Page:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren.djvu/75

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JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.

ence as there is between the infinite and the finite. The Lord and His Father are not two distinct persons, as Joseph and Jacob were. At first they were two distinct natures, the Divine and human; and even now, though not two distinct natures, they are two distinct principles, or essentials, like the soul and body in each of us. If Joseph was a type of the Lord as the Son of God, Jacob or Israel may, in a certain sense, be considered as a type of God as the Father of Jesus. But what can be the meaning of the statement that Jacob loved Joseph because he was the son of his old age? It is certain that old age cannot be predicated of the Father of Jesus, for "He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Old age in those who represented God signified the eternity of God—He whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. But still more resembling the idea of old age is the description of the Eternal in Daniel, where He is called "The Ancient of Days."

As a manifestation of Jacob's love for Joseph, he made him a coat of many colours. This we shall find, if we reflect, has a very