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staff, or rod, the emblem of authority, shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, from his posterity, until Shiloh come, till the promised Messiah shall be sent ; it shall be a distinct tribe, judged by its own laws, and not dispersed till Christ shall come; and unto him [shall] the gath ering of the people [be ;] some of all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, shall yield obedience to Christ, acknowledging him for 11 their Lord and Saviour. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes; his portion of land in Canaan shall abound with vines and fat pastures, insomuch that wine and milk shall be as plentiful and common, in a 12 manner, as water: His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk; his eyes shall be brighter than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk; all the people shall be healthful and cheerful, through the abundance they shall possess.

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Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; here is an allusion to his name, which signifies, dwellings; the situation of the twelve tribes being determined by lot, makes these predictions the more remarkable; and he [shall be] for an haven of ships; and his border [shall be] unto Zidon; their coasts were so situated as to be fit for easy and ordinary commerce with the Sidonians.

Issachar [is] a strong ass* couching down between two burdens: his posterity shall be of great strength, but small courage; and therefore shall patiently submit to any taxes which may be 15 laid upon them by their neighbours: And he saw that rest [was] good, and the land that [it was] pleasant; he shall delight in peace and cultivating the earth; and accordingly he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute; instead of opposing the Canaanites, they actually became tributary to them.

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Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. An allusion to his name, ch. xxx. 6. he has absolute power within himself to rule and govern, though the son of a concubine; as 17 other tribes who are descended from free women have. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.† Then Jacob, finding himself ready to faint, breaks out into this ejacu 18 lation; I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD ; or, I am waiting for thy salvation, for the happiness of a future state and world; I am ready and will ng to die when thou pleasest.

The asses of that country were larger than ours; princes and great men used to ride apon them.

A person should arise out of that tribe, who, though no danger shall be apprehended, yet he shall be like a serpent, or red adder, lying in the dust, which may be trod upon una wares, and shall bite the horse and throw the rider. This was fulfilled in Samson destroy. Ing the Philistines when blind, and in the disposition of this tribe to manage their wars rather by cunning and craft, than open hostilities. See Judges xviii. 27.

The Chaldee says, For the salvation of the king, the Messiah.

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REFLECTIONS.

ET us guard against an unstable temper, which was the cause of Reuben's sin, and the loss of his privileges. Let us labour after steadfastness of soul, that we may not waver to and fro, and be easily impressed and seduced by temptation; that our hearts may be fixed for God and religion; that we may be steadfast and unmoveable; that nothing may turn us aside from it. If we lose the excellency of virtue and piety, no other excellency will be of any avail to us.

2. Let us abhor cruelty of all kinds; especially under the mask of religion. Jacob remembered Simeon and Levi. Moses also leaves a mark of infamy on his great grandfather. We here see', to what a length the irregular workings of anger and resentment may carry us, and what a lasting blot they may leave on our names. Let us guard against selfwill and obstinacy, running hastily to It is cursed anger, es execute revengeful and wicked purposes. pecially when religion is brought in and made the pretence for it. What innumerable evils and miseries arise from anger and revenge! Be angry and sin not; restrain its workings, and guard your own spirits; make no friendship with furious men, avoid their company; and let all those who hate and destroy one anothO my soul, come not thou into their secret ; er, be our abhorrence. unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united.

3. Let us be thankful that Shiloh is come, and that we are gathered to him. Jacob, at this distance of time, and on his dying bed, saw his day, and was glad; it was his support and comfort. In the fulness of time he was manifested; the promised seed was born before the sceptre departed from Judah, or a lawgiver from between his feet. By him the people were gathered together, united in a new, a glorious, a christian church; and through the Though by nariches of divine grace we are gathered into it. ture we belong to the wild olive, to the gentile world, yet by grace we are united to the true vine; and all the children of God that were scattered abroad are gathered together, and are one in Christ Jesus. Many patriarchs, kings, and prophets desired to see this day, but were not so highly favoured. Let us be thankful for our privileges, and improve them well, that we may be a holy nation, a peculiar people; otherwise, we may fear that God will yet divide and scatter us; and the greater our privileges have been, the sorer will be our punishment.

4. Let us adore the hand of God in all the blessings of our situation. It is he who fixes the bounds of our habitation; who hath caused the lines to fall to us in pleasant places, and given us a goodly heritage, a fruitful country, where agriculture and navigation are so happily united, and the blessings of Judah and Zebulun are joined together. Let us serve the Lord with cheerfulness, in the abundance of all the good things we enjoy; never make them

a bait to luxury, but use them so as not to abuse them, and show our gratitude to God for them. We should be thankful that God hath given to some a taste for navigation and the sea, and to others for the labours and pleasures of a country life: that we have the produce of our own land in such abundance, and the produce of other countries, and of foreign climes, brought to our shores. God is to be owned and honoured in all this.

5. Let us be thankful that God hath raised us up so many judg es, who have judged the people in equity, and formed wise and good laws; so many deliverers, who have rescued us from tyranny, slavery, and sin, and overthrown those who would have trampled upon us, saying to our souls, Bow down, that we may go over you; who have confounded our enemies amidst their most sanguine prospects, and established our civil and religious liberties.

6. Let us, like the good patriarch, be waiting for God's salvation; and thankful that we have so much clearer discoveries of it than he had it is a salvation worth waiting for. Aged christians, especially, should cultivate this temper; they have seen much of the goodness of God to them, and experienced his faithfulness and care. Trust him then, in the last stages of your journey; and patiently wait all the days of your appointed time, till your great change shall come. Be assured that God's time is the best; wait cheerfully for so glorious an event; it is the best frame to be found in when your Lord comes; and you will find it good indeed to hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God.

CHAP. XLIX. 19, to the end.

Jacob having recovered a little strength, and being revived, proceeds to bless the other tribes.

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GAD, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome

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Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties; his corn land shall be very rich, and his bread corn of the choicest sort, fit for princes. They dwelt near mount Carmel, which was a very rich country.

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Naphtali [is] a hind let loose he giveth goodly words. Some think this refers to his temper, that he should be amiable and gentle, and his descendants remarkable for eloquence.†

* Here is an illusion to his name, which signifies a troop; many enemies shall overcome him; the Ammonites and Moabites did so; see Jer. xlix. but he shall overcome at the last. So he did under Jephtha, and kept possession of the country till the captivity. 1 Chren. v. 18.-22. Deut. xxxiii. 20.

I rather think it means they should live in a large and plentiful country, be lovers of liberry, like a hind let loose; and, being of a courteous, friendly disposition, should live in peace with their neighbours. Accordingly, we read of few wars among themselves, or op pression from others.

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Joseph, whose name signifies fruitful [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall; his posterity spread themselves to a great distance; we read of the thousands of Manasseh, and ten thousands of 23 Ephraim. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [af him,] and hated him; many set themselves against him, his brethren, mistress, master, and Pharaoh's courtiers, as the rabbies 24 say, and endeavoured to ruin him: But his bow abode in strength; he stood against all, like a tough bow, which neither breaks nor is weakened by use: his virtue was strong and unconquerable; and the arms of his hands were made strong, to draw his bow and stand his ground, by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob, who laid his hand on Joseph's arm; while he was drawing the bow, and enabled him to conquer (from thence, that is, from God, [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel; from God's power and providence it was that Joseph became the shepherd, to feed me and my family in the famine 3, or, the rock of Israel, to support us; he was the feeder and 25 supporter of the whole family) [Even] by, or from, the God of thy father, who shall help thee and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, rain and dew, which shall make thy land fruitful, blessings of the deep that lieth under, springs of water, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb, multitudes both of children and cattle, and those well 26 nourished: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors; I tenderly blessed thee when a child, and prayed for thee; and now I have the pleasure to see my prayers have been heard for thee, more than my father's for me, in the extent of the blessings, which are unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; of large extent and long continuance, even unto Bashan, and Tabor, and Hermon, and they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren, when he was sold into Egypt, and afterward was there highly advanced to a singular degree of honour.

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Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf, be strong, fierce, and warlike; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. This was the case at the beginning and end of that tribe; when ten were lost, this returned with Judah, and mingled with it.

All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel, the state and condition of the twelve tribes: and this [is it] that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them, with such a blessing as God saw fit for them, and his spirit dictated to Jacob.

And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the 30 cave that [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite, In the cave

that [is] in the field of Machpelah, which [is] before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying place, Hereby he designed to withdraw their minds from Egypt, and 31 to fix them upon Canaan. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his 32 wife; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field

and of the cave that [is] therein [was] from the children of 33 Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people, to his pious ances tors in another world. Thus peaceful and happy was the death of this friend of God!

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REFLECTIONS.

HE lot of Gad is an emblem of the state of true christians; Gad, a troop shall overcome him; but he shall overcome at the last. They are often overcome in this world, by afflictions and temptations; but at length they shall be conquerors, and more than conquerors. It is an emblem of the state of the church; which has often been overcome and brought low, but not destroyed; and at length it shall triumph gloriously, and vanquish all opposition. Great is the truth, and will prevail; even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

2. Let us imitate the sweetness of disposition that is celebrated in Naphtali; as a loving hind who giveth goodly words. Good words are cheap; it is easy to behave with civility and respect, and to secure the friendship of, and an interest in, those around us. It is not in our power to do service to every body; but we may use kind and respectful words to every one. The poor may do this; and if the rich will not add this to their other gifts, they will signify little. On our tongue let there be the law of kindness. Yet we should not be content with this, but love, not in word or tongue only, but in deed and in truth.

3. Let us pray that the power which strengthened Joseph, may also strengthen us under our difficulties and temptations. The archers have shot at us; many are tempting us to sin; there is a busy adversary who is shooting his fiery darts. Let us pray, that the Lord would be our shield; our strength is from him; he makes our bow to abide in strength; and the arms of our hands are made strong, by the hand of the mighty God of Jacob. What an amiable idea does this give us of divine assistance, and how suitable a prayer is this for all christians, and ministers especially! They draw the bow; God must put his hand on theirs, if they desire success. They must aim right; but it is God alone that can give their words force and strength. Let us pray for this, and remember, that our strength to bear afflictions,

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