quickly, he answered, "Because the Lord brought it unto me." Isaac began to doubt whether he was really Esau, and, telling him to come nearer, he felt his hairy hands and neck, and said, "The hands are the hands of Esau, but the voice is Jacob's."

Then Isaac gave to his son Jacob his blessing in these words :

"God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee."

When Jacob had received this blessing, he went back to his mother. L. And what did Esau do?

P. He returned soon after; "as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob," he came into his father's presence with his venison.

It was all ready prepared, and Esau said, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me."

Then did Isaac discover that he had been deceived, and then followed a most distressing scene, which I will read to you from the Sacred Word:

Let my father

"And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father! And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not rescrved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, my father! And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; and by thy sword shalt thou live,

and shalt serve thy brother: and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

"And Esau hated Jacob, because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

L. Poor Esau! but it was very wicked to say that he would kill his brother.

P. It is a sad truth, but Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob, all three, displeased the Almighty. You may learn from them the value of this proverb-"Always mean what you say!" Be truthful! Remember that promises are sacred; and he who makes promises lightly without meaning to keep them, makes mischief.

W. He makes mischief for himself, and for others.

P. Or, in other words-"He breeds strife!" Esau sold his birthright hastily and thoughtlessly, without meaning to keep his word, and see what wickedness followed!

Twenty-sixth Sunday.

JACOB'S JOURNEY TO PADAN-ARAM.

"And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father, and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother."-GEN. xxvii. 46; xxviii. 1, 2.

P. Did I tell you last week that Esau wished to kill his brother Jacob?

L. I think you did, papa.

P. Let us think about JACOB.

When he saw the dark fierce look of his strong brother, I dare say he half suspected in himself, "He will try and kill me." REBEKAH, too, would be very anxious. I dare say that troubled thoughts tormented her very often. "Oh," she would think to herself, "God is very angry-perhaps He will take away my

two sons; perhaps he will let them kill each other. Oh, how sad! I have made them to be enemies. Oh, how sad! They will kill each other; then shall I wander up and down this weary land, without children."

Now, ESAU was of a blunt open character; he never hid the feeling of his heart, and when he felt angry he would say so. So, there is no doubt that he not only said, "I will slay Jacob" in his heart, but with his lips. How anxious must Rebekah have felt then! "Ah," she would say to herself, by night and by day, "he will do it! he will do it! He certainly will, and—ah, that dreadful law! the blood avenger will then kill Esau also, and what will become of Abraham's seed?"

L. What does that mean?-the blood avenger?

P. She was thinking of the dreadful law of the desert-a law which is still observed among the wild Bedouins, and other uncivilized tribes. By this law, if a man be slain, his nearest relative is bound to pursue the slayer, and to kill him. The east is a country of fierce passsions; there, the ignorant people delight in revenge, which they call a "noble " feeling. The nearest relative of a murdered man rises to his duty promptly, and with great alacrity. By the law of blood avenging he is bound not to rest—never to let his purpose sleep-until he has taken “LIFE FOR LIFE, and BLOOD FOR BLOOD!" Supposing, therefore, that Esau had killed Jacob, the duty of the "blood-avenger" would have fallen upon the eldest son of Ishmael. Rebekah knew this, and knew that Ishmael's son would too surely perform his cruel duties. At the very least, Esau must have fled. He must have been off to the very end of the world, a fugitive and a vagabond, like Cain who murdered his brother.

L. Poor Rebekah! how tormented she must have been.

P. Yes, but Rebekah ought to have known better. If she had had the faith of a good woman, she would have said to herself, "God has promised that Abraham's seed shall live, and shall become a great nation; therefore, now that Jacob has received the blessing, God will not let him die."

P. Why did she not? She had a mind, and could think.

W. I don't know.

P. Then I will tell you. It is one of the dreadful consequences of guilt that the mind is troubled, and cannot think aright. No! The guilty conscience is full of dark fears which hang like heavy clouds before the mind, so that it cannot see. Rebekah could not see anything

but the troubles which she thought ought to fall upon her for her deceit to good old Isaac.

L. But, I think that she was a good mother; she must have loved her sons very much.

P. True; it was her "mother's love" which brought the thought that saved Jacob. She thought, at last, "I will send him away!" She thought again, "There is a good excuse for sending him away. Isaac must have a wife; now it would not be right for him to take a wife from these people of Heth in Canaan; he ought to find one from amongst our own family."

L. That is what his father ISAAC had been obliged to do.

P. "Therefore "—she thought—"therefore I will ask Isaac to let him go at once." Hear what the Bible tells us she said to Jacob:

"And she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now, therefore, my son, arise, flee thou to Laban my brother, to Haran; and tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send and fetch thee; why should I be deprived also of you?"

Hear next what she said to Isaac :

"And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?"

L. Ah, I do not much like Rebekah's character; she was not a very honest woman,-for, you see, she did not tell Isaac her exact reasons for wanting Jacob to go.

P. But, as I told you before, it is the misfortune of all those people who begin in a wrong course, they are almost sure to go on,-some never turn back. Now, hear what Isaac said:

"And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, that thou mayest inherit the land which God gave unto Abraham. And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother."

L. And what did Esau say, when he heard that Jacob had gone? P. He thought to himself, "I have been very foolish in taking a wife. I have taken some of the women of Canaan to be my wives; I will also take one of our family for a wife;"-so, like a hot-headed, hasty man that he was, he went and married the eldest daughter of his uncle Ishmael! This marriage was, however, more pleasing to his father than his former marriages. Now let us talk of Jacob's journey.

In a book called THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF PALESTINE, which has helped me very much to make lessons for you, there is a very pleasing account of Jacob's journey. It says-" Jacob proceeded on his long journey to Mesopotamia, making, in the first place, for the fords of the Jordan, which river his course obliged him to cross." Ion. How far had he to go, papa?

P. The distance was about sixty miles; this could not be travelled in less than two days, and might take three. Thirty miles per day was considered a good journey for a mounted traveller even. "On the second or third evening, he arrived in the neighbourhood of a town which bore the name of Luz, on account of the numerous almond-trees which grew there; and here he determined to spend the night. Having procured from the neighbouring town such refreshments (including oil) as he needed for his present relief, and for his use in the morning, he lay down to rest, placing a stone under his head for a pillow. He appears to have been in a dejected state of mind."

L. I wonder why he was dejected.

P. Think. What would make him so?

W. He would be afraid least Esau should come after him.

L. And he would think of the long way he had to go yet.

Ion. And he would wonder what would be his lot, in the place he was going to.

Ada. And he would cry, because he had left his father and mother; he would not like to part with his mother.

P. Very likely, very likely; and so with a saddened heart he laid his head on his hard pillow, and soon dropped off to sleep. What is it that people do sometimes, when they fall asleep?

Ada. They make dreams.

P. They do not make the dreams. A person's imagination makes dreams for him. The imagination (or fancy) then works by itself.