if they were well. They were many miles away caring for the sheep.
When they saw Joseph coming, these wicked brothers said one to another,
"Behold, this dreamer cometh. Let us slay him, 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."
[Illustration: Sold to the Ishmaelites.]
But Reuben would not consent to have Joseph killed, so they took off
his beautiful coat, and cast him alive into a pit. Soon a company of
Ishmaelites came along on their way to Egypt. Then the brothers drew
him out of the pit and sold him to be a slave.
After Joseph was gone, the brothers began to think of their father,
and what they should tell him. Then to hide their sin they did another
wicked thing. They killed a young goat and put its blood all over
Joseph's coat, so it would look as though some wild beast had slain him.
Some of the brothers then took the coat to their father, and told him
they had found it. They said they had brought it to him to see if it
was Joseph's coat.
And Jacob said, "It is Joseph's coat; some evil beast hath devoured
him." And Jacob rent his clothes and mourned for his son many days. The
wicked brothers deceived their father then, but many years afterward
the truth came out, and they had to confess their sin.
[Illustration: "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath
shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art."]
Joseph was sold to a rich man in Egypt, by the name of Potiphar. The
Lord blessed Joseph, and Potiphar saw that whatever he did prospered.
So he made him steward of all that he had.
But God had a higher place for Joseph, and he must reach it through
affliction. In all his troubles it was the Lord who was giving Joseph
just the training he needed to fit him for the great work before him.
Through a wicked and false charge of Potiphar's wife, Joseph was cast
into prison. But by his honesty he gained the confidence of the keeper
of the prison, and was given charge of the prisoners.
One morning he met the chief butler and the chief baker of the king.
They had been cast into prison for some offense, and were looking very
sad. He kindly asked the cause, and each said that he had dreamed a
strange dream, and could not tell what it meant.
Joseph then said, "Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them,
I pray thee." Then they told their dreams, and the Lord told Joseph
their meaning. In three days the butler was to go back to his place
with the king, but the baker would be put to death.
Then Joseph told the story of his wrong treatment to the butler, and
asked him to tell the king, and try to get him out of prison. But the
butler was like many other people who soon forget those who were their
friends in trouble. When he got out of prison he forgot all about
Joseph and his request.
But God was working all the time in His own way. The king had two
dreams in one night, which seemed to mean the same thing. He wanted to
understand them, so he called in the wise men of his kingdom, but they
could not tell what the dreams meant.
Now get your Bible and read the forty-first and forty-second chapters
of the book of Genesis, and see what these dreams were, and how the
Lord got Joseph out of prison and made him ruler of Egypt.
When the dreadful famine came, he had corn saved up to keep the
Egyptians from starving. Thus the Lord often uses good people to
provide for the needs of those who are evil.
But God had another reason for delivering Joseph from prison. What do
you think it was?
[Illustration]
Joseph and His Brethren.
WHEN food began to be scarce with Jacob's family, he sent his ten sons
to Egypt to buy corn. Joseph knew his brethren when he saw them, but
they did not know him. He did not look like the boy whom they had sold.
As they bowed before him, the ruler of Egypt, he remembered his dreams
of many years before. He saw them fulfilled completely. As the sheaves
had bowed to his sheaf, so his brethren were now bowing to him.
His heart went out in love for them, but before he should tell them who
he was, he wanted to know if they were still wicked, or if their hearts
had been changed since he had been separated from them.
Joseph accused them of being spies. But they denied the charge, and
said that they were true men, and a family of twelve brethren. Ten were
in Egypt, the youngest was with their father, and one was dead. They
had never heard of Joseph since they had sold him, and supposed he was
dead.
But Joseph still accused them of being spies, and shut them all up in
prison for three days. These days in prison were days of sorrow. They
felt that they were being punished for their cruel treatment of Joseph.
Finally Joseph called them from prison. He told them that all but one
could return to their father. He would keep Simeon in prison until they
should come back to Egypt, but they must bring their youngest brother
when they came, or Joseph would not even see them.
Joseph chose Simeon to remain because he had been the chief actor in
their cruelty to him in the past. They returned to their home with
heavy hearts.
When the food brought from Egypt was nearly gone, Jacob said to his
sons, "Go again, buy us a little food." But they dared not go unless
Benjamin should go with them. To this the father at last consented,
and they again went to Egypt, taking with them presents for the great
governor.
As they started, the sorrowful father raised his hands to heaven and
prayed, "God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send
away your elder brother, and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children,
I am bereaved."
When they reached Egypt, their brother Simeon was released, and all
were brought to dine at the house of the governor. According to the
customs of Egypt, Joseph must eat at a table by himself, and the eleven
brothers at a table by themselves. They had been jealous of Joseph in
his home, and he wanted to know if they had become better men. So he
sent five times as much food to Benjamin. They showed no jealousy now.
But Joseph desired to test them once more. So when the sacks were
filled with corn he had his silver drinking cup put secretly into
Benjamin's sack.
The eleven brothers departed joyfully, and felt that they had escaped
all the perils which they feared. But they had hardly left the city
when they were overtaken by the governor's steward.
He said to them, "Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?" He then
accused them of stealing the cup. They all denied taking it, and felt
so sure that they said if it was found with one of them he should die,
and all the rest would become servants of the governor.
But the steward would not agree to this. He said, "He with whom it is
found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless." So all the sacks
were opened, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
What will the brothers do now? If still selfish, they will leave their
brother to his fate, and go back home. But no, they were changed men.
They would now face any peril to save their brother. They rent their
clothes to show their grief, and all went back with him to the city,
and met the governor.
Then Judah offered to become a slave in the place of Benjamin. This
test was enough. Joseph now _knew_ that his brothers were changed.
[Illustration: "I am Joseph, your brother."]
Did he make slaves of them because they had sold him into bondage when
he was a boy?
Find the forty-fifth chapter of Genesis and read what he did, and
how the king felt about it when he heard the news, and what became of
Joseph's brothers and their father's family.
[Illustration: Building the Pyramids]
[Illustration]
Moses.
AFTER the death of Joseph "there arose up a new king over Egypt, which
knew not Joseph." This king did not wish to remember the good that
Joseph had done.
The children of Israel had increased in numbers; "and the land was
filled with them." The Egyptians feared that if there was a war the
Israelites would join their enemies and fight against them.
So the king made them slaves, and set taskmasters over them to make
them work. "And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in
mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field."
They thought that by their cruelty and the hard work in the fields,
they would stop the Israelites from increasing in the land. "But the
more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew."
Then the cruel king commanded that all the boys should be killed at
their birth. But even this plan did not succeed. The Israelites still
increased in the land.
It was at this time that Moses was born. For three months he was
carefully hidden at home and cared for by his mother. But she dared not
keep him there any longer. So she made an ark of bulrushes, and laying
the babe in it, hid it among the flags by the river.
His sister Miriam anxiously watched the little ark while the mother
prayed earnestly that her child might not be destroyed. God heard the
mother's prayer, for the babe in the little ark was to be used by the
Lord to deliver Israel from bondage.
One day the daughter of the king came to the river to bathe. She saw
the ark, and sent one of her maids to bring it. When she opened it and
saw the beautiful child, she knew why it was there, and said, "This
is one of the Hebrews' children." And the child wept, and Pharaoh's
daughter pitied it.
Then Miriam came near and said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and
call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child
for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and
called the child's mother.
"And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse
it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."
How glad the mother was to again have the care of her own child. He was
now safe, for he was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. And better
still, he was in the home of his own parents.
The mother had the care of her boy until he was about twelve years
old. During these years she taught him carefully about the true God.
These lessons he never forgot. They kept him pure and free from the
wickedness and idolatry which surrounded him in after years.
From his humble home he was taken to the royal palace, and became the
son of Pharaoh's daughter. "And she called his name Moses," which
means, _drawn out_. For, she said, "I drew him out of the water." In
his royal home he was trained in all the learning of the Egyptians.
This training fitted him for the highest position in all Egypt. He
was the leader in Pharaoh's army, and became a great general. Pharaoh
determined that when he died, his daughter's adopted son should be
king. But all the plans of man were "overruled by God for the training
and education of the future leader of His people." Moses was not to
shine as king of Egypt.
One day, when Moses was forty years old, he saw an Egyptian smiting an
Israelite. He thought the time had come for him to help his people, so
he slew the Egyptian and buried him.
Here Moses made a mistake. He took into his own hands the work which
God had promised to do. He supposed his people were to be delivered by
warfare, and that he, a skillful general, was to be the leader of the
Hebrew armies.
But God had a different plan. By His own hand He would bring His
people out of bondage. In the delivering of Israel, He would teach the
Egyptians the knowledge of the true God by such wonders and plagues as
they could never forget.
[Illustration: Pharaoh's Daughter finds Moses in the Ark of Bulrushes.]
When King Pharaoh learned that Moses had killed the Egyptian, he
commanded that he should be slain. But Moses fled toward Arabia, and
the Lord led him to Jethro the prince of Midian, whose flocks he cared
for during the forty years in which God was preparing him to lead the
Israelites out of bondage.
[Illustration: Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh]
[Illustration]
The Plagues of Egypt.
ONE day as Moses was leading Jethro's flocks near Mount Horeb, he saw a
strange sight. A bush was on fire, but it did not burn up. So he went
to see what it should mean.
As he came near, a voice from the bush said to him, "Put off thy shoes
from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
Then Moses knew that it was the Lord who was talking to him from the
bush.
The Lord told Moses that the time had come for the Israelites to go
free from their bondage in Egypt. He told Moses to start for Egypt, and
that his brother Aaron would meet him on the way and go with him.
They were then to go to Pharaoh and tell him that the God of Israel had
sent them to him, and that he must let His people go. And he gave Moses
wonderful signs to show to Pharaoh, so that he would know that God had
sent them.
When Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and told him what the Lord had
said, he answered, "Who is the Lord that I should let Israel go?" The
Hebrew slaves were very valuable to the Egyptians, and they wanted to
keep them, and make them do their hard work.
Pharaoh asked them to show a miracle to prove that their God had sent
them. Then they performed one of the wonders that the Lord had given to
Moses. Aaron cast down his rod, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh
called in his sorcerers, who were wicked men claiming to have power to
do wonderful things. He showed them what Aaron had done with his rod,
and asked them if they could turn their rods into serpents.
Then the sorcerers cast down their rods, and they appeared to become
serpents also. But while they were looking at them, Aaron's serpent
swallowed the serpents of the sorcerers.
But the work of the sorcerers was only a deception of their master, the
devil. God only could really give life to the staff of Aaron. Neither
the devil nor his servants can give life to anything. But the sorcerers
had deceived the people and made their work look like God's work.
By thus deceiving Pharaoh they destroyed the effect of God's miracle,
and so the king's heart was hardened against letting Israel go. Satan
is ever counterfeiting, or imitating, the work of God. He often makes
his lies appear like God's truth. In this way he leads many away from
God.
Then God sent ten terrible plagues upon the land of Egypt. Each one
was more awful than the one before it. They were sent to teach the
Egyptians that the God of Israel was the only true God, and to punish
them for refusing to obey Him.
_The First Plague._--The River Nile, which they worshiped, was turned
to blood.
_Second Plague._--An army of frogs, which the Egyptians considered
sacred, came up from the river. They went into all the houses, and even
into the ovens and the troughs where they made their bread.
_Third Plague._--The very dust of Egypt became lice on both man and
beast.
_Fourth Plague._--Swarms of flies came up until "the land was
corrupted" because of them.
_Fifth Plague._--A "grievous murrain" came upon the cattle, so that a
great many of them died.
_Sixth Plague._--Moses sprinkled dust into the air, and it became boils
on man and beast.
_Seventh Plague._--An awful hail, mingled with fire, smote the land,
and killed all men and beasts that were not under shelter.
_Eighth Plague._--Clouds of locusts came up and ate every green thing.
_Ninth Plague._--"Darkness which might be felt" covered the land for
three days. It was so dark that the people did not dare to go out of
their houses.
Through nine plagues Pharaoh's heart had remained hard and rebellious
against God. Egypt was a ruined country because of this. Now the Lord
told Moses that He would send one more plague, more terrible than all
the others, and then they would be glad to let His people go.
But before it came, the Hebrews were to "borrow" from the Egyptians
"jewels of silver and jewels of gold." For many years they had toiled
without wages. What they received at this time was only a partial
payment for their long years of service. This silver and gold would be
needed when they should build the tabernacle in the wilderness.
_Tenth Plague._--At midnight the angel of the Lord was to pass through
Egypt and slay the first-born in every house, and the first-born of
beasts.
None of the other plagues had come near to the land of Goshen where the
children of Israel dwelt. But now they had a part to act or they would
suffer with the Egyptians when the destroying angel should pass through
the land.
In order to escape, the Israelites must separate from the Egyptians,
and come into their own houses. They were to kill a lamb, and, with a
bunch of hyssop, strike some of its blood upon the door-posts of their
houses. Wherever this was done the destroying angel would "pass over"
the house, and all within it were safe.
They were also to roast the lamb whole, and eat it at midnight, while
the destroying angel was doing his awful work among the Egyptians. They
were to eat it standing, their shoes on their feet, their staff in
hand, ready for flight.
This most solemn ceremony was called the "passover," because the
destroying angel passed over the houses of those who had faith in God's
commands and had put the blood upon the door-posts of their houses. The
children of Israel were commanded to keep the passover each year as a
memorial of their preservation in Egypt.
[Illustration: Death of the First-born.]
The passover was also a type of Christ, the Lamb of God. As the blood
of the passover lamb upon the door-posts saved those in the house from
death, so all will be saved now who confess their sins, believing that
the blood of Jesus was shed to save sinners just as surely as the blood
of the passover lamb saved those who trusted in it.
[Illustration]
Out of Bondage.
"AND it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the
first-born in the land of Egypt; ... and there was a great cry in
Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead."
And Pharaoh "called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up,
and get you forth from among my people." And he hurried them out of the
land of Egypt with their flocks and herds and all they possessed.
When Jacob went into Egypt his whole company numbered only seventy.
When Israel left Egypt there were six hundred thousand men, beside
women and children. The whole number must have been nearly three
millions.
The Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of
fire by night. And the children of Israel went forward and camped by
the Red Sea.
After Israel had left Egypt, Pharaoh became angry because he had let
them go. So he took a very large army and pursued after them, and
overtook them as they were camped by the Red Sea.
There seemed to be no way of escape for the Israelites. They were
hedged in between the mountain and the Red Sea, and behind was the army
of Pharaoh. But the Lord had brought them there to test their faith,
and show once more how He would deliver them from their enemies.
[Illustration: The Egyptians Overthrown In the Red Sea.]
Moses was commanded to stretch forth his rod, and as he did so the
sea parted and left a dry road through which the Israelites passed
over and were safe. And so blind and foolish was Pharaoh that he and
his army followed after. When Israel was safe on the other side, Moses
again stretched forth his rod, and the sea came back and drowned
Pharaoh and all his army.
The Lord cared for his people wonderfully on their journey. At Marah
the water was bitter, and they could not drink it. The Lord showed
Moses a tree, and told him to cast it into the water; and when he did
so it was made sweet and good.
By and by the food which they had brought from Egypt began to fail.
The Lord wanted them to learn to trust Him, and so He was willing they
should have difficulties to test them. But they did not trust the Lord.
They began to complain and find fault with Moses. God had promised
to care for them, and if they had only believed Him they would have
learned precious lessons and received great blessings.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain bread from Heaven for you."
In the morning they found it on the ground, and called it Manna. Each
one gathered just enough to last through the day. This manna would keep
fresh and sweet only one day. So they all had to depend on the Lord
every day for the food they ate.
In Egypt the people had forgotten the Sabbath. Now the Lord would have
them remember it. So on the seventh day no manna was given. But on the
sixth day the people gathered enough for two days.
And the Lord kept it sweet for them over the Sabbath. This was a
Sabbath lesson for them every week. The Sabbath was made for man, and
given to him at creation as a memorial of God's great work of making
the world in six days. But Israel had forgotten. God wants His Sabbath
kept holy now as well as in the time of Israel in the wilderness.
[Illustration: Water from the Rock.]
When they came to Rephidim there was no water, and the people
complained again to Moses. And the Lord told Moses to go to Mount Horeb
and smite the rock with his staff. When he did so, water burst from the
rock, enough for the whole camp. It was Moses who smote the rock, but
the Lord made the waters to flow.
Whenever the camp was pitched after this they found good water flowing
from the rock for them. This rock was to make them and us think of
Christ, and the water flowing from it represents the living water of
the Word of God which He gives to all who want it.
Soon a new danger arose. The Amalekites came out to attack them. Joshua
led the armies of Israel against them. While the battle was going on,
Moses stood on a hill and raised his hands to God and prayed for the
success of Israel. When he became weary and lowered his hands, the
Amalekites were successful. Then Aaron and Hur held up the hands of
Moses until the sun went down, and Israel gained the victory.
This was to teach Israel that the victory came from God, and that he
would hear and answer prayer. It also taught them that they should help
their leader, Moses, in the great work he had to do.
[Illustration: The Camp and Tabernacle in the Wilderness.]
[Illustration]
Mount Sinai.
FROM Rephidim Israel journeyed to Mount Sinai. Here God would give His
law to the people, and here they were to build the tabernacle for His
holy service.
Before this time these people had no books to read. God's Word and His
law had been told from father to son, and so remembered. But during the
slavery in Egypt this instruction had been forgotten by many, until
they had become like the heathen around them.
During their journey God had spoken to Israel only through Moses. But
at this time all the people were called together, and God spoke His law
to them with His own voice.
The scene which the people saw was terribly grand. There was a thick
cloud on the mount, and amidst it were thunderings and lightnings. The
whole mountain was shaken with an earthquake.
There was a loud blast of a trumpet from the mount, "so that all the
people that was in the camp trembled." Then God spake His law to the
people,--the ten commandments recorded in Exodus 20:3-17.
The children of Israel were always to remember this scene. It was to
impress upon their minds the greatness and power of God, the importance
of His law, and the necessity of obeying it.
Moses was called up into the very presence of God, on the top of the
mountain. Here God gave him two tables of stone on which He had written
with His finger the same ten commandments that He had spoken in the
hearing of all Israel.
God's law is as enduring as the stone on which it was written. These
two tables are called "the tables of the covenant." Deuteronomy 9:11.
The ten commandments are called God's covenant with His people. "And He
wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments."
Exodus 34:28.
David said that His covenant, or law, was "commanded to _a thousand
generations_." Psalms 105:8. It will _continue forever_. Christ Himself
said, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law." Matthew 5:17, 18.
Again He said, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least (or,
of no account) in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:19.
The Apostle James said, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10. Keeping nine
of the commandments will not save us. If we break _one_ commandment,
the law will condemn us as surely as if we broke all the ten.