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Patriarchs and Prophets
path, yet his sun set clear, and the radiance of heaven illumined his
parting hours. Says the Scripture, “At evening time it shall be light.”
Zechariah 14:7
. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for
the end of that man is peace.”
Psalm 37:37
.
Jacob had sinned, and had deeply suffered. Many years of toil, care,
and sorrow had been his since the day when his great sin caused him
to flee from his father’s tents. A homeless fugitive, separated from his
mother, whom he never saw again; laboring seven years for her whom
he loved, only to be basely cheated; toiling twenty years in the service
of a covetous and grasping kinsman; seeing his wealth increasing,
and sons rising around him, but finding little joy in the contentious
and divided household; distressed by his daughter’s shame, by her
brothers’ revenge, by the death of Rachel, by the unnatural crime of
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Reuben, by Judah’s sin, by the cruel deception and malice practiced
toward Joseph—how long and dark is the catalogue of evils spread out
to view! Again and again he had reaped the fruit of that first wrong
deed. Over and over he saw repeated among his sons the sins of which
he himself had been guilty. But bitter as had been the discipline, it had
accomplished its work. The chastening, though grievous, had yielded
“the peaceable fruit of righteousness.”
Hebrews 12:11
.
Inspiration faithfully records the faults of good men, those who
were distinguished by the favor of God; indeed, their faults are more
fully presented than their virtues. This has been a subject of wonder
to many, and has given the infidel occasion to scoff at the Bible. But
it is one of the strongest evidences of the truth of Scripture, that facts
are not glossed over, nor the sins of its chief characters suppressed.
The minds of men are so subject to prejudice that it is not possible for
human histories to be absolutely impartial. Had the Bible been written
by uninspired persons, it would no doubt have presented the character
of its honored men in a more flattering light. But as it is, we have a
correct record of their experiences.
Men whom God favored, and to whom He entrusted great respon-
sibilities, were sometimes overcome by temptation and committed sin,
even as we at the present day strive, waver, and frequently fall into
error. Their lives, with all their faults and follies, are open before us,
both for our encouragement and warning. If they had been represented
as without fault, we, with our sinful nature, might despair at our own
mistakes and failures. But seeing where others struggled through dis-