had made to meet them, of his weariness and hunger, of his claims upon
their hospitality and brotherly love, softened the bitterness of their
hatred. The sight of the coat, the token of their father’s love, filled
them with frenzy. “Behold, this dreamer cometh,” they cried in mockery.
Envy and revenge, long secretly cherished, now controlled them. “Let us
slay him,” they said, “and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some
evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his
dreams.”
They would have executed their purpose but for Reuben. He shrunk from
participating in the murder of his brother, and proposed that Joseph be
cast alive into a pit, and left there to perish; secretly intending,
however, to rescue him, and return him to his father. Having persuaded
all to consent to this plan, Reuben left the company, fearing that he
might fail to control his feelings, and that his real intentions would
be discovered.
Joseph came on, unsuspicious of danger, and glad that the object of his
long search was accomplished; but instead of the expected greeting, he
was terrified by the angry and revengeful glances which he met. He was
seized, and his coat stripped from him. Taunts and threats revealed a
deadly purpose. His entreaties were unheeded. He was wholly in the power
of those maddened men. Rudely dragging him to a deep pit, they thrust
him in, and having made sure that there was no possibility of his
escape, they left him there to perish from hunger, while they “sat down
to eat bread.”
But some of them were ill at ease; they did not feel the satisfaction
they had anticipated from their revenge. Soon a company of travelers was
seen approaching. It was a caravan of Ishmaelites from beyond Jordan, on
their way to Egypt with spices and other merchandise. Judah now proposed
to sell their brother to these heathen traders instead of leaving him to
die. While he would be effectually put out of their way, they would
remain clear of his blood; “for,” he urged, “he is our brother and our
flesh.” To this proposition all agreed, and Joseph was quickly drawn out
of the pit.
As he saw the merchants, the dreadful truth flashed upon him. To become
a slave was a fate more to be feared than death. In an agony of terror
he appealed to one and another of his brothers, but in vain. Some were
moved with pity, but fear of derision kept them silent; all felt that
they had now gone too far to retreat. If Joseph were spared, he would
doubtless report them to the father, who would not overlook their
cruelty toward his favorite son. Steeling their hearts against his
entreaties, they delivered him into the hands of the heathen traders.
The caravan moved on, and was soon lost to view.
[Illustration: JOSEPH’S COAT IDENTIFIED. “It is my son’s coat; an evil
beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.”]
Reuben returned to the pit, but Joseph was not there. In alarm and
self-reproach he rent his garments, and sought his brothers, exclaiming,
“The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?” Upon learning the fate of
Joseph, and that it would now be impossible to recover him, Reuben was
induced to unite with the rest in the attempt to conceal their guilt.
Having killed a kid, they dipped Joseph’s coat in its blood, and took it
to their father, telling him that they had found it in the fields, and
that they feared it was their brother’s. “Know now,” they said, “whether
it be thy son’s coat or no.” They had looked forward to this scene with
dread, but they were not prepared for the heart-rending anguish, the
utter abandonment of grief, which they were compelled to witness. “It is
my son’s coat,” said Jacob; “an evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is
without doubt rent in pieces.” Vainly his sons and daughters attempted
to comfort him. He “rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins,
and mourned for his son many days.” Time seemed to bring no alleviation
of his grief. “I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning,” was
his despairing cry. The young men, terrified at what they had done, yet
dreading their father’s reproaches, still hid in their own hearts the
knowledge of their guilt, which even to themselves seemed very great.
[Illustration: “Rachel was buried where she died, and a pillar was
raised upon the spot to perpetuate her memory.”]
Footnote 300:
Gen. 33:18-20, Rev. Ver.
Footnote 301:
John 4:14.
Footnote 302:
See Genesis 34.
Footnote 303:
Gen. 49:5-7.
Footnote 304:
See Genesis 35.
Footnote 305:
Gen. 48:7.
Footnote 306:
Gen. 35:27.
Footnote 307:
Gen. 36:7.
Footnote 308:
John 3:36; Matt. 7:21.
Footnote 309:
Rev. 22:14.
Footnote 310:
See Genesis 37.
JOSEPH IN EGYPT—20
Meanwhile, Joseph with his captors was on the way to Egypt. As the
caravan journeyed southward toward the borders of Canaan, the boy could
discern in the distance the hills among which lay his father’s tents.
Bitterly he wept at thought of that loving father in his loneliness and
affliction. Again the scene at Dothan came up before him. He saw his
angry brothers, and felt their fierce glances bent upon him. The
stinging, insulting words that had met his agonized entreaties were
ringing in his ears. With a trembling heart he looked forward to the
future. What a change in situation—from the tenderly cherished son to
the despised and helpless slave! Alone and friendless, what would be his
lot in the strange land to which he was going? For a time, Joseph gave
himself up to uncontrolled grief and terror.
But, in the providence of God, even this experience was to be a blessing
to him. He had learned in a few hours that which years might not
otherwise have taught him. His father, strong and tender as his love had
been, had done him wrong by his partiality and indulgence. This unwise
preference had angered his brothers, and provoked them to the cruel deed
that had separated him from his home. Its effects were manifest, also,
in his own character. Faults had been encouraged that were now to be
corrected. He was becoming self-sufficient and exacting. Accustomed to
the tenderness of his father’s care, he felt that he was unprepared to
cope with the difficulties before him, in the bitter, uncared-for life
of a stranger and a slave.
Then his thoughts turned to his father’s God. In his childhood he had
been taught to love and fear him. Often in his father’s tent he had
listened to the story of the vision that Jacob saw as he fled from his
home an exile and a fugitive. He had been told of the Lord’s promises to
Jacob, and how they had been fulfilled,—how, in the hour of need, the
angels of God had come to instruct, comfort, and protect him. And he had
learned of the love of God in providing for men a Redeemer. Now all
these precious lessons came vividly before him. Joseph believed that the
God of his fathers would be his God. He then and there gave himself
fully to the Lord, and he prayed that the Keeper of Israel would be with
him in the land of his exile.
His soul thrilled with the high resolve to prove himself true to
God,—under all circumstances to act as became a subject of the King of
heaven. He would serve the Lord with undivided heart; he would meet the
trials of his lot with fortitude, and perform every duty with fidelity.
One day’s experience had been the turning-point in Joseph’s life. Its
terrible calamity had transformed him from a petted child to a man,
thoughtful, courageous, and self-possessed.
Arriving in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, captain of the king’s
guard, in whose service he remained for ten years. He was here exposed
to temptations of no ordinary character. He was in the midst of
idolatry. The worship of false gods was surrounded by all the pomp of
royalty, supported by the wealth and culture of the most highly
civilized nation then in existence. Yet Joseph preserved his simplicity,
and his fidelity to God. The sights and sounds of vice were all about
him, but he was as one who saw and heard not. His thoughts were not
permitted to linger upon forbidden subjects. The desire to gain the
favor of the Egyptians could not cause him to conceal his principles.
Had he attempted to do this, he would have been overcome by temptation;
but he was not ashamed of the religion of his fathers, and he made no
effort to hide the fact that he was a worshiper of Jehovah.
“And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man.... And his
master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that
he did to prosper in his hand.”[320] Potiphar’s confidence in Joseph
increased daily, and he finally promoted him to be his steward, with
full control over all his possessions. “And he left all that he had in
Joseph’s hand; and he knew not aught he had, save the bread which he did
eat.”
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE RIVER NILE.]
The marked prosperity which attended everything placed under Joseph’s
care was not the result of a direct miracle; but his industry, care, and
energy were crowned with the divine blessing. Joseph attributed his
success to the favor of God, and even his idolatrous master accepted
this as the secret of his unparalleled prosperity. Without steadfast,
well-directed effort, however, success could never have been attained.
God was glorified by the faithfulness of his servant. It was his purpose
that in purity and uprightness the believer in God should appear in
marked contrast to the worshipers of idols,—that thus the light of
heavenly grace might shine forth amid the darkness of heathenism.
Joseph’s gentleness and fidelity won the heart of the chief captain, who
came to regard him as a son rather than a slave. The youth was brought
in contact with men of rank and learning, and he acquired a knowledge of
science, of languages, and of affairs,—an education needful to the
future prime minister of Egypt.
But Joseph’s faith and integrity were to be tested by fiery trials. His
master’s wife endeavored to entice the young man to transgress the law
of God. Heretofore he had remained untainted by the corruption teeming
in that heathen land; but this temptation, so sudden, so strong, so
seductive,—how should it be met? Joseph knew well what would be the
consequence of resistance. On the one hand were concealment, favor, and
rewards; on the other, disgrace, imprisonment, perhaps death. His whole
future life depended upon the decision of the moment. Would principle
triumph? Would Joseph still be true to God? With inexpressible anxiety,
angels looked upon the scene.
Joseph’s answer reveals the power of religious principle. He would not
betray the confidence of his master on earth, and, whatever the
consequences, he would be true to his Master in heaven. Under the
inspecting eye of God and holy angels, many take liberties of which they
would not be guilty in the presence of their fellow-men; but Joseph’s
first thought was of God. “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin
against God?” he said.
If we were to cherish an habitual impression that God sees and hears all
that we do and say, and keeps a faithful record of our words and
actions, and that we must meet it all, we would fear to sin. Let the
young ever remember that wherever they are, and whatever they do, they
are in the presence of God. No part of our conduct escapes observation.
We cannot hide our ways from the Most High. Human laws, though sometimes
severe, are often transgressed without detection, and hence with
impunity. But not so with the law of God. The deepest midnight is no
cover for the guilty one. He may think himself alone; but to every deed
there is an unseen witness. The very motives of his heart are open to
divine inspection. Every act, every word, every thought, is as
distinctly marked as though there were only one person in the whole
world, and the attention of heaven were centered upon him.
Joseph suffered for his integrity; for his tempter revenged herself by
accusing him of a foul crime, and causing him to be thrust into prison.
Had Potiphar believed his wife’s charge against Joseph, the young Hebrew
would have lost his life; but the modesty and uprightness that had
uniformly characterized his conduct were proof of his innocence; and
yet, to save the reputation of his master’s house, he was abandoned to
disgrace and bondage.
At the first, Joseph was treated with great severity by his jailers. The
psalmist says, “His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains
of iron. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord
tried him.”[321] But Joseph’s real character shines out, even in the
darkness of the dungeon. He held fast his faith and patience; his years
of faithful service had been most cruelly repaid, yet this did not
render him morose or distrustful. He had the peace that comes from
conscious innocence, and he trusted his case with God. He did not brood
upon his own wrongs, but forgot his sorrow in trying to lighten the
sorrows of others. He found a work to do, even in the prison. God was
preparing him, in the school of affliction, for greater usefulness, and
he did not refuse the needful discipline. In the prison, witnessing the
results of oppression and tyranny, and the effects of crime, he learned
lessons of justice, sympathy, and mercy, that prepared him to exercise
power with wisdom and compassion.
Joseph gradually gained the confidence of the keeper of the prison, and
was finally intrusted with the charge of all the prisoners. It was the
part he acted in the prison—the integrity of his daily life, and his
sympathy for those who were in trouble and distress—that opened the way
for his future prosperity and honor. Every ray of light that we shed
upon others is reflected upon ourselves. Every kind and sympathizing
word spoken to the sorrowful, every act to relieve the oppressed, and
every gift to the needy, if prompted by a right motive, will result in
blessings to the giver.
The chief baker and chief butler of the king had been cast into prison
for some offense, and they came under Joseph’s charge. One morning,
observing that they appeared very sad, he kindly inquired the cause, and
was told that each had had a remarkable dream, of which they were
anxious to learn the significance. “Do not interpretations belong to
God?” said Joseph, “tell me them, I pray you.”[322] As each related his
dream, Joseph made known its import: In three days the butler was to be
reinstated in his position, and give the cup into Pharaoh’s hand as
before, but the chief baker would be put to death by the king’s command.
In both cases the event occurred as foretold.
The king’s cup-bearer had professed the deepest gratitude to Joseph,
both for the cheering interpretation of his dream and for many acts of
kind attention; and in return the latter, referring in a most touching
manner to his own unjust captivity, entreated that his case be brought
before the king. “Think on me,” he said, “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 chief butler saw the
dream fulfilled in every particular; but when restored to royal favor,
he thought no more of his benefactor. For two years longer, Joseph
remained a prisoner. The hope that had been kindled in his heart
gradually died out, and to all other trials was added the bitter sting
of ingratitude.
But a divine hand was about to open the prison gates. The king of Egypt
had in one night two dreams, apparently pointing to the same event, and
seeming to foreshadow some great calamity. He could not determine their
significance, yet they continued to trouble his mind. The magicians and
wise men of his realm could give no interpretation. The king’s
perplexity and distress increased, and terror spread throughout his
palace. The general agitation recalled to the chief butler’s mind the
circumstances of his own dream; with it came the memory of Joseph, and a
pang of remorse for his forgetfulness and ingratitude. He at once
informed the king how his own dream and that of the chief baker had been
interpreted by a Hebrew captive, and how the predictions had been
fulfilled.
It was humiliating to Pharaoh to turn away from the magicians and wise
men of his kingdom to consult an alien and a slave; but he was ready to
accept the lowliest service if his troubled mind might find relief.
Joseph was immediately sent for; he put off his prison attire, and
shaved himself, for his hair had grown long during the period of his
disgrace and confinement. He was then conducted to the presence of the
king.
“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none
that can interpret it; and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst
understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying,
It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”[323]
Joseph’s reply to the king reveals his humility and his faith in God. He
modestly disclaims the honor of possessing in himself superior wisdom.
“It is not in me.” God alone can explain these mysteries.
Pharaoh then proceeded to relate his dreams: “Behold, I stood upon the
bank of the river; and, behold, there came up out of the river seven
kine, fat-fleshed and well-favored; and they fed in a meadow: and,
behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill-favored
and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for
badness. And the lean and the ill-favored kine did eat up the first
seven fat kine; and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known
that they had eaten them; but they were still ill-favored, as at the
beginning. So I awoke. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears
came up in one stalk, full and good: and, behold, seven ears, withered,
thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them; and the thin
ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told this unto the magicians;
but there was none that could declare it to me.”
“The dream of Pharaoh is one,” said Joseph. “God hath showed Pharaoh
what he is about to do.” There were to be seven years of great plenty.
Field and garden would yield more abundantly than ever before. And this
period was to be followed by seven years of famine. “And the plenty
shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for
it shall be very grievous.” The repetition of the dream was evidence
both of the certainty and nearness of the fulfillment. “Now therefore,”
he continued, “let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him
over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint
officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt
in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of those
good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let
them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be for store to the
land against the seven years of famine.”
The interpretation was so reasonable and consistent, and the policy
which it recommended was so sound and shrewd, that its correctness could
not be doubted. But who was to be intrusted with the execution of the
plan? Upon the wisdom of this choice depended the nation’s preservation.
The king was troubled. For some time the matter of the appointment was
under consideration. Through the chief butler the monarch had learned of
the wisdom and prudence displayed by Joseph in the management of the
prison; it was evident that he possessed administrative ability in a
pre-eminent degree. The cup-bearer, now filled with self-reproach,
endeavored to atone for his former ingratitude, by the warmest praise of
his benefactor; and further inquiry by the king proved the correctness
of his report. In all the realm, Joseph was the only man gifted with
wisdom to point out the danger that threatened the kingdom, and the
preparation necessary to meet it; and the king was convinced that he was
the one best qualified to execute the plans which he had proposed. It
was evident that a divine power was with him, and that there were none
among the king’s officers of state so well qualified to conduct the
affairs of the nation at this crisis. The fact that he was a Hebrew and
a slave, was of little moment when weighed against his evident wisdom
and sound judgment. “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom
the Spirit of God is?” said the king to his counselors.
The appointment was decided upon, and to Joseph the astonishing
announcement was made, “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.” The king proceeded to invest
Joseph with the insignia of his high office. “And Pharaoh took off his
ring from his hand, and put it upon 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.”
“He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance; to bind
his princes at his pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom.”[324] From
the dungeon, Joseph was exalted to be ruler over all the land of Egypt.
It was a position of high honor, yet it was beset with difficulty and
peril. One cannot stand upon a lofty height without danger. As the
tempest leaves unharmed the lowly flower of the valley, while it uproots
the stately tree upon the mountain-top, so those who have maintained
their integrity in humble life, may be dragged down to the pit by the
temptations that assail worldly success and honor. But Joseph’s
character bore the test alike of adversity and prosperity. The same
fidelity to God was manifest when he stood in the palace of the Pharaohs
as when in a prisoner’s cell. He was still a stranger in a heathen land,
separated from his kindred, the worshipers of God; but he fully believed
that the divine hand had directed his steps, and in constant reliance
upon God he faithfully discharged the duties of his position. Through
Joseph the attention of the king and great men of Egypt was directed to
the true God; and though they adhered to their idolatry, they learned to
respect the principles revealed in the life and character of the
worshiper of Jehovah.
How was Joseph enabled to make such a record of firmness of character,
uprightness and wisdom?—In his early years he had consulted duty rather
than inclination; and the integrity, the simple trust, the noble nature,
of the youth, bore fruit in the deeds of the man. A pure and simple life
had favored the vigorous development of both physical and intellectual
powers. Communion with God through his works, and the contemplation of
the grand truths intrusted to the inheritors of faith, had elevated and
ennobled his spiritual nature, broadening and strengthening the mind as
no other study could do. Faithful attention to duty in every station,
from the lowliest to the most exalted, had been training every power for
its highest service. He who lives in accordance with the Creator’s will
is securing to himself the truest and noblest development of character.
“The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is
understanding.”[325]
There are few who realize the influence of the little things of life
upon the development of character. Nothing with which we have to do is
really small. The varied circumstances that we meet day by day are
designed to test our faithfulness, and to qualify us for greater trusts.
By adherence to principle in the transactions of ordinary life, the mind
becomes accustomed to hold the claims of duty above those of pleasure
and inclination. Minds thus disciplined are not wavering between right
and wrong, like the reed trembling in the wind; they are loyal to duty
because they have trained themselves to habits of fidelity and truth. By
faithfulness in that which is least, they acquire strength to be
faithful in greater matters.
An upright character is of greater worth than the gold of Ophir. Without
it none can rise to an honorable eminence. But character is not
inherited. It cannot be bought. Moral excellence and fine mental
qualities are not the result of accident. The most precious gifts are of
no value unless they are improved. The formation of a noble character is
the work of a life-time, and must be the result of diligent and
persevering effort. God gives opportunities; success depends upon the
use made of them.
[Illustration: “Every shepherd was ‘an abomination unto the
Egyptians.’”]
Footnote 320:
See Genesis 39.
Footnote 321:
Ps. 105:18, Rev. Ver.
Footnote 322:
See Genesis 40.
Footnote 323:
See Genesis 41.
Footnote 324:
Ps. 105:21, 22.
Footnote 325:
Job 28:28.
JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS—21
At the very opening of the fruitful years began the preparation for the
approaching famine. Under the direction of Joseph, immense store-houses
were erected in all the principal places throughout the land of Egypt,
and ample arrangements were made for preserving the surplus of the
expected harvest. The same policy was continued during the seven years
of plenty, until the amount of grain laid in store was beyond
computation.
And now the seven years of dearth began to come, according to Joseph’s
prediction. “And the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of
Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the
people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. And the famine was
over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the store-houses,
and sold unto the Egyptians.”[330]
The famine extended to the land of Canaan, and was severely felt in that
part of the country where Jacob dwelt. Hearing of the abundant provision
made by the king of Egypt, ten of Jacob’s sons journeyed thither to
purchase grain. On their arrival they were directed to the king’s
deputy, and with other applicants they came to present themselves before
the ruler of the land. And they “bowed down themselves before him with
their faces to the earth.” “Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not
him.”[330] His Hebrew name had been exchanged for the one bestowed upon
him by the king; and there was little resemblance between the prime
minister of Egypt and the stripling whom they had sold to the
Ishmaelites. As Joseph saw his brothers stooping and making obeisance,
his dreams came to his mind, and the scenes of the past rose vividly
before him. His keen eye, surveying the group, discovered that Benjamin
was not among them. Had he also fallen a victim to the treacherous
cruelty of those savage men? He determined to learn the truth. “Ye are
spies,” he said sternly; “to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.”
They answered, “Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We
are all one man’s sons; we are true men; thy servants are no spies.” He
wished to learn if they possessed the same haughty spirit as when he was
with them, and also to draw from them some information in regard to
their home; yet he well knew how deceptive their statements might be. He
repeated the charge, and they replied, “Thy servants are twelve
brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the
youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.”
Professing to doubt the truthfulness of their story, and to still look
upon them as spies, the governor declared that he would prove them, by
requiring them to remain in Egypt till one of their number should go and
bring their youngest brother down. If they would not consent to this,
they were to be treated as spies. But to such an arrangement the sons of
Jacob could not agree, since the time required for carrying it out would
cause their families to suffer for food; and who among them would
undertake the journey alone, leaving his brothers in prison? How could
he meet his father under such circumstances? It appeared probable that
they were to be put to death or to be made slaves; and if Benjamin were
brought, it might be only to share their fate. They decided to remain
and suffer together, rather than bring additional sorrow upon their
father by the loss of his only remaining son. They were accordingly cast
into prison, where they remained three days.
During the years since Joseph had been separated from his brothers,
these sons of Jacob had changed in character. Envious, turbulent,
deceptive, cruel, and revengeful they had been; but now, when tested by
adversity, they were shown to be unselfish, true to one another, devoted
to their father, and, themselves middle-aged men, subject to his
authority.
The three days in the Egyptian prison were days of bitter sorrow, as the
brothers reflected upon their past sins. Unless Benjamin could be
produced, their conviction as spies appeared certain, and they had
little hope of gaining their father’s consent to Benjamin’s absence. On
the third day, Joseph caused the brothers to be brought before him. He
dared not detain them longer. Already his father and the families with
him might be suffering for food. “This do, and live,” he said; “for I
fear God. If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the
house of your prison; go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses.
But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be
verified, and ye shall not die.” This proposition they agreed to accept,
though expressing little hope that their father would let Benjamin
return with them. Joseph had communicated with them through an
interpreter, and having no thought that the governor understood them,
they conversed freely with one another in his presence. They accused
themselves in regard to their treatment of Joseph: “We are verily guilty
concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he
besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon
us.” Reuben, who had formed the plan for delivering him at Dothan,
added, “Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and
ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.”
Joseph, listening, could not control his emotions, and he went out and
wept. On his return, he commanded that Simeon be bound before them, and
again committed to prison. In the cruel treatment of their brother,
Simeon had been the instigator and chief actor, and it was for this
reason that the choice fell upon him.
Before permitting his brothers to depart, Joseph gave directions that
they should be supplied with grain, and also that each man’s money
should be secretly placed in the mouth of his sack. Provender for the
beasts on the homeward journey was also supplied. On the way, one of the
company, opening his sack, was surprised to find his bag of silver. On
his making known the fact to the others, they were alarmed and
perplexed, and said one to another, “What is this that God hath done
unto us?”—should they regard it as a token of good from the Lord, or had
he suffered it to occur to punish them for their sins, and plunge them
still deeper in affliction? They acknowledged that God had seen their
sins, and that he was now punishing them.
Jacob was anxiously awaiting the return of his sons, and on their
arrival the whole encampment gathered eagerly around them as they
related to their father all that had occurred. Alarm and apprehension
filled every heart. The conduct of the Egyptian governor seemed to imply
some evil design, and their fears were confirmed, when, as they opened
their sacks, the owner’s money was found in each. In his distress the
aged father exclaimed, “Me have ye bereaved of my children. Joseph is
not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away. All these things
are against me.” Reuben answered, “Slay my two sons, if I bring him not
to thee; deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.”
This rash speech did not relieve the mind of Jacob. His answer was, “My
son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left
alone. If mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall
ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”
But the drought continued, and in process of time the supply of grain
that had been brought from Egypt was nearly exhausted. The sons of Jacob
well knew that it would be in vain to return to Egypt without Benjamin.
They had little hope of changing their father’s resolution, and they
awaited the issue in silence. Deeper and deeper grew the shadow of
approaching famine; in the anxious faces of all in the encampment, the
old man read their need; at last he said, “Go again, buy us a little
food.”
Judah answered, “The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall
not see my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our
brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food; but if thou wilt not
send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not
see my face, except your brother be with you.” Seeing that his father’s
resolution began to waver, he added, “Send the lad with me, and we will
arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also
our little ones;” and he offered to be surety for his brother, and to
bear the blame forever if he failed to restore Benjamin to his father.
Jacob could no longer withhold his consent, and he directed his sons to
prepare for the journey. He bade them also take to the ruler a present
of such things as the famine-wasted country afforded,—“a little balm,
and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds,” also a double
quantity of money. “Take also your brother,” he said, “and arise, go
again unto the man.” As his sons were about to depart on their doubtful
journey, the aged father arose, and raising his hands to heaven, uttered
the prayer, “God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may
send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my
children, I am bereaved.”
Again they journeyed to Egypt, and presented themselves before Joseph.
As his eye fell upon Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he was deeply
moved. He concealed his emotion, however, but ordered that they be taken
to his house, and that preparation be made for them to dine with him.
Upon being conducted to the governor’s palace, the brothers were greatly
alarmed, fearing that they were to be called to account for the money
found in their sacks. They thought that it might have been intentionally
placed there, to furnish occasion for making them slaves. In their
distress, they consulted with the steward of the house, relating to him
the circumstances of their visit to Egypt; and in proof of their
innocence informed him that they had brought back the money found in
their sacks, also other money to buy food; and they added, “We cannot
tell who put our money in our sacks.” The man replied, “Peace be to you,
fear not; your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure
in your sacks. I had your money.” Their anxiety was relieved, and when
Simeon, who had been released from prison, joined them, they felt that
God was indeed gracious unto them.
When the governor again met them, they presented their gifts, and humbly
“bowed themselves to him to the earth.” Again his dreams came to his
mind, and after saluting his guests he hastened to ask, “Is your father
well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?” “Thy servant our
father is in good health, he is yet alive,” was the answer, as they
again made obeisance. Then his eye rested upon Benjamin, and he said,
“Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me?” “God be
gracious unto thee, my son;” but overpowered by feelings of tenderness,
he could say no more. “He entered into his chamber, and wept there.”
Having recovered his self-possession, he returned, and all proceeded to
the feast. By the laws of caste, the Egyptians were forbidden to eat
with people of any other nation. The sons of Jacob had therefore a table
by themselves, while the governor, on account of his high rank, ate by
himself, and the Egyptians also had separate tables. When all were
seated, the brothers were surprised to see that they were arranged in
exact order, according to their ages. Joseph “sent messes unto them from
before him;” but Benjamin’s was five times as much as any of theirs. By
this token of favor to Benjamin he hoped to ascertain if the youngest
brother was regarded with the envy and hatred that had been manifested
toward himself. Still supposing that Joseph did not understand their
language, the brothers freely conversed with one another; thus he had a
good opportunity to learn their real feelings. Still he desired to test
them further, and before their departure he ordered that his own
drinking-cup of silver should be concealed in the sack of the youngest.
Joyfully they set out on their return. Simeon and Benjamin were with
them, their animals were laden with grain, and all felt that they had
safely escaped the perils that had seemed to surround them. But they had
only reached the outskirts of the city when they were overtaken by the
governor’s steward, who uttered the scathing inquiry, “Wherefore have ye
rewarded evil for good? Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and
whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing.” This cup was
supposed to possess the power of detecting any poisonous substance
placed therein. At that day, cups of this kind were highly valued as a
safe-guard against murder by poisoning.
To the steward’s accusation the travelers answered, “Wherefore saith my
lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to
this thing. Behold, the money which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we
brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we
steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy
servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s
bondmen.”
“Now also let it be according unto your words,” said the steward; “he
with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.”
The search began immediately. “They speedily took down every man his
sack to the ground,” and the steward examined each, beginning with
Reuben’s, and taking them in order down to that of the youngest. In
Benjamin’s sack the cup was found.
The brothers rent their garments in token of utter wretchedness, and
slowly returned to the city. By their own promise, Benjamin was doomed
to a life of slavery. They followed the steward to the palace, and
finding the governor yet there, they prostrated themselves before him.
“What deed is this that ye have done?” he said. “Wot ye not that such a
man as I can certainly divine?” Joseph designed to draw from them an
acknowledgment of their sin. He had never claimed the power of
divination, but was willing to have them believe that he could read the
secrets of their lives.
Judah answered, “What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or
how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy
servants. Behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with
whom the cup is found.”
“God forbid that I should do so,” was the reply; “but the man in whose
hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you
up in peace unto your father.”
In his deep distress, Judah now drew near to the ruler, and exclaimed,
“O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s
ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art
even as Pharaoh.” In words of touching eloquence he described his
father’s grief at the loss of Joseph, and his reluctance to let Benjamin
come with them to Egypt, as he was the only son left of his mother,
Rachel, whom Jacob so dearly loved. “Now therefore,” he said, “when I
come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that
his life is bound up in the lad’s life; it shall come to pass, when he
seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die; and thy servants
shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to
the grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father,
saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my
father forever. Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide
instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his
brethren. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with
me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.”
Joseph was satisfied. He had seen in his brothers the fruits of true
repentance. Upon hearing Judah’s noble offer, he gave orders that all
but these men should withdraw; then weeping aloud, he cried, “I am
Joseph; doth my father yet live?”
His brothers stood motionless, dumb with fear and amazement. The ruler
of Egypt their brother Joseph, whom they had envied and would have
murdered, and finally sold as a slave! All their ill-treatment of him
passed before them. They remembered how they had despised his dreams,
and had labored to prevent their fulfillment. Yet they had acted their
part in fulfilling these dreams; and now that they were completely in
his power, he would, no doubt, avenge the wrong that he had suffered.
Seeing their confusion, he said kindly, “Come near to me, I pray you;”
and as they came near, he continued, “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye
sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with
yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to
preserve life.” Feeling that they had already suffered enough for their
cruelty toward him, he nobly sought to banish their fears, and lessen
the bitterness of their self-reproach.
“For these two years,” he continued, “hath the famine been in the land;
and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing
nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in
the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was
not you that sent me hither, but God; and he hath made me a father to
Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land
of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith
thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me,
tarry not; and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be
near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and
thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast, and there will I
nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy
household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And, behold, your
eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that
speaketh unto you.” “And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and
wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his
brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with
him.” They humbly confessed their sin, and entreated his forgiveness.
They had long suffered anxiety and remorse, and now they rejoiced that
he was still alive.
The news of what had taken place was quickly carried to the king, who,
eager to manifest his gratitude to Joseph, confirmed the governor’s
invitation to his family, saying, “The good of all the land of Egypt is
yours.” The brothers were sent away abundantly supplied with provision
and carriages, and everything necessary for the removal of all their
families and attendants to Egypt. On Benjamin, Joseph bestowed more
valuable gifts than upon the others. Then, fearing that disputes would
arise among them on the homeward journey, he gave them, as they were
about leaving him, the charge, “See that ye fall not out by the way.”
The sons of Jacob returned to their father with the joyful tidings,
“Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” At
first the aged man was overwhelmed; he could not believe what he heard;
but when he saw the long train of wagons and loaded animals, and when
Benjamin was with him once more, he was convinced, and in the fullness
of his joy exclaimed, “It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive. I will
go and see him before I die.”
Another act of humiliation remained for the ten brothers. They now
confessed to their father the deceit and cruelty that for so many years
had imbittered his life and theirs. Jacob had not suspected them of so
base a sin, but he saw that all had been overruled for good, and he
forgave and blessed his erring children.
The father and his sons, with their families, their flocks and herds,
and numerous attendants, were soon on the way to Egypt. With gladness of
heart they pursued their journey, and when they came to Beersheba, the
patriarch offered grateful sacrifices, and entreated the Lord to grant
them an assurance that he would go with them. In a vision of the night
the divine word came to him: “Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will
there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt;
and I will also surely bring thee up again.”
The assurance, “Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will _there_ make
of thee a great nation,” was significant. The promise had been given to
Abraham of a posterity numberless as the stars; but as yet the chosen
people had increased but slowly. And the land of Canaan now offered no
field for the development of such a nation as had been foretold. It was
in the possession of powerful heathen tribes, that were not to be
dispossessed until “the fourth generation.” If the descendants of Israel
were here to become a numerous people, they must either drive out the
inhabitants of the land or disperse themselves among them. The former,
according to the divine arrangement, they could not do; and should they
mingle with the Canaanites, they would be in danger of being seduced
into idolatry. Egypt, however, offered the conditions necessary to the
fulfillment of the divine purpose. A section of country, well-watered
and fertile, was open to them there, affording every advantage for their
speedy increase. And the antipathy they must encounter in Egypt on
account of their occupation—for every shepherd was “an abomination unto
the Egyptians”[331]—would enable them to remain a distinct and separate
people, and would thus serve to shut them out from participation in the
idolatry of Egypt.
Upon reaching Egypt, the company proceeded directly to the land of
Goshen. Thither came Joseph in his chariot of state, attended by a
princely retinue. The splendor of his surroundings and the dignity of
his position were alike forgotten; one thought alone filled his mind,
one longing thrilled his heart. As he beheld the travelers approaching,
the love whose yearnings had for so many long years been repressed,
would no longer be controlled. He sprung from his chariot, and hastened
forward to bid his father welcome. “And he fell on his neck, and wept on
his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die,
since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.”
Joseph took five of his brothers to present to Pharaoh, and receive from
him the grant of land for their future home. Gratitude to his prime
minister would have led the monarch to honor them with appointments to
offices of state; but Joseph, true to the worship of Jehovah, sought to
save his brothers from the temptations to which they would be exposed at
a heathen court; therefore he counseled them, when questioned by the
king, to tell him frankly their occupation. The sons of Jacob followed
this counsel, being careful also to state that they had come to sojourn
in the land, not to become permanent dwellers there, thus reserving the
right to depart if they chose. The king assigned them a home, as
offered, in “the best of the land,” the country of Goshen.
Not long after their arrival, Joseph brought his father also to be
presented to the king. The patriarch was a stranger in royal courts; but
amid the sublime scenes of nature he had communed with a mightier
Monarch; and now, in conscious superiority, he raised his hands and
blessed Pharaoh.
In his first greeting to Joseph, Jacob had spoken as if, with this
joyful ending to his long anxiety and sorrow, he was ready to die. But
seventeen years were yet to be granted him in the peaceful retirement of
Goshen. These years were in happy contrast to those that had preceded
them. He saw in his sons evidence of true repentance; he saw his family
surrounded by all the conditions needful for the development of a great
nation; and his faith grasped the sure promise of their future
establishment in Canaan. He himself was surrounded with every token of
love and favor that the prime minister of Egypt could bestow; and happy
in the society of his long-lost son, he passed down gently and
peacefully to the grave.
As he felt death approaching, he sent for Joseph. Still holding fast the
promise of God respecting the possession of Canaan, he said, “Bury me
not, I pray thee, in Egypt. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou
shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.” Joseph
promised to do so, but Jacob was not satisfied; he exacted a solemn oath
to lay him beside his fathers in the cave of Machpelah.
Another important matter demanded attention; the sons of Joseph were to
be formally instated among the children of Israel. Joseph, coming for a
last interview with his father, brought with him Ephraim and Manasseh.
These youths were connected, through their mother, with the highest
order of the Egyptian priesthood; and the position of their father
opened to them the avenues to wealth and distinction, should they choose
to connect themselves with the Egyptians. It was Joseph’s desire,
however, that they should unite with their own people. He manifested his
faith in the covenant-promise, in behalf of his sons renouncing all the
honors that the court of Egypt offered, for a place among the despised
shepherd tribes, to whom had been intrusted the oracles of God.
Said Jacob, “Thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto
thee in the land of Egypt, before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine;
as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.” They were to be adopted as
his own, and to become the heads of separate tribes. Thus one of the
birthright privileges, which Reuben had forfeited, was to fall to
Joseph,—a double portion in Israel.
Jacob’s eyes were dim with age, and he had not been aware of the
presence of the young men; but now, catching the outline of their forms,
he said, “Who are these?” On being told, he added, “Bring them, I pray
thee, unto me, and I will bless them.” As they came nearer, the
patriarch embraced and kissed them, solemnly laying his hands upon their
heads in benediction. Then he uttered the prayer, “God, before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life
long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the
lads.” There was no spirit of self-dependence, no reliance upon human
power or cunning now. God had been his preserver and support. There was
no complaint of the evil days in the past. Its trials and sorrows were
no longer regarded as “things that were against him.” Memory recalled
only His mercy and loving-kindness who had been with him throughout his
pilgrimage.
The blessing ended, Jacob gave his son the assurance,—leaving for the
generations to come, through long years of bondage and sorrow, this
testimony to his faith,—“Behold, I die; but God shall be with you, and
bring you again unto the land of your fathers.”
At the last, all the sons of Jacob were gathered about his dying bed.
And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, “Gather yourselves together,
and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father,” “that
I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” Often and
anxiously he had thought of their future, and had endeavored to picture
to himself the history of the different tribes. Now as his children
waited to receive his last blessing, the Spirit of inspiration rested
upon him; and before him in prophetic vision the future of his
descendants was unfolded. One after another, the names of his sons were
mentioned, the character of each was described, and the future history
of the tribe was briefly foretold.
“Reuben, thou art my first-born,
My might, and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.”
Thus the father pictured what should have been the position of Reuben as
the first-born son; but his grievous sin at Edar had made him unworthy
of the birthright blessing. Jacob continued,—
“Unstable as water,
Thou shalt not excel.”
The priesthood was apportioned to Levi, the kingdom and the Messianic
promise to Judah, and the double portion of the inheritance to Joseph.
The tribe of Reuben never rose to any eminence in Israel; it was not so
numerous as Judah, Joseph, or Dan, and was among the first that were
carried into captivity.
Next in age to Reuben were Simeon and Levi. They had been united in
their cruelty toward the Shechemites, and they had also been the most
guilty in the selling of Joseph. Concerning them it was declared,—
“I will divide them in Jacob,
And scatter them in Israel.”
At the numbering of Israel, just before their entrance to Canaan, Simeon
was the smallest tribe. Moses, in his last blessing, made no reference
to Simeon. In the settlement of Canaan, this tribe had only a small
portion of Judah’s lot, and such families as afterward became powerful
formed different colonies, and settled in territory outside the borders
of the Holy Land. Levi also received no inheritance except forty-eight
cities scattered in different parts of the land. In the case of this
tribe, however, their fidelity to Jehovah when the other tribes
apostatized, secured their appointment to the sacred service of the
sanctuary, and thus the curse was changed into a blessing.
The crowning blessings of the birthright were transferred to Judah. The
significance of the name—which denotes praise—is unfolded in the
prophetic history of this tribe:—
“Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise;
Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies;
Thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Judah is a lion’s whelp:
From the prey, my son, thou art gone up:
He stooped down, he couched as a lion,
And as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh come;
And unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
The lion, king of the forest, is a fitting symbol of this tribe, from
which came David, and the Son of David, Shiloh, the true “Lion of the
tribe of Judah,” to whom all powers shall finally bow, and all nations
render homage.
For most of his children, Jacob foretold a prosperous future. At last
the name of Joseph was reached, and the father’s heart overflowed as he
invoked blessings upon “the head of him that was separate from his
brethren:”—
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
Even a fruitful bough by a well;
Whose branches run over the wall.
The archers have sorely grieved him,
And shot at him, and hated him;
But his bow abode in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob
(From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel);
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee;
And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lieth under,
Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb;
The blessings of thy father have prevailed
Above the blessings of my progenitors
Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills:
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his
brethren.”
Jacob had ever been a man of deep and ardent affection; his love for his
sons was strong and tender, and his dying testimony to them was not the
utterance of partiality or resentment. He had forgiven them all, and he
loved them to the last. His paternal tenderness would have found
expression only in words of encouragement and hope; but the power of God
rested upon him, and under the influence of inspiration he was
constrained to declare the truth, however painful.
The last blessings pronounced, Jacob repeated the charge concerning his
burial-place: “I am to be gathered unto my people. Bury me with my
fathers ... in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah.” “There they
buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah
his wife; and there I buried Leah.” Thus the last act of his life was to
manifest his faith in God’s promise.
Jacob’s last years brought an evening of tranquillity and repose after a
troubled and weary day. Clouds had gathered dark above his path, yet his
sun set clear, and the radiance of heaven illumined his parting hours.
Says the Scripture, “At evening time it shall be light.”[332] “Mark the
perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is
peace.”[333]
Jacob had sinned, and had deeply suffered. Many years of toil, care, and
sorrow had been his since the day when his great sin caused him to flee
from his father’s tents. A homeless fugitive, separated from his mother,
whom he never saw again; laboring seven years for her whom he loved,
only to be basely cheated; toiling twenty years in the service of a
covetous and grasping kinsman; seeing his wealth increasing, and sons
rising around him, but finding little joy in the contentious and divided
household; distressed by his daughter’s shame, by her brothers’ revenge,
by the death of Rachel, by the unnatural crime of Reuben, by Judah’s
sin, by the cruel deception and malice practiced toward Joseph,—how long
and dark is the catalogue of evils spread out to view! Again and again
he had reaped the fruit of that first wrong deed. Over and over he saw
repeated among his sons the sins of which he himself had been guilty.
But bitter as had been the discipline, it had accomplished its work. The
chastening, though grievous, had yielded “the peaceable fruit of
righteousness.”[334]
Inspiration faithfully records the faults of good men, those who were
distinguished by the favor of God; indeed, their faults are more fully
presented than their virtues. This has been a subject of wonder to many,
and has given the infidel occasion to scoff at the Bible. But it is one
of the strongest evidences of the truth of Scripture, that facts are not
glossed over, nor the sins of its chief characters suppressed. The minds
of men are so subject to prejudice that it is not possible for human
histories to be absolutely impartial. Had the Bible been written by
uninspired persons, it would no doubt have presented the character of
its honored men in a more flattering light. But as it is, we have a
correct record of their experiences.
Men whom God favored, and to whom he intrusted great responsibilities,
were sometimes overcome by temptation and committed sin, even as we at
the present day strive, waver, and frequently fall into error. Their
lives, with all their faults and follies, are open before us, both for
our encouragement and warning. If they had been represented as without
fault, we, with our sinful nature, might despair at our own mistakes and
failures. But seeing where others struggled through discouragements like
our own, where they fell under temptation as we have done, and yet took
heart again and conquered through the grace of God, we are encouraged in
our striving after righteousness. As they, though sometimes beaten back,
recovered their ground, and were blessed of God, so we too may be
overcomers in the strength of Jesus. On the other hand, the record of
their lives may serve as a warning to us. It shows that God will by no
means clear the guilty. He sees sin in his most favored ones, and he
deals with it in them even more strictly than in those who have less
light and responsibility.
After the burial of Jacob, fear again filled the hearts of Joseph’s
brothers. Notwithstanding his kindness toward them, conscious guilt made
them distrustful and suspicious. It might be that he had but delayed his
revenge, out of regard to their father, and that he would now visit upon
them the long-deferred punishment for their crime. They dared not appear
before him in person, but sent a message: “Thy father did command before
he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now,
the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee
evil. And now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the
God of thy father.” This message affected Joseph to tears, and,
encouraged by this, his brothers came and fell down before him, with the
words, “Behold, we be thy servants.” Joseph’s love for his brothers was
deep and unselfish, and he was pained at the thought that they could
regard him as cherishing a spirit of revenge toward them. “Fear not,” he
said; “for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil
against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this
day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will
nourish you, and your little ones.”
The life of Joseph illustrates the life of Christ. It was envy that
moved the brothers of Joseph to sell him as a slave; they hoped to
prevent him from becoming greater than themselves. And when he was
carried to Egypt, they flattered themselves that they were to be no more
troubled with his dreams; that they had removed all possibility of their
fulfillment. But their own course was overruled by God to bring about
the very event that they designed to hinder. So the Jewish priests and
elders were jealous of Christ, fearing that he would attract the
attention of the people from them. They put him to death, to prevent him
from becoming king, but they were thus bringing about this very result.
Joseph, through his bondage in Egypt, became a saviour to his father’s
family; yet this fact did not lessen the guilt of his brothers. So the
crucifixion of Christ by his enemies made him the redeemer of mankind,
the saviour of the fallen race, and ruler over the whole world; but the
crime of his murderers was just as heinous as though God’s providential
hand had not controlled events for his own glory and the good of man.
As Joseph was sold to the heathen by his own brothers, so Christ was
sold to his bitterest enemies by one of his disciples. Joseph was
falsely accused and thrust into prison because of his virtue; so Christ
was despised and rejected because his righteous, self-denying life was a
rebuke to sin; and though guilty of no wrong, he was condemned upon the
testimony of false witnesses. And Joseph’s patience and meekness under
injustice and oppression, his ready forgiveness and noble benevolence
toward his unnatural brothers, represent the Saviour’s uncomplaining
endurance of the malice and abuse of wicked men, and his forgiveness,
not only of his murderers, but of all who have come to him confessing
their sins and seeking pardon.
Joseph outlived his father fifty-four years. He lived to see “Ephraim’s
children of the third generation; the children also of Machir the son of
Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.” He witnessed the increase
and prosperity of his people, and through all the years his faith in
God’s restoration of Israel to the land of promise was unshaken.
When he saw that his end was near, he summoned his kinsmen about him.
Honored as he had been in the land of the Pharaohs, Egypt was to him but
the place of his exile; his last act was to signify that his lot was
cast with Israel. His last words were, “God will surely visit you, and
bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob.” And he took a solemn oath of the children of
Israel that they would carry up his bones with them to the land of
Canaan. “So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old; and they
embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” And through the
centuries of toil which followed, that coffin, a reminder of the dying
words of Joseph, testified to Israel that they were only sojourners in
Egypt, and bade them keep their hopes fixed upon the land of promise,
for the time of deliverance would surely come.
Footnote 330:
Gen. 41:54-56; chapters 42-50.
Footnote 331:
Gen. 46:34.
Footnote 332:
Zech. 14:7.
Footnote 333:
Ps. 37:37.
Footnote 334:
Heb. 12:11.
THE CHOSEN NATION
“The Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his
inheritance.”
“He remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. And he
brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness; ...
that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws.”
MOSES—22
The people of Egypt, in order to supply themselves with food during the
famine, had sold to the crown their cattle and lands, and had finally
bound themselves to perpetual serfdom. Joseph wisely provided for their
release; he permitted them to become royal tenants, holding their lands
of the king, and paying an annual tribute of one-fifth of the products
of their labor.
But the children of Jacob were not under the necessity of making such
conditions. On account of the service that Joseph had rendered the
Egyptian nation, they were not only granted a part of the country as a
home, but were exempted from taxation, and liberally supplied with food
during the continuance of the famine. The king publicly acknowledged
that it was through the merciful interposition of the God of Joseph that
Egypt enjoyed plenty while other nations were perishing from famine. He
saw, too, that Joseph’s management had greatly enriched the kingdom, and
his gratitude surrounded the family of Jacob with royal favor.
But as time rolled on, the great man to whom Egypt owed so much, and the
generation blessed by his labors, passed to the grave. And “there arose
up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.”[350] Not that he was
ignorant of Joseph’s services to the nation, but he wished to make no
recognition of them, and, so far as possible, to bury them in oblivion.
“And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of
Israel are more and mightier than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with
them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth
out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and
so get them up out of the land.”
The Israelites had already become very numerous; “they were fruitful,
and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty;
and the land was filled with them.” Under Joseph’s fostering care, and
the favor of the king who was then ruling, they had spread rapidly over
the land. But they had kept themselves a distinct race, having nothing
in common with the Egyptians in customs or religion; and their
increasing numbers now excited the fears of the king and his people,
lest in case of war they should join themselves with the enemies of
Egypt. Yet policy forbade their banishment from the country. Many of
them were able and understanding workmen, and they added greatly to the
wealth of the nation; the king needed such laborers for the erection of
his magnificent palaces and temples. Accordingly he ranked them with the
Egyptians who had sold themselves with their possessions to the kingdom.
Soon taskmasters were set over them, and their slavery became complete.
“And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor, and
they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick,
and in all manner of service in the field; all their service, wherein
they made them serve, was with rigor.” “But the more they afflicted
them, the more they multiplied and grew.”
The king and his counselors had hoped to subdue the Israelites with hard
labor, and thus decrease their numbers and crush out their independent
spirit. Failing to accomplish their purpose, they proceeded to more
cruel measures. Orders were issued to the women whose employment gave
them opportunity for executing the command, to destroy the Hebrew male
children at their birth. Satan was the mover in this matter. He knew
that a deliverer was to be raised up among the Israelites; and by
leading the king to destroy their children he hoped to defeat the divine
purpose. But the women feared God, and dared not execute the cruel
mandate. The Lord approved their course, and prospered them. The king,
angry at the failure of his design, made the command more urgent and
extensive. The whole nation was called upon to hunt out and slaughter
his helpless victims. “And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every
son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye
shall save alive.”
While this decree was in full force, a son was born to Amram and
Jochebed, devout Israelites of the tribe of Levi. The babe was “a goodly
child;” and the parents, believing that the time of Israel’s release was
drawing near, and that God would raise up a deliverer for his people,
determined that their little one should not be sacrificed. Faith in God
strengthened their hearts, “and they were not afraid of the king’s
commandment.”[351]
The mother succeeded in concealing the child for three months. Then,
finding that she could no longer keep him safely, she prepared a little
ark of rushes, making it water-tight by means of slime and pitch; and
laying the babe therein, she placed it among the flags at the river’s
brink. She dared not remain to guard it, lest the child’s life and her
own should be forfeited; but his sister, Miriam, lingered near,
apparently indifferent, but anxiously watching to see what would become
of her little brother. And there were other watchers. The mother’s
earnest prayers had committed her child to the care of God; and angels,
unseen, hovered above his lowly resting-place. Angels directed Pharaoh’s
daughter thither. Her curiosity was excited by the little basket, and as
she looked upon the beautiful child within, she read the story at a
glance. The tears of the babe awakened her compassion, and her
sympathies went out to the unknown mother who had resorted to this means
to preserve the life of her precious little one. She determined that he
should be saved; she would adopt him as her own.
Miriam had been secretly noting every movement; perceiving that the
child was tenderly regarded, she ventured nearer, and at last said,
“Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may
nurse the child for thee?” And permission was given.
The sister hastened to her mother with the happy news, and without delay
returned with her to the presence of Pharaoh’s daughter. “Take this
child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages,” said
the princess.
God had heard the mother’s prayers; her faith had been rewarded. It was
with deep gratitude that she entered upon her now safe and happy task.
She faithfully improved her opportunity to educate her child for God.
She felt confident that he had been preserved for some great work, and
she knew that he must soon be given up to his royal mother, to be
surrounded with influences that would tend to lead him away from God.
All this rendered her more diligent and careful in his instruction than
in that of her other children. She endeavored to imbue his mind with the
fear of God and the love of truth and justice, and earnestly prayed that
he might be preserved from every corrupting influence. She showed him
the folly and sin of idolatry, and early taught him to bow down and pray
to the living God, who alone could hear him and help him in every
emergency.
She kept the boy as long as she could, but was obliged to give him up
when he was about twelve years old. From his humble cabin home he was
taken to the royal palace, to the daughter of Pharaoh, “and he became
her son.” Yet even here he did not lose the impressions received in
childhood. The lessons learned at his mother’s side could not be
forgotten. They were a shield from the pride, the infidelity, and the
vice that flourished amid the splendor of the court.
How far-reaching in its results was the influence of that one Hebrew
woman, and she an exile and a slave! The whole future life of Moses, the
great mission which he fulfilled as the leader of Israel, testifies to
the importance of the work of the Christian mother. There is no other
work that can equal this. To a very great extent, the mother holds in
her own hands the destiny of her children. She is dealing with
developing minds and characters, working not alone for time, but for
eternity. She is sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit, either
for good or for evil. She has not to paint a form of beauty upon canvas
or to chisel it from marble, but to impress upon a human soul the image
of the divine. Especially during their early years the responsibility
rests upon her of forming the character of her children. The impressions
now made upon their developing minds will remain with them all through
life. Parents should direct the instruction and training of their
children while very young, to the end that they may be Christians. They
are placed in our care to be trained, not as heirs to the throne of an
earthly empire, but as kings unto God, to reign through unending ages.
Let every mother feel that her moments are priceless; her work will be
tested in the solemn day of accounts. Then it will be found that many of
the failures and crimes of men and women have resulted from the
ignorance and neglect of those whose duty it was to guide their childish
feet in the right way. Then it will be found that many who have blessed
the world with the light of genius and truth and holiness, owe the
principles that were the mainspring of their influence and success to a
praying, Christian mother.
At the court of Pharaoh, Moses received the highest civil and military
training. The monarch had determined to make his adopted grandson his
successor on the throne, and the youth was educated for his high
station. “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and
was mighty in words and in deeds.”[352] His ability as a military leader
made him a favorite with the armies of Egypt, and he was generally
regarded as a remarkable character. Satan had been defeated in his
purpose. The very decree condemning the Hebrew children to death had
been overruled by God for the training and education of the future
leader of his people.
The elders of Israel were taught by angels that the time for their
deliverance was near, and that Moses was the man whom God would employ
to accomplish this work. Angels instructed Moses also that Jehovah had
chosen him to break the bondage of his people. He, supposing that they
were to obtain their freedom by force of arms, expected to lead the
Hebrew host against the armies of Egypt, and having this in view, he
guarded his affections, lest in his attachment to his foster mother or
to Pharaoh he would not be free to do the will of God.
By the laws of Egypt, all who occupied the throne of the Pharaohs must
become members of the priestly caste; and Moses, as the heir apparent,
was to be initiated into the mysteries of the national religion. This
duty was committed to the priests. But while he was an ardent and
untiring student, he could not be induced to participate in the worship
of the gods. He was threatened with the loss of the crown, and warned
that he would be disowned by the princess should he persist in his
adherence to the Hebrew faith. But he was unshaken in his determination
to render homage to none save the one God, the Maker of heaven and
earth. He reasoned with priests and worshipers, showing the folly of
their superstitious veneration of senseless objects. None could refute
his arguments or change his purpose, yet for the time his firmness was
tolerated, on account of his high position, and the favor with which he
was regarded by both the king and the people.
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.”[353] Moses
was fitted to take pre-eminence among the great of the earth, to shine
in the courts of its most glorious kingdom, and to sway the scepter of
its power. His intellectual greatness distinguishes him above the great
men of all ages. As historian, poet, philosopher, general of armies, and
legislator, he stands without a peer. Yet with the world before him, he
had the moral strength to refuse the flattering prospects of wealth and
greatness and fame, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.”
Moses had been instructed in regard to the final reward to be given to
the humble and obedient servants of God, and worldly gain sank to its
proper insignificance in comparison. The magnificent palace of Pharaoh
and the monarch’s throne were held out as an inducement to Moses; but he
knew that the sinful pleasures that make men forget God were in its
lordly courts. He looked beyond the gorgeous palace, beyond a monarch’s
crown, to the high honors that will be bestowed on the saints of the
Most High in a kingdom untainted by sin. He saw by faith an imperishable
crown that the King of heaven would place on the brow of the overcomer.
This faith led him to turn away from the lordly ones of earth, and join
the humble, poor, despised nation that had chosen to obey God rather
than to serve sin.
Moses remained at court until he was forty years of age. His thoughts
often turned upon the abject condition of his people, and he visited his
brethren in their servitude, and encouraged them with the assurance that
God would work for their deliverance. Often, stung to resentment by the
sight of injustice and oppression he burned to avenge their wrongs. One
day while thus abroad seeing an Egyptian smiting an Israelite, he sprung
forward, and slew the Egyptian. Except the Israelite, there had been no
witness to the deed, and Moses immediately buried the body in the sand.
He had now shown himself ready to maintain the cause of his people, and
he hoped to see them rise to recover their liberty. “He supposed his
brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver
them; but they understood not.”[354] They were not yet prepared for
freedom. On the following day, Moses saw two Hebrews striving together,
one of them evidently at fault. Moses reproved the offender, who at once
retaliated upon the reprover, denying his right to interfere, and basely
accusing him of crime: “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” he
said. “Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?”[355]
The whole matter was quickly made known to the Egyptians, and, greatly
exaggerated, soon reached the ears of Pharaoh. It was represented to the
king that this act meant much; that Moses designed to lead his people
against the Egyptians, to overthrow the government, and to seat himself
upon the throne; and that there could be no security for the kingdom
while he lived. It was at once determined by the monarch that he should
die; but becoming aware of his danger, he made his escape, and fled
toward Arabia.
The Lord directed his course, and he found a home with Jethro, the
priest and prince of Midian, who was also a worshiper of God. After a
time, Moses married one of the daughters of Jethro; and here, in the
service of his father-in-law, as keeper of his flocks, he remained forty
years.
In slaying the Egyptian, Moses had fallen into the same error so often
committed by his fathers, of taking into their own hands the work that
God had promised to do. It was not God’s will to deliver his people by
warfare, as Moses thought, but by his own mighty power, that the glory
might be ascribed to him alone. Yet even this rash act was overruled by
God to accomplish his purposes. Moses was not prepared for his great
work. He had yet to learn the same lesson of faith that Abraham and
Jacob had been taught,—not to rely upon human strength or wisdom, but
upon the power of God for the fulfillment of his promises. And there
were other lessons that, amid the solitude of the mountains, Moses was
to receive. In the school of self-denial and hardship he was to learn
patience, to temper his passions. Before he could govern wisely, he must
be trained to obey. His own heart must be fully in harmony with God
before he could teach the knowledge of his will to Israel. By his own
experience he must be prepared to exercise a fatherly care over all who
needed his help.
Man would have dispensed with that long period of toil and obscurity,
deeming it a great loss of time. But Infinite Wisdom called him who was
to become the leader of his people, to spend forty years in the humble
work of a shepherd. The habits of care-taking, of self-forgetfulness and
tender solicitude for his flock, thus developed, would prepare him to
become the compassionate, long-suffering shepherd of Israel. No
advantage that human training or culture could bestow, could be a
substitute for this experience.
Moses had been learning much that he must unlearn. The influences that
had surrounded him in Egypt,—the love of his foster mother, his own high
position as the king’s grandson, the dissipation on every hand, the
refinement, the subtlety, and the mysticism of a false religion, the
splendor of idolatrous worship, the solemn grandeur of architecture and
sculpture,—all had left deep impressions upon his developing mind, and
had moulded, to some extent, his habits and character. Time, change of
surroundings, and communion with God, could remove these impressions. It
would require on the part of Moses himself a struggle as for life to
renounce error and accept truth; but God would be his helper when the
conflict should be too severe for human strength.
In all who have been chosen to accomplish a work for God the human
element is seen. Yet they have not been men of stereotyped habits and
character, who were satisfied to remain in that condition. They
earnestly desired to obtain wisdom from God, and to learn to work for
him. Says the apostle, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him.”[356] But God will not impart to men divine light, while they
are content to remain in darkness. In order to receive God’s help, man
must realize his weakness and deficiency; he must apply his own mind to
the great change to be wrought in himself; he must be aroused to earnest
and persevering prayer and effort. Wrong habits and customs must be
shaken off; and it is only by determined endeavor to correct these
errors, and to conform to right principles, that the victory can be
gained. Many never attain to the position that they might occupy,
because they wait for God to do for them that which he has given them
power to do for themselves. All who are fitted for usefulness must be
trained by the severest mental and moral discipline; and God will assist
them by uniting divine power with human effort.
[Illustration: MOSES A SHEPHERD. “Shut in by the bulwarks of the
mountains, Moses was alone with God.”]
Shut in by the bulwarks of the mountains, Moses was alone with God. The
magnificent temples of Egypt no longer impressed his mind with their
superstition and falsehood. In the solemn grandeur of the everlasting
hills he beheld the majesty of the Most High, and in contrast realized
how powerless and insignificant were the gods of Egypt. Everywhere the
Creator’s name was written. Moses seemed to stand in his presence, and
to be overshadowed by his power. Here his pride and self-sufficiency
were swept away. In the stern simplicity of his wilderness life, the
results of the ease and luxury of Egypt disappeared. Moses became
patient, reverent, and humble, “very meek, above all the men which were
upon the face of the earth,”[357] yet strong in faith in the mighty God
of Jacob.
As the years rolled on, and he wandered with his flocks in solitary
places, pondering upon the oppressed condition of his people, he
recounted the dealings of God with his fathers, and the promises that
were the heritage of the chosen nation, and his prayers for Israel
ascended by day and by night. Heavenly angels shed their light around
him. Here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the book
of Genesis. The long years spent amid the desert solitudes were rich in
blessing, not alone to Moses and his people, but to the world in all
succeeding ages.
“And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died;
and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they
cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God
heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with
Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and
God had respect unto them.”[358] The time for Israel’s deliverance had
come. But God’s purpose was to be accomplished in a manner to pour
contempt on human pride. The deliverer was to go forth as a humble
shepherd, with only a rod in his hand; but God would make that rod the
symbol of his power. Leading his flocks one day near Horeb, “the
mountain of God,” Moses saw a bush in flames, branches, foliage, and
trunk, all burning, yet seeming not to be consumed. He drew near to view
the wonderful sight, when a voice from out of the flame called him by
name. With trembling lips he answered, “Here am I.” He was warned not to
approach irreverently: “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground.... I am the God of thy
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob.”[359] It was He who, as the Angel of the covenant, had revealed
himself to the fathers in ages past. “And Moses hid his face; for he was
afraid to look upon God.”
Humility and reverence should characterize the deportment of all who
come into the presence of God. In the name of Jesus we may come before
him with confidence, but we must not approach him with the boldness of
presumption, as though he were on a level with ourselves. There are
those who address the great and all-powerful and holy God, who dwelleth
in light unapproachable, as they would address an equal, or even an
inferior. There are those who conduct themselves in his house as they
would not presume to do in the audience-chamber of an earthly ruler.
These should remember that they are in His sight whom seraphim adore,
before whom angels vail their faces. God is greatly to be reverenced;
all who truly realize his presence will bow in humility before him, and,
like Jacob beholding the vision of God, they will cry out, “How dreadful
is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven.”
As Moses waited in reverent awe before God, the words continued: “I have
surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their
sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a
large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.... Come now, therefore,
and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my
people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Amazed and terrified at the command, Moses drew back, saying, “Who am I,
that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the
children of Israel out of Egypt?” The reply was, “Certainly I will be
with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee:
When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God
upon this mountain.”
Moses thought of the difficulties to be encountered, of the blindness,
ignorance, and unbelief of his people, many of whom were almost
destitute of a knowledge of God. “Behold,” he said, “when I come unto
the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers
hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? what
shall I say unto them?” The answer was,—
“I AM THAT I AM.” “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM
hath sent me unto you.”
Moses was commanded first to assemble the elders of Israel, the most
noble and righteous among them, who had long grieved because of their
bondage, and to declare to them a message from God, with a promise of
deliverance. Then he was to go with the elders before the king, and say
to him,—
“The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go, we
beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may
sacrifice to the Lord our God.”
Moses was forewarned that Pharaoh would resist the appeal to let Israel
go. Yet the courage of God’s servant must not fail; for the Lord would
make this the occasion to manifest his power before the Egyptians and
before his people. “And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with
all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he
will let you go.”
Direction was also given concerning the provision they were to make for
the journey. The Lord declared, “It shall come to pass that, when ye go,
ye shall not go empty; but every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and
of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of
gold, and raiment.” The Egyptians had been enriched by the labor
unjustly exacted from the Israelites, and as the latter were to start on
the journey to their new home, it was right for them to claim the reward
of their years of toil. They were to ask for articles of value, such as
could be easily transported, and God would give them favor in the sight
of the Egyptians. The mighty miracles wrought for their deliverance
would strike terror to the oppressors, so that the requests of the
bondmen would be granted.
Moses saw before him difficulties that seemed insurmountable. What proof
could he give his people that God had indeed sent him? “Behold,” he
said, “they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they
will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.” Evidence that appealed
to his own senses was now given. He was told to cast his rod upon the
ground. As he did so, “it became a serpent;[360] and Moses fled from
before it.” He was commanded to seize it, and in his hand it became a
rod. He was bidden to put his hand into his bosom. He obeyed, and “when
he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.” Being told to put
it again into his bosom, he found on withdrawing it, that it had become
like the other. By these signs the Lord assured Moses that his own
people, as well as Pharaoh, should be convinced that one mightier than
the king of Egypt was manifest among them.
But the servant of God was still overwhelmed by the thought of the
strange and wonderful work before him. In his distress and fear he now
pleaded as an excuse a lack of ready speech: “O my Lord, I am not
eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy
servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” He had been so
long away from the Egyptians that he had not so clear knowledge and
ready use of their language as when he was among them.
The Lord said unto him, “Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the
dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?” To
this was added another assurance of divine aid: “Now therefore go, and I
will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” But Moses
still entreated that a more competent person be selected. These excuses
at first proceeded from humility and diffidence; but after the Lord had
promised to remove all difficulties, and to give him final success, then
any further shrinking back and complaining of his unfitness showed
distrust of God. It implied a fear that God was unable to qualify him
for the great work to which he had called him, or that he had made a
mistake in the selection of the man.
Moses was now directed to Aaron, his elder brother, who, having been in
daily use of the language of the Egyptians, was able to speak it
perfectly. He was told that Aaron was coming to meet him. The next words
from the Lord were an unqualified command:—
“Thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth; and I will be
with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and he shall be, even he
shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of
God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do
signs.” He could make no further resistance; for all ground for excuse
was removed.
The divine command given to Moses found him self-distrustful, slow of
speech, and timid. He was overwhelmed with a sense of his incapacity to
be a mouth-piece for God to Israel. But having once accepted the work,
he entered upon it with his whole heart, putting all his trust in the
Lord. The greatness of his mission called into exercise the best powers
of his mind. God blessed his ready obedience, and he became eloquent,
hopeful, self-possessed, and well fitted for the greatest work ever
given to man. This is an example of what God does to strengthen the
character of those who trust him fully, and give themselves unreservedly
to his commands.
A man will gain power and efficiency as he accepts the responsibilities
that God places upon him, and with his whole soul seeks to qualify
himself to bear them aright. However humble his position or limited his
ability, that man will attain true greatness who, trusting to divine
strength, seeks to perform his work with fidelity. Had Moses relied upon
his own strength and wisdom, and eagerly accepted the great charge, he
would have evinced his entire unfitness for such a work. The fact that a
man feels his weakness, is at least some evidence that he realizes the
magnitude of the work appointed him, and that he will make God his
counselor and his strength.
Moses returned to his father-in-law, and expressed his desire to visit
his brethren in Egypt. Jethro’s consent was given, with his blessing,
“Go in peace.” With his wife and children, Moses set forth on the
journey. He had not dared to make known the object of his mission, lest
they should not be allowed to accompany him. Before reaching Egypt,
however, he himself thought it best, for their own safety, to send them
back to the home in Midian.
A secret dread of Pharaoh and the Egyptians whose anger had been kindled
against him forty years before, had rendered Moses still more reluctant
to return to Egypt; but after he had set out to obey the divine command,
the Lord revealed to him that his enemies were dead.
On the way from Midian, Moses received a startling and terrible warning
of the Lord’s displeasure. An angel appeared to him in a threatening
manner, as if he would immediately destroy him. No explanation was
given; but Moses remembered that he had disregarded one of God’s
requirements; yielding to the persuasion of his wife, he had neglected
to perform the rite of circumcision upon their youngest son. He had
failed to comply with the condition by which his child could be entitled
to the blessings of God’s covenant with Israel; and such a neglect on
the part of their chosen leader could not but lessen the force of the
divine precepts upon the people. Zipporah, fearing that her husband
would be slain, performed the rite herself, and the angel then permitted
Moses to pursue his journey. In his mission to Pharaoh, Moses was to be
placed in a position of great peril; his life could be preserved only
through the protection of holy angels. But while living in neglect of a
known duty, he would not be secure; for he could not be shielded by the
angels of God.
In the time of trouble just before the coming of Christ, the righteous
will be preserved through the ministration of heavenly angels; but there
will be no security for the transgressor of God’s law. Angels cannot
then protect those who are disregarding one of the divine precepts.
[Illustration: “He was warned not to approach irreverently.”]
Footnote 350:
Ex. 1; 2:1-10.
Footnote 351:
Heb. 11:23.
Footnote 352:
Acts 7:22.
Footnote 353:
Heb. 11:24-26.
Footnote 354:
Acts 7:25.
Footnote 355:
Ex. 2:14.
Footnote 356:
James 1:5.
Footnote 357:
Num. 12:3.
Footnote 358:
Ex. 2:23-25.
Footnote 359:
See Ex. 3; 4:1-26.
Footnote 360:
See Appendix, Note 3.
THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT—23
Aaron, being instructed by angels, went forth to meet his brother, from
whom he had been so long separated; and they met amid the desert
solitudes, near Horeb. Here they communed together, and Moses told Aaron
“all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he
had commanded him.”[370] Together they journeyed to Egypt; and having
reached the land of Goshen, they proceeded to assemble the elders of
Israel. Aaron repeated to them all the dealings of God with Moses, and
then the signs which God had given Moses were shown before the people.
“The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the
children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then
they bowed their heads and worshiped.”[370]
Moses had been charged also with a message for the king. The two
brothers entered the palace of the Pharaohs as ambassadors from the King
of kings, and they spoke in his name: “Thus saith Jehovah, God of
Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the
wilderness.”
“Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?”
demanded the monarch; “I know not Jehovah, neither will I let Israel
go.”
Their answer was, “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us; let us go,
we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto
the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the
sword.”
Tidings of them and of the interest they were exciting among the people
had already reached the king. His anger was kindled. “Wherefore do ye,
Moses and Aaron, let [hinder] the people from their works?” he said.
“Get you unto your burdens.” Already the kingdom had suffered loss by
the interference of these strangers. At thought of this he added,
“Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from
their burdens.”
In their bondage the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of
God’s law, and they had departed from its precepts. The Sabbath had been
generally disregarded, and the exactions of their taskmasters made its
observance apparently impossible. But Moses had shown his people that
obedience to God was the first condition of deliverance; and the efforts
made to restore the observance of the Sabbath had come to the notice of
their oppressors.[371]
The king, thoroughly roused, suspected the Israelites of a design to
revolt from his service. Disaffection was the result of idleness; he
would see that no time was left them for dangerous scheming. And he at
once adopted measures to tighten their bonds and crush out their
independent spirit. The same day, orders were issued that rendered their
labor still more cruel and oppressive. The most common building material
of that country was sun-dried brick; the walls of the finest edifices
were made of this, and then faced with stone; and the manufacture of
brick employed great numbers of the bondmen. Cut straw being intermixed
with the clay, to hold it together, large quantities of straw were
required for the work; the king now directed that no more straw be
furnished; the laborers must find it for themselves, while the same
amount of brick should be exacted.
This order produced great distress among the Israelites throughout the
land. The Egyptian taskmasters had appointed Hebrew officers to oversee
the work of the people, and these officers were responsible for the
labor performed by those under their charge. When the requirement of the
king was put in force, the people scattered themselves throughout the
land, to gather stubble instead of straw; but they found it impossible
to accomplish the usual amount of labor. For this failure the Hebrew
officers were cruelly beaten.
These officers supposed that their oppression came from their
taskmasters, and not from the king himself; and they went to him with
their grievances. Their remonstrance was met by Pharaoh with a taunt:
“Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice
to the Lord.” They were ordered back to their work, with the declaration
that their burdens were in no case to be lightened. Returning, they met
Moses and Aaron, and cried out to them, “The Lord look upon you, and
judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of
Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand
to slay us.”
As Moses listened to these reproaches, he was greatly distressed. The
sufferings of the people had been much increased. All over the land a
cry of despair went up from old and young, and all united in charging
upon him the disastrous change in their condition. In bitterness of soul
he went before God, with the cry, “Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil
entreated this people? Why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I
came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people;
neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” The answer was, “Now
shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand shall
he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his
land.” Again he was pointed back to the covenant which God had made with
the fathers, and was assured that it would be fulfilled.
During all the years of servitude in Egypt, there had been among the
Israelites some who adhered to the worship of Jehovah. These were sorely
troubled as they saw their children daily witnessing the abominations of
the heathen, and even bowing down to their false gods. In their distress
they cried unto the Lord for deliverance from the Egyptian yoke, that
they might be freed from the corrupting influence of idolatry. They did
not conceal their faith, but declared to the Egyptians that the object
of their worship was the Maker of heaven and earth, the only true and
living God. They rehearsed the evidences of his existence and power,
from creation down to the days of Jacob. The Egyptians thus had an
opportunity to become acquainted with the religion of the Hebrews; but
disdaining to be instructed by their slaves, they tried to seduce the
worshipers of God by promises of reward, and, this failing, by threats
and cruelty.
The elders of Israel endeavored to sustain the sinking faith of their
brethren by repeating the promises made to their fathers, and the
prophetic words of Joseph before his death, foretelling their
deliverance from Egypt. Some would listen and believe. Others, looking
at the circumstances that surrounded them, refused to hope. The
Egyptians, being informed of what was reported among their bondmen,
derided their expectations, and scornfully denied the power of their
God. They pointed to their situation as a nation of slaves, and
tauntingly said, “If your God is just and merciful, and possesses power
above that of the Egyptian gods, why does he not make you a free
people?” They called attention to their own condition. They worshiped
deities termed by the Israelites false gods, yet they were a rich and
powerful nation. They declared that their gods had blessed them with
prosperity, and had given them the Israelites as servants, and they
gloried in their power to oppress and destroy the worshipers of Jehovah.
Pharaoh himself boasted that the God of the Hebrews could not deliver
them from his hand.
Words like these destroyed the hopes of many of the Israelites. The case
appeared to them very much as the Egyptians had represented. It was true
that they were slaves, and must endure whatever their cruel taskmasters
might choose to inflict. Their children had been hunted and slain, and
their own lives were a burden. Yet they were worshiping the God of
heaven. If Jehovah were indeed above all gods, surely he would not thus
leave them in bondage to idolaters. But those who were true to God
understood that it was because of Israel’s departure from him,—because
of their disposition to marry with heathen nations, thus being led into
idolatry,—that the Lord had permitted them to become bondmen; and they
confidently assured their brethren that he would soon break the yoke of
the oppressor.
The Hebrews had expected to obtain their freedom without any special
trial of their faith, or any real suffering or hardship. But they were
not yet prepared for deliverance. They had little faith in God, and were
unwilling patiently to endure their afflictions until he should see fit
to work for them. Many were content to remain in bondage, rather than
meet the difficulties attending removal to a strange land; and the
habits of some had become so much like those of the Egyptians that they
preferred to dwell in Egypt. Therefore the Lord did not deliver them by
the first manifestation of his power before Pharaoh. He overruled events
more fully to develop the tyrannical spirit of the Egyptian king, and
also to reveal himself to his people. Beholding his justice, his power,
and his love, they would choose to leave Egypt and give themselves to
his service. The task of Moses would have been much less difficult, had
not many of the Israelites become so corrupted that they were unwilling
to leave Egypt.
The Lord directed Moses to go again to the people, and repeat the
promise of deliverance, with a fresh assurance of divine favor. He went
as he was commanded; but they would not listen. Says the Scripture,
“They hearkened not ... for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.”
Again the divine message came to Moses, “Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king
of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.” In
discouragement he replied, “Behold, the children of Israel have not
hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me?” He was told to take
Aaron with him, and go before Pharaoh, and again demand “that he send
the children of Israel out of his land.”
[Illustration: MOSES AND AARON BEFORE PHARAOH. “Wherefore do ye, Moses
and Aaron, let the people from their work? Get you unto your burdens.”]
He was informed that the monarch would not yield until God should visit
judgments upon Egypt, and bring out Israel by the signal manifestation
of his power. Before the infliction of each plague, Moses was to
describe its nature and effects, that the king might save himself from
it if he chose. Every punishment rejected would be followed by one more
severe, until his proud heart would be humbled, and he would acknowledge
the Maker of heaven and earth as the true and living God. The Lord would
give the Egyptians an opportunity to see how vain was the wisdom of
their mighty men, how feeble the power of their gods, when opposed to
the commands of Jehovah. He would punish the people of Egypt for their
idolatry, and silence their boasting of the blessings received from
their senseless deities. God would glorify his own name, that other
nations might hear of his power and tremble at his mighty acts, and that
his people might be led to turn from their idolatry and render him pure
worship.
Again Moses and Aaron entered the lordly halls of the king of Egypt.
There, surrounded by lofty columns and glittering adornments, by the
rich paintings and sculptured images of heathen gods, before the monarch
of the most powerful kingdom then in existence, stood the two
representatives of the enslaved race, to repeat the command from God for
Israel’s release. The king demanded a miracle, in evidence of their
divine commission. Moses and Aaron had been directed how to act in case
such a demand should be made, and Aaron now took the rod, and cast it
down before Pharaoh. It became a serpent. The monarch sent for his “wise
men and the sorcerers,” who “cast down every man his rod, and they
became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” Then the
king, more determined than before, declared his magicians equal in power
with Moses and Aaron; he denounced the servants of the Lord as
impostors, and felt himself secure in resisting their demands. Yet while
he despised their message, he was restrained by divine power from doing
them harm.
It was the hand of God, and no human influence or power possessed by
Moses and Aaron, that wrought the miracles which they showed before
Pharaoh. Those signs and wonders were designed to convince Pharaoh that
the great “I AM” had sent Moses, and that it was the duty of the king to
let Israel go, that they might serve the living God. The magicians also
showed signs and wonders; for they wrought not by their own skill alone,
but by the power of their god, Satan, who assisted them in
counterfeiting the work of Jehovah.
The magicians did not really cause their rods to become serpents; but by
magic, aided by the great deceiver, they were able to produce this
appearance. It was beyond the power of Satan to change the rods to
living serpents. The prince of evil, though possessing all the wisdom
and might of an angel fallen, has not power to create, or to give life;
this is the prerogative of God alone. But all that was in Satan’s power
to do, he did; he produced a counterfeit. To human sight the rods were
changed to serpents. Such they were believed to be by Pharaoh and his
court. There was nothing in their appearance to distinguish them from
the serpent produced by Moses. Though the Lord caused the real serpent
to swallow up the spurious ones, yet even this was regarded by Pharaoh,
not as a work of God’s power, but as the result of a kind of magic
superior to that of his servants.
Pharaoh desired to justify his stubbornness in resisting the divine
command, and hence he was seeking some pretext for disregarding the
miracles that God had wrought through Moses. Satan gave him just what he
wanted. By the work that he wrought through the magicians, he made it
appear to the Egyptians that Moses and Aaron were only magicians and
sorcerers, and that the message they brought could not claim respect as
coming from a superior being. Thus Satan’s counterfeit accomplished its
purpose, of emboldening the Egyptians in their rebellion, and causing
Pharaoh to harden his heart against conviction. Satan hoped also to
shake the faith of Moses and Aaron in the divine origin of their
mission, that his instruments might prevail. He was unwilling that the
children of Israel should be released from bondage, to serve the living
God.
But the prince of evil had a still deeper object in manifesting his
wonders through the magicians. He well knew that Moses, in breaking the
yoke of bondage from off the children of Israel, prefigured Christ, who
was to break the reign of sin over the human family. He knew that when
Christ should appear, mighty miracles would be wrought as an evidence to
the world that God had sent him. Satan trembled for his power. By
counterfeiting the work of God through Moses, he hoped not only to
prevent the deliverance of Israel, but to exert an influence through
future ages to destroy faith in the miracles of Christ. Satan is
constantly seeking to counterfeit the work of Christ, and to establish
his own power and claims. He leads men to account for the miracles of
Christ by making them appear to be the result of human skill and power.
In many minds he thus destroys faith in Christ as the Son of God, and
leads them to reject the gracious offers of mercy through the plan of
redemption.
Moses and Aaron were directed to visit the river-side next morning,
where the king was accustomed to repair. The overflowing of the Nile
being the source of food and wealth for all Egypt, the river was
worshiped as a god, and the monarch came thither daily to pay his
devotions. Here the two brothers again repeated the message to him, and
then they stretched out the rod and smote upon the water. The sacred
stream ran blood, the fish died, and the river became offensive to the
smell. The water in the houses, the supply preserved in cisterns, was
likewise changed to blood. But “the magicians of Egypt did so with their
enchantments,” and “Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did
he set his heart to this also.” For seven days the plague continued, but
without effect.
Again the rod was stretched out over the waters, and frogs came up from
the river, and spread over the land. They overran the houses, took
possession of the bed-chambers, and even the ovens and kneading-troughs.
The frog was regarded as sacred by the Egyptians, and they would not
destroy it; but the slimy pests had now become intolerable. They swarmed
even in the palace of the Pharaohs, and the king was impatient to have
them removed. The magicians had appeared to produce frogs, but they
could not remove them. Upon seeing this, Pharaoh was somewhat humbled.
He sent for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord, that he may
take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the
people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.” After reminding
the king of his former boasting, they requested him to appoint a time
when they should pray for the removal of the plague. He set the next
day, secretly hoping that in the interval the frogs might disappear of
themselves, and thus save him from the bitter humiliation of submitting
to the God of Israel. The plague, however, continued till the time
specified, when throughout all Egypt the frogs died, but their putrid
bodies, which remained, polluted the atmosphere.
The Lord could have caused them to return to dust in a moment; but he
did not do this, lest after their removal, the king and his people
should pronounce it the result of sorcery or enchantment, like the work
of the magicians. The frogs died, and were then gathered together in
heaps. Here the king and all Egypt had evidence which their vain
philosophy could not gainsay, that this work was not accomplished by
magic, but was a judgment from the God of heaven.
“When Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart.” At the
command of God, Aaron stretched out his hand, and the dust of the earth
became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh called upon the
magicians to do the same, but they could not. The work of God was thus
shown to be superior to that of Satan. The magicians themselves
acknowledged, “This is the finger of God.” But the king was still
unmoved.
Appeal and warning were ineffectual, and another judgment was inflicted.
The time of its occurrence was foretold, that it might not be said to
have come by chance. Flies filled the houses and swarmed upon the
ground, so that “the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of
flies.” These flies were large and venomous; and their bite was
extremely painful to man and beast. As had been foretold, this
visitation did not extend to the land of Goshen.
Pharaoh now offered the Israelites permission to sacrifice in Egypt; but
they refused to accept such conditions. “It is not meet,” said Moses;
“lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their
eyes, and will they not stone us?” The animals which the Hebrews would
be required to sacrifice were among those regarded as sacred by the
Egyptians; and such was the reverence in which these creatures were
held, that to slay one, even accidentally, was a crime punishable with
death. It would be impossible for the Hebrews to worship in Egypt
without giving offense to their masters. Moses again proposed to go
three days’ journey into the wilderness. The monarch consented, and
begged the servants of God to entreat that the plague might be removed.
They promised to do this, but warned him against dealing deceitfully
with them. The plague was stayed, but the king’s heart had become
hardened by persistent rebellion, and he still refused to yield.
A more terrible stroke followed,—murrain upon all the Egyptian cattle
that were in the field. Both the sacred animals and the beasts of
burden—kine and oxen and sheep, horses and camels and asses—were
destroyed. It had been distinctly stated that the Hebrews were to be
exempt; and Pharaoh, on sending messengers to the home of the
Israelites, proved the truth of this declaration of Moses. “Of the
cattle of the children of Israel died not one.” Still the king was
obstinate.
Moses was next directed to take ashes of the furnace, and “sprinkle it
toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.” This act was deeply
significant. Four hundred years before, God had shown to Abraham the
future oppression of his people, under the figure of a smoking furnace
and a burning lamp. He had declared that he would visit judgments upon
their oppressors, and would bring forth the captives with great
substance. In Egypt, Israel had long languished in the furnace of
affliction. This act of Moses was an assurance to them that God was
mindful of his covenant, and that the time for their deliverance had
come.
As the ashes were sprinkled toward heaven, the fine particles spread
over all the land of Egypt, and wherever they settled, produced boils
“breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast.” The priests and
magicians had hitherto encouraged Pharaoh in his stubbornness, but now a
judgment had come that reached even them. Smitten with a loathsome and
painful disease, their vaunted power only making them contemptible, they
were no longer able to contend against the God of Israel. The whole
nation was made to see the folly of trusting in the magicians, when they
were not able to protect even their own persons.
Still the heart of Pharaoh grew harder. And now the Lord sent a message
to him, declaring, “I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine
heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know
that there is none like me in all the earth.... And in very deed for
this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power.” Not
that God had given him an existence for this purpose; but his providence
had overruled events to place him upon the throne at the very time
appointed for Israel’s deliverance. Though this haughty tyrant had by
his crimes forfeited the mercy of God, yet his life had been preserved
that through his stubbornness the Lord might manifest his wonders in the
land of Egypt. The disposing of events is of God’s providence. He could
have placed upon the throne a more merciful king, who would not have
dared to withstand the mighty manifestations of divine power. But in
that case the Lord’s purposes would not have been accomplished. His
people, were permitted to experience the grinding cruelty of the
Egyptians, that they might not be deceived concerning the debasing
influence of idolatry. In his dealing with Pharaoh, the Lord manifested
his hatred of idolatry, and his determination to punish cruelty and
oppression.
God had declared concerning Pharaoh, “I will harden his heart, that he
shall not let the people go.”[372] There was no exercise of supernatural
power to harden the heart of the king. God gave to Pharaoh the most
striking evidence of divine power; but the monarch stubbornly refused to
heed the light. Every display of infinite power, rejected by him,
rendered him the more determined in his rebellion. The seeds of
rebellion that he sowed when he rejected the first miracle, produced
their harvest. As he continued to venture on in his own course, going
from one degree of stubbornness to another, his heart became more and
more hardened, until he was called to look upon the cold, dead faces of
the first-born.
God speaks to men through his servants, giving cautions and warnings,
and rebuking sin. He gives to each an opportunity to correct his errors
before they become fixed in the character; but if one refuses to be
corrected, divine power does not interpose to counteract the tendency of
his own action. He finds it more easy to repeat the same course. He is
hardening the heart against the influence of the Holy Spirit. A further
rejection of light places him where a far stronger influence will be
ineffectual to make an abiding impression.
He who has once yielded to temptation will yield more readily the second
time. Every repetition of the sin lessens his power of resistance,
blinds his eyes, and stifles conviction. Every seed of indulgence sown
will bear fruit. God works no miracle to prevent the harvest.
“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”[373] He who
manifests an infidel hardihood, a stolid indifference to divine truth,
is but reaping the harvest of that which he has himself sown. It is thus
that multitudes come to listen with stoical indifference to the truths
that once stirred their very souls. They sowed neglect, and resistance
to the truth, and such is the harvest which they reap.
Those who are quieting a guilty conscience with the thought that they
can change a course of evil when they choose, that they can trifle with
the invitations of mercy, and yet be again and again impressed, take
this course at their peril. They think that after casting all their
influence on the side of the great rebel, in a moment of utmost
extremity, when danger compasses them about, they will change leaders.
But this is not so easily done. The experience, the education, the
discipline of a life of sinful indulgence, has so thoroughly moulded the
character that they cannot then receive the image of Jesus. Had no light
shown upon their pathway, the case would have been different. Mercy
might interpose, and give them an opportunity to accept her overtures;
but after light has been long rejected and despised, it will be finally
withdrawn.
A plague of hail was next threatened upon Pharaoh, with the warning,
“Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in
the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the
field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon
them, and they shall die.” Rain or hail was unusual in Egypt, and such a
storm as was foretold had never been witnessed. The report spread
rapidly, and all who believed the word of the Lord gathered in their
cattle, while those who despised the warning left them in the field.
Thus in the midst of judgment the mercy of God was displayed, the people
were tested, and it was shown how many had been led to fear God by the
manifestation of his power.
The storm came as predicted,—thunder and hail, and fire mingled with it,
“very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt
since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of
Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote
every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.” Ruin and
desolation marked the path of the destroying angel. The land of Goshen
alone was spared. It was demonstrated to the Egyptians that the earth is
under the control of the living God, that the elements obey his voice,
and that the only safety is in obedience to him.
All Egypt trembled before the awful outpouring of divine judgment.
Pharaoh hastily sent for the two brothers, and cried out, “I have sinned
this time; the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty
thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no
longer.” The answer was, “As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will
spread abroad my hands unto the Lord; and the thunder shall cease,
neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the
earth is the Lord’s. But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye
will not yet fear the Lord God.”
Moses knew that the contest was not ended. Pharaoh’s confessions and
promises were not the effect of any radical change in his mind or heart,
but were wrung from him by terror and anguish. Moses promised, however,
to grant his request; for he would give him no occasion for further
stubbornness. The prophet went forth, unheeding the fury of the tempest,
and Pharaoh and all his host were witnesses to the power of Jehovah to
preserve his messenger. Having passed without the city, Moses “spread
abroad his hands unto the Lord; and the thunders and hail ceased, and
the rain was not poured upon the earth.” But no sooner had the king
recovered from his fears, than his heart returned to its perversity.
Then the Lord said unto Moses, “Go in unto Pharaoh; for I have hardened
his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my
signs before him; and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and
of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs
which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am Jehovah.”
The Lord was manifesting his power, to confirm the faith of Israel in
him as the only true and living God. He would give unmistakable evidence
of the difference he placed between them and the Egyptians, and would
cause all nations to know that the Hebrews, whom they had despised and
oppressed, were under the protection of the God of heaven.
Moses warned the monarch that if he still remained obstinate, a plague
of locusts would be sent, which would cover the face of the earth, and
eat up every green thing that remained; they would fill the houses, even
the palace itself; such a scourge, he said, as “neither thy fathers, nor
thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the
earth unto this day.”
The counselors of Pharaoh stood aghast. The nation had sustained great
loss in the death of their cattle. Many of the people had been killed by
the hail. The forests were broken down, and the crops destroyed. They
were fast losing all that had been gained by the labor of the Hebrews.
The whole land was threatened with starvation. Princes and courtiers
pressed about the king, and angrily demanded, “How long shall this man
be a snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their
God. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?”
Moses and Aaron were again summoned, and the monarch said to them, “Go,
serve the Lord your God; but who are they that shall go?”
The answer was, “We will go with our young and with our old, with our
sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we
go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.”
The king was filled with rage. “Let the Lord be so with you,” he cried,
“as I will let you go, and your little ones. Look to it; for evil is
before you. Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that
ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.”
Pharaoh had endeavored to destroy the Israelites by hard labor, but he
now pretended to have a deep interest in their welfare and a tender care
for their little ones. His real object was to keep the women and
children as surety for the return of the men.
Moses now stretched forth his rod over the land, and an east wind blew,
and brought locusts. “Very grievous were they; before them there were no
such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.” They filled the
sky till the land was darkened, and devoured every green thing
remaining. Pharaoh sent for the prophets in haste, and said, “I have
sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore
forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your
God, that he may take away from me this death only.” They did so, and a
strong west wind carried away the locusts toward the Red Sea. Still the
king persisted in his stubborn resolution.
The people of Egypt were ready to despair. The scourges that had already
fallen upon them seemed almost beyond endurance, and they were filled
with fear for the future. The nation had worshiped Pharaoh as a
representative of their god; but many were now convinced that he was
opposing himself to One who made all the powers of nature the ministers
of his will. The Hebrew slaves, so miraculously favored, were becoming
confident of deliverance. Their taskmasters dared not oppress them as
heretofore. Throughout Egypt there was a secret fear that the enslaved
race would rise and avenge their wrongs. Everywhere men were asking with
bated breath, What will come next?
Suddenly a darkness settled upon the land, so thick and black that it
seemed a “darkness which might be felt.” Not only were the people
deprived of light, but the atmosphere was very oppressive, so that
breathing was difficult. “They saw not one another, neither rose any
from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light
in their dwellings.” The sun and moon were objects of worship to the
Egyptians; in this mysterious darkness the people and their gods alike
were smitten by the power that had undertaken the cause of the
bondmen.[374] Yet fearful as it was, this judgment is an evidence of
God’s compassion and his unwillingness to destroy. He would give the
people time for reflection and repentance before bringing upon them the
last and most terrible of the plagues.
Fear at last wrung from Pharaoh a further concession. At the end of the
third day of darkness he summoned Moses, and consented to the departure
of the people, provided the flocks and herds were permitted to remain.
“There shall not a hoof be left behind,” replied the resolute Hebrew.
“We know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither.”
The king’s anger burst forth beyond control. “Get thee from me,” he
cried, “take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou
seest my face thou shalt die.”
The answer was, “Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no
more.”
“The man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of
Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.” Moses was regarded
with awe by the Egyptians. The king dared not harm him, for the people
looked upon him as alone possessing power to remove the plagues. They
desired that the Israelites might be permitted to leave Egypt. It was
the king and the priests that opposed to the last the demands of Moses.
Footnote 370:
Ex. 4:27-31; chapters 5-10.
Footnote 371:
See Appendix, Note 4.
Footnote 372:
Ex. 4:21.
Footnote 373:
Gal. 6:7.
Footnote 374:
See Appendix, Note 5.
THE PASSOVER—24
When the demand for Israel’s release had been first presented to the
king of Egypt, the warning of the most terrible of the plagues had been
given. Moses was directed to say to Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord,
Israel is my son, even my first-born; and I say unto thee, Let my son
go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I
will slay thy son, even thy first-born.”[380] Though despised by the
Egyptians, the Israelites had been honored by God, in that they were
singled out to be the depositaries of his law. In the special blessings
and privileges accorded them, they had pre-eminence among the nations,
as the first-born son had among brothers.
The judgment of which Egypt had first been warned, was to be the last
visited. God is long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy. He has a tender
care for the beings formed in his image. If the loss of their harvests
and their flocks and herds had brought Egypt to repentance, the children
would not have been smitten; but the nation had stubbornly resisted the
divine command, and now the final blow was about to fall.
Moses had been forbidden, on pain of death, to appear again in Pharaoh’s
presence; but a last message from God was to be delivered to the
rebellious monarch, and again Moses came before him, with the terrible
announcement: “Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into
the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall
die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even
unto the first-born of the maidservant that is behind the mill, and all
the first-born of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all
the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it
any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move
his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord
doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these
thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me,
saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee; and after
that I will go out.”[381]
Before the execution of this sentence, the Lord through Moses gave
direction to the children of Israel concerning their departure from
Egypt, and especially for their preservation from the coming judgment.
Each family, alone or in connection with others, was to slay a lamb or a
kid “without blemish,” and with a bunch of hyssop sprinkle its blood on
“the two side-posts and on the upper door-post”[382] of the house, that
the destroying angel, coming at midnight, might not enter that dwelling.
They were to eat the flesh roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs, at night, as Moses said, “with your loins girded, your shoes on
your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it
is the Lord’s passover.”[382]
The Lord declared: “I will pass through the land of Egypt this night,
and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and
beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.... And
the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and
when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be
upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
In commemoration of this great deliverance, a feast was to be observed
yearly by the people of Israel in all future generations. “This day
shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the
Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an
ordinance forever.” As they should keep the feast in future years, they
were to repeat to their children the story of this great deliverance, as
Moses bade them: “Ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s
passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt,
when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.”
Furthermore, the first-born of both man and beast were to be the Lord’s,
to be brought back only by a ransom, in acknowledgment that when the
first-born of Egypt perished, that of Israel, though graciously
preserved, had been justly exposed to the same doom but for the atoning
sacrifice. “All the first-born are mine,” the Lord declared; “for on the
day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed
unto me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast: mine they
shall be.”[383] After the institution of the tabernacle service, the
Lord chose unto himself the tribe of Levi for the work of the sanctuary,
instead of the first-born of the people. “They are wholly given unto me
from among the children of Israel,” he said. “Instead of the first-born
of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.”[384] All the
people were, however, still required, in acknowledgment of God’s mercy,
to pay a redemption-price for the first-born son.[385]
The Passover was to be both commemorative and typical, not only pointing
back to the deliverance from Egypt, but forward to the greater
deliverance which Christ was to accomplish in freeing his people from
the bondage of sin. The sacrificial lamb represents “the Lamb of God,”
in whom is our only hope of salvation. Says the apostle, “Christ our
passover is sacrificed for us.”[386] It was not enough that the paschal
lamb be slain; its blood must be sprinkled upon the door-posts; so the
merits of Christ’s blood must be applied to the soul. We must believe,
not only that he died for the world, but that he died for us
individually. We must appropriate to ourselves the virtue of the atoning
sacrifice.
The hyssop used in sprinkling the blood was the symbol of purification,
being thus employed in the cleansing of the leper and of those defiled
by contact with the dead. In the psalmist’s prayer also its significance
is seen: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I
shall be whiter than snow.”[387]
The lamb was to be prepared whole, not a bone of it being broken; so not
a bone was to be broken of the Lamb of God, who was to die for us.[388]
Thus was also represented the completeness of Christ’s sacrifice.
The flesh was to be eaten. It is not enough even that we believe on
Christ for the forgiveness of sin; we must by faith be constantly
receiving spiritual strength and nourishment from him through his word.
Said Christ, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life.” And to explain his meaning he said, “The
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”[389]
Jesus accepted his Father’s law, wrought out its principles in his life,
manifested its spirit, and showed its beneficent power in the heart.
Says John, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of
grace and truth.”[390] The followers of Christ must be partakers of his
experience. They must receive and assimilate the word of God so that it
shall become the motive power of life and action. By the power of Christ
they must be changed into his likeness, and reflect the divine
attributes. They must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of
God, or there is no life in them. The spirit and work of Christ must
become the spirit and work of his disciples.
The lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs, as pointing back to the
bitterness of the bondage in Egypt. So when we feed upon Christ, it
should be with contrition of heart, because of our sins. The use of
unleavened bread also was significant. It was expressly enjoined in the
law of the Passover, and as strictly observed by the Jews in their
practice, that no leaven should be found in their houses during the
feast. In like manner the leaven of sin must be put away from all who
would receive life and nourishment from Christ. So Paul writes to the
Corinthian church, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a
new lump.... For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us;
therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.”[391]
Before obtaining freedom, the bondmen must show their faith in the great
deliverance about to be accomplished. The token of blood must be placed
upon their houses, and they must separate themselves and their families
from the Egyptians, and gather within their own dwellings. Had the
Israelites disregarded in any particular the directions given them, had
they neglected to separate their children from the Egyptians, had they
slain the lamb, but failed to strike the door-post with blood, or had
any gone out of their houses, they would not have been secure. They
might have honestly believed that they had done all that was necessary,
but their sincerity would not have saved them. All who failed to heed
the Lord’s directions, would lose their first-born by the hand of the
destroyer.
By obedience the people were to give evidence of their faith. So all who
hope to be saved by the merits of the blood of Christ should realize
that they themselves have something to do in securing their salvation.
While it is Christ only that can redeem us from the penalty of
transgression, we are to turn from sin to obedience. Man is to be saved
by faith, not by works; yet his faith must be shown by his works. God
has given his Son to die as a propitiation for sin, he has manifested
the light of truth, the way of life, he has given facilities,
ordinances, and privileges; and now man must co-operate with these
saving agencies; he must appreciate and use the helps that God has
provided,—believe and obey all the divine requirements.