and multiply thee, and will make of thee a multitude of nations, and will give this Land unto thy seed after thee, for an everlasting possession; and now thy two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born unto thee in Egypt before I came thither unto thee, shall be mine-as Reuben and Simeon shall they be to me." "And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk-the God who sustained me all my life unto this day-the angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the youths, and let my name be named upon them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them increase into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I won out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my Bow."

66

The portion to which allusion is here made, was prospective, even as the weapons are emblematical of that faith by which Israel laid hold of the Word of God, and that prayer by which he appropriated His promises. In the blessing which the dying patriarch gave to Joseph, the same Bow is alluded to in the hand of Joseph. Joseph is a fruitful branch, a fruitful branch to look upon, whose off-shoots extend over the wall; with bitter pride they (the adversaries) shot at him, but his Bow abode in strength; and the power of his hands continued strong by the hands (oversight) of the Omnipotent of Israel, from whom is the Shepherd, the Gem of Israel-even by the God of thy fathers, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty who shall bless thee with the blessings of Heaven above,—the blessings of the abyss that lieth under-the blessing of the fields and of the womb. The blessings of thy father have prevailed unto the utmost

1 The portion of the first born (a double portion) having been forfeited by Reuben, was given to the tribe of Ephraim.

bounds of the enduring mountains, they shall continue on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the separated from his brethren."

Moses prospectively characterizes the tribe of Ephraim in his blessing upon Joseph, in language almost identical; "And of Joseph, he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land for the precious gifts of Heaven, for the dew and for the void place (abyss) that coucheth beneath. For the precious gifts brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon; and for the chief things of the enduring mountains and for the precious things of the eternal high places; for the precious things of the earth in its fulness,-His favour that dwelt in the thorn-bush continues on the head of Joseph: and on the crown of the separated from his brethren."

This language is peculiarly significant, when it is recollected that Ephraim was the crowned head, to whom, in its extension, the blessing was directed.

The secluded tribes are by the prophet Isaiah thus graphically characterized : Ho! to the land of quivering wings, which is beyond the river of Cush, that sendeth messengers by sea, in light vessels upon the face of the waters, saying, Go ye swift messengers to an extended nation, whose land has been meted out and trodden under foot-to a people terrible before and since-a people of strength, meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers1 have invaded : 2 All the dwellers upon earth, and the inhabitants of the land when He lifteth up a signal upon the mountains behold,' and when He bloweth the trumpet listen,' for thus the LORD said to me. I will remain quiet (be inactive.) I will observe in My dwelling place in still warmth, (serene heat)

used metaphorically of the confluence and inundation of nations. 2 The root is booty, or prey.

as the Light at a threshold, and as the dew upon the harvest field; for before the harvest when the blossom is full, and the embryo grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the twigs with knives, and lop off the branches. They shall be left together, unto the fowls of the mountain, and to the ravening beasts of the earth; the fowls shall harvest upon them, and the beast of the earth shall winter upon them. At that time shall be brought to the LORD of hosts as a costly present; a people terrible and far removed a nation meted out and trampled under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the appointed Place, to the Land of the dwelling Place of the Name of the LORD of hosts, the Mount Zion.' Isaiah xviii. The image of quivering or fluttering wings, seems to be descriptive of the expecting attitude of the people to whom the allusion is made; as doves plume and put in motion their pinions preparatory to an expected flight; in this beautiful attitude they are also characterized by David. ' Although ye have been hid in the stalls (places in the suburbs where sacrificial victims were penned) as the wings of a dove, radient as silver, and gleaming as gold, shall ye come forth.' This applies to the identical period and event, of which Mount Zion shall be the scene. Wherefore do ye contend, ye high mountains? This is the Mountain in which God desireth to dwell, yea, Yehovah shall dwell there for ever.' The LORD said, I will bring again My people from Bashan, I will bring also from the seclusion beyond sea.' 'Princes shall come forth from Egypt, Cush shall speedily stretch forth her hands unto God.' Psalm lxviii. 13, 22, 31.

The prophet Isaiah adopts the same imagery, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their win

1 an architectural expression-the colonnade or entrance to a Temple.

dows? Surely the islands shall attend upon Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, unto the Name of YEHOVAH thy God, and unto the Holy Israelite, for He hath glorified thee," Isaiah lx. 8, 9. "In that Day there shall be a Branch from the Root of Jesse, to Him shall the nations seek, and His Rest shall be glorious. And it shall be in that Day, that the LORD shall put to His Hand a second time to Redeem the remnant of His people which shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up a standard for the nations, and He shall assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four extremes (wings) of the earth." "And the Lord shall utterly cut off the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with a mighty wind shall He shake His Hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and men shall walk over in their shoes, and there shall be an high-way for the remnant of His people which shall be left from Assyria, like as there was to Israel in the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt." Isaiah xi.

It is to be noted that during his natural life, Abraham possessed only one field which he purchased of the sons of Heth-and yet it was said to Abraham, I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the Land wherein thou art a stranger-all the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." Gen. xvii. 8.

Accordingly, when Sarah died, Abraham stood up from before his dead, and thus spake to the sons of Heth. "I am a stranger and sojourner with you, give me possession of a burying-place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

The martyr Stephen is peculiarly explicit respecting the

prospective inheritance: "He gave him (Abraham) none inheritance in it-no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet He promised that He would give it to him for an inheritance and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." Acts vii. 5.

Jacob had also only one field in the Land wherein he was a stranger, which he purchased from the sons of Hamor, and which is thus recognized in after times. "Then cometh he to a city of Samaria (Sychar) near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph-now Jacob's well was there."

In like manner, as a memorial or pledge of future possession at the very time when Jerusalem was beseiged by the king of Babylon, and when Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the king's prison, because of the faithfulness of his testimony-even then, although he should never re turn from that captivity, he was commanded to purchase a field. The prophet was amazed at the command: until Hanameel offered to sell him the field, the right of redemption being his. "Then I knew that it was the Word of the LORD, and I bought the field of Hanameel that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, seventeen shekels of silver; and I subscribed the evidence, and took witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances; and I took the evidence of the purchase, as well that which was sealed as that which was open."

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these evidences of the purchase, as well that which is sealed, as that which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, Houses, and fields, and vineyards shall be repossessed in this Land."

Jeremiah thus despondingly pleads: "Behold the engines