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diff --git a/old/66884-0.txt b/old/66884-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f22aa80..0000000 --- a/old/66884-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1549 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Joseph and his Brethren, by W. K. -Tweedie - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Joseph and his Brethren - -Author: W. K. Tweedie - -Release Date: December 7, 2021 [eBook #66884] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg. - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN *** - - - - - JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN - - BY - - W. K. TWEEDIE, D.D., - - AUTHOR OF “SEED-TIME AND HARVEST,” “THE EARLY CHOICE,” - “PARABLES OF OUR LORD,” ETC. - - - See the wan victim of his brethren’s scorn, - In Pharaoh’s dungeon, drooping, abject, lone! - But God is there, the friend of the forlorn, - And Joseph’s prison opes beside the throne. - - - LONDON: - T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; - EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK. - - 1872. - - - - - - - - -PREFACE. - - -The story of Joseph is at once so simple that childhood is arrested and -rivetted by it, and so profound that sages may deepen their wisdom by -meditating on the truths which it embodies. An attempt is here made to -point out some of the more important lessons which the narrative -teaches,—to manifest the wisdom and the watchfulness of Providence,—and -show how God on high exercises his prerogative of educing good from -what we are often tempted to regard as only and hopelessly evil. While -man displays his wickedness by committing sin, the Holy One displays -his goodness by restraining it; and though his ways are confessedly “a -great deep,” we get glimpses through the gloom,—we catch echoes amid -the silence, which enable us to know, that when the tangled web of -providence shall have been unrolled in light, it will be seen that he -“has done all things well.” As the bones of Joseph were carried before -the Hebrews during all their wanderings, from Egypt to Canaan, till -they found a resting-place in that land of promise, the truth of God -here goes before us still, a very pillar of cloud and of fire. - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - - I. JOSEPH CAST INTO THE PIT, 9 - II. JOSEPH SOLD TO THE ISHMAELITES, 15 - III. JOSEPH IN PRISON, 21 - IV. JOSEPH INTERPRETING PHARAOH’S DREAMS, 31 - V. JOSEPH’S ADVANCEMENT, 41 - VI. “YE ARE SPIES,” 48 - VII. THE CUP IN BENJAMIN’S SACK, 57 - VIII. THE MEETING OF JOSEPH AND BENJAMIN, 65 - IX. THE MEETING OF JACOB AND JOSEPH, 73 - X. JACOB IN THE PRESENCE OF PHARAOH, 79 - XI. THE DEATH OF JACOB, 85 - - - - - - - - -JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN. - - -CHAPTER I. - -JOSEPH CAST INTO THE PIT. - - -When Jesus would inculcate some of the deepest lessons which he ever -taught, he took a little child and set him in the midst of his -disciples (Matt. xviii. 2–4), and made that child his text. Truth thus -found an inlet into the mind which even the Great Teacher might have -attempted in vain to impress, without some material illustration of his -spiritual lessons.—Let us endeavour to imitate the Saviour’s wisdom, -and seek some lessons to guide us in the touching history of Joseph. - -It is well known, then, that on a certain occasion that youth obtained -permission to visit his brothers at a part of Canaan somewhat distant -from their father’s home. But, previous to that time, he had given them -great offence; and their anger only waited for a fit occasion to break -forth in violence against him. And we should not fail to notice what -caused that anger. First, Joseph was a great favourite with his father, -who testified his partiality to the boy by the gift of a coat of many -colours, and thus unwisely laid a foundation for feuds and divisions in -his family (Gen. xxxvii. 3, 4). Moreover, Joseph had dreamed certain -dreams which gave great offence to his brothers; for they indicated -that the time would come when the other children of Jacob would do -homage to Joseph, who was one of the youngest (Gen. xxxvii. 5–11). The -feelings which rankled in the bosoms of his brothers before, now -rankled more and more, and were ripened by irritation for a violent -outbreak at last. It appears, further, that Joseph had, at least on one -occasion (ver. 2), complained to his father regarding the misdeeds of -his brothers; and all these things made him “hated by them, so that -they could not speak peaceably to him.”—All this suggests to us the -strange lesson, that there are some men who “hate him that rebuketh -them, and abhor him that speaketh uprightly” (Amos v. 10). Men are so -wedded to their own ways, even when they lead down to death, that we -become their enemy if we tell them the truth. How often did scribe, -Pharisee, priest, and people break out in violence against Jesus for -his truthful warnings! - -No sooner, then, did they see Joseph approaching Dothan, where they fed -their flocks, than his brothers thought the time had come at length for -humbling their father’s favourite. The first proposal was to put him -instantly to death; but Reuben interposed, and their sentence was, to -throw Joseph into a pit, and leave him to perish unpitied there! -Blinded by envy, or goaded by rage, they trampled on every tender -feeling, and evil became their chief good. - -In the good providence of God, however, the youth was taken from that -pit, in which he was to have been buried alive, and sent to a distant -country, there to be the saviour of not a few, in a temporal sense. To -cover their wickedness, his brothers next resolved to show to their -father Joseph’s coat of tartan, dipped in the blood of a kid, as if he -had been devoured by ravenous beasts.—Their brother might become a -slave; their father’s heart might be torn with anguish; their own souls -might be deeply stained with sin piled above sin;—but what of all -these, when men are bent on indulging their evil and malignant -passions? Let misery be heaped upon misery, yet men will not be -diverted from their iniquity. - -But wicked as their deeds were, and an outrage at once against a father -and a brother, and, above all, against their God, he who makes the -wrath of man to praise him employed that wrath remarkably to work out -his purposes in this case. And he is doing the same at this hour. Think -of the miseries, spread over many years of agony, inflicted by fierce -persecutors on the Christians of Madagascar in our day, and then mark -how they increase in number notwithstanding. Think of the bloody -massacres in India, the martyrdoms of native Christians there, with the -butchery of all who wear the Christian name; and yet mark how that is -overruled to rouse the churches to spread the truth in that dark-souled -land. Think, above all, of the Cross of Jesus,—of the woes which were -there endured, with all the malignant passions which nailed the -Redeemer to the tree; and then see how God can make our wickedness -promote his own glory,—can bring joy out of anguish, and life out of -death, and blessings unutterable out of the very curse (Gal. iii. 13). - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -JOSEPH SOLD TO THE ISHMAELITES. - - -We have just seen that Joseph’s brethren, moved by envy, sold him to -some Ishmaelite merchants, by whom he was carried into Egypt, and there -sold as a slave. Regardless of their brother’s cries, and deaf to all -that affection might whisper, the future patriarchs would make him the -victim of their hatred; and it is deeply instructive to notice how many -sins are contained in this one transaction. - -1. There was a sin committed by brothers against a brother. The ties of -nature were outraged. Affection was trampled in the dust,—it was in -truth cast into the pit beside Joseph,—it had no power in the hearts of -those hating and hateful men. Surely such a case occurring in the Bible -so soon after the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, was designed by -God to show us the terrible ravages wrought by sin in the soul. Just as -war, with its bloody work, has often deflowered the fairest regions of -the earth, does fierce passion waste the soul of man. - -2. There was sin committed against their father. What although the -patriarch should suffer uttermost woe when bereft of his favourite son! -or what although his heart should break when the tidings reached him -that Joseph had been cruelly devoured by a wild beast! It was not to -such things that those men would listen: it was to their own malicious -hearts; and, cost what it might to their father, their brother must -either die or become a slave. You may assure the sinner that the wages -of sin is death,—you may tell him that agony for ever is attached to -guilt by God’s decree; but all that will not turn the wicked from his -way. God must turn us, or we rush unchecked upon ruin. - -3. In the sin of Joseph’s brethren there was falsehood, and that to a -parent. Those men deliberately plotted to deceive Jacob, by showing him -the coat of Joseph dipped in the blood of a kid. They utterly forgot -that God saw them; they listened only to their own hearts; and sin was -added to sin, that their passion might be indulged. To the crime of -murder—the murder of a brother—which some of them were willing to -perpetrate, they added that of deception, deep in itself and sad in all -its results. Now in all this they were just showing us more and more -clearly what iniquity lurks or reigns in the heart of man, till the -Almighty Spirit make all things new. - -4. In that sin there was spite, and that against a brother. We have -seen that there is reason to believe (Gen. xxxvii. 2) that Joseph had -formerly blamed some of the practices in which his brethren indulged -while they were from under their parent’s eye, and that had provoked -their antipathy: “They hated him” when they saw that his father loved -him. And here again we see one reason why men have always ranked envy -among the vilest and the meanest of the sins. - -5. It need scarcely be added that there was cruelty in that crime. -Those brothers were deaf to the cries of the stripling; the majority of -them were not unwilling to put him to death amid lingering -agonies,—that is, to leave him to die of hunger in a pit, unheeded and -unrelieved. When we see fools making a mock at sin, and multitudes -seeking in it the only pleasure or the only gratification which they -know, surely that is because they do not know the dark depths into -which it sinks them! - -6. And, to name no more, there was in that sin the love of money, which -is the root of all evil. Those unnatural brothers, blinded by hatred, -and eager to get the offender out of the way, actually sold him for a -slave. They valued gold or silver more than their brother’s life, his -happiness, or his affection. He might have to wear chains, or carry -burdens heavier than he could bear; but what of all that, if their -hatred was indulged, and Joseph put out of their sight! Till then they -could not be at ease. His deportment was a rebuke to them. He seemed -holier than they, and because of that he must suffer; they must -contract guilt upon guilt. Now, is not this, in spirit, the very same -kind of sin as that which led Satan to tempt and ruin man? - -Such are some of the views suggested by this sad transaction—the -selling of Joseph. But little did his brothers know that these sins -would find them out. Little did they expect that even upon earth they -would see in Joseph all that his dreams had predicted,—themselves at -his feet, and doing him obeisance with all their heart. And little did -they know that God was to be with their brother of a truth, to bless -him and make him a blessing. But so it was; and Joseph became a type of -Jesus, persecuted by his brothers, but exalted by his God; buried out -of sight, yet raised to a throne; the victim of malignity at man’s -hand, but beloved of God, and therefore set on high. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -JOSEPH IN PRISON. - - -God has, in his holy providence, made great use of his people in -prison. Jeremiah, Daniel, Paul, Silas, and Peter, were all honoured by -him in such a place. Luther, while a captive in Wartburg Castle, -translated a large portion of Scripture, and promoted the spiritual -emancipation of millions in Christendom. Bunyan in his prison, where -blinded persecutors had immured him, wrote a book, second to no human -production in its knowledge of the heart and its delineations of truth. -And so of many more. Joseph’s name is to be added to this list. Having -been basely accused of a foul crime which he refused to commit, he was -cast into prison, and pined there for years, the victim of -malignity,—or apparently forgotten. Now this seemed the completion and -the cope-stone of the machinations of Joseph’s brethren. When he was -immured in that dungeon at On, in Memphis, in Thebes, or some other of -the royal cities of ancient Egypt, it might appear as if all hope -concerning him were gone: his aspirations, whatever they were, now -seemed to be blighted for ever. It was with him, to mortal eye, as it -was with Jesus when he was crucified, dead, and buried,—when a stone -was rolled to the door of the sepulchre,—when the entrance was sealed -with a seal, and a guard of Roman soldiers set, as if they could baffle -Omnipotence, and make all escape hopeless. - -In truth, however, the imprisonment of Joseph was meant and used by God -as a step to his exaltation. If he was for a season like one entombed, -he had a resurrection at last by the mighty power of Him who sees the -end from the beginning. It was like the planting of an acorn soon to -become an oak, or like the bubbling up of a little stream from the -depths of the earth soon to become a mighty river, while all around -exclaimed,— - - - “The gloomy mantle of the night, - Which on my sinking spirit steals, - Will vanish at the morning light - Which God, my East, my Sun, reveals.” - - -His God was with Joseph, then, as his sun and shield, even in the -prison-house of Pharaoh, and friends were soon raised up to the Hebrew -lad; he was even advanced to a degree of honour akin to royalty itself. -There was no Bible then to embody the mind of God to man, such as it is -now our most blessed privilege to enjoy; and in the absence of such a -book, knowledge was sometimes mysteriously imparted by dreams. We are -not able to explain how that took place; but He who made the mind can -impress it as he wills, and he often impressed it by dreams, by -visions, or by voices. For his companions in prison, Joseph had the -chief butler and the chief baker of Pharaoh’s household; and as they -dreamed dreams which he was enabled to interpret, that, in the -providence of God, led to his liberation. The chief butler was restored -to his former place in the royal household, as Joseph had foretold; and -though he forgot for a time his companion in prison, yet when the king -in his turn was troubled by certain dreams, the butler remembered -Joseph, pointed him out to Pharaoh, and the captive slave was summoned -into the monarch’s presence. - -There for the present we leave him, and observe that Joseph is now on -the high road to dignity and honour. By one of those sudden transitions -far from being uncommon in the East, where impulse often takes the -place of principle, or where what appears to be caprice does the work -of system, the prison door is shut behind Joseph, and that of the -palace is opened: he is soon to become the grand vizier of an Oriental -potentate. His brethren had sought to bury him out of sight; for, to -their mind, selling him into Egypt was equivalent to that doom. They -had no design but to get rid of a troublesome or an offensive brother; -but as God had restrained the remainder of their wrath, and in his -providence prevented the perpetration of fratricide, so he had further -purposes to serve by that remarkable youth; and Jehovah accordingly hid -him in the hollow of his hand; he was with Joseph when he went out, and -when he came in. - -From this time forward, then, all went well with Joseph. He had refused -to yield to temptation to sin. By the help of God, he was steadfast and -immovable; he became, as we shall see, the recognized benefactor of -millions. And what was the secret of all this? The Bible explains it, -in one brief clause: “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous -man” (Gen. xxxix. 2). That is the basis of all true prosperity. With -that, we need not fear the face of man. “The Lord will provide,” may -then become our assured confidence. In youth and in age, in sorrow and -in joy, in temptation and in safety, in life and at death, all will be -well, all will prosper, if “the Lord be with us.” Some, indeed, try to -prosper without the Lord’s guidance. They attempt by fraud what they -can accomplish only by the Lord’s blessing upon honesty. Deception is -systematized, and iniquity is drawn “as with a cart rope.” But all is -like a building upon the sand, or worse,—upon a sea-wave, unless the -Lord be with us. The whole is found at last to be a mockery, like the -mirage of the desert. - -But what were Joseph’s prison thoughts? Perhaps hope deferred made the -heart sick. Perhaps he sometimes desponded, and because the chief -butler long forgot his promise, the prisoner might fear that God had -also forgotten to be gracious. As year passed after year, till about -thirteen had rolled away, who will wonder though his heart sometimes -failed! But after all the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. A -thousand years are with him as one day. Joseph was liberated precisely -at the moment best for him and for all Egypt; and it is ever so with -those who wait upon the Lord. - -Now, in connection with these events, it may be observed that we often -hear of representative men—these are men who represent some great -interest, or who are the champions of some great cause. One man, for -example, is the representative of great learning; and we cannot hear -him named without thinking of great scholarship, or all varied lore. -Another man represents the cause of the people—not as a demagogue does, -for selfish or for turbulent ends, but for man’s social improvement or -social elevation—for man’s happiness, in short, in time and for ever. -Knox, for example, or Chalmers—what intelligent Christian, with the -open Bible for his standard, can hear these names without feeling that -these were representative men? Or a third man represents the martial -spirit. We cannot hear his name without thinking of wars, and battles, -and victory, and fame—that poor shadow which men pursue, and blindly -speak of as glory. Or a fourth man is the representative of science; -his name almost means science itself. And yet another may be the -representative of ferocity unmatched—of blood-thirstiness which only a -Feejee cannibal could surpass. - -Now we find the same thing in the Bible,—it is there in singular -prominence and vigour. Abraham was one representative man; David was -another; Isaiah, and Paul, and John, were others; and we need not -scruple to place Joseph among the rest. He was the representative of a -class upon whom Jehovah smiles while mortals frown—whom the Most High -exalts, while his creatures persecute, imprison, or destroy them—whom -he crowns with prosperity, while men would plunge them in misery here, -and doom them to endless endurance hereafter. By Joseph’s case we are -taught that there is a God that judgeth in the earth, and encouraged to -commit ourselves in well-doing to him, assured that, though villany may -seem to prosper, there is a curse in it—though God’s people be cast -down, they cannot be destroyed: His right hand will lift them up. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -JOSEPH INTERPRETING PHARAOH’s DREAMS. - - -“Seest thou a man diligent in business? he shall stand before kings: he -shall not stand before mean men” (Prov. xxii. 29). Such is one of the -sayings of the wisest man, and we see it fulfilled to the letter in -Joseph’s case. In the house of Potiphar, in the prison where he was -unjustly immured, and everywhere, he did what was just and right, and -now we see him (in our Engraving) literally standing before a king. In -many a passage of Scripture God is urgent with us to do with diligence -what he appoints us to do; and he makes it plain that in every -case—without exception, in every case—the path to true honour, true -promotion and prosperity, is the path of duty. For a time, men may get -success in iniquity; but their fall and their crash are the greater. -Witness the penury and the shame of the fraudulent bankrupt—the lordly -oppressor—the unjust dealer of every name. The history before us -illustrates all this. - -Pharaoh’s rest had been troubled by dreams, and when summoned, as we -have just seen, into the royal presence, Joseph was able to read -them—his God was with him, and he prospered even in that. He foretold -seven years of plenty, to be followed by seven years of scarcity, -according to a twofold emblem seen in the royal visions; and counselled -the king to provide for the evil of famine by treasuring up the produce -of the years of abundance. The lean kine and the well-favoured, the -good ears of corn and the bad, helped him to avert a dire calamity. He -became the benefactor of millions; and, according to some, Joseph -introduced a practice into Egypt regarding the tenure of land of which -there are vestiges to this day. - -But be that as it may, we see here how Joseph’s advancement begins, and -is promoted. He had honoured God, and is honoured by him. He had held -fast his integrity, and now found that to be the path of peace as well -as of prosperity; his equity is brought forth as the noon-day. His ways -pleased the Lord, and even Joseph’s enemies were all at peace with him. -He had been in the furnace, and came forth pure. He had been tempted, -bribed, allured to sin; but his God made him steadfast and immovable; -and we are now to see the result. Let us, then, look at some details. - -It seems to be a law in God’s world, that wherever good is to be done, -it must be accomplished by woe. Think again of the highest good ever -wrought out upon earth—the redemption of man by Jesus Christ—and how -was that accomplished? By tears, by agonies, and cries; by a death -whose horrors have never yet been told! Or, when Paul would spread the -blessings of redemption, how was that accomplished? By endurance at -every step, by buffetings, stripes, and persecutions! And when Luther -would sweep away some part of the rubbish which had been heaped upon -the truth, had he not to take his life in his hand, and clear his way -amid a thousand obstructions and tens of thousands of enemies, ere he -could advance that work? Or, once more, when God would make known his -truth in heathen lands, how is it done? As we have already seen, it is -amid throes, and persecutions, massacres, mutinies, and fiendish -cruelties. - -Now, Joseph’s case comes under this general rule. He was to become in -God’s hand the instrument of preserving millions from a terrible death; -but, to achieve that result, he must surmount obstruction after -obstruction, and rise from a pit into which his brothers threw him, and -a dungeon to which false accusation led. He was to turn famine into -plenty, and dearth into comparative cheapness; and how was it done? He -must first be hated by his brethren; and then he must be sold as a -slave; then he must be cast into a prison, and disciplined there for -thirteen years; and only after all these things is he permitted to work -the work which God had given him to do. Satan’s malice, and man’s -waywardness, impeded Joseph’s way; and only because the Lord was with -him did he prosper in the end against such combined opponents. Now, -just in proportion to the difficulties encountered and surmounted by -him, are we called to recognize the hand of God in what befell. When he -has a work to do, none can hinder; instruments will be found, and his -purposes on earth will be promoted, in spite of all that can resist or -gainsay. As well may we expect to roll back the flowing tide by a word, -or make some mighty river like the Amazon or the St. Lawrence run -upward to its fountain, as check, divert, or even retard the purposes -of the Eternal. He will work, and none can hinder: and the grand moral -of Joseph’s touching story is just this,—Man and devils may combine to -oppose the cause of God, but on that cause advances, resistless because -he is the Almighty. - -But while we glance at Joseph’s promotion thus far, we cannot help -adverting to the state of his unnatural brothers. No doubt they thought -that their wicked device had succeeded; they tried to be at peace, and -rejoice in their form of prosperity. They might see their aged father -pining nearer and nearer to the grave from day to day, on account of -the loss of Joseph. They might have some compunctions, and we can -scarcely suppose that conscience would be altogether silent; it would -be a rare case, indeed, had they succeeded in stifling entirely the -voice within. But we are told of no repentance, no confession of sin, -no humiliation for murder designed, for falsehood told, for a brother -hated, and a father, reduced to life-long anguish, passing on unsoothed -to the grave! Oh, the power of sin! How it perverts man’s nature! how -it hardens his heart into stone! how surely is the power of an Almighty -Spirit needed to renew it! and how blessed when that Spirit has come to -make us one spirit with that Living One of whom Joseph was a -type—Jesus, the Son of God! - -We say Joseph was a type of Jesus; at least the life of the one -strangely resembled that of the other. Such resemblances are sometimes -fanciful, and pushed further than sober judgment can sanction, yet in -many respects they are striking. Was Joseph, for example, hated by his -brethren? Jesus also came to his own, and his own received him not. Was -Joseph the favourite of his father? In like manner Jehovah proclaimed -concerning Jesus, “This is my beloved Son.” Was Joseph sold by his -brethren? So was Jesus. Was the former falsely accused? So was the -latter. Was Joseph the saviour of many from death by starvation? Jesus -was the saviour of a multitude, whom no man can number, from sin. Was -Joseph first degraded or dishonoured, and then highly exalted? The -history of the Redeemer’s earthly sojourn tells how wicked men -dishonoured or derided him; but the Scriptures also tell that God -highly exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name. Was -it a proclamation made before Joseph, “Bow the knee”? (Gen. xli. 43). -In like manner, “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” Did Joseph -feed multitudes? In like manner Jesus gives us the bread which comes -down from heaven. Did Joseph forgive his unnatural brethren at last? -The dying Saviour prayed for his crucifiers: “Father, forgive them; for -they know not what they do.” - -We would not carry out this parallel, we repeat, to any fanciful -extent; but the coincidences now mentioned, and many more, are often -pointed out. In the estimation of some, they furnish a proof that the -sufferings of the Saviour were prefigured, or predicted, by those of -Joseph; which at least show this—that he that will live righteously -must suffer persecution, whether he be one of the sons of men, or the -only Son of God. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -JOSEPH’S ADVANCEMENT. - - -It is instructive to notice how many things were combined, by the -providential care of God, to promote the advancement of Joseph: 1. He -dreamed; 2. He told his dreams to his brethren; 3. He went and visited -them at a distance from their father’s home—and, prior to that, he had -been envied by them on account of his father’s partiality; 4. Reuben -and Judah interposed to prevent his being murdered; 5. The Ishmaelites -passed opportunely through Dothan; 6. They bought him; 7. They carried -him into Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar—not a person of minor -influence; 8. Joseph was tempted to sin, but resisted the temptation, -and was thrown into prison on a false accusation; 9. He had for his -fellow-prisoners two of Pharaoh’s household; 10. They dreamed dreams; -11. Pharaoh did the same; 12. A former fellow-prisoner of the Hebrew -lad was at hand, to remind the troubled king of that lad’s power. And -only at the end of this long chain—to which still other links might -have been added—was Joseph raised from his degradation; only then did -it appear that he who chooses weak things to confound the mighty had a -great work to accomplish in Egypt by the instrumentality of that man. -It seemed darkness without one ray of light when Joseph was torn from -his father and his father’s country, and made not merely a slave, but a -close prisoner for several years. But he who makes the wrath of man to -praise him, needed Joseph in Egypt; and by terrible things in -righteousness the purposes of the Eternal were wrought out. - -Now this finely illustrates the exquisite adaptations of the providence -of God to accomplish his designs. The links, how delicate and manifold, -yet how firm! The agents, how free, yet how perfectly controlled! The -devices, how deep in some cases, how simple in others; yet how -beautifully all conspire to promote the desired end! Is not this the -finger of God? Does he not vivify all, or restrain all, ever one in -purpose as he is one in essence; and making all advance his glory? - -Contemplate Joseph now, then. He is at the right hand of Pharaoh; for -that monarch has said to him, “See, I have set thee over all the land -of Egypt. Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word -shall all my people be ruled; only in the throne will I be greater than -thou.” Joseph had power now to “bind even princes at his pleasure;” and -we cannot help contrasting the recent slave and prisoner with the -friend and counsellor of royalty, united in the same person. He is -adorned with Pharaoh’s ring, and with a chain of gold. If he has lost -his coat of many colours, he wears the royal raiment of Egypt in its -stead. He rides, moreover, in a chariot of state; and men, as we have -seen, now cry before him, “Bow the knee.” Joseph is, in truth, all but -royal; and though such things would not much affect him, if he was what -we believe him to have been—that is, righteous before God—yet they do -furnish a vivid contrast to Joseph’s recent condition. They show us -that when God over all has work to do, he will both find agents and -gift them with the means of accomplishing his purposes. Man seeks to -withdraw himself and his affairs entirely from the control of the -Supreme; but he bridles, fetters, or gives liberty, according to his -pleasure; and blessed are they who are his willing people. - -And who could not quote a hundred such examples as that of Joseph from -the history of the past? Nay, may not every man who has had wisdom to -watch the ways of God in dealing with his own soul, single out examples -of similar wisdom in the providence of the Holy One? It may be for -retribution on the guilty, or for encouragement to the men who fear -God; but whatever be the design, many signal examples are recorded, to -show that God watches over all human plans, guiding and controlling -them, so as to promote the good pleasure of his will. Man proposes, but -God disposes; and he that is wise to mark the wisdom of the Supreme in -such things, will not want for proof of the loving-kindness of the -Lord. During a recent memorable siege in the East, for example, it was -the design of hordes of dark-souled men to explode a mine, and blow -their beleaguered victims into the air; but that mine was prematurely -fired, and destroyed only those emissaries of evil who dug it. Now, -this is only a specimen of what takes place in the providence of God; -at least that mine at Lucknow was morally anticipated in the selling of -Joseph by his brethren, and his exaltation to the right hand of Pharaoh -by God, compared with their humiliation before him at last. - -Further: we need only to look forward to the closing scene of all, the -last and great Assize, to see examples countless of this general law! -What multitudes then will be seen to have been caught in their own -pitfall! How manifest will it then become that God was over all, even -when men were asking, like Pharaoh of old, “Who is the Lord, that I -should fear him?” Now, this may well supply strength to every tried -one. God may permit sorrow to assail; but do we, in godly sincerity, -commit our way to him? Then glory will emerge from that threatened -shame; and grief, as in Joseph’s case, will be found the precursor of -joy everlasting. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -“YE ARE SPIES.” - - -The history of Joseph now becomes more and more a history of the -triumph of faith over sight, or holiness over sin. Hitherto -transgressors have seemed to prosper in their way, and only the godly -were depressed. But now we are to see the Holy One vindicating the -rights of injured innocence, and more and more plainly proclaiming that -the Judge of all the earth will do right. May we not exclaim, then,— - - - “Stern daughter of the voice of God! - O Duty! if that name thou love, - Who art a light to guide, a rod - To check the erring, and reprove; - Thou who art victory and law, - When empty terrors overawe; - From vain temptations dost set free, - And calm’st the weary strife of frail humanity.” - - -“Be sure your sins will find you out,” is the fixed decree of God; and -in the case of Joseph’s brethren the day of retribution now begins to -dawn. If hitherto conscience had been at ease, or oblivious of their -brother, it is now to be roused, and to speak out for the Holy One who -is the Lord of conscience—the just Judge of the skies. The great white -throne and its work are now to be anticipated. - -From the narrative in Genesis we know that a famine had arisen in -Egypt, as Joseph had predicted. Its influence spread from that land -into the adjacent countries, and the sons of Jacob went thither to -profit by the stores which the wisdom of that brother whom they had -hated and sold had amassed. “All countries came into Egypt to Joseph, -for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands:” and -among the rest, the future patriarchs came, and “bowed down themselves -before him with their faces to the earth.” - -In other words, Joseph’s dream is now fulfilled,—his brethren do -obeisance to him—they are prostrate in the Oriental manner at his -footstool! All their machinations could not turn aside the purposes of -Jehovah; and neither their projected murder of Joseph, nor his being -sold into Egypt, nor his being a prisoner for years, could interfere -with the onward march or the ceaseless flow of purposes formed in -heaven. It cannot be too strenuously enforced, for it is the burden of -the whole Bible, that every wish of man, every word and deed of the -creature, must bend before the will of God. Joseph’s whole history is a -proof; and the history of the whole world, when read in the light of -eternity, will further demonstrate the same truth. “Be still, and know -that I am God,” is the profound but simple lesson which all must -learn,—on earth, or in agony hereafter for ever. - -All obstructions, then, are made to promote the designs of the Eternal; -and the sons of Jacob are therefore now at the feet of their hated -younger brother. For their trial, he spoke roughly unto them, and said, -“Ye are spies.” They were thus compelled to defend themselves in the -presence of him whom they had thrown into a pit, and plead for their -lives before one for whom they had no better portion than slavery and -exile. Again and again was the charge, “Ye are spies,” produced against -them; and again and again had they to declare that they were true men, -though Joseph knew that they were not. In short, they begin to discover -that the way of transgressors is hard; and to be assured that though -hand join in hand, sin shall not escape under the government of the -Holy One. - -It is sometimes not easy to speak or to act towards sinners under the -influence of that pity which their sad case requires. The cutting -sarcasm of Elijah to the priests of Baal, and the irony of Isaiah to -the idolaters of his day, appear to be the right weapons to be used in -such a case. Oh, how has reason been dethroned by sin! how has even -conscience been warped and blinded, when men can hope to cope with -Omnipotence and triumph—to plot against Omniscience and escape—to rebel -against Love and be happy! - -And the scriptural narrative is full upon this point, for it is one of -the main designs of the Bible to restore conscience to its place of -power. When tribulation came upon those men—when their sins began to -compass them about with sorrows—it was then that conscience spoke out: -“They said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, -in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we -would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben -answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against -the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is -required” (Gen. xlii. 21, 22). Their injured brother wept aside while -they thus conferred; but, meanwhile, conviction of sin has been -wrought; and, in one point of view, these guilty men are twice in the -dust;—once before God, as detected in their iniquity; and again before -their brother, fulfilling the word of God upon their very knees. - -And this may vividly remind us of what awaits the guilty at the last. -Self-detected, they will also be self-condemned. They will anticipate -the verdict of the Judge, and call on the mountains to fall on them ere -ever his sentence be uttered. But were it not well to anticipate all -this at an earlier stage? Were it not well to write bitter things -against ourselves now, and not wait to be condemned with the wicked—to -listen to the voice of a condemning conscience, and so escape the -condemnation of God? - -“His blood is required of us,” then,—such was the confession of those -men; and, in confessing that fact, they bowed before the majesty of -conscience, as the trees of the forest bow before the storm. Now, it -were well could the men of every name, and class, and age, be brought -to recognize that majesty, and in time to do obeisance before it. It -were well were it written up in every place of business, in every -church, in every home, nay, in every heart,—“There is a God that -judgeth in the earth;” “He will bring every work into judgment, with -every secret thought.” Were that remembered, surely it would tend to -check man’s proneness to sin, unless he were prepared openly to -conflict with Omnipotence. True, nothing but God’s almighty grace can -subdue our wayward hearts, or make his will our law; yet could we -remember Joseph’s brethren, as we are directed to remember Lot’s wife, -it would be well with us: the Spirit of God would bless it for our -good; and both young and old—both viceroys like Joseph and shepherds -like his brethren—would be wiser and happier men. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE CUP IN BENJAMIN’S SACK. - - -There can be little doubt that the events recorded in Scripture are -designed to illustrate its moral maxims and its religious principles. -Distinguishing aright between what the God of the Bible approves and -what he condemns, we find much light shed upon his truth by the conduct -of those whose lives are recorded there. Truth is never presented in -abstract forms, such as only the studious or the learned can -comprehend. On the contrary, it is embodied in life, now to awe us, and -anon to allure; at one time a beacon to warn, at another a signal to -encourage or guide. - -But there are many facts mentioned, or customs referred to, in -Scripture, with which we are now but little acquainted. The next -incident in Joseph’s history to which we refer belongs to this class. -His brethren were returning the second time from Egypt with sacks of -corn; but in order to stay, or to test them further, he ordered the cup -“whereby he divined” (Gen. xliv. 5) to be privately deposited in the -sack of Benjamin, who had been sent by his father with extreme -reluctance to Egypt, at the imperative demand of Joseph. His steward -was then ordered to follow them, and seize the party in whose sack the -drinking-cup was found. It was discovered, of course, in Benjamin’s; -and now began consternation to the uttermost among the sons of Jacob. -“They rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to -the city.” They had hoped to escape from the effects of a sin committed -many years ago, but now they must suffer and be in great trepidation -for a sin which they did not commit at all. If conscience has hitherto -been dormant or dead, it is about to be roused to a terrible activity. -It is soon to be with them as with the thief who “dreads an officer in -every bush.” - -The first thing that the guilty brothers did, when they reached the -abode of Joseph, was to “fall before him on the ground,” and so fulfil -once more that prediction concerning them and their doing obeisance -which had at first excited their enmity or their envy. They had to -plead their cause with all the force of Eastern pathos before Pharaoh’s -viceroy—their own brother; and their pleading contains some exquisitely -tender appeals, thoroughly Eastern in their style, but as thoroughly -human in their nature. Their father’s grief now occupied their -thoughts: they were not heartless as before; for when the conscience -was once roused it began to stir the better feelings of the heart. Days -of adversity and trial have at length accomplished some favourable -results. As the great I AM had work for Joseph in the world, he had -also work for his brethren to do, and they are reclaimed from their -self-inflicted degradation. - -But what is meant by Joseph’s divining cup? When his brethren appeared -before him to answer for the theft alleged against them, the ruler of -Egypt said, “Know ye not that such a man as I am can certainly divine?” -And does that mean that Joseph had adopted the practices of heathen -priests, pretending to forecast the future, and so far usurp the -prerogative of God? - -Without going further, the margin of our Bibles may help us to reply to -that question. The word “divine,” in Gen. xliv. 5 and 15, is translated -on the margin “make trial;” and we are thus, perhaps, referred to some -method adopted in Egypt for testing doubtful cases, by some peculiar -use of a cup. According to others, the word means no more than that -Joseph would make strict scrutiny upon such a point. He would sift and -test the character of the men before him. He would not let them go as -innocent, when he had tried them and found them criminal. By such an -announcement Joseph would re-enforce the claims of conscience; he would -deepen the alarms that had already risen in their minds; he was in -God’s hands to work out God’s purposes in those long dormant hearts; -for if Joseph could make strict inquiry, those men knew of One who -could make stricter still—the God who looks upon the heart, whose eyes -are as a flame of fire, and who cannot look on sin without abhorrence. - -But however we may interpret what our Bible calls Joseph’s power to -divine, we have no difficulty in understanding the moral lessons of -such events, or tracing the hand of heavenly wisdom, “from seeming evil -still educing good.” When Joseph demanded Benjamin to be brought down, -and when that was reported to his father, we know how he was affected. -Joseph, he believed, was lost; Simeon was detained in Egypt as an -hostage; Benjamin is now demanded; and the patriarch exclaimed, “Me -have ye bereaved of my children; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and -ye will take Benjamin away. All these things are against me” (Gen. -xlii. 36). Now, little did the man who made that sore complaint -understand the ways of God, even after all the experience he had had: -he judged like a short-sighted mortal, as we are ever prone to do, and -not as a believer in “the mighty God of Jacob.” He took counsel of -flesh and blood, and not of the God of all grace. He listened to the -whispers of his own heart; and what can follow such a course but woe? -The patriarch would have been nearer the truth—he would have uttered -the very truth—had he said the reverse of what he here declares. And -the same is true of us all. We are ever prone to misinterpret the ways -of God. We put false constructions upon his most wise and loving -providences: we judge by sense, and not by faith. When he chastens for -our profit, we think that it is for our ruin; we conclude that we are -to be destroyed, when we are only corrected: and thus live in misery -when we might joy in God, as David did when he said, “In very -faithfulness doth he afflict me.” Conscience whispers to many a soul -what we deserve from God; and when sorrows come, conscience generally -concludes that they are the first drops of the vials of wrath. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE MEETING OF JOSEPH AND BENJAMIN. - - -“Joseph fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin -wept upon his neck” (Gen. xlv. 14). Such is the word-picture of which -one of our Engravings is a copy. There is much that is lovely and of -good report as between man and man in our natures, notwithstanding of -the fall, and one of the fountains of the heart is here broken open. We -see how brother loves brother, and, by contrast with that scene, are -enabled to understand how far the minds of Joseph’s brethren must have -been warped and deadened by hatred or envy, when they could trample as -they did upon the affection which should knit brother to brother. Such -beautiful displays of brotherly love were perhaps made in this case -just to show more clearly by contrast the hateful nature of envy in -every case, but most of all among brothers. - -Prior to this stage of these proceedings, indeed, Joseph had given some -manifestations of his affection to Benjamin. He showed that his -elevation to the right hand of a throne had neither alienated nor -chilled his love; and the fivefold mess which he sent to Benjamin (Gen. -xliii. 34), according to the Eastern mode of showing affection, made it -plain that the external change in Joseph’s position had not altered his -heart. When he first set eyes on Benjamin, he could not refrain his -tears, but “sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and -wept there” (verses 29–31). According to the calmer temperament of -Western nations, where self-command in such cases is more studied, such -affection may appear excessive in a high and mighty ruler; it may seem -weak or womanish thus to dissolve into tears, even in the retirement of -one’s chamber. But in less phlegmatic temperaments, and especially -among Orientals, nature takes its own mode of expression—at once the -most pathetic and the most powerful; and the gushings of natural -affection, its tenderness, its beauty, and its force, rank among the -finest portions of the Word of God. Jesus wept because Jerusalem would -none of him: it would rather rush upon ruin. The deep yearnings of his -loving heart were outraged, and he wept in anguish there, as in -Gethsemane his sweat was as it were great drops of blood. Again, Paul -could tell, even weeping, of some who were the enemies of the cross of -Christ, who gloried in their shame, and drew forth pity for men who had -no pity on themselves. In short, wherever man is not hardened into -callousness by the power of the world, or chilled by conventional -usage, he will be as prompt to weep with them that weep as to rejoice -with them that rejoice. It is true, whether poetry record it or not, -that— - - - “Not the bright stars which night’s blue arch adorn, - Nor rising sun which gilds the vernal morn, - Shines with such lustre as the tears that break, - For other’s woes, down Virtue’s manly cheek.” - - -But the scene at which Joseph made himself known to his brethren -deserves our closer attention. He wept sore, and so loudly that the -Egyptians heard him. A strange thing that day had happened in their -land; and it is not easy to conceive of the feelings of those brethren -when the ruler, so royal-like, beside them, exclaimed, “I am Joseph!” -Surely no lightning flash ever startled more. The words of Nathan to -David, “Thou art the man!” could produce no profounder emotion. In that -one clause the memory of years long past was awakened; and surely the -consciences of those men were busier now than they had ever been -before: surely the blush of confusion might well crimson their cheeks, -and the recollection of all their baseness—their cruelty to their -father, their brother, and their own souls—would rush upon their minds -with the vividness of a yesterday’s event. “They were troubled at his -presence”—the margin says “terrified.” And well they might; it was as -if one had risen from the dead, or as if a miracle had been wrought to -confront them with their sin. When he said, “I am Joseph your brother, -whom ye sold into Egypt!” would not the words sound like the first -portion of a sentence of death and execution? But he hastened to -relieve their fears. “Be not grieved,” he said, “nor angry with -yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to -preserve life.” And when he “kissed all his brethren, and wept over -them,” they no doubt felt a mountain-load lifted from their minds. -Joseph had forgiven them; nay, more, he had found an excuse or -palliation for their sin. But could they forgive themselves? If they -were not utterly abandoned to guilt—and we know that they were -not—could they find rest anywhere but in the dust at that solemn, -searching moment? Oh, how would many, now undone and beyond hope for -ever, rejoice could such an hour of contrition be granted to them here! - -Here, then, we may contemplate the state of these detected men, when -their sin was pressed upon their notice by their brother, all kind and -forgiving as were his words. The chief sin of all—the sale into -slavery—had been committed many years before: it seemed over and -forgotten, like a thing buried and out of sight. But no; sin has a -vitality in it which defies alike oblivion and death; it is enduring, -as the nature of God is unchanging; and the guilty brothers are thus -confronted with their sin, fresh and vigorous, as if yesterday had seen -it perpetrated. And is not this but a rehearsal or a foreshadowing of -the great and final day, when the Judge of the quick and the dead is to -set our sins in array against us, or when it will seem a relief if the -mountains would fall on us and cover us from the wrath of the Lamb? -Happy the man who has his soul washed in the Lamb’s blood preparatory -to that day! We should never forget that there is to be a resurrection -of our deeds as well as of our bodies, and should live so as to be -ready to render our account with joy. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE MEETING OF JACOB AND JOSEPH. - - -If we have witnessed one scene of affection when Joseph embraced his -brother Benjamin, we are now to behold another, when the patriarch -Jacob meets with his long lost son. We are often permitted, even in -this life, to see joy and gladness according to the days in which we -have seen grief; and an example of that is at hand. - -After the interview between Joseph and his brethren, matters were soon -arranged for transferring them and all their retinue to Egypt,—another -important stage in the development of God’s plans with our world. -Pharaoh confirmed the request of his viceroy to that effect, so that -the patriarchs and their father with them were invited to settle in one -of the richest portions of Egypt. Among these migratory tribes of -herdsmen—who literally had no continuing city—such a removal was not so -remarkable as a similar thing would be in our country of more fixed -habits; and the whole house of Jacob was accordingly soon in motion -toward Egypt. “It is enough,” he exclaimed, when the invitation reached -him; “Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die;” -and the threescore and six souls, who composed his household, of course -followed in his train. - -Now, had we been there to witness that migration, it would never have -occurred to us to think that the future history of the sons of men -would be largely affected by the movement; yet it was so. That was no -ordinary change of abode: God was in it of a truth; and, blind or dark -as man might be, God was there in the act of “calling things that are -not as though they were.” - -As he journeyed toward Egypt, Jacob met with much to gladden him by the -way. In a vision of the night, he was encouraged from on high to go -fearlessly forward, for blessings great and manifold awaited him and -his descendants in the future. But our present topic leads us past the -different stages of the journey, to the meeting of the father and the -son. When Joseph learned that his parent was approaching, he hastened -forth to meet him, and, with the ardent affection, as well as the -profound respect, of the East, welcomed the aged man to Egypt. He did -not think it beneath his dignity, as vice-king of that country, to -offer lowly reverence to his father, shepherd or husbandman as he was, -and following a profession which made him “an abomination unto the -Egyptians.” Nay, when Joseph met his father in the land of Goshen, we -read that “he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while” -(Gen. xlvi. 29); while the father exclaimed, “Now, let me die, since I -have seen thy face, because thou art still alive.”—It was an interview -and an hour which compensated, in a great measure, for the sorrows and -separation of years; it was one of the scenes by which God, in his holy -providence, foreshows how intense will be the joy when the great family -are all gathered home, from every country, and tribe, and tongue, to -their Father’s house on high. The exile returning to the home of his -fathers, or the soldier revisiting the scenes of his boyhood after many -a bloody field, may understand such emotions in some degree. They are -green spots in the desert of life—a Tadmor in the wilderness—a lily -among thorns. - -Yet there, also, the feelings would be of a mixed nature, like all -things human. Scarcely any of the parties present—Jacob, Joseph, or his -brethren—could fail to glance in thought at the strange proceedings -which had separated them so long. There might be neither envy nor -hatred now—neither spite upon the one side, nor a desire of retaliation -on the other. The dealings of Providence had been too remarkable to -admit of such feelings; and we rather suppose that they were all -suppressed, as much as possible, amid the general joy. But be that as -it may, we see the patriarch happy for a season. His children, who were -really the hope of the world (strange as the remark may seem when -applied to such men), were now gathered around him; and as it then -appeared that he had little to do but to die, he might at length put a -different construction on his own words: “All these things are against -me.” He had providence now interpreted to him by its God, and saw with -his bodily eyes, as all the ransomed will yet see in glory, that “all -things work together for good to them that love God, and that are the -called according to his purpose.” Flesh and blood may fear and quake -under trial, but faith rises to a higher level, and walks with a firmer -step,—it can endure as seeing him who is invisible. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -JACOB IN THE PRESENCE OF PHARAOH. - - -We have seen that the son stood before kings, and the father is now to -do the same. If we have beheld not a little in former scenes to commend -Joseph to our love, we are here to see yet more. As soon as he met his -father, he communicated his purpose to apply to Pharaoh to sanction the -sojourn of the patriarch and his tribe in Egypt. This was easily -arranged; and at the close of the proceedings, Joseph “brought in Jacob -his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh” -(Gen. xlvii. 7). When this was accomplished, we can suppose that the -highest wishes of one so affectionate as Joseph were gratified. For -about seventeen years his parent lived to bless him with his company -and his counsel; and though we have not many details of their -intercourse during that period, we may easily imagine that the -tenderness of those seventeen years largely compensated for the long -and violent separation which had kept the father and the son so far -apart, and even made them the citizens of different kingdoms. - -But we may notice here, in passing, the question of Pharaoh, and the -answer of Jacob, at their interview. “How old art thou?” was the -monarch’s inquiry; and Jacob’s reply was a picture in words of the -weary life of man: “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an -hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my -life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life -of my fathers, in the days of their pilgrimage” (Gen. xlvii. 9). Few -and evil! Behold the history of a life whose days were protracted even -beyond the ordinary span! Few and evil, because man is born to trouble -as the sparks fly upward. Few and evil, because it is written, “Dust -thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Few and evil, because, in -this special case, there had been more than common grief endured, where -those who should have been a solace or a stay were transformed by sin -into causes of anguish, first to their aged parent, and at last also to -themselves. - -And how sad must the reply of Jacob have sounded in the ears of the -king! It rarely happens that monarchs are permitted to hear unpleasant -truths. Everything around them seems to proclaim or to whisper that -to-morrow will be as to-day; or if different, only more joyous and more -thoughtless still! For once, however, the hoary-headed patriarch tells -the monarch the truth, and indirectly reminds him, Thou, too, must die. -There was another king, the King of Terrors, mightier than Pharaoh, and -slowly approaching to lay him in the dust. - -And perhaps there is nothing in all the history or the life of man -which shows more clearly the effects of sin, or the ruin of the fall, -than his wilful ignorance, or at least his want of feeling, on the -great subject of his mortality. Of no truth is it possible for man to -be more convinced than this—I must die. It is not so absolutely certain -that the sun will rise on any given day, as that man may die any moment -or any breath. Yet who is moved by that conviction to prepare for -dying? Who is stirred up by all the funerals which he sees, or all the -open graves which he visits, to prepare for meeting God? Not one. It is -not that kind of influence: it is the grace and the Spirit of God that -make man wise to consider his latter end. For example, the plaintive -sentiment, “Few and evil,” uttered by the patriarch, most probably -passed through the monarch’s mind like water through a sieve. A sigh, -or a wish, or a hope, perhaps, and all was over! The thought was dashed -aside as an unwelcome intruder amid the gorgeous scenes of a palace. -And if that was the case, Pharaoh was only a specimen of the universal -race of man. The fleeting nature of life is forgotten amid its cares, -its engrossments, and trifles. But happy they whom the Spirit of God -makes wise in this and other respects! Happy they who cling, as Jacob -did, to Him who is the life, and over whom death has no power for ever! - -In the African desert there is a bird, known as the honey-guide, which -often conducts the traveller to some hive, whose sweet stores form a -staple article of food in those dreary parts. By a peculiar instinct, -provision is thus made to supply the wayfarer’s wants; or, in some -cases, to rescue him from death. Now God has yet more wisely and surely -provided for our escape from the second death, if we listen to the -warnings of his Word or the guidance of his Spirit; and happy are they -who are thus guided! They are led to a portion sweeter far than honey -from the honey-comb. The few and weary days of our earthly pilgrimage -then conduct us to the house of the Lord—the city of the Great King—the -abode to which the palace of Pharaoh was as a dungeon or a cell. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE DEATH OF JACOB. - - -We have now reached the closing stage of all. For about seventeen years -Jacob sojourned in Egypt, and about one hundred and forty-seven here -below; but the “evil” of which he complained to Pharaoh is drawing to -an end. The patriarch is about to die. Joseph was summoned into his -father’s presence, along with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, who -were adopted as his own by the dying patriarch; they received his -blessing along with their father (Gen. xlviii.); and after the aged man -had prophetically sketched the history or character of each of the -future patriarchs, “he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded -up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.” - -And in concluding these sketches, we may glance again at the mode in -which the mighty God brought good to all nations and all times out of -the misdeeds of the sons of Jacob. In our world there is much to -perplex and bewilder us in studying the ways of Providence, and it is -not always easy—for us, at least—to “justify the ways of God to man;” -but he will sooner or later justify them himself, and make it plain to -all that his ways, like his Word, are pure. - -For example, we have already seen what benefits accrued to Joseph -himself from the cruelty of his brethren, and how fully he recognized -the hand of God in all that had befallen him. Just as Jehovah will make -it plain at last, before the assembled world, that the very wrath of -man has praised him, in the present instance he made the evil passions -of those brothers remarkably advance the eternal purposes of the God of -heaven. The promises made to Adam and to Abraham are here helped a -stage forward to their fulfilment in spite of all that seems to oppose. -Somehow or other, though we cannot see it, or explain it at all, even -sin—the abominable thing which God hates—will be made to promote his -glory; and of that result we have a specimen in the events of this -remarkable family. - -To Jacob, also, as well as to the land of Egypt, we see what benefits -resulted from the sin of his sons. All the guilt of that sin lay upon -them, and was not in the least jot mitigated by the manner in which God -overruled it for good; but it is full of encouragement to a child of -God, to see it working out the purposes of his Father. Jacob was saved -from death by starvation; his family, and myriads besides, were the -same: and thus he who sought only to do evil by stirring up the envy of -Joseph’s brethren, was compelled to do good thereby again and again. - - - - THE END - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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