May we turn this morning to the 29th chapter of Genesis. The 29th chapter of Genesis, we will not single out any verse as our text, but we will consider this story as it comes to us. A most appealing and human narrative indeed. I suppose it brings before us what the world calls the old, old story of boy meets girl, the meeting of Jacob and Rachel. Quite evidently, as we read this account, the human nature is just the same today as it always was, just the same then as it is now. Blessed and happy are all they who meet each other with marriage in view, who can look upon this story as theirs also. Passing by some of the near topographical details, the thing is just the same, isn't it? But there is, of course, a deeper meaning in the meeting of Jacob and Rachel, as we should expect, not only because this is the Bible account that we are reading, but because there is always a special significance in all that Jacob does, who gave his name to the church of the Old Testament. that new name which God bestowed upon him of Israel, the Prince with God. So that we today use that term, nor we are Gentiles, nor by matter of blood, we have nothing of Jacob in our veins. But we have the faith of Jacob and we have the name that God gave him. For we, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, are the Israel of God. And all that happened to Jacob happened for you and for me, just as much as for any who may be his natural descendants. In some respects even more so to us. who have inherited the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, of whom Jacob was so great and signal a type. So, believing that there is a high significance in all that is recorded in the sacred narrative of what Jacob does, seeing that he is the immediate progenitor of the Twelve Tribes, to whom he bequeathed his new name, that name by which the Church is still distinguished, Israel of God. Seeing, therefore, that there is this significance, we shall go over this story, and we shall learn its nations, and receive somewhat of the astonishing grace of God which is revealed therein. Now we read that Jacob went on his journey and came into the land of the people of the east. Now this is surely one of the names, one of the unusual names of the people of God. We read in the book of Revelation about certain tremendous events which took place in the unseen world by which the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. He who came to this earth at the first Christmastime, there were wise men from the East who said we have seen his star in the East, for the East is the region of the globe where the day breaks, where the sun rises. And truly the gospel is the sun rising, the divine light, the new day upon the earth. And so Jacob came into the land of the people of the East, which is one of the names of the Church of God, the kingdom of His grace. For we belong to the East, the sun rising, the day when all the shadows have been given away, the shadows of sin, and of darkness and unbelief, and of ignorance. And by that sun of righteousness which arises, that bright and morning star, which is seen in the east. Now, when it is said that Jacob came to the well of hell, and lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it, we are to see a special significance in this too. Does it matter how many flocks of sheep there may have been? Yes, indeed it mattered. Just as we saw in the earlier chapter, Abraham's strict instructions to his wife Sarah when he received a divine visitation in his tent. He told her to prepare a meal with three measures of meal for her baking. So here there are three flocks of sheep. We must never pass over these numbers in the Bible, this highly significant. We must be careful how we interpret them, of course, because it's so easy simply to take a number and double it and take the first number you thought of away and see what you've got left. And the Bible isn't a puzzle like that. The numbers in the Bible are highly significant. and they have to be carefully read and understood in the light of the whole of the divine revelation. Now we have no difficulty at all in arriving at a conclusion as to why it was recorded that there were three flocks of sheep lying by the well when Jacob arrived there in the morning. Like Sarah's three measures of meal, these three flocks of sheep represent the three divisions of the human race. Those three divisions which are still to be marked and which cannot be disputed, either in history or the present condition of the human race. There are three distinct divisions according to the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth. And to this day, they largely occupy and dominate the three great continents of the ancient land mass of the earth, in Asia and Africa and Europe. According to the division which God made on behalf of the human race and for the purposes of divine history. and the history of redemption so long, long ago, three flocks of sheep. And as this cannot be disputed and it cannot be altered, we must remember there's a high significance in it. We are Japheths, one of the most dynamic and energetic of men. in his descendants anywhere. The great energies which were stored up in the European races were released by the Gospel in the days of the Apostle Paul, and from that day to this, the European races have been dominant in the history of redemption. I was writing to a friend in America only this week, having the occasion to refer very pointedly to this matter in view of certain events in which we were interested and had to take knowledge of. One endeavoured to point out that not to the eastern races, nor to the southern races, But to the great Western races and tribes of the sons of Jacob, it was given to them to dwell, according to the prophecy, in the tents of Shem. That is, to inherit in the last of days, these days which began with the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and which will terminate in his second coming. These are the last times in prophecy that in these days the tribes of Japheth should dwell in the privileges which were given originally to the heathen race who were the children of Sheol. And it is a fact that although under a good Christian today and have been for at least a century perhaps in the Far East, in Africa, in the Middle East, in all these ancient regions of the world where Shem and Ham and their descendants have occupied. The great light which God has poured upon the earth has come through. This means in our western civilization, for Japheth dwells today in the privileges of Shem. Somehow or other, God goes back to these races again and again in our generations to restore light and truth and knowledge. to the world at large. Whether it will happen again in our day, I don't know, because time is running out and running out fast. We certainly have not stood upon our privileges. The life for a large degree has departed, not only from the West, but from the East and from the South. Whether this is a prelude to the coming Judgment Day, who amongst us can tell? These at any rate are the three great divisions of the human race, and it was very proper that when Jacob came to the land of the people of the East, he should look and behold three flocks of sheep lying by the well in the field. Because He was the Church, you see, through Him the Old Testament revelation was to come, and the New Testament Saviour was to arrive. His family, in His family, all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, for the Gospel would come from them. And the Saviour will arise, even although at the last the kingdom should be taken from them and be given to a new nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. So we should expect that there should be these three flocks of sheep when Jacob came to Heron to the people of the East. Now there's another significance. There was a stone upon the well's mount. And Jacob wondered why. The flocks were all waiting there. Why did they not, seeing that the day was already well advanced, why did they not water the flocks, taking the stone from off the mount of the well? Why should they wait any longer? Was it not high time that the flocks were dispersed to the fields around, that they might graze? But no, the man informed him that all the flocks were not gathered yet. There was another one which was expected. Behold, away there in the distance, a beautiful shepherdess. named Rachel is seen coming last of all with her small flock. And until she arrived and all the sheep were gathered, the stone must remain upon the mouth of the well. Now you may wonder why there should have been a stone on the well at all. Well, it was because of the purposes relating to the moors of evaporation. Water was very precious in those parts, as it still is today, and must be conserved. And so the heavy stone lay upon the mouth of the well, that the air within might remain cool, that there might be the least possible degree of evaporation, lest the well should run dry. It was not time, they told him. In verse 7, where Jacob says, No, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together. But they said, We cannot until all the flocks be gathered together, until they roll the stone from the wells now. Then we water the sheep. Jacob thought it was high time, but it wasn't time. It wasn't time till Rachel arrived. And what does this signify? Well, Rachel represents the New Testament church. She was Jacob's first love. But there was a disturbance in the domestic arrangement. and outside his own will he received first of all Lear as his wife and had to work a separate seven years in order to complete his task. Two seven years, fourteen in all he served for the Old Testament wife Lear and the New Testament wife Rachel. There is not time to prove today, but on another occasion, we shall show how Rachel in the New Testament, by prophecy, represents the New Testament time. And therefore, though she was the first love, she became the second wife. How wonderfully God prepares in the history of redemption. that everything should be in order and that we might be instructed and the people of Old Testament times prepared for God's delays in the bringing of grace to the children of men. It was not yet time for the bell to be opened because the New Testament had not come in and although the delay then was only temporary. The day was advancing and it was high time for Christ to be revealed. For that well is the full grace of God. The limitless resources of the divine mercy and the divine favor. And these were not to be opened up until the time of Rachel should come. And so, during all the Old Testament times, the grace of God was indeed ministered, but not in its fullness. Knowledge was given, but not in its entire significance. God was revealed, but not in His full glory in Christ Jesus, as the God who is love. and love in its entirety and absoluteness, love in its outpouring and giving of itself. For those who are dead in trespasses and in sins, it is not yet time until Rachel should come. As come she did at the time of the Lord's birth, and the slaughter of the innocents of Bethlehem. And that prophecy was fulfilled. Rachel weeping for her children, because they are not, but she could dry her tears because they would come again in the land of the living, in the great New Testament increase of gospel grace upon the earth. This was the reason for all these preliminary activities as Jacob waited for his bride. Though he had never met her before, prophetically this was the significance of his waiting in readiness to meet her. It is highly significant to you that this is a pastoral Christ, the chief shepherd, is present there, who waters his flock, who rolls away the stone from the well's mouth, who by his own prowess and grace opens up the unsearchable resources, the limitless resources of God's mercy to the human race. His right and authority, that is the right and authority of Jacob, seems to have been conceded without question by these shepherds for the rolling away of the stone. For it was Jacob who rolled the stone away, though he was a stranger and hadn't been that way before. When Rachel arrived, he took it upon himself to roll away the heavy stone which preserved the water so that it could flow out for the nourishment and refreshment and life of the flock of God. How careful, dear friend, should they be whose business it is to preach the word of God, how careful they should be in the preservation of the doctrine of divine grace and mercy. The preserving of the will of God from which alone the water of life proceeds, that it should be there and measured out and given in its fullness. to the flock of God. I think the significance in the closing of that well with the stone for the purpose of preservation, the significance of it whenever the gospel of God is preached, for this is again an opening of the well, a rolling away of the stone. What a dreadful condemnation they incur. who have the Word of God, yet do not preach it, who profess the true knowledge of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and yet are not competent to roll away the stone. None the shepherds, and some of them are hireling shepherds too, who have no concern for the sheep, but rather for their own possession and their own feeding and their own drinking. So the Lord warns, as the Old Testament itself warns, against the false shepherds, the incompetent shepherds, who do not feed the sheep, who do not supply them with the water of divine grace. There are many wells which are stopped up these days by the rubbish of the traditions of men. and the ignorance of theologians and the not only the incapacity but the wickedness and the error of many who close up the wells of God so that the sheep faint and are weary for lack of their right nourishment. Is it not true that in so many regions today the grace of Christ is denied? Is it not become quite common in our day that Christ should not be given his place, his right and his title, his recognition as the second person of the Holy Trinity? Isn't it fundamental to all truth and all salvation and the veracity and effectiveness of the Gospel itself, that it should first of all be recognized that in Christ God is our Savior, and that He is God our Savior. The reason why His divinity is denied in large regions of the Christian Church today, is because of the activities of Satan, who is more afraid of this truth than of any other, that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, to the glory of God the Father. So they stop up the wells, like others in the Old Testament, fill them up with rubbish, so that the water may not flow out. When we have a well, in this place. We have the word of God and faith opens that word. Long may it continue indeed that this divine grace may flow to you and to me and may it be appreciated as much in the pew as it is in the pulpit, as much by the hearer as by the speaker. May we all be thirsty for the water of life. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, says David, so longeth my soul after thee, O God. When shall I come and appear before God? Do we come to the house of God week by week because we are thirsty? Because we are the flock of Rachel, gathering together when the day is already beginning to be high and advanced? because we are longing for a drink of the water of this well. And when we drink, we shall never thirst again, says Christ. The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Many a well which is stocked up with traditions, errors, heresies, or worst of all, with neglect. And it is only opened up really, by God, to those who are thirsty and in need. If you go away without anything this morning, if I go away without anything this morning, for Christ and salvation and eternal life. There is high significance, too, in Jacob's introduction of himself to Rachel. And when he discovered who she was, we read, he kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept. I don't know what the young lady thought, and I don't think it matters. So far as the significance of the story is concerned, I suppose that when she was informed by Jacob whom he was, that her quick feminine instincts would tell her at once, in an instant, what her fate was. She knew, and she was willing. went and told her father in great excitement who had come. But the kiss and the tears, with Jacob perhaps tears of joy, he was an emotional man. We have every reason to believe that from other parts of his story. Jacob was an emotional man. There's nothing wrong with a man being an emotional man. I suppose we need all other kind of men too, men who are impervious or seem to be impervious to tears. But most men weep at some stage in their lives. They weep bitterly too. And when a man weeps, and sometimes he weeps more more deeply than when a woman weeps. When John Knox was accused that he made the Queen of Scotland cry, when he withstood her to the face regarding the preservation of the doctrine of God's grace in Scotland, you made the Queen of Scotland cry, they said. He replied, better that women should weep. than that strong men should weep. So it was that he stood for the preservation of divine light in that country, which it has given its illumination, however dim it may be today, from that time onwards. The kiss and the tears There are tears of sorrow as well as of joy. We thank Jacob for those tears, for he represented that one who also could weep, who was the Son of God, the King of Heaven. And because three times it is recorded that he wept on one occasion, oh, what a weeping it was. He weeps over Jerusalem. If thou hadst known, he said, even now the things which belong unto thy peace. He wept at the grave of his friend because he saw the awful havoc which sin and death have wrought in our human race which he loved so much. And then he wept in the garden in such sorrow that the anguish brought out great, sweat like great drops of blood. falling down to the ground. But my God can weep. Yes, indeed, the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief was good cause why he should weep. And Jacob wept, mingled with the tears of joy knowing he'd arrived, that his destiny was opening up before him. He may have thought of the home that he'd left behind, of the sorrow and shame which had driven him from his father's house. And now he had found another home, and his sorrows mingled with his joys. But those tears coursed down his countenance, and Christ's tears are mingled tears, too, on your behalf and mine. For what were to him tears of sorrow and shame were also the means of our retention, for his sorrows are our joy. His giving of himself, his life and immortality, for you and for me. But the kiss, my friends, the kiss We think of that word which comes to us in the Song of Solomon, and it might well have been the very thought in Rachel's heart when the stranger came and put his arms about her and kissed her and gave her her name, Rachel, Rachel. May well have been that the spiritual sentiment in her prophetic heart, rising at that time, said in the language of Solomon, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Thy name is a ointment poured forth. For that marriage kiss in the song of Solomon is the kiss of the new covenant of divine grace. When life is imparted by the very mouth of Him who spoke the world into existence, who said, let there be light and there was light, comes to my soul. And that kiss of life awakens every holy passion in the soul of man. as we cleave to him and name him ours, that marriage, covenant, kiss of eternal and divine grace and immortality, that from that moment we are alive and alive forevermore. Jacob went near to Rachel and kissed her, and that was the significance of it. His kiss sealed the contact. He was taking her part in the presence of the shepherds, as it were, taking control of her life and assuming responsibility for her defense, her protection, her welfare and provision from that time forward and forever. And the soul was converted to Christ. That kiss of endless life is bestowed upon us. It is Christ from that time taking our part, taking control of life, assuming responsibility for our defense, our protection, our welfare, our immortality, our eternal destiny. The kiss sealed the compacts. His tears proved the genuineness of his love. and Christ seals His bargain with us with that kiss of the Spirit. Unresisting, wondering, half afraid, half eagerly like Rachel, we receive the first token of divine love as we yield to the embrace of the Spirit and hear His words, So he rolls away the stone. Who rolled the stone away? The angels at the tomb on that first Easter morning, but only to show that he was not there. He had arisen. And it was by his glorious resurrection, and because of that resurrection, his great love to us, that that stone was rolled away from the mouth of death itself, and life and immortality shine forth to us from that empty tomb. How rich a book we have got, dear friends, in the word of God, and what pains God has to make mere doctrinal statements real and living and the fact that he loves us exemplified in marvellous stories such as this which we with our human feelings can understand and appreciate and go beyond to see the riches and the depth and resources of divine love and mercy for you and for me.