Jacob Sent Away from Home
Esau deferred the execution of his murderous purpose, because of the near approach, as he supposed, of his father's death. But Isaac lived for forty years after this. His secret purpose, however, became known to Rebekah. See Proverbs 29:11. The ostensible reason for Jacob's expatriation which Rebekah gave her husband was not the real one. He was sent to Haran, not primarily for a wife, but to escape his brother. Does not this constant duplicity explain the reason of Rebekah's heart-weariness? It seems probable that she never saw her favorite son again. The benediction already pronounced on Jacob was repeated with greater amplitude and tenderness as he left his father's tent. Sad as he was in the inevitable wrench, the star of hope shone in the sky, beckoning him onward. It was necessary that he should be taken from under his mother's influence into that greater world, where, through pain and disappointment, he should become a prince with God. Often our nest is broken up that we may learn to fly.