The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1901-10-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
International Sunday School Lesson
for October 10 1901
BY REV. FRANKLIN B. DWIGHT.

not be dWelt upon in detail. 1t was
through an unjust accusation on the
part of his employer wife. Joseph
had shown marked capacity i'll the
employ of the Egyptian officer, to
whom the Midianites had sold him
and had risen to a post of trust in
Potiphar's house. Then came the
temptation which only proved mis- in
tegrity and that the charge was false
which resulted in his imprisonment
The way in which Joseph regarded
the sin to which he was tempted. not
only as a trespass against his neigh
bors, but as a sin against the divine
law is shown where he says, How
sin against God. In this he is like
David in the fifty first Psalm, where
after his great transgression against
Uriah he cries out to God, "against
Thee Thee, only. have / sinned." To
the man who believes in God and in
the universal and binding force of
His moral law every immoral act is
a sin against the Heavenly Father
and the temptation should be me,
with Joseph's question, "How can
do it? How can sin against God
who loves me and so break His law
and lose the joy of communion and
| fellowship with Him. Joseph lived
near to God. The Lord was with
him, and even the Egyptian officers
in whose house he was could plainly
see this just as now the most worldly
man will see that there is something
about the true Christian that makes
him more reliable and trustworthy
than other men.
| But the false charge had it's effect.
Potiphar was angry and his faithful
steward was cast into prison. Here
he at once gained thesconfidence of the
prison keeper, and we find Joseph for
| the second time in position of trust,
for again we read (verse 21) the
Lord was with Joseph and showed
! kindness unto Him. Notice all
through that it is the Lord s doing. -
Observe also that in this passage and
| generally in the Old Testament where
we read of what the Lord does, the
divine name is printed in capitals !;
and wherever this is done it means
JEHOVAH, the covenant God of His
people. This is explained in the
margin of the Revised Version of
Gen. ii. 4, and applies to all places
where we read the LORD printed
thus. The Covenant God has promised
|
can not shut Him out. Adverse sur
lroundings can not prevent nor hinder
Him from coming to you and being
with you in your shop, in your school
room, in your sick room, in your
prison, of disappointment and trial if
you only look to Him and try to serve
Him. Do not course your luck, )" as
so many young men do and say, you
can not be good in your hard lot and
evil associations but if you are there
through no fault of your own, remem-
Der that God will be with you. Make
the most of yourself in your present
place, no matter how hard or how
humble, and believe that in God S
own time He will bring you out to
something larger and better.
All things come round
To him who will but wait
1t proved so with Joseph, and it will
prove so with every brave and patient
soul who waits for God to bring good
out of evil while he himself tries his
best to do Gods will and with faith
in Gods word to serve the best in
terests of those about him. We may
} not see the result in this life, though
we shall generally see part of it at
least; but in the next life we shall
see it all, and be thankful for what
ever part in the working out of God S
great plan He has permitted us to
take.
And now the chief butler and chief
baker of the King of Egypt are cast
into prison What they had done
we are not told, but then as now,
Eastern monarchsAw most arbitrary
and it may have been merely a per-
sonal prejudice of Pharaoh which
caused them to be for season in
ward, in 1.-THE place where Joseph was
bound. :" That is noticeable, and we
see another Providential ordering in
the fact that although doubtless he
could have sent them to some other
place of confinement the King chose
to send them to 1.-THE place where
Joseph was bound.
Here these prisoners of state are
very anxious. Their fears and perhaps
their consciences lead to strange and
vivid dreams, and Joseph who had
already "served them, (verse A.,
probably by kindness and sympathy
as we'll as in other ways, comes to
them one morning and finds them
sad. They tell him their dreams and
he interprets or explains them, in
sisting, however, that it is not by his
own wisdom for interpretations be-
long to God" (verse s.
Dreams and visions have from the
earliest times been regarded as very
frequently containing intimations OF
future events. Abimelech's dream,
Nebuchadnezzar' dream and the
dream of Pilates wife are notable
instances at widely separated periods
in history and they all belong, as dc
many other dreams narrated in Scrip.
ture, to characters outside the Coven-
ant people. Many dreams were vain,
and merely human interpretations
were to be avoided but like miracles
the dreams sent by God for purposes
of warning have an important place
In the history of His dealings with
mankind Joseph's interpretations
prove true. The chief butler is restored
to his office and the chief baker is
hanged. How important Joseph's rela-
tions with the chief butler proved
two years later, we shall see in the
next lesson.
In the meantime we have to notice
q pitiable case of neglect and ingrati-
tude. This high officer of state was
glad enough to talk with Joseph in
the prison. Once again exalted tC
place and power he completely forgetS
him, although Joseph had asked him
specially to plead in his favor. Some
people only cultivate acquaintance
thinking in their time of need of what
they can get out of them, and whel