HOMILETICS. Vers. 46-57.-Joseph on tlw second throne in Egy_pt. I. DURING THE SEVE~ YEA~B OF rLENTY. 1. His mai,ure manhood (ver. 46). Thirteen years had elapsed B!nce his brethren had sold him at Dothan, and during the interval what a chequered hfe had he experienced l Carried into Egypt by the spice caravan of the Midianitish traders, he liacl been sold a second time as a slave. Ten years had he served ns a bondman, first as a valet to the provost marshal of the slaughterers, and then as overseer of the great man's household. Three years more he had spent in prison, having been in- carcerated on a charge of which he was entirely innocent. And now, at the age of thirty, he is the wisest and the greatest man in Egypt. God has strange ways ~f developing the talents, maturing the experience, and advancing the honour of _lns sons. The case of Joseph is a signal illustration of the beneficial uses of adversity, and shows that the true road to success in life, to the acquisition of wisdom, or of power, or of wealth, or of fame, or of all cm~bine~\ often !i~s through early hard- ships and trials disasters and defeats. 2. His politu:al activity (vers. 46-49). As grand vizier of tLe empire, Joseph's labours during this period must ha".e _b~cn many and laborious: surveying the corn-producing land of the country, and d1y1d!ng it fc,1 purposes of taxation into districts, appointing overseers in every d1stnot, CH, XU. 46-57.] THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 471
erecting grnna.riea ~r gov~m~ent stores in every city o~ any size or importance, and genera.Uy supenntendmg m every comer of the empire the work of uplifting the fifth pa.rt of the superabundant harvests of these precious years when the earth brought forth by ha.nrlfula. The result was, that by the close of this period the Egyptian government ha~ collecte~ corn as ~he sand of the sea, very much, and without number. 3. Hu domestic prosperity (ver. 50). On the name of Joseph'a wife, and the questions connected with the subject of her marriage with Joseph, the Exposition under ver. 45 may be consulted. That the marriage itself was approved by God there is no sufficient reason to doubt, and that it was a mar- riage of affection may be inferred from the sentiments expressed by Joseph on the occasion of his sons' births. The birth of his chi!dren also was interpreted by him to be a mark of Divine favour. What a signal reward for the fidelity and purity of Joseph'a beha.viour in the house of Potiphar three years before I Had Joseph at that time left the straight path of virtue, where had been his advancement and felicity now? . Even in this life God puts a premium in the long run on a life of purity. 4. His personal piety (vers. 51, 52). To l:lOme indeed Joseph's language on the birth of Manasseh appears somewhat hard to reconcile at least with true.filial piety. Why did not Joseph, on reaching his exalted station in Egypt, at once communicate with hie father? Was this a just or generous reward for what he had experienced of the old man's parental affection, and, what he must have still felt assured of, the old man's sorrow for hie imagined death? Yet Joseph talks as if he had forgotten his father's house, as well as all his toil, in the splendour of his fame and the exuberance of hie happiness in Egypt. But that these words are not to be interpreted literally becomes apparent, not alone from the pathetic meeting with hie brethren and his father, soon to be described, but also from the statement which he makes upon the birth of Ephraim, in which he still characterises Egypt as the land of his affliction. That Joseph did not at once declare his parentage and send a message home to He- bron may be explained by many reasons without resorting to the hypothesis that "Joseph was still unable to attain perfect cnlm and cherish sentiments of love and forgiveness" towards hie brethren (Kurtz): as, e. g., the comparative insecurity that must have attended hie position in Egypt until the years of famine came, an unwill- ingness prematurely to reveal to his father the full depth of wickedness of which his brethren had been guilty, a secret impression made upon his mind by God that the time of disclosure was not yet. At all events Joseph'a conduct in this matter discovers nothing essentially inconsistent with a piety which shines out conspicu- ously in the grateful recognition of the hand of God in turning for him the Ahndow of death into the morning. II. DURING THE SEVEN YEARS OF DEARTH. 1. His reputati()'TI, as a prophet fully con.firmed (vers. 53, 54). God is always careful to me.into.in the honour of hie own prophets. Whatever message he transmits to the world or the Church through a messenger of his sending, he will in due time see to its fulfilment. No true ambas- sador of heaven need entertain the slightest apprehensions as to the failure of the words which God provides for him to speak. If he is not always, like Samuel, estab- lished as a prophet of the Lord at the beginning of hie ministry (1 Sam. iii. 20), his claim to that distinction will in due course be made good by the exact nccomplish- lllent of what God has through his lips foretold. 2. His sagacity as an adminis- trator clearly established (ver. 55). If Pharaoh had any doubts na to the wisdom of ,Joeeph's proposal during the seven years of plenty, assuredly he had r,one now. With a famishing population all around him, what could Pharaoh have done, how averted the destruction of hie people, and possibly the overthrow of his own dynasty, if it had not been for the prudent forethought of Joseph? Happy nre the kings who hnve wise men in their kingdoms, and who, when they lrnve them, can trust them. ;), His work as a saviour hopefully begun (ver. 56). If it be asked why Joseph did w>t gratuitously distribute Pharnoh'e corn among the perishing multitudes, the reply i~ obvious. ( 1) In nil probability the grnin had been previously purchased from the people. (2) The people had been warned of the impending r.alumity, und might have exercised o. little of the forethought of Joseph, and by care and economy provided for the day of want. (3) To have given the corn gratuitously would have resulted in a too lavish distribution, and for the most part to the greedy nnd the prodignl 472 'l'llE BOOK or GENEStS. tcu. xtt. 46-57.