Page:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren.djvu/68

Rh It is my object now to point out some of these for your instruction, and I have some hope that you will find them interesting as well as instructive.

I may first mention the general impression which the history of Joseph leaves on the mind,—that the providence of God had a great work for him to do; that the Lord led him through great tribulation as the means of perfecting his character, and finally exalted him to be a prince and a saviour; in which we cannot fail to see a resemblance to our blessed Lord himself, of whom he was so eminent a type. It is true the elevation to which Joseph was raised was only a temporal one. Like our Lord, he saved men's lives; but there was this essential difference, that he saved the life of men's bodies, while the Lord saved the life of men's souls. This is the grand difference between those, generally, who represented our Lord and Saviour and the Lord Himself whom they represented,—what they did after a natural manner He did after a spiritual manner; what they did for time He did for eternity.