_Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father_ THE HONOUR PAID TO THE DEPARTED JACOB: I. PRIVATE. 1. The tears of his family. 2. The respect paid to last wishes. II. PUBLIC. (_T. H. Leale._) CEREMONIES AFTER DEATH: The order of the ceremonies alluded to, and on the whole... [ Continue Reading ]
_Forgive_ THE MESSAGE OF HIS BRETHREN TO JOSEPH: The death of great characters being often followed by great changes; conscious guilt being always alive to fear; and the chasm which succeeds a funeral, inviting a flood of foreboding apprehensions, they find out a new source of trouble. But how ca... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good_ GOOD OUT OF EVIL: 1. God permits evil, but from the evil He unceasingly causes good to proceed. If good were not destined to conquer evil, God would be conquered, or rather God would cease to be. 2. Since the Scriptures call us to be imita... [ Continue Reading ]
_He comforted them, and spake kindly unto them_ JOSEPH’S LAST FORGIVENESS OF HIS BRETHREN: I. THEIR NEED OF FORGIVENESS. II. THE PLEA ON WHICH THEY URGE IT (Genesis 50:16). 1. The dying request of their father. 2. Their own free confession of guilt. 3. Their father’s influence with God. 4. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you_ DYING JOSEPH: I. SATISFIED WITH THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD. II. FULL OF FAITH. 1. Sure of God’s covenant. 2. Superior to the world. 3. The possessor of immortality. (_T. H. Leale._) THE LAST DAYS OF JOSEPH: I. THE REMOTE CON... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence_ JOSEPH’S FAITH IN GOD This is the one act of Joseph’s life which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews selects as the sign that he too lived by faith. It was at once a... [ Continue Reading ]
_So Joseph died_ THE DEATH OF JOSEPH: I. JOSEPH’S DEATH WAS THAT OF EMINENTLY GOOD MAN. Perhaps the best man of the Old Testament. He was not surprised by death, nor dismayed at its coming. He had lived to meet it--lived for the life beyond death--not for present indulgence, nor in heedless disreg... [ Continue Reading ]