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THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISRAELITES, AND DEATH OF JACOB.

In a place

P. Let us remember something of the last lesson. called Beersheba, there stood an old man, offering sacrifice to the God of his fathers. He was going down to Egypt, to see his son, and had come to inquire of God.

Then God said, "I am the God of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation."

W. That old man was Jacob.

P. Yes; and now that he had permission from God, he felt very anxious to see his son Joseph. He had said, "I will go and see my son Joseph before I die,”—and he was pleased in going, because he was fulfilling God's will as well as his own.

So he went. It was a very great removal to make, to take all his riches and his family; it was a more important removal than that of Abram, when he left his father's house. It is said that all his sons went with him, and that "they carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry them. And they took their cattle and their goods which they had gotten in the land of Canaan. . . . . His sons, and his sons' sons with him; his daughters, and his sons' daughters; and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt. . . . . And all the souls of the house of Jacob which came into Egypt were three score and ten." Besides these, there was no doubt a large attendance of herdsmen, shepherds, and slaves.

....

As they approached Egypt, Jacob sent his son Judah before him to tell Joseph that he was coming. As soon as Joseph heard this, he made ready his chariot, and went up to meet his father. How pleased he must have been to see his dear old father! I dare say he had wondered what he would look like, and whether there would be any change in his countenance. But he did not stop to think much; he quickly presented himself, threw himself on Jacob's neck, and there for a long while he wept for joy. The old man was much moved.

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Now," he said, "let me die, since I have seen thy face, since thou art alive!"

After they had rested from the first pleasures of the meeting, Jacob and Joseph talked together concerning their future course, as to what they were to do, and where they were to go. Joseph then explained to his father that there was a piece of land on the eastern side of Egypt, having Canaan and Arabia beyond it—a sort of boundary land, which no one was using, although it was very fertile; it was called Goshen. This Joseph said would be a good place for them to dwell in, because they would then be far away and distinct from the Egyptians. They too, he said, would like them to live apart, because every shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians.

I dare say that Jacob knew this; for it was well known that Egypt had formerly been governed by a race of shepherd kings, who had overrun the country, perhaps in the same way that the Danes overran England in the time of the Saxons, but had at last been driven out into Canaan by the Egyptians; and it was also well known that many of the Canaanites were the descendants of these kings.

So Joseph told his father and brethren that they would have to see king Pharaoh; and he advised them as to what they should say.

Pharaoh soon sent for them; then Joseph took five of his brothers, and went with them to the king. When Pharaoh questioned them, they gave the answers which Joseph had told them to give; they said that they were shepherds as their fathers had been, that they could not find any pasture for their flocks in Canaan, and that they would be glad to dwell in the uninhabited land of Goshen, if they might. The king answered to Joseph, and said to him-"Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee; in the best of the land let them dwell"; adding, that they might dwell in Goshen if that part seemed to be the most suitable. He also said, that if any of his brothers were "men of activity," they might be made overseers of the royal cattle.

Joseph then introduced his old father, and as Jacob came into the king's presence he bowed to the king and blessed him.

Pharaoh was, I dare say, much struck with his venerable appearance, for he entered into conversation with him, saying, "How old art thou?" and Jacob answered-"The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their pilgrimage.

"Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh." After this interview, the patriarch and his sons took up their abode in Goshen. The Egyptians were rather glad to see the land occupied and cultivated, as it had lain waste since the driving out of the shepherd kings who had lived there. They were glad, too, because, as the Israelites multiplied, they would become powerful, and would be able to defend their own lands from the Arabs and the warlike tribes of Canaan:-in thus defending their own lands, which were on the borders of Canaan, they would also defend Egypt itself.

Jacob lived in this land of Goshen seventeen years. During the first five years—the remainder of the seven years of famine-he saw how great and powerful his son Joseph was in Egypt, and I dare say he felt very proud of him. He saw how prudently Joseph managed the business of the king; for, as I told you, he bought all the cattle of the Egyptians, then he bought all their lands, and afterwards he bought even the people themselves to be the servants of Pharaoh. Never, perhaps, was there a king like this Pharaoh! Not only was he the ruler of Egypt, but he was the proprietor of all that he governed; and this great prosperity he owed to Joseph who interpreted his dream.

After the seven years of famine, there came another time of abundance, and Jacob during his last twelve years saw his descendants cultivate the land of Goshen, and make it fertile. How smooth, pleasant, and quiet, must have been the remainder of the old man's life! I dare say he would sit and watch his sons, seeing them plough the land, and sow the seeds, and reap the corn. He would watch, too, and rejoice, when he saw the increase of his family; for he had not only sons, but grandsons, and great grandchildren, perhaps; so that he would often hear that another and another little one was born, thus adding to the number of Israelites. I dare say, too, that the old man had plenty to do; he had to give constant counsel and advice-he had to wait upon God, who had sustained him all his life, to thank him for these days of rest and enjoyment; and then, with the wisdom, and love, and kindness of spirit which he thus obtained from God, I dare say he would settle the disputes which might now and then arise amongst the members of his family, for the patriarch was not only the father of his family, but the ruler and the judge.

At the end of the seventeen years, Jacob found his strength decaying very fast, and his sight beginning to fail; and by these signs

he knew that he was going to die. He therefore sent for Joseph, and

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