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names are prophetic o f a coming time when Israel will be enabled, in the joy of her glorious future, which is soon to be real ized, to forget the bitter years and the unparalleled tribulation through which she is yet to pass. A t that time, she will pass from her present con dition of servitude and, forgetful o f all the past, will enter upon the fruitful days which lie ahead. It will be the time when that ancient people, so near to the heart o f God as to be called the “ apple of his eye,” will be exalted to the headship of all the nations and through the coming kingdom years will reap double for all her sorrows. What is true of Joseph and his nation is true also o f every soul who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. What ever the past may hold of bitterness or un just treatment, the present may become glorious with the joy of the Lord, and en riched with the fruitfulness of the new life in Christ. III. J oseph ' s E xaltation (53-57). Joseph’s authority was recognized. The famine came just as he had predicted, and he was ready for it when it arrived. While some people may have complained about his action in gathering the corn during the years o f plenty, none could now with hold the recognition that Joseph had spoken as a prophet of God when he inter preted the king’s dream. Furthermore, Joseph was uncondition ally accepted by the king and all the peo ple. When the people cried to Pharaoh for relief, they were told to “go to Jo seph, what he saith to you, do.” And the people universally accepted him as the one man among them all who had the wisdom to prepare for, and to give relief from, the present threatened starvation. He showed his statesmanship in that he recog nized that the proper exercise o f govern ment is to secure the safety and comfort of the people under him, and to do good to neighboring peoples. He was too wise to pauperize the people by merely supplying the need without taking something in pay ment, and he was too great to allow any waste ; hence he measured all the food given out, in spite o f the tremendous quan tities on hand. Even our Lord would have the broken fragments gathered up after He had miraculously fed the five thou sand. However lavish the Lord may be in His gracious giving, He expects care to be exercised in the use of what He be stows. Finally, Joseph was universally acknow ledged, not only among the Egyptians but among all people. “All countries” came to Joseph when the famine came upon them. He occupied the place o f a universal sav iour. In this, he became a type o f our Lord Jesus Christ who, when all the race was lost and helpless and hopeless, pro vided the way o f escape from certain de struction for all who come to him in sim ple faith. Those who thus come to Him find forgetfulness o f the past and fruit fulness for the present. Vs. 46-49. Explain how the trying ex periences o f being sold by his brethren and imprisoned in Egypt were necessary steps in the divine equipment of Joseph for his great work. What other instances can you give of “ blessed adversity” ? From what source had come the knowledge of seven plenteous years and seven years of famine? What words in the lesson describe the Lesson Questions
fruitfulness o f the land? Why is it dan gerous to presume that present blessings will continue? Vs. 50-52. Who was Joseph’s w ife? Who was her father? What name did Jo seph give to his first son? Why? What was the name o f his second son ? What spiritual lessons may be drawn from these names ? Vs. 53-57. When did the people begin to recognize Joseph as a prophet o f God? How extensive does the famine that came over the country seem to have been?
oners dreamed dreams, and Joseph was able to tell them what the dreams meant. So when Pharaoh, the ruler, had two dreams which he wanted explained, the chief butler, who had been one of the pris oners, remembered Joseph, and he was sent to Pharaoh. God made clear to Jo seph the meaning o f the dreams. He ex plained to Pharaoh that, after seven years, there was to be a terrible famine in the land, and these dreams were a warning for the Egyptians to get ready for the years o f famine and to save some corn each year until the famine came, so that they would have food during that time. Pharaoh was so glad to understand the meaning o f his dreams, that he put Joseph in charge o f this work o f storing up food. So Joseph became a rich and powerful man. Golden Text Illustration “How do you keep?” asked an old friend, who came to congratulate John Wana- maker upon the sixtieth anniversary of Oak Hall. “Happily busy,” was the answer. Sixty years o f uninterrupted work in one business is no small achievement, whatever may be the degree of success at tained. But Wanamaker had started his own business at the age o f twenty-three, had developed it into an establishment known throughout the world, and at the age o f eighty-three, he was still its head, making ambitious plans for the future. How had he done it? That is what the old friend wanted to know. “ It is all in the two words with which I answered your first question,” said Wan amaker. “Many people are busy because they have to be. I am busy because I want to be. So I am happily busy.” Herbert Adams Gibbons, the biographer o f Wanamaker, gives us the above, and then quotes from the merchant’s diary o f the Christmas season o f 1915: “I am right well—at work on high pressure, up to the last notch o f endurance, but enjoying it all.” land o f Egypt for His chosen people, to cause the line of local rulers to degenerate so that a tribe of northerners, favorable to His people, could take possession of the land just when He wanted the Israelites to go to Egypt. The ancient records o f Egypt are not silent upon this matter, al though o f course they do not see the hand o f God in it. Dr. Breasted, one o f the foremost Egyptologists in the world to day, says,_ “The scarabs o f a Pharaoh of Hyksos time give the name as Jacob-Er, or Jacob-El, and it is not improbable that some chief o f the Jacob tribes o f Israel for a time gained the leadership in this obscure age. Such an incident would ac count surprisingly well for the entrance o f these tribes into Egypt, which, upon any hypothesis, must have taken place about this time.” So the profane records en graven in stone corroborate the written records o f the Spirit o f God in recording His dealings with the children o f men. Outline and Exposition The record from Genesis 42:1 to 45:28 should be read in order to fix in the mind the events that lead up to the portion given
Making Dreams Come True G enesis 41:46-49, 53-57
Memory Verse; “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Eccl. 9:10). Approach: A great many things have happened to Joseph between the time when he wasa littleboy telling about his dreams and the timeo f today’s story. His
brothers were so
angry with him after he t o l d t h e m his dreams that they de- cided> to get rid o f him. ’ So they did a wicked thing. They sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites w h o were traveling away off to Egypt, and then they took his beauti ful coat back to Jacob after they had spotted it up with the blood of
a goat. They said to their father, “We found this coat covered with blood. Wild beasts must have devoured your son.” Lesson Story: So Joseph grew up in Egypt. He lived in the home o f the captain o f the guard, an officer o f Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt. But his troubles were not over.' The captain’s wife made up wicked stories about Joseph, and the captain be- lieveij them and sent Joseph to prison. For two years he stayed there. While he was in prison, two o f the pris- O 'v T s * * Lesson le x t : Gen. 44:18-34. Golden Text: “ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity 1” (Psa. 133:1). Joseph the Prime Minister he exaltation of Joseph to the posi- tion o f second ruler in the kingdom ^ 4 was not without parallel in ancient history. The rulers o f ancient times were far less snobbishly aristocratic than we would suppose. They were quick to recog nize worth in a person, regardless o f his social station. One
JUNE 12, 1932 JUDAH THE TRUE BROTHER G enesis 4 4 :18 to 45 :15
Greek historian re cords the act o f an Egyptian king in mak ing the son of a ma son his own son-in- l aw , b e c a u s e he thought he was the cleverest man in his kingdom. As we saw last
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Sunday,there was even more reason for Joseph to begiven his position of power. He was an Asiatic, and the rulers, the Hyksos kings, were Asiatics, so there was a common bond between them. Truly it was a direct act of God in preparing the
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