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A28628
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Joseph's entertainment of his bretheren in a sermon preached at the Herefordshire feast at St Mary-le-Bow, June the 25th. 1684 / by William Bolton.
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Bolton, William, 1650 or 51-1691.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing B3536; ESTC R4320
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12,180
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25
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yet his authority was greater He managed all affairs of State he had the power of Life and Death of making War and Peace in a word he had the whole sway of Government devolved upon him The authority of such Regents as Joseph was constituted in this Chapter was of that figure and estimation in the world both then and afterwards that they were many times mistaken for the Kings themselves by people of other Nations Joseph's brethren I am sure took him for such witness those words of theirs to their Father chap. 42. vers 30. The man who is the Lord of the Land and again the Lord of the Countrey Nay the Egyptian Historiographers inserted several of these Regents amongst the Kings themselves otherwise their Catalogue must be very imperfect and never to be reconciled And such was the Soldans power afterwards in Egypt under the Caliphs such the Masters of the Palace under the old Kings of France and such the Grand Viziers perhaps at this time in the Turkish Dominions Such so great in Authority as well as Piety and Wisedom as the Scripture informs us was the person who took and sent Messes unto his brethren Which brings me to my second Particular II. The Reason why Joseph entertained them at a Feast or Banquet Ten of his brethren had been with him before to buy Corn to whom he then seemed rough and severe either to make them repent of their former usage towards him or fearing that they might have been as cruel to Benjamin his onely Brother by the same Mother as before to him he charged them therefore as Spies secured one of them in bonds till the rest brought Benjamin with them into Egypt Let but him once appear the scene is altered and all the Clouds of Joseph's seeming indignation are gone and vanished and they might even then before he discovered himself unto them have read the kindness of a brother As soon as they come to Court Joseph immediately commands Kill and slay for these men shall dine with me And now Joseph's brethren may lay aside all fear this following banquet to which they are invited gives them more than hopes both of their own safety and the Prince's favour Simeon is released and all of them from suspected spies find themselves graced with dining with the Lord of the Countrey A Banquet is thought by Joseph to be the best way of receiving them both as their Brother and their Lord They had enough paid that adoration and obedience to him of which he had formerly dreamed and which had caused their malice against him he had with joy often understood their Repentance as to what they had formerly done to him he views his brother Benjamin grown to mans estate whom he had left in Canaan a little child and can scarcely forbear embracing him and discovering by his tenderness who he was he is satisfied that his Father is well he can therefore now no longer treat them as theirs and the Egyptians Lord but thinks it high time to consult his brotherly affections too Which to effect he orders that they should dine with him and this was the most ready and natural means that Joseph could make use of or indeed his brethren expect had they then known how nearly he was related to them And therefore in the book of Esther Haman in my opinion urged very well though the Event through his demerits proved otherwise that Ahasuerus his King did design him favour when he admitted him of all his Courtiers to dine with him Eating and drinking together ever was a token of friendship amongst all people Insomuch that I read of the Romans afterwards that they had their Annual Charistia like to our Countrey feasts at this time when kinfolk and relations met together to confirm saith my Authour their friendship one with another and reconcile all different parties who had lived in any variance before Fansie therefore Beloved the twelve brethren sate down at dinner Joseph indeed as a Prince served at a Table by himself as it is before my Text but as a brother too he admits them to dine in the same room near unto him which leads me to my other particular viz. III. The manner how he entertained them And he took and sent Messes unto them from before him and they drank and were merry with him I shall not as some have done upon the words lay down any Critical questions as whether it was alway a custome for Princes to sit alone at Table by themselves by way of State and Grandeur or whether sitting as here in Egypt or lying along as amongst the Romans and the Jews from them in our Saviour's time bore the most ancient date or whether it hath been a practice for Princes to send dishes from their own Table to their Favourites as is reported of Cyrus amongst the Persians Agesilaus amongst the Grecians and several of the Roman Emperours or why the Egyptians as in the Context sate at one Table by themselves and the Hebrews at another by themselves Neither farther shall I enquire what the Messes were which Joseph sent to his brethren taking it for granted that they were rich and sumptuous such as might set forth his magnificence as well as kindness neither lastly shall I ask why Benjamin had five times so much as the rest as you read in my Text points indeed incident enough to my Theme but wholly averse to my design which is not to nauseate you with intricate questions a trouble both to the Commentators themselves and their Readers too But I must not omit the giving you the genuine signification of the last words of the Text viz. They drank and were merry At the first view thereof the Debauchees of our as well as of Saint Austin's age might hug themselves with having Joseph a Pious and Wise man yet a Patron of their excess and drunkenness Let therefore the same Father's answer serve the men of our as well as his time The word in the Hebrew saith he signifies to drink plentifully or cheerfully by way of refreshment onely and it is applied even to inanimate Creatures Thus Psal 65. v. 9. Inebriasti terram thou hast refreshed or watered the Earth which being there acknowledged as a gift of God cannot be taken in a bad sense If this will not satisfie let them reade the 2d Chapter of St. John where they will find the same word with the Septuagint in my Text and upon the Occasion of a Feast too which Feast the blessed Jesus did not onely grace with his own presence but honoured it also with the first miracle he wrought and as after his Resurrection he made himself known to his Disciples by breaking of bread so here at the Marriage of Cana in Galilee he manifested himself by turning water into wine as if thereby he designed not onely to supply their present necessity but remove such scruples as men of more niceness than piety might afterwards raise which brings me to my fourth
Joseph 's Entertainment of his Brethren IN A SERMON Preached at the Herefordshire Feast AT St MARY-LE-BOW June the 25 th 1684. BY WILLIAM BOLTON One of the School-Masters of the Charter-House LONDON Printed by Miles Flesher for Charles Harper at the Flower-de-Luce in Fleetstreet 1684. Gen. 43. Vers 34. And he took and sent Messes unto them from before him but Benjamin's Mess was five times so much as any of theirs and they drank and were merry with him WHEN I look into the Sacred Writings I cannot sufficiently admire at the Power as well as Goodness of the Lord in defeating Satan by those very means whereby the old Serpent brought ruin to our first Parents Man may now eat and live and the Devil may cease to boast of his conquest over Mankind in Paradise when he tempted to eat of the forbidden tree For if Man do not contribute to his own destruction and misuse those Creatures which God hath afforded for his benefit for the entercourse of Love and Friendship as well as stay and support of his life he may go into a better Paradise than that from which our first Parents were driven Here 's no Angel now with a flaming Sword to bar us from entring those more sacred Mansions and eating and drinking are become the Symbols not onely of Christ's love to us as in the holy Eucharist but of our love and kindness one towards another Take a survey of God's Church in all ages and you will find the men thereof whether after any great mercy received or a resolution of entring into a more familiar acquaintance still entertaining one another with these tokens of amity eating and drinking together The Jews of old had a feast at the end of their Sacrifices and the Primitive Christians if not in the very Apostles times I am sure immediately afterwards their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Love-feasts after the Lord's Supper That feasting or publick eating and drinking together were the tyes of Union and Confederacy amongst men Satan knew well enough therefore he encouraged this Custome also amongst his Proselytes and Followers Would Absalom slay his brother Amnon A feast is made the snare to entrap him But that I may bring this somewhat home to our ownselves have several degrees and orders of men whether in relation to their being born in the same Countrey or otherwise met together first to celebrate God's praises in his own House and afterwards adjourning to some Common Hall there engaged one another in their duty towards their Prince their adherence to the Succession of the Crown in the right line their Reciprocal love one with another and the relieving the poor and necessitous Have good and loyal men as now met together for this end and purpose And have not the Catilines of our age had their Cabals and Associations too for the ruine of their I had almost said too Gracious King and his Royal Brother for the Subversion of the Laws and their Countrey and afterwards of themselves too as their Forefathers in the last Rebellion found it What else meant their Kings-head or Green-Ribbon Clubs where many affronts to Sacred Majesty were first hammered before they received their Polishing by Votes in another place But Absalom hath a vow to be performed in Hebron Tickets are therefore sent abroad by the Vnderminers of our Israel which forsooth must be ushered in with the Pageantry of a Sermon too but this their solemn Appearance was baffled and disappointed by Authority an happy presage without doubt of our deliverance from the effects of it I mean the late Damnable and Fanatick Plot. I mention these and the like to acquaint you that it was the custome of all Ages for men whether for good or bad designs to strengthen one another by eating and drinking together and therefore long before the Law was given you find Joseph entertaining his brethren after the same manner witness the words of my Text And he took and sent Messes unto them from before him and they drank and were merry with him The words do acquaint us how Joseph one of the twelve sons of Patriarch Jacob constituted by Pharaoh Lord of Egypt and inferiour to the King thereof onely in Name and Title entertained his eleven brethren which twelve gave denomination afterwards to the twelve Tribes or Counties of Israel So that you see my Text and this solemn Appearance of so many of the same Countrey do agree and carry a Resemblance one with each other In handling of which words I shall doe these things First I shall shew you what that place and dignity was which Joseph enjoyed at this entertainment of his brethren And he that is the Lord of the Countrey for Joseph had not as yet discovered himself to his brethren Secondly The Reason why Thirdly The manner how he entertained his brethren And he took and sent Messes unto them from before him and they drank and were merry with him Fourthly I shall endeavour to vindicate such Meetings as this Fifthly and lastly by way of Application from the Consideration of the person entertaining and the parties entertained I shall propose some Practical Inferences fitting for such Assemblies I. First therefore as to the Place and Dignity c. I might here give you an Historical account of Joseph before his promotion as what he suffered in Canaan from his unnatural brethren and likewise what befell him in Egypt from the seventeenth year of his age when he was sold to his thirtieth when he was advanced by Pharaoh the King thereof but I consider 't is but your turning at your leisure to the last part of Genesis and you have a plain as full relation of him As to the Place and Dignity which he held at this entertainment it was as great as a Sovereign Prince was able to confer upon him or a Subject capable of receiving Forasmuch saith Pharaoh chap. 41. vers 30. and so on as God hath shewed thee all this there is none so discreet and wise as thou art thou shalt be over my house and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled onely in the Throne will I be greater than thou A Commission you see very large and therefore though the occasion and the circumstance of the time of Joseph's advancement might seem to countenance yet I cannot subscribe to their conjectures who would allow Joseph no other than a Praefectus Annonae who was to take care of the Corn that the people of the land might not suffer famine Although I shall grant that this place of Trust was very honourable not onely in Egypt but other Nations so honourable amongst the Romans that Pompey the Great after he had subdued Mithridates the most powerfull Prince of Asia nay after he had triumphed over a great part of the World thought it an honour to have this of Praefectus Annonae added to his other Titles Though this Dignity I say was very great and Joseph particularly executed this Office also