Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-13

thee fruitful and multiply thee, and will
make of thee a multitude Of people. and
will give this land to thy seed after thee
for an everlasting possession.
g. And now thy two sons. Ephraim and
Manasseh. which were born unto thee In
the land Of Egypt before came unto thee
into Egypt are mine: as Reuben and 81
neon they shall be mine.
6. And thy issue, which thou begettest
after them, shall be thine, and shall be
called after the name of their brethren in
their inheritance.
7. And as for me. when I came from
Padan Rachel died by me in the land OF
Canaan in the way, when yet there was
but little way to come unto Ephrath ana
I buried her there in the way Of Ephrath;
the same is Bethlehem.
8. And Israel beheld Josephs sons and
said: Who are these?
9. And Joseph said unto his father: They
are my sons, whom God hath given me In
this place. And he said: Bring them,
pray thee, unto me and l will bless them.
10. Now the eyes of Israel were dim for
age, SO that he could not see, and he
brought them near unto him and he kissed
them and embraced them.
IL. And Israel said unto Joseph: I had
not thought to see thy face. and 10. God
hath showed me also thy seed.
II. And Joseph brought them out from
between his knees, and he bowed himself
with his face to the earth.
13. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim
in his right hand toward Israels left hand
and Manasseh in his left hand toward
Israers right hand, and brought them near
unto him.
IA. And Israel stretched out his right
hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head,
who was the younger and his left hand
upon Manasseh's head. guiding, his hands
Willingly, for Manasseh was the first born.
10. And he blessed Joseph and said: Cod
before whom my fathers Abraham and
Isaac, did walk, the God which fed me all
my lifelong unto this day.
16. The angel which redeemed me from
all evil bless the lads, and let my name be
named on them, and the name of my IA
Tiers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them
grow into multitude in the midst Of the
earth.
II. And when Joseph saw that his father
laid his right hand upon the head or
Ephraim it displeased him, and he held up
his fathers hand to remove 1t from
Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
is, And Joseph said unto his father: Not
so, my father. for this is the first born; put
thy right hand upon his head.
10. And his father refused, and said:
become people, and he also shall be great.
but truly his younger brother shall be
greater than he. and his seed shall become
a multitude Of nations
The Lesson.
Crafty" everybody calls him, this Jacob
whom we study today. Supplanter in name
and In character, Jacob does not seem an
ideal person. We find ourselves wondering.
as we read the story, how he was so very
much better than Esau, and why God chose
him to receive the blessing. We do not feel
that we should have given him any blessing
at all II 1t had been In our hands to dis
pose Of. He does not deserve it. He may
have been attractive in a way, but he was
certainly spoiled child, and so long as he
remained at home, where he was sheltered
and guarded, he does not seem to be one to
admire praise. We find ourselves being
half sorry he got the blessing and the in
heritance. We cannot help wondering that
God gave him 80 great treasures. yet when
we judge him so hastily we must remember
that Jacob had not yet met God and heard
Him speak. Esau seems never to have come
to understand that God could be anything
in particular to man except far-away
director, to whom it was necessary to yield
sometimes. To Jacob God was as yet only
the God of his Understanding personal to
him at all. 1t was not until Jacob. sud-
denly finding himself an outcast because Of
his sin and his brothers wrath, had to
flee for his life, that he found need for
any greater friend than his mother and his
own wits.
Two great experiences stand out in the
life of the man who, in spite of his grave
faults, had in him the elements of true
greatness. The first Of these experiences
occurred during his journey to Padan- Aram,
mother, supposedly to get wife from
among his mothers kin, but In reality to
escape murder from his angry brother. Let
US quote from Marcus Dods:
LAS Jacob journeyed northward he came,
on the second or third evening of his flight.
to the hills of Bethel AS the sun was
sinking he found himself toiling up the
rough path which Abraham may have de-
scribed to him looking like a great
staircase Of rock and crag reaching from
earth to sky. Slabs of rock piled one upon
another, form the whole hillside and to
Jacobs eye, accustomed to the rolling
pastures of Beersheba they would appear
almost like a structure built for super
human uses. we'll founded IN the valley be-
low, and intended to reach to unknown
heights. Overtaken by darkness on this
rugged path he readily finds as soft a bed
and as good shelter as his shepherd habits
require, and with his head on stone and
a corner of his dress thrown over his face
to protect hif from the moon he Is soon
fast alseep But in his dreams the massive
staircase is still before his eyes. and it is
no longer himself that is toiling up it. as
it leads to an UNEMPLOYED hilltop above him,
but the angels of God are ascending and
descending upon 1t, and at its top Is
Jehovah Himself. Thus simply does God
meet the thoughts Of Jacob and lead him to
the encouragement he needed He
had no doubt wondered whether the bless
ing of his father was, after all, so valuable
a possession, whether it might not have
been wiser to take a share with Esau than
to be driven out homeless thus! COO
has never spoken to him; he mas heard
him from God, but as for him, through all
the long years of his life he has never
heard what he could speak of as a voice
Of God But this night these doubts were
silenced-there came to his soul an assur-
ance that never departed from it. He could
have affirmed that he heard God saying to
him: I am the Lord God Of thy father
Abraham and the God Of Isaac; the land
wherein thou Hest, to thee will l give It.
And lastly all these thoughts GEN.
tered In one deep feeling, he was an out
cast, a fugitive from justice. Might
not God also forsake him-might not God
Danish him and might he not find curse
pursuing him, preventing man or woman
from ever looking in his face with pleas
ure? Such fears are met by the vision.
This desolate spot, unvisited by sheep or
bird. has become busy with life, angels
thronging the ample staircase. Here where
he thought himself lonely and outcast he
finds he has come to the very gate Of
heaven. His fond mother might, at that
hour, have been visiting his silent tent and
shedding Intellectual tears on his abandoned
bed, but he finds himself in the very house
of God cared for by angels. What
more effectual consolation could any poor
outcast, who felt he had spoiled his life,
require than the memory of this staircase
reaching from the pillow of the lonely fugi-
tive from justice up to the very heart of
t,a,,ano How could any deSOlate soul feel