comfort.

For Christ's sake, He will show Himself

such to all who seek Him.

The very word Curse, in all its forms, and whether used by God or by man, is an unhappy word, and a word of fear; for it expresses displeasure, and foreshows evil to come. Thus the sentence, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake," is an awful sentence; and such it was felt by Lamech, even while he hoped for comfort. But, though the

word is the same, yet the curse of God and the curse of man are quite different. God has a right to curse, but man has none. The curse of God is the declaration of His righteous displeasure; the curse of man is the utterance of a wicked hate. God, when He curses, declares what already is, or threatens what shall be; man, when he dares to curse, speaks his wish that so it may be-an evil and devilish wish, but happily an impotent wish, for man cannot execute the curse which he has no right to speak. Again, there is no mercy in man's curse, no pity, no forbearance; but now, in this present day of grace, God, though He declares His righteous anger, and sets forth the doom of the impenitent, yet keeps back the stroke from falling, and still gives time. It may be that, by His grace, the very terrors of the Lord may persuade

men.

Though Lamech was a man of faith, there is no sign that his faith looked beyond such comfort as God would give by means of the son who was born to him. But we know of a better Comforter than

Noah. The son of Lamech was to comfort men with regard to the ground which the Lord had cursed; but Christ is the true Deliverer, taking away the curse itself, and restoring us to full blessing and favour. "This same shall comfort us:" thus may every believer say with regard to all the ills of this life. "This same shall comDeliverer, who was to "Christ hath redeemed

fort us" the promised bruise the serpent's head.

"12

us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." 13 Even to the believer the fruits of the fall still remain; still must he toil, and still in the sweat of his face must he eat bread but from him the curse is removed, and with it the bitterest fruits of the fall; labour is sweetened by hope and trust; and pardon and peace by Jesus Christ, and the sure prospect of rest and glory with him, make the believer's lot even here a happy lot.

Nor is this all. There is "another Comforter." While yet we wait for our Lord's appearing, while we are still in a world of toil and trial and temptation, "this same shall comfort us"-the Holy Spirit, the promised Comforter. Let us seek and cherish His presence. Never let us let slip the words of blessing with which our Saviour left us: "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth. . . . I will

12 Gal. iii. 13.

13 Rom. viii. 1.

not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you: let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."14

14 John xiv. 16, 18, 27.

LABAN.

HE history of Laban is linked with that of Jacob; and there is some likeness between their characters. But Jacob, though naturally crafty, was yet a man of God; whereas there is little ground for thinking Laban such. In Jacob's case we do indeed trace his natural craftiness of character showing itself on various occasions; yet we by no means find it forming the main feature of his life; in his later years we see no sign of it at all. In Laban, on the other hand, we read of little else than a cunning covetousness.

The light, therefore, in his case is not a guiding, but a warning light: not like the light at the pierhead, to show the mariner the way in, but rather like that on a dangerous coast, to warn him off. The one is as useful as the other.

Laban was brother to Rebekah, and consequently uncle to Jacob. His father was Bethuel, son to Nahor, Abraham's brother. Thus Laban was grandson to Nahor, and great-nephew of Abraham. It is true that Abraham's servant called

Laban's sister Rebekah "my master's brother's daughter;1 but that was according to a common way of speaking: she was strictly his grand-daughter.

The first that we read of Laban is when Abraham's servant came to seek a wife for Isaac. It appears that the descendants of Nahor still lived at Haran in Mesopotamia, the place from which Abram went forth at God's command. It was to that place that the servant came. When Rebekah returned from the well, and told of the stranger she had met there, and showed the presents he had given her, "Laban ran out unto the man unto the well."2 That is the first mention of him.

He was most courteous to the servant of Abram. He welcomed him to his house, gave provender for the camels, and water to wash the travellers' feet, and set meat before them. "Come in," said he, "thou blessed of the Lord: wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels."

But was he really the kind and cordial man which these hearty words and this hospitable conduct would seem to show him? In the history there is an allusion to the presents, which leads one somewhat to suspect his disinterestedness. It was "when he saw the ear-ring, and bracelets upon his sister's hands,"-a costly gift, consisting of "a golden ear-ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels' weight of gold," it was then that he ran to welcome the 1 Gen. xxiv. 48.

с

2 Ib. 29.