035. Jacob and Joseph--Joseph Lives!

Jacob and Joseph--Joseph Lives!

Gen 45:24-28. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father; and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.

If there be such a thing as pure and perfect joy upon earth, it is that which fills the heart of a parent, when he hears of the wisdom, the virtue, and the prosperity of a darling child. If there be sorrow that admits not consolation, it is the sorrow of a father, for the vice or folly of an ungracious, thankless son, and for the misery in which he has plunged himself. The patriarch Jacob felt both of these in the extreme. He had now lived to the age of one hundred and thirty years; and had proved all the bitter variety of human wretchedness. Every change of condition he has hitherto undergone, is only the sad transition from affliction to affliction. The brethren at length becomes too heavy to bear, and we see a miserable old man sinking into the grave under the accumulated weight of woes insupportable. In parting with Benjamin, he had yielded up his last stake, and renounced all hopes of happiness in this world; calmly looking forward to that peaceful region “where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.” But the full estimate of human life cannot be made till the scene be closed. The shades of night at last begin to disperse, and the day dawns. While he is tormenting himself in Canaan, with the apprehension of never seeing more his last, his only remaining hope, Providence is maturing in Egypt a gracious design in his behalf, which is in a moment to turn his sorrow into joy.

Joseph having discovered himself to his brethren, hastens their return homeward, and dismisses them provided with every accommodation for the safe and comfortable removal of their aged father, and their tender children. What a triumph was Joseph’s! What a glorious superiority! the triumph of Heaven, the superiority of God himself, who “overcomes evil with good.” But he is unable to conceal the partiality of his affection to Benjamin. As he distinguished him at table by a five-fold portion, he distinguishes him at parting with a more splendid and costly present than the rest, consisting of three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. In a wardrobe of great value and variety, a considerable part of ancient magnificence consisted. This we learn both from Scripture, and from profane authors. Samson proposed as a reward to him who should expound his riddle, “thirty changes of garments.” Naaman the Syrian, among other valuable commodities, carried “ten changes of garments,” as a gratification to the prophet from whom he expected the cure of his leprosy. Under the first Roman emperors, this vanity and extravagance were carried to such an excessive pitch, that the Praetor Lucullus, according to Plutarch, his biographer, had two hundred changes of apparel; and Horace insinuates, in one of his epistles, that by some the luxury was carried to the enormous extravagance of five thousand suits. And it is, without doubt, to this ostentatious profusion, the apostle James alludes, when he thus censures the abuse of wealth, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries; your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten.” But was it wisely done, sage governor of Egypt? was it wisely done, thus to scatter the seeds of jealousy and envy in hearts so susceptible of these dreadful passions! Have you forgot the coat of many colors, the dangerous badge of your father’s fondness to yourself! Have you not rendered your own advice necessary, “See that you fall not out by the way?” Happily, the recollection of past disasters, and the kind behavior and gentle admonition of their affectionate brother, have subdued their boisterous spirits, and attuned their hearts to love. The anxiety of the old man for their return is better to be conceived than described. How often in a day would his fond eyes turn to the way by which Benjamin was expected back? How would the tardy hours linger, as the heart languished with hope deferred? At last the blessed moment arrives, the train appears; the number complete, Benjamin safe, Simeon restored. But what can this mean? Instead of eleven men driving their asses laden with corn, a splendid retinue, the glory of Egypt, the wagons of Pharaoh! The heart that has been long inured to affliction, interprets every appearance against itself. Some things are too good, others too evil to be hastily credited. The utmost height of Jacob’s expectation was to behold his youngest son again, with a supply of corn for his starving family. But to hear that his long lost, his much lamented Joseph was still living, that he was the ruler of all Egypt, the savior o£ a great nation, the fattier of a mighty prince, O! it is, it is too much. Nature tottering under a load of woe, now sinks and faints under an excess of joy. Such tidings are too flattering to be believed. Did the brothers now disclose the whole of the mighty secret, and take shame to themselves for their vile conduct to so excellent a father, to so amiable a brother? Or, trusting to Joseph’s generosity, did they conceal the part which they had acted in this strange, mysterious drama? Probably the latter is the truth. The soul shrinks back from the discovery of its own. wickedness. To confess, and condemn themselves, could do now no good, and must greatly have marred and diminished their aged parent’s satisfaction, if indeed he had no suspicion how the case stood. The good man has been so long a stranger to felicity, that the possibility of it is called in question; that slowly and cautiously he yields to the sweet demonstration. Convinced, satisfied at length, what joy is equal to the joy of Jacob? Is it not worth wading through a sea of trouble, to come to such a shore at length? The blessings of Providence are well worth waiting for. They may seem to linger; they are not always such as we wished and expected but they are ever seasonable, ever suitable, and they compensate in a moment the pain and misery of a whole life. But is it not late in life to undertake such a journey? No; it is to see Joseph, to be joined unto him; to be an eye-witness of his grandeur, and a partaker of his liberality. How often has Egypt sheltered and nourished the church of God! Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, Moses, Jesus Christ himself, there successively found protection. The same place, according as Providence ordains it, is either a trying furnace or a refuge and sanctuary. A king that knows Joseph is a nursing father to Israel; another arises who knows him not, and he wastes and destroys. But our patriarch was not merely following the impulse of natural affection, though that had been warrant sufficient for even a still greater removal; he is also obeying the dictates of wisdom, in making a prudent provision for his numerous and increasing family, and he is listening to a special call and encouragement from Heaven. Before he leaves Canaan, probably forever, he visits Beer-Sheba, the chosen and favorite residence of his father; and there he renews his covenant with God by sacrifice. Those enterprises are most likely to succeed, those comforts to afford most genuine satisfaction in which God is seen, acknowledged, and enjoyed. The sacrifices of the devout by day, are answered by the visions of the Almighty in the night season. A man can proceed with cheerfulness and confidence, when he has got his Maker’s permission. The vision assures him that he should arrive in safety, should prosper in Egypt, should embrace his son, and that “Joseph should put his hand upon his eyes,” that is, perform the last offices of filial duty and humanity. We meet with the same expression and idea in many passages of the heathen poets. Penelope, in Homer, prays that Telemachus her son may close her eyes, and those of his father Ulysses. The mother of Euryalus in the Aeneid, among many other bitter expressions of sorrow over her dead son, laments that she was denied the wretched consolation, since he must die before her, of pressing down his dying eyes. Human nature thus strives to outlive itself, and the heart, while it is yet capable of feeling, consoles itself with the hope of receiving marks of tenderness and attachment after it can feel no more. The old man’s heart is now at rest, he is acting obedience to the command of Heaven, he is complying with one of the worthiest propensities of nature. He is indebted for the commodiousness with which he travels, to the person whom on earth he most dearly loved, and to whom, of all others, he would most willingly be obliged.

How different the patriarch’s situation, every different journey he undertakes? His first was to Padan-gram, when he fled from the face of an angry brother. Then he was solitary and friendless, but free from care, free from sorrow. The second, flying from unkind relations back again to Canaan, rich in children, rich in cattle, but troubled in spirit, oppressed with anxiety. And now we see him the third time in motion towards Egypt, richer than ever both in possessions and in prospects, but bending under the pressure of age, and its concomitant infirmities, worn out with calamity, and almost dead to joy. The family of Jacob, including the addition of what Joseph had gotten in Egypt, now amounted to seventy souls. And the priest of On’s daughter, whose alliance was doubtless intended as an honor to Joseph, is honored and ennobled by being ranked in the family of Jacob, and by having become a mother in Israel.

Scripture describes in its own inimitable manner, the meeting between the father and son. “And he sent Judah, before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and presented himself unto him: and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.”[*]Gen 46:28-30 This is honest nature, this is the genuine language of the heart. In Joseph we see filial piety and fraternal affection happily blended with wisdom, humility, and discretion. His will was law in Egypt. To what honors, preferments, and emoluments, might not the brothers and nephews of the governor-general have aspired? But he consults their true happiness, by guarding them at once from the languor of idleness, and the madness of ambition. Shepherds they were bred, and shepherds let them continue. Violent transitions ill suit the staid and serious periods of human life. His behavior as a subject of Pharaoh is equally amiable and praiseworthy. he never loses sight of the duties of his station, never becomes arrogant and assuming, in the confidence of royal favor. “Without him no man lifted up his hand or foot in all the land;” but without Pharaoh’s consent he will not dispose of a single field to his nearest relations. He is too wise, and too good, to make the mad attempt of some upstart favorites, to overcome national prejudices by dint of power and authority. The Egyptians held the profession of a shepherd in contempt, and he is not silly enough to dream of forcing it into respect.

We have already taken occasion to praise the gratitude, generosity, and attachment of this prince, and with pleasure we repeat it. We see him nobly striving to discharge some part of the mighty obligation which had been laid upon him and his whole kingdom, by the son of the patriarch, by showing all possible kindness to his father’s house. “And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: the land of Egypt is before thee, in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell, in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.”[*]Gen 47:5-6 The interview between the venerable man himself, and this good prince, is highly interesting and instructive. Old age and virtue are honored with the kind regard and attention of a king. Royalty is instructed, admonished, and blessed by the wisdom of the sage, by the miseries of the man, by the piety and prayers of the prophet. Who gains by this visit? Pharaoh, to be sure. His kingdom is strengthened by the accession of seventy good subjects, with their skill, industry, and wealth: and “the effectual, fervent prayers” of holy Israel were surely, Pharaoh himself being judge, compensation sufficient for the poor subsistence which a decayed, dying old man received from his bounty.

It is with a mixture of shame and sorrow, that we bring forward the next passage in the history of Joseph. It exhibits him indeed as a most exquisite politician, who thoroughly understood the interests and the passions of mankind; who knew perfectly well how to take advantage of the occasion; but, over-devoted to the prince who had advanced him, employing his exorbitant power, his superior skill and address, in planning and perfecting a system of despotism, by which the whole property of Egypt, together with the persons and liberties of all that mighty empire, were transferred to the sovereign. We behold him most ungenerously seizing the opportunity, which the growing distress of a lengthened famine afforded him, to aggrandize one at the expense of millions. He first conveys all the money in the land into the royal treasury. The cattle speedily follow. The increasing miseries of another unfavorable season, determine the wretched proprietors to part with their lands for food, and even reduce them to the dreadful necessity of offering to sell themselves for slaves, that they might live by their master’s bounty. It is true, the prime minister of Pharaoh did not push his advantage to the extremest length. But it must be acknowledged, he carried it much farther than became the friend of misery, and of mankind. With so good a man as this Pharaoh, perhaps absolute power might be lodged with some degree of safety; but who shall answer for other Pharaohs who may arise, with the awful ability of doing mischief; possessing authority unfettered by legal restraint; possessing power not prompted by goodness, not tempered by mercy, not deigning to stoop to the sacred rights of mankind? Do we not see, in the hardships which under the following reign the posterity of Israel endured from Egyptian despotism, the danger of extending regal authority beyond the limits of reason? And thus, in the justice of Providence, the family of Joseph first felt the rod of that tyranny, which, with his own hands, he had established and aggrandized. Absolute sway can never be deposited with safety in any hands, but in his, who is constantly employing his power for the salvation of men, not their destruction. But we turn from a scene, which it is impossible to contemplate without both regret and resentment; happy to reflect, that we live in a country, where law, not will, is the rule of government; where the strong voice of royal prerogative is drowned and lost, in the sterner, louder proclamation of, “Thus it is written.” We hasten from the vast, depopulated regions of state politics, to the pleasanter, fairer fields of private life.

Jacob’s last days are by far his best. Seventeen years of unruffled tranquillity he passed in Egypt, enjoying the most pure and complete of all human gratifications-that of witnessing the prosperity, and experiencing the attachment of a favorite and dutiful child. But how comes it to pass, that periods of happiness shrink into so little a measure in description, while scenes of woe lengthen themselves out both to the sufferer, and to the relator? We record our mercies on the sand of the sea-shore, which the washing of every wave smoothes again, and the perishing memorial is obliterated and lost. Calamity we engrave upon the rock, which preserves the inscription from age to age. But the famine has long been over, and why has not the patriarch thought of returning again to the land of his fathers? Young men love to ramble from place to place; but old age is steady and stationary. Removal was attended with increasing difficulty every day, from the increase of his age and infirmities, and from the number of his family. Besides, Joseph’s presence was bee: become necessary to the government of Egypt; and to part with him again, had been much worse than death. In a word, the whole was of the Lord, who was now laying the foundation of a fabric of wonders which should astonish the next generation, and every future age of the world, by the report of them. One hundred and thirty years of woe, and seventeen of comfort and happiness, come both at length to a period. Let the wretched think of this, and bear their affliction with fortitude; let the prosperous consider it well, that they “be not high-minded, but fear.” How dreadful is that misery which issues in despair of change! How exquisite the happiness which fills every faculty of the soul, and whose measure is eternity! But though Jacob be satisfied to live and to die in Egypt, he feels and expresses the natural desire of all men, that his ashes should rest in death with the venerable dust of his forefathers. Perceiving therefore in himself the decay of nature, and the approach of dissolution, he sent for his beloved son, and bound him by a solemn oath to carry his dead body to the cave of Machpelah; that he too, in death, might become an additional pledge to his family, that God would in due time make good to them that possession of Canaan which lie had promised.

Having obtained this security, his heart is at rest; and for himself he has no further worldly concern. But the symptoms of approaching dissolution are now upon him, sickness, weakness, and loss of sight. All the authority and wealth of Egypt cannot repel these irresistible invaders. Old age is a disease which death only can cure. But, even in old age and death, Jacob’s early affections are his constant and remaining ones, Rachel and Joseph, and leis two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. So long as the vital fluid visits his heart, the memory of his beloved Rachel vibrates upon it. The last beams of his expiring eyes seek for her image and representative, her son and grandchildren: and even Benjamin seems, for awhile, forgotten. Soon that wounded heart shall beat no more, and those weary eyes shall close in everlasting peace. The sickness of his father being reported to Joseph, he instantly quits every other employment, and, attended by his two sons, hastens to visit him to receive his last dying commands, his dying paternal benediction, and to cherish and soothe his departing spirit with that cordial of cordials, filial tenderness and love. Though nature was come to its lowest ebb with our patriarch, grace was in full springtide. The eye of the body could not discern the nearest objects, could not even distinguish the sons of Joseph, but the eye of the spirit, the spirit of prophesy that was in him, penetrated through the shades of night, and contemplated, with clearness and accuracy, ages the most remote; persons, situations, and events the most distant. In this last and tender interview with his beloved son, he declares his intention to raise the children who had been born to him in Egypt, to their hereditary rank and honor in Israel; and lie bequeaths to Joseph a particular possession which he had acquired by conquest in Canaan: “Moreover I have given to you one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite, with my sword, and with my bow;”[*]Gen 48:22 deeming him entitled, and not without much appearance of reason, to the double portion of the first born. For his mother alone was the wife of Jacob’s choice. And had the course of reason and justice taken place, he should have had no children but by her. The posterity of Rachel, then, had an undoubted claim of preference, considering that in strict equity the whole would have belonged to them. At the same time he predicted the future fortunes of his grandchildren by Joseph; and, Heaven-instructed, foretells, that the younger should in time obtain the pre-eminence in rank, populousness, and importance over the elder. And now nothing remained but to declare and publish his last will, or rather the will of God respecting his posterity, for many generations to come. But this would require a much larger space than is now left for it. And we cannot conclude our discourse without having brought Jacob and Joseph somewhat nearer to the times which they foresaw and foretold; and to the glorious and exalted person, from resemblance to whom they derive all their dignity and consequence.

Joseph sold into Egypt, degraded into the condition of a servant, exalted from the dungeon to the right hand of the throne, invested with power, drawing his perishing kindred unto him, and bestowing upon them a possession “in the best land,” still prefigures to us, Jesus “humbled and made of no reputation,” “betrayed and sold into the hands of men,” “lifted up,” on the cross, and thence to a throne above the skies: “ascending on high, receiving gifts for men,” attracting an elect world unto him, to give them ^,an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.”

“Their eyes were holden, that they should not know him.”[*]Luk 24:16 “And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?”[*]Luk 24:30-32

“And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph: what he saith to you, do.”[*]Gen 41:55 “The Father judgeth no man: but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent him.”[*]John 5:22-23 “God did send me before you,” says Joseph to his brethren, “to preserve life.” “I go,” says Jesus to his disciples, “to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.”[*]John 14:2-3 Joseph dispatches chariots and wagons to convey the feeble and infirm part of his father’s family to the land of Goshen; and supplies them with all necessary and comfortable provision by the way. It being expedient for Christ to go out of the world, he promises, and he sends the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to show his people things to come, “to lead them into all truth,” saying of him, “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.”[*]John 16:14-15 “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men: yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.”[*]Psa 118:18 “He that descended, is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some, apostles: and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors, and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”[*]Eph 4:10-13 Is your heart, O Christian, like Jacob’s, ready to faint, through unbelief, or through an excess of joy! Let your spirit, with his, revive as you ponder “the exceeding great and precious promises” of the gospel in your soul, as you consult the sacred record, as your evidence brightens up, as the first fruits of the Spirit are given and tasted. From Canaan there is a going out, from Goshen a going out, as an entering in; but from the Canaan that is above, there is no more “going out:” “they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”[*]Rev 7:15-17 “He which testifieth these things, saith, Surely, I come quickly; Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”[*]Rev 22:20-21