236 THE KING'S BUSINESS The International Sunday School Lessons By J. H. S. LESSON VII. —May 18th. — J o s e p h MEETS His B r e t h r e n . — Gen. 42, G olden T ex t : Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap— Gal. 6:7. I. P rovidence .
contrive means of transportation; exercise their faculties, and show their charity. In stead, they waste in excess, or destroy the products of nature to maintain, or hoard them to command prices; and then charge God with consequent calamity (2 Cor. 8: 14, IS). 3. Jacob’s Remonstrance. “Why look ye one upon another?” Did their guilty con science dread the trip to Egypt? Their fear was justified, for they met their wrong ed brother there, and had he been like other men would never have seen home again. A clean record and a clear con science are great sources of courage and enterprise; guilt shrinks and hesitates to- move. 4. Benjamin Detained. Joseph’s full brother, dead Rachel’s only surviving (?) son, “Jacob sent not with his brethren.” Did he fear to trust them? Joseph’s test proved them now to have been trustworthy. Thank God, thieves may become honest men. Jaoob said, “Lest peradventure some mischief befall him.” When things have gone wrong with one son, parents should be on their omard for the next. 5. Before the Governor. (1) Joseph “sold to all the people of the land.” No grafter, he discharged the duties of his office; all passed under his eye, if not through his hand, and this is another rea son why he was esteemed by his superiors. “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings” (Prov. 22:29). (2) “Joseph’s brethren came and bowed down before him, with their faces to the earth.” So his dream came true. He re membered, but they were as yet uncon scious of it. It is of no avail to “kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5), God will have His way.
In the story of Joseph we see: 1. The Ways of God, —Like Jacob, blind to the meaning of passing events, men do not realize that “trifling” incidents, a boy’s dream, the style of his coat, or a trip to Dothan, may determine the destiny of men and nations; nor that the simple, natural, commonplace, are under the immediate di rection of God and working His eternal counsels. To see and believe would be perfect peace. 2. The Nature of God, —His (1) Wis dom, in the admirable interworking of part with part; (2) Power, in the control of the thoughts, passions, motives of men, and the forces and elements of nature ; (3) Jus tice, in meeting out to good and bad their dues; (4) Patience, in biding His time; (5) Faithfulness, in ultimately fulfilling His threats and promises; (6) Benevolence, in choosing good for His end, and in forgiving the wrong doer, on his evident repentance. 3. The Final Satisfaction. The satis faction we feel in the happy conclusion of Joseph’s story is the harbinger of our feel ings when we see no longer “through a glass darkly,” but face to face. II. T h e T rip to E gypt . 1. Famine in Canaan. Even the land of promise felt the drouth. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (ch. 12:10; 26:1) suffered want there. As the rain falls, so it fails on the just and the unjust alike. Ours is promise not perfection. Only inside the glory gates is it written, “They shall hunger no more.” 2. Corn in Egypt. Yet God never fails. He feeds the world. If there is scarcity here, there is plenty there. He leaves some thing to prudence, ingenuity, energy and charity. Men should store their surplus;
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