THE BURIAL OF JOSEPH.



NO doubt you are all familiar with that part of Joseph's history which tells how he came to be in Egypt, how cruelly he was treated at first, and afterward how much honor he received, and how he managed to get his father and brethren there; but did you ever think much of his death, and the manner in which he was buried? 

The Bible account of his death is very brief: "So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and put him in a coffin in Egypt." At that time it was a universal custom in Egypt to embalm the dead, that is, to so apply spices and aromatic drugs as to preserve the body from decay, and cause it to retain a life-like appearance. But notwithstanding so much care was taken to preserve the bodies, they were often buried without a coffin, and the fact that Joseph was put into a coffin plainly shows the high rank to which he had attained.

Before his death he called his brethren, the children of Israel, together, and caused them to swear that when the Lord visited them, as he surely would, they would carry his bones up with them into the land of Canaan. This promise, although made nearly two centuries before they went out of Egypt, was still remembered.

On that memorable night when the firstborn of all the Egyptians were slain, and the Israelites were driven out of the land in such haste, the body of Joseph was not forgotten. Neither was it left behind at the Red Sea, to fall into the hands of the pursuing Egyptians. During all the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness, it was in their midst, and when the mighty waters of the Jordan were parted, it was carried safely over between those watery walls, into the Promised Land. And there, in the city of Shechem, in a parcel of ground, which belonged to his father Jacob, the body of Joseph found its last resting place. 

What a funeral procession was this! Continually led by the Lord Jesus himself, miraculously fed with angels' food, and having the ark of God and the body of their earthly preserver and benefactor in their midst, did they travel all the way from Egypt to Canaan.

Dear children, you who have been studying about Joseph in your Sabbath-school lessons, did you ever have a desire to see such a great and good man, one who did so many wonderful things in Egypt? If so, remember that the time is not far distant when not only Joseph but all the holy men of old will be called forth from their dusty beds, and many shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with them in the kingdom of Heaven. 

Shall you and I be among that number? We may if we will.




 M. K. W.




WE are as dependent on the Bible for light as we are on Christ's blood for pardon.




TEMPTATION.




TRUE Christians cannot live in this world without being tempted. Temptation will meet them at every turn of life, and they must therefore learn to be ever on their guard to resist it.

We learn from the Scriptures that there is no sin in being tempted. Our Saviour was tempted, yet without sin. In the wilderness, Satan came with his temptations: "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down," etc; and again, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." The "all things" were the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.

In resisting these temptations, each time Jesus answers, "It is written." If the Word of God is in the heart, it will be ready upon the tongue when needed. The "written" word is a good weapon with which to defend ourselves from the wily foe. 

This weapon is called the "Sword of the Spirit;" and because so many do not use this "sword," but undertake to resist temptation in their own strength, is the secret of their failure and downfall.

Temptation tests our union with God; if we are inseparably joined to him through Christ, nothing will be able to separate us from him. The apostle Paul says that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The enemy may tempt us to doubt, to fear, to pride, but if our trust is in God, his temptations will be powerless. He may try to stop up our pathway to Heaven, but his oppositions can never be so strong, but that with God's help we can surmount them.



V. A. M.