Then did his faith in God win no reward? Not so. That was his
reward, to be chastened and punished, till his meanness was purged
out of him. He had taken God for his guide; and God did guide him
accordingly; though along a very different path from what he
expected. God accepted his faith, delivered his soul, gave him rest
and peace at last in his old age in Egypt, let him find his son
Joseph again in power and honour: but all along God punished his
own inventions--as he will punish yours and mine, my friends, all
the while that he may be accepting our faith and delivering our
souls, because we trust in him. So God rewarded Jacob by giving him
more light: by not leaving him to himself, and his own darkness and
meanness, but opening his eyes to understand the wondrous things of
God's law, and showing him how God's law is everlasting, righteous,
not to be escaped by any man; how every action brings forth its
appointed fruit; how those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind.
Jacob's first notion was like the notion of the heathen in all
times, 'My God has a special favour for me, therefore I may do what
I like.
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