ßi6 Chap. 3 r. An Expefition upon the Book! of J o a. Verf.34. Godofyour fathers fpake unto me yeffernight,laying, Take eben heed, that thou f peake not to 7aeob either good or bad. That is, doe not fpeake to him good or bad as to this matterof his returne to thee; doenot allure him by promifes, nor terrifie him by threat pings to deft ft from his intended journey. Labans fpirit was checked by the Lord not to ofe his power againft 7acob , but it is not cleare that he had a principle of righteoufnefs and meeknefs in him to checke himfelfe from doing it. When a man can fay, it is in the power ofmy hand to doe you hurt, but the Lord hath given me another heart, I' dare not doe you wrong,norwill I op-, preffe you in your right,this is an excellent and a gracious frame. And this appeared eminently in yofepb (Gen. so.) His father 7a- cob being dead, his brethren were afraid that he would take re- venge upon them (v. r s.) And when yofepbs Brethren law that theirfather was dead, they fayd, 7ofephwill peradventure hate se, And will certainly requiteus all theevils which we didunto him .. This yofepb our brother is a man in power, and having the com- mand ofall Egypt,he is able to break the whole multitude ofus ä. and whileweremember our unjuii and ill ufageofhim, what can we expeh but hard ufage from him ? and therefore they humbly addreffed unto him (v. 16, I7.) And they fent a mefenger unto jofeph,faying,tby father didcommand beforebedyed,faying,So /hall ye fsy unto jofepb, forgiveIpray thee, the trefpxje ofthy brethren and bcir fin : for they didunto thee evil ; And newwee pray thee;. forgive the trefpaffe of thefervants ofthe God of thy father. And ?ofepnwept when they f ake unto him. (It troubled him tobe fuf- pehedofrevengeful! purpofes towards them ) And 7ofeph fayd unto them (y. t 9, 20.) Feare not, for am l in the place of gad ? As if he had fayd,Vengeance belongs toGod not to nse;And fee-, ingGod bathover-ruled your unkindnes and ill dealing with me, for the good both ofyour feives and others, 1 am fo farce from meaning you any hurt, that I will fu it doe yougood. Thus he reproved them for the evils which they had done, and releeved them againft all feares, that he would doe them any hurt in the words following ; Asfor you, ye thought evil! againft me, but God meant it untogood, to bring topafe as it is thinday to lavemuch people alive ; Now therefore feare yenet,! will nouri/hyou andyour lids Ines ; andbecomforted them andfpake kindly to them. A god- ly man is fo fencible ofthe kindneffe ofGod to him, that he can- not
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