The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1901-10-24
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International Series fer
October -, 10O1-Joseph and
His Brethren.
Prepared by II. c. Lenington.l
THE LESSON TENT.

THE LESSON TENT.
Genesis SILLY
Then Joseph could not refrain himself
before all them that stood by him: and
ne cried. Cause every man to go out from
me. And there stood no man with him.
while Joseph made himself known unto
hts brethren.
2. And he wept aloud: ard the Egyptians
and the house of Pharoah heard.
| 3. And Joseph said unto his brethren. l
am Joseph; doth my father yet l:ves And
his brethren could not answer him; for
they were troubled at his presence.
4. And Joseph said unto his brethren.
Come near to me, l pray you. And they
came near. And he said. l am Joseph. your
brother. whom ye sold Into Egypt.
b. Now therefore be not grievsd, nor an
| cry with yourselves. that ye sold me hither;
for God did send me before you to preserve
life.
9. For these two years hath the famine
been In the land; and yet there are Ave
years. In the which there shall neither be
caring nor harvest.
| 7. And God sent me tefore you to pre-
| serve you posterity in the earth, and to
save your lives by greet deliverance.
3. So now 1t was noSy you that sent me
hither. but God; and he hath made me a
rather to Pharaoh, and lord of all his
house. and ruler throughout all the land
Of Egypt.
D. Haste ye, and go up to my father. and
say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph,
God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come
down unto me, tarry not;
10. And thou shalt dwell in the land Of
Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me,
thou, and thy children. and thy chldren's S
children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and
all that thou hast:
II. Ard there Will nourish thee; for yet
there are iiye years of famine; lest thou,
and thy household, and all that thou hast,
come to poverty.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Be not overcome of
evil, hut overcome evil with good
Rom. I2;21.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The story of the meeting between
Joseph and his brothers in Egypt is
one of the quaintest in all Bible his
tory. 1t has a mingling of humor and
pathos that is truly unique. We see in
it also the fultillment of his boyhood
dreams of authority. 1t inaugurates,
too, the story of the Israeltes in the
land of Egypt. So it is not merely q
story with a moral; the incid, Mt leaves
its impression on all subsequent jew
ish history and literature. 1t was
seemingly small thing-the coming o.
Jacob and his wife and children into
Egypt, but it entailed series of events
of gigantic import in the history of the
world.
The pathos creeps out in the at
tempts of Joseph at different times
to keep back the tears and keep from
revealing himself to his brothers.
There is vein of humor in the impris-
onment of Simeon to ensure the safe
return of the rest, and in the mysteri-
Gus returning of the money with which
the men had paid for their corn.
A curious thing in the working Of
asks them to return with Benjamin,
their youngest brother, how they are
reminded (Gen. 42:21-22) of their
crime against Joseph in whose pres
ence they at that moment were, un-
known to themselves.
Altogether it was q piece of the ut
most good-natured revenge, and its
like 1t would be hard to duplicate. Jo-
seph quietly worked upon their super
stitions, on their guilty oonsciences,
then finally made himself known to
them. For the whole story read in
Genesis, Chapters AZ, 43, A and 4S.
The lesson may be made to turn upon
two points. The first is the sweet re-
venge that may be had by returning
good for evil. The story can very read
lily be imagined that would have been
written had Joseph returned evil for
evil. His brothers were absolutely In
his power, their very lives were in his
hands. In this connection also 1t may
be noted that in these years he had
learned the wisdom of humility. He
said nothing to remind them that he
had dreamed of his future ascendancy;
he did nothing to keep them in mind Of
their dependence upon him.
The other lesson is that Of the provi-
dencs Of God. To Joseph God was al
ways very real. Everything was due
to God. God was in everything, ruling
and overruling in accordance with
Divine plans for the good Of His ciii
dren II only they would serve Him. II
was God (Gen. 45:7) who sent Joseph
into Egypt for the purpose Of saving
their Elves by great deliverance." 1t
was God who had given him his position
of prominence in Egypt. 1t 10 lesson
that would make the lot of every man,
woman and child easier to-day ift Il
were needed. God rules, and all things
work together for good to thost'who
love God and seek to do His command
ments. II God governs the affairs Of
men, why should man worry about the
outcome Of his little plans? The pur-
poses Of Gsd will be worked out no
matter what we do, and all wifi be well