receive superstitious impressions, their spirits are considerably affected by the vision of the night; not doubting, that it portended the speedy approach of some great good or evil. Joseph attending them in the morning, in the course of his duty, observed the deep concern which was engraved on their countenances; and sympathy being always one of the native effusions of an honest heart, he kindly inquires into the cause of it. By the way, how pleasant is it to observe this excellent young person with so much cheerfulness and good nature performing the humble offices of a gaoler's servant? He was accustomed to be waited upon, to be ministered unto; but duty calls, and with alacrity he ministers to the necessity of others. But what do I see? An under gaoler starting up all at once into an interpreter of dreams, possessing a sagacity that reaches into futurity, directed and taught by a Spirit whose piercing eye penetrates into eternity, and discerns all the wonders of the world unknown! How much wiser, how much more noble, how much more excellent, are they who live in communion with God than other men! For though they do not all attain the gift of prophesy, the gift of working miracles, the gift of speaking with tongues; yet they all are dignified by the spirit of prayer, the spirit of adoption, "the spirit of faith, the spirit of love, and of a sound mind." tentates of the earth, and marshals the whole host of heaven is bringing his own word to pass, and performing his own pleasure. The chief butler, we may suppose, readily promised Joseph his best services when he should be again restored to place and power, but like a true courtier, he thinks no more of his promise, nor of his fellow prisoner, after his own turn was served. So selfish, so thoughtless, so ungrateful is man! Had he been under no personal obligation to the young stranger, for his tender assiduities while in confinement, and for the agreeable and certain intelligence which he received from him of his approaching deliverance, common humanity, awakened by the simple tale of innocence and misery which he had told, ought to have prompted his immediate and most earnest exertions in his behalf. And yet he suffers two full years to linger away, without caring to reflect whether such a person existed or not. And when he thinks of him at last, it is not the generous recollection of kindness and attachment; but the selfish remembrance of courtly adulation, eager to gratify his prince, not to rescue talents, and innocence, and worth, from unmerited oppression. Pharaoh hanged him not for the offences which he had committed against his sovereign, but for his forgetfulness and ingratitude to Joseph, let him be hung up an object of detestation and contempt to all generations of mankind. Joseph, from the different complexion of How very differently do God and men often their several dreams, and inspired no doubt judge of one and the same object! If there by wisdom from above, predicts their ap- be in all Egypt a person more forlorn and proaching doom; the speedy restoration of inconsiderable than another, it is an Hebrew the one to his former trust and dignity; a slave in a dungeon. But "God raiseth the sudden and ignominious death to the other. poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out Nothing but inspiration could have borne of the dunghill, that he may set him with Joseph through a declaration so bold and de- princes." Pharaoh himself now begins to act cisive, and which was to be brought to the a part in this wonderful drama. For kings, awful test of confirmation or disappointment in the hand of God, are only instruments of in so short a space as three days. So confi- an higher order, and of more extensive opedent is he of the certainty of his interpreta- ration. Kings are liable to hunger and thirst tion, that he founds all his hopes of enlarge-like other men; kings must sleep, and may be ment upon it. And there is something inexpressibly tender and pathetic in his application to the chief butler to that effect, "but think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing, that they should put me into the dungeon."* The event justified the prediction; and it is an awful and affecting illustration of the observation of the wise man, "the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." A youth, a stranger, a prisoner, could have no power over the counsels of Pharaoh. But the power which controls all the po† Prov. xxi. 1. * Gen. xl. 14, 15. disturbed by dreams like other men-and thus it happened to the mighty sovereign of Egypt. With vision upon vision, in one night, was his rest troubled; the strange coincidence and mysterious import of which greatly perplex his waking thoughts. In a country teeming with gods, and overrun with superstition, no circumstance was overlooked which in any manner seemed to portend a future event. No wonder then that the prince, who has not always the best informed nor the firmest mind of any man within his dominions, should be rendered uneasy by a repetition of dreams, so singular in themselves, so similar to, and yet so unlike one another. It is not less wonderful, that in a country so prolific of magicians and soothsayers, not one should be found bold enough' to affix a meaning, or guess at an interpreta tion. Was it that the true God confounded | describable charm in true wisdom, in unafand silenced their vain imaginations? or that fected goodness, that forces approbation, and Pharaoh, dissatisfied with their idle conjec- carries the heart captive at once. There is tures, and prompted from above to make far- a native dignity in virtue, which, while it ther inquiry, rejected the usual modes of so- never assumes, nor pushes itself forward, is lution, that, heaven-directed, Joseph might never timorous, embarrassed or awkward. emerge out of obscurity to save a great na- Joseph possesses unaffected ease and comtion, to preserve his father's house in famine, posure in the presence of Pharaoh and all the and to fulfil the prediction and promise made court; and the court on this occasion, we to Abraham, concerning the future fortunes have reason to think, was a very splendid, of his posterity? public, and crowded one. So good a thing it is to have the heart established by the fear of God. It casts out every other fear. But the days of his depression are now ended, and every step he has trod through this valley of humiliation, is a progress made to the glory that follows. And here we break off, having conducted Joseph to the right hand of the throne; and beholding him ready to mount the second chariot, while admiring nations proclaim before him, "bow the knee." The king's vexation interests and affects the whole court. And then for the first time, the chief butler bethinks himself of his faults. and of his promise, and of his obligations to his fellow prisoner, and relates in the hearing of the king, the very extraordinary circumstances of his own imprisonment and enlargement; of his dream, the interpretation and the issue. He is of consequence led to mention the character and situation of the interpreter. This instantly effects for Joseph, what his friendship, had it been exerted, perhaps would not have produced-an immediate order to set the prisoner free, and to bring him without delay into the royal presence. When men can be subservient to the interest, the pleasure, or the ambition of princes, they are in the sure road to preferment; and a man is often more indebted for success to a fortunate incident than to a righteous cause. Joseph's affairs are now in a train such as his warmest friends could wish; and again we see another saying of the wise man verified: "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men." Pharaoh's expectations are not disappointed. He relates his dreams; and God, the author of the visions, and who had sent the interpreter and the explanation, by the mouth of Joseph unfolds its meaning and import. Pharaoh's dream had puzzled himself and all Egypt by its first aspect; but now that it is explained, how easy, how simple, how applicable, how natural every thing appears! The greatest discoveries, after they are made, appear so obvious and so plain, that every one is ready to wonder he did not hit upon it first; and this, instead of diminishing, greatly enhances the merit of the first discoverer.Upon the manifestation of the import of Pharaoh's redoubled vision, it is found, that God, who had given formerly to two of the servants an intimation of their approaching fate, was now giving to the sovereign a premonition of the visitations of his providence, to this great, populous, and wealthy empire. A previous notice of good renders it a double blessing; a warning of evil prepares us to meet it, and thereby diminishes its weight. Joseph's interpretation carried conviction along with it; and Pharaoh immediately resolves to act upon it. There is a certain un * Prov. xxii. 29. R The next Lecture will exhibit the son of Jacob in all the splendour of high life; armed with all the authority of a minister of state, possessing a plenitude of power over the whole kingdom of Egypt. Turn for a moment from Joseph, and behold a greater than him. "The prince of this world came, and found nothing in him." Temptation addressed to "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," had from his lips an instant repulse, "it is written, it is written." "In his humiliation his judgment was taken away;" he suffered as a malefactor, though "he did no sin, neither was guile found in his lips." He was condemned and put to death upon a false accusation. From the triumphant ignominy of the cross, he dispenses life and death to his fellow-sufferers; paradise to the one, everlasting shame to the other. "Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or, being his counsellor, hath taught him?" "The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." "No man' knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him." "He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."** "Fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" † Luke xxiv 25, 26. Phil. ii. 7-11. "To HISTORY OF JOSEPH. him that overcometh will I grant to sit with I conclude all in the words of the beloved *Rev. iii. 21. [LECT. XXXI. our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders, and the numsand, and thousands of thousands, saying with ber of them was ten thousand times ten thoua loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I, saying, Blessing, honour, glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders fell down And the four beasts said, Amen. and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever." 1** Rev. v. 6-14. HISTORY OF JOSEPH. LECTURE XXXI And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck: and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had: and they cried before him, Bow the knee and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.-GENESIS xli. 38-44. greater beauty and utility in the world of nature, than the successive shades of adver sity, and sunbeams of prosperity, which appear on the face of the moral world. Ir it be pleasant to observe, in particular | kind. Now the alternate succession of day instances, the providence of God justifying and night, of fair weather and rain, have not its own procedure, by relieving and vindicating oppressed innocence, or by precipitating prosperous guilt from its lofty seat; what must be the satisfaction and delight of beholding the whole plan of Providence unfolded, every mystery in the divine conduct the lot of individuals, the fortune of nations, Of this unceasing succession or mixture, explained, and all the ways of God to men the state of the globe, perhaps the system of completely vindicated! A very considerable the universe is composed. Nothing is perpart of our present distress arises from hasti-mitted to continue too long: no being is sufness and impatience of spirit. We are for fered to go too far out of his station. The rushing to the end at once; we will not af-balance eternally depends from the hand of ford our Maker and Ruler leisure to open his a Being possessed of infinite wisdom; and own designs, to illustrate his own meaning. after a few slight vibrations, the scales We would have the work of Heaven per-speedily bring each other into equilibrium formed in our way; we have settled the again. The swelling of a wave, the rolling whole order of things in our own minds; and of the ship, nay the finger of a child, may for all is wrong that ignorance, fretfulness, and a moment derange the compass; but after presumption are pleased to dislike. Cloudy, trembling an instant or two from point to rainy weather is much less agreeable than point, immediately the needle resumes its serenity; yet it requires but a moment's re-steady, stated northern direction. flection to be convinced that eternal sunshine would be the reverse of a blessing to marmore than another encourages us patienly If there be in history a passage, which and submissively to wait for the end, to follow and submit to the conduct of Providence, it is the story of Joseph the son of Jacob, What man of humanity would have refused to lend his helping hand to rescue the innocent youth from the fury of his unnatural brothers, to pull him up out of the pit, and to restore him to his father again? Who would not gladly have sacrificed a part of his substance to purchase his release from Egyptian servitude? What friend to truth and virtue but would have rejoiced to vindicate his character from the vile aspersions of his infamous mistress, and to save him from undeserved punishment? What heart, alive to the feelings of gratitude, but would have seconded the application of "the chief butler," for his immediate enlargement? But all this would have been precipitate, rash, and absurd. His fond father himself could not have conducted his favourite son to the honours which he attained, by a way so certain, so safe, and so honourable. Whether we regard Joseph himself, or the interests of his father's family, or the welfare of Egypt, or the good of the human race, Providence, when we come to the issue, it is found, has secured, promoted, and succeeded them all, in its own wise and gracious method, infinitely better than they possibly could have been by all the sagacity and foresight of man. By the wonderful steps then which we have seen, behold Joseph exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh, made lord over all Egypt, the lives, the conduct, the liberties, the property of millions entrusted to his care, subjected to his authority. Behold him married to a princess, arrayed in vestures of fine linen, a gold chain about his neck, the royal signet in his hands, riding through the land in the second chariot, while admiring nations bow the knee before him. Behold the dream which boyish vanity, perhaps at first suggested, which fraternal jealousy so keenly reprobated, and so sternly avenged, which a father's wisdom was constrained to check and reprove, and which incredulity, no doubt, would treat as the idle chimera of a disturbed imagination, is verified and brought to pass. When we observe so many of the important events of Joseph's life turning upon the hinge of dreams and their interpretation, we are taught to think respectfully of every method by which God is pleased to communicate the knowledge of his will to mankind. And, when our own dreams, as they sometimes do, either call us to duty, or convince us of sin; when they recal to our memory what is past, or admonish us of what is to come, so that we may profit thereby, we ought to consider them as warnings from Heaven, and the voice of God. But to attend to and seek a meaning in every wandering of a sleeping fancy is silly and childish; and to suffer them of whatever com plexion they be, to influence the conduct of life, so as to induce us to neglect our duty, to vex and disquiet ourselves, or disturb others, is absurd, superstitious, and wicked. There are three particulars in this part of the history of Joseph, which have exercised the learning and ingenuity of critics and commentators. First, whether the Hebrew word, Abrech, translated in our version, “bow the knee," had not better have been rendered, as the word will bear, "tender father:" an appellation descriptive of his office and character; dignity and gentleness united. Secondly, it is inquired, what is the exact import of the name which Pharaoh gave to Joseph upon his promotion? It was customary for eastern princes and nations to distinguish by new titles, persons who had rendered themselves illustrious by superior abilities, or splendid and important actions; as in the case of Daniel and the three other children of the captivity. That which was given to Joseph, according to some, is an Egyptian expression which signifies "Saviour of the world," and this, if just, conveys a high idea of the importance which the king ascribed to Joseph's information and advice. Others contend that it signifies no more than "revealer, or expounder of secrets.' This last interpretation has the most numerous, perhaps the most respectable support. The third particular alluded to, involves in it something like a censure of Joseph, as if, hurried away by motives of ambition and pride, he had been eager to form an improper and dangerous matrimonial connexion with an idolatrous woman, nay, the daughter of a man who by profession, as priest of On, or Heliopolis, the city of the Sun, was concerned to support and promote an idolatrous worship. The critics who advance and maintain this opinion, represent Joseph as a mere timeserving sycophant, imbibing in a moment the spirit and manners of a court, and sacrificing principle to conveniency. I confess myself so partial to this amiable and excellent man, that without hesitation I undertake to meet this charge; and would allege in his behalf, that, as the Spirit of God no where reprehends this conduct, which in cases deserving blame is done freely and without reserve, so we ought not, without just cause, and perfect knowledge, to find fault; charity obliging us "to think no evil," where we can think well; to put the bes construction on what is doubtful, and to judge of what is cot clear and explicit, by that which is. When I see Providence blessing this union by the birth of two sons, raised in process of time to a double rank of dignity and importance in Israel, it is impossible for me to think uncharitably of the union itself, which was the origin of that blessing. What, did Joseph acknowledge God so closely in every thing, even to the very naming of his meets, the sovereign and the subject strive who shall exalt him most; his domestic felicity keeps pace with the public prosperity, conscience approves; and God, the great God, smiles. If there be a condition of humanity to be desired, to be envied, it was this.. children, correspondently to the aspects of | dictions are accomplished. What seldom the Divine Providence towards him, and can we suppose he neglected God in a matter of so much higher consequence? Let me rather say, and say it without reserve, that the piety, the chastity, the fidelity, the selfgovernment of Joseph, in flying from an illicit commerce with his master's wife, was thus rewarded of Heaven by a virtuous and lasting union with a chaste virgin and a prince's daughter. But we dwell too long on a vindication, which was perhaps altogether unnecessary. To proceed: Joseph has arrived at a station of very high honour, but it is not to him a post of emolument and ease merely; and I rejoice to see the same person who diligently and humanely served the gaoler as a deputy, and who faithfully managed the affairs of Potiphar as a steward, attentively, humbly, industriously conducting the interests of a great king, and a mighty empire, as a minister of state. On which I found an observation frequently made already, I care not how often, that the fear of God is the best security of a man's good behaviour in every situation; and that "he is to be trusted in nothing, who has not a conscience in every thing." Joseph was but thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, seventeen of which he had passed under the wing of a fond, indulgent parent, and the other thirteen, at that period of life when the heart is most devoted to pleasure, he had lingered away in all the variety of human wretchedness; but in all the dignity of virtue, all the superiority of wisdom, all the delights, pure and sublime, of true piety. And now, at an age when most men are only beginning to reflect and act as reasonable beings, we see him raised, not by accident nor cabal, nor petulence, but by undisputed merit, to a situation, which one part of mankind looks up to with desire, another with awe, and a third with despair. And happy was it for Egypt, that ever this youth, this stranger, this Hebrew was sold for a slave into its bosom, for "God sent him to save much people alive." Egypt gloried that she was not, like other countries, dependent on the clouds of Heaven for the fertility of her soil, and the exuberance of her crops, but, that she derived her rich harvests from the flux and reflux of her own river. But in vain had the Nile arisen to the desired height during the seven successive years of uncommon plenteousness, had not the pathetic foresight of a Joseph taught both prince and people to take advantage of the favour of Providence, and to lay a good foundation for the time to come. Nothing do men so much abuse as plenty; nothing do they so soon and so severely feel as want of bread. These seven prosperous years seem to compensate to Joseph all his forner ills. His honour is cleared, his pre Shall I stop to express a wonder, that during all this period, with all the power of Pharaoh in his hand, with a heart so tender, and a spirit so dutiful, he should make no attempt to convey to the wretched old man in Canaan, intelligence concerning his preservation and his present condition: But I check myself, when I consider that the whole was of the Lord of Hosts," who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." It is worth while to observe, how the style of scripture is adapted to experience, and the nature of things. Years of tranquillity and success glide away imperceptibly: but every moment of pain is observed and felt, as it halts along. Accordingly, the history of seven prosperous and abundant years is despatched in a sentence or two; whereas seven years of famine, as they were more sensibly felt in their progress, so they afford more abundant materials to the pen of the historian; and the detail is lengthened out to the reader, as the distress was to the unhappy sufferers. Little do we think of this in the days of health, and ease, and joy; and therefore little thankful are we to God for our multiplied comforts. To instruct us in their value, he is constrained to put forth his hand, and either to withdraw or mar them; and we awaken, alas too late, to a sense of our obligations to an indulgent Providence! The seven years of famine are now commenced, and the honour of Joseph's sagacity is established, but by a very different proof. When either the promises or the threatenings of the word are fulfilled, we have equally a demonstration of the truth and faithfulness of God: venerable when he blesses, and venerable when he punishes a guilty world. Happy the prince, who, circumstanced, like Pharaoh, can roll the cares and anxieties of government upon a minister of ability and integrity like Joseph. Happy the people, governed by a ruler, who, himself educated in the school of affliction, has learned to succour the distressed. The beginning and progress of scarcity is described in this part of the sacred history with wonderful exactness and energy. It represents men first parting cheerfully with their money for food. By and by they are reduced to part with their lands, their hope, and security, for years to come, in exchange for the subsistence of a day. And, at length, reluctantly and slow, we behold them surrendering liberty itself for the support of life. |