Joseph on the second throne in Egypt.
I. DURING THE SEVEN YEARS OF PLENTY.
1. His mature manhood (Genesis 41:46). Thirteen years had elapsed since his brethren had sold him at Dothan, and during the interval what a checkered life had be experienced! Carried into Egypt by the spice caravan of the Midianitish traders, he had been sold a second time as a slave. Ten years had he served as a bondman, first as a valet to the provost marshal of the slaughterers, and then as overseer of the great man's household. Three years more he had spent in prison, having been incarcerated on a charge of which he was entirely innocent. And now, at the age of thirty, he is the wisest and the greatest man in Egypt. God has strange ways of developing the talents, maturing the experience, and advancing the honor of his sons. The case of Joseph is a signal illustration of the beneficial uses of adversity, and shows that the true road to success in life, to the acquisition of wisdom, or of power, or of wealth, or of fame, or of all combined, often lies through early hardships and trials, disasters and defeats.
2. His political activity (Genesis 41:46-49). As grand vizier of the empire, Joseph's labors during this period must have been many and laborious: surveying the corn-producing land of the country, and dividing it for purposes of taxation into districts, appointing overseers in every district, erecting granaries or government stores in every city of any size or importance, and generally superintending in every corner of the empire the work of uplifting the fifth part of the superabundant harvests of those precious years when the earth brought forth by handfuls. The result was, that by the close of this period the Egyptian government had collected corn as the sand of the sea, very much, and without number.
3. His domestic prosperity (Genesis 41:50). On the name of Joseph's wife, and the questions connected with the subject of her marriage with Joseph, the Exposition under Genesis 41:45 may be consulted. That the marriage itself was approved by God there is no sufficient reason to doubt, and that it was a marriage of affection may be inferred from the sentiments expressed by Joseph on the occasion of his sons' births. The birth of his children also was interpreted by him to be a mark of Divine favor. What a signal reward for the fidelity and purity of Joseph's behavior in the house of Potiphar three years before! Had Joseph at that time left the straight path of virtue, where had been his advancement and felicity now? Even in this life God puts a premium in the long run on a life of purity.
4. His personal piety (Genesis 41:51, Genesis 41:52). To some indeed Joseph's language on the birth of Manasseh appears somewhat hard to reconcile at least with true filial piety. Why did not Joseph, on reaching his exalted station in Egypt, at once communicate with his father? Was this a just or generous reward for what he had experienced of the old man's parental affection, and, what he must have still felt assured of, the old man's sorrow for his imagined death? Yet Joseph talks as if he had forgotten his father's house, as well as all his toil, in the splendor of his fame and the exuberance of his happiness in Egypt. But that these words are not to be interpreted literally becomes apparent, not alone from the pathetic meeting with his brethren and his father, soon to be described, but also from the statement which he makes upon the birth of Ephraim, in which he still characterizes Egypt as the land of his affliction. That Joseph did not at once declare his parentage and send a message home to Hebron may be explained by many reasons without resorting to the hypothesis that "Joseph was still unable to attain perfect calm and cherish sentiments of love and forgiveness" towards his brethren (Kurtz): as, e.g; the comparative insecurity that must have attended his position in Egypt until the years of famine came, an unwillingness prematurely to reveal to his father the full depth of wickedness of which his brethren had been guilty, a secret impression made upon his mind by God that the time of disclosure was not yet, At all events Joseph's conduct in this matter discovers nothing essentially inconsistent with a piety which shines out conspicuously in the grateful recognition of the hand of God in turning for him the shadow of death into the morning.
II. DURING THE SEVEN YEARS OF DEARTH.
1. His reputation as a prophet fully confirmed (verses 53, 54). God is always careful to maintain the honor of his own prophets. Whatever message he transmits to the world or the Church through a messenger of his sending, he will in due time see to its fulfillment. No true ambassador of heaven need entertain the slightest apprehensions as to the failure of the words which God provides for him to speak. If he is not always, like Samuel, established as a prophet of the Lord at the beginning of his ministry (1 Samuel 3:20), his claim to that distinction will in due course be made good by the exact accomplishment of what God has through his lips foretold.
2. His sagacity as at, administrator clearly established (verse 55). If Pharaoh had any doubts as to the wisdom of Joseph's proposal during the seven years of plenty, assuredly he had tone now. With a famishing population all around him, what could Pharaoh have done, how averted the destruction of his people, and possibly the overthrow of his own dynasty, if it had not been for the prudent forethought of Joseph? Happy are the kings who have wise men in their kingdoms, and who, when they have them, can trust them.
3. His work as a savior hopefully begun (verse 56). If it be asked why Joseph did not gratuitously distribute Pharaoh's corn among the perishing multitudes, the reply is obvious.
Learn—
1. The sin of national wastefulness.
2. The value of a wise statesman.
3. The compatibility of piety with both personal greatness and political activity.
4. The propriety of setting mercies over against misfortunes.
5. The proper end of all government and legislation—the happiness and safety of the people.
6. The true duty of a monarch—to sympathize with and direct his subjects.
7. The legitimate ambition for a nation—to be an object of attraction for good to surrounding countries.
HOMILIES BY F. HASTINGS