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The Golden Age for May 22, 1913.
FROM SLAVERY TO SOVEREIGNTY
Wednesday Night Bible Lecture by Rev. Len G. Broughton, D.D., of Christ Church, London
REPORTED FOR THE GOLDEN AGE BY M. I. H.—Copyright Applied For.
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CHRIST CHURCH, LONDON.
Gen. XXXIV-XLII.
Special Text: Gen. 39:2-4: “And Jehovah
was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man;
and he was in the house of his master the
Egyptian. And his master saw that Jehovah
was with him, and that Jehovah made all that
he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph
found favor in his sight, and he ministered un
to him; and he made him overseer over his
house, and all he had be put into his hand.”
In our last study we began the story of Jo
seph, and considered his life from his child
hood to slavery. At that time we considered
the period of his youth; his father’s partial
ity for him; his two dreams; his brother’s
jealousy and hatred; his capture, and sale to
the Ismaelites, and thence to Potipher, cap
tain of Pharoah’s guard.
Tn our present study we consider him as a
slave in Potipher’s house, and thence, to his
position as prime minister of Egypt. But be
fore we do so, I want us to get in our minds
something of the conditions that faced young
Joseph, a lad of 17 years of age, as he en
tered the land of Egypt. Rev. J. Van Dyke,
speaking of Joseph’s entry into Egypt, says:
“A brief journey has brought him from a re
gion scarcely more than barbarous, to one
far advanced in civilization. The skilled ag
riculturist is in the field; the ingenious mech
anic at his daily toil. The children have those
rare evidences of a refined state of society;
toys with which to while away the joyous
hours. The judge in his court is administer
ing statutes which even modern society might
advantageously re-enact. A written language,
the laborious work of many generations, and
which had passed from hieroglyphics to pho
netics, meets his eye on cunningly prepared
papyrous leaves. A settled religious faith; a
complicated system of government; a language
bearing evidence of growth through many cen
turies; a vast empire consolidated upon the
wrecks of pre-existing nationalities, great ma
terial prosperity accompanied with the knowl
edge of the physical sciences, of history, of
metaphysics, and even of theology, a degree
of progress in the fine arts, which, though
different, still rivals that of the present day
—these, as well as their institutions, their laws,
and their brilliant achievements, unmistakably
testify to the immense antiquity of the empire
under whose overshadowing influence Joseph
is to pass his days of servitude.”
Now let us see him as a slave in Potipher’s
house. Fancy him as a slave of 17 years of age,
entering this country under these splendid cir
cumstances, so entirely different from any he
had ever dreamed of in his earlier days. The
first thing that greets him is service in the
house of Potipher. When he enters the house
of Potipher as a slave, there are three things
said of him that I want to call your attention
to.
First, it is said “Jehovah was with Joseph.”
A great statement! I can conceive of no
stronger statement than this. I can conceive
of no more important reality than that which
he was favored with as a stranger, and a ser
vant. I often think when I see young men
and women coming to a great city like Lon
don, ‘I wonder if they have the Lord Jehovah
with them?’
Some time ago a young woman came to me
in my vestry in this church, and she had not
been in long before she said: “I am an entire
stranger in this city.” *1 asked “Where is your
home?” She replied, “In Wales; way back
in the back woods of Wales is where my par
ents live, and I am here for the purpose of
taking a training in one of London’s great
hospitals. ’ ’ I said, “ Oh! when did you come ?’ ’
“Just a few days ago,” she replied. I saw
the girl was nervous, and a bit excited, and I
endeavored to quiet her the best I could. Final
ly she said, “You know, I begin to realize al
ready that a strange girl in this city needs
the help of the church.” Then I said to her:
“It is not going to be possible for you, taking a
training as a nurse, to be in church very much.
I know something of the calling into which you
are now entering, so I would like to amend
your statement if you will. It is an awful
thing for a girl to be in a great city like
London without God! Now you ban have
God with you all the time, and you are going
to need him more by reason of the fact that
you are environed here by strangeness on ev
ery hand, and that you are going into a hos
pital for training.”
But 0 that girl was just one out of thou
sands that are coming into the city every day
—strangers, coming into a strange environ
ment, facing new conditions, as strange as the
conditions that faced young Joseph as he enter
ed Egypt. Many of them alas! have no God.
It cannot be said of them as it was said of Jo
seph, that Jehovah was with them.
Then again, you see another statement “and
he was a prosperous man.” A natural result!
Have you thought of the fact that these words
were statements concerning Joseph when he
was only a lad of 17 years of age, and when
he was only a slave? Now when you think, as
you look back upon that young man at the
age of 17, a slave, why was he called a prosper
ous man? Because he kept company with Je
hovah. Prosperity does not consist in a man’s
wealth, in the amount of motor cars that he
has, and rides in, or in the section of the city
he lives. That don’t make prosperity! We
have to get God’s estimate of things, and his
estimate of prosperity is not that which I have
just outlined; it is exactly that which Joseph
experienced; it is the presence of' H&msedf
with a man! God with a man, keeping com
pany with him, endorsing him, that is pros
perity, and it is the only real prosperity that
a man ever enjoys because if God is with him,
he has everything that God has.
Third, we read, “And his-master saw that
Jehovah was with him.” Ah, that is a great
thing to have said! Joseph’s life, and associa
tion and conduct with God was not a thing
he was ashamed of, and tried to hide. It was
a thing that he exhibited in his daily walk
and conversation with his superiors. When it
is said of a man by his associates that God is
with him, you may rest assured of the fact that
that man’s life is worth living. And, after all,
if a man really has God underwriting his life
there is no way to hide it. He will not want
to, and he could not if he did, because God
cannot and will not be hid. So here at the
very beginning of Joseph’s life in Egypt as a
slave, we have these three great things said of
him. The next thing we have said about Jo
seph is an account of his promotion in the
house of Potipher. Potipher placed Joseph in
charge of the rest of his servants, and in charge
of these servants Joseph had some new expe
riences. In the first place, he was tried by new
customs. Then he was tried with new respon
sibility. Then he had to face a new temptation.
All are familiar with the nature of his tempta
tion, it came through the wife of his master,
Potipher. But we all rejoice in the fact that
young Joseph was enabled oy that superior
power which came to him through his associa
tion with Jehovah, to resist this temptation.
But the resisting of the temptation brought
him into still greater difficulty of having to
face a charge of serious blackmail. The wife
of Potipher set to work to entrap him. She
went to her husband and told him that this
young Hebrew slave that had come into the
family and had been promoted to be the head
of the servants of the household, had endeav
ored to take advantage of her, and her hus
band seemed to believe her story, at least he
believed it far enough to have young Joseph
placed in prison. Now you put yourself, if you
can, back of the place of this young captive He
brew, conscious of the fact that you are inno
cent, and as a result of an infamous plot, im
prisoned. Conscious also of your absolute in
ability to establish your innocence—because the
word of a woman is generally taken before the
word of a man in such cases.
But if you will read the story, you will see
that it is stated of him again as he enters the
prison, “Jehovah was with him.” God knew
about this. And Joseph had handed his life
over to God. We may criticise him for his
early life; his over ambition; his meddlesome
disposition with his brethren. But, my friends,
as sure as you live, by this time Joseph’s life
was in the hand of God. He is moulding that
life for Joseph, as clay in the hands of the pot
ter.
While he is there in the prison, two other
prisoners are put in. The king’s chief butler,
and baker offended the king, and were put in
prison and placed under his charge. Joseph
seems to be one of those fellows born to rule.
(Continued on Page 14.)