Beacon Lights of History, Volume II
by
John Lord
Part 1 out of 5
LORD'S LECTURES
BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME II
JEWISH HEROES AND PROPHETS.
BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.,
AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE,"
ETC., ETC.
CONTENTS.
ABRAHAM.
RELIGIOUS FAITH.
Abraham the spiritual father of nations
General forgetfulness of God when Abraham arose
Civilization in his age
Ancestors of Abram
His settlement in Haran
His moral courage
The call of Abram
His migrations
The Canaanites
Abram in Egypt
Separation between Abram and Lot
Melchizedek
Abram covenants with God
The mission of the Hebrews
The faith of Abram
Its peculiarities
Trials of faith
God's covenant with Abram
The sacrifice of Isaac
Paternal rights among Oriental nations
Universality of sacrifice
Had Abram a right to sacrifice Isaac?
Supreme test of his faith
His obedience to God
His righteousness
Supremacy of religious faith
Abraham's defects
The most favored of mortals
The boons he bestowed
JOSEPH.
ISRAEL IN EGYPT.
Early days of Joseph
Envy of his brethren
Sale of Joseph
Its providential results
Fortunes of Joseph in Egypt
The imprisonment of Joseph
Favor with the king
Joseph prime minister
The Shepherd kings
The service of Joseph to the king
Famine in Egypt
Power of Pharaoh
Power of the priests
Character of the priests
Knowledge of the priests
Teachings of the priests
Egyptian gods
Antiquity of sacrifices
Civilization of Egypt
Initiation of Joseph in Egyptian knowledge
Austerity to his brethren
Grief of Jacob
Severity of the famine in Canaan
Jacob allows the departure of Benjamin
Joseph's partiality to Benjamin
His continued austerity to his brethren
Joseph at length reveals himself
The kindness of Pharaoh
Israel in Egypt
Prosperity of the Israelites
Old age of Jacob
His blessing to Joseph's sons
Jacob's predictions
Death of Jacob
Death of Joseph
Character of Joseph
Condition of the Israelites in Egypt
Rameses the Great
Acquisitions of the Israelites in Egypt
Influence of Egyptian civilization on the Israelites
MOSES.
JEWISH JURISPRUDENCE
Exalted mission of Moses
His appearance at a great crisis
His early advantages and education
His premature ambition
His retirement to the wilderness
Description of the land of Midian
Studies and meditations of Moses
The Book of Genesis
Call of Moses and return to Egypt
Appearance before Pharaoh
Miraculous deliverance of the Israelites
Their sojourn in the wilderness
The labors of Moses
His Moral Code
Universality of the obligations
General acceptance of the Ten Commandments
The foundation of the ritualistic laws
Utility of ritualism in certain states of society
Immortality seemingly ignored
The possible reason of Moses
Its relation to the religion of Egypt
The Civil Code of Moses
Reasons for the isolation of the Israelites
The wisdom of the Civil Code
Source of the wisdom of Moses
The divine legation of Moses
Logical consequences of its denial
General character of Moses
His last days
His influence
SAMUEL.
ISRAEL UNDER JUDGES.
Condition of the Israelites on the death of Joshua
The Judges
Birth and youth of Samuel
The Jewish Theocracy
Eli and his sons
Samuel called to be judge
His efforts to rekindle religious life
The school of the prophets
The people want a king
Views of Samuel as to a change of government
He tells the people the consequences
Persistency of the Israelites
Condition of the nation
Saul privately anointed king
Clothed with regal power
Mistakes and wars of Saul
Spares Agag
Rebuked by Samuel
Samuel withdraws into retirement
Seeks a successor to Saul
Jehovah indicates the selection of David
Saul becomes proud and jealous
His wars with the Philistines
Great victory at Michmash
Death of Samuel
Universal mourning
His character as Prophet
His moral greatness
His transcendent influence
DAVID.
ISRAELITISH CONQUESTS.
David as an historical study
Early days of David
His accomplishments
His connection with Saul
His love for Jonathan
Death of Saul
David becomes king
Death of Abner
David generally recognized as king
Makes Jerusalem his capital
Alliance with Hiram
Transfer of the Sacred Ark
Folly of David's Wife
Organization of the kingdom
Joab Commander-in-chief of the army
The court of David
His polygamy
War with Moab
War with the Ammonites
Conquest of the Edomites
Bathsheba
David's shame and repentance
Edward Irving on David's fall
Its causes
Census of the people
Why this was a folly
Wickedness of David's children
Amnon
Alienation of David's subjects
The famine in Judah
Revolt of Sheba
Adonijah seeks to steal the sceptre
Troubles and trials of David
Preparation for building the Temple
David's wealth
His premature old age
Absalom's rebellion and death
David's final labors
His character as a man and a monarch
Why he was a man after God's own heart
David's services
His Psalms
Their mighty influence
SOLOMON.
GLORY OF THE MONARCHY.
Early years of Solomon
His first acts as monarch
The prosperity of his kingdom
Glory of Solomon
His mistakes
His marriage with an Egyptian princess
His harem
Building of the Temple
Its magnificence
The treasures accumulated in it
Its dedication
The sacrifices in its honor
Extraordinary celebration of the Festivals
The royal palace in Jerusalem
The royal palace on Mount Lebanon
Excessive taxation of the people
Forced labor
Change of habits and pursuits
Solomon's effeminacy and luxury
His unpopularity
His latter days of shame
His death
Character
Influence of his reign
His writings
Their great value
The Canticles
The Proverbs
Praises of wisdom and knowledge
Ecclesiastes contrasted with Proverbs
Cynicism of Ecclesiastes
Hidden meaning of the book
The writing of Solomon rich in moral wisdom
His wisdom confirmed by experience
Lessons to be learned by the career of Solomon
ELIJAH.
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM.
Evil days fall on Israel
Division of the kingdom under Rehoboam
Jeroboam of Israel sets up golden calves
Other innovations
Egypt attacks Jerusalem
City saved only by immense contribution
Interest centres in the northern kingdom
Ruled by bad kings
Given to idolatry under Ahab
Influence of Jezebel
The priests of Baal
The apostasy of Israel
The prophet Elijah
His extraordinary appearance
Appears before Ahab
Announces calamities
Flight of Elijah
The drought
The woman of Zarephath
Shields and feeds Elijah
He restores her son to life
Miseries of the drought
Elijah confronts Ahab
Assembly of the people at Mount Carmel
Presentation of choice between Jehovah and Baal
Elijah mocks the priests of Baal
Triumphs, and slays them
Elijah promises rain
The tempest
Ahab seeks Jezebel
She threatens Elijah in her wrath
Second flight of Elijah
His weakness and fear
The still small voice
Selection of Elisha to be prophet
He becomes the companion of Elijah
Character and appearance of Elisha
War between Ahab and Benhadad
Naboth and his vineyard
Chagrin and melancholy of Ahab
Wickedness and cunning of Jezebel
Murder of Naboth
Dreadful rebuke of Elijah
Despair of Ahab
Athaliah and Jehoshaphat
Death of Ahab
Regency of Jezebel
Ahaziah and Elijah
Fall of Ramoth-Gilead
Reaction to idolatry
Jehu
Death of Jezebel
Death of Ahaziah
The massacres and reforms of Jehu
Extermination of idolatry
Last days of Elijah
His translation
ISAIAH.
NATIONAL DEGENERACY.
Superiority of Judah to Israel
A succession of virtuous princes
Syrian wars
The prophet Joel
Outward prosperity of the kingdom of Judah
Internal decay
Assyrian conquests
Tiglath-pilneser
Fall of Damascus
Fall of Samaria
Demoralization of Jerusalem
Birth of Isaiah
His exalted character
Invasion of Judah by the Assyrians
Hezekiah submits to Sennacherib
Rebels anew
Renewed invasion of Judah
Signal deliverance
The warnings and preaching of Isaiah
His terrible denunciations of sin
Retribution the spirit of his preaching
Holding out hope by repentance
Absence of art in his writings
National wickedness ending in calamities
God's moral government
Isaiah's predictions fulfilled
Woes denounced on Judah
Fall of Babylon foretold
Predicted woes of Moab
Woes denounced on Egypt
Calamities of Tyre
General predictions of woe on other nations
End and purpose of chastisements
Isaiah the Prophet of Hope
The promised glories of the Chosen People
Messianic promises
Exultation of Isaiah
His catholicity
The promised reign of peace
The future glories of the righteous
Glad tidings declared to the whole world
Messianic triumphs
JEREMIAH.
FALL OF JERUSALEM.
Sadness and greatness of Jeremiah
Second as a prophet only to Isaiah
Jeremiah the Prophet of Despair
Evil days in which he was born
National misfortunes predicted
Idolatry the crying sin of the times
Discovery of the Book of Deuteronomy
Renewed study of the Law
The reforms of Josiah
The greatness of Josiah
Inability to stem prevailing wickedness
Incompleteness of Josiah's reforms
Necho II. extends his conquests
Death of Josiah
Lamentations on the death of Josiah
Rapid decline of the kingdom
The voice of Jeremiah drowned
Invasion of Assyria by Necho
Shallum succeeds Josiah
Eliakim succeeds Shallum
His follies
Judah's relapse into idolatry
Neglect of the Sabbath
Jeremiah announces approaching calamity
His voice unheeded
His despondency
Fall of Nineveh
Defeat and retreat of Necho
Greatness of Nebuchadnezzar
Appears before Jerusalem
Fall of Jerusalem, but destruction delayed
Folly and infatuation of the people of Jerusalem
Revolt of the city
Zedekiah the king temporizes
Expostulations of Jeremiah
Nebuchadnezzar loses patience
Second fall of Jerusalem
The captivity
Weeping by the river of Babylon
JUDAS MACCABAEUS.
RESTORATION OF THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH.
Eventful career of Judas Maccabaeus
Condition of the Jews after their return from Babylon
Condition of Jerusalem
Fanatical hatred of idolatry
Severe morality of the Jews after the captivity
The Pharisees
The Sadducees
Synagogues, their number and popularity
The Jewish Sanhedrim
Advance in sacred literature
Apocryphal Books
Isolation of the Jews
Dark age of Jewish history
Power of the high priests
The Persian Empire
Judaea a province of the Persian Empire
Jews at Alexandria
Judaea the battle-ground of Egyptians and Syrians
The Syrian kings
Antiochus Epiphanes
His persecution of the Jews
Helplessness of the Jews
Sack of Jerusalem
Desecration of the Temple
Mattathias
His piety and bravery
Revolt of Mattathias
Slaughter of the Jews
Death of Mattathias
His gallant sons
Judas Maccabaeus
His military genius
The Syrian generals
Wrath of Antiochus
Desolation of Jerusalem
Judas defeats the Syrian general
Judas cleanses and dedicates the Temple
Fortifies Jerusalem
The Feast of Dedication
Renewed hostilities
Successes of Judas
Death of Antiochus
Deliverance of the Jews
Rivalry between Lysias and Philip
Death of Eleazer
Bacchides
Embassy to Rome
Death of Judas Maccabaeus
Judas succeeded by his brother Jonathan
Heroism of Jonathan
His death by treachery
Jonathan succeeded by his brother Simon
Simon's military successes
His prosperous administration
Succeeded by John Hyrcanus
The great talents and success of John Hyrcanus
The Asmonean princes
Pompey takes Jerusalem
Accession of Herod the Great
He destroys the Asmonean princes
His prosperous reign
Foundation of Caesarea
Latter days of Herod
Loathsome death of Herod
Birth of Jesus, the Christ
SAINT PAUL.
THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY.
Birth and early days of Saul
His Phariseeism
His persecution of the Christians
His wonderful conversion
His leading idea
Saul a preacher at Damascus
Saul's visit to Jerusalem
Saul in Tarsus
Saul and Barnabas at Antioch
Description of Antioch
Contribution of the churches for Jerusalem
Saul and Barnabas at Jerusalem
Labors and discouragements
Saul and Barnabas at Cyprus
Saul smites Elymas the sorcerer
Missionary travels of Paul
Paul converts Timothy
Paul at Lystra and Derbe
Return of Paul to Antioch
Controversy about circumcision
Bigotry of the Jewish converts
Paul again visits Jerusalem
Paul and Barnabas quarrel
Paul chooses Silas for a companion
Paul and Silas visit the infant churches
Tact of Paul
Paul and Luke
The missionaries at Philippi
Paul and Silas at Thessalonica
Paul at Athens
Character of the Athenians
The success of Paul at Athens
Paul goes to Corinth
Paul led before Gallio
Mistake of Gallio
Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians
Paul at Ephesus
The Temple of Diana
Excessive labors of Paul at Ephesus
Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians
Popularity of Apollos
Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Paul again at Corinth
Epistles to the Galatians and to the Romans
The Pauline theology
Paul's last visit to Jerusalem
His cold reception
His arrest and imprisonment
The trial of Paul before Felix
Character of Felix
Paul kept a prisoner by Felix
Paul's defence before Festus
Paul appeals to Caesar
Paul preaches before Agrippa
His voyage to Italy
Paul's life at Rome
Character of Paul
His magnificent services
His triumphant death
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME II.
The Wailing Wall of the Jews
_After the painting by J.L. Gerome_.
Abraham and Hagar
_After the painting by Adrian van der Werff_.
Joseph Sold by His Brethren.
_After the painting by H.F. Schopin_.
Erection of Public Building in the Time of Rameses
_After the painting by Sir Edward J. Poynter_.
Pharaoh Pursues the Israelites Across the Red Sea
_After the painting by F.A. Bridgman_.
Moses
_From the statue by Michael Angelo, Rome_.
David Kills Goliath
_After the painting by W.L. Dodge_.
David
_From the statue by Michael Angelo, Florence_.
Elijah's Sacrifice Consumed by Fire from Heaven
_After the painting by C.G. Pfannschmidt_.
Isaiah
_From the fresco in the Sistine Chapel, by Michael Angelo_.
A Sacrifice to Baal
_After the painting by Henri Motte_.
The Jews Led Into Babylonian Captivity
_After the painting by E. Bendeman_.
St. Paul Preaching at the Foot of the Acropolis
_After the painting by Gebhart Fuegel_.
ABRAHAM.
RELIGIOUS FAITH.
From a religious point of view, Abraham appears to us, after the lapse
of nearly four thousand years, as the most august character in history.
He may not have had the genius and learning of Moses, nor his executive
ability; but as a religious thinker, inspired to restore faith in the
world and the worship of the One God, it would be difficult to find a
man more favored or more successful. He is the spiritual father equally
of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans, in their warfare with idolatry. In
this sense, he is the spiritual progenitor of all those nations, tribes,
and peoples who now acknowledge, or who may hereafter acknowledge, a
personal God, supreme and eternal in the universe which He created.
Abraham is the religious father of all those who associate with this
personal and supreme Deity a providential oversight of this world,--a
being whom all are required to worship, and alone to worship, as the
only true God whose right it is to reign, and who does reign, and will
reign forever and ever over everything that exists, animate or
inanimate, visible or invisible, known or unknown, in the mighty
universe of whose glory and grandeur we have such overwhelming yet
indefinite conceptions.
When Abraham appeared, whether four thousand or five thousand years ago,
for chronologists differ in their calculations, it would seem that the
nations then existing had forgotten or ignored this great cardinal and
fundamental truth, and were more or less given to idolatry, worshipping
the heavenly bodies, or the forces of Nature, or animals, or heroes, or
graven images, or their own ancestors. There were but few and feeble
remains of the primitive revelation,--that is, the faith cherished by
the patriarchs before the flood, and which it would be natural to
suppose Noah himself had taught to his children.
There was even then, however, a remarkable material civilization,
especially in Egypt, Palestine, and Babylon; for some of the pyramids
had been built, the use of the metals, of weights and measures, and of
textile fabrics was known. There were also cities and fortresses,
cornfields and vineyards, agricultural implements and weapons of war,
commerce and arts, musical instruments, golden vessels, ornaments for
the person, purple dyes, spices, hand-made pottery, stone-engravings,
sundials, and glass-work, and even the use of letters, or something
similar, possibly transmitted from the antediluvian civilization. Even
the art of printing was almost discovered, as we may infer from the
stamping of letters on tiles. With all this material progress, however,
there had been a steady decline in spiritual religion as well as in
morals,--from which fact we infer that men if left to themselves,
whatever truth they may receive from ancestors, will, without
supernatural influences, constantly decline in those virtues on which
the strength of man is built, and without which the proudest triumphs of
the intellect avail nothing. The grandest civilization, in its material
aspects, may coexist with the utmost debasement of morals,--as seen
among the Greeks and Romans, and in the wicked capitals of modern
Europe. "There is no God!" or "Let there be no God!" has been the cry in
all ages of the world, whenever and wherever an impious pride or a low
morality has defied or silenced conscience. Tell me, ye rationalists and
agnostics! with your pagan sympathies, what mean ye by laws of
development, and by the _necessary_ progress of the human race, except
in the triumphs of that kind of knowledge which is entirely disconnected
with virtue, and which has proved powerless to prevent the decline and
fall of nations? Why did not art, science, philosophy, and literature
save the most lauded nations of the ancient world? Why so rapid a
degeneracy among people favored not only with a primitive revelation,
but by splendid triumphs of reason and knowledge? Why did gross
superstition so speedily obscure the intellect, and infamous vices so
soon undermine the moral health, if man can elevate himself by his
unaided strength? Why did error seemingly prove as vital as truth in all
the varied forms of civilization in the ancient world? Why did even
tradition fail to keep alive the knowledge of God, at least among
the people?
Now, among pagans and idolaters Abram (as he was originally called)
lived until he was seventy-five. His father, Terah, was a descendant of
Shem, of the eleventh generation, and the original seat of his tribe was
among the mountains of Southern Armenia, north of Assyria. From thence
Terah migrated to the plains of Mesopotamia, probably with the desire to
share the rich pastures of the lowlands, and settled in Ur of the
Chaldeans. Ur was one of the most ancient of the Chaldean cities and one
of the most splendid, where arts and sciences were cultivated, where
astronomers watched the heavens, poets composed hymns, and scribes
stamped on clay tablets books which, according to Geikie, have in part
come down to our own times. It was in this pagan city that Abram was
born, and lived until the "call." His father was a worshipper of the
tutelary gods of his tribe, of which he was the head; but his idolatry
was not so degrading as that of the Chaldeans, who belonged to a
different race from his own, being the descendants of Ham, among whom
the arts and sciences had made considerable progress,--as was natural,
since what we call civilization arose, it is generally supposed, in the
powerful monarchies founded by Assyrian and Egyptian warriors, although
it is claimed that both China and India were also great empires at this
period. With the growth of cities and the power of kings idolatry
increased, and the knowledge of the true God declined. From such
influences it was necessary that Abram should be removed if he was to
found a nation with a monotheistic belief. So, in obedience to a call
from God, he left the city of his birthplace, and went toward the land
of Canaan and settled in Haran, where he remained until the death of his
father, who it seems had accompanied him in his wanderings, but was
probably too infirm to continue the fatiguing journey. Abram, now the
head of his tribe and doubtless a powerful chieftain, received another
call, and with it the promise that he should be the founder of a great
nation, and that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed.
What was that call, coupled with such a magnificent and cheering
promise? It was the voice of God commanding Abram to leave country and
kindred and go to a country utterly unknown to him, not even indicated
to him, but which in due time should be revealed to him. He is not
called to repudiate idolatry, but by divine command to go to an unknown
country. He must have been already a believer in the One Supreme God, or
he would not have felt the command to be imperative. Unless his belief
had been monotheistic, we must attribute to him a marvellous genius and
striking originality of mind, together with an independence of character
still more remarkable; for it requires not only original genius to soar
beyond popular superstitions, but also great force of will and lofty
intrepidity to break away from them,--as when Buddha renounced
Brahmanism, or Socrates ridiculed the Sophists of Attica. Nothing
requires more moral courage than the renunciation of a popular and
generally received religious belief. It was a hard struggle for Luther
to give up the ideas of the Middle Ages in reference to self-expiation.
It is exceedingly rare for any one to be emancipated from the tyranny of
prevailing dogmas.
So, if Abram was not divinely instructed in a way that implies
supernatural illumination, he must have been the most remarkable sage of
all antiquity to found a religion never abrogated by succeeding
revelations, which has lasted from his time to ours, and is to-day
embraced by so large a part of the human race, including Christians,
Mohammedans, and Jews. Abram must have been more gifted than the whole
school of Ionian philosophers united, from Thales downward, since after
three hundred years of speculation and lofty inquiries they only arrived
at the truth that the being who controls the universe must be
intelligent. Even Socrates, Plato, and Cicero--the most gifted men of
classical antiquity--had very indefinite notions of the unity and
personality of God, while Abram distinctly recognized this great truth
even amid universal idolatry and a degrading polytheism.
Yet the Bible recognizes in Abram moral rather than intellectual
greatness. He was distinguished for his faith, and a faith so exalted
and pure that it was accounted unto him for righteousness. His faith in
God was so profound that it was followed by unhesitating obedience to
God's commands. He was ready to go wherever he was sent, instantly,
without conditions or remonstrance.
In obedience to the divine voice then, Abram, after the death of his
father Terah, passed through the land of Canaan unto Sichem, or Shechem,
afterward a city of Samaria. He then went still farther south, and
pitched his tent on a mountain having Bethel on the west and Hai on the
east, and there he built an altar unto the Lord. After this it would
appear that he proceeded still farther to the south, probably near the
northern part of Idumaea.
Wherever Abram journeyed he found the Canaanites--descendants of
Ham--petty tribes or nations, governed by kings no more powerful than
himself. They are supposed in their invasions to have conquered the
aboriginal inhabitants, whose remote origin is veiled in impenetrable
obscurity, but who retained some principles of the primitive religion.
It is even possible that Melchizedek, the unconquered King of Salem, who
blessed Abram, belonged to those original people who were of Semitic
origin. Nevertheless the Canaanites, or Hametic tribes, were at this
time the dominant inhabitants.
Of these tribes or nations the Sidonians, or Phoenicians, were the most
powerful. Next to them, according to Ewald, "were three nations living
toward the South,--the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites; then
two in the most northerly country conquered by Israel,--the Girgashites
and the Hivites; then four in Phoenicia; and lastly, the most northern
of all, the well known kingdom of Hamath on the Orontes." The Jebusites
occupied the country around Jerusalem; the Amorites also dwelt in the
mountainous regions, and were warlike and savage, like the ancient
Highlanders of Scotland. They entrenched themselves in strong castles.
The Hittites, or children of Heth, were on the contrary peaceful, having
no fortified cities, but dwelling in the valleys, and living in
well-ordered communities. The Hivites dwelt in the middle of the
country, and were also peaceful, having reached a considerable
civilization, and being in the possession of the most flourishing inland
cities. The Philistines entered the land at a period subsequent to the
other Canaanites, probably after Abram, coming it is supposed
from Crete.
It would appear that Abram was not molested by these various petty
Canaanitish nations, that he was hospitably received by them, that he
had pleasant relations with them, and even entered into their battles as
an ally or protector. Nor did Abram seek to conquer territory. Powerful
as he was, he was still a pilgrim and a wanderer, journeying with his
servants and flocks wherever the Lord called him; and hence he excited
no jealousy and provoked no hostilities. He had not long been settled
quietly with his flocks and herds before a famine arose in the land, and
he was forced to seek subsistence in Egypt, then governed by the
shepherd kings called Hyksos, who had driven the proud native monarch
reigning at Memphis to the southern part of the kingdom, in the vicinity
of Thebes. Abram was well received at the court of the Pharaohs, until
he was detected in a falsehood in regard to his wife, whom he passed as
his sister. He was then sent away with all that he had, together with
his nephew Lot.
Returning to the land of Canaan, Abram came to the place where he had
before pitched his tent, between Bethel and Hai, unto the altar which he
had some time before erected, and called upon the name of the Lord. But
the land was not rich enough to support the flocks and herds of both
Abram and Lot, and there arose a strife between their respective
herdsmen; so the patriarch and his nephew separated, Lot choosing for
his residence the fertile plain of the Jordan, and Abram remaining in
the land of Canaan. It was while sojourning at Bethel that the Lord
appeared again unto Abram, and promised to him the whole land as a
future possession of his posterity. After that he removed his tent to
the plain of Mamre, near or in Hebron, and again erected an altar to
his God.
Here Abram remained in true patriarchal dignity without further
migrations, abounding in wealth and power, and able to rescue his nephew
Lot from the hands of Chedorlaomer the King of Elam, and from the other
Oriental monarchs who joined his forces, pursuing them even to Damascus.
For this signal act of heroism Abram was blessed by Melchizedek, in the
name of their common lord the most high God. Who was this Prince of
Salem? Was he an earthly potentate ruling an unconquered city of the
aboriginal inhabitants; or was he a mysterious personage, without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning nor
end of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, an
incarnation of the Deity, to repeat the blessing which the patriarch had
already received?
The history of Abram until his supreme trial seems principally to have
been repeated covenants with God, and the promises held out of the
future greatness of his descendants. The greatness of the Israelitish
nation, however, was not to be in political ascendancy, nor in great
attainments in the arts and sciences, nor in cities and fortresses and
chariots and horses, nor in that outward splendor which would attract
the gaze of the world, and thus provoke conquests and political
combinations and grand alliances and colonial settlements, by which the
capital on Zion's hill would become another Rome, or Tyre, or Carthage,
or Athens, or Alexandria,--but quite another kind of greatness. It was
to be moral and spiritual rather than material or intellectual, the
centre of a new religious life, from which theistic doctrines were to go
forth and spread for the healing of the nations,--all to culminate, when
the proper time should come, in the mission of Jesus Christ, and in his
teachings as narrated and propagated by his disciples.
This was the grand destiny of the Hebrew race; and for the fulfilment of
this end they were located in a favored country, separated from other
nations by mountains, deserts, and seas, and yet capable by cultivation
of sustaining a great population, while they were governed by a polity
tending to keep them a distinct, isolated, and peculiar people. To the
descendants of Ham and Japhet were given cities, political power,
material civilization; but in the tents of Shem religion was to dwell.
"From first to last," says Geikie, "the intellect of the Hebrew dwelt
supremely on the matters of his faith. The triumphs of the pencil or the
chisel he left with contemptuous indifference to Egypt, or Assyria, or
Greece. Nor had the Jew any such interest in religious philosophy as has
marked other people. The Aryan nations, both East and West, might throw
themselves with ardor into those high questions of metaphysics, but he
contented himself with the utterances of revelation. The world may have
inherited no advances in political science from the Hebrew, no great
epic, no school of architecture, no high lessons in philosophy, no wide
extension of human thought or knowledge in any secular direction; but he
has given it his religion. To other races we owe the splendid
inheritance of modern civilization and secular culture, but the
religious education of mankind has been the gift of the Jew alone."
For this end Abram was called to the land of Canaan. From this point of
view alone we see the blessing and the promise which were given to him.
In this light chiefly he became a great benefactor. He gave a religion
to the world; at least he established its fundamental principle,--the
worship of the only true God. "If we were asked," says Max Mueller, "how
it was that Abraham possessed not only the primitive conception of the
Divinity, as he has revealed himself to all mankind, but passed, through
the denial of all other gods, to the knowledge of the One God, we are
content to answer that it was by a _special divine revelation_." [1]
[Footnote 1: Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i. p. 372.]
If the greatness of the Jewish race was spiritual rather than temporal,
so the real greatness of Abraham was in his faith. Faith is a sentiment
or a principle not easily defined. But be it intuition, or induction, or
deduction,--supported by reason, or without reason,--whatever it is, we
know what it means.
The faith of Abraham, which Saint Paul so urgently commends, the same in
substance as his own faith in Jesus Christ, stands out in history as so
bright and perfect that it is represented as the foundation of religion
itself, without which it is impossible to please God, and with which one
is assured of divine favor, with its attendant blessings. If I were to
analyze it, I should say that it is a perfect trust in God, allied with
obedience to his commands.
With this sentiment as the supreme rule of life, Abraham is always
prepared to go wherever the way is indicated. He has no doubts, no
questionings, no scepticism. He simply adores the Lord Almighty, as the
object of his supreme worship, and is ready to obey His commands,
whether he can comprehend the reason of them or not. He needs no
arguments to confirm his trust or stimulate his obedience. And this is
faith,--an ultimate principle that no reasonings can shake or
strengthen. This faith, so sublime and elevated, needs no confirmation,
and is not made more intelligent by any definitions. If the _Cogito,
ergo sum_, is an elemental and ultimate principle of philosophy, so the
faith of Abraham is the fundamental basis of all religion, which is
weakened rather than strengthened by attempts to define it. All
definitions of an ultimate principle are vain, since everybody
understands what is meant by it.
No truly immortal man, no great benefactor, can go through life without
trials and temptations, either to test his faith or to establish his
integrity. Even Jesus Christ himself was subjected for forty days to
the snares of the Devil. Abram was no exception to this moral
discipline. He had two great trials to pass through before he could earn
the title of "father of the faithful,"--first, in reference to the
promise that he should have legitimate children; and secondly, in
reference to the sacrifice of Isaac.
As to the first, it seemed impossible that Abram should have issue
through his wife Sarah, she being ninety years of age, and he
ninety-nine or one hundred. The very idea of so strange a thing caused
Sarah to laugh incredulously, and it is recorded in the seventeenth
chapter of Genesis that Abram also fell on his face and laughed, saying
in his heart, "Shall a son be born unto him that is one hundred years
old?" Evidently he at first received the promise with some incredulity.
He could leave Ur of the Chaldees by divine command,--this was an act of
obedience; but he did not fully believe in what seemed to be against
natural law, which would be a sort of faith without evidence, blind,
against reason. He requires some sign from God. "Whereby," said he,
"shall I _know_ that I shall inherit it,"--that is Canaan,--"and that my
seed shall be in number as the stars of heaven?" Then followed the
renewal of the covenant; and, according to the frequent custom of the
times, when covenants were made between individual men, Abram took a new
name: "And God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold my covenant
is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall
thy name be any more Abram [Father of Elevation] but thy name shall be
Abraham [Father of a Multitude], for a father of many nations have I
made thee." We observe that the covenant was repeatedly renewed; in
connection with which was the rite of circumcision, which Abraham and
his posterity, and even his servants, were required scrupulously to
observe, and which it would appear he unreluctantly did observe as an
important condition of the covenant. Why this rite was so imperatively
commanded we do not know, neither can we understand why it was so
indissolubly connected with the covenant between God and Abraham. We
only know that it was piously kept, not only by Abraham himself, but by
his descendants from generation to generation, and became one of the
distinctive marks and peculiarities of the Jewish nation,--the sign of
the promise that in Abraham all the families of the earth should be
blessed,--a promise fulfilled even in the patriarchal monotheism of
Arabia, the distant tribes of which, under Mohammed, accepted the One
Supreme God.
A still more serious test of the faith of Abraham was the sacrifice of
Isaac, on whose life all his hopes naturally rested. We are told that
God "tempted," or tested, the obedient faith of Abraham, by suggesting
to him that it was his duty to sacrifice that only son as a
burnt-offering, to prove how utterly he trusted the Lord's promise; for
if Isaac were cut off, where was another legitimate heir to be found?
Abraham was then one hundred and twenty years old, and his wife was one
hundred and ten. Moreover, on principles of reason why should such a
sacrifice be demanded? It was not only apparently against reason, but
against nature, against every sacred instinct, against humanity, even an
act of cruelty,--yea, more, a crime, since it was homicide, without any
seeming necessity. Besides, everybody has a right to his own life,
unless he has forfeited it by crime against society. Isaac was a gentle,
harmless, interesting youth of twenty, and what right, by any human
standard, had Abraham to take his life? It is true that by patriarchal
customs and laws Isaac belonged to Abraham as much as if he were a slave
or an animal. He had the Oriental right to do with his son as he
pleased. The head of a family had not only absolute control over wife
and children, but the power of life and death. And this absolute power
was not exercised alone by Semitic races, but also by the Aryan in their
original settlements, in Greece and Italy, as well as in Northern India.
All the early institutions of society recognized this paternal right.
Hence the moral sense of Abraham was not apparently shocked at the
command of God, since his son was his absolute property. Even Isaac
made no resistance, since he knew that Abraham had a right to his life.
Moreover, we should remember that sacrifices to all objects of worship
formed the basis of all the religious rites of the ancient world, in all
periods of its history. Human sacrifices were offered in India at the
very period when Abraham was a wanderer in Palestine; and though human
nature ultimately revolted from this cruelty, the sacrifice of
substitute-animals continued from generation to generation as oblations
to the gods, and is still continued by Brahminical priests. In China, in
Egypt, in Assyria, in Greece, no religious rites were perfected without
sacrifices. Even in the Mosaic ritual, sacrifices by the priests formed
no inconsiderable part of worship. Not until the time of Isaiah was it
said that God took no delight in burnt offerings,--that the real
sacrifices which He requires are a broken and a contrite heart. Nor were
the Jews finally emancipated from sacrificial rites until Christ himself
made his own body an offering for the sins of the world, and in God's
providence the Romans destroyed their temple and scattered their nation.
In antiquity there was no objective worship of the Deity without
sacrificial rites, and when these were omitted or despised there was
atheism,--as in the case of Buddha, who taught morals rather than
religion. Perhaps the oldest and most prevalent religious idea of
antiquity was the necessity of propitiatory sacrifice,--generally of
animals, though in remotest ages the offering of the fruits of
the earth.[2]
[Footnote 2: Dr. Trumbull has made a learned and ingenious argument in
his "Blood Covenant" to show that sacrifices were not to propitiate the
deity, but to bring about a closer Spiritual union between the soul and
God; that the blood covenant was a covenant of friendship and love among
all primitive peoples.]
The inquiry might here arise, whether in our times anything would
justify a man in committing a homicide on an innocent person. Would he
not be called a fanatic? If so, we may infer that morality--the proper
conduct of men as regards one another in social relations--is better
understood among us than it was among the patriarchs four thousand years
ago; and hence, that as nations advance in civilization they have a more
enlightened sense of duty, and practically a higher morality. Men in
patriarchal times may have committed what we regard as crimes, while
their ordinary lives were more virtuous than ours. And if so, should we
not be lenient to immoralities and crimes committed in darker ages, if
the ordinary current of men's lives was lofty and religious? On this
principle we should be slow to denounce Christian people who formerly
held slaves without remorse, when this sin did not shock the age in
which they lived, and was not discrepant with prevailing ideas as to
right and wrong. It is clear that in patriarchal times men had,
according to universally accepted ideas, the power of life and death
over their families, which it would be absurd and wicked to claim in our
day, with our increased light as to moral distinctions. Hence, on the
command of God to slay his son, Abraham had no scruples on the ground of
morality; that is, he did not feel that it was wrong to take his son's
life if God commanded him to do so, any more than it would be wrong, if
required, to slay a slave or an animal, since both were alike his
property. Had he entertained more enlightened views as to the sacredness
of life, he might have felt differently. With his views, God's command
did not clash with his conscience.
Still, the sacrifice of Isaac was a terrible shock to Abraham's paternal
affection. The anguish of his soul was none the less, whether he had the
right of life and death or not. He was required to part with the dearest
thing he had on earth, in whom was bound up his earthly happiness. What
had he to live for, but Isaac? He doubtless loved this child of his old
age with exceeding tenderness, devotion, and intensity; and what was
perhaps still more weighty, in that day of polygamous households, than
mere paternal affection, with Isaac were identified all the hopes and
promises which had been held out to Abraham by God himself of becoming
the father of a mighty and favored race. His affection as a father was
strained to its utmost tension, but yet more was his faith in being the
progenitor of offspring that should inherit the land of Canaan.
Nevertheless, at God's command he was willing to make the sacrifice,
"accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead." Was there
ever such a supreme act of obedience in the history of our race? Has
there ever been from his time to ours such a transcendent manifestation
of faith? By reason Abraham saw the foundation of his hopes utterly
swept away; and yet his faith towers above reason, and he feels that the
divine promises in some way will be fulfilled. Did any man of genius
ever conceive such an illustration of blended piety and obedience? Has
dramatic poetry ever created such a display of conflicting emotions? Is
it possible for a human being to transcend so mighty a sacrifice, and
all by the power of faith? Let those philosophers and theologians who
aspire to define faith, and vainly try to reconcile it with reason,
learn modesty and wisdom from the lesson of Abraham, who is its great
exponent, and be content with the definition of Paul, himself, that it
is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen;"
that reason was in Abraham's case subordinate to a loftier and grander
principle,--even a firm conviction, which nothing could shake, of the
accomplishment of an end against all probabilities and mortal
calculations, resting solely on a divine promise.
Another remarkable thing about that memorable sacrifice is, that Abraham
does not expostulate or hesitate, but calmly and resolutely prepares for
the slaughter of the innocent and unresisting victim, suppressing all
the while his feelings as a father in obedience and love to the
Sovereign of heaven and earth, whose will is his supreme law.
"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac
his son," who was compelled as it were to bear his own cross. And he
took the fire in his hand and a knife, and Isaac said, "Behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" yet suffered
himself to be bound by his father on the altar. And Abraham then
stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. At this
supreme moment of his trial, he heard the angel of the Lord calling upon
him out of heaven and saying, "Abraham! Abraham! lay not thine hand upon
the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou
fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from
me.... And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold behind him
was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took
the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering instead of his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham a second time out of
heaven and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because
thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand upon the
seashore, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
because thou hast obeyed my voice."
There are no more recorded promises to Abraham, no more trials of his
faith. His righteousness was established, and he was justified before
God. His subsequent life was that of peace, prosperity, and exaltation.
He lives to the end in transcendent repose with his family and vast
possessions. His only remaining solicitude is for a suitable wife for
Isaac, concerning whom there is nothing remarkable in gifts or fortunes,
but who maintains the faith of his father, and lives like him in
patriarchal dignity and opulence.
The great interest we feel in Abraham is as "the father of the
faithful," as a model of that exalted sentiment which is best defined
and interpreted by his own trials and experiences; and hence I shall not
dwell on the well known incidents of his life outside the varied calls
and promises by which he became the most favored man in human annals. It
was his faith which made him immortal, and with which his name is
forever associated. It is his religious faith looming up, after four
thousand years, for our admiration and veneration which is the true
subject of our meditation. This, I think, is distinct from our ordinary
conception of faith, such as a belief in the operation of natural laws,
in the return of the seasons, in the rewards of virtue, in the assurance
of prosperity with due regard to the conditions of success. Faith in a
friend, in a nation's future, in the triumphs of a good cause, in our
own energies and resources _is_, I grant, necessarily connected with
reason, with wide observation and experience, with induction, with laws
of nature and of mind. But religious faith is supreme trust in an unseen
God and supreme obedience to his commands, without any other exercise of
reason than the intuitive conviction that what he orders is right
because he orders it, whether we can fathom his wisdom or not. "Canst
thou by searching find out Him?"
Yet notwithstanding the exalted faith of Abraham, by which all religious
faith is tested, an eternal pattern and example for our reverence and
imitation, the grand old man deceived both Pharaoh and Abimelech, and if
he did not tell positive lies, he uttered only half truths, for Sarah
was a half sister; and thus he put expediency and policy above moral
rectitude,--to be palliated indeed in his case by the desire to
preserve his wife from pollution. Yet this is the only blot on his
otherwise reproachless character, marked by so many noble traits that he
may be regarded as almost perfect. His righteousness was as memorable as
his faith, living in the fear of God. How noble was his
disinterestedness in giving to Lot the choice of lands for his family
and his flocks and his cattle! How brave was he in rescuing his kinsman
from the hands of conquering kings! How lofty in refusing any
remuneration for his services! How fervent were his intercessions with
the Almighty for the preservation of the cities of the plain! How
hospitable his mode of life, as when he entertained angels unawares! How
kind he was to Hagar when she had incurred the jealousy of Sarah! How
serene and dignified and generous he was, the model of courtesy
and kindness!
With Abraham we associate the supremest happiness which an old man can
attain unto and enjoy. He was prosperous, rich, powerful, and favored in
every way; but the chief source of his happiness was the superb
consciousness that he was to be the progenitor of a mighty and numerous
progeny, through whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed.
How far his faith was connected with temporal prosperity we cannot tell.
Prosperity seems to have been the blessing of the Old Testament, as
adversity was the blessing of the New. But he was certain of this,--that
his descendants would possess ultimately the land of Canaan, and would
be as numerous as the stars of heaven. He was certain that in some
mysterious way there would come from his race something that would be a
blessing to mankind. Was it revealed to his exultant soul what this
blessing should be? Did this old patriarch cast a prophetic eye
beyond the ages, and see that the promise made to him was spiritual
rather than material, pertaining to the final triumph of truth and
righteousness?--that the unity of God, which he taught to Isaac and
perhaps to Ishmael, was to be upheld by his race alone among prevailing
idolatries, until the Saviour should come to reveal a new dispensation
and finally draw all men unto him? Did Abraham fully realize what a
magnificent nation the Israelites should become,--not merely the rulers
of western Asia under David and Solomon, but that even after their final
dispersion they should furnish ministers to kings, scholars to
universities, and dictators to legislative halls,--an unconquerable
race, powerful even after the vicissitudes and humiliations of four
thousand years? Did he realize fully that from his descendants should
arise the religious teachers of mankind,--not only the prophets and
sages of the Old Testament, but the apostles and martyrs of the
New,--planting in every land the seeds of the everlasting gospel, which
should finally uproot all Brahminical self-expiations, all Buddhistic
reveries, all the speculations of Greek philosophers, all the countless
forms of idolatry, polytheism, pantheism, and pharisaism on this earth,
until every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father?
Yet such were the boons granted to Abraham, as the reward of faith and
obedience to the One true God,--the vital principle without which
religion dies into superstition, with which his descendants were
inspired not only to nationality and civil coherence, but to the highest
and noblest teachings the world has received from any people, and by
which his name is forever linked with the spiritual progress and
happiness of mankind.
JOSEPH.
ISRAEL IN EGYPT.
No one in his senses would dream of adding anything to the story of
Joseph, as narrated in Genesis, whether it came from the pen of Moses or
from some subsequent writer. It is a masterpiece of historical
composition, unequalled in any literature sacred or profane, in ancient
or modern times, for its simplicity, its pathos, its dramatic power, and
its sustained interest. Nor shall I attempt to paraphrase or re-tell it,
save by way of annotation and illustration of subjects connected with
it, having reference to the subsequent development of the Jewish nation
and character.
Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham, was born at Haran in Mesopotamia,
probably during the XVIII. Century B.C., when his father Jacob was in
the service of Laban the Syrian. There was nothing remarkable in his
career until he was sold as a slave by his unnatural and jealous
brothers. He was the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob, by his
beloved Rachel, being the youngest, except Benjamin, of a large family
of twelve sons,--a beautiful and promising youth, with qualities which
peculiarly called out the paternal affections. In the inordinate love
and partiality of Jacob for this youth he gave to him, by way of
distinction, a decorated tunic, such as was worn only by the sons of
princes. The half-brothers of Joseph were filled with envy in view of
this unwise step on the part of their common father,--a proceeding
difficult to be reconciled with his politic and crafty nature; and their
envy ripened into hostility when Joseph, with the frankness of youth,
narrated his dreams, which signified his future pre-eminence and the
humiliation of his brothers. Nor were his dreams altogether pleasing to
his father, who rebuked him with this indignant outburst of feeling:
"Shall I and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee on
the earth?" But while the father pondered, the brothers were consumed
with hatred, for envy is one of the most powerful passions that move the
human soul, and is malignant in its developments. Strange to say, it is
most common in large families and among those who pass for friends. We
do not envy prosperous enemies with the virulence we feel for prosperous
relatives, who theoretically are our equals. Nor does envy cease until
inequality has become so great as to make rivalry preposterous: a
subject does not envy his king, or his generally acknowledged superior.
Envy may even give place to respect and deference when the object of it
has achieved fame and conceded power. Relatives who begin with jealousy
sometimes end as worshippers, but not until extraordinary merit, vast
wealth, or overtopping influence are universally conceded. Conceive of
Napoleon's brothers envying the great Emperor, or Webster's the great
statesman, or Grant's the great general, although the passion may have
lurked in the bosoms of political rivals and military chieftains.
But one thing certainly extinguishes envy; and that is death. Hence the
envy of Joseph's brothers, after they had sold him to a caravan of
Ishmaelite merchants, was succeeded by remorse and shame. Their
murmurings passed into lies. They could not tell their broken-hearted
father of their crime; they never told him. Jacob was led to suppose
that his favorite son was devoured by wild beasts; they added deceit and
cowardice to a depraved heartlessness, and nearly brought down the gray
hairs of their father to the grave. No subsequent humiliation or
punishment could be too severe for such wickedness. Although they were
destined to become the heads of powerful tribes, even of the chosen
people of God, these men have incurred the condemnation of all ages. But
Judah and Reuben do not come in for unlimited censure, since these sons
of Leah sought to save their brother from a violent death; and
subsequently in Egypt Judah looms up as a magnanimous character, whom we
admire almost as much as we do Joseph himself. What can be more eloquent
than his defence of Benjamin, and his appeal to what seemed to him to be
an Egyptian potentate!
The sale of Joseph as a slave is one of the most signal instances of the
providence of God working by natural laws recorded in all history,--more
marked even than the elevation of Esther and Mordecai. In it we see
permission of evil and its counteraction,--its conversion into good;
victory over evil, over conspiracy, treachery, and murderous intent. And
so marked is this lesson of a superintending Providence over all human
action, that a wise and good man can see wars and revolutions and
revolting crimes with almost philosophical complacency, knowing that out
of destruction proceeds creation; that the wrath of man is always
overruled; that the love of God is the brightest and clearest and most
consoling thing in the universe. We cannot interpret history without the
recognition of this fundamental truth. We cannot be unmoved amid the
prevalence of evil without this feeling, that God is more powerful than
all the combined forces of his enemies both on earth and in hell; and
that no matter what the evil is, it will surely be made to praise Him
who sitteth in the heavens. This is a sublime revelation of the
omnipotence and benevolence of a personal God, of his constant oversight
of the world which he has made.
The protection and elevation of Joseph, seemingly a natural event in
view of his genius and character, is in some respects a type of that
great sacrifice by which a sinful world has been redeemed. Little did
the Jews suspect when they crucified Jesus that he would arise from his
tomb and overturn the idolatries of nations, and found a religion which
should go on from conquering to conquer. Little did the gifted Burke see
in the atrocities of the French Revolution the overturning of a system
of injustices which for centuries had cried to Heaven for vengeance.
Still less did the proud and conservative citizens of New England
recognize in the cruelties of Southern slaveholders a crime which would
provoke one of the bloodiest wars of modern times, and lead to the
constitutional and political equality of the whites and blacks. Evil
appeared to triumph, but ended in the humiliation of millions and the
enfranchisement of humanity, when the cause of the right seemed utterly
hopeless. So let every one write upon all walls and houses and chambers,
upon his conscience and his intellect, "The Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth, and will bring good out of the severest tribulation!" And this
great truth applies not to nations alone, but to the humblest
individual, as he bows down in grief or wrath or penitence to
unlooked-for chastisement,--like Job upon his heap of ashes, or the
broken-hearted mother when afflicted with disease or poverty, or the
misconduct or death of children. There is no wisdom, no sound
philosophy, no religion, and no happiness until this truth is recognized
in all the changes and relations of life.
The history of Joseph in Egypt in all his varied fortunes is, as I have
said, a most memorable illustration of this cardinal and fundamental
truth. A favorite of fortune, he is sold as a slave for less than twenty
dollars of our money, and is brought to a foreign country,--a land
oppressed by kings and priests, yet in which is a high civilization, in
spite of social and political degradation. He is resold to a high
official of the Egyptian court, probably on account of his beauty and
intelligence. He rises in the service of this official,--captain of the
royal guard, or, as the critics tell us, superintendent of the police
and prisons,--for he has extraordinary abilities and great integrity,
character as well as natural genius, until he is unjustly accused of a
meditated crime by a wicked woman. It is evident that Potiphar, his
master, only half believes in Joseph's guilt, in spite of the
protestations of his artful and profligate wife, since instead of
summarily executing him, as Ahasuerus did Haman, he simply sends him to
a mild and temporary imprisonment in the prison adjacent to his palace.
Here Joseph wins the favor of his jailers and of his brother prisoners,
as Paul did nearly two thousand years later, and shows remarkable gifts,
even to the interpretation of dreams,--a wonderful faculty to
superstitious people like the Egyptians, and in which he exceeds even
their magicians and priests. The fame of his rare gifts, the most prized
in Egypt, reaches at last the ears of Pharaoh, who is troubled by a
singular dream which no one of his learned men can interpret. The Hebrew
slave interprets it, and is magnificently rewarded, becoming the prime
minister of an absolute monarch. The King gives him his signet ring,
emblem of power, and a collar or chain of gold, the emblem of the
highest rank; clothes him in a vestment of fine linen, makes him ride in
his second chariot, and appoints him ruler over the land, second only to
the King in power and rank. And, further, he gives to him in marriage
the daughter of the High Priest of On, by which he becomes connected
with the priesthood.
Joseph deserves all the honor and influence he receives, for he saves
the kingdom from a great calamity. He predicts seven years of plenty and
seven years of famine, and points out the remedy. According to
tradition, the monarch whom he served was Apepi, the last Shepherd
King, during whose reign slaves were very numerous. The King himself had
a vast number, as well as the nobles. Foreign slaves were preferred to
native ones, and wars were carried on for the chief purpose of capturing
and selling captives.
The sacred narrative says but little of the government of Egypt by a
Hebrew slave, or of his abilities as a ruler,--virtually supreme in the
land, since Pharaoh delegates to him his own authority, persuaded both
of his fidelity and his abilities. It is difficult to understand how
Joseph arose at a single bound to such dignity and power, under a proud
and despotic king, and in the face of all the prejudices of the Egyptian
priesthood and nobility, except through the custom of all Oriental
despots to gratify the whim of the moment,--like the one who made his
horse prime minister. But nothing short of transcendent talents and
transcendent services can account for his retention of office and his
marked success. Joseph was then thirty years of age, having served
Potiphar ten years, and spent two or three years in prison.
This all took place, as some now suppose, shortly after 1700 B.C., under
the dynasty of the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, who had conquered the
kingdom about three hundred years before. Their capital was Memphis,
near the pyramids, which had been erected several centuries earlier by
the older and native dynasties. Rawlinson supposes that Tanis on the
delta was the seat of their court. Conquered by the Hyksos, the old
kings retreated to their other capital, Thebes, and were probably made
tributary to the conquerors. It was by the earlier and later dynasties
that the magnificent temples and palaces were built, whose ruins have so
long been the wonder of travellers. The Shepherd Kings were warlike, and
led their armies from Scythia,--that land of roving and emigrant
warriors,--or, as Ewald thinks, from the land of Canaan: Aramaean
chieftains, who sought the spoil of the richest monarchy in the world.
Hence there was more affinity between these people and the Hebrews than
between them and the ancient Egyptians, who were the descendants of Ham.
Abraham, when he visited Egypt, found it ruled by these Scythian or
Aramaean warriors, which accounts for the kind and generous treatment he
received. It is not probable that a monarch of the ancient dynasties
would have been so courteous to Abraham, or would have elevated Joseph
to such an exalted rank, for they were jealous of strangers, and hated a
pastoral people. It was only under the rule of the Hyksos that the
Hebrews could have been tolerated and encouraged; for as soon as the
Shepherd Kings were expelled by the Pharaohs who reigned at Thebes, as
the Moors were expelled from Spain by the old Castilian princes, it
fared ill with the descendants of Jacob, and they were bitterly and
cruelly oppressed until the exodus under Moses. Prosperity probably led
the Hyksos conquerors to that fatal degeneracy which is unfavorable to
war, while adversity strengthened the souls of the descendants of the
ancient kings, and enabled them to subdue and drive away their invaders
and conquerors. And yet the Hyksos could not have ruled Egypt had they
not adapted themselves to the habits, religion, and prejudices of the
people they subdued. The Pharaoh who reigned at the time of Joseph
belonged like his predecessors to the sacerdotal caste, and worshipped
the gods of the Egyptians. But he was not jealous of the Hebrews, and
fully appreciated the genius of Joseph.
The wisdom of Joseph as ruler of the land destined to a seven years'
famine was marked by foresight as well as promptness in action. He
personally visited the various provinces, advising the people to husband
their harvests. But as all people are thoughtless and improvident, he
himself gathered up and stored all the grain which could be spared, and
in such vast quantities that he ceased to measure it. At last the
predicted famine came, as the Nile had not risen to its usual height;
but the royal granaries were full, since all the surplus wheat--about a
fifth of the annual produce--had been stored away; not purchased by
Joseph, but exacted as a tax. Nor was this exaction unreasonable in
view of the emergency. Under the Bourbon kings of France more than one
half of the produce of the land was taken by the Government and the
feudal proprietors without compensation, and that not in provision for
coming national trouble, but for the fattening of the royal purse.
Joseph exacted only a fifth as a sort of special tax, less than the
present Italian government exacts from all landowners.
Very soon the famine pressed upon the Egyptian people, for they had no
corn in reserve; the reserve was in the hands of the government. But
this reserve Joseph did not deal out gratuitously, as the Roman
government, under the emperors, dealt out food to the citizens. He made
the people pay for their bread, and took their money and deposited it in
the royal treasury. When after two years their money was all spent, it
was necessary to resort to barter, and cattle were given in exchange for
corn, by which means the King became possessed of all the personal
property of his subjects. As famine pressed, the people next surrendered
their land to avoid starvation,--all but the priests. Pharaoh thus
became absolute proprietor of the whole country; of money, cattle, and
land,--an unprecedented surrender, which would have produced a
wide-spread disaffection and revolt, had it not been that Joseph, after
the famine was past and the earth yielded its accustomed harvest,
exacted only one-fifth of the produce of the land for the support of
the government, which could not be regarded as oppressive. As the King
thus became absolute proprietor of Egypt by consent of the people, whom
he had saved from starvation through the wisdom and energy of his prime
minister, it is probable that later a new division of land took place,
it being distributed among the people generally in small farms, for
which they paid as rent a fifth of their produce. The gratitude of the
people was marked: "Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the
eyes of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's slaves." Since the time of
Christ there have been two similar famines recorded,--one in the
eleventh century, lasting, like Joseph's, seven years; and the other in
the twelfth century, of which the most distressing details are given,
even to the extreme desperation of cannibalism. The same cause
originated both,--the failure of the Nile overflow. Out of the sacred
river came up for Egypt its fat kine and its lean,--its blessings and
its curses.
The price exacted by Joseph for the people's salvation made the King
more absolute than before, since all were thus made dependent on the
government.
This absolute rule of the kings, however, was somewhat modified by
ancient customs, and by the vast influence of the priesthood, to which
the King himself belonged. The priests of Egypt, under all the
dynasties, formed the most powerful caste ever seen among the nations
of the earth, if we except the Brahmanical caste of India. At the head
of it was the King himself, who was chief of the religion and of the
state. He regulated the sacrifices of the temples, and had the peculiar
right of offering them to the gods upon grand occasions. He
superintended the feasts and festivals in honor of the deities. The
priests enjoyed privileges which extended to their whole family. They
were exempt from taxes, and possessed one-third of the landed property,
which was entailed upon them, and of which they could not be deprived.
Among them there were great distinctions of rank, but the high-priests
held the most honorable station; they were devoted to the service of the
presiding deities of the cities in which they lived,--such as the
worship of Ammon at Thebes, of Phtha at Memphis, and of Ra at On, or
Heliopolis. One of the principal grades of the priesthood was that of
prophets, who were particularly versed in all matters pertaining to
religion. They presided over the temple and the sacred rites, and
directed the management of the priestly revenues; they bore a
distinguished part in solemn processions, carrying the holy vase.
The priests not only regulated all spiritual matters and superintended
the worship of the gods, but they were esteemed for their superior
knowledge. They acquired an ascendency over the people by their
supposed understanding of the sacred mysteries, only those priests being
initiated in the higher secrets of religion who had proved themselves
virtuous and discerning. "The honor of ascending from the less to the
greater mysteries was as highly esteemed as it was difficult to obtain.
The aspirant was required to go through the most severe ordeal, and show
the greatest moral resignation." Those who aspired to know the
profoundest secrets, imposed upon themselves duties more severe than
those required by any other class. It was seldom that the priests were
objects of scandal; they were reserved and discreet, practising the
strictest purification of body and mind. Their life was so full of
minute details that they rarely appeared in public. They thus obtained
the sincere respect of the people, and ruled by the power of learning
and sanctity as well as by privilege. They are most censured for
concealing and withholding knowledge from the people.
How deep and profound was the knowledge of the Egyptian priests it is
difficult to settle, since it was so carefully guarded. Pythagoras made
great efforts and sacrifices to be initiated in their higher mysteries;
but these, it is thought, were withheld, since he was a foreigner. What
he did learn, however, formed a foundation of what is most valuable in
Grecian philosophy. Herodotus declares that he knew the mysteries, but
should not divulge them. Moses was skilled in all the knowledge of the
sacred schools of Egypt, and perhaps incorporated in his jurisprudence
some of its most valued truths. Possibly Plato obtained from the
Egyptian priests his idea of the immortality of the soul, since this was
one of their doctrines. It is even thought by Wilkinson that they
believed in the unity, the eternal existence, and invisible power of
God, but there is no definite knowledge on that point. Ammon, the
concealed god, seems to have corresponded with the Zeus of the Greeks,
as Sovereign Lord of Heaven. The priests certainly taught a state of
future rewards and punishments, for the great doctrine of metempsychosis
is based upon it,--the transmission of the soul after death into the
bodies of various animals as an expiation for sin. But however lofty
were the esoteric doctrines which the more learned of the initiated
believed, they were carefully concealed from the people, who were deemed
too ignorant to understand them; and hence the immense difference
between the priests and people, and the universal prevalence of
degrading superstitions and the vile polytheism which everywhere
existed,--even the worship of the powers of Nature in those animals
which were held sacred. Among all the ancient nations, however
complicated were their theogonies, and however degraded the forms of
worship assumed,--of men, or animals, or plants,--it was heat or light
(the sun as the visible promoter of blessings) which was regarded as the
_animus mundi_, to be worshipped as the highest manifestation of divine
power and goodness. The sun, among all the ancient polytheists, was
worshipped under various names, and was one of the supremest deities.
The priestly city of On, a sort of university town, was consecrated to
the worship of Ra, the sun. Baal was the sun-god among the polytheistic
Canaanites, as Bel was among the Assyrians.
The Egyptian Pantheon, except perhaps that of Rome, was the most
extensive among the ancient nations, and the most degraded, although
that people were the most religious as well as superstitious of ancient
pagans. The worship of the Deity, in some form, was as devout as it was
universal, however degrading were the rites; and no expense was spared
in sacrifices to propitiate the favor of the peculiar deity who presided
over each of the various cities, for almost every city had a different
deity. Notwithstanding the degrading fetichism--the lowest kind of
Nature-worship, including the worship of animals--which formed the basis
of the Egyptian religion, there were traces in it of pure monotheism, as
in that of Babylonia and of ancient India. The distinguishing
peculiarity of the Egyptian religion was the adoration of sacred
animals as emblems of the gods, the chief of which were the bull, the
cat, and the beetle.
The gods of the Egyptian Pantheon were almost innumerable, since they
represented every form and power of Nature, and all the passions which
move the human soul; but the most remarkable of the popular deities was
Osiris, who was regarded as the personification of good. Isis, the
consort of Osiris, who with him presided at the judgment of the dead,
was scarcely less venerated. Set, or Typhon, the brother of Osiris, was
the personification of evil. Between Osiris and Set, therefore, was
perpetual antagonism. This belief, divested of names and titles and
technicalities and fables, seems to have resembled, in this respect, the
religion of the Persians,--the eternal conflict between good and evil.
The esoteric doctrines of the priests initiated into the higher
mysteries probably were the primeval truths, too abstract for the
ignorant and sensual people to comprehend, and which were represented to
them in visible forms that appealed to their senses, and which they
worshipped with degrading rites.
The oldest of all the rites of the ancient pagans was in the form of
sacrifice, to propitiate the deity. Abraham and Jacob offered
sacrifices, but without degrading ceremonies, and both abhorred the
representation of the deity in the form of animals; but there was
scarcely an animal or reptile in Egypt that the people did not hold
sacred, in fear or reverence. Moral evil was represented by the serpent,
showing that something was retained, though in a distorted form, of the
primitive revelation. The most celebrated forms of animal worship were
the bulls at Memphis, sacred to Osiris, or, as some think, to the sun;
the cat to Phtha, and the beetle to Re. The origin of these
superstitions cannot be traced; they are shrouded in impenetrable
mystery. All that we know is that they existed from the remotest period
of which we have cognizance, long before the pyramids were built.
In spite, however, of the despotism of the kings, the privileges of the
priests, and the degrading superstitions of the people, which introduced
the most revolting form of religious worship ever seen on earth, there
was in Egypt a high civilization in comparison with that of other
nations, dating back to a mythical period. More than two thousand years
before the Christian era, and six hundred before letters were introduced
into Greece, one thousand years before the Trojan War, twelve hundred
years before Buddha, and fifteen hundred years before Rome was founded,
great architectural works existed in Egypt, the remains of which still
astonish travellers for their vastness and grandeur. In the time of
Joseph, before the eighteenth dynasty, there was in Egypt an estimated
population of seven millions, with twenty thousand cities. The
civilization of that country four thousand years ago was as high as that
of the Chinese of the present day; and their literary and scientific
accomplishments, their proficiency in the industrial and fine arts,
remain to-day the wonder of history. But one thing is very
remarkable,--that while there seems to have been no great progress for
two thousand years, there was not any marked decline, thus indicating
virtuous habits of life among the great body of the people from
generation to generation. They were preserved from degeneracy by their
simple habits and peaceful pursuits. Though the armies of the King
numbered four hundred thousand men, there were comparatively few wars,
and these mostly of a defensive character.
Such was the Egypt which Joseph governed with signal ability for more
than half a century, nearly four thousand years ago,--the mother of
inventions, the pioneer in literature and science, the home of learned
men, the teacher of nations, communicating a knowledge which was never
lost, making the first great stride in the civilization of the world. No
one knows whether this civilization was indigenous, or derived from
unknown races, or the remains of a primitive revelation, since it cannot
be traced beyond Egypt itself, whose early inhabitants were more Asiatic
than African, and apparently allied with Phoenicians and Assyrians,
But the civilization of Egypt is too extensive a subject to be entered
upon in this connection. I hope to treat it more at length in subsequent
volumes. I can only say now that in some things the Egyptians were never
surpassed. Their architecture, as seen in the pyramids and the ruins of
temples, was marvellous; while their industrial arts would not be
disdained even in the 19th century.
Over this fertile, favored, and civilized nation Joseph reigned,--with
delegated power indeed, but with power that was absolute,--when his
starving brothers came to Egypt to buy corn, for the famine extended
probably over western Asia. He is to be viewed, not as a prophet, or
preacher, or reformer, or even a warrior like Moses, but as a merely
executive ruler. As the son-in-law of the high-priest of Hieropolis, and
delegated governor of the land, in the highest favor with the King, and
himself a priest, it is probable that Joseph was initiated into the
esoteric wisdom of the priesthood. He was undoubtedly stern, resolute,
and inflexible in his relations with men, as great executive chieftains
necessarily must be, whatever their private sympathies and friendships.
To all appearance he was a born Egyptian, as he spoke the language of
Egypt, had adopted its habits, and was clothed with the insignia of
Egyptian power.
So that when the sons of Jacob, who during the years of famine in
Canaan had come down to Egypt to buy corn, were ushered into his
presence, and bowed down to him, as had been predicted, he was harsh to
them, although at once recognizing them. "Whence come ye?" he said
roughly to them. They replied, "From the land of Canaan to buy corn,"
"Nay," continued he, "ye are spies." "Not so, my lord, but to buy food
are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men; thy
servants are not spies." "Nay," he said, "to see the nakedness of the
land are ye come,"--for famine also prevailed in Egypt, and its governor
naturally would not wish its weakness to be known, for fear of a hostile
invasion. They replied, "Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of
one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest is this day with our father,
and one is not." But Joseph still persisted that they were spies, and
put them in prison for three days; after which he demanded as the
condition of their release that the younger brother should also appear
before him. "If ye be true men," said he, "let one of your brothers be
bound in the house of your prison, while you carry corn for the famine
of your house; but bring your youngest brother unto me, and ye shall not
die." There was apparently no alternative but to perish, or to bring
Benjamin into Egypt; and the sons of Jacob were compelled to accept the
condition.
Then their consciences were moved, and they saw a punishment for their
crime in selling Joseph fifteen years before. Even Reuben accused them,
and in the very presence of Joseph reminded them of their unnatural
cruelty, not supposing that he understood them, since Joseph had spoken
through an interpreter. This was too much for the stern governor; he
turned aside and wept, but speedily returned and took from them Simeon
and bound him before their eyes, and retained him for a surety. Then he
caused their sacks to be filled with corn, putting also their money
therein, and gave them in addition food for their return journey. But as
one of them on that journey opened his sack to give his ass provender,
he espied the money; and they were all filled with fear at this
unlooked-for incident. They made haste to reach their home and report
the strange intelligence to their father, including the demand for the
appearance of Benjamin, which filled him with the most violent grief.
"Joseph is not," cried he, "and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin
away!" Reuben here expostulated with frantic eloquence. Jacob, however,
persisted: "My son shall not go down with you; if mischief befall him,
ye will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to the grave."
Meanwhile the famine pressed, as Joseph knew full well it would, and
Jacob's family had eaten all their corn, and it became necessary to get
a new supply from Egypt. But Judah refused to go without Benjamin. "The
man," said he, "did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see
my face, except your brother be with you." Then Jacob upbraided Judah
for revealing the number and condition of his family; but Judah excused
himself on account of the searching cross-examination of the austere
governor which no one could resist, and persisted in the absolute
necessity of Benjamin's appearance in Egypt, unless they all should
yield to starvation. Moreover, he promised to be surety for his brother,
that no harm should come to him. Jacob at last saw the necessity of
allowing Benjamin to go, and reluctantly gave his consent; but in order
to appease the terrible man of Egypt he ordered his sons to take with
them a present of spices and balm and almonds, luxuries then in great
demand, and a double amount of money in their sacks to repay what they
had received. Then in pious resignation he said, "If I am bereaved of my
children, I am bereaved," and hurried away his sons.
In due time they all safely arrived in Egypt, and with Benjamin stood
before Joseph, and made obeisance, and then excused themselves to
Joseph's steward, because of the money which had been returned in their
sacks. The steward encouraged them, and brought Simeon to them, and led
them into Joseph's house, where a feast was prepared by his orders.
With great difficulty Joseph restrained his feelings at the sight of
Benjamin, who was his own full brother, but asked kindly about the
father. At last his pent-up affections gave way, and he sought his
chamber and wept there in secret. He then sat down to the banquet with
his attendants at a separate table,--for the Egyptian would not eat with
foreigners,--still unrevealed to his brethren, but showed his partiality
to Benjamin by sending him a mess five times greater than to the rest.
They marvelled greatly that they were seated at the table according to
their seniority, and questioned among themselves how the austere
governor could know the ages of strangers.
Not yet did Joseph declare himself. His brothers were not yet
sufficiently humbled; a severe trial was still in store for them. As
before, he ordered his steward to fill the sacks as full as they could
carry, with every man's money in them, for he would not take his
father's money; and further ordered that his silver drinking-cup should
be put in Benjamin's sack. The brothers had scarcely left the city when
they were overtaken by the steward on a charge of theft, and upbraided
for stealing the silver cup. Of course they felt their innocence and
protested it; but it was of no avail, although they declared that if the
cup should be found in any one of their sacks, he in whose sack it
might be should die for the offence. The steward took them at their
word, proceeded to search the sacks, and lo! what was their surprise and
grief to see that the cup was found in Benjamin's sack! They rent their
clothes in utter despair, and returned to the city. Joseph received them
austerely, and declared that Benjamin should be retained in Egypt as his
servant, or slave. Then Judah, forgetting in whose presence he was, cast
aside all fear, and made the most eloquent and plaintive speech recorded
in the Bible, offering to remain in Benjamin's place as a slave, for how
could he face his father, who would surely die of grief at the loss of
his favorite child.
Joseph could refrain his feelings no longer. He made every attendant
leave his presence, and then declared himself to his brothers, whom God
had sent to Egypt to be the means of saving their lives. The brothers,
conscience stricken and ashamed, completely humbled and afraid, could
not answer his questions. Then Joseph tenderly, in their own language,
begged them to come near, and explained to them that it was not they who
sent him to Egypt, but God, to work out a great deliverance to their
posterity, and to be a father to Pharaoh himself, inasmuch as the famine
was to continue five years longer. "Haste ye, and go up to my father,
and say unto him that God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down
unto me, and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen near unto me, thou
and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks and thy
herds, and all that thou hast, and there will I nourish thee. And ye
shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have
seen; and ye shall haste, and bring down my father hither." And he fell
on Benjamin's neck and wept, and kissed all his brothers. They then
talked with him without further reserve.
The news that Joseph's brethren had come to Egypt pleased Pharaoh, so
grateful was the King for the preservation of his kingdom. He could not
do enough for such a benefactor. "Say to thy brethren, lade your beasts
and go, and take your father and your households, and come unto me; and
I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat
of the land." And the King commanded them to take his wagons to
transport their families and goods. Joseph also gave to each one of them
changes of raiment, and to Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and
five changes of raiment, and ten asses laden with the good things of
Egypt for their father, and ten she-asses laden with corn. As they
departed, he archly said unto them, "See that ye fall not out by
the way!"
And when they arrived at Canaan, and told their father all that had
happened and all that they had seen, he fainted. The news was too good
to be true; he would not believe them. But when he saw the wagons his
spirit revived, and he said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is yet alive.
I will go and see him before I die." The old man is again young in
spirit. He is for going immediately; he could leap,--yea, fly.
To Egypt, then, Israel with his sons and his cattle and all his wealth
hastened. His sons are astonished at the providence of God, so clearly
and impressively demonstrated on their behalf. The reconciliation of the
family is complete. All envy is buried in the unbounded prosperity of
Joseph. He is now too great for envy. He is to be venerated as the
instrument of God in saving his father's house and the land of Egypt.
They all now bow down to him, father and sons alike, and the only strife
now is who shall render him the most honor. He is the pride and glory of
his family, as he is of the land of Egypt, and of the household
of Pharaoh.
In the hospitality of the King, and his absence of jealousy of the
nomadic people whom he settled in the most fertile of his provinces, we
see additional confirmation of the fact that he was one of the Shepherd
Kings. The Pharaoh of Joseph's time seems to have affiliated with the
Israelites as natural friends,--to assist him in case of war. All the
souls that came into Egypt with Jacob were seventy in number, although
some historians think there was a much larger number. Rawlinson
estimates it at two thousand, and Dean Payne Smith at three thousand.
Jacob was one hundred and thirty years of age when he came to dwell in
the land of Goshen, and he lived seventeen years in Egypt. When he died,
Joseph was about fifty years old, and was still in power.
It was the dying wish of the old patriarch to be buried with his
fathers, and he made Joseph promise to carry his bones to the land of
Canaan and bury them in the sepulchre which Abraham had bought,--even
the cave of Machpelah.
Before Jacob died, Joseph brought his two sons to him to receive his
blessing,--Manasseh and Ephraim, born in Egypt, whose grandfather was
the high-priest of On, the city of the sun. As Manasseh was the oldest,
he placed him at the right hand of Jacob, but the old man wittingly and
designedly laid his right hand on Ephraim, which displeased Joseph. But
Jacob, without giving his reason, persisted. While he prophesied that
Manasseh should be great, Ephraim he said should be greater,--verified
in the fact that the tribe of Ephraim was the largest of all the tribes,
and the most powerful until the captivity. It was nearly as large as all
the rest together, although in the time of Moses the tribe of Manasseh
had become more numerous. We cannot penetrate the reason why Ephraim
the younger son was preferred to the older, any more than why Jacob was
preferred to Esau. After Jacob had blessed the sons of Joseph, he called
his other sons around his dying bed to predict the future of their
descendants. Reuben the oldest was told that he would not excel, because
he had loved his father's concubine and committed a grievous sin. Simeon
and Levi were the most active in seeking to compass the death of Joseph,
and a curse was sent upon them. Judah was exalted above them all, for he
had sought to save Joseph, and was eloquent in pleading for
Benjamin,--the most magnanimous of the sons. So from him it was
predicted that the sceptre should not depart from his house until Shiloh
should come,--the Messiah, to whose appearance all the patriarchs
looked. And all that Jacob predicted about his sons to their remote
descendants came to pass; but the highest blessing was accorded to
Joseph, as was realized in the future ascendency of Ephraim.
When Jacob had made an end of his blessings and predictions he gathered
up his feet into his bed and gave up the ghost, and Joseph caused him to
be embalmed, as was the custom in Egypt. When the days of public
mourning were over (seventy days), Joseph obtained leave from Pharaoh to
absent himself from the kingdom and his government, to bury his father
according to his wish. And he departed in great pomp, with chariots and
horses, together with his brothers and a great number, and deposited the
remains of Jacob in the cave of the field of Machpelah, where Abraham
himself was buried, and then returned to his duties in Egypt.
It is not mentioned in the Scriptures how long Joseph retained his power
as prime minister of Pharaoh, but probably until a new dynasty succeeded
the throne,--the eighteenth as it is supposed, for we are told that a
new king arose who knew not Joseph. He lived to be one hundred and ten
years of age, and when he died his body was embalmed and placed in a
sarcophagus, and ultimately was carried to Canaan and buried with his
fathers, according to the oath or promise he exacted of his brothers.
His last recorded words were a prediction that God would bring the
children of Israel out of Egypt to the land which he sware unto Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. On his deathbed he becomes, like his father, a
prophet. He had foretold his own future elevation when only a youth of
seventeen, though only in the form of a dream, the full purport of which
he did not comprehend; as an old man, about to die, he predicts the
greatest blessing which could happen to his kindred,--their restoration
to the land promised unto Abraham.
Joseph is one of the most interesting characters of the Bible, one of
the most fortunate, and one of the most faultless. He resisted the most
powerful temptations, and there is no recorded act which sullies his
memory. Although most of his life was spent among idolaters, and he
married a pagan woman, he retained his allegiance to the God of his
fathers. He ever felt that he was a stranger in a strange land, although
its supreme governor, and looked to Canaan as the future and beloved
home of his family and race. He regarded his residence in Egypt only as
a means of preserving the lives of his kindred, and himself as an
instrument to benefit both his family and the country which he ruled.
His life was one of extraordinary usefulness. He had great executive
talents, which he exercised for the good of others. Though stern and
even hard in his official duties, he had unquenchable natural
affections. His heart went out to his old father, his brother Benjamin,
and to all his kindred with inexpressible tenderness. He was as free
from guile as he was from false pride. In giving instructions to his
brothers how they should appear before the King, and what they should
say when questioned as to their occupations, he advised the utmost
frankness,--to say that they were shepherds, although the occupation of
a shepherd was an abomination to an Egyptian. He had exceeding tact in
confronting the prejudices of the King and the priesthood. He took no
pains to conceal his birth and lineage in the most aristocratic country
of the world. Considering that he was only second in power and dignity
to an absolute monarch, his life was unostentatious and his
habits simple.
If we seek a parallel to him among modern statesmen, he most resembles
Colbert as the minister of Louis XIV.; or Prince Metternich, who in
great simplicity ruled Continental Europe for a quarter of a century.
Nothing is said of his palaces, or pleasures, or wealth. He had not the
austere and unbending pride of Mordecai, whose career as an instrument
of Providence for the welfare of his countrymen was as remarkable as
Joseph's. He was more like Daniel in his private life than any of those
Jews who have arisen to great power in foreign lands, though he had not
Daniel's exalted piety or prophetic gifts. He was faithful to the
interests of his sovereign, and greatly increased the royal authority.
He got possession of the whole property of the nation for the benefit of
his master, but exacted only a fifth part of the produce of the land for
the support of the government. He was a priest of a grossly polytheistic
religion, but acknowledged only the One Supreme God, whose instrument he
felt himself to be. His services to the state were transcendent, but his
supremest mission was to preserve the Hebrew nation.
The condition of the Israelites in Egypt after the death of Joseph, and
during the period of their sojourn, it is difficult to determine. There
is a doubt among the critics as to the length of this sojourn,--the
Bible in several places asserting that it lasted four hundred and thirty
years, which, if true, would bring the Exodus to the end of the
nineteenth dynasty. Some suppose that the residence in Egypt was only
two hundred and fifteen years. The territory assigned to the Israelites
was a small one, and hence must have been densely populated, if, as it
is reckoned, two millions of people left the country under the
leadership of Moses and Aaron. It is supposed that the reigning
sovereign at that time was Menephtah, successor of Rameses II. It is,
then, the great Rameses, who was the king from whom Moses fled,--the
most distinguished of all the Egyptian monarchs as warrior and builder
of monuments. He was the second king of the eighteenth dynasty, and
reigned in conjunction with his father Seti for sixty years. Among his
principal works was the completion of the city of Rameses (Raamses, or
Tanis, or Zoan), one of the principal cities of Egypt, begun by his
father and made a royal residence. He also, it appears from the
monuments, built Pithon and other important towns, by the forced labor
of the Israelites. Rameses and Pithon were called treasure-cities, the
site of the latter having been lately discovered, to the east of Tanis.
They were located in the midst of a fertile country, now dreary and
desolate, which was the object of great panegyric. An Egyptian poet,
quoted by Dr. Charles S. Robinson, paints the vicinity of Zoan, where
Pharaoh resided at the time of the Exodus, as full of loveliness and
fertility. "Her fields are verdant with excellent herbage; her bowers
bloom with garlands; her pools are prolific in fish; and in the ponds
are ducks. Each garden is perfumed with the smell of honey; the
granaries are full of wheat and barley; vegetables and reeds and herbs
are growing in the parks; flowers and nosegays are in the houses;
lemons, citrons, and figs are in the orchards." Such was the field of
Zoan in ancient times, near Rameses, which the Israelites had built
without straw to make their bricks, and from which place they set out
for the general rendezvous at Succoth, under Moses. It will be noted
that if Rameses, or Tanis, was the residence of the court when Moses
made his demands on Menephtah, it was in the midst of the settlements of
the Israelites, in the land of Goshen, which the last of the Shepherd
Kings had assigned to them.
It is impossible to tell what advance in civilization was made by the
Israelites in consequence of their sojourn in Egypt; but they must have
learned many useful arts, and many principles of jurisprudence, and
acquired a better knowledge of agriculture. They learned to be patient
under oppression and wrong, to be frugal and industrious in their
habits, and obedient to the voice of their leaders. But unfortunately
they acquired a love of idolatrous worship, which they did not lose
until their captivity in Babylon. The golden calves of the wilderness
were another form of the worship of the sacred bulls of Memphis. They
were easily led to worship the sun under the Egyptian and Canaanitish
names. Had the children of Israel remained in the promised land, in the
early part of their history, they would probably have perished by
famine, or have been absorbed by their powerful Canaanitish neighbors.
In Egypt they were well fed, rapidly increased in number, and became a
nation to be feared even while in bondage. In the land of Canaan they
would have been only a pastoral or nomadic people, unable to defend
themselves in war, and unacquainted with the use of military weapons.
They might have been exterminated, without constant miracles and
perpetual supernatural aid,--which is not the order of Providence.
In Egypt, it is true, the Israelites lost their political independence;
but even under slavery there is much to be learned from civilized
masters. How rapid and marvellous the progress of the African races in
the Southern States in their two hundred years of bondage! When before
in the history of the world has there been such a progress among mere
barbarians, with fetichism for their native religion? Races have
advanced in every element of civilization, and in those virtues which
give permanent strength to character, under all the benumbing and
degrading influences of slavery, while nations with wealth, freedom, and
prosperity have declined and perished. The slavery of the Israelites in
Egypt may have been a blessing in disguise, from which they emerged when
they were able to take care of themselves. Moses led them out of
bondage; but Moses also incorporated in his institutions the "wisdom of
the Egyptians." He was indeed inspired to declare certain fundamental
truths, but he also taught the lessons of experience which a great
nation had acquired by two thousand years of prosperity. Who can tell,
who can measure, the civilization which the Israelites must have carried
out of Egypt, with the wealth of which they despoiled their masters?
Where else at that period could they have found such teachers? The
Persians at that time were shepherds like themselves in Canaan, the
Assyrians were hunters, and the Greeks had no historical existence. Only
the discipline of forty years in the wilderness, under Moses, was
necessary to make them a nation of conquerors, for they had already
learned the arts of agriculture, and knew how to protect themselves in
walled cities. A nomadic people were they no longer, as in the time of
Jacob, but small farmers, who had learned to irrigate their barren hills
and till their fertile valleys; and they became a powerful though
peaceful nation, unconquered by invaders for a thousand years, and
unconquerable for all time in their traditions, habits, and mental
characteristics. From one man--the patriarch Jacob--did this great
nation rise, and did not lose its national unity and independence until
from the tribe of Judah a deliverer arose who redeemed the human race.
Surely, how favored was Joseph, in being the instrument under Providence
of preserving this nation in its infancy, and placing its people in a
rich and fertile country where they could grow and multiply, and learn
principles of civilization which would make them a permanent power in
the progress of humanity!
MOSES.
1571-1451 B.C. [USHER].
HEBREW JURISPRUDENCE.
Among the great actors in the world's history must surely be presented
the man who gave the first recorded impulse to civilization, and who is
the most august character of antiquity. I think Moses and his
legislation should be considered from the standpoint of the Scriptures
rather than from that of science and criticism. It is very true that the
legislation and ritualism we have been accustomed to ascribe to Moses
are thought by many great modern critics, including Ewald, to be the
work of writers whose names are unknown, in the time of Hezekiah and
even later, as Jewish literature was developed. But I remain unconvinced
by the modern theories, plausible as they are, and weighty as is their
authority; and hence I have presented the greatest man in the history of
the Jews as our fathers regarded him, and as the Bible represents him.
Nor is there any subject which bears more directly on the elemental
principles of theological belief and practical morality, or is more
closely connected with the progress of modern religious and social
thought, than a consideration of the Mosaic writings. Whether as a "man
of God," or as a meditative sage, or as a sacred historian, or as an
inspired prophet, or as an heroic liberator and leader of a favored
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