Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 6.djvu/72

66 at the same time we say, "He shall lead us to the heavenly Canaan, and put us in possession of that, of which the earthly Canaan was but a type and figure."

[3.] The building up of the family of Abraham, with the entail of divine grace upon it, and the disposals of Divine Providence concerning it, which take up the book of Genesis.

First, God engaged to be a God to Abraham and to his seed; and, in token of that, appointed that he and his male seed should be circumcised, Gen. 17. 9, 10. He gave him the covenant of circumcision, that covenant which circumcision was the seal of; and accordingly, when Abraham had a son born, he circumcised him the eighth day, (v. 8.) by which he was both obliged by the divine law, and interested in the divine promise; for circumcision had reference to both, being a seal of the covenant both on God's part, I will be to thee a God all-sufficient, and on man's part, Walk before me, and be thou perfect. And then when effectual care was thus taken for the securing of Abraham's seed, to be a seed to serve the Lord, they began to multiply; Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs, or roots of the respective tribes.

Secondly, Joseph, the darling and blessing of his father's house, was abused by his brethren, they envied him because of his dreams and sold him into Egypt; thus early did the children of Israel begin to grudge those among them that were eminent and outshone others; of which their enmity to Christ, who, like Joseph, was a Nazarite among his brethren, was a great instance.

Thirdly, God owned Joseph in his troubles, and was with him, (Gen. 39. 2, 21.) by the influence of his Spirit, both on his mind, giving him comfort, and on the minds of those he was concerned with, giving him favour in their eyes. And thus at length he delivered him out of his afflictions, and Pharaoh made him the second man in the kingdom, Ps. 105. 20—22. And thus he not only arrived at great preferment among the Egyptians, but became the shepherd and stone of Israel, Gen. 49. 24.

Fourthly, Jacob was compelled to go down into Egypt, by a famine which forced him out of Canaan, a dearth, (which was a great affliction,) to that degree, that our fathers found no sustenance, in Canaan, v. 11. That fruitful land was turned into barrenness. But, hearing that there was corn in Egypt, (treasured up by the wisdom of his own son,) he sent out our fathers first to fetch corn, v. 12. And the second time that they went, Joseph, who at first made himself strange to them, made himself known to them; and it was notified to Pharaoh that they were Joseph's kindred and had a dependence upon him; (v. 13.) whereupon, with Pharaoh's leave, Joseph sent for his father Jacob to him into Egypt, with all his kindred and family, to the number of seventy-five souls, to be subsisted there, v. 14. In Genesis they are said to be seventy souls, Gen. 46. 27. But the Septuagint there make them seventy-five, and Stephen or Luke follows that version, as Luke 3. 36. where Cainan is inserted, that is not in the Hebrew text, but in the Septuagint. Some, by excluding Joseph and his sons, who were in Egypt before, which reduces the number to sixty- four, and adding the sons of the eleven patriarchs, make the number seventy-five.

Fifthly, Jacob and his sons died in Egypt, (v. 16.) but were carried over to be buried in Canaan, v. 17. A very considerable difficulty occurs here: it is said, They were carried over into Sychem, whereas Jacob was buried not in Sychem, but near Hebron, in the cave of Machpelah, where Abraham and Isaac were buried, Gen. 50. 13. Joseph's bones indeed were buried in Sychem; (Josh. 24. 32.) and it seems by this, (though it is not mentioned in the story,) that the bones of all the other patriarchs were carried with his, each of them giving the same commandment concerning them that he had done; and of them this must be understood, not of Jacob himself. But then the sepulchre in Sychem was bought by Jacob, (Gen. 33. 19.) and by that it is described, Josh. 24. 32. How then is it here said to be bought by Abraham? Dr. Whitby's solution of this is very sufficient. He supplies it thus; Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers; and (our fathers) were carried over into Sychem; and he, that is, Jacob, was laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money, Gen. 23. (Or, they were laid there, that is, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.) And they, namely, the other patriarchs, were buried in the sepulchre bought of the sons of Emmor, the father of Sychem.

Let us now see what this is to Stephen's purpose.

1. He still reminds them of the mean beginning of the Jewish nation, as a check to their priding themselves in the glories of that nation; and that it was by a miracle of mercy, that they were raised up out of nothing to what they were, from so small a number to be so great a nation; but if they answer not the intention of their being so raised, they can expect no other than to be destroyed. The prophets frequently put them in mind of the bringing of them out of Egypt, as an aggravation of their contempt of the law of God; and here it is urged upon them as an aggravation of their contempt bf the gospel of Christ.

2. He reminds them likewise of the wickedness of those that were the patriarchs of their tribes, in envying their brother Joseph, and selling him into Egypt; and the same spirit was still working in them toward Christ and his ministers.

3. Their holy land, which they doted so much upon, their fathers were long kept out of the possession of, and met with dearth and great affliction in it; and therefore let them not think it strange, if, after it has been so long polluted with sin, it be at length destroyed.

4. The faith of the patriarchs in desiring to be buried in the land of Canaan, plainly shewed that they had an eye to the heavenly country, which it was the design of this Jesus to lead them to.

17. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18. Till another king arose, which knew not Jbseph. 19. The same dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 20. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: 21. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. 24. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God