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CHRIST CHURCH, LONDON.
Scripture—Genesis 46-50.
Special Text—Genesis 47:7, 12, “And Joseph
brought in Jacob his father, and set him be
fore Pharoah, and Jacob blessed Pharoah.”
“And Joseph nourished his father, and his
brethren and all his father’s household, ac
cording to their families.”
E
IHIS is one of the most thrilling bits of
history in connection with the story of
I Joseph. In our previous studies we
have had our eyes for the most part cen
tered upon Joseph and his brethren. Now we
fix them upon Joseph, and his father Jacob.
If Joseph’s big-heartedness shines in his deal
ings with his brethren, no less does his affection
shine in his dealings with his father.
I want us to fix our minds on the picture of
an old patriarch with his sons and their wives
and children, and all that they possessed in this
world, moving in one long tram along the dusty
road from Canaan into Egypt. It is to me a
very interesting picture, especially when I re
member who this is, this aged patriarch. You
observe that he calls a halt at Beersheba, and
there, two very important things take place.
First, Jacob offers sacrifices, and worships God,
and then, as a result of this offering and wor
ship, God comes down and gives to him a new
covenant. This is found in chapter 46:2-4,
“And God spake unto Israel in the visions of
the night, and said Jacob, Jacob, and he said
here am I. And he said, lam God, the God of
thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt;
for I will there make of thee a great nation.
I will go down with thee into Egypt; and
I will also surely bring thee up again; and
Joseph shall put his hands upon thine eyes.”
Jacob is there at Beersheba on his way down
to Egypt to see his son. He is not quite sure
about all. There is evidently a great deal of
distrust upon Jacob’s part; he has not yet for
gotten about Joseph’s very strange departure,
and he has never been altogether satisfied about
the story they told him of Joseph. And now,
on the way down to Egypt, we can imagine the
old patriarch nervous, and trembling with fear;
stopping there at Beersheba to worship God,
and offer sacrifices. He is fearful of every step
that he has taken on that journey. And so
God comes to minister to him under these try
ing circumstances.
After Jacob immediately sends Judah over
TEARS AND TRIUMPHS
REPORTED FOR THE GOLDEN AGE BY M. I. H.—Copyright Applied For.
The Golden Age for June 19, 1913
into Egypt to notify Joseph of his coming, and
solicit the assistance of Joseph in settling in
Goshen.
He finally arrives in Go hen. I have often
tried to picture the arrival. The most inter
esting part is what takes place immediately
after his arrival—the call of the governor upon
him; and the governor is no more than his
son Joseph. No doubt Jacob has been very
anxious all this time to see Joseph, more so
than to get food for himself and his family,
and after landing in Goshen, surely old Jacob’s
heart beat fast as he thought of his son who
is now such a big man in Egypt.
Joseph rides in his chariot to call upon his
father and brethren; and here is the way the
greeting is described: ‘‘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.” That
is all there is said about it, but that is quite
enough; it is enough for those of us who can
remember our fathers and mothers. We do not
need to have anything else said. When we take
into consideration the long separation of years,
and the story that Jacob had all these years
been trying to persuade himself was not true
(for I have no doubt he tried of times to per
suade himself that that story was not true,
about Joseph’s being killed by the wild beasts)
but all the time fearful it might be true —when
we take all this into consideration— no Avonder
there was weeping when they met. This pet
ted son of his, after all the, trying circum
stances, is prime minister and governor of
Egypt, riding in a chariot! It is enough to
make old Jacob say: “Now, I am ready to die.”
Then we pass on to the presentation to Phar
oah. First, his brethren are presented. He dees
not present them all, only five. Ido not know
why he does not present them all, but perhaps
this was enough; doubtless he selected the best
looking ones of the bunch, the finest, the heart
iest and best built of the crowd. Ido not know
about that. I know this, there is no resent
ment on the part of Jcseph. We find him tak
ing these brothers who had sold him into Egypt,
and broken his father’s heart, and presenting
them at court, as his brothers, not ashamed of
them at all!
His presentation of his father is interesting,
very interesting to me. Here is what is said
o fit: “And Joseph brought in his father Ja
cob, and set him before Pharoah, and Jacob
blessed Pharoah. (Now just you fancy it. There
is his chariot; here is Pharoah the king; and
here is Joseph, and cld Jacob), “And Pharoah
said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob
said unto Pharoah, The days of the years of
my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years ;
few and evil have the days of the years of my
life been, and I have not attained unto the days
of the years of the life of my fathers in the
days of their pilgrimage.” In other words,
he says to Pharoah, “lam not as old as I look
to be. There are some circumstances operating
in my life that account for my aged look. I
have not kept up my manhood, and vigor, and
strength like my fathers before me, because I
have gone through a lot of trouble.”
Then we come to Joseph’s final provision for
his father. “And Joseph placed his father and
his brethren, and gave them a possession in the
land of Egypt in the best of the land, in the
land of Rameses, as Pharoah had commanded.”
He gave them the best they had in Egypt,” and
Joseph nourished his father and his brethren,
and all of his father’s household with bread,
according to their families.”
Then let us pass rapidly to the consideration
of the life and death of Jacob in Egypt. He
lived in Egypt 17 years, we are told, and his
last request of Joseph—how full of pathos and
feeling, and patriotism and statesmanship it is!
And the time drew night that Israel must die;
and he called his son Joseph and said unto him,
If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I
pray thee, my hand under my thigh, and deal
kindly and truly with me; bury me not I pray
thee in Egypt.”
Then Jacob calls his two sons of Joseph,
Manassah and Ephriam, and gives them his
blessing, and makes the final address to his sons,
gives directions for his burial and dies. And
Jcseph takes his body and carries it to Mach
pelah, where Abraham was buried, and buries
his old father over in the old burial ground.
And Pharoah sends a detachment of officers in
honor of Joseph, along with his old father. The
story closes with a simple, brief account of the
death of Joseph. We would have spent chap
ters on the description of the death of Joseph,
the man who had done so well in Egypt; a man
who stocd out, as he did, as the one conspicu
ous character in all the world. And yet there
are only a few words that tell about his death.
Here is his last request. “And Joseph took an
oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will
surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones
from hence.” When at last death came, and
called him he is anxious that his body shall be
carried over to the old family burial-ground.
Then we find his death described: “So Joseph
died, being a hundred and ten years old; and
they embalmed him. and he was put in a coffin
in Egypt. Following this the Book of Gene
sis closes, and we are left to see in Exodus
what became of the body cf Joseph—it just
says here, that he was put in a coffin in Egyyt.
We find that his body was taken finally and
placed by his father in Canaan.
Practical Summary.
1. True greatness is never satisfied with be
ing the only great.
Some years ago there was a book written
by Mr. Jacob Riis, in America, entitled, “How
the Other Side Lives.” It made a great im
pression throughout the country, and a copy
of the book somehow fell into the hands of the
moit distinguished statesman of the country,
who read it carefully. After had read it, he
called upon Mr. Riis. Mr. Riis was out. His
visitor took a pen and wrote: “I have just
finished reading your book, and have come to
offer help.—T. Roosevelt.” If any man were
to ask me in a single sentence the secret of Mr.
T Roosevelt’s greatness, I think I would say
this. So far as I have been able to observe, the
man is ever trying to lift the other fellow up.
That is true greatness. The man who is so
unselfish as to try to give everybody in this
world a better advantage than he has got, is
the man that just cannot-be put down.
*2. No man is strong enough to live without
some other man.
'lhis was true of Pharoah. Pharoah was a
great man, and had a great position as head of
(Continued on page 14.)
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