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45 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Wisdom of the Ages Library

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Chapter forty two. We had in the foregoing chapter the fulfilling of the dreams
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which Joseph had interpreted. In this and the following chapters we have the fulfilling
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of the dreams which Joseph himself had dreamed that his father's family should do homage
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to him. The story is very largely and particularly related of what passed between
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Joseph and his brethren, not only because it is an entertaining story and probably
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was much talked of both among the Israelites and among the Egyptians, but because
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it is very instructive, and it gave occasion for the removal of Jacob's family
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into Egypt, on which so many great events afterward depended. We have in
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this chapter Numeral one, the humble application of Jacob's sons to Joseph to buy
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corn Verses one through six, Numeral two, the fright Joseph put them into
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for their trial Verses seven through twenty Numeral three, the conviction they were now
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under of their sin concerning Joseph long before Verses twenty one through twenty four Numeral
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four, that returned to Canaan with corn, and the great distress their good
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father was in upon hearing the account of their expedition Verses twenty five and following,
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Jacob sends to Egypt to buy corn BC. Seventeen o six. Now,
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when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said, unto
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his sons, why do ye look one upon another? And he said,
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behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get you down
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thither and buy for us from thence that we may live and not die.
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And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin,
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Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brother, for he said, lest
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peradventure mischief befall him. And the sons of Israel came to buy corn.
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Among those that came for the famine was in the land of Canaan, and
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Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to
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all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves
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before him, with their faces to the earth. Though Jacob's sons were all
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married and had families of their own, yet it should seem they were still
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incorporated in one society under the conduct and presidency of their father. Jacob.
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We have here numeral one the orders he gave them to go and buy corn
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in Egypt Verses one and two. Observe number one. The famine was grievous
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in the land of Canaan. It is observable that all the three patriarchs,
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to whom Canaan was the land of promise, met with famine in that land,
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which was not only to try their faith whether they could trust God,
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though he should slay them, though he should starve them, but to teach
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them to seek the better country, that is the heavenly Hebrews eleventh, Verses
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fourteen and sixteen. We have need of something to wean us from this world
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and make us long for a better Number two. Still, when there was
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famine and Canaan, there was corn in Egypt. Thus Providence orders it that
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one place should be a succor and a supply to another. For we are
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all brethren. The Egyptians, the seed of a cursed ham, have plenty
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when God blessed Israel. Want Thus, God, in dispensing common favors,
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often crosses hands. Yet observe the plenty Egypt now had was owing under God
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to Joseph's prudence and care if his brethren had not sold him into Egypt,
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but respected him according to his men pers Who knows, but he might have
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done the same thing for Jacob's family, which now he had done for Pharaoh,
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And the Egyptians might then have come to them to buy corn. But
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those who drive away from among them wise and good men know not what they
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do. Number three, Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt. He
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saw the corn that his neighbors had bought there and brought home. It is
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a spur to exertion to see whether supplies are to be had, and to
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see others supplied. Shall others get food for their souls? And shall we
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starve while it is to be had? Number four He reproved his sons for
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delaying to provide corn for their families. Why do you look one upon another?
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Note? When we are in trouble and want It is folly for us
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to stand looking upon one another, that is, to stand desponding and despairing,
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as if there were no hope, no help, to stand and disputing,
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either which shall have the honor of going first, or which shall have
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the safety of coming last, To stand deliberating and debating what we shall do,
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and doing nothing, to stand dreaming under a spirit of slumber, as
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if we had nothing to do, and to stand delaying, as if we
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had time at command. Let it never be said we left that to be
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done tomorrow, which we could as well have done today. Number five.
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He quickened them to go to Egypt. Get you down thither. Masters of
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families must not only pray for daily bread for their families and food convenient,
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but must lay out themselves, with care and industry to provide it. Numeral
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two. Their obedience to these orders verse three, they went down to buy
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corn. They did not send their servants, but very prudently went themselves to
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lay out their own money. Let none think themselves too great nor too good
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to take pains. Masters of families should see with their own eyes and take
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heed of leaving too much to servants. Only Benjamin went not with them,
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for he was his father's darling. To Egypt, they came, among others,
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and, having a considerable cargo of corn to buy, they were brought
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before Joseph himself, who probably expected they would come, And according to the
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laws of courtesy, they bowed down themselves before him. Verse six. Now
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their empty sheaves did obeisance to his full one. Compare this with Isaiah sixty,
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verse fourteen and Revelation three nine. Joseph speaks roughly to his brethren.
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And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange
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unto them, and spake roughly unto them. And he said unto them,
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whence come ye? And they said, from the land of Canaan, to
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buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not.
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And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said, unto
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them, ye are spies. To see the nakedness of the land, ye
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are come. And they said unto him, nay, my Lord, But
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to buy food? Are thy servants come? We are all one man's sons.
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We are true men. Thy servants are no spies. And he said
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unto them, nay. But to see the nakedness of the land, ye
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are come. And they said, thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons
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of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is
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this day with our father, and one is not. And Joseph said,
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unto them, that is it that I spake unto you? Saying, ye
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are spies. Hereby ye shall be proved by the life of Pharaoh. Ye
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shall not go forth. Hence, except your youngest brother come hither. Send
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one of you and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept
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in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth
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in you or else, by the life of Pharaoh. Surely ye are spies.
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And he put them all together in the ward three days, and Joseph
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said unto them the third day, this do and live, for I fear
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God. If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound
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in the house of your prison. Go ye carry corn for the famine of
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your houses. But bring your youngest brother unto me. So shall your words
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be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. We
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may well wonder that Joseph, during the twenty years that he had now been
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in Egypt, especially during the last seven years that he had been in power
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there, never sent to his father to acquaint him with his circumstances. Nay,
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it is strange that he who so often went throughout all the land of
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Egypt Chapter forty one, Verses forty five and forty six, never made an
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excursion to Canaan to visit his age father. When he was in the borders
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of Egypt that lay next to Canaan. Perhaps it would not have been above
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three or four days journey for him in his chariot. It is a probable
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conjecture that his whole management of himself in this affair was by special direction from
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Heaven, that the purpose of God concerning Jacob and his family might be accomplished.
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When Joseph's brethren came, he knew them by many a satisfactory token,
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but they knew him not little, thinking to find him there verse eight.
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He remembered the dreams verse nine, but they had forgotten them. The laying
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up of God's oracles in our hearts will be of excellent use to us in
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all our conduct. Joseph had an eye to his dreams, which he knew
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to be divine, in his carriage towards his brethren, and aimed at the
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accomplishment of them, and the bringing of his brethren to repentance for their former
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sins. And both these points were gained Numeral one. He showed himself very
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rigor and harsh with them, the very manner of his speaking, considering the
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post he was in was enough to frighten them, for he spoke roughly to
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them verse seven. He charged them with bad designs against the government. Verse
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nine, treated them as dangerous persons, saying you are spies, and protesting
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by the life of Pharaoh that they were so. Verse sixteen. Some make
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this an oath, others make it no more than the vehement assertivation, like
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that as thy soul liveth. However, it was more than yea, yea,
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and nay nay, and therefore came of evil. Note. Bad words
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are soon learned by converse with those that use them, but not no soon
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unlearned. Joseph, by being much at court, got the courtier's oath by
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the life of Pharaoh, perhaps designing hereby to confirm his brethren in their belief
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that he was an Egyptian and not an Israelite. They knew this was not
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the language of a son of Abraham. When Peter would prove himself no disciple
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of Christ, he cursed and swore. Now, why was Joseph thus hard
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upon his brethren? We may be sure it was not from a spirit of
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revenge that he might now trample upon those who had formerly trampled upon him.
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He was not a man of that temper. But Number one, it was
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to enrich his own dreams and complete the accomplishment of them. Number two it
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was to bring them to repentance. Number three it was to get out of
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them an account of the state of their family, which he longed to know.
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They would have discovered him if he had asked as a friend. Therefore
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he asks as a judge. Not seeing his brother Benjamin with them, perhaps
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he began to suspect that they had made away with him too, and therefore
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gives them occasion to speak of their father and brother. Note God, in
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his providence, sometimes seems harsh with those he loves, and speaks roughly to
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those for whom he yet has great mercy in store. Numeral two. They
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hereupon were very submissive. They spoke to him with all the respect imaginable.
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Nay, my lord, Verse ten, a great change since they said,
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behold, this dreamer comes. They very modestly deny the charge we are no
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spies. They tell him their business, that they came to buy food,
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a justifiable errand, and the same that many strangers came to Egypt upon at
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this time. They undertake to give a particular account of themselves and their family
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verse thirteen. And this was what they wanted Numeral three. He clapped them
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all up in prison for three days verse seventeen. Thus God deals with the
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souls he designs for special comfort and honor. He first humbles them and terrifies
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them, and brings them under a spirit of bondage, and then binds up
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their wounds by the spirit of adoption Numeral four. He concluded with them at
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last that one of them should be left as a hostage, and the rest
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should go home and fetch Benjamin. It was a very encouraging word, he
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said to them verse eighteen. I fear God as if he had said,
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you may assure yourselves that I will do you no wrong. I dare not,
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for I know that high as I am, there is one higher than
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I. Note with those that fear God, we have reason to expect fair
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dealing. The fear of God will be a check upon those that are in
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power, to restrain them from abusing their power to oppression and tyranny. Those
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that have no one else to stand in awe of ought to stand in awe
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of their own consciences see Nehemiah five, verse fifteen. So did not I
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because of the fear of God reflection of Joseph's brethren. And they said,
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one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we
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saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not
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hear him. Therefore is this distress come upon us? And Reuben answered them,
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saying, spake I not unto you, saying do not sin against the
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child, and he would not hear. Therefore, behold also his blood is
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required. And they knew not that Joseph understood them, for he spake unto
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them by an interpreter. And he turned himself about from them, and wept,
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and returned to them again and commune with them, and took from them
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Simeon and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks
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with corn, and to restore every man's money in his sack, and to
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give them provision for the way. Thus did he unto them, and they
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leaded their asses with the corn and departed thence, and as one of them
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opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his
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money, for behold, it was in his sack's mouth. And he set
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out to his brethren, my money is restored, and lo it is even
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in my sack. And their heart failed them, and they were afraid,
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saying one to another, what is this that God has done unto us?
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Here is Numeral one the penitent reflection Joseph's brethren made upon the wrong they had
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formerly done to him Verse twenty one. They talked the matter over in the
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Hebrew tongue, not suspecting that Joseph, whom they took for a native of
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Egypt, understood them, much less that he was the person they spoke of.
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Number one, They remembered with regret that the barbarous cruelty wherewith they persecuted
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him, We are verily guilty concerning our brother. We did not read that
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they said this during their three days imprisonment. But now when the matter had
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come to some issue, and they saw themselves still embarrassed, now they began
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to relent. Perhaps Joseph's mention of the fear of God verse eighteen put them
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upon consideration and exhorted this reflection. Now see here sub point one. The
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office of conscience. It is a remembrancer to bring to mind things long since
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said and done, to show us wherein we have erred, though it was
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long ago, as the reflection here mentioned was above, twenty years after the
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sin was committed. As time will not wear out the guilt of sin,
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soul will not blot out the records of conscience. When the guilt of the
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sin of Joseph's brethren was fresh, they made light of it and sat down
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to eat bread. But now long afterwards their consciences reminded them of it sub
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point two. The benefit of affliction. They often proved the happy and effectual
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means of awakening conscience and bringing sin to our remembrance. Job eight twenty six.
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Sub point three the evil of guilt. Concerning our brethren of all their
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sins. It was this that conscience now reproached them. For whenever we have
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thinked wrong done us, we ought to remember the wrong we have done to
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others. Ecclesiastes eight, Verses twenty one and twenty two. Number two.
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Reuben alone remembered with comfort that he had been an advocate for his brother,
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and had done what he could to prevent the mischief they did him. Verse
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twenty two spoke I not unto you, saying do not sin against the child.
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Note some point one. It is an aggravation of any sin, that
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it was committed against admonitions some point two. When we come to share with
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others in their calamities, it will be a comfort to us if we have
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the testimony of our consciences for us that we did not share with them in
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their iniquities, but in our places witnessed against them. This shall be our
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rejoicing in the day of evil, and shall take out the sting numeral two
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Joseph's tenderness towards them. Upon this occasion he retired from them to weep verse
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twenty four, though his reason directed that he should still carry himself as a
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stranger to them, because they were not as yet humbled enough. Yet natural
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affection could not but work, for he was a man of a tender spirit.
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This represents the tender mercies of our God towards repenting sinners. See Jeremiah
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thirty one twenty. Since I spoke against him, to do earnestly remember him
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still see Judges ten, verse sixteen, numeral three the imprisonment of Simeon verse
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twenty four. He chose him for the hostage, probably because he remembered him
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to have been his most bitter enemy or because he observed him now to be
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least humbled and concerned, he bound him before their eyes to affect them all.
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Or perhaps it is animated that though he bound him with some severity before
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them, yet afterwards, when they were gone, he took off his bonds
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Numeral four the dismission of the rest of them. They came for corn,
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and corn they had, and not only so, but every man had his
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money restored in his sack's mouth. Thus Christ Our Joseph gives out supplies without
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money and without price. Therefore the poor are invited to buy Revelation three,
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Verses seventeen and eighteen. This put them into great consternation Verse twenty eight.
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Their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another,
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what is this that God hath done to us? Number one? It was
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really amercifully vent for I hope they had no wrong done to them when they
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had their money given them back, but a kindness. Yet they were thus
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terrified by it. Note sub point one. Guilty consciences are apt to take
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good providences in a bad sense, and to put wrong constructions even upon those
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things that make for them. They flee when none pursues Some point two wealth
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sometimes brings as much care along with it as want does, and more too.
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If they had been robbed of their money, they could not have been
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worse frightened than they were now when they found their money in their sacks.
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Thus, he whose ground brought forth plentifully said what shall I do? Luke
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twelve seventeen number two. Yet in their circumstances it was very amazing. They
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knew that the Egyptians abhorred a Hebrew chapter forty three, verse thirty two,
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and therefore, since they could not expect to receive any kindness from them,
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they concluded that this was done with the design to pick a quarrel with them,
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and the rather because the man, the lord of the land, had
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charged them as spies. Their own consciences also were awake, and their sins
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set in order before them, and this put them into confusion. Note su
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point one. When men's spears are sinking, everything helps to sink them some
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point two. When the events of providence concerning us are surprising, it is
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good to inquire what is it that God has done and is doing with us,
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and to consider the operation of his hands. The report made to Jacob,
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and they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and
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told him all that befell unto them, saying, the man who is the
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lord of the land spake roughly to us and took us for spies of the
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country. And we said unto him, we are true men. We are
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no spies. We be twelve brethren, sons of our father. One is
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not and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
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And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us,
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hereby shall I know that ye are true men. Leave one of your brethren
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here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and
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be gone, and bring your youngest brother unto me. Then shall I know
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that ye are no spies, but that she are true men. So will
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I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land. And
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it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's
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bundle of money was in his sack. And when both they and their father
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saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And Shacob their father,
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said, unto them me, ye have bereaved of my children. Joseph is
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not and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away. All these
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things are against me. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, slay
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my two sons. If I bring him not to thee, deliver him into
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my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said,
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my son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead,
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and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the way in
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which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to
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the grave. Here is number one, the report which Shacob's sons made to
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their father of the great distress they had been in Egypt, how they had
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been suspected and threatened, and obliged to leave Simeon a prisoner there till they
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should bring Benjamin with them. Thither, who would have thought of this when
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they left home. When we go abroad, we should consider how many sad
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accidents that we little think of may befall us before we return home. We
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know not what a day may bring forth. We ought therefore to be always
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ready for the worst. Number two. The deep impression this made upon the
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good man. The very bundles of money which Joseph returned in kindness to his
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father frightened him first thirty five, for he concluded it was done with some
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mischievous design, or perhaps suspected his own sons to have committed some offense,
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and so to have run themselves into a penalty, which is animated in what
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he says, verse thirty six, Me have you bereaved? He seems to
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lay the fault upon them, knowing their characters. He feared they had provoked
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the Egyptians and perhaps forcibly or fraudulently brought home their money. Jacob is here
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much out of temper. Some point one he is very melancholy apprehensions concerning the
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present state of his family. Joseph is not and Simeon is not, whereas
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Joseph was in honor, and Simeon in the way to it. Note,
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we often perplex ourselves with our own mistakes, even in matters of fact.
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True griefs may arise from false intelligence and suppositions. Second Samuel thirteen, Verse
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thirty one. Jacob gives up Joseph for gone and seeming, and Benjamin as
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being in danger, and he concludes all these things are against me. It
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proved otherwise that all these were for him were working together for his good and
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the good of his family. Yet here he thinks them all against him.
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Note, through our ignorance and mistake, and the weakness of our faith,
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we often apprehend that to be against us, which is really for us.
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We are afflicted in body, a state, name, and relations, and
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we think all these things are against us, whereas these are really working for
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us the weight of glory. Some point two. He is at present resolved
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that Benjamin shall not go down. Reuben will undertake to bring him back in
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safety verse thirty seven, not so much as putting in if the Lord will
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nor expected the common disasters of travelers. But he foolishly bids Jacob's slay his
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two sons, which is likely he was very proud of if he brought him
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not back, as if the death of two grandsons could satisfy Jacob for the
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death of a son. No, Jacob's present thoughts are, my son shall
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not go down with you. He plainly intimates the distrust of them, remembering
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that he never saw Joseph since he had been with them. Therefore, Benjamin
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shall not go with you by the way in which you go, for you
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will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Note it is
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bad with a family when children conduct themselves so ill that their parents know not
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how to trust them. End of Chapter forty two.