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Genesis Chapter
Thirty-seven
Genesis 37
Chapter Contents
Joseph is loved of Jacob
but hated by his brethren.
(1-4) Joseph's dreams. (5-11) Jacob sends Joseph to visit his brethren
They
conspire his death. (12-22) Joseph's brethren sell him. (23-10) Jacob deceived
Joseph sold to Potiphar. (31-36)
Commentary on Genesis 37:1-4
In Joseph's history we see something of Christ
who was
first humbled and then exalted. It also shows the lot of Christians
who must
through many tribulations enter into the kingdom. It is a history that has none
like it
for displaying the various workings of the human mind
both good and
bad
and the singular providence of God in making use of them for fulfilling
his purposes. Though Joseph was his father's darling
yet he was not bred up in
idleness. Those do not truly love their children
who do not use them to
business
and labour
and hardships. The fondling of children is with good
reason called the spoiling of them. Those who are trained up to do nothing
are
likely to be good for nothing. But Jacob made known his love
by dressing
Joseph finer than the rest of his children. It is wrong for parents to make a
difference between one child and another
unless there is great cause for it
by the children's dutifulness
or undutifulness. When parents make a
difference
children soon notice it
and it leads to quarrels in families.
Jacob's sons did that
when they were from under his eye
which they durst not
have done at home with him; but Joseph gave his father an account of their ill
conduct
that he might restrain them. Not as a tale-bearer
to sow discord
but
as a faithful brother.
Commentary on Genesis 37:5-11
God gave Joseph betimes the prospect of his advancement
to support and comfort him under his long and grievous troubles. Observe
Joseph dreamed of his preferment
but he did not dream of his imprisonment.
Thus many young people
when setting out in the world
think of nothing but
prosperity and pleasure
and never dream of trouble. His brethren rightly
interpreted the dream
though they abhorred the interpretation of it. While
they committed crimes in order to defeat it
they were themselves the
instruments of accomplishing it. Thus the Jews understood what Christ said of
his kingdom. Determined that he should not reign over them
they consulted to
put him to death; and by his crucifixion
made way for the exaltation they
designed to prevent.
Commentary on Genesis 37:12-22
How readily does Joseph wait his father's orders! Those
children who are best beloved by their parents
should be the most ready to
obey them. See how deliberate Joseph's brethren were against him. They thought
to slay him from malice aforethought
and in cold blood. Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer
1 John 3:15. The sons of Jacob hated their
brother because their father loved him. New occasions
as his dreams and the
like
drew them on further; but this laid rankling in their hearts
till they
resolved on his death. God has all hearts in his hands. Reuben had most reason
to be jealous of Joseph
for he was the first-born; yet he proves his best
friend. God overruled all to serve his own purpose
of making Joseph an
instrument to save much people alive. Joseph was a type of Christ; for though
he was the beloved Son of his Father
and hated by a wicked world
yet the
Father sent him out of his bosom to visit us in great humility and love. He
came from heaven to earth to seek and save us; yet then malicious plots were
laid against him. His own not only received him not
but crucified him. This he
submitted to
as a part of his design to redeem and save us.
Commentary on Genesis 37:23-30
They threw Joseph into a pit
to perish there with hunger
and cold; so cruel were their tender mercies. They slighted him when he was in
distress
and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph
see Amos 6:6; for when he was pining in the pit
they sat down to eat bread. They felt no remorse of conscience for the sin. But
the wrath of man shall praise God
and the remainder of wrath he will restrain
Psalm 76:10. Joseph's brethren were wonderfully
restrained from murdering him
and their selling him as wonderfully turned to
God's praise.
Commentary on Genesis 37:31-36
When Satan has taught men to commit one sin
he teaches
them to try to conceal it with another; to hide theft and murder
with lying
and false oaths: but he that covers his sin shall not prosper long. Joseph's
brethren kept their own and one another's counsel for some time; but their
villany came to light at last
and it is here published to the world. To grieve
their father
they sent him Joseph's coat of colours; and he hastily thought
on seeing the bloody coat
that Joseph was rent in pieces. Let those that know
the heart of a parent
suppose the agony of poor Jacob. His sons basely
pretended to comfort him
but miserable
hypocritical comforters were they all.
Had they really desired to comfort him
they might at once have done it
by
telling the truth. The heart is strangely hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Jacob refused to be comforted. Great affection to any creature prepares for so
much the greater affliction
when it is taken from us
or made bitter to us:
undue love commonly ends in undue grief. It is the wisdom of parents not to
bring up children delicately
they know not to what hardships they may be
brought before they die. From the whole of this chapter we see with wonder the
ways of Providence. The malignant brothers seem to have gotten their ends; the
merchants
who care not what they deal in so that they gain
have also obtained
theirs; and Potiphar
having got a fine young slave
has obtained his! But
God's designs are
by these means
in train for execution. This event shall end
in Israel's going down to Egypt; that ends in their deliverance by Moses; that
in setting up the true religion in the world; and that in the spread of it
among all nations by the gospel. Thus the wrath of man shall praise the Lord
and the remainder thereof will he restrain.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Genesis》
Genesis 37
Verse 2
[2]
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph
being seventeen years old
was
feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah
and with the sons of Zilpah
his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his
father their evil report.
These are the generations of Jacob — It is not a barren genealogy
as those of Esau
but a memorable useful
history.
Joseph brought to his father their evil
report — Jacob's sons did that when they were from
under his eye
which they durst not have done if they had been at home with
him; but Joseph gave his father an account of their ill carriage
that he might
reprove and restrain them.
Verse 3
[3] Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children
because he was the son
of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
He made him a coat of divers colours - Which
probably was significant of farther honours intended him.
Verse 5
[5] And
Joseph dreamed a dream
and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the
more.
Though he was now very young
about seventeen
years old
yet he was pious and devout
and this fitted him for God's gracious
discoveries to him. Joseph had a great deal of trouble before him
and
therefore God gave him betimes this prospect of his advancement
to support and
comfort him.
Verse 8
[8] And
his brethren said to him
Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed
have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams
and for
his words.
Shalt thou indeed reign over us? — See here
1. How truly they interpreted his dream? The event exactly
answered this interpretation
Genesis 42:6
etc. 2. How scornfully they
resented it
Shalt thou that art but one
reign over us that are many? Thou
that art the youngest
over us that are elder? The reign of Jesus Christ
our
Joseph
is despised and striven against by an unbelieving world
who cannot
endure to think that this man should reign over them. The dominion also of the
upright in the morning of the resurrection is thought of with the utmost
disdain.
Verse 10
[10] And he told it to his father
and to his brethren: and his father rebuked
him
and said unto him
What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and
thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the
earth?
His father rebuked him — Probably to lessen the offence which his brethren would take at it; yet
he took notice of it more than he seemed to do.
Verse 18
[18] And
when they saw him afar off
even before he came near unto them
they conspired
against him to slay him.
And when they saw him afar off they conspired
against him — It was not in a heat
or upon a sudden
provocation
that they thought to slay him
but from malice propense
and in
cold blood.
Verse 21
[21] And
Reuben heard it
and he delivered him out of their hands; and said
Let us not
kill him.
And Reuben heard it —
God can raise up friends for his people
even among their enemies. Reuben of
all the brothers had most reason to be jealous of Joseph
for he was the
first-born
and so entitled to those distinguishing favours which Jacob was
conferring on Joseph
yet he proves his best friend. Reuben's temper seems to
have been soft and effeminate
which had betrayed him to the sin of
uncleanness
while the temper of the two next brothers
Simeon and Levi
was
fierce
which betrayed them to the sin of murder
a sin which Reuben startled
at the thought of. He made a proposal which they thought would effectually
destroy Joseph
and yet which he designed should answer his intention of
rescuing Joseph out of their hands
probably hoping thereby to recover his
father's favour which he had lately lost; but God over-ruled all to serve his
own purpose of making Joseph an instrument to save much people alive. Joseph
was here a type of Christ. Though he was the beloved Son of his Father
and
hated by a wicked world; yet the Father sent him out of his bosom to visit us;
he came from heaven to earth to seek and save us; yet then malicious plots were
laid against him; he came to his own
and his own not only received him not
but consulted
This is the heir
come let us kill him. This he submitted to
in
pursuance of his design to save us.
Verse 24
[24] And
they took him
and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty
there was no
water in it.
They call him into a pit — To perish there with hunger and cold; so cruel were their tender
mercies.
Verse 25
[25] And
they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked
and
behold
a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing
spicery and balm and myrrh
going to carry it down to Egypt.
They sat down to eat bread — They felt no remorse of conscience
which if they had
would have
spoiled their stomach to their meat. A great force put upon conscience commonly
stupifies it
and for the time deprives it both of sense and speech.
Verse 26
[26] And
Judah said unto his brethren
What profit is it if we slay our brother
and
conceal his blood?
What profit is it if we slay our brother? — It will be less guilt and more gain to sell him. They all agreed to
this. And as Joseph was sold by the contrivance of Judah for twenty pieces of
silver
so was our Lord Jesus for thirty
and by one of the same name too
Judas. Reuben it seems
was gone away from his brethren when they sold Joseph
intending to come round some other way to the pit
and to help Joseph out of
it. But had this taken effect
what had become of God's purpose concerning his
preferment
in Egypt? There are many devices of the enemies of God's people to
destroy them
and of their friends to help them
which perhaps are both
disappointed
as these here; but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand.
Reuben thought himself undone because the child was sold; I
whither shall I
go? He being the eldest
his father would expect from him an account of him;
but it proved they had all been undone
if he had not been sold.
Verse 35
[35] And
all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be
comforted; and he said
For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.
Thus his father wept for him.
He refused to be comforted — He resolved to go down to the grave mourning; Great affection to any
creature doth but prepare for so much the greater affliction
when it is either
removed from us
or embittered to us: inordinate love commonly ends in
immoderate grief.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Genesis》
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT.
Genesis
37:28-36.
We
look at Joseph as a type of Christ
and as an illustration of the believer.
There is one point to which we draw attention
namely
the sufferings of
Joseph.
Foseph
being ill-treated by his brethren is a type of the ill-treatment that Christ
received at the hands of His brethren
and is an illustration of what we must
expect from those who are not the Lord’s.
There
are seven things that Joseph’s brethren did to him. They hated him (verse
4
5
8)
they envied him (verse 11)
they conspired against him (verse 18)
they
were going to kill him (verse 20)
they stripped him (verse 23)
they cast cast
him into a pit (verse 24)
and they sold him to the Ishmaelites (verse 28). All
this is typical of the treatment that Christ received from His brethren
according to the flesh.
Ⅰ.
As Joseph was hated by his brethren
so
was Christ
as He Himself says
“ They hated Me without a cause” (John
15:25). Joseph was hated because he was the special object of regard to his
father (verse 4)
because of his words (verse 8)
and because of his dreams
which predicted his future glory. In like manner the Jews hated Christ. They
hated Him because of Him (John 10:30
33). They hated him because of the
faithful words He uttered
and would have cast Him down headlong ( Luke
4:28
29); and they hated Him because He spoke of His coming glory
and spit in
His face
smote Him with their hands
and condemned Him to death
(Matt.26:64-67). We must not be surprised
therefore
if the world should hate
us
for the Lord Himself has told us that this will be so (John 15:18
19)
but
this is our comfort that He telleth His Father and our Father about it (John
17:14).
Ⅱ.
As Joseph was envied by his brethren (
Gen.37:11)
even so was Christ. The
Roman ruler
Pilate
saw very plainly that the motive power which was actuating
the chief priests and elders when they brought Christ before him was envy
(Matt. 27:18; Mark 15:10; John 11:47
48)
even as Joseph was envied by his
brethren
to which envy reference is made by the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:9). Beware
of envy
it is self-destructive. As Dr. Thomas once remarked
“ I remember
reading somewhere in a Grecian story of a man who killed himself through envy.
His fellow-citizens had reared a statue to one of their number who was a
celebrated victor in the public games. So strong was the feeling of envy which
this incited in the breast of one of the hero’s rivals that he went forth every
night in order
if possible
to destroy that monument. After repeated efforts
he moved it from its pedestal
and it fell
and in its fall crushed him. An
unintentional symbolic act was this
showing the suicidal action of envy on the
soul. It is ever an element of misery
a burning coal which comes hissing hot
from hell.”
Ⅲ.
As Joseph was conspired against (Gen.37:18)
even so was Christ. The chief
priests were continually plotting against the Lord Jesus. His teaching was a
bright light
which revealed the hollowness of their utterances
and the
unreality of their pretences
hence the reason of their ire against the Lord’s
Anointed (Matt.21:38; Mark 11:18; 12:12; Luke 19:47; 20:19). Judas was also
used as a cat’s-paw by the priests and scribes
that they might get Christ into
their power (Matt.26:16; Mark 14:11); and they cared not what means they
adopted to accomplish their diabolical purpose
for they even went the length
of bribing false witnesses against the Son of God (Matt.26:59; Mark 1:55). The
servant is not above his Lord. As Christ was conspired against
even so was the
Apostle Paul
as we read in the 23rd of the Acts. The same spirit is
also manifested against God’s people
although in a less malignant form
by the
world
but the same fire of hate lies smouldering
although it does not burst
forth into flame.
Ⅳ.
As Joseph’s brethren sought to kill him (Gen.37:20)
even so the Jews repeatedly sought the
life or Christ. The evil purpose of the Jews to murder Christ
runs through
the Gospel of John
like the black line that is often seen running across the
face of a piece of white marble. (See John 5:16
18; 7:1
11
19
25
30; 8:37
40;
10:39; 11:8
57). The pure
white
noble
holy life of Christ was in such
striking contrast to the lives of the scribes and Pharisees that they hated Him
in consequence. Thus also will the world hate the child of God who is true to
the truth of Christ with that hatred which is murder in the bud (1. John 3:15;
Matt. 5:21
22).
Ⅴ.
As Joseph was stripped of his clothes (
Gen.17:23)
even so was Christ. In
the Judgment Hall He was stripped to have the scarlet robe put on Him in
mockery
and at the Cross the soldiers parted His raiment among them
(Matt.27:28
35). Verily
like the man in the parable of the Good Samaritan
He
fell among thieves
and they stripped Him of His clothes. Oh! What a sight for
angels to look upon
their Maker to be stripped
naked
bleeding
and dying
upon a cross! Many a child of God has been stripped by the bloody Inquisition
and put upon the rack
or else stripped by wild beasts in the arena at Rome.
Ⅵ.
As Joseph was made a prisoner by being
cast into the pit ( Gen.37:24)
so
Christ was bound and kept in durance vile (Mark 15:1). Wonder of wonders
that Christ should condescend to be bound by man! That the creature should
imprison the Creator! The Prophet Isaiah
in speaking in general terms of the
sufferings of Christ
says “ He was taken from prison and judgment” (Isaiah
53:8). Many a servant of Christ has been cast into prison for the Gospel’s
sake
as Paul and Silas were at Philippi (Acts 16.)
and as John Bunyan at
Bedford.
Ⅶ.
As Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of
silver (Gen.37:28)
even so was
Christ for thirty pieces of silver sold by Judas who betrayed Him (Matt.
27:3). No one can prayerfully ponder the sufferings of Christ without being
influenced. His patience under provocation
and His whole attitude while in the
hands of wicken men are most majestic
and remind us of a noble lighthouse
around which the angry waves beat and hiss in vain. He is truly an Example for
His sake (1. Peter 2:20-22). We must not forget that we are called to suffer
for Christ
and with Him( Phil.1:29; 3:10)
as well as to reign with Him; yea
the place of glory is only reached by the path of suffering (Rom.8:17).
── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》
37 Chapter 37
Verse 1-2
Joseph
The history of Joseph
Joseph’s is one of the most interesting histories in the world.
He has the strange power of uniting our hearts to him
as to a well-beloved
friend. He had “the genius to be loved greatly
” because he had the genius to
love greatly
and his genius still lives in these Bible pages.
I. JOSEPH WAS A
HATED BROTHER. The boy was his father’s pet. Very likely he was the perfect
picture of Rachel who was gone
and so Jacob saw and loved in him his sainted
wife. In token of love his father foolishly gave him a coat of many colours
to
which
alas! the colour of blood was soon added. It was for no good reason that
his brothers hated him. Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Not
that he was a sneaking tell-tale; but he would not do as they did
nor would he
hide from his father their evil doings. God means the children of a family to
feel bound together by bands that grapple the heart
and to stand true to one
another to life’s end. Reverence the mighty ties of kindred which God has
fashioned. Joseph also teaches you never to make any one your foe without a
very good reason. The weakest whom you wrong may one day be your master.
II. JOSEPH WAS A
BLAMELESS YOUTH. Though terribly tempted
he never yielded. He was shamefully
wronged
yet he was not hardened or soured. His soul was like the oak which is
nursed into strength by storms. In his heart
not on it
he wore a talisman
that destroyed sin’s charms. The heavently plan of his piety disclosed all its
beauty
and gave out its sweet odours in the wicked palaces of Potiphar and
Pharaoh.
III. JOSEPH WAS A
FAMOUS RULER. He entered Egypt as a Hebrew slave
and became its prime
minister. He was the hero of his age
the saviour of his country
the most
successful man of his day. He became so great because he was so good; he was a
noble man because he was a thorough man of God.
IV. JOSEPH WAS A
TYPE OF CHRIST. Joseph
like Jesus
was his father’s well-beloved son
the best
of brothers
yet hated and rejected by his own; was sold from envy for a few
pieces of silver
endured a great temptation
yet without sin; was brought into
a low estate and falsely condemned; was the greatest of forgivers
the forgiver
of his own murderers; and was in all things the son and hope of Israel. (J.
Wells.)
The commencement of Joseph’s history
I. As
DISTINGUISHED BY HIS EARLY PIETY. His conduct was not back-biting
but a filial
confidential report to his father.
1. It showed his love of truth and right. He would not suffer his
father to be deceived by a false estimate of the conduct of his sons. He must
be made acquainted with the truth
however painful
or be the consequences what
they might to all concerned.
2. It showed his unwillingness to be a partaker of other men’s sins.
3. It showed a spirit of ready obedience. He knew that a faithful
report of the conduct of his brethren was a duty he owed to his father.
II. As MARKED OUT
FOR A GREAT DESTINY. III. AS THE OBJECT OF ENVY AND HATRED.
1. Because of his faithful testimony.
2. Because of his father’s partiality.
3. Because of the distinction for which God had destined him. (T.
H.Leale.)
Jacob and Joseph
I. THE DIVISION
FOUND IN JACOB’S FAMILY. Four reasons for this.
1. Jacob’s favouritism for Joseph.
2. The scandal-bearing of Joseph.
3. The polygamy of Jacob.
4. The envy of the brothers.
II. JOSEPH’S
MISSION TO SHECHEM. Observe here the bloodguiltiness of these brothers; they
did not take Joseph’s life
but they intended to take it; they were therefore
murderers. Let us make a distinction; for when we are told that the thought is
as bad as the crime
sometimes we are tempted to argue thus: I have indulged
the thought
I will therefore do the deed
it will be no worse. This sophistry
can scarcely deceive the heart that uses it; yet
merely to put the thing
verbally right
let us strip it of its casuistry. The thought is as bad as the
act
because the act would be committed if it could. But if these brethren of
Joseph had mourned over and repented of their sin
would we dare to say that
the thought would have been as bad as the act? But we do say that the thought
in this case was as bad as the act
because it was not restrained or prevented
by any regret or repentant feeling; it was merely prevented by the coming in of
another passion
it was the triumph of avarice over malice. But all these
brothers were not equally guilty. Simeon and Levi and others wished to slay
Joseph; Judah proposed his being sold into captivity; while Reuben tried to
save him secretly
although he had not courage to save him openly. He proposed
that he should be put into the pit
intending to take him out when the others
were not by. His conduct in this instance was just in accordance with his
character
which seems to have been remarkable for a certain softness. He did
not dare to shed his brother’s blood
neither did he dare manfully to save him.
He was not cruel
simply because he was guilty of a different class of sin. It
is well for us
before we take credit to ourselves for being free from that or
this sin
to inquire whether it be banished by grace or only by another sin. (F.
W. Robertson
M. A.)
The father’s favourite
and the brothers’ censor
1. We are taught here the evil of favouritism in the family. The
balance
as between the different children in the same household
must be held
evenly by the parents. No one ought to be the “pet” of either father or mother
for the “pet” is apt to become petted
haughty
and arrogant towards the
others; while the showing of constant favour to him alienates the affections of
the rest
both from him and from the parents. “Is that you
Pet?” said a father
from his bedroom to a little one who stood at the door in the early morning
knocking for admission. “No
it isn’t Pet
it’s only me
” replied a sorrowful
little voice; and that was the last of “pet” in that family. See what mischief
it occasioned here in Jacob’s household!
2. We may learn from this narrative how bitter is the antagonism of
the wicked to the righteous in the world. The real root of the hatred of
Joseph’s brethren is to be traced to the fact that he would not consent to be
one of them
and join in the doing of things which they knew that their father
would condemn. His conscience was tender
his heart was pure
his will was
firm. He was a Puritan and they were regardless
and they chose to set down his
non-conformity to pride rather than to principle
and persecuted him
accordingly. There is an immense amount of petty persecution of this sort going
on in all our colleges
commercial establishments
and factories
of which the
principals and the great world seldom hear
but which shows us that the human
nature of to-day is in its great features identical with that which existed
many centuries ago in the family of Jacob. What then? Are the upright to yield?
are they to abate their protest? are they to become even as the others? No; for
that would be to take the leaven out of the mass; that would be to let evil
become triumphant
and so that must never be thought of. Let the persecuted in
these ways hold out. Let them neither retaliate
nor recriminate
nor carry
evil reports
but let them simply hold on
believing that “he that endureth
overcometh.”
3. The case of Joseph here brings up the whole question of our
responsibility in regard to what we see and hear that is evil in other people.
I have come to the conclusion that Joseph was by his father placed in formal
charge of his brokers
and that it was is duty to give a truthful report
concerning them
even as to-day an overseer is bound in justice to his employer
to state precisely the kind of service which those under him are rendering.
That is no tale-bearing; that is simple duty. But now
suppose we are invested
with no such charge over another
and yet we see him do something that is
deplorably wrong
what is our duty in such a case? Are we bound to carry the
report to his father or to his employer
or must we leave things alone and let
them take their course? The question so put is a delicate one and very
difficult to handle. But I think I see two or three things that cast some
little light upon it.
Joseph at home
I. THE OCCUPATION
OF HIS EARLY YEARS. Trained from youth to healthy labour and useful employment.
Idleness
like pride
was never made for man.
II. THE ACCOUNT
WHICH HE GAVE TO HIS FATHER OF WHAT HE HAD SEEN WHILE WITH HIS BRETHREN. When
open and undisguised sin has actually been committed before our eyes
we are on
no account to wink at it. It is a time to speak when
by reporting what is
amiss to those who have power to restrain and correct it
we may either put an
end to that evil
or bring those to repentance who have committed it. This
however
is both a difficult and painful duty
and it requires much wisdom and
grace to perform it aright.
III. ISRAEL’S
SPECIAL LOVE FOR JOSEPH.
IV. THE MANNER IN
WHICH HE SHOWED HIS PARTIALITY. Various ways may be found of showing our
approbation of those that are good
without displaying those outward marks of
distinction
which are almost certain to provoke the envy of others.
V. THE IMPROPER
FEELINGS AWAKENED IN THE BREASTS OF HIS OTHER CHILDREN.
VI. JOSEPH’S
REMARKABLE DREAMS. He dreamt of preferment
but not of imprisonment. (C.
Overton.)
Joseph the favourite son
1. Joseph
though the object of his father’s tenderest love
was not
brought up to idleness. The young man who is desirous of rising in the world
should not forget that the world’s prizes are for those who win them on the
field of toil.
2. It is impossible to determine whether it was Jacob’s partiality
and Joseph’s superior merit which secured for him the office of superintendent
of his brethren. Whatever may have secured him the situation
he seems to have
proved himself equal to it.
3. Jacob’s ill-disguised partiality for the son of endeared Rachel
prompted him to an act injurious at once to himself
to Joseph
and to his
other children. (J. S. Van Dyke.)
Joseph’s first experience of life
I. This young man
was taught to work.
II. He was placed
in favourable circumstances.
III. He saw the
iniquity of society.
IV. He remained
uncontaminated in the midst of evil.
V. He sought to
better society: (Homilist.)
Lessons
1. The Church’s line is drawn by God’s Spirit eminently opposite to
the wicked.
2. The Church’s generations are best made out from the best of her
children.
3. Youth is eminently memorable
when it is sanctified
and
gracious.
4. Gracious parents are careful
though never so rich
to bring up
their children in honest callings. So Jacob did Joseph
&c.
5. God can preserve some pure
though conversing with wicked
brethren
and relations.
6. Gracious dispositions cannot bear or favour the sins of nearest
relations.
7. Souls grieved with sins of other relations bring the discovery to
such as can amend them (Genesis 37:2.) (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Joseph
In Joseph we meet a type of character rare in any race
and which
though occasionally reproduced in Jewish history
we Should certainly not have
expected to meet with at so early a period. For what chiefly strikes one in
Joseph is a combination of grace and power
which is commonly looked upon as
the peculiar result of civilising influences
knowledge of history
familiarity
with foreign races
and hereditary dignity. In David we find a similar
flexibility and grace of character
and a similar personal superiority. We find
the same bright and humorous disposition helping him to play the man in adverse
circumstances; but we miss in David Joseph’s self-control and incorruptible
purity
as we also miss something of his capacity for difficult affairs of
state. In Daniel this latter capacity is abundantly present
and a facility
equal to Joseph’s in dealing with foreigners
and there is also a certain grace
of nobility in the Jewish Vizier; but Joseph had a surplus of power which
enabled him to be cheerful and alert in doleful circumstances
which Daniel
would certainly have borne manfully but probably in a sterner and more passive
mode. Joseph
indeed
seemed to inherit and happily combine the highest
qualities of his ancestors. He had Abraham’s dignity and capacity
Isaac’s
purity and power of self-devotion
Jacob’s cleverness and buoyancy and
tenacity. From his mother’s family he had personal beauty
humour
and
management. A young man of such capabilities could not long remain insensible
to his own destiny. Indeed
the conduct of his father and brothers towards him
must have made him self-conscious
even though he had been wholly innocent of
introspection. The force of the impression he produced on his family may be
measured by the circumstance that the princely dress given him by his father
did not excite his brothers’ ridicule but their envy and hatred. In this dress
there was a manifest suitableness to his person
and this excited them to a
keen resentment of distinction. So too they felt that his dreams were not the
mere whimsicalities of a lively fancy
but were possessed of a verisimilitude
which gave them importance. In short
the dress and the dreams were
insufferably exasperating to the brothers
because they proclaimed and marked
in a definite way the feeling of Joseph’s superiority which had already been
vaguely rankling in their consciousness. And it is creditable to Joseph that
this superiority should first have emerged in connection with a point of
conduct. It was in moral stature that the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah felt that
they were outgrown by the stripling whom they carried with them as their
drudge. Either are we obliged to suppose that Joseph was a gratuitous
talebearer
or that when he carried their evil report to his father he was
actuated by a prudish
censorious
or in any way unworthy spirit. That he very
well knew how to hold his tongue no man ever gave more adequate proof; but he
that understands that there is a time to keep silence necessarily sees also
that there is a time to speak. And no one can tell what torture that pure young
soul may have endured in the remote pastures
when left alone to withstand day
after day the outrage of these coarse and unscrupulous men. An elder brother
if he will
can more effectually guard the innocence of a younger brother than
any other relative can
but he can also inflict a more exquisite torture. (M.
Dods
D. D.)
Feeding the flock
Joseph feeding his father’s flock
We have in the text various statements respecting Joseph.
I. His feeding
his father’s flock.
II. His father’s
great love for him.
III. His brethren’s
hatred of him.
IV. His keeping
company more especially with the humbler children of Israel
the sons of Bilhah
and the sons of Zilpah
the two handmaids.
1. The description of the youthful Joseph
as feeding his father’s
flock
may well remind us of the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls
who as
the good Shepherd laid down His life for the flock of God
and leads His own
sheep forth by the still waters of salvation
and makes them to lie down in the
wholesome pastures of His Word (Psalms 80:1-19; Psalms 95:6-7; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:22-31; Zechariah 13:7).
2. We are now to consider Joseph as the dearest of his father’s sons
as a type of Jesus
the beloved Son of His Eternal Father. Joseph as he grew up
was still more endeared to his father. The death of his mother would naturally
lead Jacob to centre his affections still more absorbingly upon him. And it
appears
that Joseph repaid the old man’s warm affections by filial obedience
and love. And parents value a dutiful and heavenly-minded child the more
when
like Joseph
he is preserved unpolluted by the bad example of his ungodly
brothers. We have in the inspired narrative very early proofs of this
partiality of the patriarch. “And he put the two handmaids and their children
foremost
and Leah and her children after
and Rachel and Joseph hindermost” (Genesis 33:1-2). But it is time we
directed our attention to One greater than Joseph. The love of the Father to
the Lord Jesus immeasurably exceeds every love of which we have any experience
in our own breasts. It passeth knowledge. Of all the sons of God
Jesus is
certainly the chiefest among ten thousand and the altogether lovely in the
sight of His eternal Father. Jesus is indeed “the only-begotten of the Father
”
His only-begotten Son. The obedience and love and filial sympathy of the Lord
Jesus was
to use the language of men
the solace of Jehovah’s heart when
grieved with the ingratitude and vileness of the whole human family. He was a
perfect Son
and the only perfect Son the world ever beheld. The zeal of His
Father’s house consumed Him. Throughout His whole life He was
like Joseph
separate from His sinful brethren
and mourned with His Father over their
wickedness. The obedience of Christ to His Father was well pleasing to Him
and
we are again and again informed throughout the Gospels that the Father
delighteth to honour the Son
and viewed every step of His work on earth with
the highest satisfaction.
3. His keeping company with the humbler children of his father
the
sons of Bilhah
and the sons of Zilpah
the two handmaids. In how much higher a
sense must it have been indeed painful in the extreme for the meek and lowly
Saviour to live in the polluted atmosphere of our guilty world. What wonderful
condescension what humility
that He should stoop from heaven to mingle with
vile stoners here! Learn a lesson of forbearance and patience with sinners from
our dear Redeemer.
4. And now let us briefly consider the last particular respecting
Joseph
mentioned in my text; viz.
the envy with which his brethren regarded
him. As this envy will come again under our notice as we proceed further into
the life of Joseph
we will now simply consider the result of it mentioned in
the text: “They could not speak peaceably unto him.” The higher a man rises in
the estimation and friendship of some
the more he is hated and abhorred by
others. The nearer a man lives and the closer a man walks with his heavenly
Father
the more will he experience of this world’s envy and the anger of the
old serpent’s seed. If Joseph drinks most fully of the sweets of his father’s
love
he must also drink most deeply of the bitters of his brethren’s hate. If
anything could disarm opposition and rob envy of his fang
surely it was the
mild meekness and humility of that Man of Sorrows. (E. Dalton)
.
Verse 3
Israel loved Joseph more than all his children
Partiality in the family
I.
IT
WAS NATURAL.
1. On account of a kindred spirit.
2. On account of pleasant associations.
II. UNCONCEALED.
1. It was revealed for the comfort of Joseph.
2. It was manifested in such a manner that the other children could
take offence.
III. IT PRODUCED
HATRED.
1. Their hatred took a wrong direction.
2. Their hatred overcame their humanity. (Homilist.)
Evils of partiality in the family
I. PARTIALITY
SHOWS WEAKNESS IN THOSE EXERCISING IT.
II. PARTIALITY
OFFENDS THOSE OVERLOOKED.
II. PARTIALITY
INJURES THE ONE IT IS INTENDED TO BENEFIT.
IV. PARTIALITY
LEADS TO ESTRANGEMENT IN THE FAMILY.
V. PARTIALITY
RESULTS IN MANY SINS AND MANY SORROWS. (J. Henry Burn
B. D.)
Jacob’s affection for Joseph not misplaced
Enabled to study characters
alike by long experience and natural
shrewdness
he was eminently fit to discover the spirit of Joseph’s accounts;
and had he detected a vile motive
his heart would have turned from the
slanderer; for he had himself thoroughly completed his moral purification.
Further
the general conduct of the brothers were such as to let unfavourable
statements appear at least as no deceitful fabrications. And
lastly
depravity
and meanness are totally at variance with those noble qualities of Joseph’s
mind
which we shall soon have opportunities to unfold
and which alone could
make him the worthy medium of the great plans of Providence. Too young to
listen to prudence
and too generous to regard expediency
his pure and
susceptible mind repeated in harmless innocence what passed among his brothers;
and open and communicative
he knew no artificial reserve. He
therefore
is
not even liable to the reproach of carelessness; for he would have seen no
wrong in his conduct
even had his attention been directed to it; following the
unrestricted impulses of his nature
he had not yet commenced to reflect upon
his feelings
or to control and direct his emotions. But was it not blamable on
the part of Jacob
so decidedly to prefer one son to all the others? Ought not
a father to bestow an equal share of affection upon all his children? This
question is but partially to be answered in the affirmative. Certainly
the
natural love of a father
which is the result of the close relationship
is
very generally equally ardent towards all his children; he will
with the
greatest sacrifices
support
educate
and protect all his offspring. But
another affection
based upon esteem or internal affinity of characters
may be
superadded to the natural love
as will frequently be the case with parents of
strongly-marked mental or moral organization; and thus that love is produced
which is the emancipation from the blind rule of instinct
and consists in the
prevalence of reason and moral liberty. And if it is not reprehensible in a
father to feel more strongly for the children in whom he finds his own
existence more distinctly renewed
or who are more susceptible of culture and
refinement
it can
at the utmost
only be deemed an imprudence if the
predeliction is manifested before the less beloved children. But though it is
no moral offence
it may become a source of envy
strife and domestic discord.
This truth was neglected by Jacob when he made for his favoured son Joseph a
long and costly robe. The ample and folding garments of persons of wealth and
distinction were not seldom composed of
or covered with
pieces of various
costly stuffs
tastefully arranged--ambitious vestments
well calculated to
account for the feelings of animosity on the part of Joseph’s brothers. (M.
M. Kalisch
Ph. D.)
Parental fidelity
It is interesting to read the testimony of men at once great and
good
to parental fidelity and affection. Said Lamartine
the celebrated French
author: “The future state of the child depends in a great measure upon the home
in which he is born. His soul is nourished and grows
above all
by the
impressions which are there left upon his memory. My father gave me the example
of a sincerity carried even to scrupulousness; my mother
of a goodness rising
to devotion the most heroic . . . I drank deep from my mother’s mind; I read
through her eyes; I felt through her impressions; I lived through her life.”
Further on
he says: “I know that my mother wished to make me a happy child
with a healthy mind and a loving soul
a creature of God
not a puppet of men.”
Again
he adds: “Our mother’s knee was always our familiar altar in infancy and
in boyhood. She elevated our thoughts to God as naturally as the plant
stretches upward to the air and light. When she prayed along with us and over
us
her lovely countenance became even sweeter and gentler than before
and
when we left her side to battle with the world
we never forgot her precepts.”
The child of the wisest and best may go wrong
for there are seeds of evil in
every heart. But the rule is that God’s blessing on affectionate fidelity
secures a happy and useful life here
with the assurance of heavenly awards in
the hereafter. (Henry M. Grout
D. D.)
Family training
Another manifest principle observed by Mrs. Wesley in the
education and training of her family
was that of thorough impartiality. There
was no pet lamb in her deeply interesting flock; no Joseph among her children to
be decked out in a coat of many colours
to the envy of his less loved
brethren. It was supposed by some of her sisters that Martha was a greater
favourite with Mrs. Wesley than the rest of her children
and Charles expressed
his “wonder that so wise a woman as his mother could give way to such a
partiality or did not better conceal it.” This
however
was an evident
mistake. Many years afterwards
when the saying of her brother was mentioned to
Martha
she replied
“What my sisters call partiality was what they might all
have enjoyed if they had wished it
which was permission to sit in my mother’s
chamber when disengaged
to listen to her conversation with others
and to hear
her remarks on things and books out of school-hours.” There is certainly no evidence
of partiality here. All her children stood before her on a common level
with
equal claims
and all were treated in the same way. (J. Kirk.)
A coat of many colours
Joseph’s coat of many colours
It may remind us--
I. OF THE DRESS
WHICH EARTHLY PARENTS PREPARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN. Respecting which consider--
1. They toil to procure it
working hard and long.
2. They exercise thought in selecting. Have to consider size
season
material
appearance.
3. They have to inspect it often. How it has been used; how it
wears; does it need repair.
4. They have to renew it often. The best will wear out or be
out-grown 1 Samuel 2:19).
II. OF THE ROBE
WHICH OUR HEAVENLY FATHER PREPARES FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.
1. We need clothing for the soul
as well as for the body (1 Peter 3:3-4; 1 Peter 5:5). God knows what things
we have need of
even if we are unconscious of our need (Revelation 3:17).
2. We cannot make
or purchase
soul-clothing. We must receive it as
a free gift. Only God can give it (Revelation 3:18).
3. For earnest
persevering
asking--accompanied by watching--we may
obtain the robe of righteousness
the garment of salvation. This robe Jesus
wrought for us.
4. This robe will fit well
look well
wear for ever. It is a white
robe. White includes all the colours (explain). Hence it is a coat of many
colours.
5. It is a court dress (explain) in which to enter the great King’s
presence. Learn:
Joseph
I. THE
MANY-COLOURED COAT
The margin says many “pieces.” May have been “many colours”
as well. Such coats are not uncommon for young people in the East at this day
(“Ranwolf’s Travels
” pt. I.
p. 89)
in Syria
Persia
and India. Made
probably of strips of variously-coloured cloth. This Jacob gave to Joseph
because he was a “ son of his old age; “ a phrase understood by most to mean
that Jacob was an old man when Joseph was born; but which Dr. Jamieson says
means that Joseph had--to use a familiar phrase--an old head on young
shoulders. This coat maybe regarded--
1. As a gift of affection. It may be questioned how far it was wise
to show special love in so marked a manner. Jacob
knowing his other sons
must
have been sure that their envy would be excited.
2. As a reward of merit. Some reward less noticeable would have been
better. Joseph was made overseer
or chief shepherd
for such is the meaning of
Genesis 37:2
and hence it might be
also--
3. A badge of office.
II. THE EVIL
EFFORT. If Joseph were a mere tale-bearer he would be blamable. But as chief
shepherd he was bound to state what was the conduct of his brothers
if they
were under-shepherds.
III. THE WONDERFUL
DREAMS. Dreams in that age more influential than with us. No sure word of
prophecy. Abraham
Isaac
and Jacob had had wonderful dreams
or rather
visions. Such had
doubtless
been often related. Hence these sons of Jacob
were prepared to consider dreams with much reverence and awe. But believing
them to be Divine messages
they should not have been angry. It is clear that
their hearts were not right with God
or they would not have opposed His will.
Learn:
1. To guard against the appearance of partiality in our families.
2. God is no respector of persons.
3. To abstain from the appearance of evil
that there be no evil
report concerning us. (J. C. Gray.)
Joseph’s coat of many colours
It was customary in those times for princes to give to their
subjects
and parents to their children
valuable garments as tokens of esteem.
These garments were of different texture and material
and were more or less
valuable according to their quality. The art of manufacturing cloths is of very
great antiquity. Wool
cotton
and flax were all used in these fabrications
both by the Hebrews and the Egyptians. The colours generally used were white
purple
scarlet
and black; but party coloured cloths
or plaids
were also
much esteemed. Such garments are represented on some of the monuments of Egypt.
At Beni-Hassan
for example
there is a magnificent excavation
forming the
tomb of Pihrai
a military officer of Osartasen I.
in which a train of foreign
captives appears
who are supposed to be Jebusites
an inscription over one
person in the group reading
“The Chief of the land of the Jebusites.” The
whole of the captives are clad in party-coloured garments
and the tunic of
this individual in particular may be called “a coat of many colours.” “A coat
of many colours” Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Some
however
are of opinion
that it was not a plaid
but a garment of patch-work
the word rendered
“colours” being in the margin “pieces.” In reference to the narrative
Mr.
Roberts
in his “ Oriental Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures
” observes:
“For beautiful or favoured children precisely the same thing is done at this
day. Crimson
and purple
and other colours are often tastefully sewed
together. Sometimes the children of Mahometans have their jackets embroidered
with gold and silk of various colours.” (Thornley Smith.)
Imprudent testimonies of regard
Parents ought to love most affectionately those children who best
deserve their love; but they ought not to hurt
instead of benefiting
the
children whom they love
by imprudent testimonies of their regard. Joseph might
have lived happily in his father’s house without a garment of divers colours;
but he could not wear it without encountering the hatred of all his brethren. (G.
Lawson
D. D.)
Verse 4
They hated him
Lessons
1.
Choice
respects to any
from parents
above all others
usually make such favourites
to be envied.
2. Flesh and blood usually hate that which grace affects and loves.
3. Sin
and envy specially
put men out of a capacity of doing duty
to relations.
4. Where hearts are full of hatred
mouths speak not peace but
bitterness and scorning. (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Causes of envy
Notice now what are the three things for which we are prone to envy
others.
1. Their privileges. Joseph was envied because his father favoured
him. Asaph was “envious at the foolish
” when he “saw the prosperity of the
wicked” (Psalms 73:3). Against this David warns
us--“Fret not thyself because of evil doers”--“Fret not thyself because of him
who prospereth in his way” (Psalms 37:1-7).
2. Their prospects. Joseph was envied because of the destiny
foreshadowed by his dreams. Walter Scott envied his school-fellow the prize he
seemed certain to win. This again
how common I Many a boy stands aloof from
his comrades
and joins little and without heart in their sports
because he has
fixed his hopes--his ambition if you will--on some object to be gained. Now the
others will not envy him in the sense of wishing to be as he is; but they
resent his presuming to have objects higher than theirs.
3. Their piety. Joseph was envied because he held aloof from his
brothers’ sins. It is not so now? (E. Stock.)
Envy
The happiness of other men is poison to the envious man. The
odious passion of envy torments and destroys one’s self
while it seeks the
ruin of its object. Beware of envy; you know not to what it tends. Beware of
all its fruits; you will find them to be deadly
when they have time and
opportunity to ripen. Joseph’s brethren did not proceed to extremes of cruelty
when they were first seized with this baleful passion. They “could not speak
peaceably to him
” but they entertained no thoughts of killing him
till their
envy had by indulgence acquired a greater degree of strength. Their “lust
conceived and brought forth sin; and when their sin was finished
it brought
forth death” to Joseph in their intentions. They contracted the guilt of his
blood
although they did not shed it. They were chargeable with intended murder
in the sight of men
when they cast Joseph into the pit; but in the
sight of God they were chargeable with this crime as soon as they began to hate
Joseph; for “he that hateth his brother in his heart is a murderer.” (G.
Lawson
D. D.)
The baleful nature of envy
“Wrath is cruel
and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand
before envy?” (Proverbs 27:4). Even a brother is
sometimes exposed to its influence. Like the wild tornado which
as it sweeps
along
destroys the loveliest flowers
and leaves the garden desolate as the
wilderness
it has cut down many a youth of promise
and turned many a peaceful
home into a scene of sadness and distress. We may say of it as Seneca says of
anger
to which it is intimately allied: that it is a vice decidedly against
nature; for it divides instead of joining
and in some measure frustrates the
end of Providence in human society. “One man was born to help another; envy
makes us destroy one another. Nature unites
envy separates; the one is
beneficial
the other mischievous; the one succours even strangers
the other
destroys the most intimate friends; the one ventures all to save another
the
other ruins himself to undo another.” (Thornley Smith)
Envy hateful
When Sir Walter Scott was a boy at school
his efforts to gain a
prize seemed all to no purpose
on account of the superior memory of one of his
companions
who never failed to say his lessons perfectly. Walter did well
but
now and then he would make a slip. In vain he strove to be first; he was always
second
but could not oust his schoolfellow from the top place. One day
watching his rival repeating a long task without mistake or hesitation
Walter
noticed that his fingers were perpetually fidgeting a particular button on his
waistcoat. A thought struck the envious lad. Could it be? He would see. An
opportunity soon occurred
and he cut off that button from that waistcoat while
its owner was asleep. Next day the class stood up. Number one began
and as the
first words left his lips
his fingers might be seen feeling for the familiar
button. They felt for it in vain; and the hapless boy stopped
then stammered
then stopped again
and broke down altogether. Utterly unconscious of the
cause
he racked his memory in despairing amazement
but he could not remember
a line
and Walter stepped to the top of the class. Not a very serious trick
many boys will say. I choose it on this very account
as an illustration of
what envy will lead to. Our object in this lesson should be to show envy at
work in ordinary daily life
working all manner of mischief
just because its
wickedness is not appreciated. An illustration of some murderer
whose crime
was instigated by envy
would not answer our purpose. Our Sunday scholars would
condemn the sin with horror
utterly failing to see the less glaring
but in
God’s sight not less hateful
fault of their own hearts and tongues and lives.
Our illustrations should be such as will enable us effectively to say
like
Nathan
“Thou art the man!” “Mutato nomine
de te fabula narratur.” But it is
not enough to show the hideousness of envy. We must show the beauty of the “
charity” which “envieth not.” Thus: What should Walter Scott have done? Let the
button alone? Yes; hut more than that. He should have honoured his companion
and rejoiced in his success. Ah
that is hard! (E. Stock.)
Envy soon finds an opportunity
When envy has fully formed its purpose of cruelty
it very
speedily sees and seizes an opportunity for carrying it through. The great
dramatist
indeed
has represented one of the most unscrupulous of his
characters as excusing himself after this fashion: “How oft the sight of means
to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done”; but then it is only the envious and
malicious man who is on the outlook for means to do ill deeds
and therefore it
is to him only that the perception of them offers a temptation. If King John
had not been wishing to make away with Arthur
the presence of Hubert would not
have suggested to him that he had found a fit instrument to do what he desired.
Just as love keens the vision to such a degree that it sees ways of service
that are invisible to others
so hate quickens the perception
and finds an
occasion for its gratification in things that would have passed unnoticed by
others. The brothers of Joseph
therefore
being filled with envy towards him
soon had an opportunity of working their will upon him
and they seized it with
an eagerness which showed how intensely they hated him. (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
Verses 5-11
Joseph dreamed a dream
The dreams of Joseph
Destined superiority to brethren and parents is the one grand idea
that comes out in the strange visions of the night recorded here.
1. This idea was evidently a Divine communication.
2. This idea was expressed at different periods and in different
symbols.
3. This idea was felt by all to have a Divine significance.
I. THE VISIONS OF
YOUTH. The young generally create bright visions of the future. This tendency
serves--
II. THE JEALOUSIES
OF SOCIETY. Jealousy is a passion that springs from the fear of a rival
enjoying advantages which we desire for ourselves.
1. It is very general.
2. It is an unhappy feeling.
3. It is unchristian.
III. THE DESTINY OF
VIRTUE.
1. There is much in a virtuous life itself to ensure advancement.
2. Advancement is pledged by God Himself to a virtuous life.
Learn:
1. The fate of eminence. To encounter jealousy. Heed it not. March
on.
2. The path of glory. Virtue. The beginning may be difficult
but
the end will be everlasting life. (Homilist.)
The favourite son
I. JOSEPH’S
DREAMS.
II. JOSEPH’S
DISTRESS.
III. JOSEPH’S
DISAPPEARANCE.
1. He was separate by a superior destiny
of which his youthful
dreams were permitted to give a dim
indefinite glimpse.
2. He was separate by reason of the fondness of his father for aim
on the one side
and by the envy and enmity of his brethren
on the other.
3. He was separate by the banishment from his home in Canaan to the
land of Egypt
where the Midianites sold him to an officer high in the service
of the Egyptian king.
4. And over all the chances and changes of his life God ruled.
Joseph’s history remarkably illustrates Paul’s saying in Romans 8:28. Let us remember this
and try
from our earliest youth to serve God faithfully
and to suffer our trials
patiently
as Joseph did. (W. S. Smith
B. D.)
Lessons
1. Good souls whom men hate for their goodness
God chooseth to
reveal His mind more graciously to them.
2. God hath by dreams
in time past
revealed His future providences
about His Church unto men.
3. Young years
addicted to godliness
are made capable of great and
sweet discoveries from God (Genesis 37:5).
4. It is duty to declare God’s will revealed concerning His purposes
to His Church
though it please not men (Genesis 37:6).
5. Dark
but certain
have been the revelations of God in times
past
concerning His providence to His Church (Genesis 37:7; Genesis 37:9).
6. God in bringing about the salvation of His Church
makes parents
and brethren stoop to His instruments. Superiors to inferiors.
7. God maketh persons in themselves adverse to His providences
yet
to be interpreters of His revelations (Genesis 37:8).
8. The Lord hath usually foretold the salvation and advancement of
His Church
but not the way; Joseph dreams not of prisons.
9. Carnal relations are apt to hate and envy their very brother
when God sets him up above them.
10. The way and means of comfort which man despiseth
God useth yet
to do them good who hate it. So here.
11. Gracious souls that wait for the Church’s delivery may yet have
regret against the means discovered (Genesis 37:10).
12. Grace in those souls checks their regret
and makes them observe
and keep God’s discoveries to them (Genesis 37:11). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
How to judge of a dream
When a person told his dream in relating religious experience
Rowland Hill said
“we do not despise a good man’s dreams
but we will judge of
the dream after we have seen how you act when you are awake.”
Ambition’s brilliant dreams
A youth of rare promise was Joseph. From his aptitude in creating
and divining dreams
we may infer his fondness for quiet contemplation. His
mind was active; he lived much in the future; he loved to roam amid unseen
realities. Yet Joseph was not a perfect man. As every rose has its attendant
thorn
so blemishes appear on his young soul. A sense of superiority and
self-importance was fast springing up
under the unwise partiality of his
father It was a tiny rift which would soon spoil the music of his life; a
little cloud that would soon cover the whole horizon.
I. OBSERVE THE
RAW MATERIAL OF THESE DREAMS. Every part of the history proceeds in a manner
the most natural. It was the season of summer
and Joseph had been sharing with
his brethren the labours of the harvest-field; for in Syria corn comes to
maturity much earlier than in England. Overwearied with the excitements of the
harvest
what more natural than that a busy imagination would weave into his
dreams the stirring scenes in which he had just played a part? Touching the
second dream
we must remember that
in the East the vocation of shepherds
require their presence
in turn
during the hours of night
when wild beasts
seek their prey. In that translucent atmosphere
and amid those cloudless
skies
the lamps of heaven gleam with a brilliance unknown in Western climes.
Again
by the natural processes of human thought
such a scene would furnish
fit elements for the young man’s dreams. Even nature moulds a man.
II. OBSERVE THE
ARTIFICER OF THESE DREAMS. Not only does mystery appertain to heavenly things
there is mystery unfathomed within ourselves. Who can expound to us the
philosophy of our dreams
yet these are full of significance. Aspirations
ambitions
projects
which during the day were kept in reserve
locked in
secret by the monarch Will
now freely disport themselves
and the man’s real
self is seen in the mirror of his dreams. The prospect of eminence and rule
rose before his eye
awake or asleep
like a glittering imperial crown
until
that which at first was a vague possibility grew into a mental certainty. The
conviction was rooting itself that he was to be a king.
III. OBSERVE THE
OVER-RULING PURPOSE OF GOD. Although Joseph was conscious that he was free to
choose his own course in life
free to frame ambitions
yet he was free only
within certain limits
within a fitting circle: choice and will could act.
Nevertheless the will of God encompassed and controlled the whole. There is no
such thing as fatalism. We are moulding our own destiny
both temporal and
eternal. We can catch at times a whispering of God’s voice even in our dreams.
(J. D. Davies
M. A.)
Joseph has clear intimations of his future greatness
We are told in these verses that Joseph had intimations given him
of his future greatness; that God revealed to him by dreams that
notwithstanding his brethren’s present hatred and envy
they should one day
come and bow themselves down before him. The happy end of all his troubles was
thus mercifully made known to him
that he might be supported under them
and
be strengthened to endure the depths of affliction into which his brethren were
soon to plunge him. These dreams would doubtless often recur to his memory as
he lay in the Egyptian prison
and cheer and comfort him as he felt the iron
enter into his soul. And Joseph
in thus having his high destiny revealed to
him at the commencement of his career
was a type of our dear Saviour. In all
his sufferings on earth he was sustained and cheered by the joy that was set
before him. The Father gave him this for the same reason that He gave Joseph
early intimations of his future dignity
to cheer and solace his depressed
spirit while rudely buffeted and tossed to and fro on the billows of earthly
sorrow. We have thus seen
that the Father made known to Jesus as He did to
Joseph the greatness that awaited Him
in order to sustain Him as He passed
through the dreary waste of trouble that stretched far away between Him and the
promised glory. We have seen also that Jesus
as well as Joseph
made mention
of His coming dignity to His brethren. We shall now see that the result was the
same in both cases. They hated him yet the more for his words
and said to him
Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? So
far from receiving Jesus as the Saviour when He clearly intimated to them that
He was the Messiah
and proved it most convincingly by a thousand miracles
they despised and rejected Him. (E. Dalton)
The sanguine temperament of youth
It is worthy of remark
that Joseph’s visions were such as
predicted only advancement and honour; his perils and imprisonment formed no
part of his dreams. At this stage of the history
we are reminded of the
sanguine hopes and lively anticipations which usually animate the minds of the
young. (T. Gibson.)
Verses 12-17
His brethren went to feed their father’s flock
Joseph leaves his father to seek his brethren
Do you discover in this any type of the Redeemer?
Does it remind you of one who left a far better home
and descended from the
bosom of a far more illustrious father
to travel through this wilderness world
in quest of his wicked and wandering brethren? Brethren
there is a closer
analogy between the two cases than appears at first sight. It was at his
father’s command that Joseph abandoned the comforts of his father’s home and
became a wanderer in search of his brethren; and it was equally at the command
of His Father that Jesus came down from His eternal home in the bosom of the
Father
to seek and to save our fallen race. We sadly overlook this in our
theology. The Lord Jesus
then
did not come into our world unsent. He was “the
Messenger of the Covenant
” the Sent of the Father. He did not come to do His
own will
but the will of Him that sent Him. The obedience of Jesus to His
Father
however
infinitely surpasses the obedience of Joseph. Joseph might
have anticipated danger
but he could not certainly know that his brethren
would treat him roughly and cruelly. Jesus came into the world
having a
perfect knowledge of every indignity that awaited Him. Imagine yourselves each
a beloved Joseph sent forth by a fond father to your brethren with a message of
peace and love; speak to your fellow sinners in this way--talk to them of the
glories of your Father’s home--point them to an everlasting resting-place in a
Saviour’s arms--entreat them no longer to wander in the wilderness. (E.
Dalton.)
Verse 18-19
They conspired against him to slay him
The conspiracy to murder Joseph
I.
AN
EXAMPLE OF THE RAPIDLY DOWNWARD COURSE OF EVIL.
II. AN EXAMPLE. OF
THE BOLD DARING OF SINNERS.
III. AN EXAMPLE OF
GUILT INCURRED EVEN WHERE PURPOSE HAS NOT RIPENED INTO ACT.
IV. AN EXAMPLE OF
DEGREES OF GUILTINESS EVEN AMONG THOSE WHO HAVE LENT THEMSELVES TO ONE DESIGN.
(T. H. Leale)
Joseph with his brethren
I. MAN UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF JEALOUSY.
1. Jealousy leads a man to slander.
2. Jealousy leads to falsehood.
3. Jealousy hardens the heart.
4. Jealousy leads to crime.
II. MAN UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF MERCY.
1. The merciful are in the minority.
2. The merciful lose sight of self.
3. The merciful are always ready to assist others. (Homilist)
Lessons
1. The sight of the righteous
whom the wicked hate
is an occasion
of working mischief and evil to them.
2. The looks of the wicked is for the mischief of those good souls
who look and seek for their peace.
3. Subtlety and conspiracy for death is the wicked’s practice
against innocent gracious souls (Genesis 37:18).
4. The wicked encourage each other in evil matters to committing
them.
5. Vile persons jeer and scorn the revelations of God under terms of
contempt. Dreamer (Genesis 37:19).
6. Sinners persecute the saints for God’s revelations to them.
7. Providence suffers sinners to breathe death and destruction to
saints
when they effect it not.
8. Murderers themselves are ashamed to own blood-guiltiness
therefore seek to hide it.
9. Brother’s blood is not pitied with men of sin.
10. Evil men design to frustrate the counsels and revelation of God
by their crafty and cruel practices (Genesis 37:20). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Lessons
1. In evil counsels against the saints
God overpowers the heart of
some to frustrate bloody designs of others.
2. God makes evil projected against His servants to come to the
cognizance of those that shall defeat it.
3. Deliverance is effected sometimes for the saints by such as hate
them enough.
4. Providence causeth the counsel of one evil man to prevail against
others
for His saint’s good (Genesis 37:21).
5. God puts an awe upon some to counsel others not to shed blood.
6. Pretence of a worse death providence ordereth to be made by men
to save His from death wholly.
7. Fratricide is made horried to evil men by God for saving His own.
8. Respect to paternal honour may sway with men of bad resolutions
to abstain from evil and offering violence to a brother (Genesis 37:21-22). (G. Hughes
B. D)
Lessons
1. Under Providence innocent souls come in their integrity into the
hands of spoilers.
2. Simple
honest hearts
may think of coming to brethren when it is
to cruel destroyers.
3. Unnatural treacherous dealers stick not to take a garment from a
brother.
4. Garments of pleasure may expose men to envy and spoil by wicked
hands (Genesis 37:23).
5. Violent hands are soon layed even upon an innocent brother by
envious and enraged spirits.
6. Brethren degenerate into spoilers
stick not at it to bury an
innocent brother alive.
7. God emptieth the pits of water where He will not have His
innocents perish.
8. Dry pits of trouble are in God’s Use
tokens of deliverance.
Joseph shall come out (Genesis 37:24). (G. Hughes
B.
D)
Reuben’s attempt to save Joseph
He boarded the train which he could not arrest
but he boarded it
with the purpose of ultimately controlling it and so preventing a catastrophe.
The motive was good
but I am not quite so sure about the policy. It savours a
little too much of worldly wisdom for me
and little good came out of it in the
end. We have seen it tried here often enough in politics
and almost always
with this result: that the well-meaning men who have gone into a questionable
movement under the idea that they could thereby guide it into something that
would be at least harmless
have been themselves outwitted and befooled. It
would have been just about as easy for Reuben to have stood out against the
persecution of Joseph altogether as it was for him to protest against the
shedding of his blood
and it might have been equally efficacious. At any rate
it would have exonerated him from the guilt which they all alike ultimately
incurred. His plan was to deliver Joseph
but in a way that was itself
deceptive
for he seemed to be doing one thing while he was really seeking
another. His proposal was that they should put Joseph into a pit. That to them
looked to be a refinement on their cruelty
for it left him to starve to death
while they had meant that he should be slain out of hand. As such
therefore
it commended itself to their acceptance. But his secret intention was to come
back by himself when the others should be out of the way
and then take him out
and return with him to his father. It was well meant
and not very badly
planned either; but then it required that a very careful watch should be
maintained
and just there the instability of Reuben’s character came in to mar
it all; for
thinking that now the crisis was past
he wont away and took no
further oversight of the matter
and in his absence it was all upset. For the
moment
however
it looked as if he had succeeded
for the others accepted his
suggestion
and after stripping Joseph of his hated coat
they put him into one
of those cisterns which were so common in Palestine
and which
when dry
were
sometimes
as in the case of Jeremiah
used as a prison. Lieutenant Anderson
of the Palestine Exploration Enterprise
thus writes regarding them: “The
numerous rock-hewn cisterns that are found everywhere would furnish a suitable
pit in which they might have thrust him; and as these cisterns are shaped like
a bottle
with a narrow mouth
it would be impossible for any one imprisoned
within it to extricate himself without assistance. These cisterns are now
all cracked and useless; they are
however
the most undoubted evidences that
exist of handiwork of the inhabitants in ancient times.” (W. M. Taylor
D.
D.)
Evil for good
Joseph put himself to so much trouble to find out his brethren that
he might inform himself and his father of their welfare; but they took
advantage from his love to wreak their hatred upon him
as if they had been
devils in flesh and blood
rather than patriarchs in the Church. It is too
common with discontented men to say that none were even so ill-used as
themselves. But let us consider how Joseph was used
how David was used
how
Christ Himself was used
by those men from whom they had most reason to expect
kindness. (G. Lawson.)
Joseph’s brethren conspire against him
I. The Scriptures
expressly prohibit envy (Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 23:17). God prohibits envy
then
because it is rebellion against His just authority
an insult to His
honour
and a denial of His attributes of wisdom and justice and truth. It is
also a passion which is infinitely removed from His own pure nature. God
prohibits it also because it cannot exist with peace and happiness. Where envy
enters happiness departs. Like the buckets of a well
they cannot both descend
into the depths of the human heart together. The absence of envy is spoken of
in Scripture as a mark of a renewed mind
the characteristic of a soul born of
God (Titus 3:3).
II. The Lord has
however
given us something more than precepts against envy in His word. To
prohibit it ought to be enough
and it will be enough with the child of God to
make him loathe and abhor a thing so detestable in the sight of his heavenly
Father. The Lord has added to these precepts many most instructive
illustrations of the pernicious effects of this base passion. He points us to
the fugitive Cain
as he rushes from His presence
his brow stamped with the
brand of infamy
and his hand steeped in the life-blood of his righteous
brother
and He says
“Behold the effects of envy.” He points us to the
distracted family of Jacob in their rival tents
Rachel envying Leah her
children
and Leah envying Rachel the first place in their husband’s
affections
and He says
“Behold the misery and torment produced by envy.” To
what a fiend does envy reduce the man! These unnatural children appear to have had
no more compassion for their father than for Joseph; perhaps they even secretly
enjoyed the thought of disappointing and grieving him by dashing to the ground
all his hopes of his favorite son’s advancement. “Let us kill him
” say they
“and then he cannot rule over us.” And is there nothing
in this conspiracy of
his brethren against Joseph
to remind us of a similar conspiracy against God’s
beloved Son? Joseph was here in the strictest sense a type of Christ. Envy
endangered His life at its first commencement
and the slaughter of the
innocents at Bethlehem may teach us how a man may become envious at the
predicted royalties of an infant
as well as at the actual prosperity of those
of riper years. His own brethren after the flesh in his after life conspired
against Him
and why? Envy was at the root of all their conspiracies. They
treated His claim to the Messiahship as a dream. And in their treatment of
Jesus they discovered as strong a hatred of His Father
whom they also called
their Father
as did Joseph’s brethren towards their father. So evident was
this that Jesus Himself says of them
” Now have they both seen and hated both
Me and My Father (John 15:24). There is one more point
which makes the type perfect. The steps the brethren of Joseph took to prevent
his exaltation over them
actually helped forward the very thing they wished to
prevent; so inscrutable are the ways of God in His providence
“He maketh the
wrath of man to praise Him.” The same was the ease with Jesus. God permitted
His enemies to go just far enough to accomplish His purposes and to defeat
their own. By crucifying Jesus the Jews effectually fulfilled His most ardent
wishes
and promoted the benefit and advancement of believers which they meant
to hinder. (E. Dalton.)
This dreamer
The world’s treatment of dreamers
To-day we do not like the dreamers who have seen visions which
involve us more or less in decay and inferiority. It is not easy to forgive a
man who has dreamed an unpleasant dream concerning us. We cannot easily forgive
a man who has founded an obnoxious institution. If a man has written a book
which is distasteful to us
it is no matter
though he should do ten thousand
acts which ought to excite our admiration and confirm our confidence
we will
go back and back upon the obnoxious publication
and whensoever that man’s name
is mentioned
that book will always come up in association with it. Is this
right? Ought we to be confined in our view of human character to single points
and those points always of a kind to excite unpleasant
indignant
perhaps
vindictive feelings? The world’s dreamers have never had an easy lot of it.
Don’t let us imagine that Joseph was called to a very easy and comfortable position
when he was called to see the visions of Providence in the time of his slumber.
God speaks to man by dream and by vision
by strange scene and unexpected
sight; and we who are prosaic groundlings are apt to imagine that those men who
live in transcendental regions
who are privileged occasionally to see the
invisible
have all the good fortune of life
and we ourselves are but servants
of dust and hirelings of an-ill-paid day. No; the poets have their own pains
and the dreamers have their own peculiar sorrows. Men of double sight often
have double difficulties in life. Don’t let us suppose that we are all true of
inspiration. It is not because a man has had a dream that he is to be hearkened
unto. It is because the dream is a parable of heaven that we ought to ask him
to speak freely and fully to us concerning his wondrous vision
that we may see
further into the truth and beauty of God’s way concerning man. (J. Parker
D. D.)
God in dreams
They insulted the Sovereign of the world
while they persecuted
their poor brother. They intended to frustrate the Word of the Lord
and hoped
they would bring to nothing the counsels of the Most High. Presumptuous
creatures! did they think they were stronger than the Almighty? If they had cut
Joseph into a thousand pieces
the Word of the Lord would have stood firm and
sure. It would be far easier to arrest the sun in his course
than to hinder
the performance of any promise that God has made to His people. “His counsel
shall stand for ever; the thoughts of His heart to all generations.” They
might
no doubt
imagine that they were fighting
not against God
but against
a presumptuous boy
who fondly dreamed of rising into honours above his equals
or superiors
and that Joseph’s arrogance well deserved to be humbled. They did
not perhaps think that Joseph’s dreams were from God; but why
then
were they
so much piqued with his dreams? Might they not have suffered them to pass from
their memories like other vanities
which pass away the moment in which they
make their appearance? Must a man be hunted day after day
till he is chased
out of the world
for a silly dream? But if their spirits had not been blinded
by envy
they might have either seen that there was something more than
ordinary in Joseph’s dream
or at least have seen good reason to suspend their
judgment. It was not a good excuse that they did not know the dreams to be from
God. They ought to have known with certainty that they did not come from God
before they ventured to turn them into derision. (G. Lawson
D. D.)
A remarkable dream
In “a sketch of my life-work
” which appears in the Christmas
number of the Methodist
Gee. Smith
of Coalville
says:--“One night
in
the summer of 1868
I had a remarkable dream
which
strange to say
was
repeated three nights in succession. Thousands of poor little children
clustered round me
with looks and cries which pierced my soul. I was toiling
to drag them to the top of a mountain. Just as I was giving up the struggle
Mr. Gladstone joined in my effort
and just as we both were giving up
our good
and noble Queen come to the rescue
and we landed them all at the top. A
similar dream occurred during the early part of my canal crusade.”
Dreams but not dreams
“Carnal men hear of the beauty of holiness
of the excellency of
Christ
of the preciousness of the covenant
of the rich treasures of grace
as
if they were in a dream. They look upon such things as mere fancies
like to
foolish dreams of golden mountains
or showers of pearls.” “This their way is
their folly.” When scientific men describe to us their curious experiments and
their singular discoveries
we know them to be persons of credit
and therefore
accept their testimony: why do not men of the world do us the like justice and
believe what we tell them? We are as sane as they
and as observant of the law
of truth: why
then
do they not believe us when we declare what the Lord has
done for our souls? Why is our experience
in the spiritual world
to be
treated as a fiction
any more than their discoveries in chemistry or
geography? There is no justice in the treatment with which our witness is
received. Yet the Christian man need not complain
for in the nature of things
he may expect it to be so
and the fact that it is so is a confirmation of his
own beliefs. In a world of blind men
an elect race to whom eyes had been
given
would be sure to be regarded ae either mad or false. How could the
sightless majority be expected to accept the witness of the seeing few? Would
it not touch their dignity to admit that others possessed faculties of which
they were destitute? And would it not be highly probable that the blind would
conspire to regard the men of eyes as fanatical dreamers or deluded fools?
Unrenewed men know not the things which are of the Spirit of God
and it is by
no means a strange thing that they should deride what they cannot understand.
It is sad that those who are dreamers
in the worst sense
should think others
so
but it is by no means so extraordinary as to cause surprise. Oh
my Lord
whatever others may think of me
let me be more and more sensible of Thy
presence
and of the glorious privileges and hopes which are created in the
heart by Thy grace. If men should even say of me as of Joseph
“behold this
dreamer cometh
” it will not grieve me so long as Thou art with me
and Thy
favour makes me blest. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Verse 20
We will say
some evil beast hath devoured him
Plottings of iniquity
This text is no part of revelation.
It is a premeditated falsehood
agreed to and told by Joseph’s brothers
to
account for his absence.
I. THAT WICKED
MEN DARE NOT TRUST EACH OTHER TO EXPLAIN THINGS
BUT MUST AGREE TO FALSIFY AND
DECEIVE. “We will say.”
II. THAT IT IS A
CHARACTERISTIC OF WICKED MEN TO LAY THE BLAME OF THEIR SINS UPON OTHERS. “We
will say
a wild beast
” etc. From the very first it was so. Adam struck upon
that mean device
and threw the blame of his sin upon his wife: “The woman that
Thou gavest me.” I know of no instance in the Bible that so clearly indicates
the strength of the tendency as this. Some blame one thing or person
and some
another; but
like Joseph’s brethren
they know there is no “wild beast
” and
they must sooner or later confess their sins and say
“We are verily guilty.”
III. THAT WICKED
MEN FEEL THERE IS A TIME COMING WHEN THEY MUST MAKE OUT A CASE--MUST TELL HOW
THINGS HAPPENED
“We will say
an evil beast
” etc. (T. Kelly.)
The conspiracy
I. THE VICTIM.
Joseph. What were his crimes?
1. He had done his duty as superintendent of the shepherds; even
though it must have been painful to him to convey bad tidings about his
brethren
and painful to grieve his father’s mind by doing so. Yet he only
discharged the duty of his office. The fault was theirs
not his.
2. He had been marked as his father’s special favourite and
confidant. But they should have tried to be more worthy of trust themselves.
3. He had been favoured with wonderful dreams
in which their future
subordinate relation was clearly indicated.
II. THE PLOTTERS.
1. Ten against one. Cowardice of this. Combination of thought and
strength for a wicked purpose.
2. Ten brothers against one brother. Fratricical struggles the worst
of all. Of all relatives
such near ones as these should agree.
3. Ten men
and brothers
against a youthful brother. Might and
numbers are not always a proof of right (once all the world was against our
elder Brother).
4. Ten wicked men against one good man. “Though hand join in hand
wickedness shall not go unpunished.”
5. Ten sons against a father. In plotting against Joseph they were
fighting against Jacob. Those who oppose Jesus are rebelling against God.
III. THE PLOT.
1. The opportunity.
2. The conspiracy. “The dreamer cometh.” All agree on one point.
Joseph to be put out of the way. First resolve to kill him and tell a lie to
hide the crime (Genesis 37:20). Reuben intercedes
intending to rescue him (Genesis 37:22). They agree to this
thinking he would die of starvation. Thus they would not shed his blood
and
yet would take his life. They strip off his offending coat. Approach of the
merchants. Judah would make a profit by the transaction. He little thought of
the great profit his wickedness would yield Genesis 45:7-8). Joseph is sold. Imagine
his cries and tears
&c. Genesis 42:21). The remorse of Reuben
and the joy of the rest.
3. The consequences. One sin leads to another. They must resort to
lying
&c. The trouble that comes upon Jacob (Genesis 42:34-35). Learn:
I. Innocent
people are often surrounded by evil (John 16:33).
II. Virtue and
truth to be pursued
notwithstanding danger.
III. One sin leads
to another. Ultimate concealment impossible.
IV. God makes the
wrath of man to praise Him.
V. Jesus has
saved us from going down into the pit
and has redeemed us from bondage. (J.
C. Gray.)
Joseph’s confinement in a tank
The tank in which Joseph’s brethren cast him was apparently one of
those huge reservoirs excavated by shepherds in the East
that they may have a
supply of water for their flocks in the end of the dry season
when the running
waters fail them. Being so narrow at the mouth that they can be covered by a
single stone
they gradually widen and form a large subterranean room; and the
facility they thus afford for the confinement of prisoners was from the first
too obvious not to be commonly taken advantage of. In such a place was Joseph
left to die--under the ground
sinking in mire
his flesh creeping at the touch
of unseen slimy creatures
in darkness
alone; that is to say
in a species of
confinement which tames the most reckless and maddens the best balanced
spirits
which shakes the nerve of the calmest
and has sometimes left the
blankness of idiocy in masculine understandings. A few wild cries that ring
painfully round his prison show him he need expect no help from without; a few
wild and desperate beatings round the shelving walls of rock show him there is
no possibility of escape; he covers his face
or casts himself on the floor of
his dungeon to escape within himself
but only to find this also in vain
and
to rise and renew efforts he knows to be fruitless. Here
then
is what has
come of his fine dreams. With shame he now remembers the beaming confidence
with which he had related them; with bitterness he thinks of the bright life
above him
from which these few feet cut him so absolutely off
and of the
quick termination that has been put to all his hopes. Into such tanks do young
persons especially get east; finding themselves suddenly dropped out of the
lively scenery and bright sunshine in which they have been living
down into roomy
graves where they seem left to die at leisure. They had conceived a way of
being useful in the world; they had found an aim or a hope; they had
like
Joseph
discerned their place and were making towards it
when suddenly they
seem to be thrown out and are left to learn that the world can do very well
without them
that the sun and moon and the eleven stars do not drop from their
courses or make wail because of their sad condition. High aims and commendable
purposes are not so easily fulfilled as they fancied. The faculty and desire in
them to be of service are not recognised. Men do not make room for them
and
God seems to disregard the hopes He has excited in them. The little attempt at
living they have made seems only to have got themselves and others into
trouble. They begin to think it a mistake their being in the world at all; they
curse the day of their birth. Others are enjoying this life
and seem to be
making something of it
having found work that suits and develops them; but
for their own part
they cannot get fitted into life at any point
and are
excluded from the onward movement of the world. They are again and again flung
back
until they fear they are not to see the fulfilment of any one bright
dream that has ever visited them
and that they are never
never at all
to
live out the life it is in them to live
or find light and scope for maturing
those germs of the rich human nature that they feel within them. All this is in
the way to attainment. This or that check
this long burial for years
does not
come upon you merely because stoppage and hindrance have been useful to others
but because your advancement lies through these experiences. (M. Dods
D. D.)
Evil and mistaken policy
After this profound scheme no doubt there would follow a chuckle
of triumph. The thing was so lucky in its plan
in its seasonableness
in its
practicability; it seemed to meet every point of the case; it made an end of
the whole difficulty; it turned over a new leaf in the history of the family.
Let us understand that our plans are not good simply because they happen
to be easy.
Let us understand that a policy is not necessarily sound because
it is necessarily final. In the case before us we see both the power and the
weakness of men. Let us slay--there is the power; and we will see what will
become of his dreams--there is the weakness. You can slay the dreamer
but you
cannot touch the dream. You can poison the preacher
but what power have you
over his wonderful doctrine? Can you trace it? Where are its footprints? Ten or
twelve men have power to take one lad
seventeen years of age
to double him
up
and throw him
a dead carcase
into a pit. Wonderful power! What then? “And
we will see what become of his dreams.” A word which perhaps was spoken in
scorn or derision
or under a conviction that his dreams would go along with
him. Still
underlying all the derision is the fact that
though the dreamer
has been slain
the dream remains untouched. The principle applies very widely.
You may disestablish an institution externally
politically
financially; but
if the institution be founded upon truth
the Highest Himself will establish
her. If we suppose that by putting out our puny arms and clustering in eager
crowds round the ark of God
we are the only defenders of the faith and
conservers of the Church--then be it known unto us that our power is a limited
ability
that God himself is the life
the strength
the defence
and the hope
of His own kingdom. The principle
then
has a double application--an
application to those who would injure truth
and an application tothose who
would avail themselves of forbidden facilities to maintain the empire of God
amongst men. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Joseph cast into the pit
The favoured son of Jacob was but a type of the Beloved of the
Father. Joseph
in being thus murdered in the intention of his brethren
and
as it were
buried in the pit
yet preserved in order to be exalted to the
right hand of royalty and power
was a type of Christ crucified
buried
risen
and glorified. Joseph was far away from his father when trouble overwhelmed
him
and his loud cries for help died away in the distance without reaching the
parental ear. And what were the words of Jesus in the depths of His affliction?
(Psalms 22:1-2). Pity from man He did not
expect
and if His Father had but been near Him
He felt that He could brave
every danger and endure every pain. Nay
that suffering would have lost all its
sting
and sorrow its misery. But the bitter and the agonizing thing was to
feel that He was alone--literally alone in His unparalleled sufferings. He had
come to them on a better errand than Joseph’s
and with a message of mercy from
abetter than any earthly father. One would think that a herald from so august a
court
and bearing so welcome a message
would have been hailed with
acclamations of delight by the Jewish people. That people had long been looking
anxiously for their long-promised Messiah. His deportment was far more lovely
and prepossessing than Joseph’s--His innocency of life and warmth of brotherly
affection far exceeded Joseph’s--He was the chiefest among ten thousand
and
the altogether lovely. He pleaded with the Jews with a depth of pathos never
equalled. Have you ever envied Christ? Do you envy Him His right to the throne
of your heart
and have you usurped it
and seated yourself in that throne?
There is such a thing
too
as envying the Lord Jesus
in the persons of His
happy and highly-favoured followers. Let us cheerfully share our blessings with
every afflicted Joseph who is east into the pit of adversity. (E. Dalton.)
No pit can hide from God’s eye
How were Joseph’s brethren to secure themselves from the reproach
of the world
and the indignation of their father? They would cast Joseph’s
body into some pit after they had killed him. But where were they to find a pit
deep enough to hide him from the view of God? It was right not to disoblige
their father; but was their God less to be regarded than their father? Many
heathens will rise up in judgment against those professors of the true
religion
who behave in such manner
as if it were a matter of indifference
what sins they commit
if they can preserve their characters from suspicion. A
certain Hindoo
trained up in the strictest sect of the religion of his
country
had macerated his body to such a degree
that his life was in imminent
danger. A Christian physician
who went to see him with the governor of the
town
begged him to swallow an infusion of the Jesuit’s bark in wine
which he
thought might preserve his life. The religion of the Indian prohibited this
cure. The physician promised that none should hear of it. But the poor Indian
answered
that he could not hide it from himself
and chose to die
rather than
violate his conscience. (G. Lawson
D. D.)
Good intentions must be boldly carried out
Reuben’s intention was good
and let all due credit be given to
every man who has a good intention
a merciful object in view. No one of us has
a word to say against such a man. But there are times when everything depends
upon tone
precision
definiteness
emphasis. I am not sure that Reuben could
not have turned the whole company. There are times when one man can play with a
thousand. A little one can put ten thousand to flight. Why? Because wickedness
is weakness. There is more craven heartedness among bad men than ever you can
find among men who are soundly
living good. Is that a hard message to some of
you? You know a very bold wicked man. Well
so you do; but that man is a
coward. One day the shaking of a feather will cause him to become pale
and to
tremble and turn round suspiciously
and timidly
as if every leaf in the
forest had an indictment against him and all the elements in the universe had
conspired to destroy him. Here is a call to us
most assuredly. We are placed
in critical circumstances. Sometimes eight or nine men upon the board of
directors have said that their plan will take this or that particular course.
We believe that the plan is corrupt; we believe that it is wicked
displeasing
to God
mischievous to man. What is our duty under circumstances such as these?
To modify
to pare away
to dilute sound principle and intense conviction
to
speak whisperingly
timidly
apologetically? I think not. But to meet the
proposition with the definiteness of sound principle
and to be in that
minority which in the long run is omnipotent--the minority of God. It is not
easy to do this. Far be it from me to say that if I had been in Reuben’s place
I should take a more emphatic course. We are not called upon
in preaching
God’s truth
to say what we would have done under such circumstances; but to
put out that which is ideal
absolute
final
and then to exhort one another
to endeavour by God’s tender mighty grace to press towards its attainment. (J.
Parker. D. D.)
Verse 25
A company of Ishmaelites
Lessons
1.
Providence
can make eyes to see
and such objects to be presented
which may occasion
diversion of evil plots against the saints.
2. God orders travellers
and trades
and journies
to serve His own
ends to His servants.
3. Accidental events to men are settled providences unto the
servants of God.
4. Trade from land to land
about proper fruits of the respective
countries
hath been
of old
ordered by Providence
for common advantage God
allows and commends it (Genesis 49:13).
5. The same place may be aimed at by God and men
but upon several
accounts (Genesis 37:25).
6. Providence toucheth hearts as well as eyes of sinners to defeat
cruel designs against His.
7. One spoiler may be wrought upon by God to cause others to desist
from cruelty.
8. Thoughts of the unprofitableness of sin is a forcing means to
avoid it.
9. Murder and concealment of blood bring no advantage to sinners (Genesis 37:26.)
10. Hypocrites may judge there is no profit in one sin
but some in
another.
11. Hypocrites may dissuade men from one sin
but incite them to
others
Come
&c.
12. Malice of formalists to sincere Christians sticks not to sell
them to bitter enemies of the Church.
13. God makes natural relation and motions to flesh sometimes to keep
persons from cruelty.
14. God causeth the counsel of one conspirator to defeat the rest
and makes them concur to His ends (Genesis 37:27).
15. Providence offers opportunity to sinners for doing their will
that His may be done.
16. Murderers are made deliverers by God at His pleasure and in His
measure.
17. The most innocent souls may be sold for slaves when aimed by God
to be lords.
18. A small price do wicked men put upon the best of God’s servants
nay on His Son.
19. Gracious souls
surprised by the wicked in their honest ways
may
be carried whither they would not.
20. Ishmaelites may carry innocents to Egypt for their ends
but God
orders them thither for His own. So God maketh use of sinners. They bring him
to make gain of him
God sends him to save and gain others. (G. Hughes
B.
D.)
Caravan trade
From very early times
a lively caravan trade was entertained
between Syria and the East Jordanic provinces on the one hand
and Egypt on the
other; it brought the esteemed products of Arabia and the wares and
merchandises of eastern Asia into the land of the Pharaohs; and in the course
of time
the importation was conducted with all possible regularity
and on
lines prudently chosen and marked out. We find
thai so early as the sixteenth
dynasty
stations were formed
temples erected
and wells dug and protected
in
the Arabian Desert
for the benefit of those who had occasion to pass through
it in their commercial travels. Egypt had
at that period
already attained a
great measure of the civilization of which it was capable; it enjoyed a strong
government and well-organized public institutions; and the political and social
relations were regulated on a firm basis. This sense of security favoured the
development of comfort and luxury; the higher castes especially appreciated all
that delights and embellishes life; their wants increased in an incredible
degree; and they encouraged every undertaking which promised to gratify them.
Among the articles in peculiar demand were all varieties of spicery and
perfumes
required not only for the feasts and pleasures of the living
but for
the embalming of the dead; the mummies generally emitted so delicious a
fragrance that they were for generations kept in the houses of the relatives
arranged along the walls
and then only entombed; which practice
however
received
no doubt
its first impulse from the devoted love bestowed in Egypt
on departed parents and relatives. The amount of spicery consumed for all these
purposes was necessarily immense; and the caravan introduced in our narrative
was exclusively laden with those costly commodities. The men who conducted it
were Midianites (Genesis 37:28; Genesis 37:36)
a tribe partly nomadic
but partly actively engaged in commerce. But as the Ishmaelites commanded by
far the greatest part of the caravan trade
all those who carried on the same
pursuits were designated by their name. (M. M.Kalisch
Ph. D.)
Circumstances favouring bad men
There are times when circumstances seem to favour bad men. Some of
us are accustomed to teach that circumstances are the voice of Divine
Providence. There is a sense--a profound sense--in which that is perfectly
true. God speaks by combinations of events
by the complications of history
by
unexpected occurrences. Most undoubtedly so. We have marked this. In many cases
we have seen their moral meaning
and have been attracted to them as to the
cloudy pillar in the day time and the fire by night. At the same time
there is
another side to that doctrine. Here in the text we find circumstances evidently
combining in favour of the bad men who had agreed to part with their brother.
They sat down to eat bread--perfectly tranquil
social amongst themselves
a
rough hospitality prevailing. Just as they sat down to enjoy themselves with
their bread they lifted up their eyes
and at that very moment a company of
Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels. What could be more
providential? They came in the very nick of time. The brethren hadn’t to go up
and down hawking their brother
knocking at door after door to ask if anybody
could take him off their hands; but at the very moment when the discussion was
pending and anxiety was at white heat
these circumstances so combined and
converged as to point out the way of Providence and the path of right. Then we
ought to look at circumstances with a critical eye. We ought first to look at
moral principles and then at circumstances. If the morality is right
the eventuality
may be taken as an element worthy of consideration in the debate and strife of
the hour. But if the principles at the very base are wrong
we are not to see
circumstances as Divine providences
but rather as casual ways to the
realization of a nefarious intent. Let us be still more particular about this.
I do not deny that these Ishmaelites came providentially at that identical
moment. I believe that the Ishmaelites were sent by Almighty God at that very
crisis
and that they were intended by Him to offer the solution of the
difficult problem. But it is one thing for us to debase circumstances to our
own use and convenience
and another to view them from God’s altitude and to
accept them in God’s spirit. (J. Parker D. D.)
The uncertainties that characterize our human existence
How true it is that we know not what a day may bring forth! Joseph
goes out on his father’s errand and never more returns to his father’s
house--does not see his father again
in fact
for twenty-two years. Of course
the crime of his brothers was of the cause of this long separation between him
and his venerable parent. But how often similar things occur even among
ourselves! Some years ago a little boy was stolen from his home in
Philadelphia
and though every means that affection could suggest or
professional skill could devise have been used for his discovery
the mystery
has never been cleared up
so that to this hour his parents are in most
horrible suspense. In our own city
too
scarcely a week elapses without the
announcement that some one has disappeared from home and business
and very
frequently nothing more is heard of him. But
apart from such occurrences
which may be traced to the cunning and malignity of wicked men
and which are a
disgrace to our much boasted civilization
how often it happens
in the simple
providence of God
and without blame to any one
that those who part in the
morning with the hope of meeting again in a very short while never see each
other more on earth! The street accident causes death; or the sudden outbreak
of fire in the building in which their office hours are spent cuts off all
possibility of escape
and they are burned to ashes; or a panic in a crowded
place of amusement which they visited has caused a great loss of life
and they
are numbered among the victims; or a railroad collision has smashed the train
in which they were passengers
and they are reported among the dead; or
without any such catastrophe
they have simply yielded to a sudden paroxysm of
illness and passed within the veil. Who knows not how frequently such things
are occurring in the midst of us
so that
as we have lately had occasion again
and again to say
the proverb is verified that it is “the unexpected that
happens.” What then? Are we to have our hearts for ever darkened with the
shadow of the possibility of such things coming to us? No; for that would be to
make our lives continually miserable; but the lesson is that we should be ever
ready to respond to the call of God
and should take short views of things by living
as nearly as possible
a day at a time. We need not borrow trouble on the
strength of the uncertainty to which I have referred
for “sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof”; but we ought to be taught by it to finish every day’s
work in its own day
since its lesson is
“Boast not thyself of tomorrow
for
thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
Judah’s suggestion
The very brightest and luckiest idea of all. He touched human
nature to the very quick when he said
“What profit is it?” And instantly they
seemed to convict themselves of a kind of thickheadedness
and said one to
another
“Ah
to be sure
why no profit at all. Here is an opportunity of
selling him
and that will turn to the account of us all. Sell is as short a
word as slay. Sell! that will get clear of him. Let us sell. Sell! we shall
have no blood upon our hands. Then we shall
perhaps
have a couple of shekels
a-piece
and tossing them up in the air an inch or so
and catching them again
and hearing their pleasant chink. This is the plan
to be sure. This is the way
out of the difficulty. We are sorry we ever thought of shedding blood; we shake
ourselves from all such imputations. Let us sell the lad
and there will be an
end of the difficulty.” Selling does not always take a man out of difficulty.
Bargain-making is not always satisfactory. There is a gain that is loss; there
is a loss that is gain. There is a separation that takes the hated object from
the eyes
yet that object is an element in society and in life--working
penetrating
developing--and it will come back again upon us some day greater
than power
with intensified poignancy; and the man that was driven away from
us a beggar and a slave may one day rise up in our path
terrible as an avenger
irresistible as a judgment of God. Well
his brethren were content. Men even
say that they enjoy a great peace
and
therefore
that if circumstances are
tolerably favourable
they say that on the whole they feel in a good state of
mind. Therefore
they conclude that they have not been doing anything very
wrong. Let us understand that vice may have a soporific effect upon the
conscience and judgment; that we may work ourselves into such a state of mind
as to place ourselves under circumstances that are fictitious
unsound in their
moral bearing
however enjoyable may be their immediate influence upon the
mind. I am struck by this circumstance
in reading the account which is before
me
namely
how possible it is to fall from a rough kind of vice
such as
“Let
us slay our brother
” into a milder form of iniquity
such as
“Let us sell our
brother
” and to think that we have now actually come into a state of virtue.
That is to say
selling as contrasted with slaying seems so moderate and
amiable a thing
as actually to amount to a kind of virtue. Am I understood
upon this point? We are not to compare one act with another and say
Comparatively speaking this act is good. Virtue is not a quantity to be
compared. Virtue is a non-declinable quality. I know how easy it is
when some
very startling proposition has been before the mind
to accept a modified form
of the proposition
which in itself is morally corrupt; and yet to imagine
by
the very descent from the other point
that we have come into a region of virtue.
When men say
“Let us slay our brother
” there is a little shuddering in
society. We don’t want to slay our brother. “Well
then
” says an acute man
“let us sell him.” And
instantly
amiable Christian people say
“Ay
ay
this
is a very different thing; yes
let us sell him.” Observe
the morality is not
changed
only the point in the scale has been lowered. When God comes to judge
lie will not say
Is this virtue and water? is this diluted vice? but
Is this
right? is this wrong? The standard of judgment will be the holiness of God! (J.
Parker
D. D.)
Verse 28
Sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver; and
they brought Joseph into Egypt
Joseph sold into Egypt
I.
A
FAMILY FEUD THE FOUNDATION OF A NATIONAL CALAMITY. Bondage for four hundred
years.
II. A DESPISED
CLASS BECOMES THE INSTRUMENT OF GOD’S PROVIDENCES AND JUDGMENTS. Ishmaelites:
the slave-traders of their day.
III. THE COMFORT OF
DEATH FOR PERSONAL LOSS AND AWAKENED JUDGMENTS (Genesis 37:35). (W. R. Campbell.)
Joseph sold into Egypt
1. The narrative shows one of
the not uncommon ways which God takes to prepare men for usefulness and
blessing. The pathway to any eminence in usefulness
virtue
or joy
is
commonly rugged. Muscular strength comes of abundant toil
mental vigour of
hard study
moral force of temptation and discipline. It is by fire that gold
is separated from its dross
and iron hardened into steel. Even the Captain of
our salvation was made perfect through suffering. One cannot guess of how many
noble lives the secret
if disclosed
would be found in some great trial. An
Arab once bemoaned his fate thus: “Alas
I fear that God doth not remember me.
I have no trials
nothing but ease and enjoyment.” You cannot make a great life
out of sunshine alone. Nor need one lose heart if his whole earthly course
seems to be under a cloud. As the discipline of youth may be for riper years
so that of one’s whole earthly career is for the ages beyond.
2. Again
the narrative shows how responsible parents are for the
conduct and welfare of their children. One of the gravest errors in family
training is that favouritism of which Jacob was guilty. On the one hand it
engenders weak and offensive pride; on the other
angry and bitter resentment.
Dissension is inevitable.
3. Here
again
we are impressed with the danger of sin in thought
and feeling. Apparently
the criminal deed of Joseph’s brethren was wholly
unpremeditated. It was an unhappy moment’s impulse. It has been said that “with
one bound a soul sometimes overleaps all blessed restraints; we flee into crime
as if the dogs of sinful desire were upon us.” We rush to deeds of which at
other moments we thought ourselves incapable. The petted feeling grows to be so
completely master
that we obey it when obedience has ceased to be a pleasure.
Some of the world’s greatest criminals were not only sweet in childhood
but
apparently amiable in youth. Let us never forget the tendency of sin to grow
and that as imperceptibly as does the plant or tree. It is also to be
remembered that the guilt centres in the disposition rather than in the act.
“God sees hearts as we do faces.” “The powder that is explosive and the powder
that explodes do not differ.” “He that hateth his brother is a murderer.”
4. Yet again
we here learn something of the unmixed wickedness of
the particular sin of envy. It is the opposite of that “charity out of a pure
heart
” which
while it rejoices over a brother’s or sister’s good fortune
is
itself thereby enriched; of that spirit which makes all another’s gains its
own
which is the richer for its neighbour’s riches
the gladder for its
brother’s gladness. As love is of heaven
envy is of hell.
5. Briefly
at least
we must notice the illustration we here have
of the bitter outcome of sin.
6. For God’s children
the culminating lesson of this fragment of
history is one of patience and trust in life’s darkest hours. (H. M. Grout
D. D.)
Sold to the Ishmaelites
I. This narrative
may remind us of THE UNCERTAINTIES THAT CHARACTERIZE OUR HUMAN EXISTENCE. It is
“the unexpected that happens.” The lesson is
that we should be ever ready to
respond to the call of God
and should take short views of things by living
as
nearly as possible
a day at a time.
II. We may see
from this narrative that THE BEGINNING OF SIN IS LIKE THE LETTING OUT OF WATER.
What began in envy leads to murder
and that again gives birth to falsehood.
Sin thus multiplies as rapidly as the Colorado beetle
and no matter what may
be the first one
you may always call its name Gad
for you may surely say
“a
troop cometh.” Therefore
if we would successfully resist it
we must withstand
its beginnings. Especially is this true of envy
which is purely soul-sin--the
hatred of a man for the good that is in him. Envy must be supplanted by the
love of Christ.
III. We may learn
that IN SEEKING TO DEFEAT GOD’S PURPOSES WE ARE ALL THE WHILE UNCONSCIOUSLY HELPING
ON THEIR FULFILMENT. We cannot explain the “ law” of it
but we clearly see the
fact. Oh the marvellous wisdom of that providence of God which thus
without
doing violence to the will of any human being
lays all their actions under
tribute for the furtherance of its designs! And what is the use of a man trying
to thwart God’s purposes when
whether he will or not
everything he does only
helps them forward? Surely it is better far to acquiesce in them
and find our
happiness in the doing of His will!
IV. I note from
this narrative that WE NO NOT GET RID OF A RESPONSIBILITY BY PUTTING IT OUT OF
SIGHT.
V. THERE IS A
RETRIBUTIVE ELEMENT IN OUR TROUBLES. Jacob
who deceived his father Isaac
is
now deceived by his own children. One of his “chickens” came home “to roost
”
and very bitter was the experience. (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
Lesson analysis
I. JOSEPH ABUSED.
1. Stripped of his raiment (Genesis 37:23).
2. Taken by force (Genesis 37:24).
3. Cast into a pit (Genesis 37:24).
II. JOSEPH SOLE.
1. The ready purchasers (Genesis 37:25).
2. The mercenary plea (Genesis 37:26-27).
3. The paltry price.
III. JOSEPH
MOURNED.
1. Cruel deception (Genesis 37:33).
2. Pitiable woe (Genesis 37:34).
3. Inconsolable sorrow (Genesis 37:35). (American Sunday
School Times.)
Man’s passions and God’s purpose
I. THE BROAD
TEACHING OF THE WHOLE STORY IS
THAT GOD WORKS OUT HIS GREAT PURPOSES THROUGH
EVEN THE CRIMES OF UNCONSCIOUS As. As coral insects work
not knowing the plan
of their reef
still less the fair vegetation and smiling homes which it will
one day carry
but blindly building from the material supplied by the ocean a
barrier against it; so even evildoers are carrying on God’s plan
and sin is
made to counterwork itself
and be the black channel through which the flashing
water of life pours.
II. THE POISONOUS
FRUIT OF BROTHERLY HATRED. The swift passage of the purely spiritual sin of
jealous envy into the murderous act
as soon as opportunity offered
teaches
the short path which connects the inmost passions with the grossest outward
deeds. Like Jonah’s gourd
the smallest seed of hate needs bat an hour or two
of favouring weather to become a great tree
with all obscene and blood-seeking
birds croaking in its branches. “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.”
Therefore the solemn need for guarding the heart from the beginnings of envy
and for walking in love. The clumsy contrivance for murder without criminality
which Reuben suggested
is an instance of the shallow pretexts with which the
sophistry of sin fools men before they have done the wrong thing. The mask
generally tumbles off very soon after. The bait is useless when the hook is
well in the fish’s gills. “Don’t let us kill him. Let us put him into a
cistern. He cannot climb up its bottle-shaped
smooth sides. But that is not
our fault. Nobody will ever hear his muffled cries from its depths. But there
will be no blood on our hands.” It was not the first time
nor is it the last
that men have tried to blink their responsibility for the consequences which
they hoped would come of their crimes. Such excuses seem sound when we are
being tempted; but
as soon as the rush of passion is past
they are found to
be worthless. Like some cheap castings
they are only meant to be seen in
front
where they are rounded and burnished. Get behind them
and you find them
hollow. “They sat down to eat bread.” Thomas Fuller pithily says: “With what
heart could they say grace
either before or after meat?” What a grim meal! And
what an indication of their rude natures
seared consciences
and deadened
affections!
III. The ill-omened
meal is interrupted by the sudden appearance
so picturesquely described
of
THE CARAVAN OF ISHMAELITES WITH THEIR LOANED CAMELS. Dothan was on or near the
great trade route to Egypt
where luxury
as well as the custom of embalming
opened a profitable market for spices. The traders would probably not be
particular as to the sort of merchandize they picked up on their road
and such
an” unconsidered trifle “ as a slave or two would be neither here nor there.
This opportune advent of the caravan sets a thought buzzing in Judah’s brain
which brings out a new phase of the crime. Hatred darkening to murder is bad
enough; but hatred which has also aa eye to business
and makes a profit out of
a brother
is a shade or two blacker
because it means cold-blooded calculation
and selfish advantage instead of raging passion.
IV. Leaving Joseph
to pursue his sad journey
our narrative introduces for the first time REUBEN
whose counsel
as the verses before our lesson tell us
it had been to cast the
poor lad into the cistern. His motive had been altogether good; he wished to
save life
and
as soon as the others were out of the way
to bring Joseph up
again and get him safely back to Jacob Genesis 42:22). Well meant and kindly
motived as his action was--and self-sacrificing too
if
as is probable
Joseph
was his destined successor in the forfeited birthright--his scheme breaks down
as attempts to mitigate evil by compliance and to make compromises with sinners
usually do. The only one of the whole family who had some virtue in him
was
too timid to take up a position of uncompromising condemnation. He thought it
more politic to go part of the way
and to trust to being able to prevent the
worst. That is always a dangerous experiment. It is often tried still; it never
answers. Let a man stand to his guns
and speak out the condemnation that is in
his heart; otherwise he will be sure to go farther than he meant
he will lose
all right of remonstrance
and will generally find that the more daring sinners
have made his well-meant schemes to avert the mischief impossible.
V. THE CRUEL
TRICK BY WHICH JACOB WAS DECEIVED is perhaps the most heartless bit of the
whole heartless crime. It canto as near an insult as possible. It was
maliciously meant. The snarl about the coat
the studied use of “thy son” as if
they disowned the brotherhood
the unfeeling harshness of choosing such a way
of telling their lie--all were meant to give the maximum of pain
and betray
their savage hatred of father and son
and its causes.
VI. AND WHAT OF
THE POOR OLD FATHER? His grief is unworthy of God’s wrestler. It is not the
part of a devout believer in God’s providence to refuse to be comforted. There
was no religious submission in his passionate sorrow. How unlike the quiet
resignation which should have marked the recognition that the God who had been
his guide was working here too! No doubt the hypocritical condolences of his
children were as vinegar upon nitre. No doubt the loss of Joseph had taken away
the one gentle and true son on whom his loneliness rested since his Rachel’s
death
while he found no solace in the wild
passionate men who called him “father
”
and brought him no “ honour.” But still his grief is beyond the measure
which a true faith in God would have warranted; and we cannot but see that the
dark picture which we have just been looking at gets no lighter or brighter
tints from the demeanour of Jacob. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Joseph sold into Egypt
I. A BEAUTIFUL
IDEAL OF WHAT A YOUNG CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE.
1. Having no fellowship with that which is evil.
2. As loved of the good.
II. THE SAD
EXPERIENCES THROUGH WHICH MANY A CONSISTENT YOUNG CHRISTIAN PASSES.
1. Joseph was hated of his brothers because their father loved him.
2. Joseph was cruelly treated by his brothers.
3. There are lighter and darker shades among the wicked.
III. THE SORROW
WHICH CRUEL TREATMENT CAUSES
IV. THE TENDER
PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS SEEN IN THE DISPOSAL OF JOSEPH IN EGYPT.
1. His promotion in Potiphar’s house proves this.
2. That he reached the rulership of Egypt through his experiences in
Potiphar’s house
proves it. Lessons: The permissions of God are full of
mystery
but also full of grace.
2. The story of Joseph proves the possibility of youthful piety
and
that Christian character may glow in adversity. (D. C. Hughes
M. A.)
Apparent disaster often real advancement
The chief peril which threatened Joseph was the foolish partiality
of his father. Under this unwholesome influence he was likely enough to become
vain
insolent
overbearing. So it was best that he should be removed from this
mischievous hot-house of favouritism into a more bracing climate; where
under
biting winds and nipping frosts
his virtues would be well rooted. Fortune’s
frowns serve our well-being
as much--perhaps more--than fortune’s smiles. If
friends of God
no harm can ever befall us.
I. WE SEE HERE
INNOCENCE PROVOKING MALICE TO VILER DEEDS. Without question
the presence of a
righteous man brings to light the baseness of the wicked. Just as the summer
sun quickens the growth of noxious weeds
and makes the stench of a foetid
sewer still more odious; so the influence of a saintly character exasperates
base men to do their worst. The presence of the Son of God on earth provoked
Satan to put out prodigious efforts of malice. To a vitiated palate even food
will produce vomiting. The beneficent errand of Joseph obtained only opprobrium
and ill.nature. “Behold
” said they
“this dreamer cometh.” Then this was the
worst thing malice could lay to his charge. In this respect also Joseph was a
type of Jesus Christ. The only accusation men could prefer against either was
that he had aspired to be a king. Yet this was not merely a prophetic
assertion; it was a divinely appointed office; it was a certain destiny. The
righteous man must inevitably rule.
II. WE SEE HERE
WICKEDNESS RAPIDLY MATURING ITS FRUITS.
1. Sin is a hardening and a blinding process. It treats its victims
as the Philistines treated Samson--puts out their eyes. They saw not Joseph as
a brother; they saw him only as a dreamer. They saw only the gain of twenty dollars--about
a dollar a piece; they were blind to the tremendous loss.
2. Under favourable circumstances sin speedily develops. Hatred soon
grew into murderous conspiracy
into rude violence
into lying
deceit
avarice
fraud; into base traffic of a brother’s flesh--the sum of all
villainies. In the fields of nature some plants will bear ten thousand seeds;
but this plant of sin is yet more prolific in effects.
3. Yet sin is temporarily checked by a sense of responsibility.
Reuben alone of the eleven sought the deliverance of Joseph.
4. Sin defeats its own ends. When the innocent lad was led away an
abject slave
had they baffled his dreams? They had helped the business
forward.
III. WE SEE HERE
THAT HARD SERVICE IS THE WAY TO SOVEREIGNTY. There is great truth in the maxim
that “he would rule
must first learn to serve.” Napoleon I. rose to
sovereignty because he served well in the lowest ranks of the French army.
Jesus Christ is enthroned in the hearts of myriads because He has served them
so faithfully and so generously. It is a law in mechanics that in proportion as
a free body is forced downward
will it rise upward when the force is
withdrawn. Nature helps a rebound. (J. Dickerson Davies
M. A.)
Anything better than confinement in the dry pit
To be brought out of a pit wherein there is no water
is in
Scripture represented as a great deliverance. Joseph would learn in this pit to
bear those other sufferings that were allotted to him. He was sold to foreign
merchants. He was carried into a strange land
to be again sold as a slave. He
was cast into a prison
where he lay for several years. But the remembrance of
the pit wherein was no water
and of his fruitless cries for relief
would make
him think that his condition
under all these circumstances of distress
was
not so bad as it might have been
and as it once actually was. (G. Lawson
D. D.)
Joseph betrayed and sold for twenty pieces of silver
Joseph
in his betrayal into the hands of the Ishmaelites
was a
distinct type of the Redeemer betrayed into the hands of the Gentiles. The name
of the betrayer was the same. In the case of Joseph it was a brother who lifted
up his heel against him; in the case of Christ
it was His own familiar friend
in whom He trusted
which did eat of His bread (Psalms 41:9) that betrayed Him. In both
eases it was covetousness which prompted the betrayer to the dark deed of
treachery. In both cases the betrayer dissembled
and accomplished his wicked
design under the mask of friendship. Do you observe how Judah speaks? How
subtle is his argument
and yet how transparently hollow and treacherous and
insincere! As hollow and as insincere as the kiss of Judas! Look at his speech.
“Come
” said he
“and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites
and let not our hand
be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh.” Oh what a contemptible vice
is covetousness! The rest of his brethren readily consented to this proposal.
The proposal itself
and their acquiescing in it
gives us a very painful view
of the deceitfulness of the human heart. The proposal was a monstrous one; it
was most cruel; and yet they ignorantly imagined that by adopting it they would
be washing their hands of bloodguiltiness. They appear to have viewed it as an
admirable contrivance
by which they would get rid of Joseph effectually
without loading their consciences with his death
just as though they would not
be quite as responsible in the sight of God for the mischief done him by the
Ishmaelites
as though their own hands bad wrought it. It is very melancholy to
see the conscience of man thus deceiving him. And are there not other practices
amongst us in which this same principle of drugging our consciences deceitfully
can be traced? Is there no such thing as servants being employed to do what we
would be ashamed to do ourselves? But perhaps we may discover something more
than a practical lesson in this conduct of the patriarchs. May not their “Let
not our hand be upon Him” remind us of the Jews? When Pilate said to them
“Take ye Him and crucify Him
for I find no fault in Him
” what did they say?
“Oh no! let not our hand be upon Him; do you crucify Him; yes
crucify Him
by
all means; but as for us
it is not lawful for us to put any man to death.” There
are two other points in the text in which Joseph was a type of Christ. He was
sold as a slave; Jesus was born under the law--a slave to perform all the rigid
requirements of a law without mercy. Not one jot
not one tittle of that rigid
law was ever relaxed for Him. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver
Jesus was sold for thirty. At what price do you value the Lord Jesus Christ? Is
He
in your estimation
the pearl of great price? (E. Dalton.)
Joseph sold to Arabs
The passage of an Arab caravan towards Egypt
and its purchase of
Joseph
is equally true to early times
and to the unchanging Eastern life of
to-day. Sir Samuel Baker’s boy
Saat
had
in the same way as Joseph
been
carried off while he was tending goats
by an Arab caravan; hidden in a gum
sack
and finally taken to Cairo and sold as a slave. “All the world may
perish
so far as we care
” said an Arab to Niebuhr
“if only Egypt remains.”
And it was left to them even more in Joseph’s day than now
from the dislike of
Egyptians to leave their country even for purposes of gain. The trade in
“spices” was exceptionally great between the valley of the Nile and
neighbouring countries; from the quantity used for embalming mummies
for
burning as incense
or as disinfectants; for which they were in great repute.
Even the names of the first and second of the three spices named--gum
tragacanth
from Lebanon and Palestine generally
Armenia and Persia; balsam
from the balsam-tree of Gilead; and lauda-num the gum collected still from the
leaves of the cistus-rose--from Syria and Arabia
have been found in the list
of two hundred drugs named in the temple-laboratory of Edfu; for each temple
had its laboratory and apothecary. Even the twenty pieces of silver given for
Joseph are exactly the price fixed under Moses as that of a male slave between
five and twenty years of age (Leviticus 27:5); so nearly had human
beings kept the same value for centuries. (C. Geikie
D. D.)
Sold into slavery
Mr. H. M. Stanley told an awful story of African slavery
in the
Manchester Free Trade Hall. He said: “A slave trade was a great blight
which
clung to Africa like an aggravated pest
destroying men faster than children
could be born. He overtook a party of Arab marauders on the Congo in November
1883
over 1
200 miles from the sea. They had utterly desolated a number of
villages
massacred all the adult males who had not at once fled
and carried
off the women and children. He never saw such a sight before. In a small camp
300 fighting men kept in manacles and fetters
2
300 naked women and children
their poor bodies entrusted with dirt
all emaciated and weary through much
misery. Here was the net result of the burning of 118 villages
and the devastation
of forty-three districts
to glut the avaricious soul of a man who had
constituted himself chief of a district some 200 miles higher up. Though over
seventy-five years old
here he was prosecuting his murderous business
having
shed as much human blood in three months as
if collected into a tank
might
have sufficed to drown him and all his thirty wives and concubines. Those 2
300
slaves would have to be transported over 200 miles in canoes
and such as could
not be fed would die
and perhaps 800--perhaps 900--of all the number would
ever reach their destination.”
From the pit to slavery
In Joseph’s being lifted out of the pit only to pass into slavery
many a man of Joseph’s years has seen a picture of what has happened to
himself. From a position in which they have been as if buried alive
young men
not uncommonly emerge into a position preferable certainly to that out of which
they have been brought
but in which they are compelled to work beyond their
strength
and that for some superior in whom they have no special interest.
Grinding toil
and often cruel insult
are their portion; and no necklace heavy
with tokens of honour that afterwards may be allotted them can ever quite hide
the scars made by the iron collar of the slave. One need not pity them over
much
for they are young and have a whole life-time of energy and power of
resistance in their spirit. And yet they will often call themselves slaves
and
complain that all the fruit of their labour passes over to others and away from
themselves
and all prospect of the fulfilment of their former dreams is quite
cut off. That which haunts their heart by day and by night
that which they
seem destined and fit for
they never get time nor liberty to work out and
attain. They are never viewed as proprietors of themselves
who may possibly
have interests of their own and hopes of their own. In Joseph’s case there were
many aggravations of the soreness of such a condition. He had not one friend in
the country. He had no knowledge of the language
no knowledge of any trade
that could make him valuable in Egypt--nothing
in short
but his own manhood
and his faith in God. His introduction to Egypt was of the most dispiriting
kind. What could he expect from strangers
if his own brothers had found him so
obnoxious? Now
when a man is thus galled and stung by injury
and has learned
how little he can depend upon finding good faith and common justice in the
world
his character will show itself in the attitude he assumes towards men
and towards life generally. A weak nature
when it finds itself thus deceived
and injured
will sullenly surrender all expectation of good
and will vent its
spleen on the world by angry denunciations of the heartless and ungrateful ways
of men. A proud nature will gather itself up from every blow
and determinedly
work its way to an adequate revenge. A mean nature will accept its fate
anal
while it indulges in cynical and spiteful observations on human life
will
greedily accept the paltriest rewards it can secure. But the supreme
healthiness of Joseph’s nature resists all the infectious influences that
emanate from the world around him
and preserves him from every kind of morbid
attitude towards the world and life. So easily did he throw off all vain
regrets and stifle all vindictive and morbid feelings
so readily did he adjust
himself to and so heartly enter into life as it presented itself to him
that
he speedily rose to be overseer in the house of Potiphar. (M. Dods
D. D.)
Verse 29-30
Reuben returned
Lessons
1.
Under
the wise providence of God
helpers may come too late to so save oppressed.
2. Creatures as they intend
so may they do their utmost to save
when God will not have it so.
3. The pit
under God’s disposal
giveth up to sale
when it is
intended unto freedom.
4. Nature is apt to be passionate to rending cloths upon
disappointments (Genesis 37:29).
5. Brotherly affection disappointed
though not true
will make one
fall upon disappointers with indignation.
6. Passiom may make men judge that not to be
which is
and so may
make mourners.
7. Natural affection may put men to their wits’ end upon disappointments
and fears of worse events (Genesis 37:30). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Lessons
1. Hypocrisy may admit trouble in some evil
but conspires wilfully
to do other. Reuben with them.
2. The coat of innocency may be made a cloak to cover cruelty.
3. Cruelty makes use of policy to hide itself from discovery. Kid’s
blood for man’s.
4. Sinners’ subtlety sometimes to put it off from themselves
makes
evil worse than it is. Blood without blood (Genesis 37:31.)
5. Beastly acting sinners use
to turn over their sins to beasts (so
if the word be striking through).
6. The guilty have their harbingers
to conceal sin more cunningly.
7. Sin makes men shameless to bring the tokens of their wickedness
to plead for them.
8. Sellers of brethren make not much to do that
which may kill
their fathers.
9. Sinners use to make their refuge in lies
and so add sin to sin.
10. Impudent sinners
though they be conscious
yet make things
doubtful unto others (Genesis 37:32).
11. Good men may be deceived by sinners
upon that which they know.
12. Gracious souls may be too credulous toward the wicked
who speaks
falsely to them.
13. Over much credulity makes men receive that which afterwards they
find false (Genesis 37:33). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Without doubt
Without doubt
While in relation to some things men doubt where they ought to
trust
with other matters they will feel quite certain
though they have good
cause for questioning.
Consider the habit of taking certain notions “without doubt
” as it is
illustrated in the case of Jacob.
I. THE HABIT IS
DEPENDENT ON PREDISPOSITION. The sanguine are “without doubt” of success
where
the cautious are “without doubt” of disaster. The despondent regard the world
through darkened spectacles. It is no wonder that their prospects seem gloomy.
II. THE HABIT IS
ENCOURAGED BY APPEARANCES. To Jacob appearances were sadly significant. What
more evidence could be wanted? We should remember that all appearances may be
against the true facts.
III. THE HABIT
LEADS TO GREVIOUS MISTAKES. Jacob’s verdict was “without doubt.” Nevertheless
it was a wrong verdict. We talk of the evil of doubt. There are evils of positiveness.
IV. THE HABIT IS
POSITIVELY MISCHIEVOUS. It causes distress when we are needlessly positive of a
painful surmise. It does more harm. It paralyses our efforts to better a gloomy
state of affairs.
V. THE HABIT MAY
BE A PUNISHMENT OF FORMER UNTRUTHFULNESS. In his youth Jacob deceived his
father; in his old age Jacob was deceived by his sons. He was cunning and wily.
Yet he was over-reached
and suffered from the trickery of others. Worldly
acuteness is no security against deception in matters that lie nearest to our
heart. The fox may be out witted
while the lamb is spared in its simplicity.
Application: See how the coprinciples work in various directions.
1. Domestic anxiety. Parents are often inclined to dread the worst
of absent children lost to sight
and perhaps unheard of for years. Yet they
may be as safe and prosperous as Joseph became.
2. Prospects for life.
3. Our spiritual condition. (W. F. Adeney
M. A.)
He refused to be comforted
Real and unreal consolations
Earth is so full of sorrows
and its sorrows are so various
and
its cry for their healing so piteous and so importunate
that no man who lives
can always stop his ears
if he can even steel his heart
against the demand
for his sympathy and his ministration.
The world itself has its forms and its phrases of consolation; borrowed
no
doubt
in name
from Christianity and the Bible
but divested
in the transfer
of their efficacy for healing
by being torn (as it were) from the context
and
presented bare and solitary to the aching and thirsting heart. And the Church
has its ministry of comfort; its ordained and consecrated representatives in
things sacred
of whose profession it is one half
and not the least anxious
and difficult half
to be at the beck and call of sorrow
whatever its kind or
cause
for the express purpose of conveying to it
in Christ’s behalf
the
consolations of the Gospel. Nevertheless
how many are they who
whether the
world speaks or the Church
yet
like the patriarch in the text
“refuse to be
comforted.” How small a part of the suffering of mankind as a whole
even in
Christendom
is healed
or sensibly mitigated
by the comfort professedly
offered it. Let us ask why. Let us take a few specimens of consolation
as the
word is commonly understood
and see where and why they fail
and must fail
in
doing the thing attempted. We need not
for our present purpose
distinguish
accurately between different kinds of distress. Pain is pain
whether it has to
do with mind or body
with circumstances or affections
with conscience or the
soul. And as the malady is
in this sense
one in all cases
so the idea and
principle of consolation
may be the same in very various applications.
1. Thus there is one kind of consolation
the least adroit
it may
be
but not the least common
which practically consists in a disparagement of
the suffering. This sort of comfort fails in both the essentials. First
it is
unsympathizing; and secondly
it is unreal. A man could not thus speak who felt
with you. This man is just getting rid of an irksome duty. He does not enter
into your ease. Thus the comfort lacks sympathy
and must be refused. But it
lacks reality too. It is not true that you exaggerate. Your pain is painful.
2. There is another kind of consolation
of which the characteristic
is that it deals largely in false promises. The physician
conjured to be true
looks the patient in the face
and says she thing that is not. “He sees nothing
to make him anxious. You may live for years.” He tells the next person he meets
that you are a doomed man. You are anxious--you have cause to be so--about
professional success. You confide your misgiving
your apprehension
your
mortification
to your friend. To save himself
or to save you
a moment’s
pain
he assures you that you are mistaken. “The next turn of fortune’s wheel
will be in your favour. He has reason to hope
he almost knows
that your name
stands next for an appointment.” To a third person he says plainly that you are
a failure
that you have not a chance. Worse still is it
when the soul is the
subject.
3. There is a still larger class of consolations which have this for
their feature
that they use true words but apply them falsely. In mere
carelessness
in worse than carelessness
in headlong headstrong presumption
a
man has incurred a terrible
perhaps fatal
accident. There is instantly a
chorus of comforters
it is the will of God. Worse than this: a son has been
the plague of his home
the scourge of mother and sister
the ill example
the
guide into all mischief
of brothers and schoolfellows! no change
save from
worse to worse
comes over his youth; all manner of sin and wickedness is his
sport and his occupation; at last he commits a crime
brings shame upon his
name
reduces his family to misery and destitution--who cannot anticipate
even
then
a view of the terrible history
whichshall lightly and confidently bring
into it
if not for the sinner yet for the sufferers
the hand and counsel of
God; bidding them believe that the whole aspect of it
for them at least
is
one of blessing and hope and fatherly love? And so
when at last the grave
closes over one whose whole life has been a denial and defiance of the Bible
whose last breath may have been the repudiation
not only of clergyman or
sacrament
but of prayer
and of Christ
and of immortality itself; there are
those who can see in all this nothing more than an idiosyncrasy or a
misfortune
and who
not contented (as all ought to be) with silence and
sorrow
with refraining from cruel judgments and ill-omened words
are ready to
offer to the survivors the most cheerful and confident of consolations
as if
over a deathbed of sweet hope
crowning a life of consistent
of Christ-like
devotion. Brethren
the sight and the touch of suffering is keen and sensitive;
and it must revolt against all this as an offensive obstrusion of an unreal and
impertinent consolation. That which we could not say without cruelty in the individual
instance
or in the house darkened by the calamity itself
we can say and we
ought to say in general terms
while it may yet be for the admonition of men
whose day of grace is not ended. Truth is not always comfort. We cannot always
with propriety say in the moment of sorrow the word which nevertheless may be
the true one
about the healing power of time
or the reparative processes of
reviving interests and affections. But this has no exception; comfort cannot be
without truth. Sympathy itself is dead
being alone. Let us who would be “sons
of consolation
” take good heed to our truthfulness. This estimate of life and
the Bible will alter the language of our consolations. It will make them
entirely real
and in the same degree strongly supporting. We shall ask no man
to call evil good
or to write sweet for bitter. When some terrible thing
happens
and we are called to minister
we shall say
“Alas
my brother!” Let
us sit and weep together over the mighty power of evil. Oh
how necessary was
the Gospel! Oh
how intelligible has become the Cross! Oh
how desirable that
last revelation--death and hell cast into the lake of fire--the tabernacle of
God come down to earth
and tears wiped from off all faces! And then
although
we cannot offer the false consolation
which confounds light and darkness
receives with an impartial and indifferent complaisance alike the good and the
evil
sees a God (so called) equally in both and in neither
and encourages an
easy
trivial
light-hearted passage
through a world “neither clear nor dark
”
into another world
itself neither day nor night; yet we shall at least have
realized God in His holiness
Christ in His necessity
life in its seriousness
heaven in its glory; we shall at least have renounced for ever that vile
flattery which barters truth for a smile--that ignoble traggicing in great
names
of which the Nemesis is the forfeiture of great realities. And the moral
of it all is weighty and legible. If the battle is so sore around and within
us; if good and evil are not words but things; if Christ and Satan are not
phantoms but persons; if we must have a side
though we know it not
and he
that is not with Christ must be against Him--let us be serious. The mere use of
true words will help us.(Dean Vaughan.)
I will go down into the
grave unto my son mourning
Jacob’s grief for his son
I. IT WAS DEEP
AND OVERWHELMING.
II. IT WAS
INCONSOLABLE.
III. IT CAST HIM
UPON THE FUTURE. (T. H. Leade.)
Jacob’s mistake
“I will go down to the grave
” or to the world of departed
spirits
“mourning for my son.” Jacob did not hope to see any more good in this
world
when his choicest comfort in life was taken from him. He had the
prospect of no days of gladness
when Joseph
the joy of his heart
was torn in
pieces by wild beasts. But he did not know what joys were yet before him in the
recovery of his long-lost son. We know not what joys or what sorrows may be
before us in the course of our lives. Let us never despond while God’s throne
continues firm and stable in heaven. Jacob had the prospect of sorrow while he
lived in the world. He knew
and he ought to have rejoiced in the knowledge
that his sorrows would last only during his present life. The saints of God
will indeed be in heaviness through manifold temptations
whilst they continue
in this bad world. But they have good reason (if they had hearts) to rejoice
with joy unspeakable
and full of glory
in the prospect of the unknown joys
that lie beyond the grave. The present life is but a single night to their
future life; and although sorrow may endure through the whole night
yet joy
cometh in the morning. (G. Lawson
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》