We turn again to God's Word in
the chapter that was read, Genesis chapter 49. This chapter that
contains the last words of Jacob to his twelve sons, the twelve
patriarchs of Israel, and the blessing that he pronounces upon
each of his sons. And I want to direct your attention
to those words that we have at verse 22, following the blessing
of Joseph, and to consider something of the life of Joseph. Last time we were considering,
in many ways, Joseph He's a remarkable type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember back in chapter 45 where
he makes himself known unto his brethren as they come the second
time to obtain corn. He had recognized them the first
time and he had told them plainly they would not see his face except
they brought their younger brother Benjamin And in due course they
must return to Egypt to obtain corn, because the great dearth,
the famine was so much prevailing throughout those lands. And last
Lord's Day evening we consider those words at the beginning
of chapter 45, how Joseph could not refrain himself, before all
then that stood by him and decried, cause every man to go out from
the And then that second sentence there in the first verse of chapter
45, where we read, And there stood no man with him, while
Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. The manifestation
of Joseph, how he made himself known unto them. And I say now that in this, as
in other matters, we see Joseph as a remarkable type As the Lord
Jesus Christ comes to manifest himself unto all of his brethren,
all the children that God gave to him in the eternal covenant,
Christ will in the appointed time come and reveal himself
to such. But I want us this morning to
consider not so much Joseph as a type, but I want us to think
about Joseph's own life and Joseph's experiences as these things are
intimated in the words that we have from the lips of his father
Jacob. Turning then to Genesis chapter
49 and verse 22, Joseph is a fruitful bough even a fruitful bough by
a well whose branches run over the wall The archers have sorely
grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him, but his bow abode
in strength. And the arms of his hands were
made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From thence
is the shepherd the stone of Israel. Even by the God of thy
father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall
bless thee with the blessings of heaven from above, Blessings
of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and
of the womb. The blessings of thy father hath
prevailed above the blessings of my progenators onto the utmost
bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of
Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that was separate
from his brethren. How significant is this man,
Joseph? Let me just remind you of what
we said concerning this book of Genesis, where we read so
much, of course, of the history of Joseph. In fact, from chapter
37 through to the last chapter, chapter 15, the book is very
much taken up with Joseph's life, Joseph's experiences. Genesis, remember, is the book
of beginnings. That is certainly the meaning
of the word Genesis, the book of beginnings. And so, there
in the very first chapter, the opening verse, we're told, in
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But it is not only a book of
beginnings, as I said last week, In a sense, it's a book of generations. We have this expression repeated
several times in chapter 2 and verse 4. These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth. And then in chapter 5 and verse
1, this is the book of the generations of Adam. chapter 6 and verse
9, these are the generations of Noah and so it goes on through
the various generations of those who are brought into being and
then we come to the final generations in chapter 37 and we read there
of the generations of Jacob, but as I said last time those
generations of Jacob of course clearly center in Joseph. Quite
remarkable reading what is written there in the second verse of
that 37th chapter. These are the generations of
Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was
feeding the flock with his brethren. And the lad was with the sons
of Bilhar and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought unto his father
their evil reports and then we're told how Israel or Jacob loved
Joseph more than his children and made for him the coat of
many colors and then we have those dreams Joseph dreamed a
dream and tells his brethren in his dream remember he sees
how their sheaves do obeisance to his sheep Then he goes on
and dreams another dream and he sees how the sun and the moon
and the eleven stars do obeisance to him and both Jacob and his
other sons understand the significance of these dreams and that his
son is going to be exalted. They don't like it of course.
This is what he's saying, that he's going to be so exalted amongst
his own family that not only his brethren but his father and
mother must also do obeisance to him. But immediately after
being told about the generations of Jacob we have all this detail
concerning Joseph. Now that's significant with regards
to Joseph as a type, as I said last time, because the generations
of Jacob who becomes Israel And remember that the true Israel
of God, the spiritual Israel, is the Church. All the generations
of spiritual Israel then, do they not center in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom this man Joseph was such
a remarkable type. Well we thought of that last
time but we're thinking now more particularly of Joseph himself
and his own experiences. I want to concentrate this morning
on the fact that he was a man so greatly blessed. Now it says
that Jacob is blessing all his sons there in the opening words
of the chapter Jacob called on to his sons and said gather yourselves
together that I may tell you that which shall befall you in
the last days gather yourselves together and hear ye sons of
Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father and then we read
of the various sons and we come to this man who is so peculiarly
blessed as we have it for example there in verse 25 He is to be
blessed with the blessings of heaven above, blessings of the
deep that lie athon, the blessings of the breast, blessings of the
breast and of the womb, the blessings of thy father have prevailed
it says above all above the blessings of my progenitors. He is a man
who is so greatly blessed and blessed not only in his own person
but he is blessed of course in what we're told concerning his
sons in the previous chapter in chapter 48 we see how he brings
his sons to his father and then at verse 15 that Jacob blessed
Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac
did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. That is a reference to the sons
of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh. He is a man then who is so blessed. And that's what I want to concentrate
really upon this morning. The manner of God's blessing
upon Joseph. And we see it of course in two
ways. First of all we see Joseph as
a man who was blessed in providence. What a remarkable display of
the providence of God we witness in the history that we have in
this part of the book of Genesis. He was a man who was sent before
to make provision for Israel and his sons during those terrible
years of death. God had indicated to the great
Pharaoh the major power of course at that time in that particular
location in the Middle East God had indicated to the Pharaoh
by his dreams that he didn't understand and no one could interpret
but the point, the purpose of the dream was to indicate some
seven years of great plenty that would be followed by seven years
of terrible death and it is Joseph who was in the prison there in
Egypt, who was brought out because he is a man who has this ability
to interpret dreams. The butler remembers how he had
interpreted the butler's dream when he was in the prison. And
he's brought before the pharaoh, he interprets the dream, and
he gives his counsel, his advice as to what is to be done in the
seven years of Great Plenty. And the Pharaoh exalts him to
the highest position even next to the Pharaoh himself throughout
all the land of Egypt. And so after the years of great
plenty, the years of famine come, and not only the Egyptians but
all the peoples around about Egypt are having to go into Egypt
that they might obtain a court. And they have to come before
this man Joseph. And he is mindful in all of this,
Joseph, of the hand of God. He sees that God had sent him
before to make that provision because God's eye, of course,
is very much upon Israel. The Lord's eye is ever upon his
people. He must preserve this man, Jacob, who is Israel. That is the name that was given
to him, remember in chapter 32 when he wrestled with the angel,
the angel wrestled with him and he had power and he prevailed
and Jacob becomes a prince with God. And this is God's remnant
and God must preserve them, Jacob and his sons and their families,
that it is Joseph. who is in God's providential
dealings, the one that will make the provision. And so, when we
come to the very last chapter, after the death of Jacob, and
the sons now are so fearful as to what Joseph will do, will
he seek to wreak revenge upon them? No, he tells them. There
in verse 19 of chapter 15, fear not. He asks, am I in the place
of God? As for you, ye thought evil against
me, but God meant 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 spoke kindly unto them. He is so conscious, so very much
aware of God and God's providences in all his dealings with him. Now we saw something of this
last time there in chapter 45 where he first makes himself
known unto his brethren. He says to them at verse 5 there,
Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that
ye sold me hither for God's for God did send me before you to
preserve life." Again at verse 7, God sent me before you to
preserve you of 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. and he hath made me a father
to Pharaoh and Lord over all his house and ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt. He has this great position as
we've said. He is exalted. He is the man
who is next to the Pharaoh himself as we see in chapter 41 and so
what is he now? He is that man who will be the
sustainer of Israel. He will keep them. He will provide
for them. As we see here at the end of verse 24 in this 49th
chapter from them, that is from Joseph, is the shepherd, the
stone of Israel. Oh, he will sustain Jacob, he
will provide for his father and he will provide for his brethren
and for all their families, as we see. chapter 47 and verse 12, Joseph
nourished his father and his brethren and all his father's
household with bread according to their founders. He was blessed
this man. He was blessed by the good hand
of God in Providence through all those strange experiences
being sold into captivity by his brethren all the experiences
there in Egypt when Potiphar's wife makes false accusations
against him, and he's cast unjustly into the prison. And there, where
eventually the butler released the Ghetts all about him, in
all of these reverses, God is at work. We see so clearly in
the history of this man the blessing of God's providence. But here,
as Jacob is speaking to him, he's not only referring to past
experiences, not only what was, but here we have a prophecy of
what was yet to be. what does he say as he calls
his sons here in chapter 49 and verse 1 gather yourselves together
that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last
days he's speaking of coming days now whilst he was there
in Egypt he is favoured to have these two sons Ephraim and Manasseh we read of the birth
of the sons back in chapter 41 and there
in verses 50 following unto Joseph were born
two sons before the years of famine came which Asenath, the
daughter of Potipharah, priest of Onbear, unto him, Joseph,
called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. For God, said he, hath
made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. The name
Manasseh simply means forgetting. So he calls his firstborn Manasseh. Because he'd been made to forget
all the bitterness of those experiences that had come upon him. And then
we're told the name of the second, called the Ephraim, for God hath
caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. Ephraim
literally means fruitfulness. It's interesting that what we
have there in chapter 41 and verse 52, the name Ephraim, what
we read here in the blessing in verse 22 is from the same
root. Joseph is a fruitful bear. Joseph is a fruitful bear. Now,
Ephraim, we know, was one of the most numerous tribes in all
the nation of Israel. One of the most numerous of all
the tribes. Look at what he said there where
Jacob is blessing these two sons at the end of chapter 48. and the father of course had
crossed his hands and the chief blessing had come not upon the
firstborn Menasseh but upon the second son Ephraim and Joseph didn't like that,
he thought that the firstborn Menasseh should have the chief
blessing of his father Jacob not so, read the end of chapter
48 but see what he says there In verse 19, when Joseph speaks
to his father and tells him that he's got matters wrong, he's
blessed Ephraim before he's blessed Manasseh, his father refused
and said, I know it my son, I know it. He also that his Manasseh
shall become a people He also shall be great, but truly his
younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become
a multitude of nations." Ephraim. Fruitful. And Ephraim, I say,
was very fruitful. He became The principal tribe,
remember later in the history when there's a division of the
nation after the death of King Solomon. Ten of the tribes rebelled, refused
to have Solomon's son Rehoboam, and instead choose Jeroboam.
And there's a division, it's just Judah and Benjamin that
are faithful to Rehoboam. But the other 10 tribes, they
make choice of this man Jeroboam. But often the 10 tribes are referred
to under the name Ephraim. The 10 tribes bear that name
many times, Ephraim. Read the book of Osir, where
the prophet is sent as a prophet to that nation, the 10 tribes. Sometimes it's called Israel,
yes, but often he speaks of them as Ephraim. how this man is to
be blessed, you see, even in his sons, and particularly in
this son. And so we read, do we not, there
in verse 25 of blessings of the breast, blessings of the will.
He will have a great number of descendants, will Joseph. He will have a double blessing
in a sense. He'll have blessing because there
will be two tribes from Joseph, there'll be the tribe of Manasseh,
there'll be the tribe of Ephraim. He was greatly blessed in Providence
was this man. And not only was he blessed with
regards to his descendants, but he is also blessed in the land
that he is to be brought into the possession of. And that's
indicated there in verse 25, the blessings of heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lie under. Here we have the blessings
that Jacob pronounces upon his 12 sons. When we come to the
book of Deuteronomy, remember there in chapter 33, We have
other blessings pronounced now by Moses. And here at the end of Deuteronomy
we see how Moses blesses the twelve tribes. The twelve tribes
of Israel are there. What is the blessing that is
pronounced by Moses upon Joseph? Verse 13 of Joseph he said, Blessed
of the Lord be his land for the precious things of heaven, for
the Jew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the
precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious
things put forth by the moon, and for the cheap things of the
ancient mountains, and the precious things of the lasting hills,
and for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof,
and for the goodwill of him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing
come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head
of him that was separated from his brethren. Oh, he is granted
the most fertile land. He is a man who was not only
blessed in his previous history as Jacob is coming to the end
of his days and he has seen again the face of his beloved son Joseph,
but he is to be blessed in his descendants. Joseph was blessed in providence. But, more particularly, we must
observe how this man was also blessed with grace. He was a gracious man. He was
not only one who was favored with regards to temporal things,
but he was a man who was much favored in his own soul. And
we see these evidences of the blessings of grace in at least
three areas in his life. And I just want to mention these
three things this morning. First of all, he was a man greatly
blessed with the fear of the Lord. He was blessed with the
fear of the Lord. And what a blessing it is. We
just sang of it, did we not, in that hymn of Joseph Hart's. The men that fear the Lord are
blessed. And this was certainly the case
with this man Joseph. When he was sold into slavery
in Egypt, he finds himself there in the house of Potiphar. And
Potiphar's wicked wife cast her lustful eye upon the young man
and desires that he will go and lie with her. And how he refuses,
her wicked advances time and again. And what does he say?
How can I do this great wickedness, he says, and sin against the
Lord? All the fear of God was in the
heart of this young man. By the fear of the Lord, Men
depart from evil, says the wise man there in the book of Proverbs. We ought to have that fear of
God in our hearts, before our eyes. We sang, did we not, concerning
that fear of the Lord. It's an unctuous light to all
that's right. It's a bar to all that's wrong. And that's what it was for this
man. It was a bar. preventing him from doing that
that was foolish, that that was sinful. He could not sin against
God because he had the fear of the Lord in his heart. Oh, what do we know, friends,
of that fear of the Lord? Not a slavish fear, but a real,
fearful fear. The fear of the Lord, says the
wise man, is the beginning of knowledge. And what is that true
knowledge? The Lord Jesus speaks of that
true knowledge, does he not? It's to know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Or to know something
of that fear of the Lord. We see it, I say, in the case
of this particular man. He feared God. And he preserved
it in the midst of sore temptations. Let us ask that God would grant
us then that grace to know something of the fear of the Lord. It is an indication really that
we are truly the children of God. It's a filial fear, not
a slavish fear. Like as a father pitieth his
children, says the Psalmist, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him. If we know anything of the fatherhood
of God, we must know what it is to fear him. I say again, Joseph certainly
possessed that fear of the Lord. But then we see, more particularly
in this man, how he is favoured with faith, how he has faith
in the Lord. He believes. He believed that
word that God had given to the Pharaoh. Remember, we said that
by means of these dreams, God gives words to the Pharaoh that
there's going to be seven years of great plenty, followed by
seven years of terrible famine. And it's Joseph who comes and
explains the dreams unto Pharaoh. There in chapter 41, verse 15,
the Pharaoh says to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream and there is
none that can interpret none that can interpret it, and I
have heard say of thee that thou canst understand the dream to
interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh,
saying, It is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh an answer
of peace. And then Joseph interprets the
dream. He's not doing this of himself, he understands that
God's in this. So verse 25, having explained
the significance of those things, verse 25, Joseph says unto Pharaoh,
the dream of Pharaoh is won. God hath showed Pharaoh what
he is about to do. And he goes on to speak of the
seven years of plentiful that would then be eaten up by the
seven years of terrible famine. Now we believe He believed that
God was in this, that God himself had spoken. And it is a truth,
is it not, that God would do such a thing. Are we not reminded
of it in the book of Job, there in the 33rd chapter of Job? Verse 14, God speaketh one shade
twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision
of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings
upon the bed, then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth
their instruction. This is how God would work. Remember
the day in which Joseph is living, he's not got the Scriptures as
we have it. It's debatable. He may have known
something of the book of Job. Job is written to be the oldest
of all the books of Scripture. Job in that sense predates Moses,
but of course the first five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, were all written by the man Moses. And his recording here is Moses'
history many years before he himself lived. And yet God did
speak to me. He spoke in a variety of ways,
as we're told in the beginning of Hebrews. God who at sundry
times and in diverse manner, spake in time passed unto the
fathers by the prophets. He would speak sometimes by a
prophet or a seer. And Paul goes on to say that
God in these last days has spoken unto us by His Son. Peter speaks
of that more sure word of prophecy. We are those who favour to have
the Word of God. We don't look to dreams and visions
and such like. It's with us to the Lord and
to the Testament. If they speak not according to
these words, it is because there is no light in them. But here
is a man, you see. In those days long ago, who understood
the Word of God, God had spoken. He had spoken to the Pharaoh.
And the spirit of wisdom is in Joseph. He recognizes that this
word to the Pharaoh is indeed the word of God. And so, as I
said, he believes. He believes that God was the
one who had sent him into Egypt. He wasn't there by any mere chance.
This had come about because it was the will of God, and God
had made this known. Remember verse 5 back in chapter
45, when he says to his brethren, God did send me before you to
preserve life. And again at verse 7, God sent
me before you to preserve you of posterity in the earth, and
to save your lives by a great deliverance. He understands that
God is in these things. He has faith. He believes in
a God who reveals Himself, a God who rules in His providence. And so again there, right at
the end in chapter 50 and verse 20, "...as for you, ye thought
evil against me, but God meant it unto goods to bring to pass
as it is this day, to save much people alive." Or what do we
read at the end of the 107th Psalm? concerning God's dealings in
Providence. The psalm is very much taken
up with that glorious theme, the providential government of
God. In the psalm he says, so is wise
and will observe these things, even they shall understand the
loving kindness of the Lord. And that was Joseph. He understood. He's a man who is watchful, He
watches, he wants to know what God the Lord is doing, what God
the Lord is saying. He's a man of faith. As we've
said already in chapter 37, and there at verse 5 following, we
read of those dreams that came to Joseph himself. And he believed
that was the Word of God. No doubt, no doubt at all. Look
at the 105th Psalm and verse 19. There in Psalm 105 the psalmist
is again recounting something of the history of the children
of Israel and at that point he's speaking of Joseph. Psalm 105
and verse 19. Until the time that his word
came. The word of the Lord tried him. He's speaking of Joseph. Until
the time that his word, whose word? It was God's word. It was God's Word. God's Word
came to him in that dream here in chapter 37 and God's Word
must have its fulfillment. God's Word must be accomplished.
But until the time that His Word, God's Word came, how He was tried. Oh, how He was sorely tried.
Was He not tried by the sneering words of His own brethren? What
did they say? as they see him approaching them
there in chapter 37 and verse 19. Behold this dreamer cometh. This dreamer cometh. He's just
a dreamer. And can we not imagine how it
must have been for poor Joseph when they took him and they sold
him to the Ishmaelites who took him into Egypt, who sold him
into slavery. And there falsely charged, cast
into the prison, languishing there. Or would he not then think,
well, what was it that I experienced? Really, it was nothing more than
a dream. It was the will of the wish. It was nothing. No. This man believed. He believed
in God. He believed in the Word of God
in spite of those sneering words of his own brethren. Behold,
all this dream had come. That's how they dismissed him.
He had to endure not only those sneering words, but there were
false words. There was that false charge that
was laid against him by Potiphar's wicked wife. And then, of course,
false words by the butler when those two men, the baker and
the butler, come into the prison, and they have dreams. And Joseph
interprets the dreams of these men. And he tells the baker,
he's not going to be restored, he's going to be executed. But
the butler is going to be taken out of the prison and he will
be restored. And he asks him specifically
that he does not forget him. Look at chapter 14. Verse 14 he says to the butler,
think on me. think on me when it shall be
well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make
mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house."
But the man forgot all about him. There in chapter 40, Yet
did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him. O false
words, false friends, or how this man was tried, how the Word
of God tried him. Was God's Word ever going to
have a fulfillment in his experience? But you see, in the midst of
all of this, he has confidence in the Word of God, he believes
the Word of God. He believes the Word of God.
He has a real faith. until the time that His Word,
until the time that God's Word came. He is looking, watching,
waiting, pleading for the fulfillment of the Word of God. Poor Joseph
is a fruitful bear, a fruitful bear by a well whose branches
run over the wall. Oh, the language is so rich and
so wonderful really. Now, some of you might be aware
that Mr. Philpott has quite a remarkable
sermon on this particular text in which he brings out the significance
of the various figures that are being employed. And I would commend
the reading of that sermon. It's quite a long sermon but
it's worth a careful reading as he expounds the blessing that
Jacob is pronouncing here upon his son Joseph. He is a fruitful
bough even abound by a well. What is the well, friends? Well,
Isaiah speaks of how believers with joy draw water out of the
wells of salvation. Here is the source of His blessing,
you see. His source of blessing is those
wells, those wells of salvation. He is like a bough, a fruitful
bough, by a well. This is where His fruit is found. As God says through the prophet
concerning His people, their fruit is found in Him, not Joseph
himself. This is the life of faith, you
see. And as He is like a bough by a well, drawing all its nourishment
from the well, so his branches go over the wall. Now, doesn't
this indicate to us the aspect of his faith that involves trust?
He is one who is trusting in his God. The psalmist says, commit
thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him. And the margin there
tells us that the word commit literally means in the Hebrew,
roll, roll, thy soul unto the Lord, upon the Lord here is the
one who he is trusting he cannot support himself, this bow its
branches run over the wall, it's supported by the wall and this
is where Joseph obtains his strength now that faith that faith that
this man had, how it was tried how it was sorely tried and tested
Remember those words in the Psalms, Psalm 105 and verse 19, until
the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him. Paul Joseph was tried, his faith
was tested. And isn't that one of the marks
of faith? The trial of your faith, says Peter, being much more precious
than the gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire,
found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ. All where there is faith there
is a trial. Beloved, says Peter, think it
not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you as though
some strange thing happened unto you. This man was blessed, blessed
with faith and blessed in the trying of his faith. Because
in that trial we see that his faith was genuine. All the pure gold of that Faith,
a precious gift of God's, became manifest in the midst of his
trials. Here is a man, you see, I say,
who is blessed with grace. He has the fear of God in his
heart. He has that faith of the operation of God in his heart.
And also this, here is the evidence of grace. He has the love of
God also in his soul. Paul tells us, and faith worketh
by love. And faith is such an active grace,
it works. It works by love. And that is, of course, the keeping
of the commandment, is it not? Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy
mind and with all thy strength, says the Lord. This is the first
and greatest commandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On this hang all the law and
the prophets. The command to love, and how
this man loved! Oh, he had such love to his father,
so touching. After all those terrible years
of separation, poor Jacob thought his son, his beloved son, was
dead. And we're told there when he
comes into Egypt, chapter 46 and verse 29, Joseph made ready
his chariot and went up to meet Israel, his father, the Goshen,
and presented himself unto him. And he fell on his neck and wept
on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph,
Now let me die. since I have seen thy face, because
thou art yet alive." Or what now? He loved his father, and
he even loved his brethren. His brethren who had treated
him so despicable, had been so unkind, so cruel to him. Do we
not see something of the love that he bears to them? He can't
help it, you see. Such is the grace of God in the
heart of this man that he he must give vent to his feelings in
chapter 42 and verse 24 this is the first time they come
and he recognizes him though they don't recognize him verse 24 he turned himself about
from them and went He couldn't help it, you see.
Turned himself about from them and wept, and returned to them
again, and communed with them. He's dealing with them in a strange
way. We haven't time to go into the way in which he deals with
them, but just these various verses that clearly indicate
the deep love that he bears towards his brethren. And then Benjamin,
when Benjamin comes, come the second time and there Benjamin's
there and we're told verse 29 of chapter 43 he lifted up his
eyes and saw his brother Benjamin his mother's son and said is
this your younger brother of whom you speak unto me and he
said God be gracious unto thee my son now remember they don't
know who this man is he's a great man in Egypt they don't recognize
Joseph And Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon
his brother, and his sword were to weep. And he entered into
his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face, and went
out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. all the love,
you see, that he bears towards his brethren. And then in the
chapter that we were considering last Lord's Day evening, there
in chapter 45, remember the opening section, Joseph could not refrain
himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, caused
every man to go out from them. And there stood no man with him,
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh hurt. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And
his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at
his presence. And then again, verse 14 of that
chapter, He fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and
Benjamin wept upon his neck, Moreover, he kissed all his brethren
and wept upon them, and after this his brethren talked with
him." He knows something of real love, this man. And all of this,
is it not evidence of the grace of God in the soul of the man? If a man say, I love God, and
hate of his brother, John says he's a liar. This commandment
have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother
also. Wasn't that the mark of those
early Christians? How they acknowledged it. Behold
how these people love one another. Oh, this man was blessed, so
blessed with the grace of God. And we see it, I say, in these
various ways, his fear, that fear, your fear that was in his
heart, that bar to every sin, that real faith, how he believed
the Word of God, and he lived by the Word of God, how the love
of God was so shed abroad in his heart, and he manifest that
love in his attitude to his Father and to his brethren. Well, God
willing, we'll come back and consider something more from
these verses concerning Joseph on the next Lord's Day. The Lord
grant his blessing on his word to die. He's saying in 591 and the tune
is Pilgrim 819. How blessed is the man whom Jesus
believed. and on him can cast all his cares. A righteousness full and complete
he receives, that hides all his guilt, sin, and tears. Number
531.