from WL Worcester (H Blackmer, ed.), 
The Sower.  Helps to the Study of the Bible in Home and Sunday School
 
(Boston: Massachusetts New-Church Union, n.d.)

Table of Contents
 

 

Lesson 31

Topical and Doctrinal Notes

Leading Thought: Joseph's Piety

One of the Christian graces which the Lord especially taught people was to be forgiving to those who wrong them and persecute them. He taught this so often and clearly that on one memorable occasion His disciple Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, till seven times?" The Lord answered him, "I say not unto thee till seven times, but until seventy times seven." Forgiving others is so important that the Lord refers to it in the prayer which He taught to His disciples, and which we pray every day: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." Our "debtors" are those who we think owe us some sort of restitution for having done evil to us. Joseph, of whose wisdom and ability we have learned so much, forgave his brothers who had been so wicked and cruel as to put him into a pit and afterward sell him into Egypt, far away from his loving father and his home. And more than this: Joseph was so kind as to wish that they who had done this great wrong to him should no longer be distressed about it, saying to them, "Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither." He then displayed his great reverence and piety by showing them that, although they had done evil, the Lord knew beforehand what they would do - for the Lord knows everything - and that He made use of the evil which they did, to bring great good out of it, not only for the Egyptians, but also for other people, and even for themselves who had committed the evil! For, through their selling him into Egypt, the Lord could bring about that he should become the chief governor in that country, and provide for the years of famine. Notice how Joseph always thought of God and His wisdom and might - not only when he was in trouble, but also when he was a great man.

How kind and merciful the Lord is! He always foresees what people will do, and if they do evil, He still brings as much good as possible out of it. This is called His Divine Providence.

Of course, the Lord's making use of wrong and evil does not make the wrong right, nor the evil good. But it shows how good and wise and powerful He is. So, no matter what may happen, the pious people of the Church know that, in some way or other, the Lord will bring good out of it, and so they trust in the Lord and are content. When you study history, see if you can find out the instances where the Lord permitted evil, and so led events that it served for the bringing about of good. History is full of instances of this kind. But you have to know how to read history right.

The Lord's knowing all things, even before they happen, is called His "Divine Omniscience." Can you tell me some instances in the stories of Genesis which we have read thus far, where He made known by dreams or otherwise what would happen in the future? The Lord's being able to make evil done by people serve the final coming about of good, is called His "Divine Omnipotence." Many of the Psalms teach us about His Omnipotence (see 19:6), and praise Him for His Providence. For instance, the fortieth Psalm tells about the Lord bringing one out of a miry pit, and setting one's feet upon a rock. That reminds us of Joseph, and even of the Lord Himself, who, after His crucifixion, arose from the tomb and ascended to heaven. The beautiful twenty-third Psalm says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." The eighteenth Psalm says, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. I will call upon the Lord who is to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies."

In whatever trouble we may be, we may be sure that, if we keep our conscience clear, the Lord will lead us into a happy, heavenly state.

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