shall not be forgotten." (Jer. 1.) "And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied; and praise the name of YAHVEH your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am YAHVEH your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass in the latter time, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of YAHVEH shall come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of YAHVEH shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as YAHVEH hath said, and in the remnant whom YAHVEH shall call." (Joel ii.) "In those days, and in that time, saith YAHVEH, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve." (Jer. 1.)

"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” (Micah vii.)

"So the house of Israel shall know that I am YAHVEH their God from that day and forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. Therefore thus saith the Lord YAHVEH; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; after

that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am YAHVEH their God, who caused them to be led into captivity among the nations: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord YAHVEH." (Ezek. xxxix.)

"Who is wise, that he shall understand these things? prudent, that he shall know them? for the ways of YAHVEH are right,and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein." (Hosea xiv.)

"O clap your hands, all ye peoples;

Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

For YAHVEH Most High is terrible;

A great king over all the earth.

He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
He will choose our inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom he loveth.
God has gone up with a shout,

YAHVEH with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises:
Sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth:
Sing ye praises with understanding.

God reigneth over the nations:

God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

The princes of the peoples are gathered together,

The people of the God of Abraham:

For the shields of the earth belong unto God:

He is greatly exalted." (Ps. xlvii.)

THE BIRTHRIGHT BLESSING.

To fulfil the promise in his covenant with Abraham, YAHVEH must give him a multitudinous seed, and that multitudinous seed must be brought into a position to become a blessing to all the families of the earth. That there might be no doubt as to the exact channel through which the blessing is to flow to all nations, YAHVEH named Isaac in preference above Ishmael, and chose Jacob in preference above Esau. But in the latter case Esau had the first right, on account of his previous birth. To overcome this incongruity with the Divine purpose, Esau was induced to sell his birthright to his younger brother.

Jacob had twelve sons, of which twelve children YAHVEH chose Joseph to be to his brethren what the united twelve are to be to all the families of the earth. The purpose of God was indicated in the peculiar career marked out for Joseph, leading him step by step from a state of bondage and imprisonment to the government of Egypt, and making him the savior of the whole family of Israel from famine. He was at once king of Israel and king of the nations of the earth; for Egypt was the great and overshadowing power among all others in that day. Thus was accomplished what had been typified in Joseph's youthful dreams: his sheaf arose, and stood upright; and the sheaves of his brethren paid homage to his sheaf. "And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion. over us?" The sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars, made obeisance to him. "And his father said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying." (Gen. xxxvii.)

When the aged Jacob saw the verification of these dreams, he hesitated not to give the birthright blessing to the chosen of YAHVEH. Reuben had the natural right; but he forfeited it by his sin of incest. (Gen. xxxv. 22.) "Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: a boiling up as of water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it." (Gen. xlix. 3, 4.) Simeon stood next to

Reuben, and Levi followed him. Connected in order of birth, they were connected in offence, and lost the birthright together. "Simeon and Levi are brethren; their swords are instruments of wrong. My soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, my honor, be not thou united; for in their anger they slew man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” (Gen. xlix. 5-7.) Three of Leah's children having thus lost the blessing, there was but one left to succeed, even Judah, the fourth

son.

For the fifth and sixth, Dan and Naphtali, were the children of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid. And the seventh and eighth, Gad and Asher, were the children of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid. The ninth and tenth, Issachar and Zebulun, were the children of Leah, but, coming after the children of the handmaids, they were disconnected from the birthright: besides, they were the children of strife, of Leah's ambition to overcome the love of Jacob for the wife of his choice.

The eleventh son was Joseph, the first-born of the much-loved Rachel. "God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: and she called his name Joseph-Adding; and said, YAHVEH will add to me another son." (Gen. xxx.) Thus the birthright hung between the fourth son of Leah and the first-born of Rachel. Joseph had several advantages over Judah. His mother was Jacob's first love and his chosen wife. Joseph was the fruit of years of agonizing prayer on the part of his mother. He was born, also, when his father had become ambitious and self-reliant after a long period of service to Laban. (Gen. xxx. 25-30.) These things would affect Joseph's character for good. Besides, "Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age." (Gen. xxxvii. 3.)

Nevertheless, Judah was older than Joseph, and this was an advantage to be recognized: therefore, while the birthright came to Joseph, the first-born of Rachel's womb and Jacob's heart, a signal honor was conferred on Judah as a compensation for his loss. “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies: thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the

prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Peace-bringer] shall come; and unto him shall the gathering of the peoples be." (Gen. xlix. 8-10.) The Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed and eternal King of Israel, was to come through Judah.

The Hebrew chronicler states the case thus: "Reuben's birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: for Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright came to Joseph." (1 Chron. v. 1, 2.)

"And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came; which Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, prince of On, bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh [Forgetting]: for God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim [Fruitful]: for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Gen. xli.)

When Joseph knew that his father was about to die, "he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of peoples; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine: as [in the place of] Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. And * Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. (Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see.) And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his