Jacob's interview with pharaoh.
Gen. xlvii. 7 — 10. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, Hoio old art thou ? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years : few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
TO acknowledge God in all our ways, and to commit our way to him, secures to us, as we are told, his gracious interposition for the direction of our paths, and the accomplishment of our desires. It is
possible that Jacob, after he had set out towards Egypt in the waggons that Joseph had sent for him, felt some doubts about the propriety of leaving the promised land, when, at his advanced age, he could have no reasonable prospect of returning thither with his family. But, knowing from experience the efficacy of prayer, he betook himself to that never- failing remedy : he stopped at Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the Lord. That very night God vouch- safed to appear to him in a vision, and to dissipate his fears, by an express command to proceed on his journey, and by a promise that he should in due time be brought back again a. He then prosecuted his journey in safety, and had a most affecting inter- view with his beloved Joseph. Soon after his arrival, five of his sons were introduced to Pharaoh ; and afterwards he himself. It is this introduction of the aged patriarch to Pharaoh that we are now more particularly to consider. In the account given us of the interview, we notice,
I. The question which Pharaoh put to Jacob —
[It could not be expected that persons so remote from each other in their station, their views, and habits of life, should have many topics in common with each other whereon to maintain a long and interesting conversation. The interview seems to have been very short, and of course the conversation short also. All that is related concerning it contains only one short question. This, as far as it related to Jacob, was a mere expression of kindness and respect on the part of Pharaoh. To have questioned him about matters which he did not understand, would have been embarrassing to Jacob, and pain- ful to his feelings : and to have asked him about any thing in which neither party was at all interested, would have betrayed a great want of judgment in Pharaoh. The topic selected by Pharaoh was liable to no such objection : for it is always grati- fying to a person advanced in years to mention his age, because the " hoary head, especially if found in the way of righteous- ness, is always considered as a crown of glory V
As a general question, independent of the history, it cannot fail of suggesting many important thoughts to all to whom it is addressed. " How old art thou?" Art thou far advanced in life ? how much then of thine allotted time is gone, and how
a Gen. xlvi. 1 — 4. b Prov. xvi. 31. Lev. xix. 32.
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little remains for the finishing of the work that is required of thee ! how diligently therefore shouldst thou redeem every hour that is now added to thine expiring term ! Art thou, on the contrary, but just setting out in the world? how little dost thou know of its snares, temptations, sorrows! what disap- pointments and troubles hast thou to experience ! and ho ,v deeply art thou concerned to have thy views rectified, and thy conduct regulated by the word of God! Whatever be thine age, thou shouldst consider every return of thy birth-day rather as a call to weep and mourn, than as an occasion of festivity and joy : for it is the knell of a departed year; a year that might, in all probability, have been far better improved ; a year in which many sins have been committed, which are inde- libly recorded in the book of God's remembrance, and of which you must shortly give a strict account at his judgment-seat.]