CHAPTER XXXIII.

JOSEPH'S DEALINGS WITH HIS BRETHREN-HIS EVIDENT INSIGHT INTO THEIR RESERVE AND DUPLICITY AS FAR AS THEIR FORMER TREATMENT OF HIM WAS CONCERNED-THE LESSON INCULCATED BY THIS CONCEALMENT-CANDOUR AND CONFESSION, AS PROMPTED BY THE HOLY GHOST, THE FORERUNNER OF CONSOLATION-JOSEPH'S DECLARATION OF HIMSELF-AFFECTING SCENE-GOD'S HAND RECOGNIZED-LOVING MESSAGES TO HIS FATHER-THE PRECIOUS EFFECTS OF THE REALIZATION OF DIVINE FORGIVENESS -THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE REDEEMED BOTH HERE AND HEREAFTER,

MATTERS, at the close of the last chapter, had reached their climax. Joseph had sought, and at last attained, his object. He would have his brethren brought down into the very depths of humiliation, contrition, and brokenness of heart for the sin of which they had been guilty. Without doubt, he naturally inferred, from all that had passed between himself and his brethren, that they had persevered in their concealment from their father of the manner in which they had dealt with him. He saw at once that this was perpetuating the evil; that they who had robbed him of his home were depriving their father of any hope a real statement of the facts of the case might lead him to cherish, that his

long-lost son was still alive, and that possibly he might once more behold him.

This concealment, therefore, as we have before intimated, was to teach us this most important and practical lesson, that the more we connive at sin, or seek to conceal it, the greater our discomfort, and the severer the discipline which is ultimately to lead to a candid acknowledgment of it.

But now that Joseph had secured his object-this free confession of sin upon the part of his brethren, coupled with so importunate and touching an appeal -he can no longer forbear. He must declare himself. Hence we read, in the opening of the 45th chapter: "Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph: doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land; and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you

to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now, it was not you that sent me hither, but God and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: and there will I nourish thee; (for yet there are five years of famine,) lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover, he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him."

Reader, conceive, if you can, of this most affecting scene. To read it without tears is almost an impossibility. Well might his brethren first wonder, and then weep first they tremble, then they triumph. He is their brother; and, though once an offended and a greatly-injured one, yet now their forgiving and their exalted one. He testifies of their folly, but in the same breath of his forgiveness; and, in

the midst of all, recognizes and proclaims the good and gracious hand of Him who had mysteriously but most mercifully sent him forward for the express purpose of preserving life. And now, how intensely anxious he that his father should know it-that his father should realize and enjoy it. "Tell my father [not merely your father, or "the old man of whom ye spake" now, but] tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste, and bring down my father hither."

Oh, reader, touching as this scene is, it does but feebly represent what the relief, and what the peace, and what the enjoyment of a poor sinner, when the greater than Joseph pronounces his sins past, present, and to come, atoned for-blotted out-each and all forgiven. Doubtless the relief was inexpressible to Joseph's brethren, when that which had hung upon their heart and consciences for years was, as far as he was concerned, forgiven; but what comparison can such an act upon the part of Joseph bear to that which Jesus does when He declareth to the poor, trembling, conscience-smitten sinner, "I have put away thy sin, thou shalt not die;" "I have blotted out thy sins as a cloud, and thine iniquities as a thick cloud;" "I have cast all thy sins behind my back into the depths of the sea; and when sought for, there shall be none;" yea, when such forgiven men shall be brought, not into Goshen merely, but exalted to a participation with Him in all the glories and the triumphs of His throne? For He will" present unto Himself (His redeemed and His

forgiven ones) a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." "They are complete in Him." "Thou art all fair, my love," He says; "there is no spot in thee." "Thou art comely with the comeliness which I have put upon thee." "They shall walk with Him in white, for they are worthy -made worthy in the worthiness of the Lamb.

Reader, do you know anything of these distinguishing mercies, personally and experimentally? and can you say—

"Now free from sin, I walk at large;

This Breaker's blood's my soul's discharge;

At His dear feet asham'd I lay,

A sinner saved, and homage pay?"

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