Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-05-03
LESSON FOR MAY q
JOSEPH INTERPRETS DREAMS.

LESSON TENT-G.u 4o3-23
GOLDEN TENT-"TLr breath OF the
Almighty civ.th them understanding
job. 3--S r. Y.
In teaching this lesson we must not
overlook the intervening events which
are other Illustrations of the TRUTHFUL
ness of the biblical narrative in that
the sinful failures as well as the sue
cesses of families and OF chosen In
diyiduals are presented.
Joseph began life in Egypt as
serf. POtiphar, who bought him, was
the chief marshal Of the empire. the
lord high executioner. What Joseph
feelings must have been We are left
to infer. but we believe he accepted
his humiIiating position With resig-
nation and resolved to adjust himself
TO his new environment. Thus it was
that POtiphar found in Joseph an hon
est servant. Joseph served ten years,
years Of constant promotion. when he
/ encountered the ordeal related In
/ chapter 80.
Crime and Sin.
The breaking point had TO come
( when ne exclaimed: How can | do
/ this wickedness and sin against Cod
/ Gen 800 \ crime is committed
against a man or against society; the
( same act against God is a sin 10
seph's only safety was in flight ".
. 12). to parloy would have meant de-
feat Between the ages Of seventeen
and thirty. Joseph lived a life of slav-
cry and imprisonment. But God was
with him and his faithfUlness was re
warded by being promoted to the pO-
sition of warden Our religion should
recommend us. therefore itself. to
those who have TO do with us" Mac
laren}. Joseph has been referred to
as the optimist" not as one who be-
lieves that all will come rig :, but
that all is right now.
SO much by way of introduction.
The lesson proper divides itself nat
urally into two divisions:
|. The Chief Buffers Dream. w.
o-15. As we have seen JOseph's pur-
ity OF life and loyalty 10 God had
brought upon him the bitter hatred
Of an unprincipled woman (cf. . Tim.
3:12), but as we shall see, the sequel
was his exaltatiOn. (See Matt. 5:11,
12D BY inference we are led to be-
lieve that Potiphar had not alto
gether believed the story Of his wife.
else he would have exercised his
right as an official. also as slave
owner. and summarily executed Jo-
seph. But Joseph had one friend
from whom he could not be separat-
ed. Jehovah. 39:21O
In the providence of God two men
who stood nearer the King in the
discharge of their duties than did
Potiphar are brought into close con-
tact with Joseph. It was through
one Of these men Jacob was after
wards given his opportunity which
led to the salvation of many, includ-
ing those of his own families Esther
Ell. Rom S:2S. Ps. 76:10O How lit
tie do we suppose Joseph realized
that his kindly acts to his fellow suf-
ferers would be the stepping stones
of his release from bondage. In this
Joseph is another type of Jesus Of
whom it is recorded that he came TO
minister. not TO be ministered unto
Matt 20:2S)
An Enlightened Age.
We cannot of course lay the same
emphasis upon dreams today as at
the time of Joseph, nor is there need
of such revelations from God, for we
live in the enlightened age of the
Holy Spirit and ever have easy &C
cess to the word But trivial as these
dreams may have seemed. God was
using them to change the course OF
history. Verse seven gives us an IN
timation of this, also a hint OF Jo-
sephs heart of compassion and sym
pathy. Had Joseph been a selfish
man. slow to notice the sOrrows OF
others and still slower to make any
endeavor to relieve their suffering, he
would have missed the very opportu-
nifty God intended to use in the eff
fecting Of his escape from prison. II
is well to notice however, that Jo-
seph was equally quick to acknOwl-
edge God as the source of wisdom
and blessing. ". . Jas. t:5D II
was perfectly natural for the chief
butler to dream of his daily duty be
fore the king: so 1T was that God
used this natural thing as the means
Of bringing supernatural revela-
ton. With God is no beginning nor
ending of time, and a miracle to us
is simply God precipitating or hast
enfng those natural processes which
to US are measured by human meas
urement of duration called time 10
seph also saw in this dream the hand
Of God in it's possible relation TO him
self ". AZ, have me in thy remenl-
brance
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