The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1901-10-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
International Sunday School Lesson
for October 1T 1901.
BY REV. FRANKLIN B. DWIGHT.
Joseph and His Brethren, Gen.
WV. Tx

governor OF EgypJ IN MS puDllC llI6
and his dealings with the people of
of the land. We now see him, still as
the great governor, but in his private
life and in his relations with his bro
theirs. The characters of many great
men will not bear the search light of
examination into their personal
affairs and their family relations.
Joseph is great as ruler, but still
greater and nobler as a brother and
a son. His public life is an example to
men in high station. His private
life and personal dealings with those
nearest t0 him is lesson for us all.
1t is also suggestive to notice that
Joseph could bear with equal grace
and courage the two extremes of temp
tation which are most dangerous.
Some men are heroes in adversely, but
can not stand the perils of prosperity.
Some men can be good anu true out
of office, but in office they prove weak
and selfish. 1.-THE fierce light that
| beats upon throne" has revealed
many a blemlsh i'll the characters of
men who were looked upon as models
amid the humber walks of life and
in the leas trying positions of their
earlier days. Joseph's greatness In
| Egypt has increased.
''All countries come to Egypt to buy
corn. Then comes the first visit of
| his brothers and their return with the
money in their sacks and the second
visit when Joseph's silver cup is
found in Benjamin's sack. On
Joseph S declaring: The man i'll whose
hand the cup is found, he shall be my
servant, (xIi: ~ Judah makes an
earnest plea for the release of their
youngest brother. This is too much
for Joseph. who can not refrain
| himself longer and then follows
| the affecting scene described in our
lesson, where the ruler of Egypt de-
lares to the men who had betrayed
him, II am Joseph, your brother,
whom ye sold into Egypt, . and then
sheds tears of joy as he embraces
them all.
How ashamed they must have felt!
How their guilty consciences must
have brought up to them in light
which they never had expected the
wickedness of their crime and how
truly they must have realized that
"the way of transgressors is hard .
Joseph might have scorned them
with righteous indignation and said,
"Be sure your sin will find you out;
but instead he received them kindly
and gave God the praise for the Won
derful deliverance which it was his
privilege to work out.
Three questions will naturally arise
in studying this lesson. First, why
did not Joseph communicate with his
father during the first seven years
of his governorship? Why did he wait
till the famine came and compelled
their visit before he let any of the
family know where he was and what
he was. doing? One answer given to
this question is, that the means of
communication were then slow and
difficult But there must have been some
other cause for his long silence. IL
is true that there were no long dis
tance telephones in those days and no
morning papers gave daily dispatches
from all parts of the world. 1t was
far easier then than now for proml-
nent man TO maintain disguise. But
there must have been some further
good reason why Joseph did not let
his father know that he was alive.
This reason probably was that he
wanted to do for all his family that
would be best in the end. He knew
they would come down to buy corn
|
vealed himself sooner there is no tell
ing what his brothers might have done
and how completely they mi ght have
upset his plans and arrangements to
save his family alive. His long silence
was caused by motives of prudence
and sagacious foresight, and it was
abundantly justified by the result.
The second question is: Why did he
treat his brothers roughly" (xlli y
at first, and wait so long before re-
vealing himself to them? The answer
to this question is in part the same
as the last He was waiting for his
plans to develop. The time must be
ripe before he told them who he was
or his very wish might fail, if prema-
turely attempted. But more than
this, he wanted to bring them to true
penitence, and judging from Judah S
earnest words he fully succeeded
How different is their attitude
toward Benjamin from what it had
been toward Joseph many years be-
FORE Then they were heartless and
cruel. Now they are penitent and
considerate. judah, as their spokes-
man, aliudes tenderly to their aged
father and pleads that they may not
be compelled, by returning to him
without Benjamin, to bring down the
gray hairs of Jacob with sorrow to
the grave. Certainly great change
has come over the once wicked bro
theirs. Judah is willing to take Ben
jamin place as a bondsman, and the
whole tenor of their language
throughout this part of the story
would indicate that, in some measure
at least, they strove to bring forth
fruits meet for repentance. That was
evidently what Joseph wanted, and
the course he took secured that end.
A third question which arises is
concerning the cup. Did Joseph use
divination, that is did he practice hea-
then arts in the use of the cup? We
are not TO conclude from what the
steward said, (xlix 70 lis not this il
in which my Lord drinketh and
whereby, indeed, he divineth?" OF
from Joseph's question to his broth
ers, "Wist ye not that such man as
1 can certainly divine?'' that he ne
cessarily used arts of incarnation OF
practised superstitious rites. The
sacred cup or bowl may have been tt
him no more than it really was, {
costly article of silver; but for the
time he maintained his disguise anC
the stratagem of the cup was par
of that disguise. "But he seems tC
have used words, says the Speaker
. Commentary, which though not affirm
ing that he could divine, yet nearl,
imply as much. 1t is to be observed