The Story of Joseph and His Brethren/Part 2/Chapter 9
CHAPTER IX.
JACOB says of his younger son, "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him. But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, (from thence, the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb: the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." The first thing that must strike every one on reading this mysterious language is, that Joseph was a type of the Lord Jesus; who is truly the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Jesus is He of whom every child learns to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me by the still waters: He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Jesus Himself said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." He also is the Stone of Israel, the foundation and corner stone of the church. He is our Shepherd as the God of Love; He is the Stone as the God of Truth; for His love feeds us and His truth supports us. In His love and in His pity He redeemed us. And when He has brought us up out of the horrible pit and from the miry clay. He sets our feet upon a rock, and establishes our goings. Other parts of our Lord's character and doings are described in Jacob's blessing upon Joseph, as His persecutions and temptations by the archers shooting at Him, and His triumphs by His bow abiding in His strength; but as it relates also to those who strive to live as He lived, that they may share the blessing with which He is crowned, it may be more useful to look at it in this practical way.
"Joseph is a fruitful bough by a well." In the Gospel (John xv.) Jesus says to His disciples, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." We are fruitful boughs when we love and live in Jesus. Our Lord said further, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be my disciples." Bearing fruit, which is leading a good life, is the work and the mark of a child of God. But Joseph is called a fruitful bough by a well. This well is the Word of God, whose truths are the living waters that cause us to flourish and bear fruit. For although the Lord is our life, He nourishes us through His Holy Word. We must draw water from this well of salvation, by learning its lessons of wisdom, and doing what they teach us to do, or we can never become fruitful boughs. We must not however expect that this duty will be always easy. When the daughters of the priest of Midian came to draw water from the well, the evil shepherds drove them away. (Ex. ii. 3). So there are evil spirits, and evil companions that would drive us away from the Holy Well, whence we draw the water of life. These are the archers that Jacob says "sorely grieved Joseph, and shot at him, and hated him." All who strive to lead a holy life meet with opposition; and sometimes they are too much inclined to yield, and fall away. But not so did Joseph; nor must you who hope to obtain Joseph's blessing. "His bow abode in strength." So must yours. And what is your bow? The Christian's bow is the doctrine of faith and life, the armour which he receives from "the Captain of his salvation." And how is the young Christian's bow to abide in strength? As Joseph's did. "The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." He must use his hands, or exert his power; but he must not trust in his own power alone, so as to say, "Mine own arm hath gotten me the victory;" he must pray for and trust in the power which comes from God only, even from the Lord Jesus, who alone can give strength to His children, to conquer all that would draw or drive them away from the service of their loving Saviour. And here is the promise to him who trusts: "The God of thy father shall help thee, and the Almighty shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under." All heavenly and earthly blessings reward the good and obedient. All heavenly blessings are included in the delight of the love of Jesus, and all earthly blessings are included in the peace which He bestows upon His faithful followers. With His peace the poor are rich, and the mean great; without it the rich are poor and the great mean. Then there are "the blessings of the breasts and of the womb," that is, the blessings of being born again, and being, as a new creature, nourished with "the sincere milk of the Word." And then comes the final blessings—"The blessings of thy father have prevailed (or shall prevail) above the blessings of thy progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." When one is born again, God is his Father, and he is God's son; and the blessings of his Heavenly Father prevail over all other blessings, even those of creation, extending to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. These are the hills of which the Psalmist speaks, when he says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help: my help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth" (Ps. cxxi. 1). The utmost bound of the everlasting hills is where charity rises into mutual love,—that brotherly love of which Joseph was so eminent an example, that love of one another by which the disciples of Jesus are to be known of all men, which has its dwelling place in the Lord's church on earth and its eternal home in heaven. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the dew of Hermon, that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore!" This is the blessing of all blessings, it is that which "shall be upon the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren;" and which shall be the crowning reward of every one who loves as Joseph loved, and lives as Joseph lived; and who has in his heart that affection of mutual love which Joseph represented.
MUIR AND PATERSON, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.