Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

JACOB BLESSING JOSEPH.

23

And he laid his hands on the heads of the two little boys, and he blessed Joseph and said, "God, before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day; the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

It is a pleasant thing, and a great mercy, to have parents who love and serve God, and who are concerned that we should do so too.

Whenever we look back on life, we should never forget that it is the good God, who has always led us and fed us, and redeemed us from all evil: and we should thankfully acknowledge his great goodness.

How peacefully does a good man die! Who does not admire Jacob,-blessing all around him, and blessed by all,standing at the very gate of eternal bliss,-yea, he seems to be in heaven before he enters it.

Surely we cannot witness the good old man dying so happily,and not breathe the prayer, O my God, let me die the death of the righteous! We shall certainly do so, if we live his life. And if we think as we ought, we shall as

much wish to live his life as to die his death.

STORY X.

THE LAMB WHOSE BLOOD WAS SPRINKLED ON THE DOOR-POSTS.

PHARAOH, the King of Egypt, had sent forth a command, that all the little boys of the people of Israel, who should in future be born, should be thrown into a great river, which ran through the land.

God was very much displeased with him, and his subjects, for their cruelty, and he determined to punish them.

He said, that he would send an angel through the land, and bid him cut off the first-born child in every family of the Egyptians.

So he directed every household of the Israelites to kill a lamb. "And ye shall take,” said he, "a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood, and strike the lintel

THE BLOOD ON THE DOOR POSTS. 25

and the two side-posts with the blood, and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning."

He also told them, that when the angel should see the blood on the lintel, and on the side-posts of the door, that he would pass by their houses, and not come in to smite them.

And the angel went through the land, -he cut off the first-born of the Egyptians,-from the first-born of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the first-born of the captive, which was in the dungeon.

And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

But is there nothing to be seen here, beside the lamb, and its blood, and the angel, and the wicked people who were cut off? O yes,--this history concerns It is full of meaning.

us.

All mankind are sinners, in thought, and word, and deed. Every one is exposed to the righteous displeasure of God, on account of his transgressions. And is it a small thing to be banished from heaven, and to be cast into hell? It is not.

[ocr errors]

But is there no way of escape? There It is a way of God's providing. Neither men nor angels could have thought of a way, by which God could be a just God, and yet a Saviour. "But God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have life everlasting." No man on earth, or angel in heaven, could ever have thought of asking him to bestow such a gift on poor sinners.

Well,-Jesus Christ, God's beloved Son, came into our world and paid the mighty debt which we owed to divine justice. He satisfied, by what he did, and by what he suffered, the demands of God's holy law. So, that all who fly to him, and believe on him, will be pardoned and saved, through the infinite merit of his blood. Without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness of sin.

We must do as God bids us, or we cannot be saved,-and he commands us in his holy word, to believe on his dear Son. No other way of salvation will be of any service to us. If the Israelites had said, What use can it be, to sprinkle the blood of the lamb on the door, how can that defend us,—we wont do it, we will close our windows, -we will bar our doors,-we will spend

THE BLOOD ON THE DOOR-POSTS. 27

the night in prayer,-and had neglected God's plain command,-the destroying angel would have entered their houses, and have cut them off. There was no safety for them, but in the way which God had appointed. And there is no refuge from the curse of God's righteous law, due to our transgressions, but the Lord Jesus.

is.

And is he a sufficient refuge? Yes, he

Millions of ransomed sinners now in heaven, have tried, and have found him to be so. If I owed a small sum of money, I might as reasonably doubt whether all the gold and silver in the world would pay it, as I might question the blessed truth that " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin."

« EdellinenJatka »