66

in lieu of a goodly heritage on this side of Jordan, “a purchased possession," Eph. 1, 14, on the other side of it, fast by the throne of God, on the margin of the still waters of comfort in the Paradise above, "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.' 1 Pet. 4, 4. Referring to the mode of supplanting Esau, as recorded Gen. 25, 26, from whence he derived, in Esau's estimation, his name of Jacob; he might have been called a holder back of his elder brother Esau, which is one of the significations of the word Jacob, and in Arab. alternating or taking each other's place by turns; and 1000 years after Jacob's birth, the Prophet Isaiah (59, 6) explains how and why Jacob, as the representative and type of Our Saviour, the younger brother, in point of birth, thus held back Esau, his elder brother, from falling into the hands and very curse of the living God, of whom it was predicted before his birth, (Gen. 25, 23) that the elder should serve the younger, "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor, therefore his arm brought salvation unto "him and his righteousness it sustained him," and the whole of the 53rd of Isaiah shews how and under what circumstances (utterly and altogether incredible, except they had been set forth and declared in the Scriptures) he redeemed his brother under the figure of Esau from the curse of God and drank the cup of his father's wrath to the very dregs which was given to him instead of to Esau to drink, (Luke 22, 42) (which Esau would otherwise have had to drink) as Esau's nearest kinsman upon whom as such devolved the duty as well as the power of repurchase and redemption, which belonged by the Jewish law only to the nearest of kin, (Ruth, 3, 13,) and thus the interested, worldly minded idea of fraud and supplanting, which Esau attached to Jacob's conduct was proved by Our Saviour's crucifixion and death to be the result of something far beyond the most affectionate feeling of love and brotherly kindness, which induced him to keep back his brother from the curse and wrath of God which he endured upon the cross in his stead, as the Apostle says, (Heb. 10, 5-7)" Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body "hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin "thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come, in the "volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O, God." It is on this ground that the apparently harsh and inconsistent language of a Father of mercy, when speaking of His Children, (Mal. 1, 3) is not only reconciled, but exhibits all the tender love of Jehovali, who sacrificed His only Son Our Lord Jesus Christ

instead of Esau, and whilst veiling this gracious intention from the foundation of the world, his name became despised as he himself affirms, "Ye priests that despise my name," (Mal. 1, 6.) There is a remarkable though an evidently undesigned testimony to all the preordained circumstances which attended the birth of Esau and Jacob, which at the same time attests by one and the same word, the very object for which, from their birth, they were both constituted vivid types, viz., the substitution of the Son of God to endure the curse of the cross instead of Adam and his Children. (a) In Gen. 25, 23, the following passage occurs, "And the Lord said unto her (Rebecca) Two (6) nations "are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated "from thy bowels," and 25th v., "And the first Esau came out Red," 30th v., "And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee,

a (KBB) To curse. P (A KB) Shall I curse. py' (J A K B) Jacob, the (2) J, is merely a prefix to proper names. This Echo, in Scripture, being very common. The word K B B signifies to curse, and 23 Numb. 7, 8, Balak orders Balaam to curse Jacob, and Balaam replies, "How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed." The first term curse in this passage is A RH, but the second is AK B, and it will be seen that by a portion of the root of the word Jacob, a curse is included. Deut. 21, 23, it is said, "He that is hanged, is accursed of God." and Gal. 3, 13, St. Paul enlarges on this text, thus, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, "cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," and the reasons as above shew, beyond all possibility of doubt, why Balaam could not curse Jacob, or in other words, could not curse Our Saviour, as the antitype of Jacob. Our Saviour fulfilled one part of the denouncement of Deut. 21, 23, "He was crucified, and so "far accursed of God," but neither Balaam nor any son of man could extend that curse beyond what God himself had announced.

66

77 (ARR) To curse, This is the word used in Gen. 3, 14-17, Gen. 4, 11, and it will be observed that it has reference solely to the Ground or Earth, and may be said to be curse of matter, in which sense it is almost uniformly applied, and from it are derived those operations of tilling the ground, which are memorials of the curse 'apow Aro. Arable, &c., whilst the word p is generally applied to the consequences of moral delinquency. Thus, neither Adam nor Eve were cursed, (Gen. 3) although theirs was a moral guilt, the dust of which they were formed being cursed instead; had the curse of God once lighted on them, there would have been no redemption, and no Redeemer.

b (SHN1) Two, Crimson Dye, Scarlet, (See Gen. 38, 28.)

66

"with that same red pottage. Therefore was his name called "Edom," and 31st v., "And Jacob said (to Esau) sell me this day thy birthright, and Esau said, what profit shall this birth"right do to me," 33rd v., " And Esau sold his birthright unto "Jacob." 34th v., "Thus Esau despised his birthright." The word Two S HN I, (a) occurs twice in the 23rd verse, and it not only signifies Two, but also Crimson or Red Dye, but far more to the purpose s HN H signifies Changed, the one substituted for the other, that no possible mistake however might ensue as to the purport of this change or substitution of Jacob for Esau, the word Red, in the 25th verse, is not expressed by SH N I, but by ADMONI, Red, and by A D M in the 30th verse twice over, which was the reason why he was called Edom or Adam. The note (a) also shews the reason why the word Hate (a) occurs in Mal. 1, 6, as allusive to 25 Gen. It may not perhaps be irrelevant to notice the following passages with reference to Esau, inasmuch as they appear to throw considerable light on the whole scheme of creation, redemption, and final glorification of all those who, through faith and patience shall become inheritors of the promises, Heb. 6, 12. The three great dispensations with respect to man to which covenants (so called, because something was required on man's part as the condition of the promise) were attached may be thus briefly stated: the notice of the first occurs in Gen.1,28,

a

(SHN H) To change or be changed, One substituted for another.

(SNA) To Hate, properly, to shew the teeth. If this word is transposed (NSA) NU, it becomes a reversed signification of To hate, viz. To raise up, To long for, To desire, To lift up, Exalt, To bear fruit, To suffer, Endure, Bear the guilt of another, To suffer for another's sin, To be gracious to any one, To do any thing out of regard for another, Take away the guilt of any one, To forgive. Nothing could set forth the lovingkindness of a Father of mercy towards Adam or Esau, as the representatives of the whole human race, so forcibly as this commentary upon Esau have I hated, or in other words, Esau or Adam, whom I have loved, and whose sins I have forgiven," who "spared not his own Son but delivered him up for (you) all, how "shall be not with him also freely give (you) all things." (Rom. 8, 32. These antitheses in Scripture are of very common occur

rence.

(AD MON 1) Red, Ruddy. OT (ADM) Red, Edom, Adam.

announcing the determination on the Almighty's part to create Adam, "Let us make man in our image after our likeness," and a covenant which became necessary to keep His creature, Adam, in his place, with regard to his Creator, accompanied the determination on God's part to create Adam; Gen. 2, 17, "Of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of "it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," not improperly translated, as it will be endeavoured to be shewn hereafter, Thou shalt surely have an end, both with reference to the covenant, and the life that depended upon its observance. The phraseology of this prohibition is remarkable in a creation which no less than seven different times is pronounced in Gen. 1, to be good, and very good, yet the germ of evil existed in this creation even at this early stage, as appears from subsequent passages of the following chapters of Gen. The second covenant commenced with Adam, which, without abrogating the terms of the first covenant, was remedial of it. Gen. 3, 15, when the promise of a Redeemer was made, and Gen. 3, 24, records how Adam was driven from Eden, and it continued in force till the birth of Our Saviour, of which covenant both Esau and Jacob were types, the former, of the Adam of the first covenant, and the latter, of Our Saviour unto the time of his crucifixion; Jacob, as the type of Our Saviour, who held back Esau, the type of the heel or end of the line of Adam, after the flesh, by supplanting Esau, took upon himself all the penalties of the line and posterity of Adam, which devolved upon that line by Adam's breach of the first covenant, Gen. 3, 17. The interval between Esau and the incarnation of the Messiah may be said to have been that of the bond becoming due and the subsequent payment of the bond and its penalties by Our Saviour on Calvary. The third covenant included the two former ones, which St. Paul describes, (2 Cor. 6, 17-18,) "Touch not the unclean thing," (or in the language of Gen. 2, 17,) "the forbidden thing," "and I will receive you, "and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and "daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." In Gen. 36 1-8, it is said, "Esau is Edom," (a) and by the foregoing passages, we find that Jacob supplanted Esau, or Edom, or Adam, (a) the a Di (ADO M) was named from the Earth of which he was formed, (Gen. 3, 19.) "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till "thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken."

(A D M II) Earth, Ground. This is the generic name of man, (1 Cor. 15, 47,) "The first man is of the Earth earthy, the "second man is the Lord from heaven." The conduct of Demas

heel of the line of Adam, whereby Jacob became as the type of Our Saviour by substitution for Esau, the heel of that line. The earthy line of the first man of which St. Paul speaks (1 Cor. 15, 47) was supplanted by the Lord from heaven, and in the 45th v., he shews us that the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit, and thus the flesh gives way to the spirit, whereas in the line of Adam, after the flesh, the spirit was subdued to the flesh, as St. Paul informs us, (Rom. 8, 7,) the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The first covenant was one of works, and St. Paul, Gal. 5, 19, says without limitation as to any period, embracing all time, whether at, or after the creation. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which he enumerates, adultery, fornication, murder, &c., but he adds, 22nd verse, "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, &c., and "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections "and lusts." The first dispensation at the creation was the possible, and with reference to 1 Pet., 1, 19-20, and Rev. 13, 8, the probable, foreseen, and foreordained admixture of evil with the good. The second, was the promise of the ultimate overcoming the evil with the good, and rendering the flesh subservient to the spirit, or bringing it into subjection to the law of Christ, or as St. Paul expresses it, (2 Cor. 10, 5) "Bringing into captivity every "thought, to the obedience of Christ." The third, or Christian dispensation is the result of the second, or the second covenant, fully carried out, Rom. 8, 32-39. David, (105 Ps. 8) says, He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law." In 1 Chron. 16, 15, the Israelites are required to be "mindful always of his covenant, the word "which he commanded to a thousand generations," and St. Paul, (Heb. 6, 13) says, "For when God made promise to Abraham, "because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, saying, surely blessing I will bless thee," and 17th v., "God willing "more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath."

66

66

(2 Tim, 4, 10) exhibits the overweening anxiety of all of Adam's children, from Esau downwards, about this world and its comparative trifles.

I