06.7.4. Joseph in Prison
IV. -- JOSEPH IN PRISON
HERE follow yet further temptations, through which the spirit in us is yet more perfected. If it resists the solicitations of natural affection, the natural man is stirred up against it, and the spirit is more than ever straitened. Like Joseph, it is sorely bound. Then, in its bonds, it is brought into contact with certain servants of Pharaoh, that is, certain forms or powers of the natural man, which by it are served, and even in some degree disciplined. Inwardly, we see here how certain natural activities are subdued, while the spirit is yet shut up in grievous bondage: outwardly, how certain natural men are schooled and taught by the elect while the world neglects or frowns upon them. Of this work within I can say but little here, because of our dim perception of that immense complexness of thought and being, which go to make up man. Adam’s path may be clearly seen by us, and some of the earlier stages of man’s development; while the later steps, which are more inward and deal with the many varieties of the carnal and spiritual mind, may be beyond our vision. Even if seen, the nice distinction between these varied forms of thought and life is hard to be uttered, in our present state and with our imperfect language. Without, our eyes can see the immense variety of tribes which have come forth from Adam, all of which are but various forms or manifestations of man or human nature. But within, though secret and hidden, the outcome is the same. Old Adam in us brings forth as many different minds, each of which throughout this book is figured and set before us in some son of Adam, or Noah, or Shem, or Ham, or Japhet; some outward, some inward, some sensual, some natural, some spiritual, and this in different measures; the elect all representing some form of the spiritual mind in us; the non-elect, some form of that mind which is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Now Egypt is the ground of sense, and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the highest part or ruling power of the natural man; (Note: See on Genesis 12:1-20) his servants being those inferior or subordinate activities, whose office it is to serve this natural man. I do not pretend to interpret with perfect precision here, but we shall not be far wrong if we regard these servants as the senses; for the natural man (I do not mean the body) imbibes, receives, and digests the things the senses give him. But these senses at a certain stage are felt to need restraint. They have been useful in their place, but something occurs which makes the natural man perceive that they require discipline. He finds that his servants are not wholly trustworthy: their fallacies begin to be discerned. Hence they are restrained, and thus brought into contact with the spirit, which in its bondage instructs them, and so prepares them to instruct the natural man. For now they learn that there is a power to know God’s mind above their own; their lot too is shewn, that some will be restored to serve the natural man, and others must be mortified; while a way is thus opened by which the natural man, through its own servants, may in due time receive an intimation of that higher faculty, which as yet is shut up and bound within.
------------ But this fulfilment within can hardly be uttered. Let us therefore look at the same scene as it is very manifestly fulfilled in the wider sphere of the outward world around us. In this view, we see here the griefs and works of those, who, while looking for spiritual power, because they will not be corrupted by the world, are for a season shut up from outward usefulness. Neither Abraham, Isaac, nor Jacob, ever suffered thus. Faith, sonship, and service, with all their trials, are not so pressed as the pure and loving soul which dreams of rule. The Josephs are mocked and sold even by brethren. Then, in the world, they are first tempted, and, if they will not yield, are made to suffer grievous bondage. What the elect feels at this stage, none know but God. To get even a glimpse of this sorrow needs an instructed eye. Such a path may appear to be free from all doubtings, a course which throughout shall be so plain as to cost us little exercise. In vain we read the Psalms: in vain we see "John in prison" doubting what "John baptizing" never questioned. (Compare Matthew 11:2-3 with John 1:28-29.) We too at last are shut up. Till we have felt it, we cannot conceive that sickness of heart, which at times will steal upon the patient sufferer; that sense of loneliness, that faintness of soul, which comes from hopes deferred and wishes unshared, from the selfishness of brethren, and the heartlessness of the world. We ask ourselves, If the Lord were with me, should I suffer thus, not only the scorn of the learned and the contempt of the great, but even the indifference and neglect of those whom I have served, who yet forget me? So Joseph might have asked; and so till now may the elect ask, as they stand alone without man’s encouragement or sympathy, not turned aside by falsehood or scorn, with their face set as a flint, yet deeply feeling what it costs them. In this trial the elect meets other men (Genesis 40:1-4). The spiritual are not the only sufferers. The world at times must judge its own children, and worldling and Christian may both be under its frown. Here, as on Calvary, we have before us three sufferers, alike rejected by the world, though most unlike each other. God’s elect fall in with just two sorts of men, both Egyptians, and both sufferers, whose end is very different; the one after a brief term of bondage being released and blessed; the other remaining in bondage, till suddenly they are cut off. To outward eyes there is little difference between them. The world, if it think of them, passes one common judgment on all. Those who are shut up must doubtless deserve punishment. Besides, who has not heard of the attempts of the elect to loose the bonds of society, and thus to subvert the world’s happiness? So the precious are mingled with the vile. Then some, who in their prosperity would never have met or thought of Joseph, in their sorrow learn the might of truth and grace, as they see a man of like passions with themselves, and in the same affliction, shedding the sunshine of his own peace on all around, bound, yet free, and poor, yet making many rich, without a murmur, forgetting himself and his own griefs, in loving efforts to serve and comfort others. But Joseph does more. He interprets their dreams, and makes them understand the thoughts of their hearts and what the Lord is saying to them (Genesis 40:5-7). Not in their bright days, but in hours of darkness and grief, does the Lord’s voice come home with power to the men of this world. Some dream, -- it may be of the day, -- some inward consciousness of a voice from God, -- reaches even sensual men, when all is dark around, which, with an authority which cannot be stifled or silenced, though they cannot explain it, with strange light flashes in upon them, forcing them to feel that God Himself is speaking. Then they need an interpreter to expound to them their thoughts; and God’s elect, long schooled to know God’s voice, help the perplexed ones to solve their own secret. They declare that if He speaks, He will also interpret (Genesis 40:8); and that worldlings, though often they cannot understand, are never left without a witness; for He speaks not only to His own, but to all, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. The word differs indeed to each, for the revelation must be according to our state, but to each the Lord has some message; which in our sunny days may not be heard, but will come with power to our souls in our dark hours and nights of heaviness. To Jacob there is a dream of protection in service, a ladder uniting the rough and untilled earth to highest heaven, testifying that God and His angels come down from highest to lowest, and that true servants with Him may go anywhere. To Joseph, dreams of glory and might; to the butler, a dream of restoration and blessing; to the baker, of losing what he had wrought. And as the dream is, so is the fulfilment. I cannot but think, that, to a degree few suppose, the impressions which reach us from another world, are often true forebodings to men of what is about to come upon them. Doubtless Satan, as an angel of light, in this as elsewhere to discredit God, seeks at times to deceive us with wrong and false suggestions. But I speak of the settled and growing conviction, which makes to some their calling and election sure, and to others seems already to forestall the day of judgment. Be this as it may, revelations from the Lord depend upon our state, and each receives that message which is best suited to him. The faithful sufferer has visions of glory, well understood; Egyptians have visions of mercy or judgment, both awhile a riddle to them, till the elect, without fear or favour to either, interprets to each their deep and awful significance. As to these dreams, which are of everlasting truth, they shew the fate and end of those two classes, into which the slaves of this world may be divided. In this view, worldlings make up two classes, and but two, the saved and lost. The thoughts and ways, may I not say, the inward life of each, is here remarkably displayed. Before the one, a vine is set, which appears to bud, and blossom, and bring forth clusters. He does not plant it or make it to grow; but his eyes are turned and feast upon its beauty. As he looks it seems to grow. Then he takes of its fruit, and, not content to have it for himself alone, he ministers it to others near him. Thus one class of worldlings, in their hour of trouble, have an eye opened to behold Christ as "the Vine which cheereth God and man" (John 15:1; Judges 9:13). As they look, the Vine they are intent on seems to grow before them; one beauty after another opens out to their astonished view; first the blossoms, and then the clusters, and then the precious wine, which with glad hearts they take and give to other worldlings. What can they render to the Lord for all His mercies? They will take the cup of salvation, and confess they owe their all to Him. And yet, with an eye open to see the Vine, and a hand stretched out to grasp it, and to give its cheering blood to all around, the man is yet in sadness and fear, not seeing that such a vision is the certain pledge of life and liberty. Then God’s elect explain the dream. If such things are seen, the prisoner may be of good cheer. He that sees this Vine on "the third day" shall go forth free. Soon shall his bondage cease, and in the power of the resurrection he shall live to serve others (Genesis 40:20). (Note: The "third day" is always connected with resurrection. See on the third day.)
How different the scene before the other’s eyes. He sees himself, carrying on his head baked meats, the work of his own hands. He has toiled to make "all manner of things for Pharaoh," but none for God. Carelessly he exposes the produce of his toil where it may be stolen from him. It is "on his head," not in his hands; "in baskets full of holes," (Note: Heb. saliy choriy [H5536, H2751], translated in the text of the authorised version "white baskets;" but in the margin "baskets full of holes." The Hebrew root, chor [H2352 or H2356], is a hole or perforation, evidently expressing the holes or interstices between the twigs, of which the baskets were made. Jarchi explains it of wicker-baskets, made of twigs which were white from having the bark peeled off.) whence the birds of the air can come and steal away his labours. While some poor worldlings in their fears behold the Vine, others are occupied and burdened with what they themselves have wrought to please the world. They see their work, not for God, but for the world. As they look, they see their treasure is in danger, for it has been "put into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:6); and ere long evil spirits, (so our Lord Himself explains the "birds," Matthew 13:4; Matthew 13:19,) deprive them of the fruits of all their labour. One would have thought that such things would need no interpreter. But it is not so. The poor prisoner looks with fear, but he understands not. What must the elect say to such? Can he say, Peace, Peace, where there is no peace? What can he say, but that, if no change comes, "the end of such things is death" (Romans 6:21).
Thus even in his bondage does the elect shew out God’s thoughts, cheering some of the slaves of this world, if he can only warn others. Those he comforts in due time are freed, and in their joy forget the man through whom the comfort reached them (Genesis 40:23). The Lord’s prisoners differ greatly. Some there are, who hear the truth, and go forth from bondage, and yet are not spiritual. Such men never suffer like purer souls. They could not bear it; therefore it is not laid upon them. For the vessel of wood, it is enough that it be washed with water: the precious gold can bear, and therefore must be purged by, fire; for it is written, "Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; and all that abideth not the fire, ye shall make go through the water" (Numbers 31:23; Leviticus 15:12). Thus, while these are freed, the beloved of the Lord remains in bonds; fitted for service or rule, and yet cut off from it. It seems as if Joseph thought the butler would help him; but many weary days elapse before he remembers Joseph. Let spiritual souls understand their calling. They may comfort others: let them not think they shall therefore be remembered in the world.
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Dispensationally too this is fulfilled. In this view, Joseph in an Egyptian prison is Christ come into the world, where He can meet the two peoples, that is, the Jew and Gentile. The Jews, even as we, need many figures to represent all the different aspects or relations in which they may be seen. As the brethren of Christ in the flesh, who reject and sell Him, they are again and again set forth in the sons of the first wife. As the line of the kingdom, they are seen in Judah and his sons. As a sensual people, uncircumcised in heart (See Jeremiah 9:26), and ignorant of God’s secrets, even when He speaks, an Egyptian captive awaiting judgment is their appointed figure. Christ, the true Joseph, meets these two peoples, Jew and Gentile. In former days they had each served Egypt or the world with meat and drink in different measures. When He comes, they are shut up, unable to serve others. God has spoken to both, but they cannot understand. (Note: Those who are familiar with the early Fathers know how confidently they spoke to the Gentiles, as men who ought to have had better thoughts of God, even from their own poets, and the voice of nature. See Justin Martyr’s Cohortatio ad Graecos, § 14, and the following sections; also his De Monarchia, § 2, &c. The Pedagogue of Clement is full of this thought throughout, that the Divine Word was the invisible teacher of men at all periods and in all lands. St. Paul seems to express the same thought, Acts 14:15-17; Acts 17:23-28; Romans 1:19-20.) For the book of prophecy and God’s purpose, though given by Him to men, was not opened rightly till the Spirit of Christ opened it. In these visions or dreams, one people saw a vine, and gathered, and then presented, its precious juice to others. This people, which is the Gentile, though for a while shut up, shall be released, and bear forth the cup of blessing to the world; while the other people, though burdened and toiling, shall be robbed of the bread they have prepared, -- this is the Jew, -- and then be judged and cast out. But the Gentile people, though freed, ill requite Joseph. In their joy they forget that, though they are free, He does not rule yet where He surely must rule. They seem to think their service to Pharaoh will suffice, till, by the discovery of their own impotence to solve his difficulties, they are forced to remember Him to whom all in heaven and earth shall bow. When will Gentile Christendom awake to the fact that there is One, who has served them, and waits to rule? When will they welcome Him to judge all things? (Note: The Ordinary Gloss sums up the substance of this chapter. -- In loco.)