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words, so it is only in and through lar. There is a want of dignity, they Christ that the Father beholds us with think, in the image of a ladder, and favor, and speaks to us the language of they would therefore substitute a more forgiveness and friendship. In respect, imposing. But though many of the moreover, of the angels, who were seen same truths might be taught, if there ascending and descending on the lad- were the supposed change in the emder, we cannot doubt that these celes- blem, we are no ways affected by the tial beings, though they now attend us homeliness of the figure, but think, on as ministering spirits, would have held the contrary, that it adds to its fitness. no communication with our race, had It was the declaration of prophecy in it remained unredeemed. We know regard to the Christ, "He hath no form that God is spoken of by St. Paul, in nor comeliness; and when we shall see his Epistle to the Ephesians, as ga- him, there is no beauty that we should thering together in one all things in desire him." And, therefore, if he is Christ, both which are in heaven, and to be delineated as connecting earth which are on earth, even in him ;" and and heaven, we should expect the imagain, in his Epistle to the Colossi- age to be that of a ladder, a common ans, as "by him reconciling all things instrument with nothing of the grand to himself, whether they be things in and attractive, rather than of a splenearth, or things in heaven." And it did tower, such as that of Babel, which is evidently the drift of such expres- men themselves would delight to rear, sions, that, by and through the media- and, when reared, to admire. Besides, tion of Christ, the fellowship of the however we would avoid the straining human race with other orders of being a type, we own that the representation was to be restored, and men and an- of Christ, under the figure of a ladder, gels were to be brought into associa- appears to us to include the most extion. Indeed we know ourselves in- act references to the appointed mode debted to the Mediator for every bless- of salvation. How do I look to be ing: if, therefore, we regard angels as saved? by clinging to Christ. How do "the ministers of God which do his I expect to ascend up to heaven? by pleasure," and through whose instru- mounting, step by step, the whole height mentality he carries on designs, whe- of Christ's work, so that he is made unther of Providence or of grace, we must to me of God, "wisdom, and righteousfeel sure that we owe it exclusively to ness, and sanctification, and redempChrist, that these glorious creatures tion." It is no easy thing, the gaining are busied with promoting our welfare. eternal life through the finished work And if then the continued descent and of the Mediator. It is a vast deal more ascent of the angels mark, as we sup- than the sitting with the prophet in his pose it must, their coming down on car of fire, and being borne aloft, withcommissions in which men have inter- out effort, to an incorruptible inherest, and their returning to receive fresh itance. "The kingdom of heaven sufinstructions, there is peculiar fitness in fereth violence, and the violent take it the representation of their ascending by force." There must be, if we may and descending by a ladder which is thus express it, a holding fast to Christ, figurative of Christ: it is a direct re- and a climbing up by Christ: to look sult of Christ's mediation, that angels back is to grow dizzy, to let go is to are sent forth as " ministering spirits, to perish. And that we are to mount by minister for them who shall be heirs of the Mediator, and, all the while, to keep salvation ;" and if then a ladder, reach- hold on the Mediator; that we are, in ing from earth to heaven, be a just em- short, to ascend by successive stages, blem of the Savior, it is in the nicest stretching the hand to one line after keeping with this emblem, that, up and another in the work of the Redeemer, down the ladder, should be rapidly pass- and planting the foot on one step after ing the cherubim and the seraphim. another in the covenant made with us in Christ-what can more aptly exhibit this, than the exhibiting Christ as a ladder, set upon the earth that men may scale the heavens? The necessity for our own striving, and yet the use

We would further observe that some writers appear anxious to prove, that the appearance, which the patriarch saw, was not precisely that of a ladder, but probably that of a pyramid, or pil

lessness of that striving if not exerted | ings, without the ladder, and the ladder in the right manner; the impossibility is utterly useless without his own strivof our entering heaven except through ings. May we not, therefore, contend, Christ, and the equal impossibility of that, through the vision vouchsafed to our entering it, without effort and toil; the patriarch Jacob, God not only rethe fearful peril of our relaxing, for an vealed the person and work of the Meinstant, our spiritual vigilance and ear- diator, but gave information, and that nestness, seeing that we hang, as it too in no very equivocal shape, how were, between earth and heaven, and the working out salvation will be commay be thrown, by a moment's care- bined with the being saved "freely lessness, headlong to the ground; the through the redemption that is in completeness and singleness of the sal- Christ," whenever any of the children vation which is in Jesus, so that, if we of men are raised from earth, and eleadhere to it, it is sufficient, but there vated to heaven? are no modes which meet in it, or branch off from it-swerve a single inch, and you have no footing, but must be hopelessly precipitated; all these particulars seem indicated under the imagery of a ladder, and could not perhaps have been equally marked, had some other emblem been given of the connecting of earth and heaven by the Mediator, Christ. And now, as I stand upon the earth, the child of a fallen and yet redeemed race, and examine how I may escape the heritage of shame which is naturally my portion, and soar to that sky which woos me by its brightness, oh, I read of "entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," and of "laying hold upon the hope set before us," and of "following on to know the Lord," and of being "raised up, and being made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ," expressions which prove to me, that, if I would reach heaven, it must be through fastening myself to the Mediator, and yet straining every nerve to leave the world behind; leaning incessantly upon Christ, and yet laboring to diminish by successive steps my distance from God; being always "found in Christ," and yet "led by the Spirit," so as to be always on the advance. But when I consider these scriptural combinations of believing and working, trusting in another and laboring for one's self, always having hold on Christ, and always mounting to greater nearness to God, always supported by the same suretyship and always pressing upward to the same point, I seem to have before me the exact picture of a man, who, with a steady eye, and a firm foot, and a stanch hand, climbs by a ladder some mighty precipice: he could make no way, whatever his striv

But it will be right that, before leaving this portion of our subject, we recur to our Lord's speech to Nathanael, which has already been quoted. It is easy to decide that Christ designed a reference to Jacob's vision, but not to determine the precise meaning of his words. "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." The words are prophetic, but there is nothing to inform us what time may be intended by "hereafter." We cannot, however, but think, that however ingenious may be the interpretations which authors have advanced, nothing has yet happened which quite fulfils the prophecy. We doubt whether there were any occurrences, during Christ's residence on earth, which could be said to bring to pass the visible opening of heaven, and the ascent and descent of angels on the Mediator. Christ had not indeed wrought miracles, when he held his interview with Nathanael; and he may have referred to the demonstrations of almightiness, which he was about to put forth, and which would as much prove his divine majesty, as though he were surrounded with troops of angels. But it can hardly be said that such an explanation as this is commensurate with the passage. We know not what to call far-fetched, if we may not so designate the statement, that those who saw Christ work miracles, saw heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Savior. We may add that there were circumstances attending the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, which may be considered as having partially accomplish

* See King's Morsels of Criticism.

ed the words under review. Angels appeared in connection with these several events, and the firmament was at length opened to receive the ascending conqueror. But here we must again say, that the interpretation comes manifestly so far short of the scope of the passage, that nothing but inability to find another meaning can make us content with one so contracted.

For our own part, then, we cannot but believe that the prophecy has not yet received its full accomplishment. We refer it onward to times, of which indeed our apprehensions are indistinct, but not on that account less animating. We have abundant reason for believing that days are to break on this creation, such as have never yet visited it since man rebelled against his Maker. We read of "new heavens and a new earth," as though the whole material system were to be splendidly renovated, and of the creature itself also being "delivered from the bondage of corruption," as though animate and inanimate were to reach one general jubilee. And when there shall have been effected this magnificent rebuilding of all that has been shattered, this hanging with new majesty, and enamelling with fresh beauty, the creation wherein we dwell; and when, in its every department, our globe shall be tenanted by "a holy priesthood, a peculiar people;" then, for any thing we can tell, may such intercourse be opened between the earth and other sections of the universe, as shall give an ampler meaning than has yet been imagined to the vision of Jacob, and the words of Christ. It is a fine saying of the Psalmist, "God setteth the solitary in families." And it may be one of the verifications of this saying, that worlds which have hitherto moved, each in its own orbit, each left in its solitariness, shall have channels of communication the one with the other, so that one mighty family shall be formed of orders of being which have never yet been brought into visible association. We cannot pretend to speak with any certainty of events and times, of which we have only obscure intimations. But at least, unable as we are to apply the words under review to any thing that has already occurred, we may lawfully connect them with what is yet future,

and, by associating them with other predictions, gain and give additional illustration. And by following this plan in the present instance, we seem warranted in stating the high probability, that, in glorious days when Christ's kingdom will be visibly reared on the wreck of human sovereignty, there will be open and brilliant intercourse between dwellers on this earth and higher ranks of intelligence. Then may it come to pass that Jacob's ladder will be shown to have represented the bringing into blessed communion all the ends of creation; and then may the Mediator, in some manner unimaginable now, appear as the channel through which communion is maintained. Ay, and then, in some stupendous unveiling of the secrets of the universe, and in some sublime manifestation of himself as the connecting link between all departments of the unlimited household, may Christ explain, and make good, the yet mysterious saying, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

But we turn now from the vision to the vow of Jacob; from the considering what the patriarch saw and heard, to the examining the effect thereby wrought upon his mind. We have no intention of entering at length into all that is related of the conduct of Jacob, when he awaked out of sleep. We wish to confine ourselves strictly to his vow; for it is against this that objections have been urged by infidel writers. Jacob sets up for a pillar the stone which had served him as a pillow; and, having poured oil upon it, so as to dedicate it to God, vows a vow-" if God will be with me, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God." He adds-but it is not necessary that we touch on this-that the erected stone should be the house of the Lord, and that, of all which God gave him, he would consecrate the tenth.

Now it is urged that there is something very mercenary and selfish in this: Jacob is represented as making a kind of bargain with God, so that he will serve him only on condition of a

recompense. If my bodily wants be all supplied, the Lord shall be my God; as much as to say, if I am left in destitution, I will abandon all religion. We hold it exceedingly unfair and disingenuous thus to wrest Jacob's vow. We are sure that no candid mind can put on it the interpretation that Jacob was a time-server, careful of religion only so far as it seemed likely to promote his temporal interests. On the contrary, we are persuaded that, if you consider the vow without prejudice, you will find it expressive of great humility and gratitude. God had just entered into covenant with Jacob, engaging to bestow privileges which would make him conspicuous amongst men. God had just told him, that the land on which he lay should become the inheritance of himself and his children; and, as though this were little, that in him, and in his seed, should all families of the earth be blessed. Jacob was thus assured that he should be the father of a great nation, yea, and that from him should descend the Benefactor and Redeemer of mankind. These were splendid promises; we could scarcely have marvelled, had the patriarch, on awaking from his sleep, manifested great elation of mind at the dignities to which he was appointed. Knowing how difficult it is to bear greatness meekly, we could not have wondered had he vowed as his vow, If indeed God will accomplish his word, and bestow on me the things of which he has spoken, I will take him as my God, and serve him faithfully all the days of my life. And had this been Jacob's vow, there might have been color for the opinion, that the patriarch was mercenary in his religion. Had he made his serving God contingent on his obtaining what would render him mighty and illustrious, it would have been with some show of fairness that men accused his piety of being sordid and selfish. But when, in place of speaking of lordship over the land of Canaan, and of being the ancestor of Messiah, he simply asks for bread to eat, and raiment to put on, the bare necessaries of life, with none of its superfluities; those, we think, must be resolved to find fault, who can see in Jacob's conduct the indications of a religion which looked at nothing but

recompense. The only just interpretation which can be put upon his vow, appears to us the following: Jacob is quite overpowered by the manifestations of God's favor, which had just been vouchsafed, and sinks under the sense of his own utter unworthiness. Who is he, a wanderer on account of his sin, that the Almighty should enter into covenant with him, and promise him whatever was most noble in human allotment? Oh, he seems to say, it was not needful that promises such as these should have been made, in order to my feeling bound to the service of God. I am not worthy of the least of all his mercies; and I required not, as I deserved not, the being signalled out from other men, to make me strong in my resolve of obedience. If he will but grant me the commonest food, and the simplest clothing, I shall be satisfied; it will be more than I have a right to ask, and will bind me to him as my maker and benefactor. He has indeed promised to restore me safely to my father's house, so that I shall not perish in the exile which my offence has procured; and if he do this, and thus make good his word, I shall account as nothing the having to struggle with hardship and want; there will be given me a clear token that I am under the protection of an ever-vigilant guardian, and whom but this guardian shall I take for my God?

We have no hesitation in stating that such seems fairly the import of Jacob's vow. Jacob is not, so to speak, bargaining with God: he is only overcome by the display of Divine goodness, and abashed by the consciousness how little it was deserved. Can the vow be called mercenary, when he only asked a bare subsistence, though the promise had included territory and dominion? Jacob, after all, merely asked life; and he asked it merely that he might devote it to God. Does this savor of the spirit of a hireling? Can this be declared indicative of a resolution to treat religion as a mere matter of profit and loss, and to cultivate piety no further than God would give him riches in exchange? We are persuaded that you cannot thus characterize the vow of the patriarch. We stated, indeed, at the commencement of our discourse, that we had right to expect

that the faults of saints would be recorded: if, therefore, the vow of Jacob were what it has been maliciously represented, we should have only to lament another proof of the frailty of the best, and to point out another evidence of the honesty of the historian. But we are not to allow the faults to be exaggerated. When holy men transgressed, and yielded to temptation, it is not for the interest of truth that we should defend or extenuate their conduct. But where the charge against them is disingenuous and unfounded, it is our duty to expose the unfairness of the attack, and vindicate the accused. And men may perversely find, if they will, the marks of a sordid and mercenary temper in the declaration, that Jacob would take the Lord for his God, if he had bread to eat, and raiment to put on: but when the circumstances of the patriarch are taken into account, when what he asks of God is set in contrast with what God had engaged to bestow, candid reasoners must admit that his language is that of humility, rather than of a hireling, and find in it the expression of gratitude and thankfulness, rather than of a covetous and time-serving disposition.

There is but another remark which we would make before winding up our subject of discourse. We learn from such narratives as this of Jacob's vision, how possible it is that the soul may enjoy great happiness, and gain vast accessions of knowledge, in what is called the separate state. It is, you observe, whilst Jacob is asleep, and therefore not to be communicated with through his bodily senses, that God shows him the heavens opened, and speaks to him of great things to come. And this is a fine testimony to the capacity of the soul, when detached from the body, for receiving notices of the invisible world, and holding converse with spiritual beings. When I have laid aside this corruptible flesh, my soul-if indeed I "sleep in Jesus"will pass into a condition of peace and tranquillity, and there await the trumpet-peal which is to call forth as her residence a glorified body. But there is no necessity that the soul should be inactive, or contracted in her enjoyments, because stripped for a while of material organs. The intermediate state

must indeed be vastly inferior, in all the elements of dignity and happiness, to that which will succeed the general resurrection. Yet it may not be a state of listlessness, nor one whose privilege consists in mere repose. The soul, by her own organs, may gaze on what is glorious, and gather in what is inspiriting. For if, whilst the body was wrapped in slumber, and the soul left alone in her wakefulness, Jacob could behold. earth linked with heaven, and the bright array of angels, and the majesty of Deity; and hearken to a Divine voice which brought him animating tidings; we may well be persuaded that, when separated from matter by death, our spirits shall be capable of intercourse with God, and of grasping much of the magnificence of the future. If they cannot mount the whole height of the ladder, they may yet look on in its stateliness, and admire the celestial troop by which it is traversed, and receive from the Lord God, the mysterious emblems of whose presence crown its summit, intelligence of the things which the eye hath not seen, and the ear hath not heard.

But now we address you, in conclusion, as beings confined for a while to a narrow and inconsiderable scene, but whose home is far away, in those regions of light where Deity is specially manifested, and where the angel and the archangel have their abode. We point you to the everlasting hills, whose glorious and gold-lit summits come out to the eye of faith from the mighty expanse; and we tell you that those hills must be climbed. We point you to "a city which hath foundations," the "Jerusalem which is above:" we show you its stupendous walls stretching interminably upward; and we tell you that these walls must be scaled. And you are staggered at the greatness of the demand. How can we ascend hills which are not based on this earth; how surmount walls, of which no eye can take the altitude? We lead you with us to Bethel, and bid you behold that on which the patriarch gazed. There is a ladder, set up on the ground, but its top reaches to the summit of the mountain, and to the gate of the city. Are you willing to go up, to leave the prison, and to seek the palace? Then, in the name of the living God, we bid

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