nevertheless they were 
 dismissed. And then, like Ishmael, though the well of 
 water was nigh at hand, they could not see it ; " for blind- 
 ness in part was come upon Israel, until the fulness of the 
 Gfen tiles should come in." ^^ The fleshly Jew was cast out; 
 and then the Gentile, seeing the blessings so richly poured 
 on faith, confessed its power and sought peace. I cannot 
 doubt that the facts of this chapter have a bearing aJso on 
 
 tionem Dei possnnt filii Abrahasdici. ^o J^om. ix. 7, 8. Origen gives 
 
 .Sed in his sunt aliqui pro charitate this dispensational fulfilment also: 
 
 adhserentes Deo, alii pro metu et — " Populus qui secundum carnem 
 
 timore futuri judicii. . . . Super his est abjectus tarn diu jacet in fame 
 
 cum depelluntur a lacte fit convi- et siti, donee aperiantur oculi syna- 
 
 vium magnum : super illis autem gogee. Hoc est quod Apostolus dicit 
 
 non potest exhiberi convivium, nee esse mysterium, quia csecitas eontigit 
 
 haberi Isetitia. . . . Dat ancillse utrem ex parte in Israel. Ista est ergo cse- 
 
 aquae, non habebat enim puteum citas in Agar. . . . Nunc enini jacent 
 
 aquse rivse, nee poterat puer hauriro Judaei circa ipsum puteum, sed oculi 
 
 de puteo aquam. Isaac habebat eorumclausi sunt." — Origi. Hom.xu, 
 
 puteos Ismahel autem de utre in Gen. The same interpretation is 
 
 bibit aquam Uter legis est given by Gregory Nyssen, In Bap- 
 
 litera, de qua carnalis populus bibit. tism. Christi, torn. ii. pp. 805, 806. 
 
 .... bibit de puteis qui profundiora Ed. Paris, 1615. 
 
 quseque haurit," &e. — Oruj. Hom.xW. '^^ Rom xi. 25. 
 i7i Gen. 
 
258 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 the coming age. In this yet future view, Isaac is " the sons 
 of God." The whole creation groaneth and travaileth, 
 waiting for the manifestation of these heavenly children.^^ 
 When they are born from that long dead and barren 
 womb, whence they shall issue when their time is come, 
 then indeed shall be a day of laughter, then shall the 
 bond maid truly be cast out, then shall the world be glad, 
 and the Lord be known by a new name, " the everlasting 
 God." 23 
 
 Such a day has in spirit already dawned on some. Oh, 
 may its rising hasten over all the earth. 
 
 § II. — The Offerinq up of Isaac. 
 
 (Chapter xxii.) 
 
 We have seen what were Isaac's first trials — spiritually, 
 the earliest experiences which the spirit of sonship or 
 adoption meets here ; first, judgment in the flesh, then 
 weaning, then mocking : we are now to see its trials, 
 when, being weaned, it has grown to somewhat of maturity. 
 This much longed-for life, our Isaac or joy, though an 
 heir of grace and promise, is born to be a sacrifice, not 
 that it may perish, but that greater blessings may be 
 reached by it through this self-sacrifice. This too is yet 
 a stage in the way, for the way is the same yesterday, 
 to-day, and for ever. 
 
 We read, " It came to pass that after these things God 
 
 22 Rom. viii. 19-23. family or people, as of an age or 
 
 23 Chap. xxi. 33. Never before dispeusation. It asks, " Is He the 
 Isaac's birth is the Lord called liy God of the Jews only? Is He not 
 thif name, a^iy ^fc^, " z'^«; f wrks/M/^- of the Gentiles also ? " Ainsworth 
 God.'' By this name He is revealed, translates here, " Deus cBternitatis 
 not so much the God of a particular vel mundi" 
 
 I 
 
PART V. Isaac^ or the Spirit of Sonship 259 
 
 did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, Take 
 now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and 
 get thee unto the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a 
 burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell 
 thee of." ^ Ishmael is not offered, but cast out. Isaac is to 
 be offered up as a sacrifice. This is indeed that cross of 
 Christ, whereby the world is crucified unto us, and we unto 
 the world ; the surrender of that meek life in us, which has 
 been formed by divine power out of faith's nothingness, the 
 special offering of those in whom this Son is come, and 
 who, '' if sons, are heirs, if so be that they suffer with Him, 
 that they may also be glorified together ;" ^ a view of the 
 cross much more inward than any known before, so much 
 deeper and nearer to us than Abel's lamb, or Noah's tree 
 which takes us through the waters, that to some it seems to 
 be almost another thing, while yet it is the self-same cross, 
 only now apprehended far more inwardly. 
 
 And first to mark Abraham's part in this scene, that is, 
 the part which the spirit of faith takes in this sacrifice. 
 Isaac yields himself, but it is of Abraham God asks him. 
 Abraham it is who girds the ass, and cleaves the wood, and 
 gives up his Isaac, when the Lord requires the sacrifice. 
 For it is faith which gives up the life it has produced to 
 Him by whose strength it has produced it. The Lord 
 would shew how He can fill the heart ; how after the flesh 
 and world are left, faith can, if only He remains to it, give 
 up His gifts also, and again be nothing that God may be 
 all, assured that in being nothing it shall obtain all 
 things. 
 
 This is the trial here. Can faith give up that much 
 loved life, that son so long waited for, of whom it had been 
 
 > Chap. xxii. 1, 2. 2 Eom. viii. 17. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 said, " In Isaac shall thy seed be called." It is not to leave 
 this or that outward thing ; — this was done long ago, when 
 we came out of Ur of the Chaldees ; — it is not the trial of 
 weary pilgrimage, wandering from day to day without a 
 certain dwelling place ; it is not even the giving up of 
 Hagar's son, the fruit of our own energy, to which our 
 God now summons us. It is nothing less than to give up 
 that life, to which all Grod's promises have so long directed 
 us, — which He has given to be our joy, and from which 
 He Himself has bid us expect such blessings, not to our- 
 selves only, but to others, — in the assurance that as He 
 gave it at the first. He will, though now He seems to take 
 it from us, give it back again. Faith therefore shrinks 
 not even here, but binds its own fruit, and gives it back to 
 God, accounting that He, who can raise up the dead, will 
 restore the precious life which He first quickened out of 
 our barrenness. 
 
 To do this, Abraham leaves his servants and the ass,^ 
 even as faith, when it is tried, leaves behind it all those 
 thoughts, which, like the servants, by their presence, might 
 oppose the sacrifice.'* Thus it travels on to Mount Moriah, 
 that is to ground chosen of God,'^ for faith dares not choose 
 its own crosses, or where or when it will endure suffering. 
 
 ^ Chap. xxii. 5. thee, command them -with authority, 
 
 ■* Chrysostom thus comments on and say, ' Sit ye here, and I and the 
 
 this : — " SuiFer not aught of worldly lad will worship and return to you.' 
 
 thoughts to occupy thy soul then. And leaving the ass and the servants 
 
 Eethink thee that Abraham also, below, and whatever is void of rea- 
 
 when offering this sacrifice, suffered son and sense, go up, taking with 
 
 nor wife, nor servant, nor any other thee what is reasonable," &c. iIo7n. 
 
 to be present. Neither then do thou v. on 2 Cor. ii. 17, p. 74 of the 
 
 suffer any of thy slavish and ignoble Oxford Translation, 
 passions to be present with thee; * Moriah means " chosen of God." 
 
 Init go up alone into the mountain Heb.n''1D) a contraction for ^''^^<"1D• 
 
 where he went up ; and should any It was in after times the site of the 
 
 such thoughts attempt to go up with temple. 2 Chron. iii. 1. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of SonsJdp. 261 
 
 But if in the journey of life trial is appointed, so grievous 
 as to threaten to crush that inward life which is so precious 
 to us, — be the trial what it may, pain, contempt, or mis- 
 representation, or, what is far more trying to the elect, 
 confusion of soul, inward distraction, desolation, darkness, — 
 whatever it be, if it be God-appointed, let us go onward, 
 the spirit of sonship shall not perish. But let us take 
 heed that we are not on self-chosen ground. Self-chosen 
 penances, self-inflicted pains, are not the sacrifice faith 
 offers upon Mount Moriah ; rather do they savour of horrid 
 Moloch, to whom even Solomon may bow, but whose 
 worship is abomination. Great as those sacrifices may 
 seem which are imposed by self-will, much more precious 
 are those which God calls us to. One day in which we 
 jdeld our will to Him is of more value than years of toiling 
 self-will. Such yieldings of our will are safe. The life 
 which has sprung from faith cannot perish thus. 
 
 For Isaac does not perish here. Being lifted up, he is, 
 as Paul says, " received back again." ^ The spirit of son- 
 ship does not die : having been bound upon the altar, it is 
 brought back again, as from the dead, with greatly in- 
 creased blessedness. This is that inward death and resur- 
 rection, which all who possess the spirit of sonship must 
 know in due time ; to be offered up, and yet to live ; to lose 
 oiu: life, and yet to keep it. Thus are we crucified with 
 Christ, nevertheless we live, yet not we, but Christ liveth 
 in us. We bear about in the body the dying of the Lord, 
 that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our 
 mortal bodies. We come back to walk awhile with them 
 who tarry with the ass, and have never reached to Mount 
 Moriah, in the knowledge of that, of which those who have 
 
 « Chap. xxii. 12, and Heb. xi. 19. 
 
262 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, part v. 
 
 so tarried may indeed hear, and even speak about, but 
 have never realized ; as men who have endured a real 
 death, and who by it have learned to judge all things here 
 in the light of heaven. 
 
 Isaac, though offered, does not die ; but something does 
 die there on Mount Moriah. A ram is caught and offered 
 there, and Abraham calls the name of the place Jehovah 
 Jireh.^ These beasts figure, as we have already seen, the 
 different animal faculties and powers, which are im.planted 
 in the creature ; against some of which the inward man 
 has to fight, while others may be in measure tamed and 
 made subservient ; either, as the ass, to bear the man upon 
 his way, or, as the ox or lamb, to pour out their blood in 
 sacrifice. Of those whose blood is accepted of God, there 
 are some which at times we find it hard to capture. Many 
 a mere animal desire, which we would fain catch and bind, 
 escapes us, even though we pursue it, till, having laid our 
 Isaac on the altar of the Lord, the animal hitherto un- 
 caught is suddenly placed within our reach. Then is it 
 caught and bound by faith ; then is it slain, and with joy 
 we say, Jehovah Jireh. " In the mount of the Lord it 
 shall be seen." Now we know that the sacrifice of our 
 Isaac shall not destroy this meek life. What is animal 
 only dies. The man, Grod's image in us, is not only unhurt, 
 but receives 3^et more blessing. 
 
 And what blessing ! " Our light affliction, which is but 
 for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory."^ For " the angel of the Lord 
 called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and 
 said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because 
 thou hast done this, and hast not withheld thy son, thine 
 
 ' Chap. xxii. 13, 14. » 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 263 
 
 only son, tliat in blessing I will bless thee, and in multi- 
 plying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and 
 £s the sand which is on the sea-shore, and thy seed shall 
 possess the gate of his enemies."^ Oh, what a gate there 
 is within, held long by our adversary ! But the seed of 
 faith shall henceforth keep it, and the enemy be driven 
 out. " And in thy seed shall all nations be blessed." TJie 
 whole creature shall be a gainer by Isaac's sacrifice. His 
 birth brought blessing to the Philistines' land. His offering 
 shall be felt even beyond Jordan. For the promise is 
 that many far off shall be blessed in him ; and lo ! at once 
 others are fruitful and blessed in him. So we read, '' It 
 came to pass that after these things it was told Abraham, 
 Behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children to thy 
 brother Nahor." ^^ I do not doubt that this increase of 
 Nahor's line is recorded here as the commencing fulfil- 
 ment of the Lord's promise. For I know that faith can- 
 not offer thus without great blessing coming through it 
 on the other and lower faculties of the regenerate soul. 
 Not even the beasts shall be barren, for Grod hath said, 
 " If ye hearken to these judgments, there shall not be male 
 or female barren among you, or among your cattle." " 
 The inward life shall radiate to that which is without, and 
 even the outward man be a gainer through the grace of 
 the spirit. 
 
 Such is the scene within. The other fulfilments of it 
 are well known. In the outward kingdom of the visible 
 Church, the sons of Grod have laid down their lives, not to 
 perish, but to live a higher life. Not only have Grod's sons 
 lived in spite of sacrifice, but great fruit has thence been 
 
 « Chap. xxii. 1.5-17. " Deut. vii. 14 ; Exod. xxiii. 26. 
 
 " Chap. xxii. 20-24. 
 
264 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonshijp. part t. 
 
 found, even among those who before this were barren and 
 scarcely knew Grod. Need I trace the same act in a higher 
 sphere as fulfilled in Him, who above all others was the 
 well-beloved Son.*- This view, as indeed the dispensational 
 fulfilment throughout all Genesis, leads us to considerations 
 full of deepest mystery, when we see that God Himself has 
 sacrificed, and that not a mere creature, but His Only- 
 begotten Son. How the sacrifice of Christ in us, when we 
 reach to know the spirit of sonship and its offering, is but 
 the reflection and result of the same thing in God, — how 
 the path of saints is therefore God's own path, and their 
 ways a feeble shadow of His ways, — how every good thing 
 in us is but His work, who, being the living and unchanging 
 God, repeats His ways and works of love on every platform, 
 and who, because He is love, cannot but sacrifice, for love 
 involves sacrifice in its very nature, and God is love, — in 
 a word, how the patriarchal lives, figuring the divine life 
 in man, figure the life of God Himself, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, — may be seen in the sanctuary, but cannot 
 well be spoken of in an evil world and by such poor 
 tongues as ours. Blessed be His glorious name for ever. 
 "We can at least fall down and adore Him for His un- 
 utterable love, assured that the whole earth shall be 
 filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen. 
 
 And may He give unto us to know yet more the power 
 of Christ's resurrection through fellowship of His sufferings. 
 
 '2 This yiow of Isaac's sacrifice is imponendus ligna portabat," &c. — 
 
 common to nearly all the Fathers. Contra Maximin. Arian. 1. ii. c. 26, 
 
 Angustine continually alludes to it : § 7, and De Civit. 1. xvi. c. 32. So 
 
 " Nam et Isaac filius Abrahse, quid too Tertullian, Adv. Jud. ell; 
 
 erat in figura nisi Christus, quando Origen, Horn. viii. in Gen. ; Am- 
 
 sicut ovis ad immolandum ductus brose, De Abr.l. i. c. 8, § 71 and 72 ; 
 
 est, et quando sicutDominus crucem and ethers, 
 suam, ita et ipsa sibi quibus fuerat 
 
fART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 266 
 
 Then shall these things be seen in us also. The world 
 indeed will not know us, " for it knew Him not ;" yet shall 
 it be blessed and made fruitful by our sacrifice. Like the 
 sun, then, far greater than we seem to men, let us shine 
 on, thougli others here, deceived in us as in the light of 
 heaven, know not our true greatness. 
 
 § III. — Sarah's Death and Isaac's Union with Rebekah. 
 
 (Chapters xxiii. and xxiv.) 
 
 The stage now reached, though fulfilled in the inward life 
 of all in whom the spirit of sonship has been offered as a 
 sacrifice, is one hard to describe, partly because of our very 
 imperfect apprehension of what is wrought within, but 
 more because we lack words to express even what we see 
 and feel of these mysteries. Even in the outward world 
 every day we are discovering our need of new words to de- 
 scribe what we apprehend of its power and agencies, and 
 are slowly labelling as best we can its phenomena, of 
 which after all we know next to nothing. In our outward 
 birth and growth too there are countless things, not only 
 unknown, but unspeakable. How much more, therefore, 
 must we expect to find ourselves unable to describe what is 
 done in the inward world and in the development of the 
 spiritual man. For we want not only heavenly eyes and 
 ears, but a heavenly language for heavenly facts. Never- 
 theless some things may be said " in part," respecting 
 the fact so fully figured here ; for " we know in part, and 
 prophesy m part ; " but even this part will shew some 
 of the depths and lengths of the work of our sanctifi ca- 
 tion. 
 
 To trace it then within. We have here the death of one 
 
266 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship part v. 
 
 woman and the introduction of another into the elect 
 house. Sarah dies, and Eebekah is sought and brought 
 into Sarah's tent, and becomes Isaac's wife.^ Men are 
 always certain minds : the women, the affections, more 
 vaguely the principles, with which they are allied f for 
 our principles are what our affections are ; hence we are not 
 wrong, as we see in Hagar and Sarah, in saying that the 
 women figure certain truths. Now Isaac is the spirit of 
 sonship in us : Eebekah, that affection or principle by 
 embracing which this spirit in us becomes fruitful. This 
 scene therefore represents those experiences and exercises 
 of soul which precede and lead to the union of the spirit of 
 sonship with that inward affection or principle of truth 
 by which it bears fruit. The figure here perhaps will be best 
 expressed, if in these brief and imperfect notes I speak of the 
 women simply as certain truths. Truth comes successively 
 or by degrees ; in forms, and in successive forms, suited to the 
 form of that elect spirit to which it is to be united. Thus 
 new principles, or rather fresh forms embodying the same 
 principles, are taken into union by the various forms of the 
 elect spirit, at the successive stages of its development. 
 The form of truth answers to the spirit which receives it; 
 and thus truth substantially the same continually puts on 
 fresh appearances. Truth cannot differ from itself; but 
 as the same elect spirit at different stages takes different 
 forms, so the truth which is embraced by that elect at 
 different stages is seen in different forms also. It dies 
 out in one form and lives in another, and yet all the forms 
 may live to God. For as He is the God of Abraham, and 
 
 ' Chap, xxiii. 2, and xxiv. 67. I feel how much our present im- 
 
 ^ To avoid repetition, I refer to perfect terminology hinders the 
 
 what has been already said respecting exact expression of the full meaning 
 
 the typical force of " the woman." here. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 267 
 
 Isaac, and Jacob, and not the God of tlie dead, but of the 
 living;, so is He tlie God of Sarah and Kebekah and Eachel 
 also, for all in spirit live to Him. Sarah's outward form 
 may die, and as an outward form the truth she figures 
 may die also, but death only gives to the spirit greater 
 liberty, so that her death sets forth the greater spiritual- 
 izing, even through the destruction of its outward form, of 
 that truth or affection which she represents.^ And then 
 another form of truth is found, suited to the advancing 
 development of the elect spirit, that is, to Isaac. And 
 thus the elect who as the spirit of faith is joined to truth 
 under the Sarah form, when Abraham is old, when faith 
 is matured, at the next stage as the spirit of sonship is 
 united to Eebekah, not another truth, but another form 
 of it. 
 
 In this scene we are shewn how this truth is brought 
 into union with that spirit which is already waiting for it. 
 It is not done without much inward exercise. For every 
 truth is at first more in connection with the natural than 
 with the spiritual man ; just as Eebekah was in Laban's 
 house in Mesopotamia, midway between the Tigris and 
 Euphrates. Thus at first each truth is in the memory, in 
 the land between Euphrates and Tigris, that is, between 
 the channels of reasoning and of testimony;'* and while 
 there it dwells in Laban's house, in the sphere of our out- 
 ward and natural man. Here it cannot be fruitful with 
 Isaac. Truth therefore needs to be carried hence, and 
 
 ^ Gregory the Great thus alludes vitse clesideriis animam suam, sub 
 to this : — '"Quid nobis per Abr;^hye bonse operationis tcgmine ct con- 
 duplex sepulchrum iimuitur, ('du- templationisabscondit,"&c. — Moral 
 plex' referring to the name Mach- in Job. 1. vi. c. 37, § oG. 
 pelah, or ' the double cave,' where ^ Respecting these rivers, see on 
 Sarah was ITuried,) nisi quod per- chap. ii. pp. 50, 61, above, 
 fectus quisque extmctam a prsesentis 
 
268 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 conveyed more towards the interior or inward spiritual 
 man ; where, united to the true life in us, it may become 
 fruitful and produce fresh forms of life. All that hinders 
 this, — how Laban strives to prevent Rebekah's departure 
 out of Mesopotamia, — how the outward man in various 
 ways holds truths, and would hinder their passing from the 
 sphere of the outward into that of the inward man, — cannot 
 be told, though it is fulfilled every day. The spiritual 
 man may discern within him something of the process ; 
 but words are wanting to tell it aright, and not less hearers 
 who could profit by it. 
 
 I therefore turn to trace this scene, as it is fulfilled on 
 the wider platform of an age or dispensation. The work 
 is one ; but some will see it without, whose eyes are not 
 opened to understand it as it is fulfilled within them. 
 
 In this view Isaac is that Son who was born contrary to 
 nature, and mocked, and offered up : who yet was brought 
 back as from the dead, at whose coming the bond-maid's 
 seed were cast out, and a covenant of peace made with the 
 Grentiles. This is the Heir for whom the Bride is sought 
 by Abraham's servant out of a far country. 
 
 In this servant who is sent to seek the Bride, we have 
 the figure of the faithful ministers of the house of faith.^ 
 His commission is to go into that land whence Abraham 
 had been called, and thence to bring a bride. This is one 
 
 ^ This outward fulfilment is much Apud Paterimn, super GenA. i. c. 53. 
 
 enlarged on by the Fathers. Gregory So too Origen at great length: — 
 
 the Great says : — "Quisestpuer, qui "Puer iste sermo prophetieus est, 
 
 ad deducendam uxorera mittitur, quem nisi susceperis, nubere Christo 
 
 nisi prophetarum or Jo, atque apos- non poteris. Scito tamen quia nemo 
 
 tolorum, omniumque doctorum, qui inexcitatus sermonem propheticuni 
 
 dum verbnm prtedicationis bonis suscipit, sed qui scit liaurire aquam," 
 
 mentibus faciunt, ad unamquamque &c. — Hom.'s..in Gen. So Augustine, 
 
 animam unigenito Filio conjungen- 8erm. de Temp. 75. (al. App. 8.) 
 dam, quasi provisores fiunt," &c. — 
 
PART V. Isaan. or the Spirit of Sonship, 269 
 
 end of service here, not only to serve within the house of 
 faith, but at the Master's command to go down among 
 those who are afar off, to gain some of them. But the 
 servant doubts and declares his fears, — " Peradventure the 
 woman will not be willing to follow me ; " *^ even as faithful 
 servants yet at times will question whether their service 
 will effect anything. To which the Master answers again 
 foretelling both the company His servants shall have on 
 their journey, and the result also, saying, " The Lord God 
 of heaven, even He shall send His angel before thee, and 
 tliou shalt take a wife unto my Son from thence;" and 
 then, lest the servant slu'ink from the responsibility, 
 bidding him only to go and deliver his message ; — " then 
 shalt thou be clear." And surely many a servant's heart 
 might fail, did he not know that obedience, not success, is 
 that for which the Master holds him answerable. 
 
 The servant's equipment is then described. " He took 
 ten camels of his master, and of all the goods of his 
 master in his hand he took something."'' He does not start 
 unprovided with means, or lacking precious credentials to 
 witness of his master's wealth ; nor does he take the jewels 
 of the house of faith alone, but rough things also, suited to 
 the desert land through which he is to pass, to bear these 
 good things safely. These camels within, as we have seen, 
 figure certain animal powers or emotions ; outwardly, 
 therefore, they are that form which is the expression of 
 these emotions ; just as the bride, who within represents 
 
 ^ Chap, xxiv. 5. loquimtur in semetipsis virtutum 
 
 ' Chap. xxiv. 10. I follow the divitias ostendunt ; et tanto citius 
 
 rendering of the LXX. and Vulgate ad sequendum Deum pertrahunt, 
 
 here, which seems to be the most quanto auditoribus suis in semetipsis 
 
 correct. " Pergens secum de bonis monstrant, qnod enarrant." — Greg. 
 
 omnibus domini sui detulit, quia M. ajpud Pater, in Gen. 1. i. c. 53. 
 'doctores) in his qua} de Domino 
 
270 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, part v. 
 
 certain principles, outwardly is that form which embodicj 
 these principles, that is, the Church. Thus do faithful 
 servants yet go forth, taking- of the things of Christ, to 
 shew them to those who are afar off ; content to use rough 
 means, like the unclean camels here, to come to those, who, 
 because they are yet in outward things, could not be 
 reached otherwise.^ Some vain servants will not use 
 camels, shewing that they are not wise, even if they are 
 faithful ; for without these they do not reach outward men ; 
 unlike to Abraham's servant here, unlike to Paul, who was 
 " all things to all men to gain some of them," ^ who used 
 all he had, rough things as well as smooth, sometimes 
 speaking " as a fool," ^° and sometimes spiritually, because 
 he really yearned for souls, and was full of true knowledge 
 of the love of the Master's heart. To him " nothing was 
 common or unclean ; " ^^ for " to the pure all things are 
 pure." 12 
 
 Thus equipped, the servant goes to that land, between 
 Tigris and Euphrates, whence the elect had come forth. 
 
 '^ The camel was one of the habet. Ungulam namque non findit, 
 
 " unclean " beasts, Lev. xi. 4. Gre- quia non se penitus anima ab omni 
 
 gory the Great goes at length into terreno opere disjungit ; sed tamen 
 
 the import of this: — "Possunt per ruminat, quia bene dispensando 
 
 camelos, qui ungulam nequaquam temporalia, per certitudinis fiduciam 
 
 findunt, sed tamen ruminant, terre- ccelestia sperat. Terrenae igitur dis- 
 
 narum rerum bonae dispensation es pensationes, quasi camelorum more, 
 
 intelligi; quse quia habent aliquid capite legi concordant, pede dis- 
 
 saeculi, et aliquid Dei, per commune crepant ; quia et cosli sunt ilia, quae 
 
 (that is, one partly like the clean, juste riventes appetunt, et hujus 
 
 partly like the unclean,) eas necesse mundi sunt ea, in quibus opere ver- 
 
 est animal designari. Neque enim santur." — Moral, in Job. 1. i. c. 28, 
 
 terrena dispensatio, quamvis seternge § 40. 
 
 utilitati serviat. sine perturbatione ^ 1 Cor. x. 20-23. 
 
 mentis valet exhiberi. Quia igitur '" 1 Cor. iii. 3, and 2 Cor. xi. 21, 
 
 per banc et ad prsesens mens con- 23. 
 
 funditur, et in perpetuum merces " Acts x. 15, 28. 
 
 paratur, quasi commune animal, et '^ Titus i. 15, 16. 
 aliquid de lege habet, et aliquid non 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 271 
 
 We read that " he arose and went," — brief words, marking 
 the zeal and promptness of his obedience. Then, having 
 reached the city of Nahor, he prepares to fulfil his work 
 and deliver the message, with which he is entrusted. First 
 he prays : — " And he said, Lord Grod of my master, I 
 pray Thee send me good speed to-day, and shew kindness 
 unto my master Abraham." '^ Whilst he is praying, one 
 comes out of the city to the place where he is standing. 
 To her he speaks words on which he has already asked 
 God's blessing. Then finding such a response from the 
 damsel as he had asked for, he again worships, bowing his 
 head, and blessing his master's God. Then, when he comes 
 to the house of the desired bride, he will not eat till he 
 tells his tale : — " There was set meat before him, but 
 he said, I will not eat till I have told my errand." So he 
 opens his mouth, and tells of his master, his glory and 
 greatness, and how he seeks a wife out of this distant land.^* 
 Who cannot see true service here, beginning with prayer, 
 not for its own so much as for its master's sake, that 
 kindness may be shewn to the absent lord, and not resting 
 till its work is done, and it has uttered something of all 
 his glory ; how " He is become great, and has flocks, and 
 herds, and silver, and gold, and men-servants, and maid- 
 servants, and camels, and asses." Thus of old did faithful 
 servants toil, and verily blessed are such servants. 
 
 And now to look at the Bride who is thus sought. She 
 is one of Abraham's natural kindred, not a Canaanite, but 
 of the same family as Isaac has sprung from ; only that she 
 is yet in Mesopotamia, and he in the land beyond Jordan.^'' 
 Further, she is an " appointed " person. Twice is it re- 
 peated that the woman is not chosen of man, but " the 
 
 '3 Chap. xxiv. 12. '* Chap. xxiv. 3, 4. 
 
 " Chap. xxiv. 33-49. 
 
272 Isaac, or the SjpiHt of SonsJdp. part t. 
 
 one whom the Lord hath appointed out for his servant 
 Isaac." '' 
 
 All this is true of the true Bride elect. Is she not of 
 the same family as Isaac, and also elect according to God's 
 foreknowledge for Him? "Forasmuch as the children 
 were partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself took 
 part of the same i for verily He took not on Him the 
 nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of 
 Abraham." ^"^ And as such. He seeks His bride not from 
 angels, the spirits beyond Jordan, but from among the 
 dwellers here. Though Himself brought nigh, He forgets 
 not those far off ; and out of them His bride is chosen for 
 Him. 
 
 The servant finds her at a well.^^ It is while drawing 
 water that she first hears of Isaac. So with many others. 
 Jacob finds his bride, Moses also, by a well, where they had 
 come to draw water. *^ Rebekah not only first hears of 
 Isaac, she also first sees him, by a well, " by the well 
 Lahai-roi." ^^ By no chance are the wives found by wells 
 of water. By no chance did Christ " sit thus upon a 
 well." ^^ Surely if we have been " betrothed in righteous- 
 ness," 22 it was by wells of water that the Lord's servant 
 met us. For " understanding is a well of life to him that 
 hath it," 23 and what are means of grace but wells also. We 
 may indeed sit by these wells in vain. Like mocking 
 Ishmael, we may lie close beside them, and yet see no 
 water. But the soul which daily comes to draw, which 
 comes empty, saying, " My soul is athirst," and is exer- 
 cised to draw and carry home a full vessel, which desires 
 
 »« Chap. xxiv. 14, 44. ^<> Chap. xxiv. 62. 
 
 1^ Heb. ii. 14, 16. " John iv. 6. 
 
 IS Chap. xxiv. 13. 22 jjos. ii. 19. 
 
 »" Chap. xxix. 2-10, and Exod. -' Prov. xvi. 22. 
 ii. 15, 16. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, 273 
 
 unasked to make others around who seem in need partakers 
 of the same, and freely gives it them, — such a one, like 
 Eebekah, will find by the waters a guide to lead her to 
 purer and better lands ; while those who draw not will 
 scarcely meet him who comes to tell of a lord who waits 
 to receive a stranger. 
 
 And indeed it is by her use of this well, that the servant 
 recognises the person whom he is in search of. For the 
 mark, by which he was to know the bride elect, was, that 
 when he asked for drink, she should give it, and then shew 
 her interest in him by caring for his camels.^'* True ser- 
 vants, even as their Lord, who said, " Give me to drink," ^^ 
 like Him, asking something only to give back better things, 
 yet appear at first to come to ask more than to give. We 
 do not see when first they speak that they are givers. But 
 souls who will respond to the claim of love made on them, 
 and are prompt in their attention to the rough and out- 
 ward things of Abraham's servant, (for all are busy with the 
 " camels " before they see the "jewels,") shall ere long see 
 the ear-rings and bracelets also, and be decked, though yet 
 in the far country, with some of the precious things of 
 Abraham's house. 
 
 So we read, " Then the man took a golden ear-ring, and 
 two bracelets, and he put the ear-rmg on her face, and the 
 bracelets on her hands." ^^ What are these but the precious 
 things of faith, " more precious than of gold which 
 perisheth," brighter than outward pearls or costly array, 
 " the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is of 
 
 ** Chap. xxiv. 14,18,19. "Puer anditoribus fiduciam certitudinis su- 
 
 juxta fontemstetit, atqueexpraefixa mant," &e. — Greg. M. apud Pater . 
 
 sententii, quae puella eligenda esset, in Gen. 1. i. c. 53. 
 proposuit; quia praedicatores saneti, " John iv. 7. 10. 
 
 saori eloquii fluenta considerant, ^^ Chap. xxiv. 22, 47. 
 
 atque ex ipsis colliguiit h quibus 
 
274 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 great price." ^^ And this is " put upon the hands," as well 
 as " in the ears." True ministry dues not leave the hands 
 of the elect without some fit ornament. Not content only 
 to fill the ears, it seeks to occupy the hands also with 
 something not less valuable. ^^ At this stage the bride 
 receives but one ear-ring and two bracelets. After this, 
 when the damsel is already given to him, the servant puts, 
 not one jewel only, but many " precious things of silver 
 and of gold and of fine raiment " upon her.^^ For there 
 is growth in grace, and " to him that hath shall be given," 
 and she that hath received an ear-ring by the well shall, 
 if she will follow towards Canaan, receive yet more an 
 hundredfold. 
 
 This done, she is led to confess who she is. When 
 Isaac's jewels are on her, she says, " I am the daughter of 
 Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor." ^^ 
 Not before she is adorned does she utter this. So now. 
 A confession there must be from us, — the servant looks 
 for it, — that the bride acknowledge she is one of a fallen 
 people, from whom the seed for God has been separated. 
 But this is not drawn from her until she has received 
 pledges that she is an object of love, and possesses earnests 
 of that to which she is appointed. 
 
 After which she declares that she and her house are 
 able and willing to receive the messenger. He said, " Tell 
 me, I pray thee, is there room for us ? And she said. We 
 have room enough for thee to lodge in." ^^ How many, if 
 
 2^ 1 Pet. i. 7, and iii. 4. .... prgedicationis verba in amplo 
 
 28 • Inaures Kebeccae pii auditus caritatis gremio suscepit. Doctor! 
 
 insignia, etviriseornamentafactorum enim spatiosus ad manendum locus 
 
 sunt." — Ambros. de Ahr. 1. i. c. 1), est in auditoris corde, .... unde et 
 
 § 89. So too Greg. M. ubi supra. quibusdam dicitur, ' Capite nos, 
 
 " Chap. xxiv. 53. neminem laesimus, neminem cor- 
 
 30 Chap. xxiv. 24. rupinius,' " &c. — Greg. M. ubi 
 
 3* Chap. xxiv. 23, 25. "Ejclesia sujjra. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, 275 
 
 questioned, " Is there room enough ? " must confess, if they 
 spake truly, " We have no room ; my father's house, the 
 outward man, is filled up with other things." Like that 
 church at whose door the Master stands, which, thinking 
 itself rich and increased with goods, cares not to open to 
 Him, how many, filled up with self, have no room to 
 receive Him who seeks to lead them heavenward. Not so 
 the soul which has Isaac's bracelets upon her. She has 
 received the gift ; she cannot reject him by whom the gift 
 has come. 
 
 Then " she runs and tells them of her mother's house, 
 saying, Thus and thus spake the man unto me." ^^ Not 
 content to have received some good thing herself, she tells 
 others, nay, she " runs " to tell them. Those who have 
 received of the Lord's good things cannot keep silence. 
 They must run and tell others among whom they dwell 
 the good tidings. There may indeed be a speaking about 
 the Lord without grace. Not only are there hearers, but 
 talkers also, who are not doers. But where the heart is 
 full, it must unburden itself, and make others partakers 
 with it, " for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh." 
 
 And now the bride is yet more adorned, not as at first 
 with a single ear-ring or a single bracelet for each hand. 
 Now the servant puts much more on her, "jewels of 
 silver and gold," and (what has not yet been mentioned) 
 " fine raiment " also.^^ " To her was granted to be arrayed 
 in fine linen ; for the fine linen is the righteousness of 
 saints." ^^ So again it is said, " Hearken, daughter, and 
 consider ; forget also thine own people and thy father's 
 house : so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty ; for 
 
 " Chap. xxiv. 28, 30. " Chap. xxiv. 53. »< Kev. xix. 8. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 He is thy Lord, and worship thou Hira. She shall be 
 brought unto the King in raiment of needle-work ; the 
 virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought 
 unto thee." ^^ Eaiment, as being that which first meets 
 the eye, and also a sign of our station and employments, 
 represents our habits here. Indeed " habit " is but dress. 
 Here the dress is one marked by great costliness, — " clothing 
 of gold, with raiment of needle-work." And the " fine 
 linen" yet is " raiment of needle-work," wrought " on both 
 sides," with countless stitches, each in itself almost in- 
 visible, by which, stitch on stitch, the work is wrouglit 
 out, until it displays that pattern which pleases the master's 
 eye. This now is put upon the bride, while " her brother 
 and mother also receive precious things," ^^ for the world 
 too profit by the Church's call, though they will not leave 
 their Mesopotamia to find a better land. 
 
 One thing yet remains to be done. The bride must 
 leave her kindred and father's house. The servant came, 
 not to make his home there, but to take some from that 
 far country to share in Isaac's lot. But the bride has 
 friends who would delay her going, saying, " Let her abide 
 with us, at least a few days," — brothers, who, though they 
 welcomed the messenger, would yet keep him in that land 
 where they will continue to live, and where they die.^^ 
 But the servant cannot stay. Then they say, " We will 
 call the damsel and inquire at her mouth. And they 
 
 »* Psalm xlv. 10, 11, 14. gratia repleta, ampliatis jam mu- 
 
 3^ " Quae enim prius inaures et neribus ditescat. Puer vero matri 
 
 armillas recepit, jam nunc vasa ejus ac fratribus dona obtulit, quia 
 
 aurea et argentea ac vestes accepit, gentilitas ex qua Ecclesia ad fid em 
 
 quia sancta Ecclesia quse ante per venit, post conversionem ejus in 
 
 fidem, obedientiam, et operationem gloria temporali convaluit," &c. — 
 
 percepit, excrescens postmodum Grey. M ubi supra. 
 
 etiam ad spiritalia dona convalescit, 3' Chap. xxiv. 54-68 
 ut. proplietia; spiritu et virtutum 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of So)i8hip, 277 
 
 said unto her. Wilt thou go with this man ? And she said, 
 I will go." By the well she could not have said all this. 
 She did not say it even when the first jewels were put 
 upon her. But now she has heard of the glory of her 
 lord, and that he waits for her, and, spite of flesh and 
 blood, and its hindrances, she says, " I will go." 
 
 Nor are these vain words. " She arose, and her damsels, 
 and they rode upon the camels," — for she too must use a 
 camel yet, though she shall surely " light off it when she 
 beholds Isaac." ^^ Thus "she followed the man." But 
 the rough things which bear her shall soon be changed 
 for the heart of Isaac and the secret of his tabernacle. 
 blessed day ! Then indeed all the tears, and sufferings, 
 and labours, which must be travelled through, shall seem 
 as a dream, not worthy to be compared with the glory 
 that shall be revealed in us. Lord, Thou hast called us 
 to this end. Keep us as Thine own, unspotted from the 
 world, till we are for ever with Thee. Amen. 
 
 § TV. — Keturah, and Isaac at Lahai-roi. 
 
 (Chapter xxv. 1-11.) 
 
 At this point Abraham takes another wife. Here, as 
 throughout, every fact and word presents the exactest 
 figure of that which is wrought within at this stage of 
 man's development. But before we come to this, let us 
 recall one peculiarity of that development. 
 
 I allude to this, that as our inward life changes its 
 form at every fresh stage, — from Adam to Abel, then from 
 Seth to Noah, then to Abraham, and from him to Isaac and 
 
 38 Chap. xxiv. 61, 64. 
 
278 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 other sons, — so the truth embraced at each successive 
 stage differs in form according to the varying form of the 
 elect spirit which embraces it. Sarah is Abraliam's wife ; 
 in other words, the spirit of faith lays hold of truth under 
 the Sarah form, that is, the promise ; but the spirit of 
 sonship loves another form of the same, as we read, 
 " Isaac took Eebekah, and brought her into Sarah's tent, 
 and she became his wife, and he loved her." ^ 
 
 But there is more than this ; for faith not only embraces 
 truth under a form somewhat different from that which 
 the spirit of sonship apprehends ; but the spirit of faith 
 itself, as it fulfils its course, lays hold of several different 
 principles. Isaac has but one wife ; as in us the spirit of 
 sonship never embraces any but the one true principle of 
 the New Covenant. But Abraham and Jacob each have 
 more. For faith at first takes law, hoping thereby to be 
 fruitful in its own strength ; ^ while Jacob or service, as 
 we shall see, though wishing only to have the spiritual, 
 finds that it has unintentionally embraced that which is 
 first and natm'al.^ 
 
 The stage we now have reached is marked by Abraham 
 taking another wife. We read, " Then again Abraham took 
 a wife, and her name was Keturah ; and she bare him 
 Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, 
 and Shuah." '* Now, after Sarah's death, that is, after the 
 form in which we have first embraced the New Covenant 
 as a form is dead, for it yet lives in spirit ; — when we 
 see that forms of truth, even the best, are given to serve us 
 for a season, and then as forms to pass away ; — when this 
 is not only believed but known, and a new form of truth, 
 
 ' Chap. xxiv. 67. See above what ' See above, on chap. xv. 
 
 has been said on this subject, on ^ See below, on chap, xxix. 
 
 chap, xxiii. * Chap, xxv. 1, 2. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 279 
 
 suited to the growing spirit of sonship, is found and loved 
 by it ; — at this point Abraham takes anotlier wife : that 
 spirit of faith, so long without fruit, which in its haste 
 tried law, and " when as good as dead " begot the seed of 
 promise out of the barren free-woman, now takes another 
 form of truth, by which it rapidly produces many sons. 
 The question is, What form of truth ? What principle is 
 it that Keturah represents ? 
 
 Now, though we have not an Apostle's word to tell us, 
 as in the case of Hagar and Sarah, the spiritual import of 
 this third wife, we have or may have, if we will wait, 
 that same Teacher, even the Spirit, which was in saints of 
 old ; for the Light of their light remains undimmed, 
 nearer to us than its most faithful witnesses, soon to shine, 
 (Is not the morn already breaking ?) not upon a few, but 
 over the whole earth. Of course, if a soul though elect has 
 reached only to the Noah stage, this scene will not be 
 understood. Even though Abram lives in us, if we are 
 only now leaving Ur of the Chaldees, — if Terah is with 
 us, — if the bond-maid is not gone, — nay more, if Sarah yet 
 is in the flesh, — Keturah cannot be known, for she only 
 comes when Sarah as an outward form has passed away. 
 But if this is done, then Keturah will come, and indeed has 
 come in thousands who are fruitful by her in spirit, though 
 in their understanding they do not know her name. 
 
 For Keturah is that practical truth, which, neither law 
 nor promise, neither bond-maid nor free-woman, succeeds 
 to both at this stage of faith's life, when the truth which 
 Sarah represents has passed from an outward form into a 
 higher state. St. Paul's epistles are full of Keturah. All 
 those exhortations which are not mere law, and which as 
 clearly are not the promise, though they are meant to fol- 
 low it, are this third wife, given to be embraced by those 
 
280 Isaac, or the Sjpirit of Sonshlp, part v. 
 
 in whom Sarali or the New Covenant has already borne 
 fruit. But this sort of truth does not attract the believer 
 until Sarah passes into a higher sphere. Then we take 
 Keturah to wife. She is, as her name imports, " a savour 
 of a sweet smell." ^ And her fruits are sweet to God and 
 man, though, like Midian, they may soon be corrupted and 
 even oppose the chosen line. How many lovely fruits 
 have there been borne, the offspring of faith, and that not 
 by law, but by the precious truth which Keturah represents, 
 — fruits of ascetic life, which have proved in the event to 
 be prejudicial, or at least opposed, to the highest inward 
 life. Indeed the word " ascetic " means in itself simply 
 practical.^ Its conventional sense declares the common 
 end of such efforts, answering exactly to the course and 
 destiny of Keturah's sons.'^ Such fruits, sweet as they are, 
 one and all are liable to rapid deterioration. They possess 
 indeed some of the good things of faith,* but from the first 
 they are distinguished by faith from the spirit of sonship, 
 
 * Heb. niltDp, incrnse. Compare quam nunc senex Abraham sortitur 
 this with what St. Paul says of prac- in matrimonium, Qvixiana interpre- 
 tical truth, Phil. iv. 18, and Heb. tatur, quod est incent-um vel bonus 
 xiii. 16. Origen, having argued odor. . . Si quis ergo vestrum est in 
 that some mystery must be hid quo suavitas misericordiae, si quis 
 under this union of Abraham with sine intermissicne orando offert Do- 
 Keturah, — first, from the fact, thathe mino semper incensum, et dioit, 
 who was "as good as dead " in his ' Dirigaturoratio measicut incensum 
 hundredth year, now at a hundred in conspectu tuo, elevatio manuuni 
 and thirty-seven begets many sous ; mearum sacrifici' m vespertinum,' 
 secondly, from the analogy of the hie Cethuram duxit uxorem. . . . 
 other two wives, both of whom, ac- Profectus etenim sanctorum Scrip- 
 cording to St. Paul, were certain tura figuraliter per conjugia desig- 
 principles ; thirdly, because he who nat," &c. — Horn. xi. in Gen. 
 marries truth, though it may die v:ut ® 'AaK-i]riK6s. 
 in one form, will always hold it in ^ See Numb. xxv. 16, 17, find 
 another ; in which sort of marriage Judges vi. 1, 2, for examples of the 
 the older we are the more fruit we way in which Midian, one of Ketu- 
 may bear, as Abraham here did. — rah's sons, may injure and oppress 
 thus defines what principles KcUirah the elect seed. 
 represents : — " Denique Cethura, " Chap. xxv. 6. 
 
PAiiT V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 281 
 
 which is the true heir. Isaac is not Keturah's son. Son- 
 ship is not of law, uor of that practical truth, which, though 
 not law, is somewhat akin to it. Sonship will no more 
 come of these than figs will grow from slips of myrtle, or 
 vines from acorns. Yet Keturah's sons, like oaks and 
 myrtles, are lovely too, and pleasant in their season, though 
 they cannot inherit all Abraham's good things. 
 
 " Then Abraham gave up the gliost and died." ^ The 
 spirit of faith, like that truth which it has so long been 
 united to, now passes away as an outward form from forms, 
 to live as a spirit with God who is a Spirit. Isaac now 
 succeeds to Abraham's place. The form, in which the elect 
 life henceforth shews itself, is not faith so much as under- 
 standing, for the spirit of sonship is also a spirit of under- 
 standing. He, in whom it lives, not only believes, but to 
 faith has added knowledge and intelligence, even " the 
 miud of Christ." For when Isaac is come, we are no more 
 under the schoolmaster, as servants or children not know- 
 ing a father's will ; but as sons, and because we are sons, 
 are led in the spirit of sonship into all knowledge and 
 spiritual understanding, even to the full assurance of under- 
 standing in the acknowledgment of the mystery of God the 
 Father and of Christ. ^° Up to this point, though the 
 spirit of sonship has come, it has been comparatively 
 feeble, and faith has been the ruling life. But now faith 
 is no more in the flesh, but is changed from an earthly 
 form into a spirit. Isaac therefore takes Abraham's place ; 
 that is, faith is succeeded in om' souls by spiritual under- 
 standing, which like Isaac inherits all Abraham's wealth, 
 and is his heir, possessing all the riches of true faith. ^^ 
 I feel how little words can express the spiritual reality 
 
 9 Chap. XXV. 8. " Col. ii. 2. " Chap. xxv. 5. 
 
282 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 represented here. Those only who know the blessed fact 
 within will be able really to see the force of Abraham's 
 death and Isaac's succession to all his goods ; faith now 
 lost in sight, while in its place the spirit of understanding, 
 which is the spirit of sonship, inherits the thiugs of faith.^^ 
 Soon Isaac has even more. " It came to pass after the 
 death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac." If we 
 ask, How ? we are told only this, that " he dwelt by the well 
 Lahai-roi :" ^^ this was his blessing. And this is a blessing 
 yet. To us few blessings would be greater than a spiritual 
 dwelling by this same living well. Lahai-roi means " the 
 life of vision." ^^ It was the place where life and vision 
 were preserved after the angel of the Lord had spoken and 
 revealed himself. It figures that depth of the word into 
 which we drink, when " the well of the living and seeing," 
 that is the spiritual sense, is really opened to us.^^ Nature 
 
 '^ Saints of old spoke much of also 1 Cor. ii. 5, 6. Those who •wish 
 
 this. They may seem at times to to consult the Fathers will find some 
 
 have drawn the line too widely striking thoughts on this subject, 
 
 between iriaTis and yvwcris, and tti- Clem. Alex. Strom. 1. vi. c. 9, and 
 
 CTiKhs and yyurrTiKds ; but there is 1. vii. c. 10, and Orige?i. i7i Job. t. 
 
 important truth in the distinction. xix. pp. 263, 264. Ed. Huet. 
 
 That we know so little of faith *' Chap. xxv. 11. 
 
 changing to knowledge, shews where ** So Gesenius and others trans- 
 
 we are. See John viii. 31, 32, where late the name. The LXX. render 
 
 our Lord promises to " those who it rb (ppeap rij-s opdcrews, " the toell of 
 
 believed on Him," that "if they vmo7i." I may add that, in chap, 
 
 would continue in His word, they xvi. 13, 14, where the name first 
 
 should ^now the truth, and the truth occurs, the true translation in verse 
 
 should make them free." Compare 13 seems to be, — " Have I even seen, 
 
 also St. Paul's faith in Christ dead (i.e. haxe I my sight preserved,) 
 
 and risen again, 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4, after my vision ? " Therefore the 
 
 with his longing desire "to k/iow well was called Beer-Lahai-roi, "the 
 
 Him. and the power of His resur- well of the life of vision;^' because 
 
 rection,"Phil. iii. 10 ; and his prayer here life was preserved after seeing 
 
 for those of whose "faith he had the angel of the Lord, 
 
 heard," that " the Father of glory '* " Puteus viventis et videntis, 
 
 would give them the spirit of wisdom (i. e. Lahai-roi,) est sacrae Scripturse 
 
 and revelation in the knovAcclge of profunditas, quam nobis ad irriga- 
 
 Him," &c. Eph. i. 15, 17, 18, See tionem mentis prsebuit omnipotens 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the- Spirit of Sonship, 283 
 
 cares not to drink of such a spring. The waters are too 
 deep for the carnal, who, if they see them, only wonder 
 and pass on. But Isaac loves the well. In his eyes it is 
 not his least blessing, that he may dwell and drink here. 
 Blessed it is, like Abraham, to dwell at Bethel and Hebron, 
 b}^ faith to rest in worship and happy fellowship. Blessed 
 is it to see Salem and her king ; in peace to eat the holy 
 bread and wine. Blessed is it to know Beer-sheba, the well 
 of the oath ; to drink the refreshing streams which the 
 word of the covenant makes to flow around us. But more 
 blessed far is Beer-Lahai-roi, the well of the life of vision, 
 where we learn to live among and see unseen things. None 
 dwell here but the pure in heart. None else see Grod, or 
 the hidden things of Grod. Others will see the world, or 
 themselves, or their own or others' sins, or even certain 
 doctrines. But the " pure in heart see Grod ;'' ^^ and there, 
 beholding His glory, are changed step by step into His 
 image, to see as He sees things which eye hath not seen, 
 even the things which the Spirit reveals to them who walk 
 with God. Lord, give unto me thus to dwell at Lahai- 
 roi ; to know yet more and more of this blessed life of 
 vision ; not only to visit the well, and depart, but, like 
 Isaac, to abide and learn there, until in Thy presence, still 
 blessed in Thee, this " life of vision " shall be mine for 
 evermore. 
 
 Such is this scene within. Like all the rest it has its 
 
 Deus." — Greg. M. apud Ptiterium, ut habitare merear ad puteum vi- 
 
 1. i. siipr. Gen. c. 53. " Hsec est sionis. . . . Si non solum secundum 
 
 benedictio, qua benedixit Dominus litorara sed aliquid et secundum 
 
 Isaac, ut hal>itaret ad puteum vi- spiritum attingere potuero, videbor 
 
 sionis. Intelligentibus grandis est apud puteum visionis," &c. — Orig. 
 
 ista benedictio. Utinam et Domi- Horn. xi. in Gen. 
 uus mihi donet banc benedictionem, '^ Matt. v. 8. 
 
284 Isaac, or the Spirit of SonsJdp, part v. 
 
 fulfilments in the outward world, and in the dispensations 
 also. 
 
 Outwardly, Abraham here represents men of faith, now 
 matured and richly blessed ; Ketarah's sons, those children 
 of faith whose spiritual life has sprung out of the affection 
 of practical truth, rather than out of either law or pro- 
 mise. Such souls, the distinctive mark of whose life is a 
 peculiar reverence for religious practices tending to asce- 
 ticism, will in the next generation shew marks of deterio- 
 ration, in a greater zeal for what is outward than for what 
 is truly spiritual ; and become, like Midian, snares to 
 Israel,^^ though a Moses may find a wife there,^^ and a 
 Jethro of this seed be " for eyes " to the elect, when they 
 come into the wilderness. ^^ But they are not the chosen 
 heirs. Sarah's sons, the children of promise, are the seed 
 which shall inherit all things. 
 
 In the dispensations also this scene is fulfilled. When 
 Sarah, that is, the Grospel dispensation, has, even as Hagar 
 or law, run its full course ; when the marriage of the Bride 
 is come ; then appears not only one seed or son in Abra- 
 ham's house, but many seeds. So shall it be when the Son 
 obtains His rights ; when faith is changed to sight, and 
 the children of the promise are blessed, and know the life 
 of vision ; while others, born after the marriage of the 
 Bride, are witnesses that in Abraham all nations shall be 
 blessed. Then not only shall the favoured " vine and fig- 
 tree" be glad, but " the field shall be joyful, and all that is 
 therein : then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before 
 the Lord ; " (though the vine still differ from the oak, and 
 the fig and olive from the pine-tree;) "for He cometh, 
 
 " Numb. XXV. 17, 18. " Exod. xviii. 1, 24, and Numb. 
 
 '« Exod. ii. 15, 16, 21. x. 29-32. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, 285 
 
 for He Cometh to judge the earth : He shall judge the 
 world with rigliteousness, and tlie people witli His truth." ^o 
 When that day dawns, may we be with that Son, whom 
 the Father hatli appointed Heir of all things, to share His 
 joys, blessed not only by Him, but with Him, drinking of 
 the water of life, " the life of vision," for ever. Amen. 
 
 § V. — The Trials of Isaac RESPECTiNa Seed. 
 
 (Chapter xxv. 12-23.) 
 
 The stage now reached is one of high blessing. Abraham 
 no longer lives in earthly form. Faith henceforward is no 
 more in the flesh, but is changed from an outward form 
 into a spirit which sees God ; while Isaac takes Abraham's 
 place : that is, faith is succeeded in our souls by spiritual 
 understanding, which, like Isaac, dwells at Lahai-roi, and is 
 Abraham's heir, possessing all the riches of true faith. Yet 
 even here the elect must still be tried. He desires fruit, 
 but for long years Eebekah is barren.^ Infinite love or- 
 dains it thus for good. With such rich gifts the soul re- 
 quires some check to keep it healthy. Thus delays which 
 try our patience, are needful for us, as the shade and cool 
 of evening, which seems to stay their growth, is needful to 
 the plants as much as warmth and sunshine. Such delays 
 are really rests ; for unbroken joy, like constant sunshine, 
 would parch the spirit ; while in these rests our Grod and 
 Father teaches His elect their own insufficiency, and that 
 all their fresh springs are in Him alone. 
 
 The trial here then is again respecting fruit, and it 
 touches Isaac both directly and indirectly. At the very 
 
 20 Psalm xcvi. 12, 13. ' Chap. xxv. 21 
 
286 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 time he is lamenting his own barrenness, Ishmael, the 
 seed of Hagar, is seen to increase rapidly. Thus there is 
 grief, first, from the elect's own weakness, and then, from 
 the rapid growth of the carnal seed ; to find the fruit of 
 the spirit so late in manifesting itself, and the fruit of the 
 flesh so early, strong, and numerous. 
 
 The spread of Ishmael's seed comes first ; that carnal 
 spirit, which springs from the union of faith with law 
 within us, begets many forms of life. " These are the 
 generations of Ishmael, whom Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, 
 bare unto Abraham : these are their names, according to 
 their generations ; Nebajoth, and Kedar, and Adbeel, and 
 Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, 
 and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah, twelve princes 
 according to their nations." ^ Thus spreads the carnal seed. 
 The elect, the spirit of sonship and understanding in us, 
 may be at Lahai-roi. Grrace may have bestowed a well of 
 vision. Instead of naked Adam, there may be the spirit 
 which like Isaac has offered itself to G od, which is beloved 
 and blessed of Him. Yet all this checks not the growth 
 of the flesh, and that even while the elect spirit in us is 
 mourning its own barrenness. For the fleshly seed breaks 
 forth as it will : it has " children at its desire ;"^ it " is not 
 in trouble like other men, neither is it plagued like other 
 men ; therefore pride compasseth it as with a chain, vio- 
 lence covereth it as a garment."'' The sons of Grod must 
 often say, " My time is not yet, but your time is always 
 ready :"^ "we are weak, but ye are strong ; we are despised, 
 but ye are honourable." ^ The flesh has no such delays. 
 It brings forth its fruits of wrath and envy and emula- 
 
 ' Chap. XXV. 13-16. * John vii. 6, 8. 
 
 5 Psalm xvii. 14. ^ 1 Cor. iv. 10. 
 
 ♦ Psalm Ixxiii. 5, 10. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sortslilp. 287 
 
 tion, even though the spirit dwells at Lahai-roi. And 
 the very grace bestowed upon the inner man seems at 
 times only to excite the flesh to greater activity and open 
 opposition. 
 
 Meanwhile the spirit waits from year to year, sighing 
 for, yet not seeing, the seed the Lord has promised it. 
 Isaac is sorely tried. For twenty years Eebekah, the 
 beloved of his heart, is " barren," and produces no fruit.'^ 
 Then, having conceived, she feels two different lives, op- 
 posing each other within, even before they shew them- 
 selveL^. Thus barrenness first causes grief. That is re- 
 moved. Then fruitfulness brings with it fresh disquietude. 
 A cross there must be, to keep us low, and to shew the 
 unfailing resources of God our Saviour. 
 
 Eebekah is spiritual truth.^ Such truth should not 
 only be a living and active principle in us, but should pro- 
 duce other forms of life. For this end is it given. Never- 
 theless, for years after sonship is mature in us, it brings 
 forth no fruit. It rests in peace at Lahai-roi, but the new 
 life of service, which it should produce, is not yet mani- 
 fested. Nor does Isaac feel this at first. But Hagar's 
 seed increase. Eebekah still has no child. Then he cries 
 to the Lord for help, and is heard. " The Lord was en- 
 treated of him, and Eebekah conceived seed." 
 
 So is it yet. That form of truth, which the spirit of 
 sonship has embraced as a living principle by which to 
 be fruitful, lives within us for awhile before it bears fruit. 
 But the elect still waits on God. Faith may try carnal 
 means, may take a Hagar: the spirit of sonship cannot do 
 
 ' Chap. xxY. 21. Compare verse years old when the bare Esau and 
 
 20, — " Isaac was forty years old Jacob.'' 
 
 when he took Eebekah to wite," with ® See on chap. xxiv. 
 verse 26, — "Isaac was threescore 
 
288 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 so. It may be fruitless, but it will not embrace law. It 
 is in itself a proof of Grod's almighty power. To Him 
 therefore it cries for strength, and Eebekah is no more 
 barren ; in Grod's strength she bears fruit. 
 
 But this fruitfulness has its pains also. Rebekah no 
 sooner conceives, than she is sorely disquieted. " The 
 children struggled within her, and she said, If it be so, why 
 am I tluis?"^ And so the truth which the spirit loves, 
 when at length it labours to bring forth another life, is felt 
 to contain two distinct elements. Till it conceives, we do 
 not perceive this. Nevertheless, it is so. We say of that 
 truth which Eebekah figures, that it is spiritual ; and so it 
 is. But we are deceived if we think that therefore, as 
 apprehended by us, it is unmixed and wholly free from 
 outward things. Our understanding can only possess forms 
 of truth, and to these certain fallacies connected with the 
 senses invariably connect themselves. Hence, when at 
 this stage the spirit in us by the truth has begotten a new 
 life, the inherent difference of the elements which go to 
 form the truth makes itself felt, even before these differing 
 elements are distinctly developed into separate forms of 
 outward life. At the faith stage this is not known. But 
 now, when the spirit of understanding is come, it is first 
 felt, and then its cause is understood. Happy should we 
 be, could we bear only Jacobs ; but formed as we are, if 
 our principles are fruitful, the seed will to the end be 
 diverse, and inward struggling must be the result. 
 
 Here then we learn the reason of that inward strife or 
 conflict, which so often reappears in the progress of the 
 elect spirit. The Lord Himself teaches us why it must 
 be ; at the same time promising that the first and natural 
 shall in the end give place to the spiritual : — " Two nations 
 
 9 Chap. XXV. 22. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, 289 
 
 are in tliy womb, and two manners of people shall be 
 separated from thy bowels, and the one people sliall be 
 stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve 
 the younger." ^° Thus even Isaac begets him whom God 
 hateth,^^ and thus, though sonsliip is come, do we feel the 
 same old contest which was waged from the beginning, — 
 " the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against 
 the flesh, so that we cannot do the things that we would ;" 
 and this not from Hagar's seed alone, but even in the fruit 
 of Isaac, the true and beloved heir. So it must be while 
 we are in this tabernacle. A seed cast into the earth draws 
 into union with its life the nature of the soil wherein it 
 shoots forth. According to its soil the selfsame plant 
 varies its hue and form. In it is both the vegetable 
 life, and the life's clothing, which is of the earth earthy. 
 So the wind, which breathes from the south, comes mixed 
 with odours, testifying over what it has passed, and what 
 it bears with it. So with the spiritual seed. The womb 
 it grows in is of the earth. Hence with the heavenly in us 
 the earthy grows also. We forget this, and therefore are 
 troubled. But He, who hath loved us, "knoweth our frame, 
 and remembereth that we are dust," and will work His 
 pleasure in us spite of that flesh, the deformity of which 
 His indwelling makes even more apparent.^^ 
 
 '" Chap. XXV. 23. adulteria, furta, et his similia. Vides 
 
 •' " Esau have I hated." — Mai. quantus malorum populus intra nos 
 
 i. 23; Rom. ix. 12, 13. est. Si vero mpreamur ilium vocem 
 
 '■•* After alluding to the outward dicereSancto Spiritui, ' A timore tuo, 
 
 fulfilment of this scene, as one which Domiue, in utero concepimus,' . . . 
 
 needed no comment, Origen thus tunc et alius intra nos populus in- 
 
 gives the inward application : — " Et venitur in spiritu generatus. Fruc- 
 
 de singulis nobis hoc dici potest, quia tus enim spiritus est charitas, gau- 
 
 duae gentes, et duo populi intra nos dium, pax," &c. — Oriff. Horn. xii. 
 
 sunt, Nam et virtutum populus, et i7t Gen. So too Augnsti7i. in Psalra. 
 
 vitiorum, intra nos est. De corde exxxvi. {E. V. 137,) § 18. 
 enim procedunt cogitationes make, 
 
290 Isaac, or the SjArit of SonsJii/p. part v. 
 
 Such is the scene within. In the world without, Ee- 
 bekah is that body which is formed by the truth, that is, 
 the true Church, whose barrenness oft-times afflicts God's 
 sons, while Ishmael's seed, the children of law, increase 
 and multiply. But the true Church is fruitful through 
 prayer. Then comes fresh grief, to find in the same one 
 mother a double and conflicting seed, who, like the chaff 
 and the wheat, though from one root and stalk, are destined 
 to a very different end, the one to be gathered safely into 
 the garner, the other to be rejected and burnt up.^^ But 
 the very nature of the Church, even as of truth, whilst 
 upon earth, involves the presence of an outer as well as an 
 inner element ; and this, though we may not see it in the 
 Church's constitution, (though it is there,) will surely come 
 out and shew itself in her double seed.^* What son of 
 God has ever loved and preached the truth, without dis- 
 covering ere long that from the self-same seed, within the 
 same household of God, proceed two diverse families ; 
 one, akin to that part of the truth which is outward ; the 
 other, to that which is more inward and spiritual. Thus, 
 in the one Church two seeds grow and strive, causing no 
 little pain to their perplexed mother. If hereby she is led 
 to the Lord, though perplexed, in His presence she is 
 taught His purpose and learns to trust in Him. 
 
 '^ Matt. iii. 12. natos continebat: pulsabant materna 
 
 " Augustine often refers to this viscera discordiis internis. Sic et 
 
 outward fulfilment. Commenting on modo, quamdiu genitus datus est 
 
 tlit^ words, in Psalm cxxvi. (£". V. ecclesiae, quamdiu parturit ecclesia, 
 
 127,) 3, "the fruit of the womb is ipsi sunt intus et boni et mali. . . . 
 
 His reward," he says, " Cujus ven- Jacob dilexi, dicit Deus, Esau autem 
 
 tris ? Ecclesiae ; in cujus ventre, quia odio habui. Ambo de uno utero 
 
 ojus typum Rebecca gestabat, duo processerunt : unus amari meruit, 
 
 iili geraini tamquam duo pnpuli luc- alius reprobari." vSee also Ser?n. 4, 
 
 t:il)antur. Una mator in visceribus Class, i. Be Jac. et Esau ; and Tract. 
 
 Kuis dissentientes fratres nondum xi. § 10, in Johan. iii. 3, 4. 
 
Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 291 
 
 § VI. — Isaac's Twofold Seed, the Elder and the 
 Younger. 
 
 (Chapter xxv. 24-34.) 
 
 Two new forms of life now appear. Those minds, the 
 legitimate fruit of the spirit of sonship in us, whose mutual 
 opposition has been felt ere they were seen, now mani- 
 festly shew themselves. There is still a double seed, — 
 " two sons," — " the elder and the younger," who shew 
 through life their essential unlikeness to each other, until 
 at last the younger overcomes. These "two" at each 
 stage are always flesh and spirit : " that is not first which 
 is spiritual, but that which is natural." ^ But as we 
 advance, and man is more and more developed, both flesh 
 and spirit are apprehended and shew themselves in 
 different forms. We have seen how man becomes re- 
 generate man, and how regenerate man is developed into 
 the man of faith, and again how the man of faith through 
 many trials is developed into man possessing the spirit of 
 sonship and understanding. So the flesh at each stage 
 re-appears in some new form. Cain, Ishmael, and Esau, 
 all are " that which is first and natural." But in Cain we 
 have the fleshly mind as it grows out of Adam, that is, the 
 mere natural man. Ishmael is the same carnal mind, as 
 it springs, through intercom-se with law, out of a true man 
 of faith. Esau is this same flesh, as it grows out of one 
 in whom the spirit of sonship lives and walks with God. 
 So strong is this root in us, so quick stage after stage to 
 shew itself, not only in that which is of the flesh, but in 
 connection also with that which is elect and spiritual ; a 
 
 > 1 Cor. XV. 46. 
 u 2 
 
292 Isaac^ or the Spirit of Sonship, paet v. 
 
 sad witness of the rock whence we are hewn, and the hole 
 of the pit whence we are digged. 
 
 In Isaac's sons, then, we see the flesh and spirit, as they 
 grow out of one in whom the spirit of sonship is the 
 ruling: life. Here we have the flesh at the best. Esau is 
 in many respects lovely and lovable ; outwardly, a great 
 advance on Cain, yet at heart still carnal, sensual, devilish. 
 Jacob on the other hand does not shew so well as some of 
 the earlier forms of the elect life. For the spirit here is 
 not the spirit of faith or sonship, but of service, instinc- 
 tively " laying hold with its hands," to bring the natural 
 man, or so much of it as it can win, into subjection to a 
 higher life. In this attempt the spirit goes through much 
 toil, which, though in its result it advances the elect, in 
 tlie performance brings to light weaknesses which we have 
 not seen hitherto. We do not at first know what may be 
 brought, not out of our flesh only, but out of our spirits, 
 by trying circumstances. But if we labour as Jacobs to 
 see " the elder serve the younger," our attempts will open 
 a page within, humbling indeed, but not less profitable. 
 
 These sons, the different forms of life, which at this 
 stage of sonship are produced by the elect soul, are now 
 manifested. They are thus described at their birth : — 
 " The first came out red, all over like a hairy garment, and 
 they called his name Esau : and after that came his brother 
 out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel, and his name 
 was called Jacob." ^ 
 
 To look at the elder first. He was " red," or ruddy, as 
 the word is rendered by our translators in the only two 
 other places where we find it.^ It describes natural health 
 
 2 Chap. XXV. 24-26. Edom. The LXX. translate it irvp- 
 
 ^ 1 Sam. xvi. 12, and xvii. 42, ^ocktis. 
 Ileb. '''5l^^{<, from the same root as 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 293 
 
 and strength, in contrast to that weakness out of which 
 Abraham and all the elect are made strong. So fair is 
 the flesh at this stage. Some think that the carnal mind, 
 because " it profiteth nothing,"^ and "cannot please God,"^ 
 must therefore be without attractions, an imsightly de- 
 formed thing. In some forms it is vile indeed ; but in 
 others, and especially as Esau, it is for a season beautiful. 
 But its beauty soon corrupts. Ere long Esau is Edom, 
 that is, the red one ; ^ his hue, like the " red horse," and 
 "scarlet beast,"'' bespeaking that fierce life within, which 
 mil come out through all its coverings. Then we see that 
 Edom is little else than Adam ; slightly altered, but at 
 bottom the same old man, which is of the earth, earthy.^ 
 Such is the flesh, at its best ; fair at first, but degenerating 
 as it grows, until it shews all its inbred violence. 
 
 Esau's other mark was " hair." He was " all over like 
 a hairy garment."^ This too figures grace and strength. 
 The Lord, describing the growth and comeliness of Jeru- 
 salem, says, " Thy hair was grown ; " ^^ while " well-set hair " 
 is set in contrast to " baldness," as strength to weakness, 
 and beauty to burning.^ ^ Esau has all this strength; but 
 it avails as nothing in obtaining heavenly things. There- 
 fore the priests at consecration had to "shave all their 
 flesh." '2 Therefore the leper before he could be cleansed 
 must "cut off all his hair, his beard, his eye-brows, 
 
 ♦ John vi. 63. nected with nDlii, or earth. 
 
 5 Rom. viii. 8. ^ Chap. xxv. 25. The name Esau 
 
 « Chap. xxv. 30, and xxxvi. 1,8. is by some transhited " hairy." See 
 
 ' Rev. vi. 4, and xvii. 3. Gesenius on the word. Jerome 
 
 8 In the Hebrew, the difference however (Novt. Heh.) renders it by 
 
 between Edom and Adam, DhX and " operans" from another root. 
 
 DIX, is only in the vowel points, '" J^^''^-. .^''\- ^• 
 
 , ^/' ;; . . , , " Isa. 111. 24. 
 
 both names being most closely con- 12 jsfumb. viii. 7. 
 
294 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship part v. 
 
 even all his hair."^^ For, in consecration or cleansing, the 
 strength of the flesh is to be put away, because, while that 
 strength lasts, God cannot be fully known. Besides hair, 
 from marking strength, if excessive, shews wildness ; as 
 the growth of Nebuchadnezzar's hair, until "it was like 
 eagle's feathers," indicated his thorough brutality.''* So 
 does strength in the flesh tend, if it increase, to make us 
 like to beasts, rough, brutal, wild, and unclean. The flesh, 
 as Esau, becomes all this ; so nearly akin is even its beauty 
 to that which is wild and animal. 
 
 Of the younger less is said. We only read that " his 
 hand took hold of Esau's heel," whence "his name was 
 called Jacob." ^^ This name, in its very form and compo- 
 sition, figures that which Jacob represents, namely, the 
 divine working in the natural,^^ and his unconscious act 
 reveals what Jacob is, as the hair and colour mark what 
 Esau signifies. Jacob is that life which " takes hold with 
 the hand," that is, the spirit of service, in contradistinction 
 to the earlier forms of the elect spirit. This is the form 
 which the spiritual mind assumes, when Isaac or sonship 
 
 " Lev. xiv. 8, 9. -which, like n, in Hebrew is symbolic 
 '* Dan. iv. 33. "Pili carnis sunt of the divine ; as we see in its addi- 
 vitse veteris cogitationes ; . . . . bene tion to the name Oshea, changing it 
 autem per Moysem dicitur, ' Levitse to Jehoshua. — Numb. xiii. 8, 16. 
 radant omnes pilos carnis suse ' .... This idea, of the divine working in 
 quia is qui in obsequiis divinis assu- the natural, is exactly that set forth 
 niitur, debet ante Dei oculos a cunc- in Jacob. Augustine says, " Sup- 
 tis carnis cogitationibus mundus ap- plantatio enim vocatur Jacob. Et 
 parere, ne illicitas cogitationes mens nee ipsa supplantatio inanis est, 
 proferat, et pulchram animse speciem quia in figura accipitur, quomodo 
 quasi pilis fruticantibus deformem dolus. Non enim jam erat tanta 
 reddat."— Greg. M. Moral, in Job. malitia in fratre, ut vellet supplan- 
 1. V. c. 33, § 59. tare fratrem suum. Tunc enim 
 '^ Chap. XXV. 26. dictus est supplantator, quando 
 '^ The word is formed from Dpy, manu fratris sui nascentis pedem 
 the keel, (that part of Adam which tenuit .... Supplantatio autem car- 
 was to be bruised, that is, his fleshly nalium, vita spiritalium est," &c. — 
 part,) with the addition of ■>, a letter, Serm. iv. Class, i. § 28. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, 295 
 
 produces its legitimate fruit. Jacob is worker throughout, 
 busy with his hand, not so much a life of faith or sonsliip 
 as of untiring service ; toiling to win and bring into sub- 
 jection things which till now had been given up as alto- 
 gether beyond the elect's reach. In all this much of earthly 
 craft is seen ; and Jacob, because of his haste, is lovingly 
 disciplined, until he learns the folly of many of his schemes 
 to bring about what God had promised. And yet through- 
 out he is blessed in his work. First one and then another 
 of the things once subject to Laban or the outward man are 
 brought to serve Jacob. This of course is not seen yet. 
 But the first act, the " laying hold with his hand," shews in 
 what new form the younger or spiritual life is now to be 
 manifested. 
 
 Such are these sons at birth. As they grow, their 
 characteristic unlikeness yet more shews itself. Esau is " a 
 cunning hunter, a man of the field ; " Jacob, " a plain 
 man, dwelling in tents." ^^ The one is the revival of 
 the same wild life, which we have already known at an 
 earlier stage and coarser form in Nimrod and Ishmael. 
 The other continues that pilgrim life, which Abraham's 
 tent and altar have so long exhibited. Their acts shew 
 what each is, and place the real difference of these two 
 minds in a light never to be forgotten. 
 
 For " Esau came from the field, and was faint ; and he said 
 unto Jacob, Feed me with that red pottage, for I am faint. 
 And Jacob said. Sell me thy birth-right. And Esau said, 
 Lo, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this 
 birth-right do me ? So Esau sold his birtli-right to Jacob. 
 Then Jacob gave Esau food, even pottage of lentiles, and 
 he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way. 
 
 " Chap. XXV. 27. 
 
296 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 Thus Esau despised his birth-right."^® These "lentiles" 
 were the food of beasts more than of men ; and the 
 " famine " mentioned here *^ may explain how Jacol) 
 came to be seethino;- such pottage. It is elsewhere named 
 as being used in a time of dearth, and there was " death in 
 the pot," until the prophet healed it by casting in " fine 
 flour." ^^ For corn and wine, not lentiles, are the bread we 
 should possess ; as Isaac says, " With corn and wine have 
 I sustained him." ^^ Not for such meat however, but for 
 lentile pottage, fit rather for swine than men, Esau sells 
 his inheritance. Whoever else may gain it, he cares not 
 to keep it. And having done this, without one expression 
 of regret, he " rises and goes his way," as if satisfied. Such 
 is the flesh in every age. For a momentary gratification 
 it will give up the hope of heavenly glory. Promises, 
 because they tarry, are counted less than vanity, while 
 the husks which the swine eat are esteemed a fit blessing. 
 Circumstances however as usual give the occasion for 
 this : — " Esau came from the field, and he was faint ; " 
 his pursuits there, though exciting, do not satisfy him. At 
 such a moment the pottage is seen, and becomes through 
 his emptiness the occasion of bringing out the true value 
 he puts on spiritual things. So the flesh, spending its 
 strength in worldly pursuits, following this or that natural 
 emotion or creature faculty, till it is quite wearied, and 
 feeling at times that the field thus used does not satisfy. 
 
 '* Chap. XXV. 29-34. In the where they are called "the food of 
 
 authf)rised version the 34th verse is God," Lev. xxi. 17; and of "the 
 
 rendered, " Jacob gave Esau bread tree with its fruit " or ," with its 
 
 a7jd pottage of lentiles." But the food," in Jer. xi. 19 : 'lDn'?3 YV. 
 
 more correct translation seems to be '^ Chap. xxvi. 1. 
 
 that which I have given above, viz. ^o 2 Kings iv. 38-41. 
 
 *'food, even pottage," &c. The same 21 Qhap. xxvii. 37. 
 word, Dn^ is used of the ofiferings, 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Son ship. 297 
 
 instead of turning to cast itself upon a present God, too 
 often by its very sense of emptiness is drawn to some 
 passing bait, for which at such moments it will give up the 
 birth-right. For spite of its excitements, nay, through 
 them, the flesh is often faint, and feels that its field, if it 
 is to afford solid satisfaction, needs tlie sower's seed and 
 patient culture. Could it at such a time turn to the Lord, 
 all would be well ; but instead of this, the faintness is 
 made the occasion for self to choose its own remedy. The 
 result is the mess of pottage is seized, and the birth-right 
 thus for ever lost to it. 
 
 But this, though the occasion, was not the cause. That 
 lay far deeper : — " Esau despised his birth-right." 22 His 
 own words betray him, — " What profit shall this birth- 
 right do me ? " He says, " This birth-right," as Joseph's 
 brethren, when they would mock him, say, — " This 
 dreamer cometh ; " ^^ or again as Israel, when they turned 
 away from Moses, — " As for this Moses, we know not what 
 ha? become of him." ^'^ It is not mere pressure of circum- 
 stances, but real contempt of the blessing, which in every 
 age makes the flesh so ready to give up the hope of coming 
 glory. Ignorant of Grod and the joy of His love, but loving 
 the things of time and sense which this world offers, the 
 flesh prefers the barley to the gem : no wonder therefore 
 that it so lightly parts with what it does not value. 
 Talk to the flesh of the " comfort of love," of " fellowship 
 of spirit," of that " kingdom which is righteousness and 
 peace and joy in the Holy Ghost," of " the inheritance 
 which is reserved in heaven for us, incorruptible, undefiled, 
 and which fadeth not away," — such themes will touch no 
 answering chord, or raise a single wish or aspiration. 
 
 « Chap. XXV. 34. " Chap, xxxvii. 19. 24 Exod. xxxii. 1. 
 
298 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, part v. 
 
 Rather it shrinks from such as from a burden, and turns to 
 earth, to its dust and dross, or its morsels of meat such as 
 the flesh loveth. In these is its heaven, in these it would 
 rest, and eat and drink and go its way. 
 
 Still the flesh will have its excuse. Grovelling as it is, 
 it cannot give up heaven without an attempt at self- 
 iustification. Like Esau it says, " I am at the point to 
 die." ^^ I cannot live unless I act thus. I cannot exist on 
 so vague a thing as the promise. I may be losing the 
 birth-right, but of what use is it, if I cannot live here ? 
 Necessity compels me. J cannot help it. Thus argues 
 the flesh ; but the excuse is not held good. In all such 
 reasonings God is shut out. Esau is in the Lord's eyes 
 " a profane person." '^^ 
 
 Of Jacob less is seen here ; but his acts shew a mind as 
 imlike to Esau as may be, and set on other things ; the 
 one giving up his birth-right for meat ; the other giving up 
 liis meat, if by any means he may obtain the inheritance. 
 Jacob may fail in the way he seeks the blessing ; he may 
 trust too much to his schemes, not yet disciplined to wait 
 on God to receive of Him w^hat He has promised. But 
 there cannot be a question whether he values the birth- 
 right. His very errors shew that it is more to him 
 than all other things. Such is the spirit of service in 
 us, striving to overcome the flesh, without God, and in 
 its own energy ; but ready at all times to give up the 
 world, parting with present good to obtain better things. 
 Many a weary step does this attempt cost Jacob. Even 
 after years of travail, Esau is yet to him "my Lord 
 Esau ; " ^^ so hardly does the elder serve the younger, so 
 slowly even at this stage is the flesh overcome. 
 
 « Chap. XXV. 32. 2« Heb. xil. 16. «» Chap, xxxii 4, 18 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, 299 
 
 And yet " Isaac loves Esau,"^^ and would if possible bless 
 the first-born. P^or though sonship is come, and we live 
 in the spirit, we love the flesh, and cling to the fruits of 
 nature which yet grow in us. This occurs at every stage. 
 The spirit of faith prays " that Ishmael might live before 
 God." 29 Even when Isaac is weaned, the rejection of the 
 bond-maid's son is to Abraham " very grievous." ^^ And 
 now when these natural fruits are Esau, when the flesh is 
 seen in the comeliness it possesses after the spirit of son- 
 ship rules the elect house, it is hard to give up what seems 
 so fair. The day comes when Esau is known ; even tlien, 
 spite of his ways and the grief which his Hittite wives 
 cause, — spite of our knowledge that he is rejected, — that 
 flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, and that 
 though attractive it must be cast out, — we yet love Esau, 
 and would make him the heir, and bless him, even though 
 we know it cannot be. 
 
 But enough of this inward view. Without, Isaac's sons 
 are those in whom respectively the flesh or spirit is the 
 ruling life ; who, though born in the house of the Son, 
 and from one womb, after many struggles are for ever 
 separated. The one, pursuing the rough things of the 
 world, (for in this view "the field is the world," ^^) faint 
 
 28 Chap. xxT. 28. vero vir simplex in tabernaculis vel 
 
 23 Chap. xvii. 18. in domo habitare perhibetur; qxiia 
 
 30 Chap. xxi. 11. nimiriim omues. qui in curis exte- 
 
 3' Matt. xiii. 38. " Quid enim per rioribus spargi refugiunt, simplices 
 
 renationem Esau, nisi eorum vita in cogitatione atque in conscientiae 
 
 figuratur, qui in exterioribus volup- supe habitatione consistunt. In ta- 
 
 tatibus fusi carnem sequuntur. Qui bernaculis enim aut in domo habi- 
 
 etiam agricola esse describitur, quia tare, est se intra mentis secreta 
 
 amatores hujus sseeuli tanto magis restringere, at nequaquam exterius 
 
 exteriora colunt, quanto interiora per desideria dissiparo; ne dum ad 
 
 sua ineulta derelinquunt. Jacob multa foras inhiant, a semetipsis 
 
300 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonshlp. part v. 
 
 with such pursuits, sell their hope of glory for the meat 
 which perisheth ; while the younger or spiritual seed give 
 up such meat, if by any means they may obtain better 
 things. From the same Church spring both these seeds- 
 For awhile one house is able to contain both. But a few 
 years see them widely apart ; the one with a kingdom and 
 kingly sons in Mount Seir, the other with flocks won 
 out of Laban's hand, returning as pilgrims to dwell in the 
 promised land. 
 
 Soon shall the toil and grief be done. Jacob shall re- 
 joice, and Israel shall be glad.^^ Then one shall say, I am 
 the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of 
 Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the 
 Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. ^^ Fear 
 not therefore, my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, and be 
 not dismayed, Israel ; for, behold, I will save thee from 
 afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and 
 Jacob shall return, and be in rest, and at ease, and noLe 
 shall make him afraid.^"* 
 
 In the dispensations too this is fulfilled. The two sons, 
 the natural and the spiritual seed, the Jew and Christian 
 Church, are both the fruit of that Word of God, who is 
 the Son and Heir, the true Isaac. All through the Jewish 
 dispensation, born with it, was there a younger seed, not 
 carnal but spiritual. All the holy prophets were of this 
 line. In due time the younger or spiritual gained the 
 birth-right openly. But before this, the younger was in the 
 house, and in him Grod's covenant was fulfilled, though the 
 elder was cast out. So St. Paul quotes Esau as a proof 
 
 alienatis cogitationibus recedunt." — m Psalm, xlvi. § 6 ; and elsewhere. 
 Greg. M. Moral. 1. v. c. 11, § 20. ^'^ Psalm xiy. 7. 
 
 Augustine often refers to the same ^^ Isa. xliv. 5. 
 
 outward fulfilment. See Ser)n. iv. ^* Jer. xlvi. 27. 
 
 Claas i. De Jilou ^- Esau; Enar. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 301 
 
 of Israel's fall.^'^ He at least in Eebekali's sons could see 
 a figure of the dispensations. 
 
 § VII. — Isaac in the Philistines' Land. 
 
 (Chapter xxvi.) 
 
 Heke Isaac comes into collision with the Philistine, and 
 the result is something like a repetition of Abraham's con- 
 duct under the same circimastances. In the main the two 
 scenes are alike, shewing the dangers which await the elect 
 spirit when it leaves its own high ground to go down 
 towards Egypt. The difference is that in Abraham we see 
 the trial, as it meets us at the faith stage of our spiritual 
 life. Isaac shews the same, when instead of faith the 
 spirit of sonship and understanding is come and rules 
 within us. 
 
 Now the Philistine, as we have already seen, represents 
 that spirit which seeks by knowledge to enter into heavenly 
 things.^ Unknown before the flood, such a mind too surely 
 grows out of the evil nature which still lives in us after 
 we are regenerate. This mind is the Philistine in us, who 
 is left to prove, and does more than once severely prove, 
 the true elect. ^ For the ground of promise often tries us: 
 most truly is it the "land of promise," not of attainment, 
 or of perfect rest. If, then, in addition to the common 
 trials of the way, extraordinary pressure comes, and the 
 
 ^5 Eom. ix. 10. This dispensa- Contr. Hmr. 1, iv. c. 38 ; by Cyprian, 
 
 tional fulfilmeut is continually al- Adv. Jud. 1. i. § 19 ; by Origen, 
 
 luded to or expounded by the Fathers; Horn. xii. in Gen., and by many 
 
 by Augustine, De Civit. 1. XA-i. c. 35 ; others. 
 
 Id. QucBst. in Gen. 73; by Ambrose, ' See on chap. xx. and the notes 
 
 De Cain et Abel, 1. i. c. 2, and Jn thero^ 
 
 Psalm, cxv'm. Serm. 20; bylrenseus, '^ Judges iii. 1— i. 
 
302 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonshlp. part v. 
 
 springs fail, and the fields, wither, the temptation is strong 
 to leave the ground of promise, to find on the ground of 
 sense or worldly knowledge that which for a season the 
 promise does not minister to us. Egypt holds out strong 
 inducements to go there ; and this not only in the days of 
 Abraham, that is, at the stage when faith is our ruling life ; 
 but also in Isaac's days, that is, when the spirit of sonship 
 is come and is even fruitful in us. 
 
 Now " there was a famine in the land, beside the first 
 famine that was in the days of Abraham." ^ Pressed by this, 
 Isaac moves towards Egypt, but stops or is stopped at 
 Gerar in the Philistines' land. " The Lord appeared, and 
 said. Go not down into Egypt ; dwell in the land which I 
 shall tell thee of : and I will be with thee, and I will bless 
 thee, and to thee and to thy seed I will give all these coun- 
 tries ; and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abra- 
 ham, and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of 
 heaven ; and I will give unto thy seed all these countries, 
 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." 
 But " Isaac dwells in Gerar " for awhile ; and here each of 
 his peculiar blessings is seriously imperilled through the 
 Philistines ; till pushed by them from place to place he 
 returns again to Beersheba, where the Lord again appears 
 to him, saying, " Fear not, for I am with thee." On this 
 ground the Philistine takes his proper place, submitting 
 to the elect's superiority ; after which Isaac finds fresh 
 wells of water, beside which again he dwells in peace.'* 
 
 All this is yet fulfilled in those who by grace have 
 reached this stage of man's development. After long en- 
 joyment of Beer-Lahai-roi, and the good things of Canaan, 
 comes a time of dearth and dryness. The soul is parched : 
 
 • Chap xxvi. 1. * Chap. xxvi. 2-33. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. 303 
 
 the usual blessing is withheld. The ground of promise 
 seems to yield us nothing. Then we think of the good 
 things of sense, not dependent like the hills of promise 
 upon the dews and rain of heaven, but, like Egypt, ever 
 rich in itself, in its own abundant and apparently un- 
 failing river. So we turn to go down thither. Once 
 turned, a few steps bring us into the Philistines' land, that 
 is, the ground of worldly knowledge, — a descent which can 
 be effected only too easily.^ Here the elect's best blessings, 
 first, intercourse with God, then possession of Eebekah, 
 and lastly, provision sufficient for him, are each and all 
 more or less affected, though spite of all failure Isaac by 
 grace is not only sustained but even enriched here.^ For 
 the elect can gather much from science or knowledge, 
 though mere knowledge cannot enter into spiritual things. 
 The whole experience on this ground is here described, 
 fulfilled in spirit in thousands who in their understanding 
 are all but unconscious of it. 
 
 Intercourse with God is Isaac's first blessing. "The 
 Lord appeared to him and said, Sojourn in this land, and 
 I will be with thee." ^ This was the presence of the Lord, 
 better than all His gifts. But this belongs to certain 
 ground. In Egypt, nay among the Philistines, half way 
 to Egypt, the elect cannot enjoy this. If Isaac walks with 
 God, the Lord appears. Walking with Philistines, the 
 Lord's presence is unperceived by him. But no sooner does 
 he come back to the old ground of promise, than heavenly 
 revelations are at once again restored to him. So we read, 
 " Isaac went up from thence to Beersheba, and the Lord 
 appeared to him the same night; and Isaac builded an 
 altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord." ® 
 
 * See on chap. xx. ^ Chap. xxvi. 3. 
 
 « Chap. xxvi. 12. <» Chap. xxvi. 23-25. 
 
304 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 It is so still. The ground of promise often tries us, but 
 conscious intercourse with the Lord is here abundantly 
 enjoyed by us. Driven by trial we get off this ground, 
 turning to sense ; and we find, that though this or the 
 other trial ceases, God's revelations cease also. On the 
 ground of promise, Grod is needed. To stand there, did 
 not Grod interfere, would be far beyond our spirit's powers. 
 Our very need therefore calls out for Grod, and in the need 
 He reveals Himself as He could not otherwise. But if, 
 instead of this, trial is an excuse to leave the ground of 
 promise to take refuge either in sense or knowledge, though 
 we reap the good things such ground can give us, for a 
 season we lose the Lord's better manifestations. 
 
 Isaac's next blessing was Eebekah. In Grerar " Isaac 
 said, She is my sister." ^ He shrinks from owning his true 
 relation to her, while the ground he takes subjects her to 
 the risk of dreadful profanation. Very strange it seems 
 that men like Abraham or Isaac should so lightly have 
 imperilled what must have been most dear to them. Could 
 we see into the world within, we should perceive how that 
 truth, which is to us what Rebekah was to Isaac, is im- 
 perilled by us with just as little thought, with no more 
 apparent remorse or inward self-condemnation. Our in- 
 ward man, when pressed by diyness and dearth, forsakes 
 the ground of promise, and seeks relief in mere knowledge. 
 Then the truth we love, our Eebekah, is risked, through 
 the mind in us, which by knowledge would enter heavenly 
 things. But the truth may not be so known or embraced. 
 The spirit of sonship is that which alone may lay hold of 
 spiritual truth. Mere knowledge would only pervert it. 
 God therefore interferes to prevent such adulteration. 
 
 ® Chap. XX vi. 7. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the Spirit of SonsJiip. 305 
 
 We have already seen this at the faith stage. Here we 
 learn that even when the spirit of sonship is come, we are 
 still liable to the very same temptation. Grrace, indeed, 
 again averts a fall, but the elect cannot but be humbled as 
 he reviews such stages of his pilgrimage. 
 
 Further, upon this ground Isaac's more outward blessings, 
 his "bread and his water," are the occasion of strife and 
 envying. He sows, and the Philistines envy his fruits ; 
 he digs wells, and they labour to stop and fill them up.'^ 
 Then he removes and digs again, but the herdsmen of 
 Gerar still strive. He digs yet again, and the Philistines 
 yet more strive with him. On the ground of knowledge 
 the elect can never rest. He may reap much there he 
 may open living wells, " for the earth is the Lord's, and 
 the fulness thereof;'' ^^ the fields of knowledge, therefore, 
 the Philistines' land, may be subdued, and much may be 
 obtained thence ; but on this ground there are disturbing 
 thoughts withal, which can only be escaped by returning 
 to the true ground of promise, where the Lord's oath again 
 comforts us. There Philistine herdsmen cannot come i^^ 
 there the restlessness of mere knowledge cannot trouble us. 
 Beside " the well of the oath," we rest in peace. Here the 
 Philistine in us submits himself, and takes his proper place. 
 So we read, " Then Abimelech came to him, and said. We 
 saw the Lord was with thee : let there now be an oath be- 
 tween us and thee, that thou wilt do us no hm't. And 
 Isaac made them a feast, and they sware one to another, 
 and they rose up and departed from him." ^^ Knowledge is 
 rebuked, but no violence is offered to it. For the elect is 
 
 "> Chap. xxvi. 12-15. '^ As to these " herdsmen," see on 
 
 '• Psalm xxiv. 1. chap. xiii. 
 
 '^ Chap. xxvi. 23-31. 
 
 X 
 
306 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship, part v. 
 
 now on ground where " the oppositions of knowledge, 
 falsely so-called," ^* cannot disquiet him. 
 
 I have thus briefly traced this scene within. But the 
 same thing is continually being re-enacted in the outward 
 Church. Sons of Grod through trials leave their own high 
 ground, seeking greater ease among those who without 
 circumcision are reaching toward heavenly things ; for 
 sweet and blessed as the " well of vision" is, it does not 
 exempt us from trials of faith, and other difficulties. Then 
 the temptation is strong to descend to lower ground, to 
 seek shelter in the things of sense, and in the ways of men 
 of this world. ^^ There direct revelations cease : there the 
 Church, and the truth which it embodies, is in danger of 
 profanation ; for worldly men, like Abimelech, and that 
 with pure intentions, will seek carnally to know what, as 
 worldlings, never can be theirs. Sons of God yet think too 
 lightly of the shame and peril incurred here ; but did not 
 the Lord Himself most graciously interfere, such a course 
 would bring only worse judgment upon the world, and 
 disgrace on God's children. Nevertheless on this ground 
 bread is found, and wells are dug ; though envy assails us 
 for the one, while against the other there is open opposi- 
 tion. " The bread is my flesh : he that eateth me, even he 
 
 '* 1 Tim. vi. 20. The notes on gener ejus, et Ficol, dux exercitiis 
 
 chap. XX. have already shewn the ejus. InterpretaturautemOchozach 
 
 views of the Fathers as to the spiri- * tenens,' et Ficol, 'os omnium.' Ipse 
 
 tual import of the "Philistine." I autem Abimelech, ' j^ater mens rex.' 
 
 may add the following: — " Iste Qui tres, ut ego arbitror, imaginem 
 
 Abimelech non semper pacem habet totius philosophise tenent, quae in 
 
 cum Isaac, sed aliquando dissidet, tres partes dividitur, logicam, phy- 
 
 aliquando pacem requirit Phi- sicam, ethicam," &c. — Oric/. Horn. 
 
 losophia enim neque in omnibus legi xiv. in Gen. xxvi. He pursues the 
 
 Dei contraria est, neque in omnibus subject at considerable length. 
 
 consona Sed et duo alii cum ^^ Compare the scene, chap. xx. 
 
 Abimelech venerint, id est Ochozaeh, 
 
PART V. Isaac^ or the Spirit of SonsJiip. 307 
 
 shall live by me ;" and again, " The water which I will 
 give, shall be in you a well of water, springing up into 
 everlasting life." Bread is the outward form of the word 
 of truth : water is its quickening and refreshing spirit.^^ 
 The chief strife is ever for the waters. The " staff of 
 bread "^' may be grudged, but it is not destroyed; but the 
 waters are actually choked ; Pliilistines, who never worked 
 to dig wells, will gladly work to stop them. Out of the 
 world we may dig as we please, and sweet and calm are the 
 hours spent at the " well of the oath," or beside the '' well 
 of vision." There no em^ing hand mars the joy by fouling 
 the spiritual stream. It is far otherwise when we are 
 among Philistines. Philistine herdsmen count wells an 
 evil : they are deep and dangerous pits : not only sheep, 
 but men also, — so they j udge, — may perish in them. Have 
 not some souls, while pretending or attempting to dig for 
 hidden fountains, hurt themselves or others by leading 
 them, from the firm ground of the letter, into uncertain 
 and slippery quagmires of mystic nonsense, or into dry 
 depths which yielded no water ? Some have slipped : the 
 well is therefore to be stopped, and the stagnant pool 
 preferred, lest some blind leader of the blind should fall 
 into it. Who is there that in the faith of the " deep 
 which coucheth beneath," ^^ reckoning* on a vein of living- 
 water, out of sight perhaps, but yet not far off from them 
 that seek it, has dug below the surface, and brought into 
 view the hidden streams of the Spirit's pure and living 
 waters, but has met with strife at the hand of Philistines 
 for the waters, clear and refreshing though they be, which 
 lie has opened out. And the strife is from " herdsmen "' 
 who have charge of flocks, and wlio should know the value 
 
 '« John vii. 39. " Psalm cv. 10. »« Deut. xxsiii. 13. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonship. part v. 
 
 of living waters. But they know it not. And like the 
 Scribes, they " take away the key : " they " neither enter 
 themselves, and those who would enter in, they hinder." ^^ 
 Thus are the Isaacs troubled still, and Grod's most precious 
 gifts, given for our cleansing and refreshment, are made 
 occasions of contention ; so that such words as hatred and 
 strife become, even in the mouths of the elect, almost 
 synonymes for these pure wells of living waters,'^° till they 
 returnfrom this low ground and communion with worldlings 
 to the ground of promise where men of this world care not 
 to come. There the Lord again appears in peace : the 
 "well of the oath" is safe from the distractions which 
 infest us among the men of this world. There the uncir- 
 cumcised must see that Grod is with the pilgrim, and though 
 they will not walk with him there, they cease to fight 
 against him. He offers them a feast of fat things : they 
 may grudge and strive with him ; he will return them love 
 for their hatred. Another age may shew yet other fulfil- 
 ments, when the pilgrimage among the Grentiles being 
 ended, the opposing world shall seek and find peace. Then 
 shall the earth be glad, and the sons of God shall dwell 
 
 " Luke xi. 52. " Unusquisque penetramus, quos tamen oceulte re- 
 nostrum, qui verbum Dei ministrat, pleut Allophyli, quaudo nobis ad 
 puteum fodit, et aquam yivam quserit, alta tendentibus immundi spiritus 
 ex qua reficiat auditores. Si ergo terrenas cogitationes ingerunt, et 
 veterum dicta discut ere conatusfuero, quasi inventam divinse scientise 
 et sensum in eis quserere spiritalem, aquam toUunt." — Moral, in Job. 
 et velamen legis amovere, fodio qui- 1. xvi. c. 18, § 23. Ambrose dwells 
 dem puteos, sed statira mihi move- on the spiritual import of each of 
 bunt calumnias amici li terse, et in- the wells named here, Be Isaac et 
 sidiabuntur mihi, et persecutiones Animd, c. iv. § 20-22. 
 parabunt," &c. — Oriff. Horn. xiii. in ^o « jgaac called the name of the 
 Gen. So also Gregory the Great : — well Esek, or ' contention,'' because 
 " Puteos quos Isaac foderat terrse they strove with him. And they 
 congerie replebant. Hos enim nos digged another well, and strove for 
 nimirum puteos fodimus, cum in that also : and he called it Sitnah," 
 Scripturse sacrse abditis sensibus alta or hatred. — Chap. xxvi. 20. 21. 
 
PART V. Isaac, or the SpiHt of Sonship, 309 
 
 by living' waters where none can harass them. Lord, 
 Thou only canst bring us to that rest. Bring us thither, 
 whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood. 
 Amen. 
 
 Such is Isaac's course, that is the path and experience 
 of the spirit of sonship in us ; very different to the energies 
 of faith, freed from the peculiar struggles which mark 
 each stage of Abraham's history ; differing widely too 
 from Jacob's path, knowing nothing of that long toil for 
 flocks and children in the far country ; but coming in at 
 once to rich blessing, as Abraham's heir inheriting all 
 faith's good things ; yet with its special blessings having 
 special trials of its own, first mocked and laughed at, 
 then called to be a sacrifice, to give up as an obedient son 
 its own will in everj^thing, to be even as a lamb appointed 
 unto death, only in the act of perfect self-sacrifice to find 
 deliverance ; then, when fruitful, to be pained, at home 
 by its own seed, abroad by seeing the living waters which 
 faith had opened choked by aliens ; such is the path ; for 
 there is no form of spiritual life which in its progress 
 towards the perfect man must not be tried to the uttermost. 
 The form of the trial varies with the growing form of the 
 elect life, for that which tries us at first is not the trial of 
 the riper and more advanced spirit ; but a cross and trial 
 there must be at every stage, to purify the elect from the 
 hereditary evil which still so perseveringly cleaves to him. 
 Many therefore are the inward groans and deaths, which 
 must be passed through in the journey towards perfection. 
 For as the vine draws its sap from the impure earth, and 
 so yields a fluid fruit, first sour, then sweet, which, being 
 crushed in the wine-press, is then turned into wine by 
 fermentation, and thus by successive changes spiritualized 
 
310 Isaac, or the Spirit of Sonshij^. part v. 
 
 and advanced into a more powerful and enduring form of 
 being ; so in the great change of man's renewal unto God, 
 the new life, growing out of and in part and for a season 
 sustained by the detiiled and earthly nature, is dissolved 
 and purified by successive changes and ferments, till it is 
 transformed and rectified into that which is immortal. 
 But many stages are there in the labour, and many times 
 does nature halt before this final rest. And often do we 
 tliink the work is done, and the promised rest is come, 
 while yet we are far indeed from seeing it. But it shall 
 come at last to those who by grace yield themselves to 
 God in everything. 
 
PART VL 
 
 JACOB, OR THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE. 
 
 (chapters XXVII. — XXXVI.) 
 
 "Jacob served for a wife, and kept sheep."— Hos. xii. 12. 
 
 " Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination 
 against Israel : according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What 
 hath God wrought 1 "—Numb, xxiii. 23. 
 
I 
 
JACOB, OE THE SPIEIT OF SERTICE. 
 
 (chapters XXVII. — XXXVI.) 
 
 We come now to another form of life. Five great stages 
 we have already passed. Jacob is the sixth, in whom is 
 shewTi a further very distinct development of the same 
 spiritual life. Essentially they are alike, as root, and 
 shoot, and leaf, and bud, and flower, and fruit, and seed? 
 are all the same life ; they differ in form, each being a 
 fresh manifestation of that sevenfold Spirit which indeed 
 is yet one.^ 
 
 Jacob, as we have already seen,^ represents that spirit 
 of service, which is not the first and natural, but the 
 spiritual, fruit of true sonship ; which from the first is dis- 
 tinguished by using its hand ; " laying hold," and labouring 
 to bring the first-born, and what is akin to the first-born, 
 into subjection to a higher life. The figure is most dis- 
 tinct, and stands in striking contrast to all the forms of 
 life which we have already gone through. Abraham, the 
 spirit of faith, goes forth from the ground of the outward 
 man to walk with God beyond Jordan. He leaves his 
 
 ' Kev. i. 4, and 1 Cor. xii. 4, 11. * ^qq q^ chap. xxv. 24-34. 
 
314 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, part vi 
 
 kindred behind, coming out from Mesopotamia, that is 
 the ground between tradition and reasoning,^ forsaking 
 the outer world to walk with God, and to stand in His 
 strength upon the heavenly ground of promise. This is 
 the life of faith, to pass from earthly into heavenly things. 
 And Abraham's experience is all in keeping with this 
 beginning. For fiiith, having turned its back on the out- 
 ward man, returns to it no more, but abides beyond 
 Jordan. Isaac lives yet more completely in Canaan ; for 
 our walk as sons of Grod is not with the natural man or in 
 the outward world. Isaac's life begins and ends beyond 
 Jordan. A son and heir, he dwells in peace in heavenly 
 places. Once only through trial he nearly leaves this 
 ground, driven to its very borders, in the direction of the 
 Philistine. But his life is a life in Canaan. In Jacob the 
 view presented to us is very different. Here the elect is 
 seen, not as coming by faith from the ground of the out- 
 ward man, nor as Isaac dwelling in Canaan in peace by 
 wells of water ; but rather going down from thence to the 
 ground of the outward man, from which the spirit of faith 
 has come up and separated itself, there to serve for a bride 
 and flocks, whom it may bring, as the fruit of service, 
 back with it into heavenly places. Jacob's life is service 
 throughout ; a life, beginning in the midst of the blessings 
 of the elect in heavenly places, which yet goes down 
 thence to toil in outward things, to bring under the power 
 of the spiritual life in us faculties which till now have 
 only served the outward man ; a form of life which only 
 comes after sonship is known, which is indeed its fruit, 
 though most unlike it ; for it goes down from heavenly 
 
 ^ Eesppcting these rivers, from haraim, took its name, see on chap- 
 whieh Mesopotamia, or Aram Na- ter ii. 
 
PAUT VI. Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service. 315 
 
 things to earthly, to labours amongst the unclean, from 
 whom God's elect have been separated.'* 
 
 Such a life may seem to undo what has been done, for 
 Jacob goes down to the very ground which Abraham had 
 forsaken : yet are the paths in substance one ; and both, 
 unlike as they appear, are but different parts of one and 
 the same series ; both are the same life at different stages ; 
 now rising like a plant to hold its fruit above the earth in 
 air and sunshine, now again casting its fruit into the earth, 
 in both pursuing only one end. For life is growth, and 
 involves a constant change. Hence the same life, which 
 at one stage, as Abrahams, draws us away from outward 
 things, at another stage, as Jacobs, brings us back to 
 them. Being life, it cannot preserve a dead consistency. 
 The elect change, because they are alive. Hence the fact, 
 of their having once and for ever by faith forsaken out- 
 ward things, shall by no means keep them from going 
 back in service to toil for that which by faith they have 
 forsaken. Besides, things are safe at one stage which are 
 dangerous at another ; as Egypt, which was a snare to 
 Abraham, is none to Joseph, but becomes the scene of all 
 his glory. 
 
 § I. — Jacob's Carnal Means to gain Gtod's Ends. 
 
 (Chapter xxvii.) 
 
 First we see how Jacob attempts to supplant the flesh or 
 first-born. His mode of action is fully shewn, and the 
 results, which leave Esau, without the blessing indeed, 
 
 * Ambrose thus points out the mentis puritatem, in Jacob sing<u- 
 
 distinction between tliuse lives; — larem laborura tolerantiam," &c. — 
 
 " In Abraham didicistis impigr;i n Ue Josqjh. c. i. § 1. 
 fidei devotionem, in I«aac sine rie 
 
316 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 but yet " my lord Esau." The more excellent way comes 
 out in Joseph. There the victory over the first-born is 
 won, not by striving or supplanting, but by suffering. 
 Not the strength of nature, not doing but dying, in a 
 word the cross, is the elect's true sceptre over the flesh 
 and outward world. But this is not known at this stage. 
 Here we see the first ways by which the younger strives 
 to overcome the elder, namely by craft and energy. 
 
 Three men appear in this scene, who yet live, and still 
 repeat the same acts in the elect house. 
 
 First Isaac seeks to bless Esau. He will, if possible, 
 give the blessing to the first-born or natural life. " Isaac 
 called his elder son, and said unto him. My son, make me 
 savoury meat, that I may eat and bless thee." ^ But this 
 first-born is slow in bringing what is asked; and the 
 blessing, spite of Isaac's inclination, passes according to a 
 higher purpose upon the younger son. 
 
 And so the spirit of sonship in us struggles, if it might 
 be so, to make the flesh blessed. Spite of our knowledge 
 that flesh must fail, we yet would make it the heir, and 
 bless it, though we know it cannot be. In vain have Cain 
 and Terah lived and died : in vain has the spirit of faith 
 struggled to save Ishmael : the same desire remains when 
 Isaac is old, stronger now perhaps than at any former 
 stage. For Abraham only prays for Ishmael, but Isaac 
 determines himself to bless the first-born. But flesh and 
 blood cannot inherit the kingdom. ^ The sons of Grod may 
 excite the flesh to seek the blessing. It is in vain. The 
 true kingdom is in and of the spirit, in things which the 
 flesh loves not, and where it cannot come. 
 
 And Isaac, foiled in his purpose, at once and without 
 
 » Chap, xxvii. 4. * 1 Cor. xv. 50. 
 
PART Yi. Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service. 317 
 
 hesitation confirms the blessing upon the head of Jacob. 
 He answers, "I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed ;"^ 
 nor do Esau's cries for a moment change this deep con- 
 viction. He "trembles" indeed, for the struggle of his 
 o\STi with God's will moves him exceedingly ; but his 
 judgment is untouched ; the blessing is fixed : he neither 
 can nor will reverse it. So now, spite of our wish to bless 
 the flesh, through its delays we find our purpose set aside. 
 Then instead of seeking to reverse the gift, we fully ac- 
 quiesce in the fact, that the spirit is the true possessor of 
 it. The spirit of sonship confirms the rejection of the 
 flesh. It receives a blessing, but it cannot have the 
 inheritance. 
 
 But Jacob is the chief figure here. Elect, unbroken, 
 still Jacob, not yet transformed into Israel, the man whose 
 own hand is at work, not yet a prince with Grod, as he be- 
 comes afterwards, — ^just as he is, young and eager to be 
 blessed, without a thought of liis own unfitness to use the 
 blessing he longs for, not fearing Esau, as he does in later 
 days, he seeks at once by craft to supplant him, and take 
 the blessing. Thus the spirit of service in us at the first, 
 loving the blessing, and intent at once to rule the carnal 
 old man, little thinks of its own unchastened state, or of 
 the flesh's power, if it be roused by opposition, but pursues 
 the same old plan to be blessed, making itself as much like 
 the rejected first-born as possible, putting skins on its 
 hands and neck to be rough, then taking Esau's raiment, 
 then personating Esau. Instead of waiting Grod's time, it 
 will by roughness and guile, contrary to the better nature 
 within, attempt to rule the flesh or first-born, putting on 
 the manners and appearance of the carnal seed, to gain by 
 
 ' Chap, xxvii. 33 
 
318 Jacobs or the Spirit of Service, pabt vi. 
 
 roughness what roughness has no claim to. For because 
 he was such as he was, Esau fails ; and yet Jacob will make 
 himself like this thereby to gain the blessing. But he 
 cannot do this without compunction. He says, " I shall 
 bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing."'* Nevertheless 
 "he puts the skins of the kids upon him."^ The flesh's 
 roughness is put on, to gain what we think will be lost, if 
 we walk on in humble quietness. 
 
 This part of the figure is most striking. When Adam 
 fell, Grod gave him a " coat of skins," ^ a witness of death, 
 and yet a covering through the slain Lamb. In like 
 manner the prophets wore hairy garments,^ testifying the 
 same truth of a fallen nature and its remedy. This Jacob 
 uses to be more flesh-like. He wears the rough garment, 
 like false prophets, to deceive.^ The death of the creature 
 is made his cloak, to be more like that creature, whose 
 doom is sealed by that which covers him. Even thus is 
 the gospel abused. The fact that the lamb was slain, the 
 very pledge that our flesh must not be lived in, is used at 
 first by the spirit of service in us as a means to make us 
 more like Esau, more rough, and more beast-like. And 
 this especially when we would serve. As sons of God, our 
 dangers and temptations meet us on another side ; but as 
 workers we try fleshly means, even when the desire of our 
 heart is to overcome the flesli, and to live and walk in the 
 spirit. 
 
 This was not done by Jacob alone. His mother, 
 
 * Chap, xxrii. 12. coUum lisedinis pellibus texit, nisi 
 ^ Chap, xxvii. 16. quod hsedus pro peccato offerri con- 
 ^ Chap. iii. 21. suevit," &c. — Greg. M. in Ezech. 
 '' 2 Kings i. 8, and Matt. iii. 4. 1. i. h. 6. He does not notice that 
 
 * Zech. xiii. 4, " Quid est quod Jacob did this to make himself like 
 idem Jacob manus ac brachia et Esau. 
 
PART VI, Jacob, or the SpiHt of Service. 319 
 
 Rebekab, moved him to practise this deception.^ Eebekah 
 is that form of truth which the spirit of sonship loves ; ^^ 
 and this truth, acting on the spirit of service in us, through 
 our impatience and tendency to trust ourselves, excites, 
 and so tempts us. Thus it was in Abraham's case. Sarah 
 herself stirred him up to seek seed by tlie bondwoman.^ ^ 
 So even spiritual truth may mislead, if, instead of keeping 
 us in hope and patience, it excites us to godless haste and 
 carnal policy. In service especially we are prone to this, 
 in the efforts which we first make to overcome the elder son. 
 The truth itself excites us to steps, which shew our zeal, 
 but practically deny the zeal of the Lord of Hosts.*^ " The 
 result is always chastening. We learn at last that we only 
 mar God's work when we attempt to do it for Him, and 
 that if we do wrong, we must also suffer wrong. 
 
 Nevertheless Jacob is blessed. The grace, which before 
 his birth gave him the promise, abides " without repent- 
 ance."^^ Grod's purpose is not turned aside. This "worm 
 Jacob " ^"^ must be chastened, yet He blesses him. " And 
 Isaac said. The smell of my son is as the smell of a field 
 which the Lord hath blessed." ^^ The " image of Grod " is 
 not yet come, but the " herb and fruit tree " is yielding 
 fruit and odour after its kind. And sweet is the smell of 
 this spirit of service in us, spite of all its haste and imper- 
 fections. It is " even as a very fruitful field ; " not heaven, 
 but earth fair and sweet to look upon. For sweet is the 
 field, though much is unripe there. Sweet is the vine, when 
 its sour and " tender grape gives a good smell." ^^ Sweet 
 is the olive, while as yet it yields no oil, for the wounds of 
 
 9 Chap, xxvii. 6-10. '' Rom. xi. 29. 
 
 >» See on chap. xxiv. and chap. '* Isa. xli. 14. 
 
 XXV. 12-23. '^ Chap, xxvii. 27. 
 
 " See on chap. xvi. '^ Cant. ii. 13. 
 
 »* Isa. ix. 7. 
 
320 Jacobs or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 man, or for the light on God's candlestick.^^ Sweet is 
 the rose, though but a prickly brier, with tokens in its 
 thorns of a curse still working in it. Sweet is the lowly 
 lily, which toils not and spins not, a witness of the beauty 
 which the Lord delights to put on meek and pure natures. 
 Sweet is the violet, hiding itself, of choice preferring shade, 
 and loving the quiet low gi'ound ; not feigning humility as 
 a step to grandeur here, but content if only it can reflect 
 the hue of heaven in its humble blossoms. Sweet again is 
 the corn as it comes to the growth ; not yet bread-corn, 
 ready to be bruised, but still unripe and growing. Such 
 is this son, whose early life, spite of its faults, is, " as the 
 smell of a full field, which the Lord blesses ; " not fit for 
 the garner, but growing and green ; freed at least from 
 thickets and stones and pools of stagnant water ; where 
 instead of the thorn may come up the fir tree, instead of 
 the brier the myrtle tree, to be unto the Lord for a praise 
 and a name, even for an everlasting sign, which shall not 
 be cut ofF.^^ 
 
 Thus Esau still without, while Jacob is already come 
 with savoury meat, loses the inheritance. When he comes 
 it is too late. Then he cries, " Bless me, even me also, 
 my father." For the flesh, though stirred up to seek the 
 blessing, loses it by tarrying so long in pursuing outward 
 things. Then it cries with a loud and bitter cry. But the 
 hope of glory is gone ; though a lower blessing, if sought, 
 
 *' Exod. xxvii. 20 ; Luke x. 34. est fragrantia quae rutilat et reJolet 
 
 *^ Isa. Iv. 13. Gregory the Great ex cruore martyrum. A liter flos 
 
 interprets all these varied flowers: — lilii, quia Candida vita carnis est de 
 
 " Odor filii, odor est agri pleni. incorruptione virginitatis. Aliter 
 
 Aliter namque olet flos uvse, quia flos violse, quia magna est virtus hu- 
 
 magna est virtus prsedicatorum, qui milium, qui ex desiderio loca ultima 
 
 inebriant mentes audientium. Aliter tenentes, coelestis regni purpuram iu 
 
 flos olivse, quia suave est opus mise- mente servant," &c. — Bi Ezech. 1. i. 
 
 ricordise, quod more olei refovet et h. 6, § 3. Ambrose alludes to the 
 
 lucet. Aliter flos rosse, quia mira same subject, Hex. 1. iii. c. 8, § 36 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 321 
 
 is not denied to it. Then it " lives by its sword," delighting 
 in strife, and in its struggles with the spirit at times has 
 the dominion over it. But it cannot be the heir. The 
 coming world and the inheritance are for ever forfeited. 
 
 Such is the scene within, so far at least as it is given me 
 to utter it. Outwardly too it is fulfilled. Abraham's sons, 
 who pursue external things in the field of this world, much 
 as the Son may wish to bless them, lose the blessing, while 
 the spiritual seed, though seeking very carnally, press in 
 and seek and make it theirs. And who is it, even to this 
 present day, that stirs up the heirs of promise, to make 
 themselves like carnal men ? Alas, it is Mother Church, 
 that body which is the outward form of spiritual truth. 
 She it is who moves her best-loved sons, making them 
 rough men to gain what rough men cannot have. There- 
 fore must she lose her sons. Her craft and carnal means 
 to obtain holy ends, — and the haste and impatience of those 
 she loves, in and by themselves and in their own strength 
 to seize the blessing, — ere long divide the mother from her 
 sons, while in sore travail through many days they suffer 
 long discipline. The Esaus stay behind : the Jacobs go 
 forth to toil, to win flocks and herds. Even the carnal and 
 rejected sons receive some blessing. They, no less than 
 their spiritual brothers, have the " fatness of the earth and 
 the dew of heaven " promised them. What is "' of the 
 earth," sacramental forms, they put in the first place. The 
 " dew of heaven " is with them the second and lower 
 blessing. ^^ It comes indeed on all alike, on tares and 
 wheat, but each uses it to strengthen its proper life ; the 
 
 '^ Compare the orJer of the re- double seed, the carnal and spiritual, 
 spective blessings, vv. 28 and 39. in the Chri>tiau Church, goes at 
 Augustine, who constantly quotes great length into this : — "iJuofilii 
 Isaac's two sons as the figure of the benedicuntur, quia duo genera bene- 
 
 Y 
 
322 Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 one drinking in the dew to nourish thorns, the other by 
 the same dew " out of an honest and good heart " to bring 
 forth good things. But I need not pursue this ; for in 
 this view the fulfilment to om^ shame is around us every- 
 where. 
 
 The dispensations too reflect the scene. The Divine 
 Word, the true Son, produced a double seed. Then He 
 looked for refreshment of heart from him, who, as being 
 the first-born, possessed the first claim. But this son, the 
 Jew, yet tarries without, and comes not until the younger 
 son has gone in, and the word is fulfilled, " A people whom 
 I have not known, they have served me."^" In this view, 
 Esau's raiment, which Jacob put on, without which Esau 
 approached his father, is full of significance. That robe ot 
 righteousness^^ which the Jew should have had on, but 
 had not, is worn by the Grentile church, even while it mis- 
 uses the doctrine of the cross, to make itself resemble the 
 carnal seed. For the Church has sought to be rough like 
 
 dicit Eoclesia. Quomodo duos pe- thisraiment of Esau's was the ensign 
 perit I\ebecca, generantur in utero of primogeniture, transmitted from 
 Ecclesise duo, unus pilosus, alter father to son. Ambrose thus ex- 
 lenis. . . . Sunt mali in Ecclesia per- pounds the dispensalional applica- 
 tinentes ad Esau, pilosi in peceatis tion of it: — " Hanc stolam Ecclet^iae 
 carnalibus perseverantes. . . . Hal)ent typo Eebecca protulit, et dedit filio 
 arorecceli et u fertilitateterrse; arore juniori stolam veteris testamenti. . . 
 cceli, omnes Scripturas, omnem ser- Dedit populo Christiano, qui uti 
 monem divinum ; a fertilitate vero amictu seiret accepto, quoniam po- 
 terrse, omnia visibilia sacramenta, pulus Judseorum earn sine usu habe- 
 visibile enim sacramentum ad ter- bat, et proprios nesciebat ornatus. 
 ram pertinet," &c. — Serm. iv. Class. Jacebat hsec stola in umbra abjecta 
 \, De Jacob et Esau, ^%\'^,Z\. Some et neglecta. Obscurabatur enim te- 
 would do well to mark the place nebrosa impietatis caligine, nee in 
 here given by Augustine to sacra- angusto corde populi Judaici latius 
 ments. Compare the passage quoted poterat explicari. Induit eam Chris- 
 above from his Co7ifessions, note 5, tianus populus, et refulsit," &c. — De 
 p. 28. Jacob, &c., 1. ii. c. 2, § 9. Gregory 
 2" Psalm xviii. 43. the Great gives the same interpreta- 
 " Jewish tradition tells us that tion. In Ezech. 1. i. li. 6, § 3, 
 
Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service, 
 
 323 
 
 the Jew, using the very death of the Lamb, to make itself 
 carnal rather than spiritual. Yet the blessing remains 
 with the Church, in an order exactly the reverse of that 
 granted to the elder son. To Esau the word is, earth 
 first, then heaven. To Jacob, heaven first, then tlie 
 blessings of this world. To Jacob, thus ; — " God give thee 
 of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and 
 plenty of corn and wine." To Esau, thus ; — " Behold, thy 
 dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew 
 of heaven from above." For the Jew seeks first a rest on 
 earth ; the Church, a rest in heaven now, and God's will 
 on earth, when the kingdom of God shall be in the earth 
 even as it is in heaven.^^ 
 
 So the last shall be first, and the first shall be last ; and 
 by strength shall no man prevail. 
 
 -2 Tertullian, tracing this fulfil- 
 ment, calls especial notice to the 
 varying order in the two blessings : 
 — " Isaac benedicens Jacob filium 
 siium, ' Det,' ait, ' tibi Deus de rore 
 coeli, et de opimitate terrae.' Nonne 
 utriusqiie indulgentise exempla sunt ? 
 Denique animadvertenda est hie 
 etiara structura benedictionis ipsius. 
 Nam circa Jacob, qui quidem poste- 
 rioris et prfelatioris populi figiira est, 
 id estnostri, prima promissioccelestis 
 estroris; secunda.terrenseopimitatis. 
 Nos enim primo ad ccelestia invita- 
 mur, cum a saeculo avellimur, et ita 
 postea iuvenimur etiam terrena con- 
 secuturi. . . . Coterum ad Esau pro- 
 mittit benedictionem terrenam, et 
 subjicit coelestem ; ' De opimitate 
 terrae (dicens) erit inhabitatio tua, 
 et a rore coeli.' Judseorum enim 
 dispositio in Esau, a teiTenis bonis 
 imbuta per legem, postea ad ccelestia 
 per Evangelium credendo deducitur." 
 — Adv. Marcion. 1. iii. c. ult. But 
 
 this dispensational application is 
 given by nearly all the Fathers ; by 
 Irenaeus, Contr. Hcer. 1. iv. c. 21 ;((J. 
 38 ;) by Hippolytus, as quoted by 
 Jerome, Epist. Crit. 125, ad Dama- 
 sum, by Augustine, Serm. iv. Class. 
 1, Dc Jacob et Esau, and elsewhere ; 
 by Origen, Horn. xiv. in Gen., by 
 Gregory the Great, In Ezech. Horn. 
 6 ; and by others. Some not only 
 see the Church in Jacob, but Christ 
 also, the Church's Head, like Jacob 
 standing in the first-born or old 
 man's place, and obtaining the bless- 
 ing by putting on the likeness of 
 sinful flesh for us, figured in thf 
 kids' skins. So Augustine, Lih. 
 contr. Mendac. c. x. § 24, and Serin. 
 79 de Tempore, (al. 11, Append.) 
 and Irenaeus, Contr. Hcer. 1. iv. c. 2r. 
 {al. 38.) But in this deeper sense, 
 which, indeed, is to be traced all 
 through Genesis, we touch on things 
 unspeakable. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 
 
 § II. — The Motives to Service and Encouragements 
 BY THE Way. 
 
 (Chapter xxviii.) 
 
 We have seen Jacob in the promised land, by craft and 
 energy rather than by patience seeking to overcome the 
 elder son. We have seen the result, — only greater oppo- 
 sition. The elder is not brought to serve the younger by 
 such policy. We now see Jacob flying before his brother, 
 going down from the ground of promise to toil in Laban's 
 house, a course in which he is blessed, — for by it he reaches 
 others whom he brings back with him to the promised 
 land, — but which never conquers Esau : the victory over 
 the first-born is won by a very different wrestling. 
 
 Esau and Laban are both forms of the flesh ; ^ the one 
 being the carnal mind as it grows out of a true son ; the 
 other, our outward natural man. These differ, though both 
 are of the flesh ; as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob differ, though 
 forms of one spirit. Esau is the loveliest form of the flesh, 
 the carnal mind as it grows in us after the spirit of son- 
 ship is our ruling life, stirred at times even to seek for 
 heavenly things, yet at heart profane, and loving this pre- 
 sent world. Laban is our outward natural man, which 
 dwells in outward things, and is content to dwell there. 
 Each of these in turn tries us. At one stage the outward 
 man is our greatest difficulty. At another it is the carnal 
 mind within, growing up in closest connection with spiri- 
 tual things, which, because more inward, is far more dan- 
 gerous and much harder to overcome. Jacob here learns 
 the strength of each. As worker, he strives, not to be 
 
 ' For Esau, see on chap. xxv. 24-34. For Laban on chap. xxiv. 
 
PART Yi. Jacob, or the SjDlrlt of Service. 325 
 
 ruled, but to rule over these. But Esau is yet so strong 
 that Jacob is forced for awhile to give way and fly before 
 him ; while Laban, so far from serving, is served, though 
 at length much that was once in his power follows a better 
 guide. Esau too must yield at last, but not till hasty 
 Jacob has become halting Israel. 
 
 At the stage before us Jacob flees to Laban. His mo- 
 tives and encouragements here are both laid open to U8. 
 We see the mixture of motive which there is in truest 
 service ; how little credit the elect can take to themselves 
 either for what they do or suffer. 
 
 Three distinct influences were at work upon Jacob, all 
 uniting to urge him down to Laban's house. 
 
 First, Rebekah urges the step, through fear of Esau.^ 
 In this view Jacob's service appears the result, not of long- 
 ing for fruit, but simply of Esau's violence. And God 
 only knows how much we are led to busy ourselves in 
 attempts to subdue the faculties and affections of the 
 outward man, by the fact of a carnal mind still strong 
 within from which we flee to toil in outward things. Some 
 
 o 
 
 affection of the outward man, some natural faculty which 
 is engaged in outward things, — Laban's daughters and 
 flocks, — are sought and won. Is not this good ? Surely 
 very good. Nevertheless it may result from the power of 
 the carnal mind within, which distresses the spirit, and 
 forces it, with a vague hope of thus acquiring power, into 
 efforts to rule our outward man. But not thus is Esau 
 overcome. Our zeal to subdue the faculties and affections 
 of the outward man, blessed as such service is, and much 
 as it enriches us, — for Jacob wins both wives and flocks 
 and herds from Laban, — will never make Jacob Esau's 
 
 ' Chap, xxvii. 42-45. 
 
326 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 lord. We may have toiled with Laban, and be increased, 
 and possess his goods as our rightful portion, earned by 
 hard labour ; yet this will not master Esau : after this, 
 Esau is yet " my lord Esau." This is learnt as we advance. 
 Here we see that Jacob's service to Laban in one view is a 
 result of Esau's violence. The very strength of the carnal 
 mind within drives the spirit in us to efforts to subdue the 
 outward man. 
 
 Another motive is desire for fruit. Isaac says, " Arise, 
 go down to Padan-Aram, and take a wife thence of the 
 daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother ; and Grod 
 Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply 
 tliee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people." ^ In this 
 view om* service aims to bring forth fruit. The spirit of 
 sonship urges us on to attempt to subdue natural affec- 
 tions, that we may increase spiritually. Thus our service 
 is not urged on through fear only ; there is also a pure 
 desire for increased fruitfulness. On this motive, I need 
 not dwell ; all know it, in whom the spirit of ser\dce has 
 come and gro^vn strong. 
 
 Jacob's service has yet another end. If Eebekah and 
 Isaac have each their purpose in it, no less has Grod His, to 
 work something in Jacob as well as by him, to chasten his 
 spirit, and wean him from his self-confidence. For the 
 spirit of service needs breaking in. If when first awakened 
 to the prospect of overcoming that in us which is of the 
 flesh and " first and natural," it could effect this at once 
 and in its own strength, it would thereby most sm-ely be a 
 loser. Self-will would come in, and self-satisfaction, 
 making the very victory a worse defeat. It would be our 
 kingdom rather than Grod's ; and our spirit, unbroken and 
 
 ' Chap, xxviii. 2, 3. 
 
f ART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 327 
 
 unchastened, could not be truly blest. For not by strength, 
 but in weakness, does God's kingdom come ; not in 
 obtaining our will, but in His will. It is only by the 
 death of all our hopes in self, and this after we have 
 tried our energies to the uttermost, that we are brought 
 really to rest in Grod. In the walk of faith and sonship 
 we have already proved this. In the effort to subdue our 
 carnal mind and outward man, that is, as Jacobs, the same 
 lesson must be learnt again. Only by sad experience is 
 the spirit of service purged from its tendency to self- 
 confidence and self-exaltation. 
 
 Thus Jacob goes forth to toil. Meanwhile, Esau, hearing 
 Isaac's charge to Jacob, that he should not take a wife of the 
 daughters of the Canaanites, now takes to himself another 
 wife, a daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's carnal son. Thus 
 Jacob's course affects Esau, no less than Esau's violence had 
 affected Jacob. We read " when Esau saw that Isaac had 
 sent Jacob into Padan-Aram, to take a wife from thence, 
 and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, 
 Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, 
 and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and 
 was gone to Padan-Aram ; Esau, seeing that the daughters 
 of Canaan (whom he had already married'*) pleased not 
 Isaac his father, went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives 
 which he had Mahaiath,the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's 
 son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife." ^ This yet is 
 Esau's way. The carnal mind, having been excited by the 
 elect to seek the blessing, and having failed to obtain it, 
 learning that Canaanitish wives, the evil principles which it 
 has embraced, are obnoxious to the spirit, and seeing the 
 spirit bent on obtaining better fruit, does not, indeed, put 
 
 * Chap. xxvi. 34, 35, and xxvii. 46. * Chap, xxviii. 6-9. 
 
32 S Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 away the former wives, but adds to them another from 
 Abraham's carnal seed, that is, some principle, which has 
 sprung from the union of faith with law, and which, though 
 Abraham's or faith's seed, is yet its carnal seed. Thus does 
 Esau seek better fruit ; and this act shews a desire for some 
 measure of reformation. But spite of its aim, it is a mistake. 
 The carnal mind will never be improved by adopting 
 principles which are only the carnal fruit of true faith. 
 The elder cannot be heir ; flesh is flesh, and, improved as it 
 may be, cannot inherit heavenly things. 
 
 To return to Jacob, his way seem?5 hard enough. Alone, 
 with a staff in his hands, but all unused to journeying, he 
 turns his face towards Laban's house. Night comes on, 
 and he lies down to sleep, with stones for pillows. In the 
 darkness Grod is near. If He chastens with one hand. He 
 sustains with the other. So Jacob sees a vision, such as our 
 Lord promises to an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. ^ 
 He sees heaven opened, and angels of God ascending 
 and descending upon a son of man. He sees how one 
 chastened for sin, in darkness, still weaker than the first- 
 born, and to be yet more humbled, is yet the care of Grod. 
 Earth is shut, but heaven is opened; there is a path, linking 
 the seen with the unseen, leading upward, and assuring 
 present help. The Lord is not seen to come down, as 
 afterwards, — for at a later stage, we read, " He went up, 
 after He had talked with him," ^ — but the promise is heard, 
 and the Lord appears " above the ladder ; " above, yet in 
 communication with him. Then the sevenfold promise 
 again is heard, " Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee 
 in all places whither thou goest, for I will not leave thee 
 until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." ^ 
 
 • Chap, xxviii. 12, and John i. ' Chap. xxxv. 13. 
 
 61. « Chap, xxviii. 13-15. 
 
PART VI Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 329 
 
 The spirit of service is yet thus refreshed. It needs, 
 and must receive, correction, but a hand of h-)ve administers 
 it. Solitude and darkness may be its lot; but in the dark- 
 ness the Lord brings into view and opens heavenly things. ^ 
 Light shines out, and fills the soul. Fears, enmities, and 
 sorrows, for a season at least are lost to view. Grod lills the 
 eye. And afterwards as our spirit journeys on, faint and 
 travel-stained, through the appointed pilgrimage, the re- 
 collection of that hour of conscious communion comes back 
 to us as a point of light and joy to cheer and strengthen us. 
 Such moments are memorable indeed. We go far in the 
 strength of that communion. We may, indeed, meet such 
 a revelation, not with the strong grasp of faith, but like 
 Jacob, wdth a half-fearing cry, " How terrible is this place ! " 
 Our sui-prise may shew how unaccustomed we are to see 
 the Lord. Our language, " If Ood will be with me," may 
 betray our feeble faith, which can utter an " if," in reply to 
 God's unfailing " I will." But the vision is never to be 
 forgotten. Our spirit "lifts up itii feet," and journeys on 
 with fresh alacrity. ^° 
 
 It is the same story without. Grod's servants go forth 
 to service with very mixed and different ends. The 
 desire for fruit is not our only motive. Our service may 
 
 " The Fathers call esppcial notice in dierum labentium cursu ab appe- 
 
 to the stone which Jacob took for a titu visibilium mentis oculos clau- 
 
 pillow: — "Notandum est, quod ille dere,) sed videre angelos nequeunt, 
 
 dormiens angelos conspicit qui in quia caput in lapide tenere contem- 
 
 lapide caput ponit. Quia nimirum nunt." — Grec/. M. Moral, in Jnh. 
 
 ipse ab exterioribus operibus cessans 1. v. c. 31, § 54. Augustine gives the 
 
 seterna penetrat, qui intenta mente, same interpretation, //iJoAa/i. Trac^ 
 
 quae principa'e est hominis, imita- vii. § 23. 
 
 tionem sui Redemptoris observat. ° Jacob " lifted up his feet," &c., 
 
 Caput quippe in lapide ponere, est chap. xxix. 1, margin. Heb. t<2J^» 
 
 mente Christo in hserere. Qui enim libjl- The Samaritan, Chaldee, and 
 
 a praesentis vitae action e remoti LXX. versions, all translate this 
 
 sunt, &ed ad superna nullo amore verbatim, 
 rapiuntur, dormire possunt, (id est. 
 
330 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, pabt n. 
 
 be also a result of the opposition of carnal men within 
 the Church. Christ may be " preached of strife," as 
 well as of '' love ;" ^^ and even our truest attempts to 
 shew love be mixed with much that is selfish and un- 
 charitable. Such poor worms are we at the best. In 
 seeking to be catholic, we are often most sectarian. So in 
 seeking to be loving and to win souls to Christ, we are 
 too often unchristlike and unloving. But we learn even 
 by our mistakes, — by falling, to walk upright — by many 
 sad blots, at last to write fairly. And so out of our mixed 
 motives God brings forth good ; for far above our thoughts 
 He is working something in, as well as by. His servants. 
 If none else are served, the Lord's servants themselves 
 should be served and profited by their own ministry. 
 Who would have thought that a course of toil could be 
 both a labour of love, voluntarily entered upon, and 
 bringing its own reward, and at the same time an appointed 
 means to humble us ? All our Christian path is such ; but 
 this stage above all others shews, that our most devoted 
 service, undertaken to please Grod, and to bear fruit to 
 the praise of His faitlifulness, in another aspect may be 
 God's disciplining rod. Those especially who have engaged 
 in service, and have spent their lives, willingly, but at 
 great cost to themselves, in some peculiar and trying toil 
 and testimony, will on looking back on their path, as 
 they draw towards its close, feel how the trials of their 
 way have been precisely that discipline which their souls 
 most needed. I believe all suffering will on one side be 
 found to be corrective, even though it comes upon us 
 in the course of the most willing and holy and accepted 
 service. The service may be blessed, the reward great, 
 yet in its sorrows, in those very crosses for which we shall 
 » Phil. i. 16, 17. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 331 
 
 receive a full reward, God may be teaching us obedience 
 by the things which we suffer. Thus Grod's servants start, 
 and in darkness find how near He is. and that there is a 
 ladder joining earth to heaven, the seen to the unseen, 
 by which their spirits can rise to Him, be they where 
 they may, and His Spirit in return come down upon them. 
 This is seen when we would serve. Not Abraham, or even 
 Isaac, but Jacob beholds this ladder reared up. For the 
 spirit of faith, and even sonship, are slow to learn what 
 the Incarnation means. But Grod's servants could never 
 serve at all in outward things, if in some measm-e at least 
 this vision were not vouchsafed to them. Therefore, as 
 they go forth to serve, they are shewn what Christ's 
 flesh means, and what a link between highest and lowest, 
 the outermost and innermost, is everlastingly assured 
 to us thereby.^2 Do the angels descend as well as ascend ? 
 Has the Lord of angels Himself by His flesh come down, 
 
 •2 Augustine several times alludes emplum. Audi Apostolum Paulum : 
 
 to this, explaining this ladder by our quod in ipso invenerimus, hoc de 
 
 Lord's words to Nathaniel, John i. cseteris ventatis praedicatoribus cre- 
 
 51. " In somnio vidit scalam. ... damns. Vide Paulum ndscendentem ; 
 
 Somnium homiuis non scriberetur ' Scio hominem in Christo raptum 
 
 nisi magnum in illo aliquid figu- fuisse usque in tertium ccelum,' &c. 
 
 rareturmysterium,"&c. — Scrm. 122, Descendentem audite ; ' Non potui 
 
 § 2. The way in which he pro- loqui vobis quasi spiritalibus, sed 
 
 ceeds in another place to apply this quasi carnalibus : quasi parA^ulis in 
 
 vision, as an example of ministry, Chriato lac vobis potum dedi, non 
 
 which, after the pattern of the angels escam.' . . . ' Factus sum parvulus,' 
 
 and of Christ's Incarnation, should inquit, ' in medio vestrum, tanquam 
 
 come down to earth as well as rise si nutrix foveat filios sues.' Videmus 
 
 to heaven, is most striking: — "Quid enini et nutrices et matres descen- 
 
 autem vidit tunc in sealis ? Ad- dere ad parvulos, . . . . et disertus 
 
 scendentes et descendentes angelos. aliquis pater . . . si habeat parvulum 
 
 Sic est et Ecclesia. Angeli Dei, filium, . . . lingua puerili descendit 
 
 boni prsedicatores.praedicantes Chris- ad parvulum. ... Si ipse Dominus 
 
 turn ; hoc est super Filium hominis adscendit et descendit. manifostum 
 
 adscendunt et descendunt. Quo- est, quia pnedicatores ipsius adsceji- 
 
 modo adscendunt, et quomodo de- duiir imit;iti(tne, descendunt prttdica- 
 
 scendunt? Ex uno habemus ex- tione." — In Johan. Tract, vii. § 23 
 
332 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vt. 
 
 and been made a Jew to gain the Jews ? Then His 
 servants too may come down to earth, and may leave their 
 own high and heavenly ground to win earthly souls ; may 
 assume a fleshly form for fleshly souls, and become as Jews 
 to Jews, and as babes to babes, for others,^^ in the as- 
 surance that everything and anything on earth may be 
 sanctified by the word of Grod and prayer and thanks- 
 giving. Henceforth every spot is holy ground. We cannot 
 call any man, however outward, common or unclean. 
 For heaven is linked with earth. Shall we then, who are 
 of the earth, count any on earth alien to us ? Rather 
 with Jacob we say even of the untilled field, " Surely the 
 Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." ^* Not till this 
 is seen are we fitted for service in the outward world. 
 
 § III. — The Service for Wives and Flocks. 
 
 (Chapters xxix. and xxx.) 
 
 We now come to the service in Padan-Aram. Evangelic 
 service is here photographed ; for the Light Himself has 
 drawn each minutest particular, the trials, mistakes, 
 successes, and results, as none but light could draw them. 
 Jacob is seen in Laban's house, toiling there, first to gain 
 his daughters, then his flocks and herds. First, the 
 daughters of Laban are won ; that is, certain affections or 
 truths, which by nature are akin and subject to our 
 outward man, are embraced by the spirit, and so become 
 fruitful. Then Laban's flocks and herds are gained ; that 
 is, the animal faculties and emotions, which hitherto have 
 been altogether under the power of the outward man, 
 
 " 1 Cor. ix. 19, 20. *« Chap, xxviii. 16. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 333 
 
 henceforth obey the spiiit,and follow, though still animal 
 and irrational, the directions of the spirit rather than of 
 the outward man. This is not done without long toil. 
 Many a night does Jacob watch, and many a weary day. 
 " In the day the drought consumes him, and the frost by 
 night : sleep departs from his eyes, and slumber from his 
 eyelids." ^ But the work is done at last. Laban's 
 daughters and flocks and herds serve Jacob, and he 
 " increases exceedingly." 
 
 Such is the scene, and the outline is clear : the details 
 need a man's, not to say an angel's, eye. For service is 
 pictured here. Ministering spirits, therefore, according 
 to their measure, will understand this. To others, because 
 the reality is unknown, the picture must needs be more or 
 less a puzzle. 
 
 We are first shewn Laban's state, when Jacob comes ; 
 then the service rendered to him ; and lastly, the results 
 of it. We may trace it within and without. The 
 outward fulfilment will, as ever, be clearest to earthly 
 eyes. 
 
 First, to trace it within. Laban's state is seen, that is 
 the state of the outward man, when Jacob or the spirit of 
 service begins to act on him. In reply to the question, 
 " Is he well ?" the answer given is, " He is well ;" ^ for the 
 natural man, till by dealings with the elect it begins to 
 know itself, is ever self-satisfied. And yet, " it was not 
 much he had before Jacob came." ^ A well, some sheep, 
 and two daughters, were the better part of his possessions. 
 And the water was scarce, for as a rule the well was closed ; 
 while his fairest daughter was occupied with the cattle, 
 in outward more than inward things.'* These figures are 
 
 ' Chap. xxxi. 40. ' Chap, xxx, 30. 
 
 2 Chap. xxix. 6. ♦ €hap. xxix. 1-9. 
 
334 Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service. part vi 
 
 all familiar to us. Wells, and sheep, and daughters have 
 again and again passed before our eyes.'^ Women are 
 affections ; but, as our principles are ever what our affec- 
 tions are, they also figure certain principles. Hagar, Sarah, 
 and others, have made this clear. Here two women are 
 seen ; the elder, the first and outward affection or principle 
 of the natural man ; the younger, the later more inward 
 principle ; and of these even the fairest is yet in outward 
 things. Nevertheless Laban welcomes Jacob : — " He ran 
 to meet him, and brought him into his house." ^ For 
 the outward man at first is glad to be served, and for 
 awhile is strengthened, though in the end weakened and 
 impoverished, by the efforts of Jacob, the spiritual inward 
 man. 
 
 Jacob's service then begins by assisting Rachel, the 
 younger daughter, to open the covered well. Then he 
 gives drink to Laban's flocks. After this, he proceeds to 
 serve with a fixed aim, first for the daughters, then the 
 flocks, of Laban. The course and results of this service 
 are most significant. 
 
 Laban's daughters are toiled for first, more strictly the 
 younger daughter, though Jacob in fact obtains both. 
 " Leah was tender or weak-eyed,^ but Rachel was beau- 
 tiful and well-favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel, and 
 said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger 
 daughter." ^ He wishes for Rachel alone ; but at length, 
 after seven years' service, and when he hopes to have her, 
 he is deceived by Laban, and put off with Leah. " It 
 
 * For " wells," see on chap, xxi,, ^ Our version, " tender-eyed," is 
 
 XXV. 1-11, and xxvi. For "flocks," not very plain. The LXX. trans- 
 
 on chap. i. xiii. and xxii. For late, 6(pea\ixol acrdeve'is : the Vulgate, 
 
 " daughters," on chap. vi. and xvi., " lippis oculis." 
 
 and elsewhere. » chap. xxix. 15-18. 
 
 e Chap. xxix. 13. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 335 
 
 came to pass in the evening, that Laban took Leah, and 
 brought her to Jacob, and he went in unto her. And in 
 the morning, behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, 
 What is this that thou hast done unto me ? Did I not 
 serve thee for Eachel ? Wherefore then hast thou 
 beguiled me ? And Laban said. It must not be so done 
 in om' country, to give the younger before the first-born." 
 Jacob gets Rachel after all; but against his will and un- 
 kno\\Ti to him he first embraces Leah. It must be so. 
 " It is not so done in that country to give the younger 
 before the first-born." 
 
 Laban's daughters, as we have seen, are the affections 
 or principles of the outward man. At each stage, as 
 believer, or son, or servant, the elect spirit embraces one 
 or moie of these. Like seed, it finds a soil : it does not 
 make it ; and that soil is throughout human and natural. 
 Thus is our fallen nature laid hold of by the Spirit, and 
 out of its affections, earthly as they are, good fruit is borne 
 to Grod's glory. The mystery of the Incarnation is the 
 outward witness of this. And He who abhorred not the 
 Virgin's womb, — who said, " I will dwell in you and walk 
 in you," — who took our nature and our infirmities upon 
 Him, — out of the woman in us yet brings forth spiritual 
 fruit. But the elect's aim is to gain, not the elder or 
 first-born, but the younger or more inward and spiritual 
 affection of the natural man. The first-born has few or no 
 attractions for him. The spirit desires rather to gain what 
 is lovely and spiritual of the outward man. Seven years 
 he labours for this, and " they seemed but a few days for 
 the love he had unto her ; " ^ for when the spirit is full of 
 love, time is nothing : love makes our life, like that of the 
 angels, wholly out of time. But there is a sort of necessity 
 • Chap. xxix. 20. 
 
o36 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part tt. 
 
 for taking the first and natural before the spiritual. While 
 we only desire the inward, we are put off with the outward, 
 which we do not love. We may think we have got 
 Rachel, but it is Leah. The old man has been too cunning 
 for us. For we are in the dark,^"^ and know not what we 
 are doing. When, however, light breaks in, we learn how, 
 with all our love for the younger, we have been deceived. 
 Oh, how many, who have only got Leah, think it is Rachel, 
 simply because they are in the dark. If they love Rachel, 
 she too shall be theirs. In due time, after our carnal haste 
 has been met by what is first and natural, we shall obtain 
 the spiritual. But action precedes contemplation ; a life 
 on outward principles must come before an inward life ; 
 and the outward, though not so fair, is more fruitful: 
 not by one alone, but by both of these, is Israel built 
 up. 11 
 
 Surely there is a " needs be" for this. Laban could not 
 
 '" " It came to pass in the even- accepit Liam ; quia videlicet omnis 
 ing," &c., chap. xxix. 23. Eespect- qui ad Dominum convertitur con- 
 ing the " evening," see on chap. ii. templativam vitam desiderat, . . . 
 
 " Augustine, Gregory the Great, sed prius necesse est ut in nocte 
 
 Bernard, and others, agree sub- vitse prsesentis desudet in labore. . . 
 
 stantially in this interpretation. Au- Erat autem Rachel videns et sterilis, 
 
 gustiae pursues the subject at very Lia autem lippa sed fcecunda ; quia 
 
 great length, Contra Fanstum, Man. nimirum mens cum contemplando 
 
 1. xxii. cc. 51-58. Gregory the otia appetit, plus videt, sed minus 
 
 Great writes briefly thus : — " Has filios Deo generat, ciim vero ad 
 
 utrasque vitas, (If. the outward and laborem se prsedicationis dirigit, 
 
 inward.) sicut et ante nos dictum minus videt, sed amplius parit. . . . 
 
 est, duse beati Jacob mulieres sig- Post Liae cumplexum ad Rachelem 
 
 nificaverunt, Lia videlicet et Rachel. Jacob pervenit, quia perfectus quis- 
 
 Lia quippe interpretatur ' labo- que ante activse vitae ad foecundita- 
 
 riosa;' Rachel vero 'ovis' vel tem jungitur, et post conteraplativae 
 
 'visum principium.' Activa autem ad requiem copulatur." — In Ezech. 
 
 vita laboriosa est, quia desudat in 1. ii. h. 2, § 10. Bernard gives a 
 
 opere : contemplativa vero simplex similar exposition, Lib. de Modo bene 
 
 ad solum \ndendnm principium an- vivendi, ad Sororem, c. 53. Com- 
 
 heUt, . . Beatus autem Jacob Rachel pare the passage above from the 
 
 quidem concupierat, sed in nocte Catena Aurea, on chap. xii. p. 160. 
 
PART VI. Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service, 337 
 
 liave crossed Jacob's purpose, had not Grod permitted it. 
 Unwearied love is watching Jacob's steps. Not chance 
 but love gives him weak-eyed but fruitful Leah, as well as 
 fair Rachel ; love to Laban, to win yet more of his seed, to 
 win the outward as well as the inward affections of the 
 natural man ; love to Jacob, for he is unfit for the best 
 things : an outward principle is the only one by which at 
 present he can bear fruit. We may wish for the best 
 things, like Jacob here ; but for our profit we are at first 
 united to outward principles. It was but now that we 
 made ourselves rough like the first-born : justly therefore 
 are we put off with Laban's first-born. When we are more 
 spiritual, the spiritual shall be within our reach. ^'^ Thus 
 do the principles which we receive, — and mere head- 
 knowledge is not reception, for as Jacob loved and was 
 acquainted with Rachel long before he got her, so is there 
 an acquaintance with truth, which precedes that union 
 with it which results in fruitfulness, — thus do the prin- 
 ciples we hold shew what we are. Happy is it, when 
 being spiritual we can bear spiritual things. But far 
 safer is it for us, and a pledge of God's true loving- 
 kindness, that while we are yet carnal we should only reach 
 carnal things. 
 
 Jacob next serves for Laban's flocks, until, after six 
 
 '^ Augustine is so difiuse hero ulla tolorantia laboris, (i. f. Leah.) 
 
 that one can scarcely make a satis- quae in agendo patiendoque aniplec- 
 
 factory extract, but the following is tenda est, statim ad pulchrge atque 
 
 striking: — " Hanc («.e. Leah) sus- perfectse sapientiae delicias, {i.e. 
 
 tinet, ut ad illain («.€. Rachel) perve- Rachel,) pervenire. Sed hoc non 
 
 niat, si perseveranter amat. acccptis potest in terra morientium. Hoc 
 
 illis septem praeceptis ; ac si dicatur enini vidotur significaro, qucd dic- 
 
 ei, 'Servi alios septem annos pro turn est ad Jacob, 'Non est mjris in 
 
 Rachel,' ut sit pauper spiritu. mitis, loco nostro, ut minor nubat prius- 
 
 lugens, esurienssitiensque justitiam, quam major,'" &c. — Contr. Fauit. 
 
 misericors, mundicors, pacificus. Man. 1. xxii. c. 53. 
 Vellet enim homo, si fieri posset sine 
 
338 Jacobs or the Spirit of Service. part ti, 
 
 years more labour, a great part of the cattle have changed 
 masters, and are henceforth Jacob's flock. It appears 
 Miat Jacob, having got Rachel, wished to leaA^e. Then 
 Laban answers, " I pray thee, tarry ; for I have learnt by 
 experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. 
 And he said, Wliat shall I give thee ? And Jacob said, 
 Thou shalt not give me anything : if thou wilt do this for 
 me, I will again feed and keep thy flock. I will pass 
 through thy flock, removing thence all the speckled and 
 spotted cattle, and of such shall my hire be. And Laban 
 said. Behold, I would it might be according to thy word." ^^ 
 The bargain is that Jacob is to have the " speckled and 
 spotted," and of these ere long by his art he gains the 
 larger and stronger flock. Out of flocks of one colour, he 
 gets others speckled and ring-straked and the flocks 
 change masters onl}^ by changing colours. "Jacob took 
 rods of poplar and almond and chestnut tree, and peeled 
 white strakes in them, and made the white appear whicli 
 was in the rods. And he set the rods which he peeled 
 before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs 
 when they came to drink, that they should conceive when 
 they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the 
 rods, and brought forth cattle, ring-straked, speckled, and 
 spotted." 1* 
 
 Even so are the flocks yet won. Those animal emotions, 
 wliich hitherto have been altogether under the power of 
 our outward man, by the spirit's efforts receive another hue, 
 and shew in their very appearance the spirit's handy work. 
 Animal emotions of course are animal to the end, but on 
 them a great outward change has passed, so that even the 
 old man must confess they do not look as they used to look. 
 Jacob has changed their hue. This is done by setting rods 
 
 " Chap. XXX. 31-34. " Chap. xxx. 37-35^. 
 
JacoJ), or the Spirit of Service. 
 
 339 
 
 of varied colours before their eyes. These " rods " are 
 portions of the Word ; ^^ and like that, which, wl:en 
 stretched out over the sea, opened a path for Israel,^'' or 
 that, which, though dry, when laid up before tlie Loid, 
 budded and blossomed and brought forth almonds, ^^ these 
 feeble rods effect great things : by them, as by " the rod 
 out of tlie stem of Jesse," ^^ the weak are made strong. 
 These, partly peeled, partly unpeeled, — peeled, that is 
 with the inward sense opened, so that what is covered and 
 hidden witliin may be brought to light, — unpeeled, that 
 is in the letter alone, with the outward covering still 
 untouched, as at first we always see the Word, — are set 
 before the flocks, where the living streams are opened, that 
 the offspring or fruit may take another hue.^^ The animal 
 in us is only thus won ; nor can the spirit claim anything 
 
 '^ See what is said of the trees of 
 Vnowledge and life, on chap. ii. 
 
 '« Exod. xiv. 16. 
 
 *' Numb. xvii. 8. 
 
 '« Isa. xi. 1. 
 
 '^ Gregory the Great thus ex- 
 plains these rods : — " Quid estvirgas 
 vii'ides et amygdalinas atque ex pla- 
 r.inis ante oculos gregum ponere, 
 nisi per Scripturae Sacrse seriem 
 antiquorum patrum vitas atque sen- 
 tentias in exemplum prsebere. Quae 
 nimirum quia juxta rationis examen 
 reet?e sunt, virg?e nominantur. Qui- 
 l)us et ex parte corticem subtrahit, 
 ut in his quae ex poliantur intimus 
 candor appareat ; et ex parte cor- 
 ticem servat. et sicut fuerant ex- 
 terius, in viriditate permaneant; 
 variusque virgarum color efficitur, 
 dum cortex et ex parte subtrahitur, 
 et ex parte retinetur. Ante con- 
 siderationis enim nostrai oculos 
 prfecedentium patrum sententire 
 quasi -s-irgffi ponuntur ; in quibus 
 dum pleruraque intellectum litenc 
 
 fugimus, quasi corticem siibtrahi- 
 mus ; et dum plerumque intellectum 
 literae sequimur, quasi corticem ser- 
 vamus. . . Quas bene Jacob in aqute 
 canalibus posuit ; quia et Eedt-mptor 
 noster in libris eas sacrse scientise, 
 quibus nos intrinsecus infundimur, 
 fixit. Has aspicieiites arietes cum 
 ovibus coeunt, quia rationales nostri 
 spiritus, dum in earum intentione 
 defixi sunt, singulis quibuscumquc 
 actionibus permiscentur, ut tabs 
 fetus operum procreent, qualia ex- 
 empla prsecedentium in vocibus 
 praeceptorum vident, et diversuni 
 colorem proles boni operis habeat ; 
 quia et nonnimquam subtracto litevie 
 cortice acutius interna considerat. ot 
 reservato nonnunquam historia? teg- 
 mine bona in exterioribus format." 
 — Moral, in Job. 1. xxi. c, 1. Am- 
 brose gives a similar interpretation, 
 J)e Jacob. 1. ii. c. 4, § 19. Justin 
 Martyr too alludes to those rods, as 
 figuring the doctrine of the cross, 
 Dial, c: Ti'i/ph. c. 86 
 
340 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part ti. 
 
 of the old man's, save that on which it has exerted a 
 transforming influence. 
 
 As the results of this service, Jacob obtains, not Laban's 
 daughters and flocks only, but fruit by each of these. 
 First he gets fruit by the daughters. These children by 
 Leah and Eachel and the bond-maids are the different 
 forms of life which are produced by the spirit of service in 
 us out of different principles ; Leah and Eachel represent- 
 ing the higher principles, outward or inward ; the bond- 
 maids, other lower principles, subservient to the former, 
 but which are also embraced and produce their own fruit. 
 First come four sons by Leah, whose names point out the 
 peculiar form of life which each shadows forth ; Eeuben, 
 intelligence ; 2^ then Simeon, obedience;^* then Levi, ser- 
 vice ; ^^ then Judah, rule.^^ Then come the sons of EacheFs 
 maid; first Dan, that is "judgment" or justice; then 
 Naphtali, that is victorious " strugglings." After this the 
 fruit of Leah's maid ; first Gad, a " troop" or power ; then 
 Asher, or " happiness." Then Leah herself again has sons ; 
 
 "" Reuben, i. e. " filius visionis," tlie very intimate and sanctified 
 
 Jerome, 'Som. Heb. "Seeing" is service connected with the marriage 
 
 the common figure for intelligence. tie. 
 
 Cf. Numb. xxi. 8, 9, and John iii. " Judah, i. e. " confessio." See 
 
 14, 15; Lukexxiv, 31; John vi. 36, Psalm c. 1-5. This and the suc- 
 
 40, 46, 47. ceeding names need no illustration. 
 
 2' Simeon, i.e. " auditio." Jerome, I may add here, that in the naming 
 Nom. Heb. " Hearing," or " hearken- of Leah's first four sons, she con- 
 ing," is synonymous with obedience. nects the fruitfulness with " t f- 
 See 1 Sam. xv. 22 ; John x. 2, 3, 16, Lord^ saying, "I will praise the 
 27 ; xviii. 37 ; Isa. Iv. 2 ; Jer. vii. 23, Lord," &c. ; while in the naming of 
 24, 26. the last two she speaks of " Gody 
 
 2- Levi, i.e. " conjunctio." Jerome, saying, " God hath given me my 
 
 Nom. Heb. The force of this name, hire," &c. Compare chap. xxix. 32, 
 
 "joining." as representing service, 33, 35, with chap. xxx. 18, 20. See 
 
 may be seen in many Scriptures : — also chap. xxx. 24, where Eachel 
 
 Isa. Ivi. 3, 6; Numb, xviii. 2; Mat. says, "The Lord shall add," &c. 
 
 vi. 24 ; Jer. 1. 5; Zech. ii. 15. See This is not without a reason. We 
 
 also Gen. ii. 24, and Mat. xix. 5, have noticed a similar change in the 
 
 where the word "joining" shews 1st and 2nd chapters. 
 
PART VI. Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service. 341 
 
 Issacbar, or a "reward," representing* tlie actual jo}^ of 
 labour, as the Psalmist says, " In keeping tliy command- 
 ments there is great reward ; " then Zebulun, " dwelling 
 together," or communion ; then Dinah, whose name signi- 
 fies the same as Dan, but in whom, as a daughter, justice 
 is seen as a principle rather than an active life. After this 
 Eacliel brings fortli a son, the lovely fruit of a life of patient 
 suffering ; " And she said, God hath taken away my re- 
 proach : and she called his name Joseph," that is ''addition" 
 or increase. All these are the fruits of service in us, some 
 better than others, some destined to cause grief; all 
 needing rule and culture, yet owned and formed by the 
 Lord to shew forth His praise. ^^ 
 
 Jacob's service gained more than this. Laban's flocks, 
 as well as his daughters, come at last into Jacob's hands. 
 Not only do the affections and principles of the natural 
 man come under the spirit's government, and produce 
 spiritual fruit, but even the animal emotions after long 
 watchings are gained, and out of them also there is mucl^ 
 increase to Grod's glory. 
 
 The results of this on Laban are, that he is increased at 
 first, 2-'' but impoverished in the long run.^^ When the 
 spirit of service comes to deal with the natural man, and 
 works with him and for him, for a season the outward man 
 is enriched ; but further service, if it continue long enough, 
 will as surely weaken him. And the old man not seeing 
 God's hand in this, that it is " God who has taken away 
 his cattle," 2^ is angry because he is made poor; but he 
 
 2* The reader who cares to pursue for 1849, by Thomas "Worsley, 
 this subjecr. will find it treated at Master of Downing College, Cam- 
 great length. and with muoh spiritual bridge, 
 insight, in a volume entitled, " The " Chap. xxx. 27-30. 
 Patriarchs, as setihig forih th' things ^^ Chap. xxxi. 1. 
 of the Sermon on the yfount ; " being ^7 Chap, xxxi. 9. 
 the Christian Advocate's publication 
 
342 Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service. part ti. 
 
 cannot hurt the inward man, and all his wrath only hastens 
 the further accomplishment of the Lord's promise. 
 
 I have thus traced this scene within, because, if this 
 inward view be known, the other more outward fulfilment 
 of it will of course be manifest. But some will see it 
 without, better than within. Without, Jacob's service sets 
 forth the labour of those, who, though heirs, seek to win 
 out of the far country, and from the power of the natural 
 man, children and flocks whom they may take back to a 
 better land. They come down to Laban's ground ; for 
 only thus, by coming down among natural men, can elect 
 servants reach those whom they are looking for. Here they 
 toil for children and flocks. Like Jacob, they would fain 
 have Eaehel only, that is a spiritual church ; but in the 
 world, and while serving there, they find that they must 
 have outward principles also and an outward church. As 
 Isaacs, or sons, we may have Eebekah only, though even 
 by her we have a twofold seed ; but if we come to be 
 servants, whose " hand must take hold," we shall find that 
 we must take blear-eyed Leah as well as fair Rachel. 
 Those who know only sonship may judge as carnal the 
 Jacobs who have been led on by grace to reach a further 
 stage ; bvit if they advance to apprehend what they are 
 apprehended for, they themselves may, and surely will, 
 attain to Jacob's life. Then will they find that, even 
 when they thick to pass by the elder, in the outward world 
 and in service it is impossible. In service we must have 
 the two wives ; an outward church, and outward and 
 natural principles, as well as spiritual. We may wish 
 to escape this, but in the result we shall not be able 
 to boast over our father Jacob. I speak that wliich I 
 know, and testify what I have seen ; and I know that 
 
Jacob ^ or the Spirit of Service. 
 
 343 
 
 thoiio-h at first it would be more in accordance with the; 
 mind of true servants not to have Leah, tliere is a stage 
 when she too is needful and fitting, and therefore not 
 without divine permission is given to us ; and not she 
 alone, but the two handmaids also, that is, even lower and 
 yet more servile principles.^® So we serve, and the Lord 
 builds the house : sons are given, very diverse, tliough 
 sprung from one common father, and heirs of one inheri- 
 tance ; some are Eeubens, good mediums for light, like 
 water, but " unstable as water," excitable and prone to 
 defile their father's bed ; ^^ some are Simeons, quick to 
 give ear, but apt, in their zeal for ol)edience, to perform 
 cruel things ; ^^ some are Levis, joined to the Lord in ser- 
 vice, entering into His presence with oblations presented 
 
 -^ Augustine, whose comment 
 throughout is striking, thus inter- 
 prets the handmaids : — '" Eachel 
 autem . . . . dolet potius currere ho- 
 mines ad earn virtutem, qua eurum 
 infirmitatibus necessitatibusque cou- 
 sulitur, ^^viz. Leah, the outward prin- 
 ciple,) quam ad illam unde divinum 
 et incoramutabile aliquid discitur. 
 Hie dolor figuratus videtur in eo 
 qiKKl scriptum est ' Et zelavit Rachel 
 sororem suam.' Proinde quia liqui- 
 dus purusque intellectus de ilia sub- 
 stantia quae corpus non est, ac per 
 hoe ad carnis sensiim non pertinet, 
 verbis carne editis exprimi non 
 potest, eligit doetrina sapientiae per 
 quaslibet corporeas imagines et 
 similitudines utcumque cogitanda 
 insinuare divina, quam ab officio 
 talia docendi cessare ; sicut elegit 
 Rachel ex viro suo et ancilla susci- 
 pere liberos, quam sine filiis omnino 
 remanere. Eala quippe interpretari 
 dicitur ' Inveterata :' banc habuit 
 ancillam Rachel. De vetore quippe 
 vita carnalibus sensibus dedita cor- 
 poreae concitantur imagines, etiam 
 
 cum aliquid de spiritali et incom- 
 municabili substantia divinitus au- 
 ditur. Suscipit et Lia de ancilla 
 sua filios. . . . Invenimus autem Zel- 
 pham ejus ancillam interpretari ' Os 
 hians.' Quapropter in praedicationem 
 fidei evaugelicae, quorum os hiat, et 
 cor non hiat. cum in Scripturis ad- 
 verterimus, hsec intelligitur ancilla 
 Liae. Scriptum est enim de quibus- 
 dam, ' Populus hie labiis me honorat, 
 eor autem eorum longe est a me.' . . 
 Verumtamen ut etiam per haTie 
 conditionem libera ilia uxor Jacol) 
 laborans filit s haeredes regni susci- 
 piat, ideo Dominus dicit, ' Qiue 
 dicunt, facite; quae autem faciunt. 
 facere nolite.' Unde in labore vin- 
 culorum vita Apostoliea, ' Sive,' 
 inquit, ' oecasione, sive veritate, 
 Christus annuntietur, et in hoc gau- 
 deo, sed et gaudt'bo ; ' tanquam et 
 aneilli pariente de prole numerosiore 
 laetata." — Contr. Faustum, 1. xxii. 
 c. 55. 
 
 ■^^ Chap. xlix. 4. 
 
 30 Chap. xlix. 5, 6. 
 
344 Jacobs or the Spirit of Service, paet vi. 
 
 for their more outward brethren ; ^^ some are Judahs, 
 o^ifted for rule, and to be praised, because their hand shall 
 oe upon the neck of all their enemies ; ^^ some are Dans, 
 ready to judge Israel ; ^^ some Naphtalis, satisfied with 
 favour, and full of the blessing of the Lord ; ^^ some are 
 Gads, overcome at first, but strong at last ; ^^ some Ashers, 
 who dip their feet in oil, and are acceptable to their 
 brethren ; ^^ some Issachars, crouching down between their 
 burdens ; ^^ some Zebuluns, occupied with the outward 
 things and commerce of the great salt sea of this world ; ^^^ 
 some the children of Eachel, like Joseph, sorely shot at, 
 but whose bow abides in strength, because the arms of 
 their hands are made strong by the hands of the mighty 
 God of Jacob.^^ The fairest come the last ; but all, better 
 or worse, make up one house of Israel. 
 
 This service further wins flocks. We serve to gain even 
 animal and irrational natures, whose colour is changed 
 indeed, but who remain to the end rough and animal ; 
 not true sons, but needing to be fed and led by such ; 
 who nevertheless, speckled and spotted though they be, 
 under the Spirit's guidance may be brought safely into 
 a better land. At first we feed a flock which is not ours ; 
 but in due time, not without long toil, those, who once 
 obeyed and served the world, obey a better guide. True 
 servants labour night and day : by night the frost, and by 
 day the drought, consumes them. Some of the flock at 
 times are torn by beasts, and they bear the loss ; '*° but at 
 last a flock is won whose change of colour shews the 
 
 '• Deut. xxxiii. 10. ^® Dent, xxxiii. 24. 
 
 82 Chap. xlix. 8, 10. "^ Chap. xlix. 14. 
 
 3s Chap. xlix. 16. »« Chap. xlix. 13. 
 
 84 Deut. xxxiii. 23. "» Chap. xlix. 23, 24. 
 
 35 Chap. xlix. 19. " Chap. xxxi. 39,40. 
 
PART Ti. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 345 
 
 presence of more than human skill.'*^ And the colour of 
 the flocks is changed, now as of old, by that which is set 
 before their eyes, where the living waters are poured forth. 
 Men yet become like what they look at. " We all, with 
 open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, 
 are changed into the same image : "''^ and at last, "We shall 
 be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.""*^ But the 
 world, like Laban's sons, cannot perceive Grod's hand in 
 this ; they say " Jacob hath taken away all that was our 
 father's:" while true servants confess that the work is 
 God's, saying, " Grod hath taken away the cattle of your 
 father, and given them to me."^* 
 
 The dispensations too reflect this scene. In this view 
 we have here the experience of Christ's Spirit as servant in 
 this world. He comes into the outward world to serve.. 
 When He comes water is scarce : then He opens the well, 
 and feeds the flocks, and seeks union with the seed of the 
 natural man. Fain would He have the younger daughter 
 alone ; but He must, such are the requirements of the 
 natural man, first take the elder or first-born. So Leah or 
 law comes first : and then Rachel, that is the gospel dis- 
 pensation. Leah is fruitful, while Rachel has yet no son. 
 But at length the gospel yields fruit ; and then the old or 
 natural man, who had been improved while Jacob had 
 children by Leah, that is, throughout the Jewish age, is 
 much impoverished and loses his wealth, after Rachel is 
 fruitful, that is, in gospel days. In a word, as Sarah and 
 Hagar prefigure these two dispensations in their connection 
 
 ^i Jacob's words, chap. xxxi. 8- *^ 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 
 12, shew that the meaus he used to *^ 1 John iii. 2. 
 
 change the colour of the flocks were ** Chap. xxxi. 1 9 
 shewn him in " a vision." 
 
346 Jacob, or the SjDlrit of Service. part vt. 
 
 with the spirit of faith, and thus in reference to heavenly 
 things, Jacob's wives set forth the same dispensations, in 
 connection with the spirit of service, and so in reference to 
 earthly things.'*^ 
 
 Surely it is a wondrous tale, respecting which many 
 unspeakable words remain, which it is not possible to 
 utter here. 
 
 § IV. — The Depakture from Laban. 
 
 (Chapter xxxi.) 
 
 We are now to see the efforts of Jacob to lead what he has 
 won in Mesopotamia into Canaan, with Laban's attempts 
 to hinder it. As fulfilled within, we have here the travail 
 of the spirit to set our affections on things above, and not 
 on earthly things,* and the hindrance to this which the 
 old man ofters, the open opposition or secret craft, by 
 which he would keep our affections, which are by nature 
 akin to him, still bound in outward things. As fulfilled 
 without, we see the toil of true servants to lead those whom 
 they have gained out of the world into a better land, and 
 all the hindrance which worldlings throw in their way, the 
 seductions held out, and the reasons which are urged, to 
 keep them in outward things. It is a scene known to all 
 who have toiled long in the world, and at .'ength have set 
 
 *^ This dispensational view is obrepsit tanqiiam synagoga, .... 
 
 common to many of the Fathers : — superabundavit gratia sanctae JRa- 
 
 Anibrose says, "Ipse autem est qui chel," &c. — Be Jacob. 1. ii. c. 5. § 2.5. 
 
 praefigurabatur in Jacob, Dominus Gregory the Great gives the same in - 
 
 Jesus, sponsus duorum conjugiorum, terpretation : — " Per Eachel, quippe 
 
 hf)C est legis et gratise, que virginem qute et ovis dicitur, Ecclesia figu- 
 
 Rachel antedilexit,etprcedestinatam ratiir," &c. — Moral, in Job. 1. xxx. 
 
 sibi in conjugium pio amabat af- e. 2.3, § 72. So too Irenseus, Adv. 
 
 fectu. Sed quoniam Lia tanquam Har. 1. iv. c. 21, (al. 38,) § 3. 
 lex subintravit, ft oculis infirmior ' Col iii. 2. 
 
PART Yi. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 347 
 
 their face to go with what they have won into the better 
 land. 
 
 As fulfilled within, some parts of this scene, through 
 our ignorance of the inward world, may be beyond our 
 intelligence. Our lack also of fitting words prevents any- 
 thing like a perfect interpretation to the understanding, 
 although the spirit may see all.^ But the scene is still 
 fulfilled wherever souls have laboured for fruit, and are 
 striving to come from outward to inward things. Laban 
 envies Jacob's wealth, and attempts in one way or another 
 to get it back again. For the old man in us, though 
 strengthened at first and improved for a while by the 
 labours of our inward and spiritual man, finds at leugth 
 that the spirit's work, if continued, instead of strength- 
 ening, rather weakens it. It is vexed to see the power 
 the spirit has gained over so many of the affections and 
 emotions of the outward man ; that Jacob rules where 
 Laban once did. Thus a strife now manifests itself 
 between our outward and inward man.^ The old man's 
 ways perplex the inward man. For our spirit, like Jacob, 
 when it begins to work upon the old man, is not at all 
 aware what the result will be. We sincerely hope by 
 service to improve the old man. But though Laban's 
 daughters are won, though the affections or principles of 
 the natural man are subjected and united to the inward 
 man, the old man remains unchanged, to the end ever 
 ready to play us false and to deceive us."* And painful as 
 this is, so it must be. The Lord would not have our spirit 
 remain for ever bound to the outward man or to outward 
 things in their present state ; for the outward man and the 
 ground he dwells on are yet unpurged, and though the 
 
 2 1 Cor. xiv. 14, 15. " Chap. xxxi. 1, 2. * Chap. xxxi. 7. 
 
348 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 spirit may win mucli there, it cannot purge that ground 
 or save the outward man. In due time we learn this. 
 Then a voice is heard, saying to our spirit, " Return to 
 the land, and I will be with thee."^ Thus at one stage 
 having served the old man and outward things, at another 
 we are called again to inward and spiritual things. Know- 
 ing this, let us leave souls to walk with God, instead of 
 making, as we are so prone to do, our present standard 
 the one rule. For have not we ourselves in faith been led 
 now to give up and leave all outward things, again in 
 service to seek them, and then again to leave them, to set 
 our affections, where our faith has long since been set, on 
 heavenly things ? 
 
 But Eachel, though willing to go to Canaan, takes some 
 idols with her, "her father's images;"^ not the gods re- 
 presenting the powers of nature, such as " the star of your 
 god Remphan," '^ Baal, or Ashtaroth ; but rather household 
 gods,^ forms of departed kindred, which, though at first 
 regarded only as patterns and memorials of honoured 
 forefathers, were soon turned into idols, as guides and 
 precedents to be obeyed and followed instead of the true 
 God. Our inward affections yet cling to such, even when 
 drawn by grace to seek better things ; not indeed to the 
 grosser outward idols, but to houseliold idols of pride of 
 birth, past greatness, gentility, custom, fashion, or such 
 like. In other words, our principles, even the best, are 
 not at once wholly purged from all the evils which belong- 
 to the outward man. Some of these are still taken with 
 us, although the spirit knows that, not only they cannot 
 help, but are even a shame to us. 
 
 * Chap. xxxi. 3. « Heb. Q'Qin* ans^-ering to the 
 
 * Chap. xxxi. 19, 30. Latin Penates. 
 ' Acts vii. 43. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 349 
 
 The old man meanwhile does all he can to hinder the 
 affections being set on heavenly things; just as Laban 
 attempted to stop Jacob, saying, "Wherefore didst thou 
 flee ? Thou hast now done foolishly. Wherefore didst 
 thou not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with 
 mirth and harp and tabrets?"^ So the old man argues. 
 Why leave him? At all events, why not accept his as- 
 sistance on the way to heavenly things ? Can he not make 
 music and laugliter for us, and cheer us on by his pipes 
 and harps and tabrets ? No. By these he may yet keep 
 us where he is ; they will not help our spirit to heavenly 
 things. Yet the old man fairly asks, — "And now, 
 though thou wouldest needs be gone, yet wherefore hast 
 thou stolen my teraphim ? " ^'^ Why do the affections, 
 while even reaching towards heaven, yet cling so fast to 
 idol vanities ? We shall see how these idols, though hid 
 from Laban, cannot be hid from Grod, and must be put 
 away before Jacob can come to worship and dwell at 
 Bethel.ii 
 
 As for Laban, he still is unchanged, and dies, as he has 
 lived, in Mesopotamia. Henceforth he may not hinder 
 Jacob, but neither may Jacob seek to hurt him in any 
 way.' 2 Each returns to his place. The old man, poorer 
 than at first, settles down again in outward things ; while 
 the inward man, enriched by his labour, journej^s on afresh, 
 with what he has gained, to heavenly things. 
 
 If we turn now to look without, we shall see the more 
 manifest workings of these same opposing minds ; Laban 
 figuring those in whom the outward man, Jacob, those in 
 whom the spirit of service, is the ruling life. The Jacobs 
 
 » Chap. xxxi. 23-28. " Chap. xxxv. 1-4. 
 
 '» Chap. xxxi. 30. '^ Chap. xxxi. 44-55. 
 
350 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 have won flocks and herds; and this stirs up the wratli 
 and ill-will of worldly men. But their anger serves God's 
 end. B}^ it i\\Q elect are forced to seek a better land. So 
 true servants lead the way, and those, who are already 
 '• counted strangers " in the world, follow them ; '^ not 
 wholly blameless, for, unknown to its guides, the Church 
 takes some of the idols of the world with it, as if these 
 could succour it.^'* Laban meanwhile is busy too. He 
 yet possesses flocks, the colour of which remains unchanged 
 spite of Jacob's art. And while Jacob is fleeing, Laban 
 is shearing. The one thing here recorded of him is that 
 " he was shearing sheep." ^^ So do outward men yet 
 count " sheep-shearing " pleasant work. The Jacobs and 
 Davids feed the flock : the Labans and Nabals and 
 Absaloms prefer shearing them.^^ Worldlings, like the 
 king of Moab, may be " sheep-masters," ^"^ but they have 
 not a pastor's heart : the fleece, and not the flock, is what 
 they care for ; and their zeal for the fleece opens a door 
 for true servants like Jacob to flee away heavenward. 
 Then comes the world's pursuit. Vexed as they are at 
 the power gained by the elect, they are more vexed to see 
 them go, and the way they go thence. Why should they 
 think of seeking any other land ? but after all, if people 
 
 '3 Chap. xxxi. 15. c. 5, § 25. But Grod's command 
 
 " Chap. xxxi. 32. Theodoret, respecting tliese idols, chap. xxxv. 
 
 who sees in Jacob's departure tlie 2, implies that they were yet objects 
 
 night of the church out of the world, of idolatrous reverence to some in 
 
 and whose comment in substance is Jacob's house. Chrysostom regards 
 
 that given above, thinks that Rachel this theft of the idols as an instance 
 
 stole the idols to free her father from of the force of bad habit, even iu 
 
 his superstitions. In Gin. Qit. 90. true souls. Horn. Ivii. in Gen. 
 
 Ambrose too hints the same, saying, '^ Chap. xxxi. 19. 
 
 " Beata Rachel, quee abscondit cul- '^ 1 Sam. xxv. 2, 4 ; 2 Sara. xiii. 
 
 tus, erroresque Gentilium, qute simu- 23. 24. 
 
 lacra eorum plena esse immunditife " 2 Kings iii. 4. 
 declaravit," &c. — Be Jacob, 1. ii. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 3.51 
 
 must go, why not accept all the assistance which miglit he 
 rendered them ? Why not have some music and mirth ? 
 Why go in a way so unlike the fashions of that land ? 
 Thus natural men would stop the elect, or at least would 
 have them go toward heavenly things with their aid and 
 forms and pageantries ; and those who go not thus are 
 "foolish ;"^® but Jacob can seek his true home without 
 Laban's aid. All that worldlings can do to help our way 
 is as useful or as useless as Laban's pipes and harps. So 
 true servants depart. God by them has visited the 
 Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name.'^ 
 This done, the elect journey on ; while the world, un- 
 changed by what has been done for it, goes back to its old 
 ground, and again settles there.'^'' 
 
 A voice yet cries, " Hearken, daughter, and consider ; 
 forget thine own people and thy father's house. Then 
 instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou 
 mayest make princes in all the earth." ^^ 
 
 § V. — The Journey to Canaan, and Change of Name. 
 
 (Chapter xxxii. and xxxiii. 1-16.) 
 
 Jacob's departure from Padan-Aram is an important step, 
 and yet but a step, towards entering the promised land. 
 After Laban is left, it still remains in the face of Esau to 
 go up over Jordan. Leaving outward things is not 
 
 '* Chap. xxxi. 27, 28. mere couatur. Hiijus filiam Jacol> 
 
 '^ Acts XV. 14. aljstulit,ciim siLi Clirisfus Eci'lesiani 
 
 -" Gregory the Great thus gives ex gentilitate conjunxir, quam et de 
 
 the outward view : — " Potest per dumo patris abstulit, qui ei per pro- 
 
 Lalian mundus hicexprimi, qui cum phetam (licit, ' Obliviscere pupuhim 
 
 furore Jacob persequitur, quia elec- tuum, et domum patris tui,'" tVc. — 
 
 tos quosque, qui Kedemptoris nostri Moial. in Job. 1. xxx. c. 25, § 72. 
 luenibra sunt, persequendo oppri- '•'' rsulni xlv. 10, 16. 
 
352 Jacobs or the Spirit of Service. part ti. 
 
 possessing heavenly things. Not a few have left the 
 world, who are not come to the good land ; and yet 
 forsaking the outward world is one stage, and most 
 necessary, for all who at last attain to heavenly things. 
 
 Here Jacob, escaped from Laban, is seen, hastening with 
 his children and flocks to enter the promised land. At 
 this point Esau again appears, as determined to stop his 
 entrance into Canaan, as Laban had been to oppose his 
 departure out of Mesopotamia. As fulfilled within, the 
 scene represents the opposition which is offered by the 
 carnal mind to the efforts of the spirit to set our affection 
 on things above : as fulfilled without, it shews the resist- 
 ance of carnal professors to the efforts of true servants to 
 bring those whom they have won out of the world into the 
 enjoyment of heavenly things. It is a scene of deepest 
 interest; for here, in, and partly by, this trial, in sore 
 wrestlings of spirit Jacob becomes Israel ; and the man, 
 whose "hand laid hold," at last in weakness is made a 
 " prince with Grod." 
 
 The opposition here proceeds from Esau. Laban had 
 been the hindrance to Jacob's leaving Mesopotamia ; for 
 it is our outward man which stands in the way of our 
 spirit's departure from outward things ; but it is the carnal 
 mind within which threatens to stop our attempts to enter 
 heavenly things.^ And thus after we have turned from the 
 outward man, and have left his old ground between 
 tradition and reasoning, another opponent, more closely 
 related to our spirit, remains, in that carnal mind, which 
 grows within us even out of the true elect. And this Esau 
 now threatens our way, if he can, to oppose our possessing 
 the promised land. 
 
 ' Respecting Laban and Esau, carnal mind, respectively, see on 
 that they are the outward man and chap, xxviii. p. 324. 
 
PART TT. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 353 
 
 To prepare the spirit for such opposition, the Lord here 
 vouchsafes a vision of angel guards. " Jacob went on his 
 way, and the angels of Grod met him ; and Jacob said. This 
 is God's host." 2 Some such perception of heavenly help 
 is yet vouchsafed to make us persevere. But the vision 
 soon fades away, and the unseen hosts, because out of sight, 
 are in measure out of mind ; while the strength which is 
 against us is felt distinctly, and the fact, that, spite of the 
 spirit's fruitfulness, the carnal mind is yet strong. We 
 cannot journey this path without most painfully feeling 
 that the flesh as Esau is yet " my lord Esau." In outward 
 things this may be forgotten. The fact meets us in its 
 painful reality as soon as we are set on entering heavenly 
 things ; and om- spirit, which should rejoice, if not in the 
 hosts of the Lord, yet in the Lord of hosts, is cast down by 
 the evil which is so sorely felt, and which outweighs at 
 times the fact of heavenly help. Hence the elect is per- 
 plexed and full of fears. He knows not how, with such an 
 unwearying enemy so near him, he shall ever find rest. 
 " Jacob was greatly distressed." Again and again he 
 repeats the bitter words, " My lord Esau." ^ 
 
 This, coming here, is very striking. Why should he, 
 who at an earlier stage neither feared nor courted Esau, 
 now feel such dread of him ? Because in the first joy of 
 learning God's purpose, believing the promise that " the 
 elder shall serve the younger," our spirit never fears the 
 flesh, not knowing its own weakness or the might of the 
 carnal mind. If we can get the blessing, we think that we 
 can use it. It never occurs to us that a certain preparation 
 of spirit is needed for the right enjoyment of what God 
 has promised us. Esau therefore, though he may affect 
 our course, is not thought of. We have yet to learn the 
 
 2 Chap, xixii. 1, 2. ^ Chap, xxxii. 4, 5, 18, 19, &c. 
 
 A A 
 
3o4 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 difference between " apprehending " and " being appre- 
 hended.""* So we go and toil to subdue the outward man, 
 and as we toil we learn our weakness and foolishness. 
 We are forced to confess that Esau is lord. Our fruitfulness 
 has not given us power over the carnal mind. The elder 
 does not yet serve the younger. To effect this, planning 
 Jacob must become halting Israel. 
 
 Yet it is here, in painful, abject weakness, — when we 
 most feel the power of the flesh, and that our spirit cannot 
 govern it, — here, when Esau most clearly is the stronger, 
 — here in self-despair is Jacob made a " prince of God : " 
 not while toiling in outward things, — not until the humi- 
 liating fact is plain past all question, that the carnal mind 
 is far too strong for us, — not till this is confessed, openly 
 confessed once and again, and this while spite of all oppo- 
 sition we yet press on to heavenly things, — is our spirit 
 out of weakness made strong, and we learn that to have 
 God's power we must ourselves be powerless. 
 
 So much for the time of this change. For the means, 
 the greatest of all is prayer, persevering, wrestling prayer. 
 Jacob does indeed what he can by prudence to escape 
 and calm down Esau's enmity, giving up to Esau some of 
 the flocks,^ that is, allowing some of the animal emotions 
 which have been won from the outward man to fall under 
 the power of the carnal mind, — a step, the faith of which 
 I will not judge, — but his hope is not in this, but simply 
 in God alone. So he prays, " God of my father Abraham, 
 and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto 
 me, Eeturn unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I 
 will deal well with thee ; I am not worthy of the least of 
 all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed 
 to thy servant ; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, 
 * See Phil. iii. 12. * Chap, xxxiii. 13-20. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 356 
 
 and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, 
 from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for 
 I fear him, lest he will come and smite me and the mother 
 with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee 
 good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which 
 cannot be numbered for multitude."® Thus he prays, and 
 turns again to prayer, wrestling alone in spirit until the 
 shadows flee away ; ^ taking God's word against all that 
 seems like opposition, saying, " I will not let thee go, except 
 thou bless me." For God had said, " I will surely bless 
 thee ; " and Jacob, with his will for God's will, holds God 
 to this His own will. 
 
 This is the trial yet, — Can we believe, that when He 
 says, " I will surely do thee good," He really wills it ? Can 
 we back this His " I will " by our " I will," in the confi- 
 dence that when we will with Him we must be conquerors ? 
 Then, though we may have much to ask, even of the name 
 of Him whom we would not let go except He blessed us : ^ 
 and we wake up, as the darkness breaks, to think how little 
 we have known of Him whom we have wrestled with, and 
 who has given Himself into our hands " in the likeness of 
 man,"^ and that He may have a new name involving far 
 more than anything which has as yet been revealed to us ; *^ 
 though we may feel all this, the change is wrought : Jacob 
 is now Israel, for " as a prince we have power with God and 
 man, and have prevailed." ^^ 
 
 * Chap, xxxii. 9-12. and more spiritual way:" — " Ille 
 ' Chap, xxxii. 24. autem dicebat, ' Dimitte me,' carna* 
 ^ Chap, xxxii. 29. liter ; ' quia ecce jam mane est,' ut 
 ^ " There wrestled a man with spiritaliter illuraineris, &c. . . . Sed 
 him," V. 24. Cf. Phil. ii. 7- ille quod dixit? ' Non te dimittiim, 
 '° Rev. iii. 12. Augustine dwells nisi me benedixeris.' Quia per car- 
 much on this, taking the words, nem uos prius beuedicit Doniinus," 
 " Let me go," as meaning, " Let me &c. — Serm. v. Class. 1, § 6. 
 go in the form you have known me, " " Primitus fuit vocatus .Jacob, 
 that you may know me in a higher postea Israel, . . . . et nos primitus 
 
 A A '}. 
 
356 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 But a price has to be paid for this. Jacob, to have God's 
 strength, must lose his own strength. The man "whose 
 hand lays hold " is not a " prince of Grod," until the hollow 
 of his thigh is out of joint.^^ When he is weak, then is 
 he strong. The power of Christ only rests on him in his 
 infirmities.'^ Who has learnt this lesson of the cross? Are 
 there not souls, who have toiled and accomplished much 
 as respects their outward man, who have served for Laban's 
 flocks, yet are conscious that Esau, the carnal mind, not 
 only lives, — for he will yet live, — but is keeping their 
 spirit from the full enjoyment of heavenly things ? Will 
 their fruits give them the power they lack? Never. Would 
 we be Israels ? These are the conditions, — to go up over 
 Jordan, and wrestle alone, and be smitten in the fleshly 
 part, and lamed, and halting ; so shall we have power with 
 Grod and man ; and because so few will submit to this, there 
 are many Jacobs, but few Israels.''^ 
 
 Such is this stage as known within. Without, it is the 
 experience of those who are toiling on, to take their flocks 
 and children into the promised land. The world now is 
 left behind. Its pursuit has not stopped the elect, who is 
 
 debemus esse Jacob, hoc est sup- poraliter videtur, cum sese angustat 
 
 plantatores vitiorum, ut postea pos- ut dilatet. . . . Quod bene sacra his- 
 
 simus esse Israel, id est animge toria designat, quae beatum Jacob 
 
 videntes Deum," &e. — Hieron. in cum angelo luetatum narrat 
 
 Fsahn. cxiii. " Anima videns Deum," Notandum quod idem victus angelus 
 
 is one of the translations which nervumfemoris Jacob tetigit,eumque 
 
 Jerome gives of the name Israel ; marcescere statim fecit, atque ab eo 
 
 but he confesses elsewhere, ( QusesL tempore Jacob uno claudicavit pede ; 
 
 Heh. in Gen.) that our common quia scilicet omnipotens Deus cum 
 
 rendering. " a prince with God," is jam per desiderium cognoscitur, 
 
 more correct, as derived from n"lK^ omnem in nobis voluptatem carnis 
 
 and ^S, arefacit. ... Si ergo tenemus ange- 
 
 '- Chap, xxxii. 25. lum, uno claudicamus pede ; quia 
 
 " 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10. dum crescit in nobis fortitudo amoris 
 
 '* " Magna est mentis eontentio, intimi, infirmatur proculdubio for- 
 
 cum sese ad ccelestia erigit, cum titudo carnis," &c. — Greg, M. in 
 
 transgrcdi nititur omne quod cor- Ezcch. 1. ii. h. 2, § 12. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 357 
 
 now close to heavenly things. Then fleslily professors 
 arise, false brethren, like Esau, born in the house of the 
 Son, and yet like him profane men, whose very wrath 
 drives the elect in self-despair to God, till from Jacobs 
 they are transformed into Israels. The details in tliis view 
 I need not repeat : — how the elect divide the flocks, by 
 such division hoping to go more safely ; — how, spite of 
 this, some of the rough and animal natures we have won, 
 though freed from the world, are given into the hand of 
 carnal brethren, in the hope that thus the true heirs 
 may be saved;— how such planning cannot give us 
 rest ; — how prayer is the true and unfailing means of 
 strength ; — how wrestling and darkness must be our ex- 
 perience ; — how in feebleness and pain we meet our carnal 
 brethren ; — how those, who have once bitterly opposed, 
 receive us graciously ; — how the proffered aid of such 
 is declined, lest the babes and flocks be overdriven ; for 
 " if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock 
 would die ; " ^^ — all this and much more here is known 
 to those, who have attempted to guide flocks out of the 
 world into heavenly places. The way remains the same 
 as of old ; and the just shall walk in it safely, though 
 transgressors fall therein. 
 
 § VI. — The Sojourn in Succoth, and Dinah's Fall. 
 
 (Chapter xxxiii. 17-20, and xxxiv.) 
 
 At this stage, after so many labours and prayers, escaped 
 from Laban and Esau, and standing on the ground of pro- 
 mise as " a prince of Grod," Jacob might have expected 
 that he and his would now be permitted to rest in quiet- 
 ness. But at this point new foes appear, by whom the 
 
 ** Chap, xxxiii. 13. 
 
358 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 worker is severely wounded, when he least expects, and 
 where he most acutely feels it. For the virgin daughter 
 of Jacob now falls, seduced by the Hivite who yet is in the 
 land. 
 
 We see here the special snare which assails the elect, 
 when, having escaped from the dominion of the world and 
 the flesh, he now has entered heavenly things. Wicked 
 spirits assail some of our best affections, and succeed in 
 corrupting what the world and the flesh had not corrupted. 
 For no ground is exempt from snares ; nay, more, the 
 higher and better the ground, the more grievous may be 
 the failure there. Satan rages most against the best. He 
 will go into swine, if cast out of men ; ^ but he would 
 rather stay in men, and still more in an angel, if it were 
 possible. He will go into earth, if cast out from heaven ; 
 but he struggles hard to dwell in heavenly things.^ And 
 yet we act as though attainment made us secure ; as 
 though, because we have forsaken the outward man, and 
 are changed from Jacob into Israel, and have been deli- 
 vered from the power and dominion of the flesh, no further 
 peril still awaited us ; whereas, here, out of the reach of 
 the flesh and outward man, our purest affections may be 
 defiled by other more devilish, because more inw^ard, forms 
 of evil. This is the lesson learnt by Jacob here, as we too 
 often learn it, by actual failure and shameful humiliation. 
 
 First to mark what led to this fall. Jacob yields to the 
 temptation, peculiar to this stage, of resting in his attain- 
 ments instead of still pressing on. He seems to think, 
 that, being now free from Laban and Esau, and come to 
 the borders of Canaan, he has advanced far enough. He 
 settles where he is. He " builds a house," and " buys a 
 field," ^ and thus prepares the way for Dinah's ruin. And 
 ^ Matt. viii. 31. ' Eev. xii. 7-12. =» Chap, xxxiii. 17, 19. 
 
 i 
 
PART VI Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 359 
 
 tlie soul which by grace has come thus far, and has escaped 
 from the dominion of the carnal mind and outward man, 
 is tempted to think, that, because " a prince of God," it is 
 now safe ; that therefore it may sit down, and rest secure 
 in its attainments. But not in attainments, but in attain- 
 ing, are we safe. Thus even the strivings of our flesh, 
 grievous as they are, may serve our spirit, by keeping us 
 from resting before the time, while our gifts and blessings 
 may be as snares to us. We are apt to tliink that our flesh 
 is only a dead weight, while we regard all freedom of spirit 
 as good and to be coveted. Longer experience teaches us 
 to be thankful for all, for the strivings of the flesh, as well 
 as for the grace of the inward man ; for cold and heat, for 
 strifes and peace, for falls and risings, yea for all things ; 
 to rejoice in infirmities, and distresses, and fightings and 
 fears within, as well as in visions of the Lord and revela- 
 tions ; '' to be watchful in times of blessing and rest ; above 
 all, to be humble at every fresh gift, knowing that it is in 
 gifts and attainments we fail most signally. We know 
 this, and yet no sooner have we attained some blessing, 
 than we attempt to rest in it, and so by our own act pre- 
 pare the way for fresh disquietudes. 
 
 For this settling led to Dinah's fall. If Jacob may buy 
 a field and settle there, his daughter will go and see the 
 daughters of the land. The result is, she is defiled ; for 
 " Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, saw her ; and he 
 took and lay with her, and defiled her."^ 
 
 Dinah, the daughter of Leah, represents those affections 
 of the elect, which spring from outward principles.^ The 
 Hivite is an evil spirit of Canaan's seed ; if I do not err, 
 tlie spirit of religious formalism. For Canaan was the 
 
 * 2 Cor. xii. 1, 10. * Chap, xxxiv. 1, 2. « See on chap. xxx. 
 
360 
 
 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 
 
 spirit of mere external worship ; ^ and the Hivite is the 
 same spirit, only at a further stage.** This spirit, which 
 lives " till the redemption of the purchased possession,"^ is 
 sure to appear whenever we come to heavenly things. 
 Then, if we rest in attainments, formalism creeps in, and 
 by it some of our purest affections are defiled. ^° This 
 leads to bitter inward conflict, which, though from zeal for 
 Grod, is not approved of Him. For polluted affections 
 cannot be cleansed by anger. Dinah is fallen, though 
 Jacob's sons may rage. In the next place, there may be a 
 kind of anger against sin which in God's sight is worse 
 than the sin and fall which occasions it ; and of which, at 
 a further stage, like Jacob, we learn to say, " Cursed be 
 their anger, for it was cruel." '^ God knows how much of 
 inward conflict is the result of pride ; mere vexation at 
 seeing how easily we may be defiled. Zeal and judgment 
 are easier than confession. But violence with ourselves 
 on account of failure will not amend it. We need as much 
 patience towards the failure within us, as towards the evil 
 which is without us in the different forms of worldliness. 
 
 ' See on chap. x. 
 
 « Chap. X. 15-17. 
 
 « Eph. i. 14. 
 
 1" Gregory the Great thus alludes 
 to this inwartl fulfilment: — " Dina, 
 ut nnilieres videat alienee regionis, 
 egreditur, quando mens sua studia 
 negligens, actiones alienas curans, 
 extra ordinem proprium evagatur. 
 Quam Sichem, prineeps terrae, op- 
 primit, quia invenUim in curis ex- 
 terioribus diabolus corrunipit, et 
 conglutinata est anima ejus cum ea, 
 quia unitam si hi per iniquitatera 
 respicit. Et quia cum mens a culpa 
 resipiscere atque admissum flere 
 conatur, corruptor autem spcs ac 
 eecuxitates vacuas ante oculos re- 
 
 vocat, quatenus utilitatem tristitise 
 subtrahat, recte illic adjungitur, 
 ' Tristemque blanditiis delinivit,' " 
 &c. — Reg. Past. pt. iii. c. 29, 
 admon. 30. 
 
 " Chap. xlix. 7. In the history 
 of Saul, Hivites again appear in a 
 scene similar to this, in which they 
 are judged by one who is zealous 
 for the hoxise of Israel, while his 
 judgment of them is pronounced 
 cursed. Saul, " in his zeal to the 
 children of Israel, slew the Gibeon- 
 ites;' who were Hivites, (Josh. ix. 
 3, 7,) and for this mistaken zeal a 
 curse comes on his house. See the 
 history, 2 Sam. xxi. 1-14. 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 3()1 
 
 Such are the fruits of resting in attainments, and of 
 supposing that because the world and flesh are left, and 
 we are Israels, we may be secure. Often have I beheld 
 this scene, not only in the inward experience of souls, who 
 liave gone far and laboured long and well, but in the 
 failure of more than one true congregation, which, delivered 
 from the world and carnal men, has been seduced by worse 
 spirits. Heavenly places are no defence from such a fall. 
 It is when we already stand on the ground of promise 
 that Canaan's seed harass us. 
 
 But the outward fulfilment here may to some be more 
 striking ; and in this view most important is the lesson, 
 not only to halting Jacobs, but to zealous Levis. Jacob 
 lias now reached the promised land. True servants have 
 brought those whom they have won into heavenly places. 
 The outward world has long sinc?e been left. Carnal 
 brethren too, who like Esau have sought to stop us, by 
 grace are overcome. At this stage, so sweet is the rest, 
 that the elect settles where he is instead of pressing on- 
 wards. Then the virgin of Israel falls. Some body, which 
 is the outward expression of a truth, and the fruit of 
 loving service, is found to be corrupted and seduced by 
 wicked deceivers. Formalism creeps into the church, ^^ the 
 natural result of settling down and resting in attainments. 
 Would any congregation be seduced, if the fathers and 
 young men toiled and journeyed on ? But the church 
 halts and is seduced ; then, as a first step, the seducers are 
 admitted to certain holy ordinances ; for a fallen church 
 always brings in many to such forms, although they are 
 
 " It is to be remembered that which is the offspring of outward 
 Dinah is Leah's daughter, not Ra- truth. See on chap. xxix. 
 chers, and so figures a cougregaiion 
 
362 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part tt. 
 
 confessedly submitted to for wrong and selfish ends ; and 
 then some of the true heirs of promise, grieved to the 
 heart at such awful profanation of the church and things 
 of Grod, finding judgment easier than confession, arise with 
 cruel zeal to judge and cut off the seducers. Instead of 
 asking of the TiOrd how the fallen can be helped, they take 
 the iron sword of truth, and rage with it bitterly.^^ The 
 fiercest wrath which I have ever seen has been that of 
 brethren judging the evil. But such zeal does not cleanse 
 a fallen church, and much of the wrath is against facts, as 
 if Dinah had not fallen, to save their own credit. Alas ! 
 such zeal, common as it is, profits not at all ; and at length 
 we learn that such judgment is "cursed," and that confes- 
 sion would befit us far better. Yet how many count it 
 holy zeal to contend against the defilers of a fallen church, 
 even when her whoredom has been manifest.^'* 
 
 Is the sword then never to be used — is there to be no 
 cutting off, no judgment or excommunication of offenders ? 
 Judgment surely there must be at times, and divine zeal 
 against evil, as we see in Abraham ; ^^ but not to maintain 
 a fiction, as though a harlot could again be made a chaste 
 virgin ; far less to supersede that confession which becomes 
 us for that fall of the church which is our common shame. 
 
 " Kespecting iron, see on chap. — "Duo fratres Binge, per quos sig- 
 
 iv. 22. nificantur prsedicatores Evangelii, 
 
 '* I have met with very little on qui ad prsedicandum mittuntur com- 
 
 the spiritual sense of this chapter binati, arroptis duobus gladiis, scil- 
 
 among the Fathers ; probably for icet oratione et prsedieatione, inva- 
 
 the same reason that they say so dunt civitatem diaboli, et sic tollunt 
 
 little of Noah's fall, or of Nimrod, sororem suam de domo Sichem, id 
 
 or Babylon; namely, that the scene est diaboli,"' &c. Augustine is quoted 
 
 described was not familiar to them. as giving the same interpretation ; 
 
 They had not seen, as we have, the but I have not been able to find the 
 
 fall of the Church, ami the useless passage, 
 
 wi-ath of some of Jacob's sons. The '^ Chap. xiv. 14. 
 Glossa Ordiuaria here is as follows : 
 
PART VI. Jacob ^ 07' the Spirit of Service. 363 
 
 Nevertheless out of this wretched scene the Lord can 
 work His own purpose. Even by such distresses as this 
 are the elect rescued from resting in attainments and 
 hastened on to Bethel. And the Simeons and Levis, 
 though their wrath is cursed, are blessed ; tlieir ways are a 
 reproach to the truth, and " make them to stink among the 
 inhabitants of the land ;" ^^ their haste to judge also carries 
 its own judgment with it : ''I will,'^ says the Spirit of God, 
 '' divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel ; " ^^ — a 
 lot which always overtakes such spirits ; — but tlie grace, 
 which redeemed them, keeps them, and through many 
 trials saves them at last. 
 
 The same act comes out in the dispensations. Israel 
 ceased to be a pilgrim, and so the first wife's daughter fell. 
 The virgin of Israel plainly was defiled. Nevertheless the 
 Pharisees and Scribes, the Simeons and Levis of their day, 
 instead of confessing, raged against the shame, cutting off 
 and judging those who had corrupted Israel. Thus Phari- 
 saism was "the concision," not " the circumcision." ^* But 
 the fallen daughter of Israel could not by such means be re- 
 stored, v The Spirit of the Lord went not with such zealots, 
 but said, — all Christ's life was saying it, — " Cursed is their 
 anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel." 
 For such judgment answered no end, save to make poor 
 Israel to stink among the nations. " They pleased not 
 Grod, and were contrary to all men."^^ What a lesson for 
 all succeeding generations ! When shall we learn that 
 Pharisaic judging helps no one ? When shall we, not 
 possess only, but be possessed by, the Spirit of the Lord? 
 
 " Chap, xxxiv. 30. »» Phil. iii. 2, 3. 
 
 »^ Chap. xlix. 7. •' 1 Thess. ii. 15. 
 
364 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 § VII. — The Return to Bethel. 
 
 (Chapter xxxv. 1-22.) 
 
 We have seen how attainments, through resting in them, 
 may become a snare to the elect, and lead to grievous 
 defilement. Now again we see how falls may help us on. 
 Jacob's rest brought shame : the shame advanced and 
 freed him. Such is our path, and such the grace of Grod, 
 that our falls and mistakes may be a means to nurture 
 our true growth ; as a tree extracts fresh strength from 
 the soil which is enriched by its own decaying leaves and 
 fallen blossoms. In this way are we led on ; by blessings 
 learning our weakness ; by weakness, the riches of our 
 Ood. 
 
 Thus Dinah's fall advanced Jacob. He could not, 
 amidst such shame and conflict, rest longer where he was. 
 And by this self-same thing, what zeal is wrought in us, 
 what vehement desire and clearing of ourselves, yea, what 
 fear and carefulness ! ^ But Jacob is helped by other means. 
 Grod's word comes directly commanding him to go up to 
 Bethel.^ Such a word of God comes, often as we are 
 faint and fail, and, by recalling God's purpose, effects a 
 change, first in ourselves, then in our position. For 
 " Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with 
 him. Put away the strange gods that are among you, and 
 be clean, and change your garments ; and let us arise and 
 go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God 
 who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with 
 me in the way which I went. And they gave to Jacob all 
 the strange gods which were in their hands, and Jacob hid 
 them under the oak which was by Shechem."^ So the word 
 
 ' 2 Cor. vii. 11. « Chap. xxxv. ]. =» Chap. xxxv. 2-4. 
 
PART Yi. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 365 
 
 both leads us on and sanctifies. The uncleansed cannot 
 advance, for certain stages are only reached as we are 
 sanctified. But by the word true servants judge themselves. 
 Before God speaks, idols may be suffered : when His voice 
 is heard, they are confessed and put away. 
 
 The progress now is very marked. There is advance 
 in reference to each of the blessings enjoyed by the elect 
 servant. Of these the first is "the everlasting hills" of 
 promise, and in these " the blessings of heaven above and 
 of the deep which lieth under : " the second is " the wife 
 of youth," " blessings of the breasts and womb," the foun- 
 tain from whence springs forth the stream of Israel : the 
 third is the Lord Himself, " the God of thy fathers, even 
 the Almighty who shall help and bless thee."'* Here there 
 is advance respecting each of these, involving trial and 
 grief, yet real blessing also. 
 
 First, Jacob's advance opens to his view lengths and 
 breadths of the land as yet unknown.^ There is true 
 progress in the knowledge and possession of what the 
 Lord has promised him ; not without apparent danger, 
 but " the terror of the Lord was upon the cities that were 
 round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons 
 of Jacob." ^ Thus, when, under a sense of failure and 
 defilement, we again press on, fields on fields of promise 
 open to us, which we have heard of, but till now have never 
 realized. The Canaanite is indeed upon this ground, that 
 is false spirituality, ready to assail and wound us in the 
 way.^ But God preserves His own. " So Jacob came to 
 Bethel, he and all the people with him, and built an altar, 
 and called the place El-bethel." So far from losing by 
 
 * Chap. xlix. 25, 26. ' For the Canaanite, see above, on 
 
 * Chap. XXXV. 6, 16, 21. chap, xxxiv. 
 
 * Chap. XXXV. 5. 
 
366 Jacob, or the S2:)irlt of Service. part ti. 
 
 his advance, it gives him deeper acquaintance with and 
 insight into the treasures of the " everlasting hills." 
 
 Here, on the ground where he had seen earth joined to 
 heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending upon 
 man, the elect receives fresh revelations. " The Lord ap- 
 peared," saying " I am G-od Almighty," and promising 
 afresh possession of the land, not to Jacob only, but to his 
 seed after him.^ In struggles of spirit, Jacob had met 
 the Lord, and had asked to know the name of Him who 
 wrestled with him.!* But until now, that name, revealed to 
 faith,'^ in the toil of service had not been apprehended. 
 " God Almighty " had not " appeared " to Jacob. Now 
 He appears, revealing Himself by the name which alone 
 could quiet the busy worker. And as Abraham, hearing 
 this name, was content at once to give up the strength of 
 the flesh, and to judge himself by circumcision ; so Jacob 
 by the same blessed name is freed : henceforth his hand 
 ceases to lay hold, to allow the Almighty to effect and 
 order all for him. 
 
 Then at this stage three women are removed, whose life 
 directly or indirectly had affected Jacob more than any 
 others. Deborah, Rachel, and Bilhah, the first the nurse, 
 the second the wife, the third the handmaid, are all now 
 taken from him. The first two die ; the last is defiled ; 
 for Reuben, Leah's first-born, " went and lay with Bilhah, 
 his father's concubine." ^^ 
 
 What has been said of Sarah's death will explain the 
 inward fact expressed by the death of these women. ^'^ 
 Men are always certain minds : the women, the affections 
 or principles of truth with which they are united. These, 
 
 8 Chap. XXXV. 9-12. " Chap. xxxv. 8, 18, 22. 
 
 » Chap, xxxii. 27. '^ gge gn chap. x.-iiii. 
 
 " Chap. xvii. 1. 
 
pAKT VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 367 
 
 whether men or women, nil die out ; that is, they pass away 
 as outward forms, thereby to be more spiritualized. This is 
 what now takes place with Jacob's nurse and wife. Those 
 truths or affections, which are set forth by these women, 
 now as outward forms die and pass away ; not to perish, 
 for truth never perishes, but through the dissolution of the 
 outward form to exist in a higher and purer way ; while 
 Bilhah, Each el's maid, who represents that lower and 
 servile principle, by which nevertheless some good fruit 
 has been brought forth, is now defiled by Jacob's first-born, 
 that is, by the unlawful workings of other fruits of true 
 service.^^ Deborah, the nurse, dies first. A nurse is one 
 whose office it is to care for babes and sucklings. De- 
 borah therefore is that which serves such as have need 
 of milk. As having belonged too to Laban's house, 
 and been engaged with Eebekah before she left Padan- 
 Aram, Deborah would partake of the character of that 
 land, and so be rather outward and natural, such truth in 
 fact as babes and sucklings need. Now, having fulfilled 
 her work, she passes away. Rachel too, as an outward 
 form, now departs in bearing fruit ; even as that spiritual 
 principle, which she represents, is changed from an earthly 
 form to a spirit through its very fruitfulness ; giving birth 
 to another form of life, which is indeed "a child of 
 strength," though at first it seems " a child of sorrow." ^^ 
 
 Few, however, will apprehend this. Adam's way, in 
 trusting tl.ie creature more than Grod, in listening to the 
 tempter, in choosing knowledge more than life, in hiding 
 from God, or in laying the blame on some other, will be 
 
 " See on chap, xxix, respecting gave to her son, means, " son of my 
 
 Bilhah and Eeuben. Tliese things sorrow ; " but his father called him 
 
 are all but ineffable, and cannot Benjamin, that is, " son of the right 
 
 fully be expressed. hand." As to the " right hand," 
 
 " Benoui, the name which Rachel compare Psalm Ixxx. 17, and ex. 1. 
 
368 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 known l)y all who have come to themselves ; for old Adam 
 is in all his progeny. The picture therefore will be plain. 
 But the form of life set forth in Jacob is not in all, much 
 less that stage of it which is here presented to us. Still 
 this stage, though attained by few, is to be reached. Let 
 us not judge it impossible, simply because as yet it fs 
 beyond us. Eather let us press on that we may know it ; 
 and such as cannot follow here now may follow hereafter. 
 
 Such is this scene within. Without, the details will to 
 not a few be more manifest. In this view we see how the 
 very fall of the Church awakens some to further progress. 
 True servants cannot rest where pollution is made mani- 
 fest. Then comes some word of Grod, recalling His pur- 
 pose, which leads to the putting away of idols and un- 
 cleannesses. Thus are the elect stirred up afresh, and pass 
 on to know yet more of Grod and of their own privileges. 
 Then comes fresh grief, for surely it is a grief to find 
 bodies we have loved, and which in different ways have 
 helped us, as outward bodies ready to be dissolved, or, 
 what is worse, to be defiled by some in Israel. Yet this 
 too must be known by true servants, when they come to some 
 of the higher stages in heavenly things. The outward 
 Church is found to be corrupted by the first-born sons, who 
 should have been its help and safegTiard ; who, puffed up 
 with pride, usurp another's place, to their own great loss 
 and to the shame of all in Israel ;^^ while the true Church 
 is seen as an outward form to die, only to live a higher 
 
 15 a pgj. Reuben, qui interpretatur gratis sibi data aliquando erigitur 
 
 ' visionis filius,' iutelligitur vir lite- in superbiam, et vult cognoscere 
 
 ratus, qui super alios in aliqu^ gratia patris sui uxorem, id est, usurpare 
 
 elevatus ; eo quod Reuben fuit pri- sibi ecclesiam, vel dignitatem ejus, 
 
 mogenitus, et hoc sive talis vir secu- et per hoc machinatur ad ejus de- 
 
 laris fuerit, sive religiosus; et ex positionem." — Gloss. Ordin. in loco. 
 
PART VI. Jacobs or the Spirit of Sei^ice, 369 
 
 life with God and in Grod. Some true servants have seen 
 and known all this. It is well, that, ere they see it, they 
 are from Jacobs made Israels, and know the Lord as " God 
 Almighty." 
 
 The dispensations too reflect this scene. After the de- 
 filement of the first wife's daughter, that is, the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, the Spirit of Christ as Worker led on the elect 
 to greater knowledge and enjoyment of heavenly places. 
 There Rachel, the beloved wife, dies ; that is, the Church, 
 as an outward form, in due time is seen to pass away ; 
 while the Worker yet survives through many griefs to see 
 Joseph's glory and dominion over all the land of Egypt. 
 
 A little while, and our eyes shall see that glory, and the 
 things which now distract us shall for ever pass away. As 
 we can bear it, bring us into that day, Lord ; and while 
 darkness is yet safer for us, be Thou, yea, and for ever, our 
 everlasting dwelling-place. 
 
 § VIII. — The Seeds of Jacob and Esau. 
 
 (Chapter xxxv. 23-29, and xxxvi.) 
 
 As a fit conclusion to Jacob's course, we have his seed 
 summed up,^ in contrast to Esau's generations.^ Here are 
 the results of these two lives ; Jacob's sous setting forth 
 the fruits of that spirit of service, which springs from true 
 sonship ; Esau's line, the fruits of the flesh or carnal mind, 
 as it appears at this stage of man's development.^ Each 
 form of life can only bear its proper fruit. That of the 
 flesh still fleshly, and that of the spirit spiritual. 
 
 Chap. xxxv. 23-29. 2 c\^<^^^ xxxvi. 1-43. 
 
 ' See on chap. xxv. 2i-'6i. 
 
 li B 
 
370 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part n. 
 
 Jacob's fruit in all is twelve sons, six by Leah, two by 
 Rachel, and two by each of the handmaids ; all fruits of 
 the same elect spirit, but differing according to the prin- 
 ciple or affection which produces them ; the sons of Leah, 
 the first-born, representing those fruits which are pro- 
 duced by the elect from forms of outward truth, such as 
 imderstanding, obedience, service, rule, joy, and commu- 
 nion, for so the names are interpreted : Eachel's children, 
 those later fruits of patience and long-suffering with joy- 
 fulness, which grow from the contemplative life ; the 
 handmaids' sons, the fruits of those more servile principles, 
 which, as they are owned and blessed of God, bear justice, 
 conflict, power, or happiness.'^ The spirit of service bears 
 all these, and in them, spite of many errors and imper- 
 fections, the Lord is glorified. 
 
 Esau's line is then displayed, first his sons by Canaanitish 
 wives, and then his fruit by Ishmael's daughter. The 
 names of his immediate sons all express some good quality ; 
 for the fruit of the flesh in its Esau form is good in its 
 way, though not good as measured by the divine standard. 
 For " all flesh is grass ; "'^ and grass at the best is soon dried 
 up and withered. But some of their names imply polish 
 at least, if not a recognition of Grod and respect for His 
 protection. Eliphaz, and Reuel, and Korah, and Jaalam, 
 express in their names good things which even the elect 
 miglit wish for.^ In the grandsons there is a falling 
 ofl*: Omar, Gatam, and Kenaz, describe a worse condi- 
 
 * For the names of these sons, I do not therefore give them ; but 
 and their interpretation, see on the following seem to be beyond 
 chap. xxix. and xxx. dispute : — Eliphaz, " God is my en- 
 
 * 1 Pet. i. 24. dcavour ; " Reuel, " the friend of 
 ^ Jerome interprets all these God;" Korah, "smooth" or '^ po- 
 
 names, {Nom. Hed.)h\.\t it is diffi- lished;" Jaalsim, " hidden " oi " pro- 
 
 cult to speak with certainty of all. tected." 
 
PART VI. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 371 
 
 tion ;^ while the names of the subsequent kings of this race, 
 as Bela, Jobab, and Husham, are all variations of misery.** 
 Such are the fruits of the religious flesh, at first in measure 
 good, but soon degenerating, till their corruption proves 
 that religious flesh is but flesh, and fair Edom only a 
 variation of old Adam. 
 
 Nevertheless this line is gi'eat in the world. Even in 
 the first generation, the children of one wife, Aholibamah, 
 all become " dukes ;"^ the grandsons all have this title,^^ 
 which, only varied with that of " king," is kept through all 
 this genealogy. So is it yet wdthin. The fruits of the true 
 spirit are little valued in the world. The carnal fruits 
 which grow out of the elect are such as, being in measure 
 of the world, the world can appreciate : with just so much 
 of outward goodness as the flesh when trained and taught 
 by the spirit can appreciate, and yet enough of the world 
 to please the world, with a zeal for seen and present things. 
 Such fruits must be great in the world : they may even be 
 counted good fruit, but their end will shew their true nature ; 
 for by them the things of the house of the elect are taken 
 lo make a kingdom for self out of the land of Canaan. ^^ 
 
 This is better seen witliout. In this view the sons of 
 Esau and Jacob set forth in figure the further growth of 
 those opposing seeds, which, though born in the house of 
 the Son, and from one common mother, end far apart, the 
 one as kings in Mount Seir, the other as keepers of sheep 
 upon the ground of promise. Jacob's sons are not all 
 alike ; the elect, as they grow, develope many differences ; 
 
 ^ Omar, " a speaker 
 '• their clamour; " Kenaz, 
 or " drinker" 
 
 ^ Bela, " a devourer ; " 
 
 • " Gatam, 
 'a hunter" 
 
 Jobab, " a 
 
 howling ; " 
 » Chap. 
 '« Chap. 
 " Chap. 
 
 Husham, ' 
 xxxvi. 18. 
 xxxvi. 15- 
 xxxvi. 0-8 
 
 raging 
 17. 
 
 
 
 B B 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
372 
 
 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service, 
 
 some Reubens, some Judahs, some Dans, but all making 
 one Israel, who return after long toil to dwell in heavenly 
 places. Esau's children differ as much : even as the carnal 
 seed out of the Son exhibit great variety, one common 
 mark, however, being upon them all, that sooner or later 
 they all attain to rule of some sort, building up a kingdom 
 out of the land, while the elect remain to the end as 
 humble shepherds in Canaan. " Eight kings in succession 
 reigned in Edom, before any king reigned over the children 
 of Israel." ^^ St. Paul marks this of the Church's carnal 
 seed : "Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned 
 as kings without us ;"^^ for carnal brethren want a king- 
 dom now, and the desire and need of rule is sooner felt, 
 and rule is sooner developed with them, and, as they think, 
 perfected, than with the spiritual. Thus are they great in 
 the World ; their course in almost all things being in direct 
 contrast to that of the elect. The one leaves Canaan to 
 dwell in Mount Seir ; the other comes back from toil in 
 the world, to dwell in Canaan. Jacob brings all the souls 
 he has gotten, and " comes to Isaac his father to Mamre, 
 which is Hebron." ^^ " Esau took his wives, and all that 
 he had gotten in the land of Canaan, and went and dwelt 
 in Mount Seir."^^ The elect, having felt the power of the 
 world far more than carnal brethren ever feel it, (for the 
 carnal seed never try to win it,) come back with what 
 they have won to rest in heavenly places ; while the Esaus, 
 born in the house of the Son, and enriched with so much 
 of its truth as they can use for self exaltation, go forth 
 never to return, preferring in their own strength to estab- 
 lish an earthly kingdom. 
 
 '2 Chap, xxxvi. 31-39. 
 ^ 1 Cor. iv. 8-12. 
 '* Chap. XXXV. 27. 
 
 " Chap, xxxvi. 6-8. The LXX. 
 read here, koI iiropfiOri e/c t^j yvi 
 Xavadv. 
 
PART Ti. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 373 
 
 Thus Esau dwelt in Mount Seir.^^ This ground had for 
 long been the stronghold of gigantic Horims, against whom 
 tlie king of Shinar had come up, and smote them, without 
 dispossessing them ; '^ but " the children of Esau destroyed 
 them before them, and dwelt in their stead even to this 
 day."^^ Hither Esau seems to have been drawn by his 
 marriage with Aholibamah, for she was one of Seir's 
 daughters ; ^^ and here, having dispossessed Seir's sons, 
 Esau reigns in the kingdom of that ungodly line to which 
 he had allied himself. The Church's carnal seed have just 
 done this. Having first formed an alliance with the world, 
 they end by taking its kingdom ; driving out certain gigan- 
 tic evils, against which Babylon the great had struggled 
 unsuccessfully, to found a kingdom of bloodshed and force, 
 which, though famed far and near for its strength and 
 terribleness,'-^" and destined even to give a king to Israel 
 by whom the true King shall be mocked and set at nought,^^ 
 is doomed to be destroyed, as it is written, — " For his 
 violence against his brother Jacob shame shall cover him, 
 and he shall be cut off for ever."^^ 
 
 Of this kingdom much might be said. The names of 
 the sons of Seir, whom Esau dispossessed, and whose names 
 and acts are not recorded in vain, shew the forms of evil 
 wliich are opposed and can be destroyed even by carnal 
 Christians. The names I cannot touch here ;^^ but I may 
 observe that to one act peculiar prominence is given. Mules. 
 
 •^ Chap, xxxvi. 8. that " Anah, the son of Zibeon, 
 
 '^ Chap. xiv. 0, 6. was one of the " sons of Seir, the 
 
 '« Deut. ii. 12, 22. Horite, who inhabited the hind." 
 
 '^ Esau's wife Aholibamah was "^^ See Jer. xhx. 16; Obad. 3. 
 
 " the daughter of Anah, the dangh- ^^ Lukexxiii. 11. 
 
 tor,"or(as the Samaritan version, tlie ^'^ Obad. 10. 
 
 LXX., and other ancient versions '^'^ Jerome (Kom. Heh.) has at- 
 
 read,) " the son of Zibeon ; " chap. tempted an interpretation. 
 
 XX vi. 2. In verses 20-21, we rea 
 
374 Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. part vi. 
 
 we are told, were discovered by one of Seir's race : — " Anah 
 found mules, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father in the 
 wilderness." ^^ This mixture of seeds so opposed to nature,^^ 
 and law,2^ but which soon found such favour that kings' 
 sons used mules by way of distinction,^^ began among 
 the sons of Seir. Not by chance is the fact recorded in 
 their genealogy. Not in vain is it linked with Esau's 
 seed, as characteristic of the race to which he had allied 
 himself. 
 
 I cannot say more of these lines, though I am assured 
 that every point contains a lesson for us. I will only add 
 a few facts, which are plain and standing types of what 
 has been and must be. Under David's rule, Edom was 
 subject to Israel.2^ In the days of the failure of the 
 kingdom, even before Babylon led Israel captive, Edom 
 rebelled.^^ Later on, towards the end of the dispensation, 
 a son of Edom was ruling in Jerusalem, and Edomites 
 were reckoned Jews.^° The elect had fallen so low, that 
 the rule of the carnal seed was scarcely felt to be a de- 
 gradation. How far the carnal seed of the Church is now 
 confounded on all hands with the spiritual, — how busy it 
 is to build the temple, — how it rules, and seeks to slay 
 the Heir, — how instead it only destroys the Innocents, — 
 how spite of its crimes for a while it seems to prosper,— 
 how all these things shew where we are, — I leave for 
 
 2* Chap. xxxTi. 24. Our autho- 2» L^y^ ^ix. 19 ; Deut. xxii. 9- 
 
 rised version, after all objections to 11. 
 
 it, seems to be correct. The LXX. ^t 2 Sam. xiii. 29 ; xviii. 9. 
 
 do not translate the word, which we ^^ 2 Sam. viii. 1 4. 
 
 render " inulcs," but simply read " 2 Kings viii. 20, 22. 
 
 laixeiv, which is the Hebrew, D"*Q* ^° Herod was an Edomite or Itln- 
 
 written in Greek letters. Aquila maean. For proof of the Edomites 
 
 and Symmachus do the same. The being considered Jews, see Josephus, 
 
 Rabbins explain the word to mean Antiq. 1. xiii. c. 9, § 1, and Whis- 
 
 mules. So does the Arabic version. ton's note on the passage. 
 
 •25 Gen. i. 24. 
 
PART Ti. Jacob, or the Spirit of Service. 375 
 
 others, whose eyes by grace are opened, to weigh and 
 consider. 
 
 Such then is Jacob's course, for every age the type of 
 that evangelic service which is the fruit of faith and son- 
 ship ; too full of human craft at first, " laying hold with 
 its liand," to perform the work by human energy; but 
 schocled through much grief and many disappointments, 
 to leirn its own faults and weakness and insufficiency, 
 till, kme and smitten in the flesh, at length it becomes a 
 "prince of God," and prevails mightily. Such service is 
 dear t) Grod. No form of life more represents the ways 
 and m nd of heaven ; for it stoops, like angels, to serve ; 
 yea, lile the Lord of angels, it comes down from the hills 
 and we.ls of Canaan to outward men to save some of them. 
 In all :his, much failure comes out ; and the worker, like 
 every sower of seed, has his feet defiled in the miry ways 
 of the field of this world ; yet he works on, sowing the 
 seed with tears, to return at length in joy, bearing his 
 sheaves with him. Mark again what is, and what is not, 
 Jacob's work. He serves, and so wins flocks and children, 
 whom ae may lead to Canaan. He does not attack or 
 dispossess the monstrous Horims; for the opposition to 
 gigantc evils in the world, though it may be the work of 
 some of the children of the True Son, is Esau's labour, 
 not Jicob's. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 
 There yet are souls, whose only idea of service is to grapple, 
 like Isau, with the monstrous evils which have grown up 
 in th.s world, and to set up some rule or order instead, in 
 whica the tilings of Isaac's house are taken to make a 
 kingdom in Seir, out of the land of Canaan. Such work 
 must not be judged. Israel may not meddle with Esau's 
 children, who have dispossessed the Horims.^^ But this 
 
 8' Deut. ii. 4, 5, 12. 
 
376 Jacob, or the SpiHt of Service. part vi. 
 
 is not Jacobs work. He serves to bring souls from the 
 ground midway between tradition and reasoning to know 
 the ground of promise, — work, which to carnal eyes seems 
 less and meaner than Esau's, but which is only accom- 
 plished by a wrestling which the carnal seed know nothmg 
 of. But what Esau ever doubted that the kingdom in 
 Seir was far grander and better than the tents and flocks 
 of Jacob in Canaan ? 
 
 But it is time we should pass on from Jacob to Jojeph, 
 in whom a still further development of the elect appears. 
 
PAET VIL 
 
 JOSEPH, OE SUFFERING AND GLORY. 
 
 (chapters XXXVII. — L.) 
 
 " The aflaictions of Joseph."— Amos 'd. 6. 
 
 *' Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ ; if so be we suffer with Him, that we 
 may be also glorified together."— ROM. viii. 17. 
 
JOSEPH, OR SUFFERING MD GLORY. 
 
 (CHAPTEES XXXYII.-L.) 
 
 Here begins the story of Joseph, in whom the fairest form 
 of human life is seen. Six stages have passed, in which we 
 have traced how Israel, a Prince of Grod, grows out of old 
 Adam. We have seen human nature, and flesh and spirit, 
 and regeneration, and faith, and sonship, and service. Now 
 comes the last form of life, — a life which from the first 
 dreams of rule, and which attains it through suffering ; a 
 wonderful change from naked Adam ; and yet an outcome 
 from him, brought forth by Grod's ingrafting. Joseph does 
 not leave his home, to walk in simple faitli, he knows not 
 whither ; nor can he rest in peace, a son and heir, by 
 wells of water enjoying the sweets of sonship ; nor does he 
 serve night and day to win flocks and herds, who may be 
 led up out of the world to Canaan. Joseph is none of 
 these, but a life which surely follows these ; never seen 
 but where faith has brought forth sonship, and sonship 
 service ; itself the fruit of service, one of its last and fairest 
 fruits ; which from the first has dreams, not of service, but 
 rule ; which yet, spite of its dreams, is called to suffer many 
 tilings ; which suffers long, and is sorely tried, but at last 
 out of suffering attains to rule all things ; the world and 
 
380 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. part vii. 
 
 brethren bowed at its feet, forced to confess the might of 
 that they once ridiculed. 
 
 We have nothing like this before. In Abraham the elect 
 forsakes the world to walk in heavenly places. At this faith 
 stage, Egypt, so far from being ruled, is rather a snare to 
 the believer. Nor can Isaac rule this land : the spirit of 
 sonship is content to rest at peace in heavenly places. In 
 Jacob or service something is done in outward things ; some 
 flocks and herds are won there. But Egypt, the ground of 
 sense, is not subdued : service is not sufficient for such an 
 achievement. But in Joseph, the spirit opposed, and fet- 
 tered, and bound, conquers by passive power, and is at 
 length exalted over all things. Joseph stands where Abra- 
 ham falls. The ground which is a snare to mere believers, 
 is none to patient sufferers. Suffering conquers that which 
 tries our faith, and by it, and by it alone, the ground of 
 sense is ruled at last. 
 
 Such as live and walk in the spirit know that we too are 
 called with this calling, — to rule, not to be ruled by, sense, 
 that the kingdom may be in the earth even as it is in 
 heaven ; for Christ our Head has reached to this, and we 
 as His members are predestined to be conformed to Him. 
 But few get beyond faith or sonship ; few reach to service, 
 and fewer still to glory in tribulation, by the cross to rule 
 the world, and to walk among the things of sense, con- 
 fessedly superior to them all. Some unknown, yet well- 
 known, have done it ; and others, who yet are captive to 
 sense, cannot forget the dreams, once divinely given, by 
 which their hearts and hopes were stirred to look and wait 
 for perfect victory. Let such abide their time. They 
 shall shew that if we suffer with Christ we also shall with 
 Him be glorified. ^ The whole path is here set fort]i : huw 
 ' Eoiu. riii. 17. 
 
PART VII. Joseph, or Suffering and Glory, 381 
 
 it goes with man in this path, — how his very brethren 
 mock him, — how the world deals with him before he rules 
 it, — how trials increase the more he walks with God, — 
 how the battle is won at length, — all this is told, as none 
 but God, whose own work it is, could tell it. Being is 
 proved to be far more than doing. And, like the light, 
 which serves us by simply being light, the spirit which 
 beareth all things, by the virtue that flows forth from it un- 
 consciously, commands a place and power which is felt by 
 all to be of God. And indeed there is no service like this 
 unconscious service, which naturally flows from what we 
 are through the divine indwelling. 
 
 § I. — Joseph's Dreams, and Suffering from his 
 Brethren. 
 
 (Chapter xxxvii.) 
 
 First, we see the reception this new life meets from Jacob's 
 sons : — "They hated Joseph because his father loved him 
 more than all his sons. " ^ All know the story : how Joseph's 
 brethren plot against his life, and strip him, and mock him, 
 and sell him into Egypt. The same life still is treated 
 thus, as we may see, within, and without, and in the dis- 
 pensations. 
 
 To trace it first within. We are here shewn how our 
 purest inward life for awhile is crossed and hindered, not 
 so much by worldly things, as by other activities which 
 are the fruit of true service. It is Jacob's sons who sell 
 Joseph. These sons are the varied fruits which are brought 
 forth by the elect, — whether knowledge, or service, or 
 rule, or the like, — by union with Leah, that is by outward 
 principles.^ These fruits are forms of active life, and these, 
 
 * Chap, xxxvii, 3, 4. * gj^e yQ chap. xxix. 
 
382 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory, part yh. 
 
 if ungoverned, are prone to cause confusion, and to oppress 
 and binder the higher aspirations of that pure and passive 
 life in us, which now begins to dream of rule. The young 
 Christian may not understand this. He can see how the 
 old man, as Terah, or the religious flesh, as Esau, may 
 hinder our path ; but how true service can yield any fruits 
 which oppose the highest life in us, is at first incompre- 
 hensible. But so it is. The fruits of an active life may 
 cross a yet more inward life, and the mind which Joseph 
 represents be opposed, as he was, by other activities, which, 
 though true fruits of the spirit, need to be ruled rather 
 than to rule. Thus Joseph is sold into Egypt. And so 
 this spirit in us for a while is sorely overborne, forced under 
 the bondage of sense, while it is thought that some beast or 
 evil spirit has destroyed that life, whose early promise was 
 so lovely. But it cannot be thus destroyed. It may be 
 bound in deepest dungeons ; at last it must be free. 
 
 Such is the scene within. Without, it shews the path of 
 souls whose passive character, so unlike the ways of Jacob's 
 house, is for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, 
 and for a sign which shall be spoken against, that the 
 thoughts of many hearts may be revealed, judging all 
 around them, even while they are judged, and, though 
 sorely grieved, in the end made stronger than all. Such 
 souls, as they hinder God less, gain power which others 
 never know ; though the same passivity, which makes 
 them open to Grod, lays them open to peculiar trial from 
 their more active brethren. First, they see evil among 
 brethren : — " Joseph brought unto his father .their evil 
 report ; " ^ and this involves double trouble ; he wlio sees 
 the evil is judged for seeing, and hated for reproving it. 
 
 ^ Chap, xxxvii. 2. 
 
TART vn. Joseph, or Sufferhig and Glory, 3S3 
 
 This of itself is no little cross, to outrun sympathy, to 
 grieve friends, to offend brethren. Yet such is the price 
 which must be paid for liglit ; such tlie penalty of being 
 faithful beyond the measure of our brethren. Then a coat 
 of many colours is given liim, for which his brethren hate 
 him more and more, '* not seeing that if they too walked in 
 obedience, they also might be adorned like him. But they 
 feel that he is preferred, and the secret sense of their infe- 
 riority, instead of humbling, only enrages them. If we 
 walk with Grod in truth, and turn from evil, not afraid to 
 rebuke it even among our brethren, a fair robe will soon 
 be put upon us, not only, as in Adam, to hide our shame 
 and nakedness, but to clothe us in " garments of glory and 
 beauty," even that " fine linen which is the righteousness 
 of saints." ^ The " many colours " will all be there ; for 
 colours are but the various shades and reflections of light, 
 and he who walks in the light must needs reflect it, giving 
 back each ray that is not lost and absorbed. In the priests, 
 the garment was perfect white ; and upon the Moimt, One 
 was seen " whose raiment was shining, so as no fuller on 
 earth could wliiten it ; " ^ but the many colours, if not so 
 heavenly, may better reveal to human eyes the wondrous 
 fulness which there is in light. "^ The Josephs are yet 
 thus adorned, and for this are the more hated by their 
 brethren who are not with Jacob. ^ " They could not 
 
 * Chap, xxxvii. 3. ratis charismatibus, tanqnam variis 
 
 * Exod. xxriii. 2; Rev. xix. 8. tunicaecoloribus, quibus constat earn 
 " Mark ix. 3. esse polymitam, adjungit, ' Hsec 
 ' In this " coat of many colours," autem operatur unus atque idem 
 
 Bernard sees the varied gifts of the Spiritus.' " — Apol. de vit. Rel. c. 3. 
 Spirit: — " Non sum tarn hebes, ut " It is plain, from the narrative, 
 
 non agnofecam tunicam Joseph poly- and from Jacob's command to 
 
 mitam Audi quomodo poly- Joseph to " go and see how his 
 
 nitam. ' Di^nsiones (ait)gratiarum bretliren -wert^," that they were ab- 
 
 sunt.'.... Delude divereis enume- sent from their fatlier; he at Hebron, 
 
384 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. part vh. 
 
 speak peaceably unto Jiim." "They hated him yet the 
 more, because of his words." 
 
 Then comes the well-known dream of power one day to 
 be enjoyed;^ for the passive life, which lives near Grod, 
 from its very nature is prone to dream, and can receive 
 far more than active souls of heavenly mysteries. And 
 for this they who live this life are always reproached 
 as " dreamers," enthusiastic mystics, and I know not what 
 else. Are not many dreams uncertain, and are not many 
 of the things which this dreamer sees, or professes to see, 
 just such uncertainties ? Who can with confidence speak of 
 a dream, or prove that these mystic views, so derogatory to 
 the glory of those who now are strongest, are anything but 
 fancies ? " Art thou greater than our father Jacob ? " Can 
 any new form of life be superior, or accomplish more than 
 has been already done in the good old path of service ? So 
 ask the elder sons, and not waiting for an answer at once 
 they mock the " dreamer." They " will see what will be- 
 come of his dreams." ^^ And they do see, though not at 
 ill as they expected. 
 
 Meanwhile the Josephs are fettered and bound. Instead 
 of ruling or serving, they are shut up where they can help 
 no one ; while Ishmaelites, the carnal seed of men of faith, 
 are used to do the dirty work, which the elect have planned 
 but dare not perpetrate. ^^ Their coat is dipped in blood, 
 and a tale is told, as if some wild beast or devil had over- 
 come them; a falsehood which in itself is trial, as some 
 
 they at Shechem and Dotham ; verses away from Isaac. See chap. xxv. 6. 
 
 12-17. These places, like all the Ishraael was Hagar's son ; Midian, 
 
 rest, are significant. Keturah's. We see from Judges 
 
 ® Chap, xxxvii. 6-10. viii. 12 and 24, that the Midianites 
 
 " Chap, xxxvii. 19, 20. were called Ishmaelites, or con- 
 
 " Chap, xxxvii. 28. The Ish- founded with them, in Grideon's 
 
 raaelites and Midianites were those days. 
 
 sons of Abraham whom he sent 
 
PART vn. Joseph, or Suffering and Olonn 385 
 
 have learnt who have suffered under false reports, by which 
 their best friends are deceived. Such suffering at the time 
 looks despicable enough. All martyrdoms are said to have 
 looked but meanly, when they were suffered. For strip- 
 ping and bonds are ever shameful ; and the elect are 
 stripped and bound ; — "when we see him, there is no beauty 
 that we should desire him." But though cast out, they 
 yet are blessed, some eyes discerning that the Lord Him- 
 self is with them, if brethren are not ; while within there 
 is the peace of Grod, for none can rob the true soul of that 
 inward satisfaction which the truth itself ministers. This 
 is the appointed way, the high road of the holy cross, — suf- 
 fering first, and then a kingdom ; to be wronged, mis- 
 represented, punished, cast out ; and then to have every 
 secret wrong redressed, and every deed of truth and love 
 manifested ; — this is yet the royal way, the end of which 
 is assm-ed even from its beginning : while to do as others 
 do, even of the elect, (for where is worse sin than among 
 the sons of Israel ?) though they who walk thus may be 
 " saved so as by fire," involves sure chastening, self- 
 reproach, and humiliation. 
 
 The dispensations too reflect the scene. We know how 
 the sons of the first wife rejected the second wife's First- 
 born. How the sons of Israel mocked the Heir, — how 
 Egypt, that is the Grentile world, received its future Lord, 
 — how, spite of all. He could not be hid, but was exalted 
 to be head over the kingdom, while His brethren believe 
 Him to be dead, — all this, and much more, is figured here 
 of the life of Him who was " separated from His brethren ;" 
 who said, " They hated me without a cause ; " ^^ " Me tbey 
 hate, because I testify against them that their works are 
 
 " John XV. 25. 
 
 c c 
 
386 Joseph, or Sufferhtg and Gloinj. part vii. 
 
 evil." ^^ He came unto His own, ^'* toiling in the field of 
 this world, finding no rest there, yet seeking lost brethren. 
 And He found them, and was rejected. He uttered simi- 
 litudes of His kingdom, but His words to them were as 
 dreams. Their answer was, " We will not have this man 
 to reign over us." ^^ They that passed by railed on Him, 
 wagging their heads. ^^ They stripped Him of His robe,^^ 
 and sold Him for silver,^^ and sat down to eat, even while 
 they prepare to make away with Him.'^ 
 
 So must His members suffer ; and though at times the 
 way seems long. He, who hath begun the good work, will 
 surely finish it ; ^^ for One in a certain place has testified 
 of man, " Thou hast put all things under his feet ; " and 
 this covenant cannot be broken. ^^ 
 
 § II, — Judah's History. 
 
 (Chapter xxxviii.) 
 
 At this stage in Joseph's course, while that pure life, spite 
 of its dreams of rule, is yet rejected, Judah's path is shewn 
 in contrast,, in whom we have the whole story of rule as 
 it springs out of the first and natural principle. If the 
 spirit of service produces fruit in us, the mind to rule will 
 in due time be developed. Other fruits will first be 
 
 '' John vii, 7. and second comings of Christ. So 
 
 ** John i. 11. too Ambrose, Be Joseph, passim; 
 
 '^ Luke xix. 14. Tertullian, Adv. JudcBos, c. xi. ; Au- 
 
 16 Mark xv. 29. gustine, Qu. in Gen. 1. i. n. 123 and 
 
 1' Matt, xxvii. 28. 148, and Ep. ad Hesych. el. 3,n. 199 ; 
 
 '8 Matt, xxvi, 15. Chrysostom, Hmn. 62, in Gen.; and 
 
 ^^ John xriii. 28. The Fathers many others. But this figure speaks 
 
 are full of allusions to Joseph as a for itself. 
 
 type of Christ. Ephrem Syrus, De ^o pi^ii, { g, 
 
 laud. Pair. Jos., traces at length the ' Heb. ii. 8 
 
 application of the history to the first 
 
PART ni. Joseph, or Suffering and Glory, 387 
 
 seen, such as Keuben, and Simeon, and Levi, but tlien 
 oomes Judah or rule ;' a mind in us which attempts some 
 rule, but which, being the fruit of Leah, is outward rather 
 than purely spiritual. I feel that words are lacking here ; 
 3'et some must know how at a certain stage a mind is 
 born in us, which seeks to rule our other powers. Here, 
 as ever, the natural comes before the spiritual. Joseph 
 is Eachel's son, in wliom we see that rule which springs 
 out of the spiritual principle ; and which, " by pureness. 
 by knowledge, by long-suffering, by love unfeigned," ^ 
 sliews that a passive life is indeed of all the strongest. 
 Judah is rule as it springs out of Leah, that is, from first 
 and outward principles ; strong at first, but forced to bow 
 to Joseph at last ; for though " Judah prevailed over his 
 brethren, and of him came the first ruler, the birthright 
 was Joseph's." ^ Yet for a season Judah prevails, while 
 Joseph must wait in weakness till Judah's shame is seen. 
 
 The story is full of shame, so much so that some look 
 upon its insertion as a blot in Holy Scripture. But a 
 mirror contracts nothing of the uncleanness which it re- 
 flects. The sun is not defiled by shining alike on stye 
 and palace. Besides, "in a great house there are not 
 only vessels of gold, but also of wood and of earth, and 
 some to honour, and some to dishonour." * And Judah's 
 life is one of these, which as much as others, perhaps 
 above all others, contains a moral never to be forgotten. 
 
 Like all the rest, this story must be fulfilled, within 
 and without, and in the dispensations. 
 
 Within, we see, in Judah, that mind intent to rule, 
 which springs up in us from outward principles. Such a 
 mind, if we could see within, yet refulfils all Judah's 
 
 • See on chap. xxix. ^ 1 Chron. v. 2. 
 
 2 2 Cor. vi. 6. « 2 Tim. ii. 20. 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. part vn. 
 
 course. It " goes down," and " turns aside," and " takes 
 to wife the daughter of a certain Canaanite ;" that is, it 
 embraces some mere formal and outward principle. ^ But 
 such an attachment to outward forms does little in ruling 
 the elect ; the fruit is judged as evil, though an attempt 
 is made to improve it by union with Thamar, who, as the 
 second wife, is the figure of spiritual principles. ^ This 
 attempt does not succeed. The fruits of such forms are 
 evil, and ere long come to their end ; while spiritual truth 
 is regarded with fear and suspicion, as if it were the cause 
 of the judgment on what is evil in us. Yet after all this 
 very truth bears fruit, and by it, through awful corrup- 
 tions, another form of life is brought forth. Who can 
 tell what confusions and falls within accompany the first 
 attempts we make to rule ourselves ? We may know per- 
 haps that forms are first embraced, and that these bear 
 wretched fruit, which GTod in mercy takes away ; but 
 who can tell the confusions which then are wrought 
 within, and all the profanation and adulteration which 
 the eye of Grod witnesses ? Yet out of this too can He 
 bring forth good, and by Judah's fall prepare the way for 
 purer rule and better discipline. 
 
 But this inward view is "hard to be uttered." We 
 may perhaps learn more by tracing the outward fulfil- 
 ment. 
 
 In this view we see in Judah's course the story of rule 
 in the Church, as it grows from outward principles ; for 
 Judah is Leah's son, and Leah is the outward Church, 
 that is, the form of outward principles, which to her other 
 
 * Chap, xxxviii. 1, 2 ; and com- younger or second wife, see on chap- 
 pare chap. X, 6, and xii. 6. ters xvi. and xxix. 
 ^ Verses 6-9. Kespecting the 
 
PART viT. Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. 389 
 
 children adds rulers also, whose ways, though they may he 
 " praised by brethren," ^ demand the deepest self-abase- 
 ment. This is their course ; — they take a Canaanitish 
 wife, that is, the principle of mere external worship,* 
 thereby to build up the kingdom. By this they bring 
 forth sons, whom Grod judges, after an attempt has been 
 made to improve them by introducing a younger wife, 
 that is, the spiritual principle. But this line have little 
 love for spiritual truth : ere long it is an object of fear and 
 suspicion, if not of loathing, to them. Rulers of this 
 stock instinctively feel that there is in spiritual truth and 
 in a spiritual Church something which does not suit them. 
 At first they hoped better things from it, but they have 
 tried it, and in their hands at least it does not answer. 
 Yet even while they reject it, they speak it fair : it would 
 not do to declare their thoughts to all on such matters. 
 They promise therefore that it shall again be tried, but at 
 present Judah's sons are not prepared for such a help- 
 meet. Spiritual truth therefore is put away. Meanwhile 
 the old system of formal worship is found to be lifeless ; ^ 
 to console themselves for which the rulers turn to " sheep- 
 shearing : " for this comfort remains to them, that, let what 
 will be dead, the fleece at least remains theirs. And 
 here, not knowing what they are doing, the rulers of the 
 outward Church accidentally meet and lay hold on spiritual 
 truth ; and against their will the succession of rule is con- 
 tinued, as the fruit of those more spiritual principles, 
 which they themselves had put away. Grod knows how 
 often this has been done, — how often the true Church, 
 wliich is the body of spiritual truth, has erred, just as 
 Thamar erred here. She feels her rejection by that old 
 
 ' Chap. xlix. 8. * Respecting the Canaanite, see on chap. x. 15-17. 
 
 " Chap, xxxviii. 12. 
 
390 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. part vii. 
 
 line, out of which men looked to see the kingdom. She 
 likes not to trust in God alone, continuing as a widow 
 night and day in prayers and supplications ; but seeks by 
 carnal policy such a connection with the old rulers, as 
 may make her sons their heirs and true successors. The 
 result is, Judah has seed by Thamar, that is, the old line 
 of rule is continued in connection with spiritual prin- 
 ciples. Thus does the rejected Church get apostolic suc- 
 cession, and bear in the line of rule the twofold seed 
 again ; though in this case there is a special mystery ; 
 something of the younger being seen, even before the first- 
 born is brought forth. ^^ In other cases the carnal seed 
 comes fully first : in outward rule, when it is brought 
 forth from spiritual principles, the spiritual just appears, 
 and then is forced to give place to what is carnal. He 
 that hath ears to hear, let him hear. He that hath eyes, 
 let him look around at the fruit of outward rule by 
 spiritual principles ; and he shall see that there is yet 
 always first a glimpse of the spiritual, and then the first- 
 born or carnal seed breaks forth and supersedes it. " 
 But the old line of rulers disown the offspring. The 
 mother shall be burnt. As for the children, they know 
 nothing of them. But their wrath is vain. Proofs are 
 forthcoming, whose the seed is. The " signet, and brace- 
 lets, and staff," '^ spite of the rage of the old rulers, de- 
 clare the parentage. The lineage is very manifest. Those 
 
 •" Chap, xxxviii. 27-30. literam, altera secundum grf tiam," 
 
 " Ambrose, at very great length, &c. — In Luc. 1. iii. § 20-29. He 
 
 goes into the mystery of this birth only traces the fulfilment, as it is 
 
 by Thamar: — " Cur autem alter ma- seen in the dispensations; but of 
 
 num prseniisit ex utero, alter genitali course it has its manifestation on 
 
 prsecessit exortu ; nisi quia pergemi- every platform. Irenseus, also, Contr. 
 
 norum mysterium gemina deseribi- Hrer. 1. iv. c. 25, al. 42, gives the 
 
 tur vita, una secundum legem, altera same interpretation, 
 
 secundum fidem, una secundum '^ Chap, xxxviii. 25. 
 
PAET vn. Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. 391 
 
 spiritual clnirclies which have desired the " succession " 
 of the outward kingdom, and have got it, though not 
 legitimately, can shew by indisputable proofs, by the very 
 ornaments which are in their possession, the stock from 
 which their children spring. 
 
 The dispensations even more clearly reflect this scene. 
 In this aspect, Judah, the son of Leah, sets forth the fruit 
 of the Jewish dispensation, regarded as a kingdom. Leah, 
 the first wife, was that dispensation, which, after law and 
 priesthood, bore Judah, that is, the kingdom, also. This 
 Judah took a Canaanite to wife. " Thy birth," said the 
 prophet to Jerusalem, " and thy nativity is of the land of 
 Canaan." ^^ That kingdom was allied to forms, and grew, 
 loving an external worship in which was no spirit. An 
 evil seed was the result, who either could not or would not 
 have fruit by spiritual principles, when these were offered 
 to them. For even of old the spiritual Church was offered 
 to the Jew. In prophets and righteous men it came near 
 to them, but they would not receive it.^'* So Thamar, the 
 younger wife, was put away: the sons of the first wife 
 would not be built up by her. Then Judah's wife, that is 
 the old dispensation, died and came to its end ; her sons 
 having first been cut off for sin by sore judgments. Then 
 by Judah's fall the Church is made fruitful, not without 
 some failure perhaps on her part, from a too great looking 
 to Judah as the only source from which the kingdom could 
 
 " Ezek. xvi. 3. his sons. Augustine therefore rightly 
 •* Just as, in the tj'pe of Jacob, says, " Res ipsa, qufe nunc Christiana 
 Rachel was loved long before she was religio nuncupatur. erat apud anti- 
 fruitful, and, during all the years quos, nee defuit ab initio humani 
 while Leah had her children, was, generis." — Retract. \.\^. And again, 
 though without children, yet in " Viri sancti et justi, qui licet illo 
 Jacob's house; so here Thamar lives tempore fuerint, ad novum tamen 
 and is introduced to Judah's house, pertinent testamentum." — Contr. 
 before she has any fruit by Judah or Faust. 1. xxii. c. 84. 
 
392 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. part vh. 
 
 be continued. ^^ Yet Judah knows it not. As Paul de- 
 clares, " God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes 
 that they should not see, and ears that they should not 
 hear, unto this day. And David saith, Let their eyes be 
 darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back 
 alway." ^^ But " their fall is the riches of the world." 
 " Through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, 
 to provoke them to jealousy." ^^ A seed has sprung out 
 of Judah, which, when it is conceived, Judah judges, not 
 suspecting that it is his own offspring. Yea, he is ready 
 to destroy it with the mother ; but proof is at hand that 
 it is Abraham's seed. The " signet " and " staff," though 
 Judah may rage, will prove beyond all contradiction the 
 lineage of the Church's children. Then again appears the 
 twofold line, which in this case, as the fruit of rule, is de- 
 veloped with certain remarkable peculiarities; something of 
 the younger or spiritual line being seen here for a moment 
 before the first-born or carnal breaks forth and supersedes 
 it.^^ But I have said enough of this. The story is 
 
 '* How little the early Church at duobus filiis Judse. . . . Deus tamen 
 
 Jerusalem saw of the distinct glories ambos occidisse dictus est, ubi figu- 
 
 of this dispensation, how it clung to ratur regnum talibus honiinibusabs- 
 
 circumcision and the law, might be tulisse. Tertius vero filius Judge, 
 
 sliewn from many scriptures. It ... significat tempus ex quo reges 
 
 was some time before even the plebi Judseorum cceperunt de tribu 
 
 Apostles were clear respecting the Juda non fieri lUo ergotem- 
 
 call of the Gentiles. Their thoughts pore quo jam de tribu Judse regnum 
 
 still hung upon the Jewish line. See defuerat, veniendum est Christo, 
 
 Acts xi. XV. &c. vero Salvatori nostro. . . . Jam 
 
 '^ Eom. xi. 8, 9. Thamar habitum mutat, . . . typum 
 
 " Rom. xi. 10-17. quippejam Ecclesise gerit Thamar. 
 
 '* Augustine goes at great length sedens cum hoc habitu ad portam 
 
 into the dispensational fulfilment of Enaiim, quod interpretatur ' fontes.' 
 
 this story. The following are the Cucurrit enim velut cervus ad fon- 
 
 leading points in his comment: — tes aquarum. pervenire ad semen 
 
 " De tribu Juda reges tanquam ma- Abrahse ; illic a non agnoscente 
 
 riti Thamar adhibebantur. . . . Duo fetatur, quia de ilia pr?edictum est, 
 
 autem genera principum, qui non ' Populus quern non cognovi, ser- 
 
 recte opcrabantur, siguificantur in vivit mihi.' Accepit in occulto anuu- 
 
PART VII. Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. 393 
 
 throughout a mystery of the kingdom ; and as such is 
 alluded to in that Gospel, which is peculiarly devoted to 
 set forth our Lord in connection with the kingdom,'^ shew- 
 ing how the line of heirs should change, while yet the 
 kingdom should be continued to Judah's sons and Abra- 
 ham's seed. 
 
 Such is Judah's course. And yet in every age Judah's 
 sons have been ready to boast, " We were not born of for- 
 nication." ^o The Jew said so, and since then the Church 
 has been forward to repeat the boast with just as little 
 ground for glorying. Those who know her story best must 
 own, that, if the true seed of the kingdom has sprung out 
 of her, there have been also most awful confusions. I 
 know Grod's grace can master all ; and Judah's fall, even as 
 Adam's, may give occasion to bring in better things. Out 
 of the adulterer's lust may grow the living child, in its 
 bodily perfections displaying God's wisdom, and in its 
 soul's salvation His love, which delights to save to the 
 uttermost. But in each case sin is judged as sin. Our 
 place is, not to boast, — for God knows, we have cause for 
 deepest self-abasement, — but to walk humbly with God, 
 that He may forgive and deliver us from our own and also 
 our fathers' sins. 
 
 lum, monile, etvirgam Postea tificationis, et glorificationis, con- 
 
 vero publiois signis, annul], monilis, funduntur, et nos magis quam se 
 
 et virgse, vicit temere judicantes justificatos essofatebuntur." — Contr. 
 
 Judseos, quorum jam personam Faud. 1. xxii. cc. 84-86. Chrysos- 
 
 Judas ipse gesfabat, qui hodie quo- torn also, Hoin. 62 \n Gen., refers to 
 
 que dicunt non hunc esse populura the mystery here. 
 
 Christi, nee habere nos Abrahae '* Matt. i. 3. 
 
 semen. Sed prolatis certiasimis 2" John viii. 41. 
 documentis nostrae vocaiiohis, jus- 
 
394 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. paet vii. 
 
 § III. — Joseph in Potiphar's House. 
 
 (Chapter xxxix.) 
 
 The fruits of outward rule having now been seen in Judah, 
 we return to that more inward and spiritual life, which at 
 last attains to rule all things. Joseph, rejected by his 
 brethren, is here " brought down to Egypt." ' That pure 
 life, oppressed and crushed by other more outward fruits 
 of true service, that is, by Jacob's elder children, is now 
 enslaved in things of sense, for Egypt is the ground of 
 sense, and Joseph is now brought down here.^ The tree 
 is destined to be both high and wide ; its root is therefore 
 laid deep in the earth : it is to bloom in bright sunshine, 
 but it is first reared in deep shadow ; and at this stage 
 shade is safer than sun, while the very shadow proves that 
 there is sunshine not far off. So the mind which dreams 
 of rule must serve, and first know the bondage to sense in 
 all its bitterness. In this way, and thus alone, does our 
 spirit obtain the longed-for power over natural things. 
 Those only who have felt the bondage ever reach the true 
 deliverance. 
 
 First to trace the scene within. That mind in us which 
 waits to rule by pureness and long-sufifering, already 
 crossed by other fruits of service, now feels the power of the 
 things of sense, and ere long is sorely tempted by them. 
 Against its will it is brought down to Egypt, and there is 
 bound and sold as a slave, like Joseph.^ The sensual mind 
 overrules the spirit ; and sense, instead of being governed, 
 still holds the spirit captive. Can the spirit hope for rule 
 after this ? Is not such bondage a token of the final 
 
 ' Chap, xxxix. 1. ' Eespecting Egypt, see on chap. xii. 
 
 ' Chap, xxxix. 1. 
 
PAET VII. Joseph, or Sujfering and Glory. 395 
 
 triumph of the flesh or natural man? Not so. Grod 
 Himself appoints this way: — "It was not you, but God, 
 that sent me hither, to save your lives by a great deliver- 
 ance." '^ He first empties, that He may fill ; for the spirit 
 to the end requires sucli discipline. Joseph does not, in- 
 deed, like Jacob, use carnal means to gain his ends ; but 
 his way of telling his dreams shews that as yet he lacks 
 that self-despair and brokenness which God waits for. 
 Besides, God loves the w^orld. He will have the kingdom 
 in our earth even as it is in heaven. Egypt may be Egypt 
 to the end, yet in it the Lord will shew what He can ac- 
 complish. Our spirit therefore is brought down and bound, 
 and made to feel how little, spite of faith and sonship and 
 service, the ground of sense is overcome ; that at last the 
 evil there, having been felt, may be subdued, the spirit 
 meanwhile by the trial being yet more chastened and 
 purified. 
 
 This state is open to special trial. The spirit cannot 
 feel the power of the natural man, without being subject 
 to temptation through its affections. So the Egyptian's 
 wife sought to corrupt Joseph ;^ that is, some natural affec- 
 tion, the exact character of which we are not told, for her 
 name is not given us, is felt within, seeking to seduce the 
 spirit. Some affections of nature may indeed be won and 
 blessed : Joseph himself at a later stage has an Egyptian 
 wife, who bears him good fruit. ^ The evil here is that this 
 affection, which now tempts the elect, is wedded to the 
 natural man, and as such seeks only to corrupt the spirit, 
 not at all to obey or serve it. Very sifting is this trial. 
 Secret, repeated, even violent are the solicitations, which 
 assail us in the very duties we owe to the natural man, 
 
 « Chap. xlv. 7, 8. * Chap, xxxix. 7-12. « Chap. xH. 50-52. 
 
396 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. part vii. 
 
 tempting us to embrace some worldly principle, and so to 
 give up the narrow path of holy separateness. But the 
 seductions of natural affection by grace are overcome, 
 though it costs us a struggle to escape their importunity. 
 Then the immediate result is worse bondage. The spirit, 
 like Joseph, is charged with acts for which the flesh is an- 
 swerable ; and there is that within us, like the Egyptian, 
 which believes the charge, and at once condemns the 
 spirit as an evil-doer. 
 
 Some can trace all these confusions within. We ask 
 our Lord that we may know the power of His resurrection, 
 and the fellowship of His sufferings. He draws us by 
 His Spirit thus to pray. A dream of power over self and 
 sin flits before our inward man. We think a few short 
 stages will bring us to the end, — that His love, who has 
 promised, will quickly give us victory. Instead of this, we 
 discover fresh evil. The flesh, in forms strange and as yet 
 unknown, assails and holds us captive. But we will not 
 yield to nature and its affections. What then ? Our sor- 
 row is increased. We are thrust still lower, and a voice 
 within untruly blames the spirit, charging its bondage on 
 it as the result of its unfaithfulness. Could we then hear 
 the Lord, He would tell us, all was well, — that this disci- 
 pline, painful as it is, is really indispensable. Had Joseph 
 been happy with the Egyptian, he would not so soon have 
 ruled Egypt. Were the flesh never to rise against the 
 spirit, its evil would remain undiscovered, and therefore 
 unsubdued. In men whose nature is rough and strong, 
 how often the very strength of the flesh forces the spirit 
 to rise to overcome it ; while weaker natures, whose evil 
 comes out less, remain less changed, because less conscious 
 of the evil. The elect therefore must feel the evil. Only 
 thus do they obtain the full deliverance. 
 
PAET vn. Joseph, or SuffeHoig and Oloinj. 397 
 
 But let us look now at tliis scene without. Here is set 
 forth a stage of the early experience of those who by pa- 
 tience and pureness look for spiritual power. Such souls 
 have many griefs. Not only are they rejected by their 
 brethren, they also must suffer in the world. They are 
 there, but not by choice. Far rather would they abide in 
 heavenly places. But the sin of the elect forces them away ; 
 and the very world, bad as it is, is kinder to them than 
 brethren. Then in the world such souls are made a bless- 
 ing : — " The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's 
 sake."^ Their character makes itself felt. Ere long 
 they exercise some power even in that worldly circle. 
 Then comes the temptation to swerve from holy separate- 
 ness. The principle (women are principles) of that 
 society in which they are forced to move becomes a 
 tempter to them ; or, to put it more outwardly, that body, 
 which is the outward form or expression of some worldly 
 principle, seeks with open arms to gain and lead them 
 astray. What peculiar form of worldliness this is, we are 
 not told ; for, as I have already observed, the name of 
 this Egyptian woman is not here given us. It may be any 
 worldly principle, whether that which animates the lite- 
 rary world, or the musical world, or the fashionable world, 
 or the mercantile world, or the scientific world, or any of 
 those other many minor worlds, which, like the house- 
 holds of Egypt, are all constituent parts of the one great 
 world of sense which Egypt represents. That body, to 
 which the elect stands in nearest contact, will be his 
 tempter ; assailing him peculiarly while he is engaged 
 about his business in the world. It would make our out- 
 ward calling an occasion to undo us. It is very urgent, 
 
 ' Chap, xxxix. 5. 
 
398 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. part vh. 
 
 and will not be denied. But a voice has said, " Love not 
 the world, neither the things that are in the world : if 
 any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in 
 him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, 
 and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of 
 the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth 
 away, and the lust thereof ; but he that doeth the will of 
 Grod abideth for ever."^ The Josephs therefore will not 
 be drawn aside : in holy truth they reject all those advances 
 which would seduce them from their integrity ; and for 
 this the world now hates them more, and, to save its 
 credit, stirs up its acknowledged masters to judge what 
 it cannot corrupt. The elect are accused of wishing to 
 loose the bonds of society, and under this false charge for 
 a while are shut up as evil-doers. But " in all things they 
 approve themselves, in much patience," in afflictions, in 
 stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults ; by pureness, by 
 knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the word of 
 truth, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand 
 and on the left ; by honour and dishonour ; by evil report 
 and good report ; as deceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, 
 yet well-known ; as chastened, and not killed ; as sorrow- 
 ful, yet always rejoicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; 
 as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."^ 
 
 Dispensationally too this scene has been fulfilled. The 
 Spirit of Christ, as a patient sufferer in the world, suffered, 
 served, was blessed, and made a blessing. The world, 
 with its offers of love, sought to seduce it in vain. The 
 Spirit of Christ in His true Church could not be thus cor- 
 rupted. So it was basely slandered and falsely accused ; 
 
 8 1 John ii. 15-17. ^ 2 Cor. vi. 4-10. 
 
 I 
 
PART VII. Joseph, or Suffering and Glory, 399 
 
 and the lords of this world, misinformed of the elect's acts 
 and purpose, opposed and grieved and bound them. Those, 
 who know the story of the coming of this Spirit into the 
 world, will at once recognise the details of this dispensa- 
 tional fulfilment. ^^ 
 
 Thus journey on the Lord's beloved. Happy are they 
 who have learnt, not only to trace these journeys, but to 
 be partakers of them. Then, while they look to the things 
 unseen, the light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
 worketh for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
 of glory. Faithfulness cannot go unrewarded. The bless- 
 ing may seem to tarry, but for every delay there shall be 
 the largest interest. 
 
 § IV. — Joseph in Prison. 
 
 (Chapter xl.) 
 
 Heee follow yet further temptations, through which the 
 spirit in us is yet more perfected. If it resists the solici- 
 tations of natural affection, the natural man is stirred up 
 against it, and the spirit is more than ever straitened. 
 Like Joseph, it is sorely bound. Then, in its bonds, it is 
 brought into contact with certain servants of Pharaoh, that 
 is, certain forms or powers of the natural man, which by it 
 are served, and even in some degree disciplined. Inwardly, 
 we see here how certain natural activities are subdued, 
 while the spirit is yet shut up in grievous bondage ; out- 
 wardly, how certain natural men are schooled and taught 
 
 ^^ On the spiritual sense of this alhide to Joseph's temptation here, 
 
 chapter I have found but little in as a figure of what Christ suffered on 
 
 the Fathers. Ambrose, {De Joseph, earth. It is, however, but an allu- 
 
 c. 6, § 31,) and Gregory the Great, sion. 
 {^Moral. in Job, 1. ii. c. 36, § 59,) just 
 
400 Joseph, or SuffeHng and Glory. part vii. 
 
 by the elect while the world neglects or frowns upon 
 them. 
 
 Of this work within I can say but little here, because 
 of our dim perception of that immense complexness of 
 thought and being, which go to make up man. Adam's 
 path may be clearly seen by us, and some of the earlier 
 stages of man's development ; while the later steps, which 
 are more inward and deal with the many varieties of the 
 carnal and spiritual mind, may be beyond our vision. Even 
 if seen, the nice distinction between these varied forms of 
 thought and life is hard to be uttered, in our present state 
 and w^th our imperfect, language. Without, our eyes can 
 see the immense variety of tribes which have come forth 
 from Adam, all of which are but various forms or manifesta- 
 tions of man or human nature. But within, tliough secret 
 and hidden, the outcome is the same. Old Adam in us 
 brings forth as many different minds, each of which through- 
 out this book is figured and set before us in some son of 
 Adam, or Noah, or Shem, or Ham, or Japhet ; some outward, 
 some inward, some sensual, some natural, some spiritual, 
 and this in different measures ; the elect all representing 
 some form of the spiritual mind in us ; the non-elect, some 
 form of that mind which is earthly, sensual, devilish. 
 
 Now Egypt is the ground of sense, and Pharaoh, king of 
 Egypt, the highest part or ruling power of the natural 
 man ; ^ his servants being those inferior or subordinate 
 activities, whose office it is to serve this natural man. I 
 do not pretend to interpret with perfect precision here, but 
 we shall not be far wrong if we regard these servants as 
 the senses ; for the natural man (I do not mean the body) 
 imbibes, receives, and digests the things the senses give 
 
 * See on chap. xii. 
 
PART TTT. Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. 401 
 
 him. But these senses at a certain stage are felt to need 
 restraint. They have been useful in their place, but 
 something occurs which makes the natural man perceive 
 that they require discipline. He finds that his servants 
 are not wholly trustworthy : their fallacies begin to be 
 discerned. Hence they are restrained, and thus brought 
 into contact with the spirit, which in its bondage instructs 
 them, and so prepares them to instruct the natural man. 
 For now they learn that there is a power to know God's 
 mind above their own ; their lot too is shewn, that some 
 will be restored to serve the natural man, and others must 
 be mortified ; while a way is thus opened by which the 
 natural man, through its own servants, may in due time 
 receive an intimation of that higher faculty, which as yet 
 is shut up and bound within. 
 
 But this fulfilment within can hardly be uttered. Let 
 us therefore look at the same scene as it is very mani- 
 festly fulfilled in the wider sphere of the outward world 
 around us. 
 
 In this view, we see here the griefs and works of those, 
 who, while looking for spiritual power, because they will 
 not be corrupted by the world, are for a season shut up 
 from outward usefulness. Neither Abraham, Isaac, nor 
 Jacob, ever suffered thus. Faith, sonship, and service, 
 with all their trials, are not so pressed as the pure and 
 loving soul whicli dreams of rule. The Josephs are mocked 
 and sold even by brethren. Then, in the world, they are 
 first tempted, and, if they will not yield, are made to suffer 
 grievous bondage. What the elect feels at this stage, none 
 know but God. To get even a glimpse of this sorrow 
 needs an instructed eye. Such a path may appear to be 
 free from all doubtings, a course which througliout shall 
 
 D D 
 
402 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. part vii. 
 
 be so plain as to cost us little exercise. In vain we read 
 the Psalms : in vain we see " John in prison " doubting 
 what "John baptizing" never questioned.^ We too at last 
 are shut up. Till we have felt it, we cannot conceive that 
 sickness of heart, which at times will steal upon the 
 patient sufferer ; that sense of loneliness, that faintness of 
 soul, which comes from hopes deferred and wishes unshared, 
 from the selfishness of brethren, and the heartlessness of 
 the world. We ask ourselves. If the Lord were with me, 
 should I suffer thus, not only the scorn of the learned and 
 the contempt of the great, but even the indifference and 
 neglect of those whom I have served, who yet forget me ? 
 So Joseph might have asked ; and so till now may the elect 
 ask, as they stand alone without man's encouragement or 
 sympathy, not turned aside by falsehood or scorn, with 
 their face set as a flint, yet deeply feeling what it costs 
 them. 
 
 In this trial the elect meets other men.^ The spiritual 
 are not the only sufferers. The world at times must judge 
 its own children, and worldling and Christian may both be 
 under its frown. Here, as on Calvary, we have before us 
 three sufferers, alike rejected by the world, though most 
 unlike each other. Grod's elect fall in with just two sorts 
 of men, both Egyptians, and both sufferers, whose end is 
 very different ; the one after a brief term of bondage being 
 released and blessed ; the other remaining in bondage, till 
 suddenly they are cut off. To outward eyes there is little 
 difference between them. The world, if it think of them, 
 passes one common judgment on all. Those who are shut 
 up must doubtless deserve punishment. Besides, who has 
 not heard of the attempts of the elect to loose the bonds 
 
 2 Compare Matt. xi. 2, 3, with John i. 28, 29. 
 » Chap. xl. 1-4. 
 
PAKT VII Joseph, or Suffering and Glory, 403 
 
 of society, and thus to subvert the world's happiness ? So 
 the precious are mingled with the vile. Then some, who 
 in their prosperity would never have met or thought of 
 Joseph, in their sorrow learn the might of truth and grace, 
 as they see a man of like passions with themselves, and in 
 the same affliction, shedding the sunshine of his own peace 
 on all around, bound, yet free, and poor, yet making many 
 rich, without a murmur, forgetting himself and his own 
 griefs, in loving efforts to serve and comfort others. 
 
 But Joseph does more. He interprets their dreams, 
 and makes them understand the thoughts of their hearts 
 and what the Lord is saying to them.'* Not in their bright 
 days, but in hours of darkness and grief, does the Lord's 
 voice come home with power to the men of this world. 
 Some dream, — it may be of the day, — some inward con- 
 sciousness of a voice from God,^-reaches even sensual 
 men, when all is dark around, which, with an authority 
 which cannot be stifled or silenced, though they cannot 
 explain it, with strange light flashes in upon them, forcing 
 them to feel that God Himself is speaking. Then they 
 need an interpreter to expound to them their thoughts ; 
 and Grod's elect, long schooled to know God's voice, help 
 the perplexed ones to solve their own secret. They de- 
 clare that if He speaks, He will also interpret ; ^ and that 
 worldlings, though often they cannot understand, are never 
 left without a witness ; for He speaks not only to His own, 
 but to all, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 
 The word differs indeed to each, for the revelation must 
 be according to our state, but to each the Lord has some 
 message ; which in our sunny days may not be heard, but 
 will come with power to our souls in om' dark hours and 
 
 * Chap. xl. 5-7. ' Chap. xl. 8. 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. part th. 
 
 nights of heaviness. To Jacob there is a dream of pro- 
 tection in service, a ladder uniting the rough and un tilled 
 earth to highest heaven, testifying that God and His 
 angels come down from highest to lowest, and that true 
 servants with Him may go anywhere. To Joseph, dreams 
 of glory and might ; to the butler, a dream of restoration 
 and blessing ; to the baker, of losing what he had wrought. 
 And as the dream is, so is the fulfilment. I cannot but 
 think, that, to a degree few suppose, the impressions which 
 reach us from another world, are often true forebodings to 
 men of what is about to come upon them. Doubtless 
 Satan, as an angel of light, in this as elsewhere to discredit 
 Grod, seeks at times to deceive us with wi'ong and false 
 suggestions. But I speak of the settled and growing 
 conviction, which makes to some their calling and election 
 sure, and to others seems already to forestall the day of 
 judgment. Be this as it may, revelations from the Lord 
 depend upon our state, and each receives that message 
 which is best suited to him. The faithful sufferer has 
 visions of glory, well understood ; Egyptians have visions 
 of mercy or judgment, both awhile a riddle to them, till 
 the elect, without fear or favour to either, interprets to each 
 their deep and awful significance. 
 
 As to these dreams, which are of everlasting truth, they 
 shew the fate and end of those two classes, into which tlie 
 slaves of this world may be divided. In this view, world- 
 lings make up two classes, and but two, the saved and lost. 
 The thoughts and ways, may I not say, the inward life of 
 each, is here remarkably displayed. Before the one, a 
 vine is set, which appears to bud. and blossom, and bring 
 forth clusters. He does not plant it or make it to grow : 
 but his eyes are turned and feast upon its beauty. As he 
 looks it seems to grow. Then he takes of its fruit, and, 
 
PART viT. Joseph, or Suffering and Glory, 405 
 
 not content to have it for himself alone, he ministers it to 
 others near him. Thus one class of worldlings, in their 
 horn- of trouble, have an eye opened to behold Christ as 
 "the Vine which cheereth God and man."^ As they look, 
 the Vine tliey are intent on seems to grow before them ; 
 one beauty after another orens out to their astonished 
 view ; first the blossoms, and then the clusters, and then 
 the precious wine, which with glad hearts they take and 
 give to other worldlings. What can they render to the 
 Lord for all His mercies ? They will take the cup of 
 salvation, and confess they owe their all to Him. And 
 yet, with an eye open to see the Vine, and a hand stretched 
 out to grasp it, and to give its cheering blood to all 
 around, the man is yet in sadness and fear, not seeing that 
 such a vision is the certain pledge of life and liberty. 
 Then Grod's elect explain the dream. If such things are 
 seen, the prisoner may be of good cheer. He that sees 
 this Vine on " the third day " shall go forth free. Soon 
 shall his bondage cease, and in the power of the resurrec- 
 tion he shall live to serve others.'^ 
 
 How different the scene before the other's eyes. He 
 sees himself, carrying on his head baked meats, the work 
 of his own hands. He has toiled to make " all manner of 
 things for Pharaoh," but none for God. Carelessly he 
 exposes the produce of his toil where it may be stolen from 
 him. It is " on his head," not in his hands ; " in baskets 
 full of holes,"® whence the birds of the air can come and 
 
 ^ John XV. 1; Judges ix. 13. root, lin, is a hole or perforation, 
 
 ' Cbup. xl. 20. The " third day" evidently expressing the holes or 
 
 is always connected with resur- interstices between the twigs, oi 
 
 rection. See p. 21. which the baskets were made. 
 
 8 Heb. nn ^Sd- translated in the Jarchi explains it of wicker-baskets, 
 
 text of the authorized version "w/«7e made of twigs which were white 
 
 baskets ; " but in the margin " bas- from having the bark peeled off. 
 kets fuU, of holes." The Hebrew 
 
406 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. part vii. 
 
 steal away his labours. While some poor worldlings in 
 their fears behold the Vine, others are occupied and bur- 
 dened with what they theniselves have wrought to please 
 the world. They see their work, not for God, but for the 
 world. As they look, they see their treasure is in danger, 
 for it has been " put into a bag with holes ; "^ and ere long 
 evil spirits, (so our Lord Himself explains the " birds," ^^) 
 deprive them of the fruits of all their labour. One would 
 have thought that such things would need no interpreter. 
 But it is not so. The poor prisoner looks with fear, but 
 he understands not. What must the elect say to such? 
 Can he say, Peace, Peace, where there is no peace ? What 
 can he say, but that, if no change comes, " the end of such 
 things is death." ^^ 
 
 Thus even in his bondage does the elect shew out Grod's 
 thoughts, cheering some of the slaves of this world, if he 
 can only warn others. Those he comforts in due time are 
 freed, and in their joy forget the man through whom the 
 comfort reached them.^^ The Lord's prisoners differ 
 greatly. Some there are, who hear the truth, and go forth 
 from bondage, and yet are not spiritual. Such men never 
 suffer like purer souls. They could not bear it ; therefore 
 it is not laid upon them. For the vessel of wood, it is 
 enough that it be washed with water : the precious gold 
 can bear, and therefore must be purged by, fire ; for it is 
 written, " Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall 
 make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean ; and all 
 that abideth not the fire, ye shall make go through the 
 water." ^^ Thus, while these are freed, the beloved of the 
 Lord remains in bonds ; fitted for service or rule, and yet 
 
 s Haggai i. 6. " Chap. xl. 23. 
 
 '" Matt. xiii. 4, 19. " Numbers xxxi. 23, and Lev. 
 
 " Rom. vi. 21. XV. 12. 
 
PART VII. Joseph, or Suffering and Glory. 407 
 
 cut off from it. It seems as if Joseph thought the butler 
 would help him ; but many weary days elapse before he 
 remembers Joseph. Let spiritual souls understand their 
 calling. They may comfort others : let them not think 
 they shall therefore be remembered in the world. 
 
 Dispensationally too this is fulfilled. In this view, 
 Joseph in an Egyptian prison is Christ come into the 
 world, where He can meet the two peoples, that is, the Jew 
 and Grentile. The Jews, even as we, need many figures 
 to represent all the different aspects or relations in which 
 they may be seen. As the brethren of Christ in the flesh, 
 who reject and sell Him, they are again and again set forth 
 in the sons of the first wife. As the line of the kingdom, 
 they are seen in Judah and his sons. As a sensual people, 
 uncircumcised in heart, ^* and ignorant of Grod's secrets, 
 even when He speaks, an Egyptian captive awaiting judg- 
 ment is their appointed figure. Christ, the true Joseph, 
 meets these two peoples, Jew and Gentile. In former days 
 they had each served Egypt or the world with meat and 
 drink in different measures. When He comes, they are 
 shut up, unable to serve others. Grod has spoken to both, 
 but they cannot understand.*^ For the book of prophecy 
 and God's purpose, though given by Him to men, was not 
 opened rightly till the Spirit of Christ opened it. In these 
 visions or dreams, one people saw a vine, and gathered, 
 
 '♦ See Jer. ix. 26. sections ; also his Be Monarchia, § 2' 
 
 '^ Those who are familiar with &c. The Pedagogue of Clement is 
 
 the early Fiithers know how confi- full of this thought throughout, that 
 
 dently they spoke to the Gentiles, the Divine Word was the invisible 
 
 as men who ought to have had better teacher of men at all periods and in 
 
 thoughts of God, even from their all lands. St. Paul seems to express 
 
 own poets, and the voice of nature. the same thought, Acts xiv. 15-17, 
 
 See Justin Martyrs Cohortatio ad and xvii. 23-28, and Eom. i. 19, 
 
 Grcpcos, § 14, and the following 20. 
 
408 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory. pakt vn. 
 
 and then presented, its precious juice to others. This 
 people, which is the Gentile, though for a wliile shut up, 
 shall be released, and bear forth the cup of blessing to the 
 world ; while the other people, though burdened and 
 toiling, shall be robbed of the bread they have prepared, 
 — this is the Jew, — and then be judged and cast out. 
 But the Gentile people, though freed, ill requite Joseph. 
 In their joy they forget that, though they are free, He 
 does not rule yet where He siurely must rule. They seem 
 to think their service to Pharaoh will suffice, till, by the 
 discovery of their own impotence to solve his difficulties, 
 they are forced to remember Him to whom all in heaven 
 and earth shall bow. When will Gentile Christendom 
 awake to the fact that there is One, who has served them, 
 and waits to rule ? When will they welcome Him to 
 judge all things ? *^ 
 
 § V. — Joseph exalted oyer all Egtpt. 
 
 (Chapter xli.) 
 
 We come now to tne exaltation of the elect. After long 
 suffering, first from the ungoverned violence of activities 
 which spring from true service,^ then through temptations 
 
 '^ The Ordinary Gloss thns sums nam significantur, et reprobationem 
 
 up the substance of this chapter : — Judpeorum, qui significantur per 
 
 "Per carcerem istum intelligitur pibtorem," &c. Thelnterlinear Gloss 
 
 poenalitas vitae prsesentis, in qua adds, as to the dreams, " Clausa fuit 
 
 fuerunt Gentiles et Judsei. Per prophetia donee venit Christus, qui 
 
 Joseph autem, qui fuit cum eis, aperuit librum, et solvit signacula 
 
 propter ejus innocentiam, intelligitur ejus. . . . Vitis autem visa in somnis 
 
 Christus. . . . Ipse vero, quantum Dominus est, qui de seipso dixit, 
 
 homo, fuit in carcere poenalitatis * Ego sum vitis vera.' Qui 
 
 praedictse, quam assumpsit volun- calicem Domini accepit, liberari 
 
 tarie ; et ipse prsedixit vocationem meruit," &c. —/w Zoco. 
 gentium ad fidem, quae per pincer- ' Chap, xxxvii. 
 
PART VII. Joseph^ or Sufferuig and Glory. 409 
 
 from the affections of the natural man,- tlien through 
 bondage and pain,^ the spirit is freed and glorified. AH 
 Egypt bows to Joseph. He counsels its prince, and in 
 due time arranges all its doings. 
 
 Of the inward fulfilment I can write but little, though 
 in each detail this scene deserves the closest attention. 
 This, however, I may say, that we are here shewn how 
 the natural man is subdued at last, and in all its parts is 
 governed by the spirit. The steps detailed are briefly 
 these. Pharaoh, that is, the highest faculty of the natural 
 man,'* is now greatly disturbed by visions. He dreams 
 that all his strength is swallowed up. He sees lean kine 
 devouring fat ones, while the lean are none the better for 
 it. He sees thin ears consuming tlie full, till nought 
 remains. He feels assured, though he cannot read the 
 riddle, that it portends evil.^ Cattle and corn are two 
 great gifts for man's blessing, namely, the animal faculties 
 which may be used or abused, and the fruits which are the 
 result of the cultivation of the creature.^ Here the na- 
 tural man begins to perceive that these may perish, and 
 leave their present possessor in utter misery. By the elect 
 these creatures were offered to God : in Egypt they are 
 not so offered ; but now beast eats beast, and none is 
 better for it. The fruits of the earth, too, (and where is it 
 cultivated as in Egypt?) are seen now consuming one an- 
 other. Surely it is an awful sight. In this juncture the 
 wisdom of Egypt is summoned to aid, but it can render no 
 assistance. Then from the butler, that is, some sense which 
 serves the natural man,^ the natural man himself learns of 
 one who is near and can unravel such difficulties. The 
 
 2 Chap, xxxix. » Chap. xli. 17-24. 
 
 ' Chap. xl. * See oa chap. viii. and ix 
 
 * See on chap. xii. and xl. ' See above on chap. xl. 
 
410 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory, part vn. 
 
 spirit's witness is heard with awe, and its counsel at once is 
 obeyed through fear of coming judgment. Wherever the 
 natural man is to be governed, this must be known. It 
 invariably occurs wherever the spirit is destined to be the 
 ruler. Egypt's pride must bow. Troubles, therefore, 
 which it is not able to avert, press on it. The natural 
 man is brought into perplexity, that it may submit itself 
 and hear the spirit's teachings. The details I cannot open 
 here ; for it is one thing to see, another to utter such 
 mysteries. I will only note that Joseph now receives a 
 wife ; ® that is, certain natural affections or principles are 
 embraced and rendered subject to the spirit ; while some 
 of the riches which God so wondrously bestows are trea- 
 sured up, as a means of at least abating and better meeting 
 the impending judgment.^ 
 
 As fulfilled without, this scene is open to all ; and in this 
 view we are here shewn the means by which worldlings are 
 brought to allow the exaltation of the spiritual. Sooner 
 or later the great of this world stand by their river, that is, 
 watch the transient course of earthly blessings, and thereby 
 are grieved with sad visions, as they see the good destroyed 
 and preyed on by the evil. But they cannot understand 
 their own riddle, much less devise a remedy which shall 
 suffice to meet the crisis ; till, at the suggestion of some 
 who have already profited by their wisdom, the Lord's 
 beloved are found, not mere men of faith, or sons of God, 
 or zealous servants only, but men who have long since 
 dreamt of rule, and then for their truth and grace been 
 separated from their brethren, and falsely charged, and 
 sold, and shut up ; who by all this have been prepared of 
 
 Chap. xli. 45. • Chap. xli. 47- 49. 
 
PART Til. Joseph, or Sufeo'ing and Gloin/, 411 
 
 God in due time to enlighten and guide and help many. 
 By such both blessings and judgments are used to save the 
 world. Egypt does not become Canaan, but a wondrous 
 change is effected throughout its length and breadth ; 
 while some are united to them by a nearer and dearer tie, 
 as a beloved Church, in which children are begotten who 
 shall inherit Canaan. I do not care to dwell on historic 
 applications ; but I may say, that the christianizing of 
 Europe, through the influence which saintly souls exercised 
 on a violent age, is one example of the outward fulfilment 
 here ; after which came that awful famine of the word of 
 the Lord, which, had not abundant treasures been laid up, 
 would have consumed the world. ^^ But the same story is 
 fulfilling every day ; and those who at one stage are mocked 
 as dreamers, and misrepresented, and shut up, and cast out 
 by brethren, end by ruling those whom their brethren 
 cannot rule, and by saving and serving those who mocked 
 bhem. 
 
 Dispensationally the fulfilment here concerns us much. 
 We saw how in this view the saved butler prefigured 
 Grentile Christendom.^^ Heve we see how this liberated 
 people, whose eyes were opened to behold the Vine, even 
 while ministering it to the world, unfaithfully keeps to 
 itself the secret of what the true Joseph has done for it. 
 But a time comes, in the providence of God, when the 
 rulers of this world, represented in Pharaoh, begin to be 
 
 1" " Joseph, qui typum Christi rerit septem capitalium criminum 
 
 (vel spiritusChristi) gerebat, accepit sub Antichristo, quando fames fidei 
 
 potestatem prsedicandi et judicandi. fuerit et salutis, tunc sancti habeant 
 
 Congregavit per septem annos om- copiosam justitiae frugem, ne fides 
 
 nem frugum abundantiam, id est, eorura inopia sermonis deficiat," &c. 
 
 frumenta fidei, sanctorum horreis — Gloss. Ord. in loco, 
 
 condens. ut cum septem anni inopiae " See on chap. xl. 
 cceperint, id est, cum iuiquitas occur- 
 
41 2 Joseph, or Suffering and Glory, part vii. 
 
 sorely troubled. Visions liaimt rulers, of weak things de- 
 stroying strong, of hungry creatures eating up the fat and 
 flourishing. The oxen strong to labour are seen to be con- 
 sumed ; and, what is worse, the thin and hungry ones are 
 none the fatter for it. The seven good ears, of which it is 
 twice noticed that "they came up upon one stalk," ^^ are 
 devoured by the poor and weak, in whom is seen no bond 
 of union. The strong and good, having union among 
 themselves, are destroyed by those who are alike in misery, 
 but have no bond of fellowship. Surely it is an awful 
 dream, which the world's rulers are beginning to see, and 
 not without perplexity. What does it portend ? Such is 
 the question this day with some to whom the butler has 
 given the cup, but who do not know Joseph. It portends 
 a trouble, which the world unaided cannot meet ; one for 
 which the learning and counsels of Egypt will find no 
 remedy. For Grod Himself shall bring all Egypt to such 
 self-despair, as will render the need of His Elect Servant's 
 presence and help plain to all. At this day a million men 
 in Europe are needed to keep order ; to keep, while it may 
 be so, the weak and hungry from devouring the strong 
 before them. Sooner or later, spite of all its boastings, 
 the world will discover that it needs Christ ; that neither 
 its present rulers nor magicians can solve their own riddle. 
 Sooner or later they must confess their own weakness, and 
 admit that a power not in them, — the government of 
 Christ and His Spirit, — alone can save the world. Blessed 
 be God, the day is at hand, when the Despised One shall 
 rule : the night has been dark, but the light of day cannot 
 be far off. When the night is darkest, the morning is at 
 hand ; and the child is born, when the travail pains are 
 sharpest. The world has long travailed and been in pain, 
 '2 Chap. xli. 5, 22. Nothing like this is seen in " the thin earn'' 
 
PART TTi. Joseph, or SuffeHng and Glory. 413 
 
 waiting for the manifestation of the Son of God, and the 
 redemption of the body. His day shall surely come. Then, 
 while earth bows itself, shall His Virgin Bride be given 
 to Him. Then shall the earth be glad, for He cometh to 
 judge the world with equity, and the people with His truth. 
 Through judgment shall the world be saved. His wisdom 
 shall rescue it, even while it passes through " the consump- 
 tion which is decreed on all the earth." ^^ 
 
 Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, who is like unto 
 Thee, who dwellest on high, yet humblest Thyself to behold 
 the things which are in heaven and in earth ; who takest 
 the poor from the dust, and the needy from the dunghill, 
 to set them with princes, even with the princes of Thy 
 people ? The whole earth shall be full of Thy glory. Glory 
 be to Thee, Lord Most High. 
 
 Here, for the present, I conclude these Notes, unable to 
 write of that glory which shall ere long be manifested. 
 The works of Christ cannot be fully written yet. If they 
 should be written every one, I suppose that even the world 
 itself could not contain the books that should be written. 
 But the part of His work here written, (for it is He who 
 works in us,) may shew how great is that transformation, 
 which He is able and willing to perform in those who yield 
 their will to Him. Only let us give ourselves to Him, 
 and wait for Him. For it is love which keeps us so long- 
 waiting for the powers of the world to come, lest being 
 used in self-hood they should become a curse, and so 
 
 '3 Isa. xxviii. 22. Ambrose, (Be (Enar. in Ps. Ixxx. § 8,) both allude 
 Joseph, c. 7, § 40,) and Augustine, to this dispensational fulfilment. 
 
414 Joseph^ or Suffering and Glory, part vn. 
 
 increase our condemnation. There have been some, who, 
 having received some special gift or energy, have in self- 
 will denied the gift its true development, and, substituting 
 their own hasty purpose for that of Him who called them, 
 have used the spirit to their own private ends, thus injur- 
 ing themselves unspeakably. Therefore let each humbly 
 submit himself in all things to God, that He may fulfil 
 His will and work as He pleases. Lord, through life 
 and death fulfil Thy work in us, that to us to live may be 
 Christ, according to Thy pleasure, that so Thou mayest be 
 seen and rest in us, and we be hid and rest in Thee, for 
 ever. Amen. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ahel, the spiritual mind, 88 ; a type 
 
 of Christ, 99. 
 Abraham, the spirit of faith, 160; 
 
 import of the change of name from 
 
 Abram to Abraham, 221 ; a type 
 
 of God the Father, 250, note 2. 
 Abraham's servant, who seeks the 
 
 bride for the Son, the figure of 
 
 the ministers of the house of faith, 
 
 268. 
 Active life, ^gvxQdi in Japhet, 132; 
 
 and in Jacob, 336, 337 ; may 
 
 degenerate into mere worldliness, 
 
 137, 139. 
 Adam, human nature, 63 ; his way, 
 
 69 ; though fallen, raised up in 
 
 the woman's seed, 81. 
 Analogy between days of creation 
 
 and stages of man's progress, 57. 
 Antinomianism, shews itself after 
 
 regeneration, 163 ; a reaction from 
 
 legalism, 217. 
 Apostasy, course of, figured in the 
 
 building of Babel, 150, 151 ; in 
 
 Nimrod's kingdom, 147, 148; and 
 
 in Esau's kingdom in Seir, 372, 
 
 373. 
 Apostolic succession, connected with 
 
 rule in the church, 390. 
 Ark, figure of the cross, 109 ; and of 
 
 the church, 113; three stories of, 
 
 114; a remnant of beasts saved 
 
 in, 110, 116. 
 
 Ascetic life, figured by Ketnrah, 279 ; 
 
 its fruits easily corrupted, 280; 
 
 cannot produce spirit of sonship, 
 
 281. 
 Ass, to be left in Isaac's sacrifice, 
 
 260, and note 4. 
 Asskur or Assyria, the ground of 
 
 reasoning, 176, 177, and note 31. 
 
 See Euphrates. 
 Attainments, no pledge of security, 
 
 358. 
 Aurora Borealis, not the true morn- 
 ing, 46. 
 
 Babylon, built by those who pass the 
 baptismal waters, 135; the work 
 of Ham's seed, 1 38 ; built of brick, 
 152 ; fidl of imitations of God's 
 true work, 154; connected with 
 the revelation of Jesus Christ, 
 155. 
 
 Baptism, the way through the waters, 
 or regeneration, figured in Noah, 
 104, 114, 121, note 22; of fire, 
 117. 
 
 Barrenness, for a while the trial of 
 the elect, 203 ; of Abram, 204 ; of ■ 
 Isaac, 285. 
 
 Beasts, moving creatures, or emo- 
 tions, of the will, 37, 262 ; clean 
 and unclean, 33 ; need ruling, 39 ; 
 after fall, sacrificed, 95 ; by re- 
 generation stilled, 110; and ruled, 
 
416 
 
 Index. 
 
 12-5, 126 ; an object of worship in 
 Egypt, 187. 
 
 Birds, moving creatures, or emo- 
 tions, 33, oiote 13; of the under- 
 standing, 3'!, 35, 36 ; very various, 
 36; distractions to worship of 
 faith, 208. 
 
 Birth, the first and second, of human 
 nature, figured in Cain and Abel, 
 88. 
 
 Blessings are trials, 202. 
 
 Bfick, man's imitation of God's work, 
 152 ; Babel and Nineveh built of, 
 152 ; brick-making common in 
 Egypt, 152 ; examples of brick for 
 stone, 154. 
 
 Bride, found by the well, 272 ; how 
 recognised, 273; arrayed in gold 
 and fine linen, 273, 275; borne 
 upon camels, 277. 
 
 Cain, the carnal mind, 88 ; his reli- 
 gion the cultivation of the fallen 
 creature, 95 ; a type of the Jew, 
 99. 
 
 Call of God, contains promise and 
 exhortation, 165 ; how obeyed by 
 faith, 167. 
 
 Camels, used to bring the bride 
 home, 269. 
 
 Canaanife, the, false outward reli- 
 gion, 133, 135, 175, 359, 365. 
 See Ham and Hiiife. 
 
 Carnal mind, the first fruit of Adam 
 or human nature, 88. 
 
 Catholic unity, may be wrongly 
 sought, as in building Babel, 153 ; 
 the true ground and means of it 
 seen at Pentecost, 153. 
 
 Change of name, in Abram to Abra- 
 ham, 221 ; in Jacob to Israel, 354. 
 
 Cheruhim, the divine in creature- 
 form, 79 ; figuring the Incarnation, 
 
 79,720^^11. 
 
 Christ, works in many, rests in few, 
 42 ; figured in Adam, 82 ; in Abel, 
 99 ; in JSfoah, 130 ; in Isaac, 250, 
 note 2, and 264; in Joseph, 379, 
 
 412 ; His fulness such that no 
 one type can reveal Him, 33. 
 
 Church, unity of, 151 ; varieties in, 
 134; place of discipline, 130; 
 contains both good and bad, 135 ; 
 contains both an outward and in- 
 ward element. 290 ; and therefore 
 has a double seed, like chaff and 
 wheat, 290, 372 ; its worst enemies 
 nursed in its own bosom, 1 35, 136 ; 
 produces a seed which builds Great 
 Babylon, 135; its development 
 and divisions foreshadowed in 
 Noah's seed, 136, 142 ; its failure, 
 in Noah's fall, 145, in Nimrod's 
 domination, 148, and in the build- 
 ing of Babel, 150; its blessings 
 unlike those of the Jews, 323 ; 
 even when fallen, rich in forms of 
 truth, 154 ; when fallen and cor- 
 rupted, admits formalists to holy 
 things, 361 ; figured in Eve, the 
 mother of all living, 83 ; in Abel, 
 giving a life to God, 99 ; in Noah, 
 134 ; in Eebekah, 271, 290. 321. 
 
 Circumcision, the putting away of 
 the filth of the flesh, 224 ; not oui 
 righteousness, but a seal of it, 
 225; why on the eighth day, 
 226. 
 
 Cities, systems or polities, 149 ; un- 
 like primitive dwellings, 149. 
 
 Communion, different measures of, 
 283. 
 
 Conscience, acquired in the fall, 76. 
 
 Consistency, of worldlings, 173. 
 
 Contemplative life, one fruit of re- 
 generation, 132 ; figured in Shem, 
 132 ; degenerates into mere rea- 
 sonings, 136, 139. 
 
 Covena7it, the old and new, 128 ; the 
 token of, 129. 
 
 Creation, seven days of, a type of 
 the new creation, 4 ; progressive, 
 7. 
 
 Creature, state of the, when God 
 begins to work on it, 5 ; change 
 in it, wrought by God's word, 6. 
 
Index, 
 
 41' 
 
 Cross, the, figured in Al)ers lamh, 
 95 ; in Noah's ark, 109 ; in Isaac's 
 sacrifice, 259 ; the key to all mys- 
 teries. 207; witnessed to even in 
 nature, 242. 
 
 Darkness, called Night, or deviation, 
 13 ; brings into view God's work 
 in heavenly places, 29 ; ruled on 
 the fourth day, 32. 
 
 Day, means movement, 13; first 
 day's work, 11 ; second day, 14 ; 
 third day, 18 ; a type of resurrec- 
 tion, 21; fourth day, 25; fifth 
 day, 32 ; sixth day, 36 ; seventh 
 day, 42 ; has no evening. 45 . the 
 seven days a figure of all God's 
 work. 4, 57 ; eighth day, the re- 
 surrection, 226. 
 
 Development, true tlieory of, 136 ; 
 through discoveries of failure, 162. 
 
 Dreams, Jacob's, 328. 329 ; Joseph's, 
 384 ; the butler's and baker's. 403, 
 405 ; Pharaoh's, 4U9. 
 
 Earth, dryland called, 22; figures 
 the will, 15, 18, 36 ; rises above 
 the waters on the third day, 18. 
 
 East, advancing light, 48. 
 
 El en, pleasure, 48. 
 
 F^ypt, the ground of sense, 176 ; 
 beasts worshipped in, 187 ; an en- 
 chanting land, 177; a snare to 
 faith. 177; taught and ruled by 
 the patient sufferer, 401, 410. 
 
 Fighth day, resnrrection, 226. 
 
 EloMm, God known as. in days of 
 labour, as Jehovah on day of rest, 
 46, 47; the serpent substitutes 
 Elohim for Jehovah, in the temp- 
 tiition of Eve, 70, note 2. 
 
 Emotions, good in tliemselves, be- 
 come evil through self-will, 34 ; 
 the best need ruling, 39 ; won 
 from the power of tlie old man by 
 the spirit of service. 338. 
 
 Esau, the fiesh in its fairest form, 
 291, 324; his works and fruit, 
 372, 373. 
 
 Euphrafrs, reasoning, 50. 51. 
 
 Eve, that is life, so called by Adam, 
 
 67 ; a type of tlie church, 83. See 
 
 Woman. 
 Evening, decline of light, 44 ; none 
 
 on the seventh day, 44. 
 
 Faith, the spirit of, figured in Abra- 
 ham, 160 ; is first moved by the call 
 of God. 164, 174; every act of, 
 brings the elect into greater trials. 
 176; overcomes what reason can- 
 not, 194 ; is .'tti 'red by the promise 
 tx) seek fruit from its own ener- 
 gies and from law, 215; is after- 
 wards fruitful by gr.'ice, 219 ; fails 
 in Egypt, 178 ; 'and in the Philis- 
 tines' land, 239; is enriched by 
 knowledge, 242 ; unmortified at 
 first, 252 ; is succeeded by the 
 spirit of understanding, 281, 282, 
 note 12; first fruits of, are carnal, 
 and opposed to purer life, 215, 
 253. 
 
 Faithfvluess, the results of, 383. 
 
 Fall, the, not man's normal state, 
 62 ; details of, 64 ; tlie way to 
 better things, 107. 109. 
 
 Famine, the experience of Abraham, 
 175; of Isaac, 302. 
 
 Five, connected with the senses, 193, 
 note 3, and 240, note 6. 
 
 Flesh, the, can be religious, 89 ; its 
 worship, 89 ; has many forms, 
 291, 324 ; opposes some monstrous 
 forms of evil, 373 ; is very fair in 
 some of its forms, 293. 
 
 Flocks, strife for. between herdsmen, 
 189 ; won from the world by 
 changing their colour, 344. 
 
 Formalism, figured in the Hivite, 
 360. See Canaanite. Creeps into 
 the church and defiles it, 360, 
 361. 
 
 Fruit, order of, in creation, 22, 23 ; 
 having seed in itself, 24 ; variety 
 of, 23. 
 
 Fruitfulness, follows the bounding 
 of the waters or lusts, 22. 
 
 £ E 
 
418 
 
 Index. 
 
 Genesis, special object of, to revojil 
 development of Iniinun natui'e, 3. 
 
 Giants, monstrous forms of life, the 
 result of the union of the sons of 
 Godandthodauglitersofraen, US: 
 fought against by the king of 
 Shinai', 194 ; dispossessed by Esau, 
 373. 
 
 6^//i!!.s, need ruling, 39 ; an occasion 
 of strife between brethren, 189. 
 
 Gihn7i, or Nile, sense, 50, 61. 
 
 GocVs life, reflected in the saints, 
 2o0, note 2, and 264. 
 
 Gold, higher forms of truth, 91 ; pos- 
 sessed by Al)raliam, 184 ; jewels 
 of, put on Kebekah, 273. See 
 Metals. 
 
 Gospels, the four, figured by the four 
 cherubic faces. 38, note 5 ; and 
 in the rivers of Paradise, 52, note 
 34. 
 
 Gospel flispevsatio}/, figured in Sarali. 
 comes to an end, and then many 
 sons in Al»raham's house, 284. 
 
 Hagar, the aflTection of outwai*d 
 truth, 210; typically, the law, 
 210. 
 
 Hair, the strength and beautv of 
 the ficsh, 293; to be cut off by 
 priests at consecration. 293 ; and 
 b}'' leper at cleansing, 293 ; Esau 
 marked by, 293. 
 
 Hani, the life of mere doctrine, 132; 
 the ty^Q of those who cultivate 
 false inward religion. 135, 139; 
 fruits of, 1 38 ; most numerous. 
 137; but subserve a good end, 
 140. 
 
 Heavin, or expanse, formed on se- 
 cond day, 15 ; means arranger. 16, 
 17 : represents the understanding 
 o})ened, 15; comes before fruits, 
 17. 
 
 Beresy. the lineage of all, 136. 
 
 Hieldekd, or Tigris, tradition, 50, 
 51. 
 
 Hivite. religious formalism, 359, 360. 
 See Canaanite. 
 
 Idols, clung to, even by our best af- 
 
 fL'cti(jiis, 348. 
 Incarnation, the. God's way for man's 
 
 redemption, 79 ; reasons of, 244 ; 
 
 figured in Jacob's ladder, 331. 
 Instabilitt/. before firmness, 18. 
 Iron, most useful in this world, 91. 
 
 See Metals. Gold., Silver. 
 Isaac, tlie si>irit of sonship, 249 ; 
 
 sacrifice of, 259; type of God, the 
 
 Son, 250, note 2, and 268. 
 Ishnael, carnal seed of faith, 256 ; 
 
 cast out, 256 ; multiplies greatly, 
 
 286. 
 
 Jacob, the spirit of service, 294,295, 
 313, &e. ; a type of God, tlie Holy 
 Ghost, 250, note 2; import of 
 change of name to Israel, 356. 
 
 Japhet, the active life, 132; tlie 
 figure of those vvlio cultivate true 
 outward religion, 135; his l»less- 
 ing, Ul. 
 
 Jehovah, God is known as Jehovah 
 on the day of rest, 46 ; mystery of 
 the name, 221, note 6. 
 
 JevK tlie, figured in Cain, with mark 
 set on him, lest he be slain, 99, 
 l(tO ; in Islimael. tlie si)n of the 
 bond-woman, who is cast out when 
 Isaac comes, 257 ; in Esau, 300, 
 322 ; in Judah, 391, 392 ; in Pha- 
 raoh's baker, 407, 408 ; in Jacob's 
 sons re'ecting the son of the 
 younger wife, 385. 
 
 John, St., the type of the life of 
 vision, 134, note 6. 
 
 Jordan, the stream of judgment, 
 169. 
 
 Joseph, the spirit of patient suffering, 
 whose end is gloiy, 379, &c. 
 
 ^r^?^n/7/, practical truth, 279; can- 
 not jiroduce the spirit of sonship. 
 281. 
 
 Kingdom, first in the hand of the 
 Jew, 391 ; fails in that line, 392 ; 
 raised up in the younger wife, who 
 has witness of lier children's par- 
 
Index. 
 
 419 
 
 entage, 392 ; fmnrcd in Joseph's 
 oflory, 412. 41 o! 
 
 Kings, in Edom, before any in Is- 
 rael, 372. 
 
 K}tou'/cdqe, cannot possess tho things 
 of faith, 241 ; or of sonship, 304 ; 
 may enrich faith, 242 ; danger of, 
 244. 
 
 Lahnn, the old or natural life, 324. 
 
 Lahai-roi. the well of vision, 282. 
 
 lamech, both in Cain's and Seth's 
 line, 99. 
 
 Late, figured by Hagar. 2 1 ; a bond- 
 maid, 212; is embraced by the 
 spirit of faith, 215; is cast out 
 when the spirit of sonship comes, 
 254. 
 
 Leah, the first and natural affection 
 of the outward man, 33o. 
 
 Lif/ht, the first step in the neAv crea- 
 tion. 1 2 ; is called Day, or move- 
 ment, 13; peril of, 241. 
 
 JJcfhts, on the fourth day, 27, 28 ; 
 for signs, 30 ; for seasons, 31. 
 
 Li >,}, Christ and Satan, each repre- 
 sented as a, 34. and note 11, 
 
 L"t, a form of the natural man, 
 170, 229 ; goes some distance with 
 Abraham, 182; his preaching, 
 236 ; and prayers, 237 ; producesan 
 evil seed, 238. 
 
 Maoi, a world in himself, 4 ; created 
 male and female, the figuro of the 
 understanding and the will. 40, 
 41, note 10, o2, 53, note 35, and 
 63, note 2 ; his food. 41 ; his fiill, 
 64 ; and remedy, 80 ; his food 
 af.er the flood, 126 ; the new man 
 or seed of the woman, how formed, 
 66, 67. 
 
 Marriages, of Patriarchs, a mystery, 
 280. 'note 5. 
 
 Moiopotamia. the land between Ti- 
 gris and Euphrates, i.e. Tradition 
 and Reasoning, 164. See Tlyris 
 and Euphrates. Abraham, or tlie 
 spirit of faith, starts from hence, 
 
 104 ; tlio brido or tlie Son is 
 brought hence. 270 : .lacob, or tlio 
 spirit of service, goes down to servo 
 here, 314, 315; tlie homo of La- 
 ban, or the natural man, 349. 
 
 Metals, truths, 91. See Go/(t, Iron. 
 
 Ministrif, figured in Aliraliam's ser- 
 vant seeking tlie bride for the Son, 
 268 ; uses rough and unclean 
 things, like camels, 270 ; provided 
 with the goods of the house of 
 faith, 269 ; in Jacob's service also, 
 for wives and flocks, 332. 
 
 Moon, trumpet to be blown at the 
 new, 31 ; paschal lamb eaten at the 
 full, 3 1 ; weak when in sun's place, 
 30. 
 
 Mu?-?iinff, growing liglit, 7. 45. 
 
 Movement, the first, bv the Spirit of 
 God, 6. 
 
 Moving creafnre, on fifth and sixth 
 days, emotions of the understand- 
 ing and will, 35, 37. 
 
 Mules, discovered by Seir's seed, 373. 
 374. 
 
 National cJmrchrs, their contrast to 
 
 the earlier form, 149. 
 Natural life, the stages of, a figure 
 
 of spiritual things, 159. 
 Nimrod, the lawless one, 147; his 
 
 rule over brethren, 141. 
 Night, means deviation, 13. 
 Noah, the figure of regeneration, 104; 
 
 and of the regenerate, ■*. 14; a ty}>e 
 
 of Christ, 130. 
 N^imhers, contain mysteries, 119. 
 
 note 1 7, and 191. note 3. See Third 
 
 and Eighth dag. 
 
 Omissions, of Scripture, significant, 
 45, note 9. 
 
 Oatvard things, keep us from know- 
 ing ourselves, 190. 
 
 Paradise, exclusion from, one of the 
 
 results of the fall, 78. 
 Passions, popularly re[ircsented by 
 
 beasts, 37. 
 
 Be2 
 
420 
 
 Index, 
 
 Paul, Sf., a tentmaker, not a Imilder 
 
 of cities, 149, and note 15. 
 Peter, 6V., the type of the life of faith 
 
 and conflict, 134, Tiofe 6. 
 Philistine, the son of Mizraim or 
 
 p]gypt, knowledge derived from 
 
 the senses, 240, 241. See Egypt. 
 
 Unknown before regeneration, 301 ; 
 
 a trial to faith, 239 ; and to the 
 
 spirit of sonship, 301 ; tamed for 
 
 giants, 241 ; labours to choke 
 
 wells, 307. 
 Pi/qrimof/e, the common experience 
 
 of the elect, 171 ; brings to view 
 
 weaknesses of the elect, not seen 
 
 in worldlings, 172. 
 Pison, intuition, 61. 
 Progress, in the spiritual life, 
 
 through apparent retrogressions, 
 
 162, 310, 315. 
 Profcstantisin, the lineage of, 136 and 
 
 134, note 6. 
 Pi'.rijicafion, through experience of 
 
 corruption, 109, 310. 
 
 Rachel, the spiritual affection of the 
 natural man, 335, 336. 
 
 Buiment, outward habits, 276. 
 
 Begentration, a state subsequent to 
 spiritual quickening, 103, 159 ; 
 not the improvement, but the 
 judgment, of the old man, 106; 
 not reached but through the dis- 
 covery of the ruin of the old man, 
 107 ; figured by the third day, 21 ; 
 and by Noali's passage through 
 the waters, 104; stages of, 105, 
 115 ; mystery of, as experienced 
 within, 108 ; does not wholly take 
 away or abolish the evil of the 
 old nature, 110 ; leaves a mind 
 which revives the ways of the old 
 man, 135 ; in it the fall of Adam 
 is repaired. 111 ; sealed in bap- 
 tism, 114, 122; blessings of, 123, 
 &c. ; produces more than one form 
 of life, 131 ; and so far from end- 
 ing all man'swickedness, discovers 
 in man new forms of evil, 155. 
 
 Best, on seventh day, and only in a 
 perfect work. 43 ; reveals God in 
 a new character, 46. 
 
 Besurrection. figured in third day, 
 21 ; and in eiglith, 226. 
 
 Bevelations, of God to man, accord- 
 ing to man's state, 230. 
 
 Bivers, of Paradise, channels of 
 truth, 50. See Euphrates, Gihon, 
 Pison, Hiddehel. 
 
 Bute, secret of. 38 ; carnal, figured 
 in Judah, 386, 389 ; spiritual, in 
 Joseph, 387. 
 
 Sahhath, or rest of God, only in a 
 perfect work, 43. 
 
 Sacraments, God's method for fallen 
 man, and figured in the cherubim 
 at the gate of Eden, 79 ; are, ac- 
 cording to Augustine, parts of the 
 lesser light, 28, note 5 ; and of 
 the earth, 322, note 19 ; yet put in 
 the first place by the carnal seed 
 of the church, 321. 
 
 Sacrifice, the key to many perplexi- 
 ties, 207. 
 
 Sarah, the affection of spiritual truth, 
 177; typically, the Gospel, 210; 
 is denied in Egypt, 178 ; and in 
 the Philistines' land, 239 ; stirs 
 Abraham to take Hagar, 214. 
 
 Schism, the result of gift abused. 
 189. 
 
 Seas, mean agitations, 22. 
 
 Seed of the Woman, its lineage, 66, 
 67. 
 
 Seeing good, characteristic of the 
 good, 8, 14 6. 
 
 Serpent, the, still the tempter, 63, 
 and note 1. 
 
 Service, the spirit of, the fruit of 
 sonship, 313, 369; seems to re- 
 verse the path of faith, 314 ; de- 
 scends as well as ascends, 331, 
 and note 12 ; its errors, 317 ; and 
 motives, 325, 330 ; is pleasant to 
 God, 319, 375 ; wins flocks out of 
 the world, 332 ; must embrace 
 natural as well as spiritual prin- 
 
Index, 
 
 421 
 
 ciples. 335, 336, 342 ; its fruits, 
 3-iO ; some of which may oppose 
 a yet more perfect form of life, 
 382. 
 
 Shcep-i'hearbu], a favourite occupa- 
 tion of the old man, 350; and of 
 carnal rulers, 389. 
 
 Shein,{\\e contemplative life, 132; 
 the fii^ure of those who cultivate 
 true inward religion. 135. 
 
 Silver, higher forms of trutli, 91. 
 See Gold, Iron. 
 
 Shi, not the law of our being, 62. 
 
 Sodum, self-love, 229. 
 
 Son of Man, the new man, 81, note 
 3. 
 
 Souship, the spirit of, the fruit of 
 faith, 249 ; chastened from the 
 first, 252 ; opposed by carnal 
 finiits of faith, 253 ; leads to the 
 castingout of the spiritof bondage, 
 254 ; is weaned, 253 ; is a sacri- 
 fice, 261 ; cannot emlirace law to 
 be fruitlul, 288 ; would bless the 
 fleshly seed. 299, 316. 
 
 Spirit, one, under many varied forms, 
 33, 250. 
 
 Spiritual, the, suifer here, 406. 
 
 Spiritual '^inind, the second birth of 
 human nature, 88 ; different from 
 the spjirit of sonship, 161, note 2. 
 
 Sufering, power of, 380 ; the way 
 to glory, 385. 
 
 Temptation, Adam's, the figure of 
 man's temptation in every age, 
 70 ; resisted in one form, meets 
 the elect in another, 199. 
 
 Tents, elect live in, 171 ; Paula tent- 
 maker, 149, note 15 ; results of 
 leaving the tent for the city, seen 
 in Asshur, who built Nineveh, 
 149 : in Lot, who went down to 
 Sodom, 197, 231 ; and in Jacob, 
 at Shechem, 361. 
 
 Third day, resurrection, 21, 
 
 Truth, four sources or channels of, 
 60 ; comes to man in forms siiited 
 to his stiite, 266, 278 ; with these 
 forms of truth, fallacies of tho 
 senses are connected, 288, 289 ; 
 forms of truth may pass away, 
 while the truth yet lives, 267, 
 278. 
 
 Unity, desire for, may mislead, 153. 
 
 Waters, figures the desires, 15; 
 first divided by a heaven, 15; 
 bounded on the third day, 1 6 ; 
 called seas or agitations, 22. 
 Weaning, of the spiritual seed, pro- 
 vokes the mockery of the carnal, 
 252, 256. 
 Wells, the springs of living water, 
 272 ; the bride found by, 272 ; 
 choked by Philistines, 307. 
 Will, the, figured by the woman, 41, 
 note 10, and63,7?o^^ 2 ; its agency 
 in the fall, 64 ; is the mother of 
 all living, 67. 
 Woman, the, figure of the will, 53, 
 and note 35 ; the agent in the fall. 
 64 ; the channel of the promised 
 seed, 66. See Man. 
 Word of God, the new creation 
 
 wrought by the, 6. 
 WorJc, of the new creation, progres- 
 sive, 7 ; first dividing, then adorn- 
 ing, 9, 10; though imperfect, good 
 in God's eyes, 8. 
 World, religious and irreligious, 
 figured in Babylon and Egypt, 
 196, and note 8 ; cannot as such 
 possess the things of faith, 243 ; 
 many forms of, 397. 
 Worship, of the carnal and spiritunl 
 seeds, 95 ; of the elect an abomi- 
 nation to worldlings, 187 ; dis- 
 tractions of true worship, 208. 
 
 Zealots, scattered in Israel, 363. 
 
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