‘And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward    Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried    there all night, because the sun was set; and he took    of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows,     and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and    behold a ladder set up on…

          ‘The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God,          and into the patient waiting for Christ.’–2          THESS. iii. 5.A word or two of explanation of terms may preface our remarks on this,the third of the Apostle’s prayers for the Thessalonians in this letter.The first point to be noticed is that by ‘the Lord’ here is meant,…

    The archers shot at him, but his bow abode in strength,    and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands    of the mighty God of Jacob.’    GENESIS xlix. 23, 24.These picturesque words are part of what purports to be one of theoldest pieces of poetry in the Bible–the dying Jacob’s propheticblessing on his sons. Of…

    ‘And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that    Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be    scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.    36. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto    the many thousands of Israel.’–Num. x. 35, 36.The picture suggested by this text is a very striking…

    ‘So it was alway: the cloud covered [the tabernacle] by    day, and the appearance of fire by night.’–Num. ix. 16.The children of Israel in the wilderness, surrounded by miracle, hadnothing which we do not possess. They had some things in an inferiorform; their sustenance came by manna, ours comes by God’s blessing onour daily work, which…

    ‘I being in the way, the Lord led me.’–GENESIS xxiv. 27.So said Abraham’s anonymous servant when telling how he had foundRebekah at the well, and known her to be the destined bride of hismaster’s servant. There is no more beautiful page, even amongst themany lovely ones in these ancient stories, than this domestic idyll ofthe…

    ‘Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father    and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and    all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan;    and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took    some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them    unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto…

    ‘And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought    of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And    Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and    of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel,    and to his offering: But unto Cain, and to his offering,    he had not…

          ‘The glorious gospel of the blessed God.’–1 TIM.          i. 11.Two remarks of an expository character will prepare the way for ourconsideration of this text. The first is, that the proper rendering isthat which is given in the Revised Version–‘the gospel of the glory,’not the ‘glorious gospel.’ The Apostle is not telling us what kind ofthing the…

          ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all          acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world          to save sinners.’–1 TIM. i. 15.Condensation is a difficult art. There are few things drier and moreunsatisfactory than small books on great subjects, abbreviatedstatements of large systems. Error lurks in summaries, and yet here thewhole fulness of God’s communication to…