The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1894-04-06
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
THOUGHTS WORTHY OF CALM
REFLECTION.
A Pleasant, Interesting. and Instructive
Lesson, and Where 1t May De Found
A Learned and Concise Review - he
Discord In Jacobs Family.

Joseph: A new name in the record Of
the race, and a new beginning of days.
Ceikie, In his Hours with the Bible"
has well said: "The return OF Jacob to
Canaan was the first great step toward
the formation of Hebrew people.
Hitherto there had been only individ-
uals OF the race, but with the family OF
Jacob 1T branched into numerous heads
of the future tribes of Israel The
formal and solemn acceptance of the
traditional faith OF Abraham by these
at Bethel, determined henceforih the
history OF Israel as identified with the
perpetuation and spread among man.
kind of the great doctrine of the unity
OF God and of the high standard of life
which was known as the way of Jeho-
YAH" And now in a strange way this
people is ID be carried down & Egypt,
there to work out the divine behests.
Joseph is, unwittingly, to be the John
the Bapt:ss o. forerunner OF this great
movement. For five weeks now we will
deal with his wonderful life
POINTS IN THE LESSON.
"And Jacob dwelt in the land where
in his father was a STRANGER. The lam
guage rewards closer study. Literally,
Jacob took his seat in the land where
his father tarried as sojourner. He
established himself in Canaan; he
made it his home. In other words, ia
cob dwelt as "a citizen where his father
dwelt as a transient-a transient, at
least, in the estimation of thcs around
about.
these are the generations Of Jacob"
Is little OBJ cure. One would naturally
expect to have tie MANS of Jacob
sons follow. Instead we have the mar
rative Of their doings. And this is
really what Is meant. Pool gives 1t,
'the events or occurrences which hap
pened to Jacob and his issue" And he
instances the story Of NJ ah at Gen. @:
9 generations, also of Moses and
Aaron at Numbers 3: /. Moses here
turns from the account of Esau's pcs
terity to that of the chosen family.
The lexicon gives for rendition of the.
word here translated generations
family-history.
And Joseph brought unto his father
their evil report" better, the evil re-
port of them (see Revision\, or, even
more literally, the rumor Of their bad
ness. 1t was probably. current in the
places which they frequented and
Joseph did not act the part OF mere
tattler or tale-bearer, but rather of a
repeater of what was the common talk
may have been dispatched with the
special errand 10 bling his father It'd
ings. The Douay says he accused his
brothers Ct "a most wi ked crime"
Trey could not speak Ieaceably UNI
to him." is, literally, they were not
able to say peace lsalaam unto him.
Peace was the sa'utation of friends.
They so hated him that they could not
render him IL e ordinary saluta.ions of
good fellowship and courtesy. So far
had their anger and jealousy pro-
ceeded
HINTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
We have in Joseph's life powerful
lesson Cf Gcd's providence. lose is
the man OF destiny. Who would have
thought that the casting of this deli
ta.e boy into q pit would have worked
out such mighty results. But here
again mans extremity is Gods oppor-
tunity; or rathe. mans straits are
Gods engagements. Look back over
your own lives. Has there not been
many Joseph expe fence there? Re-
count them.
"God moves In mysterious way
His wonders to perform.
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides above the storm.
"BlInd untellef is sure to err
And scan his works in vain;
God is his own int 'rpreter.
And he will make IL lain.n
The lesson which tho International
Committee have parti ula~ly chosen
to emphasize in this portion Ct 10. eph's
LIE is that of confli t, thu warning of
opposite natures. Let us find here
then some suggestions as to how to
4 g
the best conquest. The @ is way OF
living which, while it ecessarily
means conflict with the world, signifies
alliance with God and assured triumph
in the end-Gcds providence with the
Christ an warrior. Peloubet sugges-
lively names the case of d.. Parkhurst
in New York as noteworthy instance
OF the warfare that must arise when
private integrity taxes its stand against
public iniquity. so always, as DIR. A.
]. Gordon intimates, the plumb line
throws all other lines into open dis
tortion. And yet "if Cod be for us,
who is he that is against u.s."
Unity of sentiment aid the spirit of
mutual forbearance should be cultiva-
ted in order to avoid discorl. There
is no better way TO produce this than
to have it said ID truly. "One is your
Master, even Clrist, and all We are
brethren" or in other words, submit
ting yourselves one 10 another in the
fear Ct Cod" This is underst cd to be
the motive of the Boys Brigade, which
some have quite naturally supposed
might pc ssibly engender the belliger-
ent spirit. On the contrary, a, we
ourselves know from me slight ex-
perience, the opposite is the result.
Saws Mr.. Deming: 1--WE give them
military drill not to set them to fight
ing, but to keep item from fighting"
Obedience TO authority ought certain
ly TO make for peace, and il does. The
trouble with Joseph and his brethren
was that they had broken ranks" and
did not know hov TO keep STEP"
Next Lesson-"Joseph Sold Into