Joshua 9:17,18

The murmuring of the congregation, on account of the mercy shown Gibeon, serves to remind us, of the displeasure of the elder brother in the parable, because of the mercy shown the younger. The case is similar. Our Lord thereby evidently meant to show, how, in the first instance, our elder brother the Jew is hurt, at his younger brother the Gentile being made a fellow-heir, and partaker of the same promise in Jesus. But dearest Jesus! how doth it tend to endear thee to the love of all thy people! And how endeared no less is the Father's grace and mercy thereby to every believer ' s heart. Luke 15:25 to the end; Ephesians 3:6; Isaiah 49:6.