JOSEPH INTERPRETING PHARAOH’s DREAMS.
“Seest thou a man diligent in business? he shall stand before kings: he
shall not stand before mean men” (Prov. xxii. 29). Such is one of the
sayings of the wisest man, and we see it fulfilled to the letter in
Joseph’s case. In the house of Potiphar, in the prison where he was
unjustly immured, and everywhere, he did what was just and right, and
now we see him (in our Engraving) literally standing before a king. In
many a passage of Scripture God is urgent with us to do with diligence
what he appoints us to do; and he makes it plain that in every
case—without exception, in every case—the path to true honour, true
promotion and prosperity, is the path of duty. For a time, men may get
success in iniquity; but their fall and their crash are the greater.
Witness the penury and the shame of the fraudulent bankrupt—the lordly
oppressor—the unjust dealer of every name. The history before us
illustrates all this.
Pharaoh’s rest had been troubled by dreams, and when summoned, as we
have just seen, into the royal presence, Joseph was able to read
them—his God was with him, and he prospered even in that. He foretold
seven years of plenty, to be followed by seven years of scarcity,
according to a twofold emblem seen in the royal visions; and counselled
the king to provide for the evil of famine by treasuring up the produce
of the years of abundance. The lean kine and the well-favoured, the
good ears of corn and the bad, helped him to avert a dire calamity. He
became the benefactor of millions; and, according to some, Joseph
introduced a practice into Egypt regarding the tenure of land of which
there are vestiges to this day.
But be that as it may, we see here how Joseph’s advancement begins, and
is promoted. He had honoured God, and is honoured by him. He had held
fast his integrity, and now found that to be the path of peace as well
as of prosperity; his equity is brought forth as the noon-day. His ways
pleased the Lord, and even Joseph’s enemies were all at peace with him.
He had been in the furnace, and came forth pure. He had been tempted,
bribed, allured to sin; but his God made him steadfast and immovable;
and we are now to see the result. Let us, then, look at some details.
It seems to be a law in God’s world, that wherever good is to be done,
it must be accomplished by woe. Think again of the highest good ever
wrought out upon earth—the redemption of man by Jesus Christ—and how
was that accomplished? By tears, by agonies, and cries; by a death
whose horrors have never yet been told! Or, when Paul would spread the
blessings of redemption, how was that accomplished? By endurance at
every step, by buffetings, stripes, and persecutions! And when Luther
would sweep away some part of the rubbish which had been heaped upon
the truth, had he not to take his life in his hand, and clear his way
amid a thousand obstructions and tens of thousands of enemies, ere he
could advance that work? Or, once more, when God would make known his
truth in heathen lands, how is it done? As we have already seen, it is
amid throes, and persecutions, massacres, mutinies, and fiendish
cruelties.
Now, Joseph’s case comes under this general rule. He was to become in
God’s hand the instrument of preserving millions from a terrible death;
but, to achieve that result, he must surmount obstruction after
obstruction, and rise from a pit into which his brothers threw him, and
a dungeon to which false accusation led. He was to turn famine into
plenty, and dearth into comparative cheapness; and how was it done? He
must first be hated by his brethren; and then he must be sold as a
slave; then he must be cast into a prison, and disciplined there for
thirteen years; and only after all these things is he permitted to work
the work which God had given him to do. Satan’s malice, and man’s
waywardness, impeded Joseph’s way; and only because the Lord was with
him did he prosper in the end against such combined opponents. Now,
just in proportion to the difficulties encountered and surmounted by
him, are we called to recognize the hand of God in what befell. When he
has a work to do, none can hinder; instruments will be found, and his
purposes on earth will be promoted, in spite of all that can resist or
gainsay. As well may we expect to roll back the flowing tide by a word,
or make some mighty river like the Amazon or the St. Lawrence run
upward to its fountain, as check, divert, or even retard the purposes
of the Eternal. He will work, and none can hinder: and the grand moral
of Joseph’s touching story is just this,—Man and devils may combine to
oppose the cause of God, but on that cause advances, resistless because
he is the Almighty.
But while we glance at Joseph’s promotion thus far, we cannot help
adverting to the state of his unnatural brothers. No doubt they thought
that their wicked device had succeeded; they tried to be at peace, and
rejoice in their form of prosperity. They might see their aged father
pining nearer and nearer to the grave from day to day, on account of
the loss of Joseph. They might have some compunctions, and we can
scarcely suppose that conscience would be altogether silent; it would
be a rare case, indeed, had they succeeded in stifling entirely the
voice within. But we are told of no repentance, no confession of sin,
no humiliation for murder designed, for falsehood told, for a brother
hated, and a father, reduced to life-long anguish, passing on unsoothed
to the grave! Oh, the power of sin! How it perverts man’s nature! how
it hardens his heart into stone! how surely is the power of an Almighty
Spirit needed to renew it! and how blessed when that Spirit has come to
make us one spirit with that Living One of whom Joseph was a
type—Jesus, the Son of God!
We say Joseph was a type of Jesus; at least the life of the one
strangely resembled that of the other. Such resemblances are sometimes
fanciful, and pushed further than sober judgment can sanction, yet in
many respects they are striking. Was Joseph, for example, hated by his
brethren? Jesus also came to his own, and his own received him not. Was
Joseph the favourite of his father? In like manner Jehovah proclaimed
concerning Jesus, “This is my beloved Son.” Was Joseph sold by his
brethren? So was Jesus. Was the former falsely accused? So was the
latter. Was Joseph the saviour of many from death by starvation? Jesus
was the saviour of a multitude, whom no man can number, from sin. Was
Joseph first degraded or dishonoured, and then highly exalted? The
history of the Redeemer’s earthly sojourn tells how wicked men
dishonoured or derided him; but the Scriptures also tell that God
highly exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name. Was
it a proclamation made before Joseph, “Bow the knee”? (Gen. xli. 43).
In like manner, “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” Did Joseph
feed multitudes? In like manner Jesus gives us the bread which comes
down from heaven. Did Joseph forgive his unnatural brethren at last?
The dying Saviour prayed for his crucifiers: “Father, forgive them; for
they know not what they do.”
We would not carry out this parallel, we repeat, to any fanciful
extent; but the coincidences now mentioned, and many more, are often
pointed out. In the estimation of some, they furnish a proof that the
sufferings of the Saviour were prefigured, or predicted, by those of
Joseph; which at least show this—that he that will live righteously
must suffer persecution, whether he be one of the sons of men, or the
only Son of God.