The Unchanging God Cheering Jacob in His Change of Dwelling Place

The Unchanging God Cheering Jacob in His Change of Dwelling Place

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 1, 1889,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to
Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And
God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob,
Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And He said, I am God, the God of your
father: fear not to go down into Egypt. For I will there make of you a
great nation: I will go down with you into Egypt. And I will also
surely bring you up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon your
eyes." Genesis 46:1-4.

NOTICE in this passage the two names which are mentioned. "Israel took
his journey and God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night and
said, Jacob, Jacob." "Jacob" was the name of his weakness–"Israel" was
the title of his strength. "Jacob" was the name of his
birth-nature–"Israel" was the name of his new and spiritual nature.

When Israel set out to go down into Egypt and see his son Joseph, he
started in great vigor and strength for an old man–faith made him full
of force. Therefore we read, "Israel took his journey." I see the old
man revived and stirred up to a high degree of hopeful energy. He
traveled some few miles on the first day and reached the well of
Beersheba. It was the border town, where stood the well of the
oak–after passing Beersheba he would be out of the land of promise and
on his way to Egypt.

And at the remembrance of this fact, the old trembling came over him
and he became Jacob, as at some prior time. When he was to take the
decisive step to leave Canaan and make his journey into Egypt, then he
suddenly felt himself a Jacob and began to halt upon his thigh. And the
Lord in the visions of the night addressed him by the name which was
most suitable to his condition, saying to him, "Jacob, Jacob." He did
not call him "Israel." He came to him in his infirmity and trial and
suited His speech to his condition. The Lord met the weakness of His
servant's faith, and sent him consolations fitted rather for Jacob than
for Israel.

Dear Friends, I am afraid that the lives of many of the Lord's chosen
people alternate between "Israel" and "Jacob." Sometimes we are "strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might," and at another time we cry,
"Who is sufficient for these things?" Like princes we prevail with God
and are true Israels. But perhaps before the sun has gone down we limp
with Jacob and though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. We are
Jacob before we are Israel. And we are Jacob when we are Israel.

But blessed be God, we are Israels with God when we cease to be Jacobs
among men. The Lord has chosen Jacob and redeemed Jacob and preserved
Jacob. But His great aim is to make the Israel in him the dominant
character. He shall be far more a prince with God than a supplanter
among men.

Turning to the text, we have a lesson to learn from it. We find that
Jacob, on his way down to Egypt, came to Beer-sheba, the border place,
and this marked a distinct stage in his journey. He came to Beersheba,
the place of many memories, where God had spoken to his father Abraham
by the well. This was the place, I suppose, where Abraham was when the
Lord said to him, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you
love, and offer him for a burnt offering." It was, therefore, a
memorable spot in the history of his family, and it was just then a
turning point in his own career. And therefore it called for special
waiting upon the Lord.

He was to break new ground and enter upon a way which he had not trod
up to now. And so we read that he offered sacrifices to the God of his
father Isaac. Herein is wisdom. In commencing a new era, let there be
new devotion. It is well

to begin everything with God, who is the Beginner of all things. When
young people begin housekeeping they should consecrate an altar as soon
as ever they have set up a tent. When you begin business, this thought
should be upon you– "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in
vain that build it."

Therefore, wait upon Him for guidance and help. In starting upon every
journey, whether long or short, and entering upon every day, however
commonplace the day may be, it is always well to begin it with God.
Remember the old and gracious Proverb, that "prayer and provender
hinder no man's journey." The offering of sacrifices unto God did not
hinder Jacob's journey–on the contrary, it was the making of him as a
traveler. For now he began his journey outside of Canaan under the
special convoy of the Lord, his God. Now the angels of God took up
their places around the wayfarers and day and night they led the van
and brought up the rear of the patriarchal caravan.

I suppose that Jacob, on this occasion, offered sacrifice for three
reasons, at least. One was to purge his household of any sin that might
lie upon it. He had a very strange family, this man Jacob. It was badly
begun at the outset, of four mothers–and jealousies were sure to
abound. Taking them all round, his many sons were a very sad lot to be
the sons of such a man. His own account of them on his deathbed is most
painful. Much sin, even of the blackest dye, had defiled that chosen
family.

The stories of Reuben, Levi, Simeon, Judah, and others, are very dark.
The aged head of the clan seems to say, with broken-hearted penitence,
"Before we go down into this Egypt, let us offer sacrifice whereby our
grievous sins may be put away, lest we provoke the Lord on the road."
It reminds us of father Job, when, after his children had fulfilled
their days of feasting, he called them together and offered sacrifice,
lest they might have sinned in their hearts and cursed God foolishly.

How often have we cause to suspect some secret backsliding, some
careless omission, some transgression unperceived! It is well to go
again to the cleansing fountain for fresh washing, to fly anew to the
great sacrifice of Christ and renew our acquaintance with its cleansing
power. O Lord, purify our households at this hour! Let our families and
our Churches know anew the expiation for sin by which the conscience is
purged from dead works, to serve the living and true God.

Do you not think that Jacob also offered this sacrifice for another
reason? Did he not present it by way of thanksgiving? He is going down
into Egypt–but it is to see Joseph–what a joy this meant! Joseph is
yet alive. He is going to look him in the face. Benjamin, of whom the
old man had said, "Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you will take
Benjamin away"–Benjamin had come back safe and sound–this was no mean
favor. Whereas he had said, "All these things are against me," now he
perceives that all these things are for him.

And so he offers sacrifice unto the Lord. Let us magnify the Lord
whenever we are led to see the extraordinary light of His goodness in
those places which looked unusually dark. When the cloud we so much
dreaded has turned out to be big with mercies and has scattered showers
of blessings upon our heads, let us bless the Lord and bring our
sacrifices of joy and praise unto His name.

Surely, these two alone would be right good reasons for offering
sacrifice. But Jacob had this other–that he might enquire of the Lord
as to His way. At the altar he hoped to receive the oracle. Poor old
Jacob appears to have been in a great dilemma–he seems to have greatly
questioned whether it was right for him to go down into Egypt. And, as
I shall have to show you, it was a matter that was open to grave
question and could not have been safely decided unless the Lord had
spoken.

It was the custom with men, when they offered sacrifice, to use the
occasion of the sacrifice as an opportunity for consulting the oracles
of God and learning His Divine will. People went up to the temple of
the Lord to enquire His mind– they went to ask direction from God's
mouth, through His servants–who spoke in His name. I wish sometimes
that God's people would be more careful to ask their way of God. I fear
that they too often err by blundering on and taking no heed to their
way.

When I get into a part of the country where I do not know the road, I
ask my way of almost everybody I see, because I think that there will
not be half the time spent in asking the way that will be wasted in
going wrong. The Lord loves to see His children anxious to be right.
For that anxiety is a great point in their right guidance. If He does
not speak to us in a dream, nor by the Urim and Thummim, nor by the
voice of a Prophet, yet He secretly guides our minds.

We are made careful–we are helped to weigh the matter in the balances
of the sanctuary and then our cool, calm judgment makes its decisions
and we choose the way which is most for God's glory. It is a safe and a
pleasant thing to enquire in His temple. For God the Holy Spirit still
directs the paths of His people and leads them in the way everlasting.

So let us learn from Jacob, especially at the beginning of any fresh
enterprise, to draw near unto God with special devotion. We cannot too
often remember that great Sacrifice by which we live–neither can we
too often present ourselves as living sacrifices unto the Lord.

But now, plunging into the center of the text, I notice, first, that
Jacob had a fear. His fear was natural. But, secondly, his fear needed
to be removed, for God said to him, "Fear not to go down into Egypt."
And, thirdly, his fear was removed most sweetly. And with confidence,
the venerable man went on his way.

I. First, then, JACOB'S FEAR WAS NATURAL. It was natural because he was
an aged man–an aged man leaving the land of his birth. Old men do not
like changes and they especially fear changes of country and custom. A
young man runs all over the world and cares little where he goes, for
he has plenty of youth's quicksilver in him. He cries, "Sitting hens
get no barley"–and so he pecks up a grain here and a grain there, from
Liverpool to New York, and from New York to San Francisco, and from
there to New Zealand, the Cape, and home again.

The young man makes himself at home anywhere. But the old man loves the
old house at home and the fireside where his children have been likely
to gather. Old trees strike their roots deep and it is not easy to
transplant them. It is neither pleasant nor safe to uproot an ancient
elm–let it stay where it is. Solomon says concerning the old man, that
he is "afraid of that which is high and fears shall be in the way." And
it is very natural, indeed, that the man should feel a great
disturbance in his mind at the sight of high enterprises and untrod
ways.

Was not Jacob one hundred and thirty years old, or thereabouts, at the
time when he went down into Egypt? He had lived, in the pastures of
Canaan with his flocks and herds, the life of a Bedouin shepherd, and
his whole soul clung to the country. For "Jacob was a plain man
dwelling in tents." The oaks and the plains of Mamre, the hills of
Carmel and the valleys of Succoth were dear to him and he started at
the idea of emigrating to a land of canals and watercourses, and he
dreaded life among educated Egyptians and pompous officers of Pharaoh.
It was no slight change from Canaan to Egypt. Do you wonder that he was
afraid?

His fear also, no doubt, arose, next, from the fact that he was going
into an idolatrous country of which he knew very little, except that it
was a place which teemed with the memorials of false deities. A land of
religion so degraded that cats and crocodiles were worshipped and even
vegetables which grew in the gardens. An Egyptian must have been a
living riddle to an unsophisticated shepherd from such a country as
Palestine. Egypt had a reputation for learning and philosophy and
divination. And these, to an aged countryman, would seem mysterious and
uncanny features in his venture.

He loved not the change. The Canaanites were bad enough. But he had
grown accustomed to them and they had a healthy fear of him–these
Egyptians, what might they not do? He was encouraged, because Joseph
was there and was lord over all Egypt–even that was a very romantic
affair and the whole business was surrounded with mystery.

Finally, the associations of Egypt were trying. It had cost the good
old man many bitter pangs to send his sons down into that country to
buy corn. Egypt had an ugly name for him. It was like sending them to
Botany Bay, or Norfolk Island. Somehow, it was not a country that he
had any liking for, and so Jacob's heart was in his mouth. And he
trembled to think that in his old age he should be going away from
where he had lived and especially to be going, not to the ancient
country from where his family had originally come forth, but to Egypt,
a place which was of ill savor to his fathers, a country whose
associations were rather trying than hopeful.

Abraham went down into Egypt and he met with trouble there and brought
away from it one named Hagar, who was a great trial in his household.
In fact, it was the mischievous event in his life. And Isaac had
thought of going there but the Lord appeared unto him and said, "Go not
down into Egypt." So a country where his grandfather fared ill and
where his father was warned not to go, must have seemed, to the anxious
Patriarch, to be a place to be avoided rather than sought.

He shook his head many times and though he had said so bravely, "Joseph
is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die," the journey wore the
aspect of great risk and tremendous difficulty–with a question hanging
over it like a black cloud–"After all, would it be a right step?"
Taking all things into consideration, he was filled with a very
natural, and I think I may add, a very proper fear. Would not you have
trembled had you been in his position?

Moreover, he had some intimation, probably, that this was to be a land
of pre-eminent trial for his race. For had not God said to Abraham that
his seed should be strangers in a strange land and that they should be
afflicted for four hundred years? The old man, with prescient eye,
began to suspect that this was to be the land which caused Abraham the
horror of great darkness, which was set forth before him as the fiery
furnace and the smoking lamp. And so he was afraid to go down into
Egypt.

And even though Joseph was there, and Joseph was lord over all the
land, I should not wonder if the old man was nervous and said, "Joseph
may not always be lord over the land–he may fall from his position. As
far as I can find out, they put him in prison once. Why should they not
put him in prison again? I fear we shall run a great risk." When we
once get into the vein of distrust and foreboding, we can always find
fresh relays of doubt and fear–at least, I can. How quick we are at
inventing objects of fear! We see in the clouds what was never there
but only in our own eyes. We see things which may be–things that never
will be. We are fretted at possibilities and ready to faint at
adventures. Those dreadful things may be. And what if they were to be?
What then and what then?

Then I have no doubt he felt that the change would involve himself and
his family in new temptations. They had behaved badly enough among the
simple pastoral people–what would they do in the midst of the vices of
Egypt? I must confess that I often feel great diffidence in
recommending people to make changes in life–especially in quitting the
country to go to the great city. Change has its perils. You begin to
know your temptations by now and you are somewhat prepared to withstand
them. But you know not what may happen to you in another sphere, with
other surroundings, and other influences.

All things considered, I would rather carry my old burden. For it
begins to fit my back and my back has grown somewhat used to it. But
what about a new burden? It might be more heavy and it might try me in
fresh places and cause fresh wounds. For myself, I am not anxious to
make any changes, for I have read the words of Solomon the wise–"As a
bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his
place."

When God commands a man to follow an untried path, he may go rightly
and wisely, even as the young swallows fly in their appointed time,
though they have never traversed the continents before. But he who
wanders out of sheer wantonness may find that he has gone from bad to
worse and may come to wish himself back again to that which he
despised.

If Jacob trembled at making so great a change, it was not without
reason. All the habits of the family would be rudely shaken, and a new
mode of life would be forced upon them. He could not have guessed that
there would be a Goshen for the shepherds, and he must have dreaded
leaving a quiet pastoral life for the refinements of Egyptian society
and the blandishments of Egyptian idolatry.

I need say no more on that point–Jacob was always anxious, and in his
old age, more so than ever. The sketch I have given may be the picture
of some friend now present. And if it is so, I will hope that in my
discourse he may hear cheering voices from the Lord God to allay his
fears. May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, make it so!

II. But, in the second place, God was not of a mind that His servant
should be the slave of dread–HIS FEAR WAS TO BE REMOVED. Therefore,
the Lord appeared to Jacob in the night visions, not to tell him of new
empires, not to reveal to him the destinies of princes but simply to
say to him, "Fear not."

It appears to God to be an important matter to chase away fear, even
though it is troubling only one person and that person an aged man. The
Lord broke the eternal silence, to drive away the anxieties of a single
individual. He said to him, "Jacob, Jacob." And then he added, "Fear
not to go down into Egypt." Are you very fearful and timorous at this
time, dear Brother? It is not the Lord's will that you should remain
so–He would deliver you from this bondage.

The Lord would drive away your fears because, in the first place, fear
makes you unhappy. It is an unhappy thing for a father when he comes
home from business and finds his child in distress of mind. He likes to
see him run cheerfully to meet him and smile and sing a welcome. Our
heavenly Father would have His people rejoice in Him. Do you want any
proof of it? Does He not command you, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and
again I say, Rejoice"? The Lord puts it thus, "Delight yourself also in
the Lord. And He shall give you the desires of your heart." The Spirit
made the Prophet exclaim, "Happy are you, O Israel." God takes it ill
if His people find no joy in Him. He is our portion and it is sad if we
are not delighted with such an inheritance.

But, next, the Lord would not have His people vexed with fear, because
it is sadly weakening in its effects. Jacob had a difficult task
enough, to go down into Egypt and bear witness for the true God in that
region, and he needed more,

rather than less, strength. In the midst of Canaan, his path had been a
very difficult one, to stand fast for God in the midst of that wicked
and perverse generation. He had sadly failed even in that lesser task,
for his family had grossly transgressed and fallen into the ways of the
world around them.

In Egypt his work would be more severe. For he would have the wisdom of
the Egyptians to battle with, a wisdom proudly conservative of errors
which had become hoary with antiquity. He must not go down to such a
battlefield with his hands hanging down and his knees feeble. Before we
begin a new enterprise, fear may be seasonable–we ought to be cautious
as to whether our way is right in the sight of God. And therefore Jacob
had that fear. But when we once begin and intend going through with an
enterprise, we must say farewell to fear, for fear will be fatal to
success.

Go straight ahead. Believe in God and carry the work through. To fear
in the day of battle will be mischievous to the last degree. Then shall
it be as when a standard bearer faints. When the standard of our
confidence falls in the dust, who shall gird himself for the battle?
Therefore the Lord, that His servant Jacob might be fit for what was
before him, bade him be of good courage and said to him, "Fear not."

I am sure that the Lord wished His servant Jacob to cease from every
kind of fear, because otherwise it would look as if he were quarrelling
with the Divine will. He is to go down into Egypt by Divine command.
But if he is afraid to go, it would appear that he judged that the Lord
had put him upon an ill business. When God judged it right for him to
go, he must rest assured that it was right. Hesitate, my dear Friend,
while you are not sure that it is God's will. But when once you are
certain that it is according to the Lord's mind, it will be
unfaithfulness to God to have any kind of fear.

Steam straight ahead, for that way lies your haven. Go on in a direct
line, like an arrow shot from a mighty bow, which seeks nothing but the
target. Say with one of old, "Shall such a man as I flee?" If God is
with you, who can be against you? Flight, when God supports, would be
not only disastrous, but treacherous. It is not to be dreamed of for a
moment. You have no armor for your back–face the foe–yes, face him,
though he were ten thousand strong. You are able to overcome the armies
of the aliens. God being with you, the day is yours.

If you treat the Lord as you should, you will become incapable of fear.
You will, like young Nelson, ask, "What is fear?" You cannot see any.
"The Lord is my strength; of whom shall I be afraid?" The Lord of Hosts
is with us, therefore we will not fear. Perhaps I might as well apply
the subject now and say–Are you beginning to preach, my dear Friend,
in a new place and are you afraid? Do new faces startle you? Set
yourself to get rid of this fear of man. The Lord forbids it.

Are you going across the sea directly and are you afraid of the journey
and the foreign land? Hasten to the Lord and ask Him to drive all this
fear far from you. Are you undertaking some new service in the Church
and are you trembling at the responsibility? Cry to the Lord at once to
strengthen your weak hands and confirm your feeble knees. For, at this
moment, though the Lord does not appear to you in vision, yet He speaks
to you out of this grand old Book and by the mouth of His servant,
saying unto you, "Fear not to go down into Egypt." Surely, a "fear not"
from the mouth of the Lord will make you bold as a lion!

III. And now I shall need to show you how HIS FEAR WAS REMOVED MOST
SWEETLY. Who can cheer the

heart so effectually as the Lord our God? Fears must depart when the
Lord forbids them.

First, the Lord removed his fears by showing that He knew him by his
name. He said "Jacob, Jacob." "Oh," says one, "if the Lord were to
speak to me by my name I should not be afraid any longer." I am not
sure of that, for you might be even more fearful than you now are. But
do you think that God does not know your name? Do you dream that if you
have sought His face and cried to Him for mercy He does not know your
name? Why Beloved, He knows all things. He knows your secret thoughts.
He knows the way that you have taken and the way that you are about to
take.

He knows you infinitely better than you know yourself. Rest in the fact
that your heavenly Father knows what you have need of. O poor troubled
One, you that are cast down on account of sin, remember that the Lord
knew this Patriarch by his weak and sinful name of Jacob, as well as by
his bright and princely name of Israel. He knew him by his worse name
as well as by his better. God knows you by your old name, for He knows
your old nature. And He knows your new name and your new nature. He
calls you tonight and tells you–"I know you. I know you. I know all
about you. Your name is engraved on the palms of My hands.

"Dream not that I have forgotten you. If you can not spell out your own
case, I can read it. If you do not know your own griefs so as to
interpret them to another, I understand all your sorrows, your burdens
and your failures. I know your

despondencies and your despairs. I know you, Jacob." Therefore, since
the Lord knows us altogether, let us trust Him and He will make even
our weaknesses to magnify the power of His Grace.

Next, the Lord told him that he was on communion terms with God. The
Lord said to him, "Jacob, Jacob," and he answered, "Here am I." God had
to call out to Adam, "Adam, where are you?" But Jacob could say, "Here
am I." Oh, it is a blessed thing to be on such terms with God that you
can truly say, "Here am I, my Lord–I have nothing to hide. I stand
forth before Your presence and have no desire to conceal myself from
Your eyes, neither have I anything to reserve from Your notice. Tell me
what I am to do. For I am willing and eager to do it. Take me and make
what You will of me. For I am Yours and rejoice to be so. Break me up
and melt me and pour me out into Your mold, if You see fit. For 'Here
am I.' "

He that has given up selfhood and is willing that God should do
whatever He wills with him, is on communing terms with God. The barrier
is removed and the Lord God Almighty can dwell with us and even give us
the desires of our heart. But then it follows–if you are on such happy
terms with God, be not afraid. Now that you may speak with God and He
will deign to speak with you, why should you be the prey of
apprehensions? Why should Jacob be afraid of Pharaoh if he is no longer
afraid of Jehovah? If you are at peace with God, who is he that shall
harm you? The stones of the field shall be in league with you and the
beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

Hushed is the thunder and pointless is the shaft of the lightning, when
once a man is right with God. Even if the laws of nature should crush
his mortal frame, they would but release his joyful spirit and admit
him the sooner to the joys of Heaven above. Therefore you have nothing
to be afraid of, O you who walk with God! If the Lord is your Friend,
who is he that can harm you? All is well. The stars in their courses
fight for you and the angels of God watch over you. To the friends of
God all nature is friendly. Heaven and earth, and sea and land, all
welcome the man on whom their Creator smiles.

Next, the Lord removed His servant's fear by declaring Himself to be
the God of the Covenant. "I am God," He said, "the God of your father."
He manifests Himself as the same God as ever–as much the God of Jacob,
the son, as of Isaac, the father. The Lord will be to us what He has
been to His people at some prior time. He has pledged Himself to us as
to our fathers. He has promised to us, even to us, the blessing,
saying, "Surely, blessing I will bless you."

My dear Friends and Brethren, can you say, "This God is our God forever
and ever"? Is Jehovah the God of this generation as of the former? Some
of you do not desire to have Jehovah for your God. Then you cannot have
the blessing that comes from His being your God. But you that can say,
"My God, my Father, You shall be my Guide," you have no cause to fear.
If God is your God, the chief thing is secured and all the rest will be
right. When we have God, we have all things. To be in order with the
Most High is to be right with all the forces of the universe, both in
nature and in Providence.

If the Lord is yours, all things are yours. As He is the God of
eternity, "things present and things to come are yours" in Him. Oh, how
sweet to fly to our Covenant God when the tempest is lowering! Where my
father found a most secure abode, there I also dwell.

Next, the Lord said to him, "Fear not to go down into Egypt. For I will
there make of you a great nation." The promise of a great blessing is
the dismissal of all fear. Jacob's house cannot be destroyed if God is
going to multiply them into a great nation. If the apparent evil will
work together for our good, why do we dread it? Beloved Sufferer, do
not be afraid of the cancer which is preying upon you. It is a terrible
disease. But if the Lord is going to make your long illness a saving
blessing to your family, you may resign yourself to the lingering pain
and no longer shrink from it with horror.

Do not be afraid of that bereavement in the family. It will be a
grievous loss to all concerned, but the righteous are taken away from
evil to come, and out of their graves springs a blessing, even as the
grass grows on the hillock in the Churchyard. Many a keen affliction
brings with it God's sevenfold favor, though we cannot see it. As the
Lord said to Jacob, "Fear not to go into Egypt. For I will there make
of you a great nation," so He says to us, "Fear not affliction. For so
shall you receive the greater benediction."

Brethren, fear not the night but watch for its stars. Fear not the fall
of the leaf but look for the ripe fruits. You shall see more of God's
goodness as you see more of man's evil. We read of the Apostles, that
they "feared as they entered into the cloud." Yet in that cloud they
saw their Lord transfigured. Therefore be not afraid, lest you be found
trembling at that which should cause you joy.

Then the Lord added that which is the richest comfort of all–"I will
go down with you into Egypt." What cause of fear can remain when we
have the promise of the Lord's Presence with us? The child is not
afraid to go to bed in the dark, if his mother will go with him into
the chamber. The child does not want a candle if his mother will be at
his side. Her eyes are bright lights to him. If God is with us, we are
not in the dark–His Presence causes even the night to be light about
us. If we can have our Lord's Presence, we have no choice of country or
company.

Egypt, with Jehovah, is as Canaan. Even Hades and the land of
death-shades have nothing to make us fear evil, if the Comforter
sustains us. "For You are with me," is the joyful song of the pilgrim
when he passes through the valley of the shadow of death. Therefore,
let us dismiss our fears. We will go down into loneliness, poverty,
sickness, sorrow, and the grave, if the Lord will be with us.

The Lord goes on to say, "And I will also surely bring you up
again"–which meant that Jacob should not lose his inheritance in
Canaan, nor be forever in banishment in a strange land. Jacob's heart
dwelt in the Canaan which the Lord had bestowed on him and had entailed
upon his seed by a covenant of salt. But Jacob's going down into Egypt
was not to alter that deed of gift. Jacob would not have accepted
Egypt, with all its treasures, in exchange for the land that God had
promised to himself and to his seed. But no such change was
proposed–the chosen seed would leave Egypt in due course and come back
to its old quarters and so the Lord said, "I will surely bring you up
again."

Go down as we may, the Lord will bring us up again. Dear Friend, you
may lose husband, or wife, or father, or child, or property, or health,
or even life. But you shall rise out of every loss and you shall never
lose your share in the sure mercies of David. "Who shall separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?" Esau might
sell the heritage for a mess of pottage but Jesus would not sell His
portion for all Egypt's glories. Nor shall He be called on to make the
exchange. Blessed be God, we shall never be driven down so low that we
cannot rise again, for the Lord says of every member of the chosen
family, "I will surely bring you up again!"

One more fear Jacob had, perhaps, experienced. He had some fear of
dying. But that was all removed when the Lord said, "And Joseph shall
put his hand upon your eyes." "Oh," the good old father thought,
"Joseph is to close my eyes. Then death has lost its sting." Did you
ever think of dying in that light? Let me read it to you with a word
changed and another name inserted–"And Jesus shall put His hand upon
your eyes." We may never die–the Lord may personally appear and then
we shall not all sleep. But if He does not come and we are called upon
to die, Jesus will put His fingers on our eyes and we shall sleep in
peace.

Death is a Covenant blessing to a child of God. For "so He gives His
beloved sleep." That last sleep comes from the finger of that hand
which was nailed to the cross for us. And Jesus, your Joseph whom you
love, whose bloody coat you have seen with tears–He is yet alive and
He is King over all that land where you go, for the keys of death swing
at His girdle. He is the Prince of all realms and He it is that shall
put His hand upon your eyes and seal them for the moment in darkness,
to open them for you, when you shall say, "I am satisfied, for behold I
awake in Your likeness."

By this time, every fear ought to be removed from us, even as it was
from Jacob. We may now set up our banners and go forward. Put away the
sackbut and sound the silver trumpet. Let the vanguard advance and
follow the leader through the wilderness, or through the sea. If
Jehovah leads the way, let no man's heart tremble. Let the weakest
among us be strong–for thus says the Lord, "Fear not to go down into
Egypt." Rejoice and be glad. All is well–

"What cheering words are these!

Their sweetness who can tell?

In time and to eternal days,

It is with the righteous well.

It is well when joys arise,

It is well when sorrows flow,

It is well when darkness veils the skies,

And strong temptations blow.

It is well when on the mount

We feast on dying love;

And 'tis as well, in God's account,

When we the furnace prove."

The pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day, we see at
all times. Thus Jehovah leads the way in every march through the
desert. With glad footstep, follow Him. Behold, He says to you, "Fear
not to go down into Egypt. For I will go down with you and I will
surely bring you up again." Surely, this passage is very applicable to
all who are removing from one place to another. "Fear not to go down
into Egypt. I will go down with you into Egypt." Take your journey in
peace.

This also may be used by those who are in perplexity as to what they
should do. Wait upon God for direction and when you get your marching
orders, go straight ahead, cheered by this gracious assurance, "I will
go down with you into Egypt." Any of you that are entering upon a new
business, upon new trials, new labors, new spheres–accept with joy the
promise that the Presence of God will be with you. God leading, we fear
nothing.

Lastly, to you that are about to die, here is living consolation. There
may be some here who will never see another earthly Sabbath, for God
has some better thing in store for them, namely, to see the heavenly
Sabbath sooner than they think. Fear not to go down into the Egypt of
the grave, for the Lord will go down with you into the sepulcher. Jesus
has been there–fear not to go where He went. Whenever I am called in
to see any of our dying Church members, I find them, without exception,
calm and willing to depart. When I come out of the dying chamber I
invariably feel that my faith has been greatly strengthened.

The way in which they meet the approach of the great enemy, calmly and
triumphantly, makes me rest joyfully confident in the Gospel which I
preach. Our dear Friends sing and even shout joyously in death. One
Brother, who passed away not long ago, even made me laugh by the joyous
things he told me in his own quaint way. I could not help laughing for
joy when he talked about Heaven as if he had been there. There is a
dear Brother, not many doors from this spot, who will probably soon
pass away. But he speaks about his departure as calmly as if he were
only going to the seaside for a holiday. Our Lord's love has changed
the very aspect of death's face.

My dear Brother and co-pastor said to me one day, "O Brother, our
people die well, do they not?" That they do. They give us proof of the
Truth of God which we preach by the way in which it sustains them in
their last hours. Without the slightest fear, or perturbation of mind,
they march onward to the Jordan singing with the stream in view. I know
no happier people in my acquaintance than a certain suffering few, who
are within measurable distance of the Celestial City. And so it ought
to be.

But what is to become of you who have no faith? What is to become of
you who have no God to go to? O Soul, if you have no God, you are,
indeed, miserable. God bring you at once to Himself, through Jesus
Christ His Son! Amen.