loose; he giveth goodly words; " Joseph's pre-eminence in numbers and in power is strongly marked; and the impetuous Benjamin, from whom Saul, the son of Kish, was to proceed, and that second Saul, who became the fiery and conquering apostle, Paul-" Benjamin shall ravine as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil."

And then the spirit of prophecy sinks down into the calmness of old age. The blessing has been pronounced upon all the children; the portion which God has assigned to each foretold; all that he has to say is said; the account with this world closed, aud he is ready to depart. And yet one thing more lies close to his heart. He is about to die in a strange land-in the land of Egypt. Then he remembers the promise which God had made to him and to his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, that they were hereafter to possess the land of Canaan; his faith warms up, and he straitly charges them not to leave his body in Egypt, but to bury him in the cave of Machpelah"There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah." He wishes to possess at least the heritage of a grave in the land which he knew his children were hereafter to conquer and possess; he wishes to have his bones preserved and guarded by his posterity in their Own new land.

All this shows the preparation for death-the leisurely preparation which must have been in progress for years. When the last moments are drawing near, there is no hurry or confusion, no thought of worldly matters; all that has been long ago settled and arranged. But the

whole man is filled with the Spirit of God, and prophesies of the destiny of his children; and his last act is one of pious faithful recognition and belief of the promises which God had given him, that his seed should inherit the land of Canaan.

Then, all being done, the last charge given to his children, his life seems complete and rounded off, and like a shock of ripe corn, he is ready for the garner. "And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."

III. "He was gathered unto his people." Not his body, but his soul was gathered to his people. His body was embalmed in Egypt, whereas his people were lying in Canaan at Machpelah; nay, his fore-elders were many of them lying in Mesopotamia, and his dear Rachel was lying in her solitary tomb at Ramah. God gathered his soul to the souls of his people. So that here we have an intimation that the patriarchs in the olden days had some inkling of a future life. They did not regard death as annihilation, but as the gathering of a soul to that place where God keeps the souls of their forefathers till His own good time shall come for their restoration. "The old fathers did not look only for transitory promises;" but, believing thus in a future life, they looked forward to "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Such passages as this show that the Old Testament is not contrary to the New, but that in both everlasting Life is held out to man in Christ. Balaam could say, "Let me die the death of the righteous;" Jacob could be said to be gathered to his

fathers; David could say of his dead babe, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." Here is proof enough that they did not think that Death ends all. Still their grounds of hope were much less firm and solid than those which we have given to us.

Christ has shown to us His mastery over death; He has given us the true basis of hope by destroying death. See how He raises Jairus' daughter from the dead! The widow's son at Nain, and Lazarus! See how His followers, Peter and Paul, raise Dorcas and Eutychus! But, chiefly, see the greatest proof of His power in that, on the third day, He raised Himself. He who suffered Himself to be bound with the cords of death, and then, like Samson, broke them off Him like a thread, He who has promised to do so for us, saying, "I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever believeth in Me shall never die "-He has given to us a stronger ground of hope than any which Jacob had, when he calmly yielded up the ghost in Egypt. Having, then, greater security, a fuller promise, a more lively hope-the hope of possessing the heavenly Canaan, not for our dead bodies, but for the living body and soul at the resurrection of the just -let us at least try and imitate, if we cannot excel, the calm composure and patient waiting for death which Jacob showed. Let us set our houses in order, making, while in health, such arrangements of our goods and property as will most equitably and justly provide for those we leave behind; that when the end at last comes, we may concentrate the whole power of our spirits upon God, who is the Father of spirits, our Maker, Redeemer,

Sanctifier. And let us trustfully and thankfully, then, yield up our souls to God who gave them, in sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord; for "He liveth, and was dead, and behold He is alive for evermore.

Amen."

BEMROSE AND SONS, PRINTERS, LONDON AND Derby.