THIRTEENTH SUNDAY

FE

Morning

JACOB'S VISION AT BETHEL

Passage to be read: Gen. xxviii. 10-22.

EW places mentioned in Scripture are more rich in hallowed memories than Bethel. Time and again in the history of Israel we find it the scene of important or stirring deeds. But the incident which stands out from all the others, which has given the name of Bethel to a thousand sanctuaries, and which inspires our paraphrase 'O God of Bethel' with such depth of meaning, is the incident which forms our lesson for today. We all know what brought Jacob there. Esau was passionately angry at the trick that had been played upon him. There was no knowing what he might do in his fury (xxvii. 44). Some men, being insulted, show little sign of feeling, they bury their resentment and bide their time-such are the dangerous men. But other men flare up in fiery wrath, for a little season there is no reasoning with them, and of such a nature was Esau. It were well, then, that Jacob should be removed till the first heat of Esau's heart was cooled. There were other motives, too, connected with his marriage, that made the departure of Jacob a desirable thing. So Jacob, with many a prayer and many a tear-for he was still the idol of his mother's heart-was sent away from the tent, and came to Bethel.

IT

T is always a critical time when a young man leaves home, and this was Jacob's home-leaving. How soon all that we have been making of the years comes to the surface, for weal or woe! At home, we are sheltered by a father's care, and we are guarded by a mother's love; we scarcely know our perils and temptations while we are in that sweetest of all imprisonments. But the hour of liberty is sure to come, when in the providence of God we are cast on our resources, and it is then that we learn our weakness and our strength. This, then, was Jacob's home-leaving. We can picture the excitement of the man. He had never been a wanderer like Esau ; he had loved the quiet shelter of the tent. Now he was entering unfamiliar scenes, and his mind was intensely alive to all impressions. Gradually, as he journeyed, the character of the country changed. The rolling pastures gave place to highland scenery. Until at last, just as the day was closing, Jacob found himself beneath a mountain-side, where slab was piled on slab, and rock rose up on rock, as if the whole were a ladder of the Almighty. Then the sun sank, and Jacob lay down to sleep. And he dreamed, and in his dream he still saw the ladder. It is often the last thing that has impressed us in our waking hours which shapes the tenor and substance of our dream. But the ladder was all transfigured now. It was bright as light, and it reached up to heaven, and up and down its glowing steps there moved the feet of the angel-host of heaven. More glorious still, at the top of it was God; in what shape or form we do not know. And as sometimes, down a mountain-side, there falls a stream with sweet and soothing music, so down the ladder came the sound of a voice, a voice that is 'as the sound of many waters.' What glorious words of promise the voice spoke, we know. Then Jacob awoke, and all things were unchanged-unchanged, yet everything was new to him. And he said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God!

Now

OW what is the meaning of this heavenly dream? Well, first, remember that Jacob was looking backward. He realised, for the first time in his life, what it meant to be utterly alone. During the day he had not felt his loneliness, for the sunlight, and the stir of travel, and the meeting of merchants and travellers on the road, had helped to dissipate all vexing thoughts; but now in the 'dead vast and middle of the night' Jacob felt utterly alone. He thought of his aged father in the tent, and of his mother lying open-eyed in the darkness. She was thinking of him and praying for him and wondering where he was in that still hour. And every fresh thought of that love, now far away, intensified the isolation of Jacob. Then it was that Jacob had his dream. Then it was that God drew near to him. He learned in that never to be forgotten hour at Bethel that though alone, he was yet not alone. He was in touch with light and love and heaven. From the very stone where his head was couched that night there was free access to the feet of God. Was not that a turning-point in Jacob's history? Is it not always a crisis when we thus are found of God? We can never again be desolate and lonely, we can never think of the world as being tenantless. The places we live in and all the tasks we do are consecrated by the God of Jacob.

BUT Jacob was not only looking backwards, he was looking forward too. No one, in the hour of leaving home, can have all his heart centred in the past. What was before him, Jacob did not know. He seemed to himself to be an aimless wanderer. He was flying to escape his brother's anger, but what might come of it all he could not guess. Would he be home again after a week or two? Would it be years ere he saw the tent he loved? One thing only was clear to Jacob-that in the morning he must climb the mountain-side. So he lay

down to sleep, and lo! the ladder that led he knew not whither up the hill became a stair, all full of light and glory, that led up to the very feet of God. So Jacob learned, from the vision and the voice, that he was not in any sense an aimless wanderer. His feet were guided with unerring wisdom; his course was directed by unfailing love. God was his shepherd, and God would never leave him till He had done all He had spoken of (v. 15). What a great hour that was for Jacob! What a great hour it is for all of us, when we learn that we are not tossed like a leaf before the wind, but are moving forward on a path prepared.

IN N closing, let us never forget how Jesus used this scene, nor how, in the ladder which Jacob saw, He found the type and figure of Himself. Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man' (John i. 51). What does that mean? It means that through Jesus Christ we have access to God the Father. It means that the way to heaven, with all its angel-ministries, is the exercise of faith in the Son of Man. It means that if there is safety in lone places, and sweet society there, and light and love; if there is consecration of unlikeliest spots, and certain guidance for the unknown morrow, all this is won for us by our Mediator, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor.

ΤΗ

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY

Evening

FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND

Passage to be read: Matt. xiv. 13-21.

HIS is the only miracle recorded in each of the four Gospels, and we must take that as a token of the profound impression which it made. To us, the raising of Lazarus is more astounding than this mountain feast; but had we lived in Galilee, and heard the common talk, we should have perhaps found that this miracle was graven deepest on men's hearts. Most of the other miracles had been seen by few. There was no crowd near when the Nain widow got her son again. When Lazarus awoke, there were only the village neighbours present. But here five thousand lips had eaten, and five thousand lips would talk, until in every croft and cottage this miracle would be a household word. That deep impression is registered in the fourfold narrative.

ONLY

a word is needed to describe the miracle. Partly to avoid the dangerous neighbourhood of Herod, and still more, to refresh his overstrained disciples-for there is nothing like a day with Christ among the hills for making a worried heart itself again -Jesus and His disciples cross the loch, and steer for the quiet hills by the north shore. Alas! there was to be little rest that day. The folk had seen them launching. They hurry round by the north end of the loch, meeting and mingling with the pilgrim-companies making for Jerusalem to keep the Passover. And as the prow of the boat grates on the beach, and Jesus and His disciples step ashore, God's great cathedral of the mountain-side,