Leaving Jacob to long years of bitterest grief, we follow the fortunes of Joseph. From this point the thread of the story takes him into Egypt a slave. Sold to Potiphar, an officer under Pharaoh, it soon became apparent that the Lord was with him and made every thing prosper under his hand. He rises rapidly in the confidence of his master; is put in charge of all his house—but here springs up a new trial. Joseph is beautiful in person and amiable in manners. Potiphar’s wife, lewd and shameless, tempts him with solicitations to adultery. Joseph’s bearing in this case was worthy to be put on permanent record to pass down through all future generations to the end of time, a perfect model of both virtue and wisdom—the virtue that resists seductive temptation with unwavering firmness; and the wisdom that comprehends and applies the perfect methods of resisting temptation.Joseph did not dally with his tempter; did not suffer the temptation to gather new force, but met it instantly with the strongest considerations possible—“How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God!” God, said he to himself, is my best friend; I am his servant. He has stood by me through all my trials and given me this great prosperity; his pure eye is on me; I can not do this great wickedness against him!——The sense of a present God settled the question forever. There was indeed another line of considerations—his obligations to the husband of this lewd woman. Potiphar had trusted him most entirely; shall he abuse this trust? Never.——Thus Joseph’s course was at once decided. But this vile woman persisted in her solicitations, till at length, maddened by her failure, she plotted his death. She laid hold of his garment; he escaped leaving it in her hands. With this for her proof she accuses Joseph of the crime of which she alone was guilty. Joseph is thrown into prison—because of his virtue and not because of any crime. Of course the Lord was with him still, and again Joseph rises in the favor and confidence of those in power; is put in charge of all matters in the prison, and thus the Lord turned this great trial to account to bring Joseph before Pharaoh. Long was the trial; the story of his relations to the chief butler and the chief baker is in point chiefly as showing how ungratefully the butler could forget his imprisoned friend and prolong his imprisonment. But the hour of deliverance came at last. Pharaoh’s two dreams impressed and disturbed his mind so much that he summoned all his wise men to his help—but in vain. At this opportune moment the chief butler remembers Joseph. He should have spoken of him to the king two years before; but engrossed with his own prosperity, he forgot his prison benefactor till this time. Joseph comes to the help of the king. His first answer is beautifully modest and fragrant with piety. “I have heard of thee, said the king, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.” Joseph replies: “It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (Gen. 41: 16). The dreams are interpreted to signify seven years of overflowing plenty, followed by seven of extreme famine throughout all the land. Joseph suggeststo the king to store up the excess of the plentiful years against the deficiencies of the famine years. The king sees the wisdom of this suggestion and at once appoints Joseph to this responsibility; in fact, sets him over all Egypt save only in the honors of the throne.
At this point the historic thread brings Jacob and his sons in Canaan to view again. We are not told whether they had the seven years of exuberant plenty there, but the years of famine were there in terrible power. They were soon breadless. The father hears that there is corn in Egypt; so he sends ten of his sons—all that are with him save Benjamin—to get corn. It was to be brought on the backs of their asses, and therefore it was wise to send them all together.
The scenes that follow are told with masterly simplicity. Joseph knows them; they do not recognize him: What policy shall he pursue? Why, we may perhaps ask, why does he not make himself known to them at once? Why does he treat them so roughly; accuse them of being spies; throw them all into prison for three days; propose to keep them all confined save one and send him back after Benjamin; but finally compromises the matter by taking Simeon as a hostage, binding him before their eyes, and then consenting that the rest may go home and bring Benjamin down as the condition of Simeon’s release? Why does he put their money into the mouth of each man’s sack of corn? Why this long delay, and these searching, harassing preliminaries?
It was not that Joseph was hard-hearted and rather enjoyed using his power and taking some revenge—nothing of this sort. It is indeed said in the first stage of this interview—“Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them” (Gen. 42: 9), and thereupon said, “Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land are ye come.” But this only shows that his policy was settled upon the spur of the moment. He saw what he needed to accomplish and laid his plans accordingly. The whole narrative shows that, so far from being void of fraternal feeling and hard-hearted, in fact it tasked his firmness of character to the utmost to suppress his emotions sufficiently to carry out his purpose. His main purpose was to bring them to thorough repentance.For this end he must needs throw their thought back upon their great sin and bring the heavy pressure of present calamity upon them with all its suggestive power to show them that God was taking them in hand for that wickedness. He also wished to see how they felt toward their father and toward Benjamin. Their feeling toward both the father and his youngest son would be an index of their penitence for their great sin toward himself.
Joseph was a man of consummate wisdom. Few men have ever lived who understood human nature better than he, or could plan better for a given effect. Consequently we shall not miss greatly if we infer his design from the actual effect. When we see what he accomplished, we are reasonably safe in saying—This is what he aimed to do.
Observe now that the first scene had not fully transpired ere he heard them saying one to another, “We are verily guilty concerning our brother in that we saw thee anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” And Reuben answered them (i. e. interposed at that point) saying, “Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold also, his blood is required.”——Joseph saw that his scheme was taking effect; their consciences were at work. How his own heart must have throbbed! Accordingly we read—“He turned himself about from them and wept.” But the work is not yet complete; so he brushed away the tears and “returned to them and took from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes.” Why he chose Simeon is not indicated. Perhaps—not to say probably—he was the leading spirit in the cruel scenes thirteen years before. We remember that Simeon and Levi led off in that bloody affray with the men of Shechem. However this may be, he was the eldest after Reuben; and Reuben, though a coarse, rough nature, was on the side of mercy toward the abused Joseph. Simeon, therefore, is chosen for the hostage, to be kept in close confinement while the rest are dismissed to go home. Simeon will have abundant time to think over the guilty deeds of that dreadful past! Let us hope that it brought him to genuine repentance.
The narrative details the return of the nine brethren to their father’s house; how they told their story there; how Jacob rebuked them for disclosing their youngest brother; how he struggled desperately against his manifest destiny; how he said—Benjamin shall never go down into Egypt; how Reuben interposed in his rough way, saying to his father: “Slay my two sons if I bring not Benjamin back to thee”—as if he could not see that murdering two of his grandchildren would be infinitely far from helping the matter or affording the least relief. With better good sense and a more just appreciation of his father’s feelings, Judah pled with his father:—We shall all die of starvation unless we go down to Egypt for corn: we must take Benjamin with us—else we get no corn. “Send the lad with me; I will be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever” (Gen. 43: 8–10).——The heart of their father Israel comes to view here—yielding to the inevitable necessity; wisely getting up a liberal present of the best fruits of their land; double money, to return what came home with them in their sack’s mouth, and to buy again. Saddest of all he gave up his dear Benjamin, and then with many a prayer he sent them to Egypt a second time: “And God Almighty give you mercy before the man that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin: If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”——But he did not see the deep thoughts of God in these trying scenes, and perhaps he had not yet fully learned how wise and safe it is to trust Almighty God to bring out his own results in his own way! He will learn more by and by.
Events thicken; the final consummation hastens on. They are in Egypt again and stand before Joseph. His quick eye sees his beloved brother Benjamin among them. At once he gives orders to the ruler of his house to prepare a dinner for all these men and to bring them all into his house. A deeper fear seizes upon them: what, say they, can this mean? What new charges, what prosecutions, what fresh dangers, are coming now? They meet the Steward at the door and tell him their story about the returned money. The recognition of God in his reply seems strange for an Egyptian—unlesswe suppose that Joseph had given him the words. He said, “Peace be to you; fear not; your God and the God of your fathers hath given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money” (Gen. 43: 23). “And he brought Simeon out to them”—which might well have given some relief to their burdened hearts.——The dinner hour approaches; they are to eat with the lord of the land. They get their presents ready; and when Joseph appeared “they bowed themselves to him to the earth.” The historian is careful to mention this for its bearing as the fulfillment of that long past dream of the boy Joseph. With the true politeness of profound sincerity Joseph inquires about his father: “Is your father well—the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?” “And they answered: Thy servant our father is in good health; he is yet alive; and [again] they bowed down their heads and made obeisance.”——Now his eye falls on Benjamin, his own mother’s son, and he asks—“Is this your younger brother of whom ye spake unto me? God be gracious unto thee my son.”——Ah, but Joseph’s heart is too full; “he made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon his brother; and he sought where to weep, and he entered into his chamber and wept there.” But, the time has not come yet to reveal himself; the searching ordeal through which he must needs make his brethren pass has not fully done its work; so Joseph washes off the tears; refrains himself from shedding more, and orders the food set on. The brethren of Joseph had probably a rather pleasant time—only it seemed strange to them that they were seated by age from the eldest to the youngest and Benjamin had a five-fold mess! How comes it that the lord of Egypt knows so much about us? They can not see.
They are getting ready now for home; their sacks are filled with corn again, and again the money is put back into each sack’s mouth, and worst of all, Joseph’s silver cup is slipped into the mouth of Benjamin’s sack. Ere they are fairly out of the city Joseph posts his steward after them, abruptly charging them with having ungratefully stolen his lord’s silver cup. Consciously innocent and deeply indignant, they are rash enough to say—Let the man in whose sack it is found die, and take all the rest of us for slaves! How were they amazed and overwhelmed when the cup was found in Benjamin’ssack! They rent their clothes in bitterness of heart, and all return to the city. Judah comes to the front here; it is “Judah and his brethren” who come to Joseph’s house, and Judah who makes the plea in behalf of Benjamin. The historian is careful to say again that when they met Joseph “they fell before him on the ground.” He also remarks that Joseph was yet in his house, having remained there ever since the caravan left in the early morning, too full of thought on this subject to turn to any other business.——Now he expects to learn how they feel toward Benjamin and toward their aged father. He must be sure they are all right on these points before he lifts the vail and shows them himself.——They are brought back as criminals before him. With a sternness that is not at all in his heart but in his assumed manner only, he says—What deed is this that ye have done? Were ye not aware that I have the power of positive and certain divination?——Judah is in deep perplexity—but he speaks frankly: “What shall we say unto my lord? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants”—which words can not, it would seem, refer to any iniquity in the matter of the silver cup, but must have referred to the long past crime of the brethren toward Joseph. He can not say less than that they will all become the slaves of Joseph, all including even Benjamin.——No, replies Joseph; I want only the guilty man, Benjamin; all the rest of you may go in peace to your father!——Now the crisis so long dreaded has come. A terrible responsibility falls upon Judah. With wonderful simplicity, with most touching filial affection toward his father, and with masterly skill he rises to the moral sublimity of the occasion. He comes near to Joseph and begins his great plea. Every reader must study it. We shall need to go far to find more touching eloquence, a more masterly setting forth of the facts of the case including the whole story from the beginning to the end. The case of the aged father and of his two younger sons left him by his best beloved wife—put in the aged patriarch’s own words—ran thus: “Ye know that my wife bear me two sons, and the one went out from me, and I said—Surely he is torn in pieces, and I have not seen him since; and if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bringdown my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father and the lad be not with us; (seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life)—when he shall see that the lad is not with us he will die; and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of our father with sorrow to the grave. I said to him, If I bring not Benjamin back, I will bear the blame forever. Now therefore I pray thee, let me abide instead of Benjamin, the bond-servant of my lord, and let him go back to his father. For how shall I go to my father and the lad be not with me? Lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.”——This was more than Joseph could bear. He could refrain himself no longer; the tears would come; the swelling emotions must have vent. Joseph cried: “Have every man away from me save these men of Canaan.” The proof of their love to their aged father and to Benjamin is unmistakable; Joseph is satisfied. They are penitent for their long past crime against him, and he can therefore at length break the secret and show himself their long lost brother! How do their ears tingle as they hear him say—“I am Joseph: Doth my father yet live?”——The first shock is almost stunning: they can not answer him, for they are troubled at his presence. More kind words and the kindest possible manner are now in place. “Joseph said to his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you; and they came near.” Again he says—“I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.” Then with a turn which evinces the exquisite tenderness of his heart, he begs them “not to be grieved nor angry with themselves;” but to think rather of the design of God in permitting and providentially shaping this wonderful series of events. “God did send me before you to preserve life. There are five more years of famine yet to come; 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.” The best thing he could say under just those circumstances to soothe their mind, to assure them of his full forgiveness and to give them consolation in place of the agitation, fear, and remorse that so nearly overwhelmed their spirits.
Arrangements for the future are soon made. Josephassures them that the best of Egypt’s land shall be given them, and insists that they hasten home and bring their aged father and their little ones—every thing they have—down to Egypt, because five more years of famine are to follow. Egyptian wagons—unknown to Jacob’s household—are sent, and the brethren are hastened off. Were they not a happy band? The great agony of fear is past; the surgings of anxiety and solicitude have ceased; the pungent convictions of that dread crime long ago against their younger brother have done their work, and wrought out “the peaceable fruits of righteousness.” This is a wonderful crisis in their life history. Let us hope that most if not all of them found God through these fiery trials and these penitent tears!