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STUDIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

—INTERNATIONAL S.S. LESSONS—

SUGGESTIVE THOUGHTS DESIGNED TO ASSIST THOSE OF OUR READERS WHO ATTEND BIBLE CLASSES WHERE THESE LESSONS ARE USED; THAT THEY MAY BE ENABLED TO LEAD OTHERS INTO THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL

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JOSEPH FORGIVING HIS BRETHREN

II. QUAR., LESSON V., APR. 29, GEN. 45:1-15

Golden Text—”If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.”—Luke 17:3

Again the wisdom and noble character of Joseph shine out brilliantly in his treatment of his erring brethren. When the widespread famine had brought them down to Egypt to buy corn, he knew them, though, under the changed circumstances of his new position, they did not recognize him. He had left them a beardless boy of seventeen, sold into slavery: they now saw him a man of forty, arrayed in the vestments of royalty and speaking a foreign language which they did not understand.

Had he been of a revengeful spirit, here was his opportunity for retaliation. Now he was in power, and they were at his mercy. Or if, on the other hand, his generosity had overcome his judgment, he might have received into his favor a host of enemies to further menace the peace and usefulness of his life and to stimulate and foster their own evil dispositions. But Joseph was a well-balanced man, and so went to neither the one extreme nor the other. His course showed that he had a forgiving as well as a cautious spirit, and that under proper circumstances he was ready to exercise forgiveness.

He therefore wisely dealt with them roughly at first, that he might prove their present disposition and ascertain whether the experience of years had wrought any change in them, and also that he might learn something with reference to his father and his younger and only full brother, Benjamin. He soon learned that his father and Benjamin still lived (42:13); but by concealing his identity and dealing roughly with them he improved the opportunity to test their present disposition, both toward their aged father and Benjamin and toward each other; and when they were tested he gladly recognized the fact that a great change had taken place in them, as witnessed by their solicitude for their father’s feelings about Benjamin, in view of his loss of Joseph, and of their tenderness toward Benjamin who was now the father’s favorite in the place of Joseph, thus showing that they had overcome the bitter envy and hatred of their younger days.

He heard them confess, too, in their own language, their guilt one to another with reference to their former treatment of himself, and learned also of Reuben’s remonstrance at that time. (42:21,22.) Then the circumstances drew forth the pathetic prayer of Judah for the restoration of Benjamin to his father, and his offer of himself as a substitute, as a bondman to Joseph (44:18-34); and this, too, was accompanied by a humble confession of their former sins and the recognition of present calamity as a deserved punishment from God for them. The whole account of the conference with Jacob their father and with Joseph proved their contrition and change of heart.

This was enough for Joseph: penitence and a true change of heart were all he desired, and having proved this effectually and wisely, he could no longer refrain himself (45:1): his truly forgiving heart now overflowed with benevolence, and he wept aloud and embraced and kissed his brethren, and lavished upon them the wealth of his favor, praying them also to forgive themselves and to strive to forget their former sins now so freely and fully forgiven. But Benjamin, his beloved own brother, and the one who had had no share in the guilt of the others, must have some special tokens of grace: nor did this seem to elicit the least jealousy on the part of the now reformed brethren. They must have returned to their home, not only to tell the good news, but also to confess to Jacob their sin against Joseph as the necessities of the case demanded.

The remainder of the story is of thrilling interest—the breaking of the good news to Jacob, who at first thought it too good to believe, until he saw the tokens of Joseph’s favor, the wagons from Egypt, and then said, “It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die.” Then the long journey, undertaken and cheered by the special direction of God, saying to him in the visions of the night—”I am 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

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with thee into Egypt, and I will surely bring thee up again, and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.” Then the joyful meeting and the realization of Joseph’s glory and power, and better than all, of his still surviving filial and fraternal love; then the meeting and favor of Pharaoh and the settling in the land of Egypt under the fostering care of Joseph and Pharaoh, where Jacob enjoyed the evening of life in the midst of his family for seventeen years until his death.

In this beautiful story of the course of divine providence in the life of one of the beloved of the Lord, while we see and gather from it precious lessons of confidence in God and faithfulness and zeal in his service, the thoughtful reader can scarcely fail to observe its typical foreshadowing of Christ, the Savior of his people and of the world also.

Joseph was another illustration, like that of his father, of the chief blessing coming specially upon a younger son, as the chief divine blessing is also to come upon the Christ, Head and body, the Gospel Church, not the elder Jewish church. While all of Jacob’s sons were elect in respect to inheriting in common a share in the Abrahamic blessing, Joseph was specially chosen as a type of Christ—Head and body—the one through whom blessings will come upon the natural seed of Abraham, that they in turn may bless all the families of the earth.

Hated of his brethren, the fleshly Israelites, sold as a slave (thirty pieces of silver being the price of slaves, or twenty pieces for those under twenty years), he was thus prefiguring the hatred and sale of Christ by his enemies—his brethren of the Jewish nation, unto whom he came, as did Joseph, and they received him not. Joseph’s three years’ imprisonment seem to represent the three years of our Lord’s ministry, the years after his baptism, when he was dying daily, giving up his life for others, or they were parallel also with his three days’ imprisonment in the tomb, from whence, like Joseph, he came forth and was highly exalted, next to the King—to the right hand of the Majesty on high, all power in the Kingdom being given unto him.

Joseph was given full charge and used his power to bless others, storing up food for all. So Christ has been given full charge: he is Lord of all and lays up for all sufficient grace to give everlasting life to all. Nor is Christ ashamed to own as his brethren those who have nothing to commend them to his favor but humble contrite hearts. He will not be ashamed to own them before his Father and all the holy angels. This also was beautifully prefigured in Joseph’s treatment of his father and brethren. He was not ashamed to present them before the king, although he knew that shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. Then, in the period of famine, Joseph used the grain (life) to purchase for Pharaoh the land, the people, and all that they had.—Gen. 47:14-25.

This scheme of statesmanship, which thus secured all the land, so that one-fifth of the annual produce should go to the support of the central government (47:23-26), thus breaking up the petty influence of the nobles and consolidating the state into a strong nation, gave also a striking type of Christ’s work. During the Millennial age Christ will give the bread of everlasting life (himself, his merit) to all who desire it, but all must give their all in exchange to Jehovah, whom Pharaoh typified in this affair. Thus

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as Joseph, Pharaoh’s exalted servant and representative, gave life to, or saved the lives of many, so Christ, as Jehovah’s Prime Minister, has provided life for all, and offers it to all on the same conditions of faith and obedience to the King.

Then again mark how beautifully Joseph’s noble and benevolent treatment of his erring brethren prefigures the foretold course of our exalted Lord Jesus with his former enemies. Charity, always a noble quality, is specially admirable when seen in such a setting as this. Joseph did not even suggest what he might justly have done to his brethren as punishment for their sin against himself twenty-three years before. After testing his brethren and finding them changed in heart and penitent, he reveals himself a true, loving, forgiving friend and brother. He makes no boast of his own wisdom or virtue as the causes of his exaltation, but ascribes all the honor to God’s overruling providence. He does not even remind them of his prophetic dream, which they had all just fulfilled in prostrating themselves before him.

He simply forgave them and gave all the glory of the present deliverance from famine to God, saying, “Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. God sent me before

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you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God,” etc. How simple, and how beautiful! Just so will Christ forgive his penitent enemies. He did not say, however, that God caused them to do the wrong. No, he told them plainly of sin, saying, “As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it [overruled it] unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now, therefore, fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them.”—Gen. 50:20,21.

Thus it is declared of Christ that he will set men’s sins in order before them, and that they must freely confess their sins and bear their shame (Psa. 50:21,22; Ezek. 16:61-63; 1 John 1:9), as did Joseph’s brethren. But, nevertheless, in the joys of his forgiving love and the blessing of his favor, the sting of shame will be taken away and the fruits of righteous and trustworthy character will reinstate the dignity and nobility of true manhood.

In Joseph’s case was emphasized God’s promise to all his people—”All things shall work together for good to them that love God, to the called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28; Psa. 1:1-3,6.) And such as realize this providential supervision are not only kept the more humble and trustful, but are not vexed and soured by the vicissitudes of life and the misconduct of others as are those who are guiding themselves and fighting their own battles in life. Virtue in character, faith and consecration to God, appreciation of God’s care and direction in all of life’s affairs, and charity toward those through whose errors our trials and experiences come, is the proper attitude for every sincere child of God.

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— April 15, 1894 —