spreads a table before me,-He sent that friend to speak kindly to me;-His word was a comfort to me, when I felt so downcast last night,-this pain He appoints for my good,-such an one has a hard temper to deal with, but then he cannot speak one. harsh word of me, but what may be good and needful; and, when I look back on all the past, and see how God's goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, I must love him and thank Him."- "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." And those who delight to trace Him will always find fresh reason to trust Him. V. 9-15. This message to his father shewed the sincerity of his affection. Some, when elevated to a high station, or even raised only a little above what they once were, are glad to forget they have relations in distress-or, at least, if they send them now and then a token of remembrance and kindness, they have no wish to bring them into sight, lest they should draw too much upon their bounty, or inform their new and more respectable acquaintance of what they themselves have been. How dif ferent was the feeling of Joseph !-imitate him :-and when you have assisted your poor relations as far as you are able, do not then think this enough; but shew them the same attention and kindness you would, if they had been as prosperous in the world as yourself. 66 V. 16-20. Pharaoh confirms Joseph's invitation, and, with princely liberality, adds to his offers, regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is your's."-See how prophecy unfolds by degrees. God never forgets to bring to pass His own word-step by step his purposes advance: and whether the instrument is a Pharaoh, or a Pilate, a sore famine, or a treacherous Judas, the end is the same" to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." We have 101 On the Forty-fifth Chapter of Genesis. seen already how the prophecy of Joseph's exaltation was fulfilled:-here we begin to trace the fulfilment of Abram's vision, when in "horror of great darkness" he was made to foresee, that his "seed should be a stranger in a land not their's, and be afflicted by them four hundred years." Present appearances, it is true, were all in their favour-a brother at the head of affairs-and the king himself offering them the good of the land: but we shall see, that though by this means they were kept alive in the famine, and multiplied greatly, they were by and bye made to taste a cruel bondage. V. 22. A very natural distinction-Benjamin was his own brother: and it would help to convince his father that it was indeed his very son Joseph, who had sent the invitation they carried. -- 66 V. 24. See that ye fall not out by the way." A useful caution at all times, and particularly required now. In their former journeys they had been bound together by the strong tie of companionship in tribulation. A depressed spirit is not fierce: --many wild beasts may be subdued to a lamb-like meekness, by starvation: and the same means have sometimes brought the most resolute and hardy of human beings to the quietness and gentleness of a child: dependence and fear produce the same effect; and this had been the state of Joseph's brethren for some time ;-now, flushed by the prospect of future greatness-their spirits raised by the joyful discovery they had made-there was much danger of strife and variance. How much, alas! we see every day to make us feel the truth of this. How often we see those who lived together like brothers when suffering together under some calamity, become cool, indifferent, or contentious, when no longer dependent on each other for comfort and assistance. We may see the same even in the Church of Christ. In times of persecution and affliction, Christians clung to one another like bre thren. "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul;" and the Heathens who persecuted them could not help saying, "See how these Christians love one another." But in these peaceful times of the Church, how many are there who shew towards each other a disposition the very contrary to this. Remember, that it is not enough to have the name of a Christian. He is not a true follower of Christ, who has not the disposition of a Christian. There are often grievous disputes, too, about the difficult questions and deep doctrines of our religion. It is, indeed, of the highest possible importance, that we should so hold the great doctrines of our religion, that we may be sure what is our dependence, that we may know on whom we have believed:-but a fierce and unchristian spirit is the most unlikely of all methods to bring others to the knowledge and the love of the truth. There are doctrines, too, which do not belong to the foundation of our religion, and on which wise and good men have held different opinions. Each is satisfied in his own mind; but there is little chance of the opponents being satisfied, and the difficulty settled. If, however, discussions on such points are carried on at all, let them be carried on in a mild and Christian spirit. The exercise of a fierce and violent temper must be wrong, whatever the opinion in dispute may be. Let us look to the end of our journey, that we may all rejoice together, and that will help to preserve us from falling out by the way. V. 26. They told Jacob that Joseph was yet alive, and that he was governor over all the land of Egypt. "And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not." This news seemed too good to be true. Long accustomed to consider himself bereaved of his beloved son Joseph, he could not at once give credit to the astonishing tale, "Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.' On the Forty-fifth Chapter of Genesis. 103 Thus it often is with ourselves—our minds will not rise at once from sorrow and despondency, to joy and lively hope. Has any one of you, after living in sinful neglect of God, had your conscience so stirred within you, that you have felt a misery of mind at the thoughts of your past offences? Have you, then, tried in earnest sincerity to live for the time to come in obedience to the law of God? But has your mind been still harassed with the fear that your past sins will bring you into condemnation ?and, now you understand the real nature of God's pure and holy law, do you feel how far short you come of that perfect obedience which you desire to shew? And, in looking into the New Testament, do you see that there is a message for you, which conveys a pardon for the past, and a promise of strength to assist your future endeavours?-this seems too much for you to believe. How few really do give credit to this, and yet this is in truth the very message of the Gospel; these are the very tidings, the glad tidings, which it conveys. And they belong to that penitent who, in faith, receives them, and who is desirous of being a faithful follower of Christ. Let not the perfect mercy of the offer make you backward in receiving it;-it comes from a God of all mercy;-it is purchased for you by a Saviour who is all love. Seek to live by the rules of Scripture, and you may freely receive all the promises of Scripture. - V. 27, 28. But Jacob saw the waggons which Joseph had sent. Here was something substantial :the actual sight of these removed his incredulity at once, and his spirit revived. "It is enough." Tell me no more, I am satisfied,-God has been better to me than I dared to hope, He has fulfilled my desire,-I shall see my long-lost son, and die conT. B. P. tent. SCRIPTURE EXPLANATIONS. WE occasionally meet with passages in Scripture, which, at first sight, do not seem to convey to us their exact meaning; a little further attention often clears up the difficulty. Such expressions, for instance, as the following: (Rom. vi. 17.) "But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you." It is easy to see what the Apostle means here; but the words, at first sight, seem to convey a notion, that he thanked God that the people to whom he writes, had been the servants of sin. This, however, we may be assured, is not so; he thanks God, that those who formerly had been the servants of sin, were now brought to obey, from the heart, the doctrine of the Scriptures. Thus St. Paul is not thanking God that evil exists, but that there is a method by which evil is destroyed, and that those whom he addresses had availed themselves of that method; that their practices and manners were become totally changed, by the influence of Divine grace, and by means of their knowledge of the Gospel. In Isaiah li. 19, we read, "These two things are come unto thee, desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword." Now here appear to be four things, instead of two: on consideration, lowever, it will be seen that there are, in reality, only two things, desolation and destruction; the other two words only explain the two first, the desolation was produced by the famine, and the destruction by the sword. A poor villager, not long ago, supplied an answer to the cavil of an unbeliever: he said, "time was when I got amongst a set of people who would not believe the Bible, and I heard all their objections; and some of them did me great hurt, for I was not |
