p. 9 | Weakness of Reuben by William S. Sadler

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Nov 29, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 48.

Weakness of Reuben

By William S. Sadler

LESSONS FROM THE EXPERIENCES OF JOSEPH. No. 1.

BY W. S. SADLER.

THE Bible contains principles which are designed to guide us in dealing with the various contingencies of life. In studying the careers of prominent characters in the Bible, we shall be helped most by discovering the underlying principles which were recognized in the cases of those about whom we read, so that if we are ever called upon to pass through similar experiences, their example may help and guide us.

In the Scriptures there are recorded such a variety of human experiences, that it is almost impossible to find any kind of an experience a person may go through that does not have its counterpart in some Bible narrative or biography. These experiences, with their practical lessons, should be as familiar to us as our own names. And we need to be acquainted with the lessons taught by these accounts for our own souls' good, and for the benefit of those who may come to us for counsel or advice in similar difficulties. Our Bible will have to become our guidebook more and more every day. We can have confidence in the Word of God till the very end. Now let us cull a few striking lessons that are to be noticed in a survey of the life of Joseph.

We do not read anything about Joseph's complaining of his being taken down to Egypt as a result of the cruelty of his brothers; and his subsequent occupancy of positions of great trust leads us to surmise that when a man is willing to go wherever God sends him, in all probability the spirit of submission to the divine plan will develop such a character and trustworthiness that his fellowmen will be willing to trust him implicitly. So it was with Joseph, or he never would have been placed in charge of the prisoners who were confined at the same time he was.

After his many years of varied life in Egypt, proceeding from position to position, and at last having again seen his brothers, he does not taunt them with their unkindness, nor take steps to have an unworthy revenge upon them, but tells them that "it was not you that sent me hither, but God," and shall we not be justified in assuming that this same ability to recognize the hand of Providence in his wonderful career, was also what enabled him to submit as he did, knowing that God was working it all out for the best, and, like Moses, that he "endured as seeing Him who is invisible"?

From a human standpoint, it would appear oftentimes that we are being moved about in life just as the checkers are moved to and fro on the checker-board, but we must learn to recognize that under it all, and behind everything that occurs to us, "there's a Divinity that shapes our ends," and we must never forget that "all things work together for good to them that love God." The chief thing is for us to be sure that we do love God, then cheerfully submit to whatever happens, ever saying "Thy will, not mine, be done."

Some superficial readers of the history of Joseph's wonderful life may say, "How fortunate he was!" But no; there are really no fortunate or unfortunate incidents in God's plan. It was all a part of the great scheme for Joseph's life, and altho Joseph himself could not see it as he went along, yet he had faith in God, and knew that all would come out right in the end, and in God's own good time.

Weakness of Reuben.

Joseph's brother Reuben is a type of those who fail firmly to take their stand for right when opportunity offers. Possibly if he had exhibited firmness in the matter of protesting against the cruel treatment of Joseph by his other brothers, he himself might have shared the fate of Joseph, and like him also have had a part in the glorious vindication of right and principle, which was afterwards brought to light in the case of Joseph himself.

What a significant lesson we may learn from the treatment by Joseph of his brothers when the circumstances were so completely reversed! When the tables were turned, and Joseph, the ill-treated, had it within his power to severely punish those who in earlier years had mistreated him, instead of taking revenge upon them, he shows to them a feeling of exquisite pity, and marvelous forgiveness. What a Christlike attitude he adopted, and how forcibly it should remind us that "the Lord will repay."

A Stepping-Stone.

Then there is surely a lesson in the fact that what Joseph's brethren did to him out of hatred, really was but a stepping-stone to that very thing which they desired to prevent. Little did they ever think that in casting him into that pit, they were laying the first stone of the steps that would lead him up and up until he became ruler in Egypt. If any of us harbor ill-feelings or wicked designs against any one, let us pause and reflect that God may turn that thing which we are plotting and planning against our fellow men, to their best good.

Joseph endeavored to get out of prison by asking the chief butler to speak for him. While this was a perfectly natural thing to do, it failed of its purpose because the time had not arrived in God's plan for his deliverance. So when our plans fail, let us remember this, and be content to leave our program in the hands of the Lord who knows the end from the beginning and "doeth all things well." Only by so doing shall we be able to have patience, and await God's time.

Another interesting point in Joseph's life is that God had a work for him to do, and led him, by painful and slow degrees, to the place where that work lay. It was Joseph's duty to do with his might whatever his hands found to do, every day, just where he was. That he did this we know, and in due time he was promoted, until he at length occupied the position God had destined him for even while he visited his brothers in Dothan, to inquire of their welfare. Sometimes it may happen that wicked persons are used of God as steps in bringing His chosen servants to their appointed places. In the case of Joseph, we see that he got free transportation to Egypt, the field of his future greatness.

The varied experiences of Joseph, and the manner in which he conducted himself in all of them, will do us no good unless we take pains to study them carefully, and ask God to teach us in what they are capable of helping us, so that we may profit by them, and be better qualified to cope with life's difficulties and emergencies, its perplexities and temptations.

(Concluded in our next.)