William Bruce

“ And here is the promise to him who trusts: "The God of thy father shall help thee, and the Almighty shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under." All heavenly and earthly blessings reward the good and obedient. All heavenly blessings are included in the delight of the love of Jesus, and all earthly blessings are included in the peace which He bestows upon His faithful followers. With His peace the poor are rich, and the mean great; without it the rich are poor and the great mean. ”

“ And how sad it is when some one of a family, who is more good or pious than the others, is yet hated and ill-treated by his less godly brethren! Hatred of a brother, even if he be evil, is wrong, but envy of any favour that is bestowed upon a good and deserving brother or sister, is still more so, and is the sign of a depraved heart. The young should be warned by the unjust and evil conduct of Joseph's brethren, especially when they see to what dreadful lengths hatred and envy will go when they are not checked but encouraged. ”

“ Obedience is the peace-maker. Obedience, or perseverance in well-doing, overcomes all difficulties, settles all controversies, adjusts all differences, and unites in one things that sin has separated from each other. It is quite true that we require to have love and faith as well as obedience. But love and faith work out their purposes by obedience, and can complete no work without it. To speak of the subject as symbolized in the present history; there must be a Benjamin as well as a Joseph; and although Joseph is the moving and directing cause, Benjamin is the acting medium. ”

“ And how is the young Christian's bow to abide in strength? As Joseph's did. "The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." He must use his hands, or exert his power; but he must not trust in his own power alone, so as to say, "Mine own arm hath gotten me the victory;" he must pray for and trust in the power which comes from God only, even from the Lord Jesus, who alone can give strength to His children, to conquer all that would draw or drive them away from the service of their loving Saviour. ”

“ We have, indeed, many and great advantages over those who lived in Joseph's times. Not only have we the Gospel, but we have the example, of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and we have Him present with us always, to strengthen and lead us to do as He Himself did. If, then, Joseph was willing and able to resist a strong temptation to commit a great sin, how much more should we resist who have the sword of the Spirit of Jesus, and the shield of His faith! ”

“ All are not destined to obtain in this life the name and place which their worth may deserve. But He who knows what is best for our eternal good, permits us as His children to suffer even for conscience' sake. In those times in which Joseph lived, the Divine Providence was often manifested as if it had its final issues in this life, because there was no clear knowledge of another life, and because prosperity in this world was the type or ensample of eternal happiness in the next. ”

“ As all the various colours come from the one pure white light, so do all the different books, and even all the different truths of the Divine Word, come from the one pure truth, which has its fountain in God, as pure white light has its fountain in the sun. ”

“ And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive."
How happy must the aged Jacob have been to see his son alive whom he had for so many years mourned as dead! His willingness and even his desire to die was one of the results and signs of that happiness. It is sometimes supposed that it is only a sense of misery that makes people desire death, and that the happier they are, the more unwilling or the more afraid they are to die. Perhaps merely worldly happiness always makes death terrible ”

“ Jacob, we may suppose, had long given up all hope of having a child by his best-beloved, Rachel; and when at last a son was born to him in his old age, he regarded the blessing with strong affection as a special gift from God. While Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other children, he loved the others also; for although a father may for some special reason love one of his children more than the rest, he does not, if he be a good man, withhold his love from the others, or neglect his duty towards them. ”

“ How strong must have been his religious principles, to resist the pleasures of sin thus thrust upon him!
Turning now to the temptress, we have exemplified, in the conduct of the wife of Potiphar, the truth that impure love is inwardly hatred. No sooner did she find that the virtue of Joseph was proof against all her wiles and violence, than her love was turned into hate. The truth is, the love of the evil is self-love. They love others for the sake of themselves, to derive some selfish gratification from their connection with them ”

“ Then there are "the blessings of the breasts and of the womb," that is, the blessings of being born again, and being, as a new creature, nourished with "the sincere milk of the Word." And then comes the final blessings—"The blessings of thy father have prevailed (or shall prevail) above the blessings of thy progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." When one is born again, God is his Father, and he is God's son; and the blessings of his Heavenly Father prevail over all other blessings, even those of creation, extending to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. ”

“ A brother may, therefore, show his love for his brethren by reporting their misconduct to his father, knowing that his father loves them, and only desires to know the misconduct of his children, that he may restrain them in their evil courses, and guide them in the path of virtue. Only, young people, in doing what Joseph did, must do it with a good end in view. Those who, like Joseph's brethren, go on in evil, besides doing serious injury to themselves, do serious injury to their parents; and for their parents, as well as for their brethren's sake, grave faults should not be concealed. ”

“ But although he was away from all that he loved and that loved him, there was One who had not forsaken him nor left him. "The Lord was with Joseph." How blessed and comforting is this truth! His cruel brethren could separate him from his earthly father, but they could not separate him from his Heavenly Father. None can separate us from Him, or remove us from His presence. No one can do this but ourselves. So long as we are faithful to Him, He will be faithful to us; and the further we are from our kindred the nearer we may be to God. ”

“ This was a very singular thing for Jacob to do. It is not uncommon for a father to give his dying advice to his children, exhorting them to love and unity, to virtue and piety; knowing their past character, he may even warn them of dangers to which they will be exposed, and exhort them to conduct which they will need to observe, if they would hope to prosper in this world or be happy in the next. But what human father could tell each one of a numerous family what would befall him in the future period of his life? Yet Jacob did this ”

“ The utmost bound of the everlasting hills is where charity rises into mutual love,—that brotherly love of which Joseph was so eminent an example, that love of one another by which the disciples of Jesus are to be known of all men, which has its dwelling place in the Lord's church on earth and its eternal home in heaven. ”

“ I may first mention the general impression which the history of Joseph leaves on the mind,—that the providence of God had a great work for him to do; that the Lord led him through great tribulation as the means of perfecting his character, and finally exalted him to be a prince and a saviour; in which we cannot fail to see a resemblance to our blessed Lord himself, of whom he was so eminent a type. It is true the elevation to which Joseph was raised was only a temporal one. Like our Lord, he saved men's lives ”

“ WHEN Joseph was carried into Egypt, it was in order that his history might represent the Lord's acquisitions, and, after His, the acquisitions of the Christian disciple, as the means of growing in the divine and spiritual life; for we know that Jesus increased in wisdom, and, through that wisdom, in favour with God and man. But wisdom is not acquired without labour, nor even without tribulation. ”

“ The present course and sufferings of Joseph were the means by which Providence was to work out a higher place and name than he had enjoyed in the house of Potiphar, captain of the guard.
Again abandoned and cast into the lowest depths of misery, even for his virtues' sake, Joseph is not left without succour. He, without whom a sparrow falls not to the ground, allows not this faithful one to fall without a purpose, nor to suffer without His care. "The Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison." ”

“ How beautiful an image do the spirit and conduct of Joseph towards his brethren present of the spirit and power of Jesus Christ towards those whom He has condescended to call His brethren! For what is the testimony of the Gospel on this subject?—"God commended His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life." ”

“ It was natural for Potiphar to believe his wife, notwithstanding it was against so good and wise a servant as he had found in Joseph. "Joseph's master therefore took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison."
And is this the reward and end of Joseph's high integrity and spotless virtue? No, it is not the end; it is only a means to the end. We have here, indeed, a striking instance of the seeming reverse of justice that is not unfrequently found to prevail in this world ”

“ So there are evil spirits, and evil companions that would drive us away from the Holy Well, whence we draw the water of life. These are the archers that Jacob says "sorely grieved Joseph, and shot at him, and hated him." All who strive to lead a holy life meet with opposition; and sometimes they are too much inclined to yield, and fall away. But not so did Joseph; nor must you who hope to obtain Joseph's blessing. ”

“ Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord. ”

“ The distinguishing feature of this part of the narrative is the tenderness of Joseph's love for his brethren, and for Benjamin especially. This is not seen so much in the affection he shews for his elder brethren, as in the seeming forgetfulness and perfect forgiveness of all the hatred and injuries he had experienced at their hands. Revenge is one of the strongest and most unquenchable of human passions, and the law of retaliation is one of the most deeply inscribed on our fallen human nature. ”

“ I am here assuming that parents are such as to render them worthy of the honour and duty of their children. Not that children before their proper age are to decide for themselves how far they are bound to render homage and obedience to their parents. But the kind and measure of honour which parents receive from their children must be in a great measure determined by their own general character, and their conduct towards their children. ”

“ To the righteous themselves it sometimes seems as if their virtue were an obstacle to their prosperity; as if reward were for the unprincipled and success for the plotter. So would it often be if this world were our final home. ”