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is exactly agreeable to the Old Testament representation of the Messiah. Joseph was first in a state of great humiliation, and afterwards in a state of exaltation. In his state of humiliation he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. His disgrace and sufferings were very great. He suffered all unjustly from the hands of men, being innocent, and wrongfully condemned. He suffered as being guilty of horrid crimes. And had his place and lot among great criminals; and suffered all with admirable meekness, which is exactly agreeable to the prophecies of the Messiah. Joseph was a servant to one of the chief rulers of Egypt, Potiphar, the captain of the guard. So the Messiah is called the servant of rulers. Isai. xlix. 7. Joseph was one of the king's prisoners, under the hand of the king's chief officer of justice, the captain of the guard, and as it were, high sheriff of Egypt. So the Messiah is represented as suffering from the hands of God, who bruized him and put him to grief, and as executing justice upon him for man's sins, making his soul an offering for sin. Joseph's being cast into the dungeon is a fit representation of what the prophecies do represent of the Messiah's extreme affliction and grief, and his being brought to the grave, (often called the pit in the Old Testament,) and remaining some time in the state of death. Joseph was a prophet. He had divine visions himself, and had knowledge in the visions of God, and could interpret the visions of others. This is agreeable to Old Testament representations of the Messiah. He was a revealer of secrets, as his name Zaphnath-paaneah signifies in the Hebrew tongue, and revealed those secrets that none other could reveal, and after the wisdom of all the wise men of Egypt had been tried and proved insufficient. Gen. xli. 8, 9, &c. This is agreeable to what is represented of the Messiah in Isai. xli. two last verses, and xlii. 1. "For I beheld, and there was no man even amongst them, and there was no counsellor, that when I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity. Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." Joseph is spoken of as distinguished from all in that he was one in whom the Spirit of God was. How agreeable is this to the frequent representations in the Old Testament of the Messiah, as one that God puts his Spirit upon! Joseph is spoken of as one to whom none was to be compared for wisdom, and prudence, and counsel through the Spirit of God. Gen. xli. 38, 39. This is agreeable to what is foretold of the Messiah, Isai. ix. 6. " His name shall be called wonderful, counsellor." Chap. xi. 2, 3. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of counsel and might; the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make

him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord." Zech. iii. 9. " Upon one stone shall be seven eyes." Isai. lii. 13. "Behold my servant shall deal prudently." See also that forementioned, Isai. xli. and two last verses, and xlii. 1. Joseph was exalted for this his great wisdom; which is agreeable to what is said. of the Messiah, Isai. lii. 13. "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted, and extolled, and be very high." So agreeably to this, Joseph's exaltation was very great. He was exalted by the king of the country, who we may well suppose in this case represents God, seeing it is evident by the Old Testament, that kings in their kingly authority are the images of God. (Ps. lxxxii. 1, 6.) Pharaoh exalts Joseph over all his house and people. So the prophecies do often represent God as exalting the Messiah over his people and his house, or temple, and over heaven. The king exalted Joseph to be next to himself in his kingdom, to ride in the second chariot which he had. So the prophecies represent the Messiah as the second in God's kingdom, next to God the Father, and exalted by him to this dignity. Ps. cx. 1. "Sit thou on my right hand." Ps. lxxxix. "I will make him my first born higher than the kings of the earth." Joseph was exalted over all the nobles and rulers of the land of Egypt, excepting Pharaoh himself. Ps. cv. 21, 22. Agreeable to this it is often represented in the prophecies, that all kings shall be made to bow and submit to the Messiah. And it is also implied that the angels of heaven, as well as all nations of the earth, should be subjected to him by God. Dan. vii. 9, &c. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did sit. Thousand thousands ministered unto him-I saw one in the night visions, and beheld one like unto the Son of man come forth in the clouds of heaven, and come to the ancient of days; and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all nations and languages should serve him." Dan. xii. 1. Michael the great prince -together with chap. x. 13. " Michael, the first of the chief princes," with the context, that speaks of angels as princes. Pharaoh invested Joseph with his own authority and honour as his representative and vicegerent. For he took off his own ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand. So the prophecies do represent God as investing the Messiah with his authority and honour, seating him on his own throne, and causing him to bear the glory. Zech. vi. 12, 13. And there are many other prophecies that imply the same. Pharaoh arrayed Joseph with change of raiment, pure garments, and ensigns of royalty, agreeably to what is foretold of the Messiah. Zech. iii., and Isaiah Ixi. 10. Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in fine linen. Gen.

xli. 42, as the Messiah is represented as clothed in fine linen, Dan. x.5: for it may, by well considering the chapter, be gathered, that the person there spoken of is the same with Michael mentioned in verses 13 and 21, and chapter xii. 1. Pharaoh, when he exalted Joseph, committed all his treasures and stores into Joseph's hand, to bestow on others and feed mankind. Psalm cv. 21. He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his substance. And particularly Joseph received those stores and treasures to bestow on his injurious brethren that had been mortal enemies to him; which is agreeable to what is said of the Messiah's exaltation. Psalm Ixviii. 18. "Thou hast ascended on highthou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also." When Pharaoh exalted Joseph he gave him his wife. So the Messiah's marriage with his church is represented as following his humiliation and attending his exaltation, in Isaiah liii. and liv. Joseph marries the daughter of Potipherah, which signifies destroyer of fatness, a word of the same signification with some of the names given in scripture to the devil. This Potipherah was priest of On, which signifies iniquity, or sorrow. So the prophecies do represent the Messiah as bringing his church into espousals with himself from a state of sin and wickedness. Jer. iii. 14. "Turn, O backsliding children, unto me, for I am married unto you," Compare Hos. ii. throughout; Psalm xlv. 10, with Ezek. xvi. 3, &c. "Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.-When I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thy blood-behold, thy time was the time of love and I entered into covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine." And the prophecies do every where represent the Messiah as bringing his people into a blessed relation and union with himself from a state of sin. Joseph's wife's name was Asenath, which signifies an unfortunate thing. Agreeably to this the Messiah is represented as espousing, after his exaltation, a poor, unhappy, afflicted, disconsolate creature. Isaiah liv. 4, &c. "Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame. For thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more, for thy Maker is thy husband; for the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused." Verse 11. "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted: Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours," &c. Hos. ii. 9, &c. "I will return and take away my corn-none shall deliver out of my hand-I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees-I will visit upon her the days of Baalim-I will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her-and

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at that day she shall call me Ishi." Verses 19, 20. "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me," &c. Isaiah lxii. 44. "Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land be any more termed desolate, but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah; for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married-and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." Joseph's brethren are in great trouble and perplexity, and are brought to reflect on themselves for their sins, and deeply to humble themselves before him, before Joseph speaks comfortably to them, and makes known his love and favour to them, and receives them to the blessings and glory of his kingdom. This is agreeable to what the prochecies do often represent of the Messiah with respect to sinners. Hos. ii. 14, 15. "I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her, and I will give her her vineyards from thence-and she shall sing there." See also Jer. iii. 12, 13. 21, 22. Chap. xxxi. 18-20. Joseph's brethren, before they were comforted and made happy by him, are brought to cry with the greatest humility, and earnestness, and penitence, for their abuse of Joseph, to him for mercy. Agreeably to the prophecies of the Messiah, Zech. xii. 10, &c. "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,” &c. Hos. v. 15. "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face: in their affiiction, they shall seek me early." Ezek. xxxvi. 37. "I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them." Jer. xxix. 12-14. "Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart? And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity." When once Joseph's brethren were thoroughly humbled, then his bowels yearned towards them with exceeding great compassion and tenderness of heart, though before he treated them as if he was very angry with them. See, agreeable to this, Jeremiah xxxi. 18, &c. "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a pleasant child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are trou

bled for him, I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." Joseph perfectly forgives all their past ill treatment, or blots it out, as though it had never been, and will have it remembered no more. Gen. xlv. 5-8, and 1. 19-21. This is agreeable to what is often spoken of in the prophecies, as a great benefit God's people shall have by the Messiah. (See fulfilment of prophecies, § 79, and § 86.) The manner of Joseph's comforting his brethren in the manifestations and fruits of his special and peculiar love, his bringing them near him, making known himself to them as theirs in a near relation, his treating them with such great tenderness, his embracing them, his manifesting so great a concern for their welfare, his putting such honour upon them before the Egyptians, his entertaining them with a sumptuous joyful feast in his house and at his own table, his clothing them with change of raiment, his bringing them into his own land and there giving them a goodly inheritance, plentifully providing for them in Goshen, a land of light; all is remarkably agreeable to the descriptions given in the prophecies of the manner of God's comforting, blessing, exalting, and manifesting his great favour to his church, after her long continued sin and sorrows, in the days of the Messiah's kingdom, in places too many to be enumerated. Joseph's brethren at this time are like them that dream, Gen. xlv. 3, &c.; which is agreeable to what is said of the church of God, when delivered and comforted by the Messiah. Psalm cxxvi. 1. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream." There is joy in Pharaoh's court among his servants and nobles on the occasion of Joseph's receiving his brethren. Gen xlvi. 16. Answering to this is Isaiah xliv. 22, 23. "I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it." And chap. xlix. 13. "Sing, O heaven, and be joyful, O earth-for the Lord hath comforted his people." And Psalm exlviii. 4. "Praise him, ye heaven of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens," with verses 13, 14. "Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of his people."

The remarkable agreement between many things in the history of Moses, and the prophecies of the Messiah, argue the former to be a type of the latter. Moses was God's elect. Ps. evi. 23. "Had not Moses his chosen stood before him." In his being so wonderfully preserved and upheld by God when in great danger, preserved in the midst of many waters, when he was cast into the river. Moses was drawn out of the water when a babe. Compare Ps. Ixix. and Isai. liii. 2. He was preserved in his banishment, preserved and delivered from the

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