"By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and has not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
To Isaac and to Jacob were these glorious promises confirmed if possible in yet stronger wording. (Genesis xxvi: 4-10; xxviii: 14.) To the latter it was said:
"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 the families of the earth be blessed."
The blessing of Jacob upon his son Joseph is doubtless so familiar to the majority of our readers, that we shall simply quote the latter portion:
"The blessings of thy father have prevailed, above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be upon the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brethren."
We will take but one step further in this direction. Jacob, in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, said: (Gen. xiviii: 16.)
"Let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
When Joseph reminded the aged Patriarch that his right hand was placed on the head of the younger boy, he declared:
"I know it, my son, I know it. He (Manasseh) also shall become a people. And he also shall be great. But truly his younger brother shall be greater than he; and his seed shall become a multitude of nations."
There are two points in these blessings that are very noteworthy. The first, that the seed of these Patriarchs should become innumerable, and grow to be a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth; the second, that in or through this seed all the nations and families of the earth should be blessed. With Abraham a covenant was made by the Most High, that he should become the father of many nations, and when we have laid aside the descendants of Ishmael—the Arabians and their fellows, who have grown into mighty multitudes, and not even counted the posterity of the sons of Keturah and of Abraham's other wives, yet in the one son Isaac the promise is renewed, his seed also is to multiply "as the stars of heaven." Once again we will divide the posterity, and leave unnoticed the dukes of Edom and the other descendant of Isaac's favorite son. We will speak alone of Jacob. To him was repeated the divine promise: "Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth;" and again, "A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee." Here let us pause for a moment and ask, are they whom the world regard as the only representatives of Jacob today—the dispersed of Judah—all that that holy man has to show as the fulfillment of so great a promise as the one last quoted? We think not, but believe that future research will vindicate prophecy, and prove that the promises of the Eternal are not cut short in their complete fulfillment.