THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
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prison could take place nowhere but in Egypt. The special providence of God had determined to make Joseph Gov ernor of Egypt, and the way was paved for it by the deep universal conviction in the minds of king and counsellors that a divine spirit animated his mind and gave him extraordinary knowledge. —¡Jamieson. The history of king’s favorites is too well known for the ele vation of Joseph to be itself incredible. Such things are especially likely to take place among the unlimited monarchies of the Orient. The late Empress of China had been a slave girl.—Kyle. There are courtiers present, men who had thirsted for great appointments and labored long to win them, and now in one moment this stranger summoned from prison, into which a supposed crime had thrown him, is placed above them all.—Urquhart. When the door of the prison opened for him, he went straight out to that opportunity by which he rose at once to the second place in the greatest kingdom then upon earth. Thus through the apparently long delay he got all the sooner to his destination, and that which seemed to hold him back a dreary while from his promotion really expedited his eleva tion. Learn from Joseph to bide your time, or rather to wait God’s time. Serve Him a little longer where you are, and by and by He will set you before an open door which no man can shut.—W. M. Taylor. v. 42. Arrayed in fine linen. We can not afford to lose one of our sorrows or trials. There would be no summer unless winter had gone before. There is a bud or fruit for every snowflake and a bird song for every howl of the storm.—Maclaren. The coat of many colors torn from him by violence and defiled by blood, and the garment left in the hands of the adulteress, are exchanged for vestures of fine linen drawn from the royal wardrobe. All this happened because one day, for the sake of God, Joseph resisted tempta-
announced means of relief against the approaching evil.— COMMENT Calvin. FROM MANY v. 35. Gather all the SOURCES food. Pharaoh’s dream and Joseph’s interpreta tions have been remarkably confirmed by the hieroglyphic inscriptions.. One was discovered in 1908 which tells of seven years of famine because the Nile did not overflow. It has been ascer tained that this is the very time when Joseph was in Egypt.— Gaebelein. v. 38. A man in whom the Spirit of God is. This puts great excellency upon any man. Such men ought to he val ued.—Henry. Joseph had not lost his faith in God in the days of trial and seeming failure of his work. It must often have seemed as if his dreams had come to naught. A Spirit filled man is always the man to put in authority.—J Torrey. Oh that we might carry with us even into business relationships the evident stamp of the Spirit of God. It were worth languishing even in a dungeon if only w,e might have time to seek it.^—Meyer. Piety is no hindrance to the right sort of success.— Taylor. Can we find such a man? What a wit ness to God’s faithfulness and His sovr ereign sway over all things! Men exe cute God’s purposes even when uncon scious or rebellious.— Maclaren. God took thirteed years to make this man, and this man was the benefactor and under God the saviour of nations.— , Parker. v. 39. None so discreet and wise. Remember that to do as well as ever you can what happens to be the only thing in your power to do is the best and surest preparation for higher serv ice. Learn well your business.— Bin- ney. Jesus, the true Joseph, was indeed the wisdom of God in the days of His humiliation as He now is at the right hand of power.-—Kelly. v. 40. Shalt be over my house. This sudden change in the condition of a man who had just been taken out of
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