Conflict & Courage

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. John 3:36.  {CC 71.1}        Jacob and Esau met at the deathbed of their father. Once the elder brother had looked forward to this event as an opportunity for revenge, but his feelings had since greatly changed. And Jacob, well content with the spiritual blessings of the birthright, resigned t...

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32.  {CC 70.1}        While Jacob was wrestling with the Angel, another heavenly messenger was sent to Esau. In a dream, Esau beheld his brother for twenty years an exile from his father's house; he witnessed his grief at finding his mother dead; he saw him encompassed...

As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 32:28.  {CC 69.1}        Had not Jacob previously repented of his sin in obtaining the birthright by fraud, God could not have heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life. So in the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be...

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. Jeremiah 30:7.  {CC 68.1}        When Christ shall cease His work as mediator in man's behalf, then this time of trouble will begin. Then the case of every soul will have been decided, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse from sin. . . .  {CC 68.2}        Then the...

And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Genesis 32:26.  {CC 67.1}        Jacob, in the great crisis of his life, turned aside to pray. He was filled with one overmastering purpose--to seek for transformation of character.  {CC 67.2}        It was in a lonely, mountainous region, the haunt of wild beasts and lurking place of robbers a...

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. Genesis 29:20.  {CC 66.1}        How different his [Jacob's] arrival from that of Abraham's messenger nearly a hundred years before! The servant had come with a train of attendants riding upon camels, and with rich gifts of gold and silver; the son was a lonely, footsore traveler, with no...

And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Genesis 28:22.  {CC 65.1}        In accordance with the custom of commemorating important events, Jacob set up a memorial of God's mercy, that whenever he should pass that way he might tarry at this sacred spot to worship the Lord. . . . With deep gratitud...

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:12.  {CC 64.1}        Threatened with death by the wrath of Esau, Jacob went out from his father's home a fugitive; but he carried with him the father's blessing; Isaac had renewed to him the covenant promise, and had bidden him, as i...

He found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Hebrews 12:17.  {CC 63.1}        No sooner had Jacob left his father's tent than Esau entered. Though he had sold his birthright, and confirmed the transfer by a solemn oath, he was now determined to secure its blessings, regardless of his brother's claim. With the spiritual was connected the temporal birthright, which woul...

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5.  {CC 62.1}       Isaac loved Esau better than Jacob. And when he thought that he was about to die he requested Esau to prepare him meat, that he might bless him before he died. . . . Rebekah heard the words of Isaac, and she remembered the words of the Lord, "The elder shall serve the younger," and she knew...

Thus Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:34.  {CC 61.1}        Esau had no love for devotion, no inclination to a religious life. The requirements that accompanied the spiritual birthright were an unwelcome and even hateful restraint to him. The law of God, which was the condition of the divine covenant with Abraham, was regarded by Esau as a yoke of bondage. Bent on self-indulgence, he desir...

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Genesis 25:27.  {CC 60.1}        Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac, present a striking contrast, both in character and in life. . . . Esau grew up loving self-gratification and centering all his interest in the present. Impatient of restraint, he delighted in the wild freedom of...

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Philippians 2:15.  {CC 59.1}        Abraham was honored by the surrounding nations as a mighty prince and a wise and able chief. He did not shut away his influence from his neighbors. His life and character, in their marked contrast with...

The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. Genesis 24:7.  {CC 58.1}        Isaac was highly honored by God in being made inheritor of the promises through which the...

Thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. Genesis 24:3, 4.  {CC 57.1}        Abraham's habitual faith in God and submission to His will were reflected in the character of Isaac; but the young man's affections were strong, and he was gentle and yielding in di...

By faith Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, . . . accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead. Hebrews 11:17-19.  {CC 56.1}       God had called Abraham to be the father of the faithful, and his life was to stand as an example of faith to succeeding generations. But his faith had not been perfect...

Now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:16.  {CC 55.1}        When Lot entered Sodom he fully intended to keep himself free from iniquity and to command his household after him. But he signally failed. . . .  {CC 55.2}        Many are still making a similar mistake. . . . Their chi...

Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:32.  {CC 54.1}        One of the fugitives ventured to cast a look backward to the doomed city, and she became a monument of God's judgment. If Lot himself had manifested no hesitancy to obey the angels' warning, but had earnestly fled toward the mountains, without one word of pleading or remonstrance, his wife also would have made her escape. The influence of his exam...

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly. 2 Peter 2:6.  {CC 53.1}        The flames that consumed the cities of the plain shed their warning light down even to our time. We are taught the fearful and solemn lesson that while God's mercy bears long with the transgressor, there is a lim...

And there came two angels to Sodom at even: and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; . . . and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night. Genesis 19:1, 2.  {CC 52.1}        Lot, Abraham's nephew, though he had made his home in Sodom, was imbued with the patriarch's spirit of kindness and hospitality. Seeing...

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? . . . That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: . . . Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:23, 25.  {CC 51.1}        Abraham had honored God, and the Lord honored him, taking him into His counsels, and revealing to him His purposes. "Shall I hide f...

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2.  {CC 50.1}        God conferred great honor upon Abraham. Angels of heaven walked and talked with him as friend with friend. When judgments were about to be visited upon Sodom, the fact was not hidden from him, and he became an intercessor with God for sinners. His interview with the angels pr...

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. Genesis 18:19.  {CC 49.1}        In God's sight, a man is just what he is in his family. The life of Abraham, the friend of God, was signalized by a strict regard for the word of the Lord. He cultivated home religion. The fear of God pervaded his house...

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Genesis 12:12, 13.  {CC 48.1}       The most fertile region in all Palestine was the Jordan valley. . . .  There were cities also, wealthy and beautiful, inviting to profitable traffic in their crowded marts. D...

Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou will take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. Genesis 13:8, 9.  {CC 47.1}        Abraham returned to Canaan "very rich in catt...