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An Inspired Resolution, March 8
Genesis 37:12-36
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose
branches run over the wall.
Genesis 49:22
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Joseph regarded his being sold into Egypt as the greatest calamity that could
have befallen him; but he saw the necessity of trusting in God as he had never
done when protected by his father’s love
As the caravan journeyed southward toward the borders of Canaan, the boy
could discern in the distance the hills among which lay his father’s tents. Bitterly
he wept at thought of that loving father in his loneliness and affliction. Again the
scene at Dothan came up before him. He saw his angry brothers and felt their
fierce glances bent upon him. The stinging, insulting words that had met his
agonized entreaties were ringing in his ears. With a trembling heart he looked
forward to the future. What a change in situation—from the tenderly cherished
son to the despised and helpless slave! ...
But, in the providence of God, even this experience was to be a blessing to
him. He had learned in a few hours that which years might not otherwise have
taught him. His father, strong and tender as his love had been, had done him
wrong by his partiality and indulgence. This unwise preference had angered
his brothers and provoked them to the cruel deed that had separated him from
his home. Its effects were manifest also in his own character. Faults had been
encouraged that were now to be corrected....
His thoughts turned to his father’s God. In his childhood he had been taught
to love and fear Him. Often in his father’s tent he had listened to the story of
the vision that Jacob saw as he fled from his home an exile and a fugitive....
His soul thrilled with the high resolve to prove himself true to God—under all
circumstances to act as became a subject of the King of heaven. He would serve
the Lord with undivided heart; he would meet the trials of his lot with fortitude
and perform every duty with fidelity. One day’s experience had been the turning
point in Joseph’s life. Its terrible calamity had transformed him from a petted
child to a man, thoughtful, courageous, and self-possessed
[74]
10
The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 1:1096
.
11
Patriarchs and Prophets, 213, 214
.
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