ground, saying, 'We are thy servants.' But Joseph comforted them, and spoke mildly to them, saying, 'Fear not; can we resist the will of God? You thought evil against me; but God has turned it into good, that He might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people. Fear not; I will feed you and your children.'

The time was now come for Joseph to die; he had lived to the age of one hundred and ten years, and had seen the children of Ephraim to the third generation. At his death he called his brethren, and said, 'God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land to the land which He swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' And he made his brethren swear to him, saying, 'When God shall visit you, carry my bones with you out of this place.' After this, he died, and was embalmed, and laid in a stone coffin in Egypt.

The words of Joseph to his brethren recall to mind the words of St. Peter's sermon in the Temple: 'Let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God has made both Lord and Christ this same Jesus whom you have crucified. Do penance, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins.'

§ 24. The history of Job the Idumean.

Between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses, there lived in Hus, in the land of Edom, a man named Job, who was simple and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil. He was exceeding rich in sheep, and camels, and oxen, and was looked upon as a prince among all the people of the East. He had sons and daughters, who feasted with each other, each in their turn; and Job their father, when the days of their feasting were over, would rise up early in the morning and offer sacrifices for every one of them; for he said, 'Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have cursed God in their hearts.'

But this prosperity was not to last; evil days were to come, and the holy Job was to be tried. On a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan was among them, and the Lord said to him, 'Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, fearing God and avoiding evil?' Satan answering said, 'Doth Job serve God in vain? Hast Thou not blessed the works of his hands, and increased his possessions upon the earth? But put forth Thine hand and touch all that he hath, and see if he will not curse Thee to Thy face.' And the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand, only touch not thou his life.' And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Upon a certain day, when his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their eldest brother, there came a messenger to Job, and said, 'The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them, and the Sabæans rushed in and took all away, slaying the servants with the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.' As he was speaking, another came and said, 'The fire of God is fallen upon the sheep, and hath consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell thes,' A third

messenger came and said, that the Chaldeans had come and had fallen upon the camels and the servants, and that he alone had escaped to bring word. As he was still speaking, a fourth came and said, 'Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their elder brother, and a violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children; and they are dead.'

Then Job rose up and rent his garments, and having shaven his head, fell down upon the ground and worshipped, and said, 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord!'

Job's trials were not over: Satan was permitted to strike Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the feet even to the top of his

head; so that he took a potsherd

and scraped him-
self, sitting on a
dunghill. And
his wife said to
him, 'Dost thou
continue in thy
simplicity? Curse
God, and die!
And Job said to
her, Thou hast
spoken like one
of the foolish
women;
if we
have received
good things at
the hands of
God, why should
we not receive
evil?'

Job had three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Baldad the Shuhite, and Sophar the Naamathite, who, hearing of

the evil that had befallen him, made an appointment to come together to visit him and comfort him. And when they had lifted up their eyes afar off, they knew him not, and crying out they wept, and rending their garments they sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven. And

they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke to him a word; for they saw that his grief was very great.

6

6

Job at length gave utterance to his grief: 'Let the day perish wherein I was born; let it be turned into darkness; let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it. Why did I not die in the womb? Why was I nursed upon the knees? And why was I suckled at the breast? For now I should have been asleep and still. Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul? Job's friends, instead of consoling him and helping him to bear his calamity, each in succession attempt to prove to him, that afflictions and sufferings are always the punishment of sins. They insist, in a harsh unfeeling manner, that he should confess himself to have been guilty, and to have brought all his sufferings upon himself by his own fault. Job as stoutly asserts his innocence, and calls God to be the witness of his uprightness. When I went out to the gate of the city,' exclaims Job, the young men saw me and hid themselves, the old men rose up and stood. The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me; the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow. I was clad with justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment as with a rose and a diadem. I was an eye to the blind and a foot to the lame; I was the father of the poor, and the cause which I knew not I searched out most diligently; I broke the jaws of the wicked, and out of their teeth I took away the prey; and I was a comforter of them that mourned. But now the younger men scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock; I am turned into their song, and am become their byeword; for God hath opened His quiver and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle in my mouth. I am brought to nothing; as a wind Thou hast taken away my desire, and my prosperity hath passsed away like a cloud. And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me. I am become the brother of dragons and the com

panion of ostriches.'

Thus Job justified himself against the accusations of his three friends, who ceased to answer him, because he seemed just to himself. On their ceasing to speak, a fourth friend, Elihu by name, who had been patiently listening, begins to address Job in much the same strain. 'For Job hath said, "I am just, and God hath overthrown my judgment." What man is there like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? At length God Himself becomes umpire in the dispute, and condescends to reason with Job, to show him that he came out of nothing, and that he ought to be satisfied to commit himself to the hands of his Maker. And the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskilful words? Answer Me: Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the world; when the morning stars praised Me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?' And the Lord said to Job, 'Surely he that reproveth God ought to answer

Him" The holy Job was convinced, and exclaimed, 'I have spoken unwisely, and of things that above measure exceeded my knowledge. With the hearing of the ear I have heard Thee, but now mine eye seeth Thee; therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes.'

In reward of the humility of his servant, the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand camels; a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand asses; and he had seven sons and three daughters. And Job lived after these things a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children and his children's children unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, full of days.

Job is a figure of Jesus Christ not only in respect of the power which was given to Satan to afflict and bruise Him from head to foot, but also in respect of the reproaches of His own people. In the midst of these Jesus endured His burden of sorrow all His life long, and especially during His agony on the Cross. From the history of Job we learn the extent of the power to do harm that is permitted to the Devil, and the reason of the powers of blessing granted to the Church by way of protection.

The Fourth Era of the World (Second of Jewish History

THE WONDERFUL DEALINGS OF GOD WITH HIS CHOSEN HEBREW NATION,
FROM THEIR MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE OUT OF THE BONDAGE OF EGYPT
DOWN TO THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST TEMPLE.

(THE SIXTH HOUR OF THE PARABLE OF THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD.)
From B.c. 1570 to B.c. 1010, containing:

I. The Deliverance of the Children of Israel out of Egypt (80 years). II. The Wandering in the Wilderness, the Giving of the Law, the Institution of the Service of the Tabernacle, and the Priesthood of Aaron (40 years). 111. The Conquest and Division of the Land of Canaan under Josue (40 years). IV. The Judges of Israel, or the falling away of Israel into Idolatry (340 years). V. The Election of Saul to be King, to the Temple of Solomon (60 years).

First Subdivision.-The Deliverance out of Egypt (80 years).

§ 25. Outline of the plan of God to save the world.

The second era of the history of the chosen Hebrew people differs from the first era, which we have now gone through, in this respect, that hitherto we have seen God taking a single chosen family under His care, and even one member of it in particular, who, though sold as a slave into Egypt, came to be its governor. But as families increase, they come to form a nation or people, and then they require magistrates and laws for their government, public instructors to teach them their duty, and priests to keep up the public worship and service of God.

Almighty God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob severally, that He would make of them a great nation. The ensuing part of the

history, then, will show us how God kept His word, and how He gave His own laws, priests and sacrifices, rulers and teachers, to the family of Jacob whom He had thus multiplied. And when Jesus Christ appears, we shall see how He gave His Gospel of mercy, with its holy sacrifice and apostolic ministry, no longer to be confined to the Hebrew people only, but as a free gift to all nations of the entire world. Thus the work of God will be seen to move forward step by step. First comes the call of the single person named Abraham-then of his family, by circumcision-then of the whole people of Israel, as we shall presently see, by the Covenant of Mount Sinai—and lastly, the call of all the people and tribes of the whole world, by baptism, into the one fold of the one true Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the seed promised to Abraham, in whom God foretold that all the nations of the earth should be blest.

This advance step by step of the work of God is described by our Lord in the parable of the labourers called at different hours into the vineyard (Matt. xviii.). Those of the first hour are the immediate descendants of Noe, to whom Noe taught the knowledge of God-the labourers of the third hour, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-the labourers of the sixth hour, Moses and Aaron-the labourers of the ninth hour, the Prophets of Israel-while at the eleventh and last hour comes the ministry of the Catholic Church, which is to last to the end of the world. The evening when the labourers were called to receive their hire is the last general judgment, at which all, without exception, will have to appear, to receive either the reward of their labour or the just punishment of their evil deeds.

§ 26. The birth of Moses, the lawgiver and deliverer of Israel, B.c. 1570.

Joseph being now dead, the children of Israel grew and multiplied, and became so numerous that they filled the land. In the mean time there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said to his people, 'Behold, the children of Israel are become both more numerous and strong than we; come, let us be wise and oppress them, lest they multiply, and if any war rise up against us, they take sides with our enemies, gain a victory over us, and leave the country.' He therefore set over them task-masters to afflict them and to lay burdens upon them, and they built for Pharao the cities of Pithom and Ramesses. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and increased. The Egyptians also hated the children of Israel and mocked them, and made their life bitter with the hard works with which they oppressed them. And Pharao commanded his people, saying, 'All the male children that are born, cast them into the river, and save the female children alive.'

Some time after this, a man of the tribe of Levi took a wife of his own kindred, and when their first son was born, the mother contrived to hide him for three months; when, however, she could conceal him no longer, she took a cradle of bulrushes, smeared it with pitch, and putting the little babe into it, she laid him in the sedges by the river's brink. The little child's sister remained standing a short distance from the spot, to see what would happen. About this time Pharao's daughter