sons of Zilpah, his father's wives;" who, alas! seem to have inherited much more of the spirit of the bondwoman who was their mother, than the freeman who was their father. What were the particulars of their ill conduct we are not told: but Joseph observed it, was grieved and offended, and reported it to his father. Jacob is not wholly irreprehensible in this. It was imprudent to trust a well-inclined young man, at that delicately dangerous season of life, far, or long out of his sight, and in such company. It was wrong to encourage in Joseph a spirit of censoriousness and self-conceit. It was madness to add fuel to those resentments, which his ill-disguised partiality to this son of his old age had already kindled in the breasts of his other children. But his understanding seems quite blinded by love for the boy; and he proceeds from weakness to weakness. As if he had not raised up enemies enough to him, by countenancing in him the odious character of tale-bearer, he goes on to expose him to the hatred of all the family, by dressing up his darling in "a coat of many colours." What a foundation of mischief was here laid! The brothers must have been much less inflammable than they were well known to be, not to have taken fire at this indiscreet, this ridiculous distinction. And Joseph himself must have possessed a mind much more firm and more enlightened than seventeen generally discovers, not to have felt at least some transient emotions of vanity, insolence, and self-sufficiency, in being thus favoured above the rest. The father was therefore injurious to all, but most to himself. His house is now in flames, and he himself has fired the train. Parents, as ye love your repose, as you value your children, as you would have them dwell together in unity, as ye would not put a dagger into a brother's hand to shed a brother's blood, guard yourselves well against partial affections: or if unhappily you have conceived them, conceal it from every eye, let not the favourite see it, let not his rival suspect it. Let reason, let religion, let that very partiality itself teach you to be wise and just. Parents, as ye prize the understanding, the virtue, the true dignity of your children, let them never be taught to think that dress confers consequence, that finery implies worth, that the body deserves more attention than the mind. Let not even your daughters be led, through your silly vanity, to believe that any part of their excellence consists in the splendour of their appearance. But still inculcate upon them, that a mind stored with virtues, with modesty, meekness, gentleness, patience, humility, is, both to God and man, a sight infinitely more pleasing than the most beautiful person adorned with jewels and lace, if these or any of these be wanting. Let them know early, and hear frequently, that cleanliness and decency are virtues which they ought to acquire and to practise: but that a curiously ornamented body is, to a discerning eye, nothing but the indication, and the wretched, tawdry covering of a naked soul. I think I see the ill effect of Jacob's fondness on Joseph himself. What could have suggested those dreams of his own superiority, the recital of which was so offensive to his brothers, and which drew from his father himself check and reproof? Nothing but the petulancy of his waking thoughts buoyed up by confidence in paternal preference and favour. It will be said, that they were intimations from above, of his future greatness and eminence. It is readily admitted. But of what stuff does the foreknowledge and power of God frame prognostics and predictions? Sometimes, perhaps often, of the violent propensities and desires of men's minds. And many events seem to have been predicted, not because they are to come to pass, but they come to pass because they have been predicted. The dreams themselves are the natural working of a young mind, inflated by indulgence. The repetition of them, where they were sure to occasion disgust, marks a simplicity, an innocence, a boyish thoughtlessness and indiscretion, which it were cruel severely to censure, but which wisdom can by no means approve. And, the whole taken together, the prognostic with the realization, the cause with the effect, the prophesy with the event, form a wonderful and instructive contrast of the weakness of man, and the power of God; the meanness of the materials, and the magnificence of the fabric; the feebleness of the instrument, and the force of the hand which employed it. Though Jacob was not altogether pleased with the spirit which these dreams and the rehearsal of them discovered, yet they had a very different effect upon him and upon his sons. They envied and hated him the more; he "observed the saying." Whether from a father's partial fondness, or instructed by that Spirit, who afterwards disclosed futurity to him, down to the gathering of the people to Shiloh, he considered the doubling of the vision, and its coinciding purport, as portending something great and good to his beloved child; and he sits down patiently to wait the issue. And we shall presently find it was hastening towards its conclusion in a course much more rapid, and by means much more extraordinary than any which he could possibly apprehend. By this time the power of Jacob's family was grown so great, or the terror inspired by the cruel murder of the Shechemites was so far effaced, that his ten eldest sons adventure into the neighbourhood of that city to feed their flocks. The distance from Beer Well has our blessed Lord cautioned his disciples against the use of contemptuous expressions one to another. For however slight and insignificant a hard or ridiculous name at first sight may appear, it proceeds from an unkind heart, and partakes of the nature of murder. It is no uncommon thing for men who have quite got over every scruple of conscience, and all sense of duty, still to retain some regard to decency; and to respect opinion and appearances after the heart is become perfectly callous. Though they can remorse sheba, where Jacob dwelt, being considera- | dreamer cometh." ble; their absence being extended to a length of time that created anxiety, and though their apprehensions might, a solicitous father's anxiety not being quite laid to rest, he thinks proper to send Joseph from Hebron, to inquire after their welfare, and to bring him word again. Unhappy father and son! little did they think the parting of that day was to be for such a length of duration. Blind that we are to futurity! We "cannot tell what a day may bring forth." The last meeting, the last parting; the last coming in and going out; the last time of speaking and of hear-lessly resolve on shedding blood, they have ing; the last of every thing must soon over- not confidence enough to avow their violence take us all. Joseph accordingly leaves his and barbarity, but craft and falsehood must father's house, never, never to return to it be called in, to cover their villany from the more, and goes forth in quest of his brethren. eye of the world. "Come, now, therefore, Our tender affections are now strongly ex- and let us slay him; and cast him into some cited for the hapless youth. A lad of seven-pit, and we will say, some evil beast hath teen, who had never till now been from be-devoured him: and we shall see what will neath the protection of paternal care and become of his dreams."* That there should tenderness; whose face "the wind of Hea- have been one of the ten capable of conven" had never hitherto "visited too rough-ceiving and suggesting such a deed of horly" whose spirit mortification had never ror, had been wonderful; but that only one galled, whose heart affliction had never yet of ten should rise up to intercede for the unpierced; thrown at once into the wide world, happy victim, exceeds all belief. We almost missing his way in an unknown country, ex- lose the remembrance of Reuben's filthiness, posed to savage beasts, or more savage men; in his good-natured attempt to save his brocoming at length to the place of his destina- ther. If there were something of deceit in tion, but disappointed of finding what he the proposal which he made to the rest for this looked for there; and finally falling into the purpose, it was on the side of virtue, and calls hands of butchers, where he expected bro- at least for pardon, if not for commendation. thers. If ever there were an object of com- Joseph was now at hand. And O how difpassion, it is now before us. I observe his ferent his reception from what he fondly exyoung heart flutter with joy, when, after all pected! "They stript Joseph out of his his wanderings and anxieties, he descries his coat, his coat of many colours that was on brothers, and their tents, and their flocks afar him. And they took him, and cast him into off I see the tear of tenderness rush to his a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no eyes, while he delivers his father's greeting, water in it." With truth has the wise and tells the tale of his youthful sorrows and man said, "the tender mercies of the wicked mistakes upon the road. I see his blooming are cruel." The demons of envy and revenge countenance flushed with delight and satis- have taken possession of their hearts. In vain faction, at the thought of being again among he weeps, in vain he prays, in vain employs friends, of having once more a protector. the tender names of father and brother, to Ah cruel, cruel disappointment! They have win their pity. The coat, the odious coat, been plotting his ruin, they have devoted him the badge of a partial father's fondness, steels to death. He comes to them with words of their breasts. They strip it off with more peace, with kind and affectionate inquiries of savage joy than ever the doating parent after their health and prosperity. They meet felt of satisfaction in seeing him put it on, or him with looks of aversion, with words of the hapless youth himself in wearing it. The contempt and hatred, with thoughts of blood. horror of being cast alive into a pit to perish The history of Jacob's family exhibits a with hunger, is not to be conceived, much shocking view of manners and of society at less expressed. What must it then have that period. They digest and execute a plan been to a heart like Joseph's, tremblingly of murder, with as much coolness as we alive to the keenest sensations of pain; acwould an improvement in agriculture, or an quainted, till then, only with gentleness and adventure in trade. It is no wonder the poor indulgence, and now dreadfully awakened to Shechemites found no pity at their hands, perceive the full extent of his misery? Inwhen they are so lost to the feelings of na-stant death had been mercy to one in such a ture, humanity, and filial duty, as to deliber- situation. ate and determine, without ceremony or remorse, upon their own brother's death. The trifling incident of the dreams lies rankling in their bosoms. "Behold," say they, "this As if they had done nothing, they sit down unconcernedly to eat bread. Savage monsters! Could the moderate cravings of their * Gen. xxxvii. 20. † Gen. xxxvii. 23, 24. own appetite fail to remind them of the wretched state of their poor brother; fail to suggest the misery of perishing for want, and to awaken compassion in some gentle bosom? Yes; with his piercing shrieks yet sounding in their ears, with his piteous, supplicating looks yet before their eyes, they indulge the commonest, lowest cravings of their own nature, and calmly consign him to a lingering death; the bitterness of which was every instant increased by the slowness of its approach. And now, behold the darling of Jacob on the very brink of despair; when Providence, wiser than they were cunning, and more powerful than they were wicked, interposes for his deliverance. ants of him whose "hands were against every man, and every man's hands against him," and he is safer with wild Ishmaelites, than with bloody, unnatural brothers. From avarice, if not from pity or affection, they will treat him kindly, that they may dispose of him to advantage. So much better is a merciful, or even a mercenary stranger, than an envious and cruel brother. Reuben, it appears, was not present at this consultation, bargain, and delivery. He probably stole away, when the rest sat down to meat, that by a round-about path he might arrive at the pit where Joseph was hid, and assist him in effecting his escape, while the rest were otherwise employed. But he had made so large a circuit in order to avoid suspicion, that the sale was transacted before he came to the place, and his benevolent intention was thereby frustrated. He is the only one of the brothers who seems to have felt a sin It was so ordered of Heaven, that a travelling company or caravan of Ishmaelitish merchants passed by, while they were at dinner, in the course of their traffic to Egypt. A thought occurred to Judah, whose heart now began somewhat to relent, that an op-gle spark of pity for the unfortunate youth, portunity offered of ridding themselves of their hated rival, without incurring the guilt of shedding his blood; namely, that of selling him for a slave to the Ishmaelites; who, he knew would carry him along with them into Egypt, sell him over again for profit, and thereby for ever prevent the possibility of his return, to detect their villany, and renew his pretensions to superiority over them. or of concern for the distress of his aged parent. What then must his anguish have been, when he came to the pit, and found no Joseph there? From his worst fears however he is soon relieved, and, bad as it was, rejoices to hear that Joseph was only sold for a slave. By common consent it is agreed to conceal, if possible, the whole of this dark scene. They must meet their father again, and to him something must be said for the non-appearance of his amiable, his beloved son. I am not more shocked at their first purpose of blood, than at their artful device to cover it, and their awful steadiness and fidelity to each other, in guarding so well the dreadful secret. It proves, what deep, what determined, what thorough-paced villains they were. And from such men does the Jewish nation glory to have sprung! They stain the variegated coat, the cause of so much jealousy, with blood, which they intend shall pass with the wretched father for the blood of him that wore it; and they send it to Hebron as accidentally found in the field in that state, to carry its own doleful tidings with it. No sooner was this proposal made than it was assented to. And they, who a little while before made nothing of taking away their brother's life, with less scruple and ceremony still, take upon them to rob him of his liberty; and, as if he had been a bullock, or a kid from the flock, sell him for twenty pieces of silver, into the hands of strangers. O the wonder-working hand of God! The circumstances which lately seemed to poor Joseph so untoward and unfavourable, were working together for the preservation of his life, and paving the way to glory. Had he not wandered in the field, his arrival had happened too early for the passing by of these merchants to save him. Had he found his brethren in Shechem, as he expected, instead of Dothan, he had been out of the track which his deliverers took. "Who can tell what is good or evil for a man," till the end come, and the mystery of Providence be un-lated wo? All his former griefs admitted folded These, to the eye of man, are little accidental circumstances. But they are a part of a vast arrangement, made by Him "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," to bring about a great purpose. There are wheels almost imperceptible in the great machine, which the untutored eye is apt wholly to overlook, but which are indeed as necessary to motion as the largest and most obvious. I cannot accompany this fatal pledge to the place of its destination. Who can bear to witness the anguish of a miserable old man sinking under the weight of accumu of consolation. They were more directly from the hand of God, they were in the course of nature, they might be cured or endured. But this stab was mortal; it defied medicine, it mocked at length of time. He himself has had the principal hand in this great evil; and I fear, I fear he suspects the truth, though he says it not. Beautiful, too much beloved, ill-starred Rachel! once I pitied, now I congratulate thee. A gracious Providence has Thus was the jewel of his father's heart in kindness taken thee away from the evil to vilely bartered away as a thing of little value. come. The sight of Joseph's vesture dipped Behold Joseph in the hands of the descend-in blood, must have proved fatal to thee, hadst thou lived to that day. To have lived till now, must have been to endure pangs more frightful than the agonizing throes of childbirth, or the last dying struggles of dissolving nature. We hasten from a scene which the heart is unable long to contemplate, to land Joseph safely in Egypt-where being arrived, he is transferred, like a bundle of spicery, from the Midianites to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, and captain of the guard. 66 eat of his bread, lifted up his heel against him." Judas, one of his own house, sold him for thirty pieces of silver. He was stripped of his vesture, his raiment was stained with blood. He looked and there was none to help.” "He trode the wine-press alone." "He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." "He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth."* "It became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."† Men "thought evil against him, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations."} To the attentive reader of the sciptures, these, and many such applications as these, of the Jesus, the well-beloved Son of God, came history of Joseph, to the person, the characfrom his Father's house above, to bring to ter, the office, and undertaking of the Mesus, his brethren after the flesh, the gentle siah, will readily occur. To the careless and and affectionate commendations of his Fa- unbelieving, more has been said than they ther's love. Instead of welcome, he met will understand, regard, or approve. We with reproach and scorn. "He came to his commend them to the mercy of God, and we own and his own received him not." "He implore a blessing on what has been spoken, was despised and rejected of men." "His for Christ's sake. Amen. And here your time warns me to stop. And here, in the hands of that God who "delivered him from the paw of the lion and the bear," we deposit this precious trust, confident of its being restored, like all that we commit to God, increased in value, importance, and utility. If the subject be pleasing to you as it is to me, I shall hope to have the pleasure of resuming it with you next Lord's day. familiar friend in whom he trusted, which did | * Isa. liii. 7. † Heb. ii. 10. Gen. 1. 20. §Ps. xxxiii. 11. HISTORY OF JOSEPH. LECTURE XXX. And the Lord 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 the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass, from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake: and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand: and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat; and Joseph was a goodly person, and well-favoured.-GENESIS XXXix. 2-6. UNLESS "the heart be established by grace," in prosperity it will be elated above measure, and in adversity will be ready to sink under the weight of its wo. A principle of religion preserves the balance of the soul, and guards it equally from rising into insolence, or falling into dejection. It has been disputed whether prosperity or adversity be the severer trial of the two. In order to determine the question, it is necessary to know the character of the party who is tried. In some persons we meet with a stupidity, an insensibility of nature, on which change of circumstances makes no apparent impression. This endeavours to pass upon itself, and actually does pass upon superficial observers, for moderation in success, and patience in affliction. But the rock is not patient, because without murmuring it bears the incessant dashing of the raging sea; neither does the snail deserve the praise of humility, because it attempts not to fly. That moderation is estimable, which, awake to all the advantages of rank, and fortune, and success, offends not God by levity and ingratitude, nor man by haughtiness and pride. That patience merits admiration and praise, which feels, yet complains not; which sighs, yet submits. It is very natural for men to flatter themselves that they could support prosperity with wisdom and propriety. But I believe experience will evince, that while success tends to relax, weaken, and extinguish the religious principle, calamity, by teaching us our own weakness and dependence, awakens, strengthens, and keeps it alive. The lot of most men alternately furnishes occasion for exercise in both ways. It is the office of genuine and solid piety, to instruct us "in whatever state we are, therewith to be content;" "to exercise men unto godliness, which is profitable unto all things, having the promise both of the life which now is, and of that which is to come." The amiable and illustrious person on whose history we entered in the last Lecture, and which we are now to continue, affords a shining and affecting example of a mind unsubdued by the deepest distress, and uncorrupted by the highest degree of elevation, His affliction commenced at an early period of life. It was, of its kind, peculiarly bitter and severe. It came from a quarter whence it was least to be apprehended; and the transition was instantaneous, from a tranquillity and indulgence which knew no bound, to anguish which no language can express, no imagination conceive. As he was to be an eminent type of Him, who, "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, not opening her mouth," scripture represents Joseph submitting to the barbarous treatment of his brothers, as doomed to perish of hunger in an empty pit, and sold into slavery to the Ishmaelites, without arguing, without upbraiding, without repining. Were it possible to form a stronger idea of the hard heartedness of Jacob's sons than that which their cruelty to Joseph affords, it is to see them the calm witnesses of the anguish of their father's soul, without being moved by all his misery and tears to divulge the important secret, and to pour into the fond paternal heart the cordial balm, which even the knowledge of his son's being a slave in Egypt would have administered. As a dawn of hope would thence have arisen, that by some blessed revolution of events, the precious hour might perhaps at length arrive, which should restore him to his father again. What a dreadful thing it is to embark on a sea of vice! To return is difficult, if not impossible -to proceed is ruin. Joseph, meanwhile, lives and prospers in a strange land. He has not lost all, he has lost nothing, who enjoys the divine presence and favour. The amiable youth is indeed from under the shadow of his father's wing, but the protection of Heaven is not with drawn; "the Almighty is his refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.' A young man brought up like him, in fulness, liberty, indulgence, and ease, might have been supposed sullen and stubborn under a change of condition so sudden and so severe; or to have sunk into melancholy and despair. But with Joseph it was not so. With true magnanimity and spirit, he cheerfully accommodates his mind to his situation, and without murmur or reluctance, addresses himself to the discharge of his duty as a diligent and faithful servant. We have not power over our lot, to carve it out as we please; but the mind has power over itself: and happiness has its seat in the mind, not in external circumstances. The favourite son of Israel seems degraded and dishonoured, even when raised to the first rank of servitude in Potiphar's house; but Joseph, pious, modest, wise, and faithful, is equally respectable whether as a son or as a servant. Never did Potiphar make so fortunate a purchase. The blessing of God enters into his house, from the moment Joseph becomes a member of the family. In many various ways are servants curses or comforts to those with whom they dwell. Let a servant have a conscience, and you have a certain pledge of his fidelity. Divest him of that, and where is your security, that either your property or your person is safe in his hands? Joseph demeaned himself as a good servant; Potiphar as a wise and a kind master. In vain do we look for affection and attachment in our inferiors, if we treat them with insolence, unkindness, or neglect. The great and affluent are much more in the power of, much more dependent upon their meanest domestics, than they are willing to understand, or to acknowledge. And surely, it is much more prudent to secure their affection as humble friends, by condescension and good nature, than to provoke their resentment or revenge, by pride and severity. 66 Joseph has been faithful over a few things, he is made ruler over many things. "He made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand." His personal accomplishments keep pace with his mental endowments, "he was a goodly person and wellfavoured." Beauty, like every other gift of nature, is good of itself, and therefore to be received with thankfulness. But alas, how often does it prove a snare to the possessor, and a temptation to others! This quality of Joseph's had like to have proved more fatal to him than even the envy of his brothers. This last threatened only his body, but that endangers the soul. The one sold him into bondage, the other would have plunged him into dishonour. His master's wife looked upon him with eyes of unhallowed affection, and attempts to make him a partaker of her impurity. To expatiate on the nature of this temptation, would be as indecent as it is unnecessary. |