T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
169
They were God’s people, but they too, must feel the need. In the world the rain falls upon the just and the unjust. Sin makes us one. So does a famine, a pestilence or a plague. But God sees and God provides (John 6:35) “A n d J e s u s s a id u n to th e m , I a m th e b re a d o f lif e ; h e t h a t c o in e th to m e s h a ll n e v e r h u n g e r, a n d h e t h a t b e lie v e th o n m e s h a ll n e v e r t h i r s t .” Some power must make provision, or men must die. You cannot evade the existence of God, nor the overruling Provi dence of God. Hunger is God’s incentive. It drives the wheels and makes possible all of the great achievements of men. God has put a hunger in the heart of men and then, by His faithful servants, shows them the storehouse where that hunger can be satisfied. Need drives men to Christ. (Matt. 11:28) The storehouses are full (41:48, 49) Christ is the store house for every need of the believer (Phil. 4 :19 ). Go to Him. Bow before Him. Receive from Him. Pay the price. The cross is no stranger foundation for a storehouse than a prison. The command in Egypt was, “Go to Joseph” (1 Pet. 1 :20 ). God fulfilled his dream and .Joseph’s brethren bow before him. His brethren did not know him, but he knew them. (Luke 24 :16 ). He tested them. He wanted to know what was in their hearts. So God tests us to know what is in our, hearts. God’s providences bring out the thoughts and intents of the heart and in a natural way. Truth is eternal. Men must face the facts of life. We know when we are guilty, Conscience never sleeps. It may be dulled, but sooner or later something will awaken it. (Jer. 13:21 ). Listen to the testimony of these men, “We saw the anguish” (v. 21). Twenty two years had passed but the vision was not dulled, neither would twenty two thonsandl years have dulled it. Memory may sleep, but it does not die. We all know that. In the day of judgment will not this be true, and will not the past, like a panorama, sweep before us? Invisible ink, when exposed to fire, stands out (Luke 16:25). What an awful moment when the rejector of Christ senses his guilt, and the memory of those pierced hands which were outstretched to him comes to him! “We would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” They see again the face-of the lad, and hear his cry. Joseph wept, and Jesus wept. God has tears to shed as well as blood. There was no hatred in Joseph’s heart; no desire for re venge. He is planning for their future. They humbled him, and now they themselves are humbled. They called him a spy; he calls them spies. They were deaf to his pleading; he is apparently deaf to theirs. They cast him into the pit; he casts them into prison. They draw him out, and he sends them away. Topics for Study (1) Must God’s man have a purpose, if his life is to count for God? (2 ) What is the one great requisite that God demands of the man He is to use? (3) What are the advantages in a life subject to severe testings, and should we seek testings, or let God bring them about? (4 ) Is there any lesson growing out of the treatment of Joseph by Jbis brethren, which is needed by Chris tians today? (5) What influenced the king most in his choosing of Joseph for such honor? (6) Can the conscience be so stifled that it will cease to respond to the voice of memory?
And this dream of Pharaoh and Joseph’s interpretation has been remarkably confirmed by the hieroglyphic inscrip tions. One was discovered in 1908 which tells of the seven years of famine, because the Nile did not overflow. It has been ascertained that this was the COMMOENTS very time when Joseph was in FROM THE Egypt.—A. C. Gaebelein. COMMENTARIES 41:46. Joseph’s name is changed V. V. Morgan in this connection, the Egyptian name signifying abundance of life (ef. John 10:9). In Joseph seemed to rest the salvation of the world. The food of life was in his' hands. In these respects there is a striking likeness between Joseph and Christ (cf. Acts 4:12; John 6:48-58):—William Evans. Verse 54— The famine which came upon Egypt at this time and as foretold by Joseph in the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream was by no means accidental. It was raised up by God (Psalm 105:16), and, seemingly, that Joseph might be known as the saviour of Egypt (47 :25 ). God not only raised up the man for the hour, but also the hour for the man. Note that God prepared the man first, then the occasion. This is God’s method of working.— William Evans. 42:7— Joseph’s treatment of his brethren, whom he re cognized, was harsh, so that they might be led to acknowl edge their sin. And they readily confess their guilt, on ac count of having sold their brother and take the harsh treatment and imprisonment they received as a just retribu- tion.-rx-A. C. Gaebelein. 42:21. There is no human accuser here—-“They said among themselves (or one to another.)” In this connection let us notice the factors within us that make up natural retribution as set forth in 42:21, 22; first, memory— “We saw the anguish” (this happened twenty years before); second, imagination— “When he besought us, and we would not hear” ; third, conscience— “We are verily guilty con cerning our brother” ; fourth, reason— “Therefore is this distress come upon us” ; .fifth, remorse—which means a bit ing back like a serpent stinging its own tail, the soul is recoiling on itself. Every sinner carries within himself enough material to build a hell if there were none in God’s plan.-—William Evans. 42:25. Joseph's command to restore every man’s money into his sack and to give them provision for the way is another indication of his true feelings towards them. There is nothing more striking in the character of Joseph than the utter absence of revengeful feeling, whether it was against his brethren, or against Potiphar, or against the chief butler. At each step of his journey he shows the true forgiving spirit of the man to whom God is a supreme and blessed reality.—W. H. Griffith Thomas. 42:36. ‘All these things are against me’ was his sad and really faithless outburst, when as a simple fact ‘all these things’ were definitely and directly in his favour. Four mistakes the old man made. He said Joseph was dead, when he was not; he seems to have thought Simeon could not remain alive in Egypt, when he was perfectly safe; he interpreted the taking of Benjamin as a loss to himself for ever; and then, as the crowning error, said that every thing was against him.—W. H. Griffith Thomas. The persistence of the Divine purpose. Once again we observe the onward sweep of God’s providence concerning Joseph and Israel. There is no halt, no resting, but a con stant, steady movement. Event after event is taken up and weaved into the plan; nothing is outside the Divine purpose, and everything is made to subserve it. Whether it be the lack of food to Jacob, or the power of memory in the brethren, or the opportunity of mercy in Joseph, every-
Made with FlippingBook HTML5