Joseph comforteth his brethren; dieth, and is embalmed.

14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

15 And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,

17 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. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy

servants.

19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not for am I in the place of God?

20 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.

21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house; and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation : the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.

24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and 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.

25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

LECTURE 102.

The elders an example of faithfulness.

When Jacob was dead, it was natural for the brethren of Joseph to apprehend, that he might hitherto have behaved well to them out of deference to his father, and would now take advantage of his eminent station, to punish them for their past misconduct. And it seems that Jacob had the same apprehension. For in the message which they sent to Joseph, they state thus, "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." Nor was this supposing that Joseph had been all the time a hypocrite. For

who knows not that passions oftentimes lie smothered, in unfavourable circumstances, unknown to a man's own self; which wait only for a convenient opportunity, to burst forth with destructive fury? And who has not found by sad experience, that Satan seizes on each occasion of restraint removed, to suggest indulgence whether in sins of sensuality, or in anger, malice, and revenge?

But Joseph had before shewn that he could resist temptation, though presented to him with all the force of opportunity by the advantage of convenient season. See ch. 39. 11, 12. And now he had only tears wherewith to answer the message sent him by his brethren, as from his father. And when they followed up their message by waiting on him, and falling down before his face, and saying, "Behold, we be thy servants;" he bade them "Fear not," asked them, "Am I in the place of God?" repeated what he had said before, that he saw in their unkindness only God's design for good, and assured them that he would still continue to nourish both them and their little ones. Thus he "comforted them, and spake kindly unto them." Thus though he disclaimed being in the place of God "to whom vengeance belongeth," Ps. 94. 1, he was walking in the steps of that heavenly Father, who "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matt. 5. 45. Let the full and free forgiveness, which was exercised in this instance by our brother man, lead us to feel more assurance of faith in the fulness and freeness of the pardon of God, vouchsafed to us miserable sinners. Let our sins which have been once repented of, and forgiven, be looked upon as blotted out. from his remembrance; and be recollected by ourselves not as reasons to fear that He will punish us, but as memorials of his mercy in forgiving us! Oh how fervently should we then love Him, who thus freely forgives us all! Oh how utterly impossible should we then find it, not heartily to forgive each other!

Joseph continued to dwell in Egypt to the end of his life, unto the age of "an hundred and ten years." And he lived long enough to see his children "of the third generation" brought up upon his knees. Thus he began to experience the fulfilment of his father's blessing. And he was so much the more confirmed in his faith and hope as to all the promises of God. How firmly is this his confidence expressed, in his dying words, and dying actions!" And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die.” O Lord God, how true it is, that "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee!" Is. 26. 3. "And 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." O blessed Saviour, how safely may we trust in thy assurances, that Thou art gone to prepare a place for us, and that when Thou shalt come again, Thou wilt take us to Thyself, that where Thou art

there we may be also! See John 14. 3. "And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence." How precious a thing is faith, that it should make Joseph's "commandment concerning his bones" worthy of mention in the Old Testament, and of praise in the New! See Heb. 11. 22. "So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." How vain a thing is earthly greatness, except as it may be used for God's glory; all the rest, how soon it ends in death!

"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return;" ch. 3. 19; this is the sentence which we have seen fulfilled throughout the history of the book of Genesis, except in the single instance of Enoch. This sentence, we are aware forms the burden of the history of all mankind, from that time even to this present. But though death puts an end to the glory of the great, the wealth of the rich, and the schemes of the wise; it does but remove the veil of sense, to the soul of the faithful, from before the glory and wealth and wisdom of eternity. The elders of whom we have in this book been reading "obtained a good report" through faith. Heb. 11. 2. They are set forth to us for an example of faithfulness. Let this then be the chief use we make of reading their history, to feel the evidence of things not seen, so much the stronger, to feel the substance of things hoped for, so much the more sure. They believed and therefore they obeyed. Let us shew forth our faith by our works. They prayed, they gave thanks, they offered sacrifice. Let us offer prayers and thanksgiving to the Father; in reliance on the all sufficient and effectual intercession, of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

O God, who hast set before us in this book of thine, so many eminent patterns of faithfulness and love, we desire to thank Thee for this encouragement afforded to ourselves, to be stedfast in well doing. And heartily we pray, that we being edified by their examples, may grow both in faith and grace, unto the praise of thy holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE SECOND BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED

EXODUS.

The increase of the children of Israel.

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and

4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and waxed exceeding mighty; and Asher. the land was filled with them.

LECTURE 103.

The church of the Israelites a type of ours.

Exodus means, going out; and this second book of Moses is so named, because the most remarkable circumstance related in it, is the going out of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt. And first we are told who they were "which came into Egypt," even Jacob and all the brethren of Joseph, "every man and his household," in all "seventy souls." Then it is set down that "Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation." And next the extraordinary increase of the children of Israel is related; the words of the Hebrew signifying the swarms by which insects and fishes propagate their kinds; so as to express the very signal manner, in which God now fulfilled his promises of a numerous posterity to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. Hitherto in the Old Testament, we have chiefly had occasion to observe God's dealings with single families, or with single persons. Our attention will now be frequently directed to his dealings with a large community, whom we may well begin to call his Church. For such were henceforth the children of Israel; a family multiplied into a nation; a nation holding the true faith of the true God; having his will made known to them by revelation, and his worship established among them by law. In this book we shall see this church suffering by persecution, delivered from captivity, taken anew into covenant with God, enlightened by an accredited revelation of his will, and furnished with a tabernacle, and directory for his worship. And shall we not find in all these circumstances much that relates to our own instruction in righteousness? Undoubtedly we shall. Their church was a type of ours. Their Law was a foreshadowing of our Gospel. Their tabernacle must remind us of our duty, to worship God in spirit and in truth. Their Egyptian bondage, what is this but our subjection to the flesh, the world, and the devil? Their deliverance, what is this but our going out from the captivity of sin, into the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free?

Pharaoh persecuteth the children of Israel.

8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

10 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.

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was

Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah :

16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

22 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.

LECTURE 104.

The vanity of resisting the will of God.

All this came of there being a "king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." What a great thing it is, for them that seek a king's favour, to have a friend at court! When shall we sufficiently value our advantage in having the beloved Son of the King of kings, ever ready to take our part before the throne of grace? When shall we learn to pray with full dependence on his help, as our Mediator, Advocate, and Intercessor? And all this cruelty on the part of Pharaoh, arose from his being jealous of