Lesson 5 · January 31, 1903
God's Care for His People
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> He suffered no man to do them wrong; > Yea, He reproved kings for their sakes, > Saying, Touch not Mine anointed ones, > And do My prophets no harm. > And He called for a famine upon the land; > He brake the whole staff of bread. > He sent a man before them; > Joseph was sold for a servant; > His feet they hurt with fetters; > He was laid in chains of iron, > Until the time that his word came to pass, > The word of Jehovah tried him. > The king sent and loosed him; > Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. > He made him lord of his house, > And ruler of all his substance; > To bind his princes at his pleasure, > And teach his elders wisdom. > Israel also came into Egypt; > And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. > And He increased His people greatly, > And made them stronger than their adversaries. > He turned their heart to hate His people, > To deal subtly with His servants.
Questions
- 1.To what extent did God protect His people in their journeyings?
- 2.Did He show respect of persons in this matter?
- 3.What warning did He give to the enemies of His people?
- 4.What experience did He bring upon the sojourners in the land of promise?
- 5.What support did He remove from them?
- 6.How did He provide for their deliverance?
- 7.In what way did the deliverer enter the land of Egypt?
- 8.Through what experience did Joseph pass?
- 9.To what test was he subjected? For how long a time?
- 10.At whose command was he released?
- 11.On whose authority was he restored to freedom?
- 12.To what position was Joseph now elevated?
- 13.What control did he have over the king's property?
- 14.What power did he have over other persons of high rank?
- 15.What was his standing as a teacher?
- 16.Who then came into the land of the Pharaohs?
- 17.Where did he become a sojourner?
- 18.What did God then do for His people?
- 19.How great did their power become as compared with their enemies?
- 20.What change did God make in the feelings of their adversaries toward them?
- 21.What did He lead their adversaries to do?
Notes
The Lord promises to care for those who do the right and trust Him. See ; ; .
Over and over, in the story of reform and missionary effort, God's invisible hand has restrained, and His voice said to savage hearts, "Touch not Mine anointed." In the story of his life among the South Sea cannibals, John G. Paton says of one occasion:—
"A club was raised to follow the blow of the killing-stone, but God baffled the aim. They encircled us in a deadly ring, and one kept urging another to strike the first blow, or fire the first shot. . . . The host of armed men also ran along on each side with their weapons ready; but, leaving everything to Jesus, I ran on as if they were my escort. If any reader wonders how they were restrained, much more would I, unless I believed the same Hand that restrained the lions from touching Daniel held back these savages from hurting me."
The Lord sent Joseph into Egypt, overruling the evil purpose of his brethren. God uses even the wrath of men to praise Him, and, whatever men do to us, we are in His hands. That which Jacob thought against him () was being worked for him by God.
Notice that it was the blessings God gave Israel in Egypt that turned against them the hatred of the people of the land.
Bible texts in this lesson
Psalms 105:14-25 · Genesis 35:5 · Psalms 34:7 · Exodus 24 · Genesis 42:36
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