his soul abhorred, so Jesus was accused of sins by which he was in all respects undefiled. As that garment of Joseph, which was the pledge of his innocence, was made use of as an argument for his guilt, so the miraculous works which Jesus performed as a testimony that he came from God were construed into presumptive evidence that he was in league with Beelzebub. As the false accusation of Joseph's mistress prevailed with Potiphar, so the misrepresentations of the Jews weighed with Pilate against Jesus; and as the one was unrighteously imprisoned, the other was unjustly put to death. As Joseph suffered for his mistress's sin, Christ suffered on account of other men's iniquities : "He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. And the Lord

laid on him the iniquities of us all."

Joseph's imprisonment is, however, made under God the way to his future elevation. "He is put into the place where the king's prisoners are bound." The purposes of Providence were that Joseph should one day be ruler over all the land of Egypt; and with a view to this, his master's mind is so directed and overruled that the very place assigned for his captivity is one which makes him acquainted in due time with Pharaoh's butler, through whose instrumentality his name is first mentioned in the royal court.

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. His purposes cannot be defeated by the rage of man. Joseph's imprisonment is but a step to his subsequent promotion, even as Christ's descent into the grave was but in the way to his future glorification. Who that looked upon Joseph

in his sad confinement could have supposed that he should afterwards be the chief ruler in the kingdomthat on him, under God, the welfare of the state, the safety of his father's house, and the maintenance of the church should depend? And who, in like manner, that saw by the eye of sense alone the blessed Jesus lodged in a narrow tomb, could have supposed that, three days thereafter, he would break the bands of the sepulchre, and, after forty days more, ascend in calm majesty to the heaven of heavens? Yet unlikely as these futurities were to human view, they came literally to pass. Joseph is cast into the dungeon, and his feet are laid in irons; but the word of the Lord at length comes, and from the deepest obscurity he is exalted to high honour. The body of Jesus is laid, too, in the grave, and a company of soldiers are stationed near to guard the spot; but because God has been pleased to raise him thence, the grave itself cannot contain him any longer. An angel from heaven rolls back the stone, and, like a giant refreshed with sleep, the conqueror goes forth. And now that many centuries have gone by, he still sits at the right hand of his father in the heavens, dispensing liberally to thousands and tens of thousands the blessings of his purchase. A name has been given unto him, "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." All things are put under his feet, and a multitude which no man can number partake of his bounty. But the path of his humiliation was that which led to his exaltation. It was because he stooped to so low an estate that God has given him a name above every name, and set him higher than the kings of any land. It was because he

drank of the brook in the way, that he at length lifted up his head on high. The cross was the way to his crown, as Joseph's dungeon was the way to Joseph's promotion.

Thus, too, it is often with Christians on their way to final glory. Their afflictions contribute to their true happiness. They are brought low in order that they may be marvellously helped. Death itself is one necessary step that must be taken by them in their march to heaven. Their bodies must be subject to the dishonours of the grave ere they become fashioned like to that of their ascended Lord. But He who heard the cry of his afflicted servants in Egypt will give commandment concerning their bones. He who, at his fit and appointed time, brought Joseph out of his confinement, will, at the period which his wisdom has ordained, cause the grave to open its portals that his redeemed may go forth. To the eye of sense that is indeed a dark and cheerless region, but to the eye of faith the prisoners of the grave are in safe keeping. The voice of the archangel shall sound through all its caverns, and they who dwell in the dust shall awake fresh as the morning. Fear not, then, oh, Christian! to descend into the narrow house. Thy confinement there is only for a season. The stern hold of the sepulchre shall be broken by the hand of the Mighty, thy bones shall rest in hope, and the Lord's time being come,

"Legions of angels can't confine thee there."

CHAPTER SEVENTH.

GOD IS GLORIFIED IN THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE

RIGHTEOUS.

"Deep in unfathomable mines,
Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will."

We have seen Joseph hated of his brethren, cast by them into a pit, and at length taken thence that he might be sold to the Ishmaelites for a paltry sum of money; we have followed him into Egypt, and marked his behaviour there, until, for his conscientious regard to the rules of moral obligation, he was wrongfully imprisoned; and we are now to consider his elevation from that low estate to high preferment and honour under Pharoah. The curious circumstances which, under Divine Providence, led to the result, are narrated in the 40th and 41st chapters of Genesis, with a simplicity which renders superfluous any attempt at explanation. Instead, therefore, of going over them in minute detail, we shall gather a few lessons of instruction from the fact itself.

"But God was with Joseph, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house."Acts vii. 10.

1. The sufferings of good men for conscience sake redound to the glory of God. Thus it was in the case of Joseph, who chose rather to endure the evils of imprisonment than enjoy the pleasures of sin. Had his troubles been less, the divine care of him would have been less conspicuous. As it was, it so happened that the attributes of God were strikingly illustrated. Thus was the divine power glorified in raising him from a most obscure to a most honourable condition. It would have surprised one less to hear that Joseph was taken from the house of Potiphar than from a prisoner's cell to be ruler over all the land of Egypt. But the state in which he lay being the most abject possible, proof was thus given that nothing is too hard for God, but that with him all things are possible. Joseph is allowed to fall into the very depths of affliction, that the divine hand may be more wonderfully exercised in raising him up.

Thus, too, it has frequently been with God's actings towards his people. He lets them oftentimes be reduced to the most grievous straits, that his power in delivering them may be the more unambiguously manifested. He first brings them low, and then he marvellously helps them. Their extremity is His opportunity. As the hour immediately before the dawn of morning is the darkest in the whole night, so the time of His interposition is that at which earthly hope and earthly help are most improbable. It was when Abraham was, to all human appearance, on the very point of being deprived of an affectionate wife, and of being abandoned in consequence to extreme sorrow of heart, that Pharaoh and his house were visited with great plagues, and the restoration of Sarah ensued. It