But mark now the thorough vanity of the heart's anxiety. "And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him; and they wept." The present was quite unnecessary,--the plan useless. God "appeased" Esau, as he had already appeased Laban. Thus it is he ever delights to rebuke our poor, coward, unbelieving hearts, and put to flight all our fears. Instead of the dreaded sword of Esau, Jacob meets his embrace and kiss; instead of strife and conflict, they mingle their tears. Such are God's ways. Who would not trust him? Who would not honor him with the heart's fullest confidence? Why is it that, notwithstanding all the sweet evidence of his faithfulness to those who put their trust in him, we are so ready, on every fresh occasion, to doubt and hesitate? The answer is simple: we are not sufficiently acquainted with God. "Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace." (Job xxii. 21.) This is true, whether in reference to the unconverted sinner, or to the child of God. The true knowledge of God, real acquaintance with him, is life and peace. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John xvii. 3.) The more intimate our acquaintance with God, the more solid will be our peace, and the more will our souls be lifted above every creature dependence. "God is a rock," and we only need to lean our whole weight upon him to know how ready and how able he is to sustain us. After all this manifestation of God's goodness, we find Jacob settling down in Succoth, and, contrary to the spirit and principles of a pilgrim life, building a house as if it were his home. Now, Succoth was evidently not his divinely-appointed destination. The Lord had not said to him, "I am the God of Succoth;" no; but "I am the God of Bethel." Bethel, therefore, and not Succoth, should have been Jacob's grand object. But alas! the heart is always prone to rest satisfied with a position and portion short of what God would graciously assign. Jacob then moves on to Shechem, and purchases ground, still falling short of the divine mark, and the name by which he calls his altar is indicative of the moral condition of his soul. He calls it "El-elohe-Israel," or "God, the God of Israel." This was taking a very contracted view of God. True, it is our privilege to know God as our God; but it is a higher thing to know him as the God of his own house, and to view ourselves as part of that house. It is the believer's privilege to know Christ as _his_ head; but it is a higher thing to know him as the head of his body the Church, and to know ourselves as members of that body.