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But Esau and Jacob could not stay
long together. Jacob went on his journey, and Esau returned to
Seir. They parted very affectionately; and then Jacob went to
Shechem, and staid there. And now Jacob had new troubles. His
family soon forgot God, and began to worship idols; and his sons were
disobedient, and passionate, and cruel. But God said to Jacob,
"Go now to Bethel, and make an altar there unto God." It
was at Bethel that Jacob saw the ladder, many years before, when God
promised to keep him, and to be with him wherever he went; and God had not
forgotten His promise, though Jacob had forgotten Bethel. God always
remembers His people, but they are often ungrateful, and do not remember
Him. Jacob obeyed God
directly. He told his family to bring to him all their foolish
idols; and he talked to them about God, and told them they must not again
make Him angry, by worshiping gods which could not help or save them; and
he took away these idols, and hid them under a tree in Shechem. Then
they all went to Bethel; and there Jacob built an altar, and praised his
God who had taken care of him so many years. God came to Jacob, and
blessed him in Bethel. He called him by his new name, Israel; and
told him again, that his children after him should possess the land of
Canaan. Soon after this,
death came into Jacob's family. First, Deborah died, Rebekah's
nurse, and was buried under an oak at Bethel. And then, when they
came to Ephrath, Rachel too died, and was buried there. The body was
laid in the tomb; and Jacob set a pillar upon her grave; but her sould
went to Heaven, where is no more death, nor sorrow, nor pain. She
left a babe named Benjamin. Children who lose their parents and
friends, will have God for their Father, if they ask Him to take care of
them; when their father and mother forsake them, then the Lord will take
them up. Psalms 27:10. Jacob
and his family went on now to Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived so
many years, Jacob's old home. Were his father and mother there
now? Not Rebekah, she was dead; Jacob never saw his mother
again. But Isaac was alive; he was now 180 years old. Jacob
was glad to see his father once more, and to have his forgiveness, and his
blessing; and Isaac must have rejoiced to know, that Jacob was now a
better man; that he loved God with all his heart, and that his past sins
had been repented of, and forgiven. Isaac soon after died, and his
happy soul went to Heaven. Then Esau came to see Isaac for the last
time; and he and Jacob wept together over their father and buried
him. Esau and Jacob loved one another now; but they could not live
together, because, like Abraham and Lot, they were both very rich, and
there was not room for all their cattle. So Esau went again to Mount
Seir, or Edom, where he lived like a king, and had great possessions, and
became very powerful. But Jacob staid in Canaan, where his
fathers Abraham and Isaac had lived, in the land which God had promised to
give to them, and to their children. If
God is pleased to give us riches and possessions in this world, we must be
thankful for them, and use them to His glory. If we have money, we
ought to be glad to give to the poor, and not to keep all for
ourselves. But if God makes us poor, then we must not murmur, nor be
discontented; we must not wish for more, nor covet the possessions of the
rich. And whether rich or poor, we should ask God to give us a
possession above, in Heaven. Jacob
was now an old man: he had known much sorrow in past years; Esau's
hatred; Laban's unkindness; his fear that his brother would come and hurt
him; his long journeys far from his home and parents; the death of his
wife, and his father; Jacob remembered all these troubles. But then
he remembered, too, how merciful God had been to him; how he had kept him
all his life; and delivered him from all evil: and Jacob felt he
could love God, and trust Him for ever. God will not forget His
people, even when they are old and helpless. He says, "To hoar
hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; I will carry, and
will deliver you." Isaiah 46:4.
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