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tion to an act of sin. If he had yielded, we should probably never have heard of him again. He would have been slain by the siren who has. slain so many strong men.— Se'l. v. 43. Bow the knee. Thus every knee must bow before our exalted Lord. — Gaebelein. Here again Joseph was a type of Christ (Phil. 2: lO^STorrey. Ruler over all the land. We see a man led, to all intents and purposes, to the place of death by the hand of man, and then raised up by the hand of God and set in dignity and glory. This is all typical of Christ; indeed a type could hardly be more perfect (Acts 2:22-24.) — C. H. M. In Joseph we have the rejected Jew on the throne of power (read Rev. 3:21). To-day our Lord Jesus Christ shares the throne of the Father as Joseph shared the throne of Pharaoh, but let it be kept in mind that while Joseph was on the throne of Pharaoh he was not on his own throne — that is, not in the place of rule over his brethren. Today, while Jesus is on the throne of the Father, He is not on His own throne according to the coven ant made to David and the title Jesus wears as King of Israel, but He will yet take His own throne.—Haldeman. v. 44. Without thee shall no man lift up his hand. An abundant recompense for this innocent, patient suffering, a lasting incident of the equality and goodness of Providence and an encour agement to all good people to trust in a good God.— Sel. Whoever said that actions speak louder than words understood James 2:14-26. Actions not only speak louder than words but they speak plainer than words. We may misunder- MY stand what a man says, but GIRLS we rarely misunderstand what he does. The French maiden may hold a rose in her hand and talk to us for an hour trying to make us understand that she wants to give it to us, but the minute she holds
it out to us we know what she wants to do plainer than any words can tell us. The Book of James was written to show us the emptiness of words unless backed up by the life, or better yet the value of letting our life do our talking instead of our lips. The testimony of the life is the only way we can account for Joseph’s and Pharaoh’s relations together. It was the life that Joseph had lived that gave him such an entrance to Pharaoh’s court. We might divide this life testimony into three chapters: 1. His behav ior in Potiphar’s house after his arrival in Egypt. 39:7-12. An insincere or unloyal young man would have rejoiced in the opportunity that might have been Joseph’s to advance himself in favor with his master’s wife, but sin against God was far, greater guilt in Joseph’s eyes than disloyalty to his master or criminal relations with his mistress. Against whom do we sin? We may wrong our fellow man, but we sin only against God. Be sure to get the right relation between the tworWe may steal from a neighbor and thus wrong him, but we have sinned* against the State and the State is the only source of authority for punishment and it is only against the laws of the State that we have sinned. After David had ordered Uriah murdered in order that he might have his beautiful wife he cried out in conviction to God, “ Against thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.” (Ps. 51:4). 2. Joseph’s period in prison. So trustworthy was he that the keeper of the prison had committed all the pris oners to his care. Rather an unusual course of procedure, but nevertheless warrantable as Joseph’s conduct and life proved. 3. His interpretation of dreams as illustrating his daily dependence upon God. Chapter 40:8, 12. “ Interpreta tion belongs to God— Joseph said this is interpretation.” 41:15-16. “ I have
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