The Raymer enterprise., 1913-05-15
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDASQ1OOL
LESSON
Ry 3. O. SELLERS. Director Of Evan
ing Department. The Moody Bible IN
stitute Of Chicago.)

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stitute Of Chicago.)
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LESSON FOR MAY IS
JOSEPH MEETS HIS BRETHREN.
LESSON TEXT-Gen. is:3-n.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Whatsoever man
soveth, that shall he also reap" CAL
81.
Joseph was thirty years Of age when
he reached his position Of supreme au'
thority, but we ought not to allow our
selves to forget those thirteen years
of humiliation, during which he was
betrayed, sold into slavery and neg
lected by those whom he befriended.
Yet those were days Of fidelity in his
service, Of victory over fierce tempta-
ton, of enduring unjust imprisonment
"a long period Of patient waiting but
. valuable period in that now at thirty
years of age he comes to this position
Of power fully equipped with that
knowledge of men. control Of himself
and faith In. God as to be properly IT.
ted for the burden OF responsibility
thrust upon him.
Did Not Forget.
I. Tho Brothers Need, w. 3-6. The
famine was not confined to Egypt, but
reached over to Canaan, where Jacob
and his sons lived The desperate
ness Of the famine is indicated by Ja-
cob's command to buy, that we may
live. and not die" But Jacob is too
old to travel, hence the brothers un-
dertake the journey. Twenty-Five
years have passed since that expert.
ence when Joseph's brethren cast him
into the pit. They have been years
filled with wonderful experiences for
Joseph. Now their attitude is changed;
instead OF being his tormentors they
are suppliants at his feet. During
these seven years Of garnering Joseph
had set up his own family and two
sons were born. the names Of whom
were significant.
The possession OF child of his own
would naturally quicken his inquiries
as to his fathers household, for he
assumed that in the order of events
his father must be dead.
II. A Brothers Memory, w. lit. Jo
seph at once recognized his brothers.
but treated them brusquely, demand
Ing from whence they came and the
purpose that brought them hither
". y. Again wv. 8, 81 the text Ne
minds US that Joseph remembered.
Only God can forgive and forget. But
Joseph is an inspiration to US that
though we may not be able to forget
we can forgive. The question might
be raised, why then did Joseph dis
simulate?" The answer is threefold:
~ Joseph desired to ascertain the
characters Of his brothers. Did they
remember? Yes, for they replied that
they were twelve brethren" Ten
were before him. one at home and
zone is not" That their characters
were not entirely changed is evi.
denced by their words, I'VE are true
men" ". 11), which of course was not
the truth. (2) Joseph desired to know
of his father and Of their home life.
The accusation that the brothers are
spies called forth the statement that,
the father. Jacob, Is still alive. The
third reason for this treatment Gevel.|
oped out Of these first two, viz, JoS
seph desired to reach his father andy
Benjamin, whom he had never seen.
We do not commend Joseph's method
as being Of the highest ethical value,
for his standard was not the standard
Of the man who knows Christ. Joseph
is a type; there is only one perfect
man, Jesus Christ. and Joseph points
toward that promised Saviour.
Guilty conseienees. ~
Joseph knew his brothers told tho
truth about their not being spies, but
he also knew that they lied when they
asserted themselves to be true mea
and that one brother "is not" Herr
Is the lesson OF mistaken estimates az
ones self and that q mans true valuo,
Is known and appreciated. Little al;
they realize. however, that their false
hood was being read as 1t was uttere<
and that the man before whom they3
were standing was this same brothefs]
Joseph affected not to believe any 81
their story and demanded proof (vvs|
1b. 16) Of their assertions. After thre1g
days in jail he appeared to relent and
ordered that only one Of their numbei
should remain as hostage. The result
Of all is shown in v. 21. After invol
unfairly leaving Simeon shut up in th(I
Egyptian prison their minds travele1
back to that time twenty years before
and they remembered Joseph's al
guish and distress when they woul
not hear. therefore is this distrea
come upon u.s." Their guilty col
sciences are aroused.
Jacobs cry. "All things are againS
me-" Y. 36, was a mistake. Josep
was alive and exalted that he mlgh