15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

16 ¶ Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. 19¶ Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

20 ¶ Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

21 ¶ Naphtali is a hind let loose he giveth goodly words.

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22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

28 All these are the twelve tribes of

Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.

32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.

commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

(1) Heb. do not thou excel. (2) Or, my couch is gone. (3) Or, their swords are weapons of violence.

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(4) Or, houghed oxen. (5) Heb. an arrow-snake. (6) Heb. daughters.

We have been informed, step by step, of the gradual approach of the patriarch's final dissolution. In one chapter we are told that the time drew nigh that Israel must die" (ch. xlvii. 29); and that he conversed freely with Joseph on the subject. In another, we read that when Joseph heard of his father's sickness (ch. xlviii. 1) he "took with him his two sons" to receive his father's blessing. These were significant intimations of the solemn event that in due time would come to pass, and which is distinctly recorded in the chapters before us. And who, I would ask, has not had some intimation of his own final departure? What is the voice of every pain we feel; of every fleeting period of life; and of every instance of mortality around us, but this, "Behold, thy days approach that thou must die?" (Deut. xxxi. 14.)

This chapter throughout is a dying scene; and, in whatever point of view you regard it, how interesting, how solemn, and how awakening are the circumstances narrated! Here is an aged saint, evidently upon his dying bed, assembling his children around him, and, in the twofold capacity of a prophet and a parent, foretelling what would befall each in the last days, and giving them all his final blessing. How few death-beds are like this! How seldom are our eyes gladdened with such a spectacle as this! Oh! let each one think of his latter end, and consider what testimony of the Lord's faithfulness and love he can leave for the benefit of those who survive him.

In the order of this blessing each son is specially noticed by the dying parent, and each one is addressed by him according to his peculiar character and future history. Reuben's guilt and unstable disposition; Simeon and Levi's horrible cruelty; Judah's dominion and praise; Zebulun's position and maritime course; Issachar's patient and persevering industry; Dan's decision and sub

Joseph's lively and expansive fertility; Benjamin's restless and rapacious exploits, are all specified in succession. "This is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them" (v. 28). The full meaning of each respective address, in its appropriate application, no doubt was literally verified in their future career; in which many deplorable, as well as many pleasing events took place. Alas! were every dying parent endued with the spirit of prophecy to foretel the future destiny of those he leaves behind, generally speaking, it would be far more likely to add thorns to his dying pillow, than to give peace or comfort to his soul. This is a sad reflection; but in most cases it will be found to be

too true.

Two things here narrated more especially demand our notice; namely, the prediction of Christ, and the delightful state of the dying saint's mind. Here is one of the most glorious prophecies of the promised Redeemer. One is here spoken of under the name of "Shiloh," who was to come," and unto whom "the gathering of the people should be" (v. 10). The time of his appearance is given; when there should be no "sceptre" nor "lawgiver" in Judah (v. 10). Some incidents attending his coming are also noted. A "foal" and an "ass's colt" are mentioned as being bound, or tied; and his garments washed in blood (v. 11).

Can there be any doubt to whom these things refer? Is not Jesus Christ here clearly foretold? Is he not the true Shiloh, the messenger of the covenant, the "sent" of God? The sceptre had gone from Judah, and the lawgiver also, when he appeared. They were in subjection to the Roman empire. They had lost not only the power of making laws, but also of putting any man to death. This fact is confirmed by their own confession. (John xviii. 31.) Jesus made his solemn entry into Jerusalem on an ass with a colt the foal of an ass. (Matt. xxi. 2—5.) His garments were literally dyed and steeped in blood; in his own most precious blood, which he shed for the remission of sins. When in the garden of Gethsemane he was in that fearful agony," and his "sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground"

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(Luke xxii. 44); when his naked body was torn with the lashing scourge, and the crown of thorns was forced upon his sacred head; when his hands and his feet were nailed to the accursed cross, and the soldiers with the spear pierced his side, and the blood and water flowed from the wound (John xix. 34); was not this ancient prediction most astonishingly fulfilled, even to the very letter? Oh! what blessed proofs are these of the truth of God, and of the Saviour's love! This was the hope of the patriarch's soul. To that bleeding Redeemer he looked. In that bloodbought redemption he trusted.

By that sacrifice he was saved. In the anticipation of its fulness, under the sweet unction of its saving efficacy, and in the midst of his assembled sons, he cried out, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord" (v. 18). Thus giving vent to his hope, "he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people” (v. 33). May the language of all our hearts be, "Let me die the death of the righteous; and let my last end be like his." (Num. xxiii. 10.)

CHAPTER L.

1 The mourning for Jacob. 4 Joseph getteth leave of Pharaoh to go to bury him. 7 The funeral. 15 Joseph comforteth his brethren, who craved his pardon. 22 His age. 23 He seeth the third generation of his sons. 24 He prophesieth unto his brethren of their return. 25 He taketh an oath of them for his bones. 26 He dieth, and is chested.

and wept upon him, and kissed him.
ND Joseph fell upon his father's face,

A weep fell

2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.

3 And forty days were fulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians 'mourned for him threescore and ten days.

4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.

6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

7 ¶ And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

10 And they came to the threshingfloor of of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond Jordan.

12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:

13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

14 ¶ And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

15¶ And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,

17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and little ones. your And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. 22 ¶ And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and

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his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.

24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

THE death of a parent is a great loss. No one knows the value of a godly parent, till he is removed to his heavenly rest. The loss is more keenly felt, when a long course of affectionate attachment has held both parent and child together for many years. This was the lovliest feature in the mutual history of Israel and Joseph. The love of the father for that child was beyond all description; and the love of that son for his father exceeded that of all his brothers. Nothing weakened that attachment. Years of separation, when neither of them expected to see each other's face again, found the sacred flame burning as brightly as ever. It is a lovely instance of true parental aud filial affection, seldom realised in this vale of misery and tears.

Can you wonder, then, at what is here. recorded? Can you feel surprised at Joseph's tears and sorrow, when his father was really dead? Every kiss which he imprinted on his cold cheek was a renewed pledge of his strong affection. It was not a sorrow without hope. It was a mournful sensation chastened by the faith of the Redeemer; and felt for one, over whose happy release he could rejoice and be glad. Thus the tears which he shed were not so much the tears of anguish, as of affectionate remembrance of the past, and of lively anticipation and joy for the future. In like manner, as believers in Christ, may we mourn and rejoice over those who sleep in Jesus! We may grieve for

their personal loss to ourselves; but we ought to rejoice over the fulness of their blessedness, and feel encouraged to press on till we join them on high. (1 Thess. iv. 13-18.)

But death makes way for all the solemnities of the grave. This is the last sad duty we owe to those who precede us to the tomb. It is at once both a solemn and an invigorating event to those who know the Lord. We know that the bodies of the saints will be as safe in the tomb, till the resurrectionday shall come, as their souls are blessed in heaven. Then both will be re-united, and be for ever with the Lord. When we follow the remains of a believer to the grave, it is in the "sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life" we commit that body to the dust; not to remain there for ever; but until the time come when the Lord shall have accomplished "the number of his elect, and shall hasten his coming and his kingdom." Then shall we arise. Then shall we awake from the dust. Then shall we mount up on the wings of love to "meet the Lord in the air and so shall we for ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.)

In comparison of this blessedness, what are all the pomp and parade of a funeral? Many a dead body is carried with state to the grave, whose soul, it is feared, may be in the torments of hell; and many a humble believer in Christ is committed unnoticed to

the dust, whose soul is with the Lord in heaven. The parable of Dives and Lazarus (Luke xvi. 19-31) clearly teaches these truths. Indeed, these external matters are of small concern, if the soul be safe. But that must be a "grievous mourning," both as regards the dead and the living, where there is no pardon of sin and no peace with God. No wonder that wicked men are afraid to die, and that they often shudder at the sight of a coffin and the grave. It is that, however, which is beyond the grave that racks and torments their mind, and fills them with horror and dismay.

In the case of Joseph's brethren after their father's death, we behold a picture of the guilty conscience. They were afraid that he would now avenge their evil conduct. Whence arose that fear? Had he not repeatedly assured them of his forgiveness and love? But perhaps they had not sought forgiveness from God. Man's forgiveness of an injury done to him, cannot supersede the necessity of seeking mercy from God; and where that is wanting, guilt and fear still remain.

At length Joseph himself dies, and follows his happy father to the regions of purity and love. So, in due time must we all die, too. May our last hours be illuminated with the glorious prospect, and the joyful assurance of being for ever with the Lord!

CHAPTER I.

'loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

7 ¶ And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

15¶ And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah :

16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall

save alive.

(1) Heb. thigh. (2) Heb. And as they afflicted them, so they multiplied, &c.

We now enter upon another portion of the Book of God. The former contained the inspired record of the creation of the world, and the history of the patriarchs, to the going down into Egypt, and the death of Joseph, embracing a period of more than two thousand

years. This relates the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt, and their deliverance by Moses, who was appointed by God for that special work. The history of man may soon be told. Much may be comprised in a small space. But in the last day all actions, and all events, will be produced before the bar of God for his righteous decision; and they whose sins are not blotted out of the book of remembrance, and whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life, will be condemned, and perish for ever. (Rev. xx. 11-15.)

Again are the names of the sons of Israel specially enumerated, and all the souls that went down into Egypt, including Joseph, who had been previously there. From that little handful of seventy persons sprung all the innumerable multitudes that afterwards pled the several tribes. Thus the promise given to Abraham was fulfilled; and thus, in like manner, will every word of God, in due time, be also accomplished.

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The people multiplied in Egypt exceedingly; but the kindness and services of Joseph, in the government of the land, were soon forgotten. Others arose who thought of nothing but the aggrandisement of the nation; and finding a people extending among them, diverse from themselves, it soon became an act of national policy to crush their power, Hence whilst they profited by their labours. arose a series of unparalleled sufferings under a most rigorous system of injustice and oppression. Thus craft and cruelty went hand in hand together. How often is this the case in the government of nations! The weak are oppressed by the mighty; and severity and injustice follow as the necessary result. us be thankful for the mild and merciful government under which we live; and use our best exertions that others may possess the same privileges which we enjoy.

Let

The history of these sufferings is very distressing. First, the Egyptians said, Let us deal wisely with them; lest they get out of the land. Then, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. Then, they caused them to serve with rigour, and made their lives bitter with hard bondage. When it was found that the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, the

H