mation of Jehovah which, after two and a half centuries, next sounded forth in the solitudes of Sinai, was issued by One calling Himself "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

The story still sounds freshly in our ears of how 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. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south and in thee and in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee."

Then the vision which was no mere dream of a night passed away. His investiture with the dignities of his descent who should afterwards

return to that place bearing the title of " a prince of God," was completed. The mystical display of earth and heaven gloriously linked together was achieved. The various grants and promises made in other days to his fathers were now for the wanderer condensed into a brief charter of blessing sealed with the "I will" of an immutable Jehovah.

"And Jacob awaked "-awaked to the silence of the night, and to the solitude of the hill-slopes,* and to the surrounding of the bare rocks which in the vision had given place to the ladder of glory; awaked to the solemn conviction expressed in the words, "Surely the LORD was in this place, and I knew it not." "And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel."

* It is evident from Josh. xvi. 2, and from corroborative testimony, that an interval of distance lay between Bethel and Luz.

The never-dying name was conferred which constituted the wilderness-solitude a sanctuary of the Most High; the pillar raised towards which, throughout future wanderings the heart of the chosen of God would return; the dedication-vow recorded, which was to give its commencing date to a life now bound up in the life of God.

"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this 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: 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."

And from hence, not as an exiled fugitive, not as an unattended wanderer, goes he forth into the land of his pilgrimage. For the silent witnessing of the pillar at Bethel proclaims him the chosen of the Lord, and testifies concerning an unseen angelic guard having charge concerning him; and the "I will not leave thee" of Jehovah contains all that he may ever need of help, support, guidance, and protection. So that, these things

being accomplished, "Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the children of the east."

Distinct and various as are the paths of the Lord's wayfarers, they may all be traced back to one starting-point, that of individual communication to the soul from God Himself. This it was that made "the place of almond-trees" Bethel From this point the ordinary pathway of life is elevated into pilgrimage.

to Jacob.

It is a great thing to belong to a nation whose God is the Lord: it is a yet greater thing to look upon God as the God of our fathers. But however surrounded by a vital atmosphere, a man has no life except he individually inhale it; and national and family religion may encompass us from the cradle, and yet no breath of life divine quicken us into spiritual existence. When, however, by His Spirit God reveals Himself personally to the soul with the words, "I have known thee by name, and thou hast found grace in My sight," the era of a new and inner life takes its beginning. "I have heard of Thee with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye

seeth Thee," is his experience who can say not

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only Happy is that people whose God is the Lord!" but, yet further, "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help!"

The individual revelation of God to the soul is almost invariably preceded by a desire, vague often, and dim, of the soul after God. A craving, underlying all the ordinary transactions of the outer life, refuses to be satisfied otherwise than by Himself. Without, the world's clang and concourse may fall with contending discords and harmonies on the ear; within, the solitary minor strain ceaselessly echoes through the empty chambers of a heart unsatisfied, "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him! Behold, I go

forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him: on the left hand, where He doth work, but I cannot behold Him; He hideth Himself on the right hand, that I cannot see Him. Lo, He goeth by me and I see Him not; He passeth on, also, but I perceive Him not!' God around me everywhere; and yet not revealed to me! God not far from every one of us, in Whom we live, and move, and have our being,' is here; and yet the altar in the