The Chief Butler Remembered Not Joseph

    Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him." Ungrateful man! Would not a word to your master procure the liberation of a man whom you knew to be innocent, and a man your greatest benefactor? Well, we may scold, but whatever was the cause of the forgetfulness of this officer, it was of God. He forgot for a time; but at the moment when it served the purpose of Divine Providence, all was brought to his mind, with a conviction of his ingratitude. "I do remember my faults this day." How providential was this forgetfulness"! Had the chief butler remembered Joseph's application, it would have cost him only a word to his lord to open the prison to Joseph, and free him from his bondage to his master. But had this been done at the time, where would we find Joseph now, when we have need of him as an interpreter of dreams? Joseph, when liberated, would, without doubt, have hastened to his own country, and by this time he would have been safe in the house of Jacob. Where, then, would have been his exaltation as a saviour of Israel, and a type of Christ? Joseph, then, mast be overlooked at the present, and remain quietly in prison till the moment of Pharaoh's dream. Then, like the lightning of heaven, the recollection of Joseph must strike the mind of the chief butler. He must no longer be forgetful. Divine Providence calls all to his recollection. unvarnished story to his Lord. This is the very man that suits Pharaoh ; and now the great character of Joseph must be manifested. Joseph was the son of a wealthy father ; but he came to be sold as a 1lave into Egypt. He comes even into prison and to fetters. But now he comes to save Israel by procuring bread for them in Egypt. · Now be comes to his glory. In like manner, 'Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, was made a servant, and was imprisoned in the grave for the sins of men. But be is now exalted, and he reigns over all worlds in that nature in which he suffered. And we should look unto "Jesus, the author and fini1her of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."