1. Joseph was brought down into Egypt, and Potiphar, an Egyptian Pharaoh's officer, captain of his guard, hought him of the Ishmaelites, who brought him thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and was in his master's, the Egyptian's, house. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. So that he found grace and favour in the sight of his master, and was his servant which he set over his house. And all that he had he put under his hand; and from the time that he set him over his house, and over all his goods, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was every way upon all that he had in the house and in the field. Therefore he left all that he had under the hand of Joseph, and he meddled with nothing while he had him, but what he did eat and drink. And Joseph was a goodly person and fair of feature (Gen. xxxix. 1-6).
2. The history prefigures to us a true Christian man, what he is, and how he is, in this world, and what his office is; that is, when Christ is manifested in him he is no more his own, to do what he will; also in this world he has nothing for his own of which he can in truth say, This is mine, or I, I am he that has it, I possess it, it is mine own, I may do therewith what my flesh and my own wills, I may use it for my honour and pleasure, that I may thereby be aloft 2 in the world: No, a true Christian has none of that in his power.
3. He indeed rules of right over that which he has and possesses with truth and righteousness, but yet as a servant of his Lord Christ, for a Christian is a Christian in Christ, and is bought to a Christian life, and to the obedience of faith, by the blood of Christ, with Christ's thirty pieces of silver: whereof his Lord Christ has committed to him Joseph's twenty pieces of silver, and set him as a steward over it, that he may trade therewith and employ it, till he make it come to thirty pieces of silver, which he should wear in him and about him as a mark or badge of his Lord Christ, as a treasure of his Christianity.
2 Or, high.
4. But seeing his Lord Christ was sold and betrayed to death for thirty pieces of silver, and Joseph was sold by his brethren to be a bondslave 1 for twenty pieces of silver; in both these numbers stands the figure of a Christian, viz. Christ, when he is manifested in a man, shows man the thirty pieces of silver for which he was sold to suffering and death, and this his suffering and death he puts upon him, in which is founded the figure of the thirty pieces of silver, viz. that he was sold and betrayed: and therein man becomes such a Christian as is founded, implanted, ingraven,2 upon and into Christ's sufferings and death; and therein a man becomes a Christian in Christ's sufferings and death, and stands in the figure of Christ, and looses the right of his natural self will, as also the kingdom of this world.
1 Over whom the master has power of life, and all he has.
2 Etching of plates with aqua fortis.
5. For in Christ's death, as to his inward spiritual man, he dies from this world, and, according to that inward man, is no more in this world, but in Christ in God, viz. in the kingdom of God, as it is written: The kingdom of God is inwardly within you (Luke xvii. 21): Also, Examine yourselves, whether Christ has gotten a form in you (Gal. iv. 19):
Also, Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost who dwells in you (1 Cor. iii.
16):
Also, Ye are the servants of Christ (Col. iv. 12), and should eat the flesh of the
Son of Man (John vi. 53), and so he abides in you and you in him (John xv. 7): and without him you have no life (John vi. 53). As a herb and grass, and all earthly things, without the power and virtue of the sun, have no life, growth or vegetation and operation in them, so man, without the Divine Sun, which through Christ has manifested itself in his Christians, has no life or happiness or salvation without Christ in him.
1. Joseph was brought down into Egypt, and Potiphar, an Egyptian Pharaoh's officer, captain of his guard, hought him of the Ishmaelites, who brought him thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and was in his master's, the Egyptian's, house. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. So that he found grace and favour in the sight of his master, and was his servant which he set over his house. And all that he had he put under his hand; and from the time that he set him over his house, and over all his goods, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was every way upon all that he had in the house and in the field. Therefore he left all that he had under the hand of Joseph, and he meddled with nothing while he had him, but what he did eat and drink. And Joseph was a goodly person and fair of feature (Gen. xxxix. 1-6).
2. The history prefigures to us a true Christian man, what he is, and how he is, in this world, and what his office is; that is, when Christ is manifested in him he is no more his own, to do what he will; also in this world he has nothing for his own of which he can in truth say, This is mine, or I, I am he that has it, I possess it, it is mine own, I may do therewith what my flesh and my own wills, I may use it for my honour and pleasure, that I may thereby be aloft 2 in the world: No, a true Christian has none of that in his power.
3. He indeed rules of right over that which he has and possesses with truth and righteousness, but yet as a servant of his Lord Christ, for a Christian is a Christian in Christ, and is bought to a Christian life, and to the obedience of faith, by the blood of Christ, with Christ's thirty pieces of silver: whereof his Lord Christ has committed to him Joseph's twenty pieces of silver, and set him as a steward over it, that he may trade therewith and employ it, till he make it come to thirty pieces of silver, which he should wear in him and about him as a mark or badge of his Lord Christ, as a treasure of his Christianity.
2 Or, high.
4. But seeing his Lord Christ was sold and betrayed to death for thirty pieces of silver, and Joseph was sold by his brethren to be a bondslave 1 for twenty pieces of silver; in both these numbers stands the figure of a Christian, viz. Christ, when he is manifested in a man, shows man the thirty pieces of silver for which he was sold to suffering and death, and this his suffering and death he puts upon him, in which is founded the figure of the thirty pieces of silver, viz. that he was sold and betrayed: and therein man becomes such a Christian as is founded, implanted, ingraven,2 upon and into Christ's sufferings and death; and therein a man becomes a Christian in Christ's sufferings and death, and stands in the figure of Christ, and looses the right of his natural self will, as also the kingdom of this world.
1 Over whom the master has power of life, and all he has.
2 Etching of plates with aqua fortis.
5. For in Christ's death, as to his inward spiritual man, he dies from this world, and, according to that inward man, is no more in this world, but in Christ in God, viz. in the kingdom of God, as it is written: The kingdom of God is inwardly within you (Luke xvii. 21): Also, Examine yourselves, whether Christ has gotten a form in you (Gal. iv. 19):
Also, You are the temple of the Holy Ghost who dwells in you (1 Cor. iii. 16):
Also, You are the servants of Christ (Col. iv. 12), and should eat the flesh of the
Son of Man (John vi. 53), and so he abides in you and you in him (John xv. 7): and without him you have no life (John vi. 53). As a herb and grass, and all earthly things, without the power and virtue of the sun, have no life, growth or vegetation and operation in them, so man, without the Divine Sun, which through Christ has manifested itself in his Christians, has no life or happiness or salvation without Christ in him.
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