CHAPTER IV.
JOSEPH INTERPRETING PHARAOH’S DREAMS.
“Seest thou a man diligent in business? he shall stand before kings: he shall not stand before mean men” (Prov. xxii. 29). Such is one of the sayings of the wisest man, and we see it fulfilled to the letter in Joseph’s case. In the house of Potiphar, in the prison where he was unjustly immured, and everywhere, he did what was just and right, and now we see him (in our Engraving) literally standing before a king. In many a passage of Scripture God is urgent with us to do with diligence what he appoints us to do; and he makes it plain that in every case—without exception, in every case—the path to true honour, true promotion and prosperity, is the path of duty. For a time, men may get success in iniquity; but their fall and their crash are the greater. Witness the penury and the shame of the fraudulent bankrupt—the lordly oppressor—the unjust dealer of every name. The history before us illustrates all this.
Pharaoh’s rest had been troubled by dreams, and when summoned, as we have just seen, into the royal presence, Joseph was able to read them—his God was with him, and he prospered even in that. He foretold seven years of plenty, to be followed by seven years of scarcity, according to a twofold emblem seen in the royal visions; and counselled the king to provide for the evil of famine by treasuring up the produce of the years of abundance. The lean kine and the well-favoured, the good ears of corn and the bad, helped him to avert a dire calamity. He became the benefactor of millions; and, according to some, Joseph introduced a practice into Egypt regarding the tenure of land of which there are vestiges to this day.
But be that as it may, we see here how Joseph’s advancement begins, and is promoted. He had honoured God, and is honoured by him. He had held fast his integrity, and now found that to be the path of peace as well as of prosperity; his equity is brought forth as the noon-day. His ways pleased the Lord, and even Joseph’s enemies were all at peace with him. He had been in the furnace, and came forth pure. He had been tempted, bribed, allured to sin; but his God made him steadfast and immovable; and we are now to see the result. Let us, then, look at some details.
It seems to be a law in God’s world, that wherever good is to be done, it must be accomplished by woe. Think again of the highest good ever wrought out upon earth—the redemption of man by Jesus Christ—and how was that accomplished? By tears, by agonies, and cries; by a death whose horrors have never yet been told! Or, when Paul would spread the blessings of redemption, how was that accomplished? By endurance at every step, by buffetings, stripes, and persecutions! And when Luther would sweep away some part of the rubbish which had been heaped upon the truth, had he not to take his life in his hand, and clear his way amid a thousand obstructions and tens of thousands of enemies, ere he could advance that work? Or, once more, when God would make known his truth in heathen lands, how is it done? As we have already seen, it is amid throes, and persecutions, massacres, mutinies, and fiendish cruelties.
Now, Joseph’s case comes under this general rule. He was to become in God’s hand the instrument of preserving millions from a terrible death; but, to achieve that result, he must surmount obstruction after obstruction, and rise from a pit into which his brothers threw him, and a dungeon to which false accusation led. He was to turn famine into plenty, and dearth into comparative cheapness; and how was it done? He must first be hated by his brethren; and then he must be sold as a slave; then he must be cast into a prison, and disciplined there for thirteen years; and only after all these things is he permitted to work the work which God had given him to do. Satan’s malice, and man’s waywardness, impeded Joseph’s way; and only because the Lord was with him did he prosper in the end against such combined opponents. Now, just in proportion to the difficulties encountered and surmounted by him, are we called to recognize the hand of God in what befell. When he has a work to do, none can hinder; instruments will be found, and his purposes on earth will be promoted, in spite of all that can resist or gainsay. As well may we expect to roll back the flowing tide by a word, or make some mighty river like the Amazon or the St. Lawrence run upward to its fountain, as check, divert, or even retard the purposes of the Eternal. He will work, and none can hinder: and the grand moral of Joseph’s touching story is just this,—Man and devils may combine to oppose the cause of God, but on that cause advances, resistless because he is the Almighty.
But while we glance at Joseph’s promotion thus far, we cannot help adverting to the state of his unnatural brothers. No doubt they thought that their wicked device had succeeded; they tried to be at peace, and rejoice in their form of prosperity. They might see their aged father pining nearer and nearer to the grave from day to day, on account of the loss of Joseph. They might have some compunctions, and we can scarcely suppose that conscience would be altogether silent; it would be a rare case, indeed, had they succeeded in stifling entirely the voice within. But we are told of no repentance, no confession of sin, no humiliation for murder designed, for falsehood told, for a brother hated, and a father, reduced to life-long anguish, passing on unsoothed to the grave! Oh, the power of sin! How it perverts man’s nature! how it hardens his heart into stone! how surely is the power of an Almighty Spirit needed to renew it! and how blessed when that Spirit has come to make us one spirit with that Living One of whom Joseph was a type—Jesus, the Son of God!
We say Joseph was a type of Jesus; at least the life of the one strangely resembled that of the other. Such resemblances are sometimes fanciful, and pushed further than sober judgment can sanction, yet in many respects they are striking. Was Joseph, for example, hated by his brethren? Jesus also came to his own, and his own received him not. Was Joseph the favourite of his father? In like manner Jehovah proclaimed concerning Jesus, “This is my beloved Son.” Was Joseph sold by his brethren? So was Jesus. Was the former falsely accused? So was the latter. Was Joseph the saviour of many from death by starvation? Jesus was the saviour of a multitude, whom no man can number, from sin. Was Joseph first degraded or dishonoured, and then highly exalted? The history of the Redeemer’s earthly sojourn tells how wicked men dishonoured or derided him; but the Scriptures also tell that God highly exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name. Was it a proclamation made before Joseph, “Bow the knee”? (Gen. xli. 43). In like manner, “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” Did Joseph feed multitudes? In like manner Jesus gives us the bread which comes down from heaven. Did Joseph forgive his unnatural brethren at last? The dying Saviour prayed for his crucifiers: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
We would not carry out this parallel, we repeat, to any fanciful extent; but the coincidences now mentioned, and many more, are often pointed out. In the estimation of some, they furnish a proof that the sufferings of the Saviour were prefigured, or predicted, by those of Joseph; which at least show this—that he that will live righteously must suffer persecution, whether he be one of the sons of men, or the only Son of God.
