" Old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17.)

The names of these sons show them to be types of very precious truth."And unto Joseph were born two sons. . . . And Joseph called the name of the first-born' Manasseh ;'' for God,' saith he,' hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.' And the name of the second called he' Ephraim;' for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.' " First of all, it is typical of Christ rejected by His own as was Joseph. He becomes fruitful through the cross. The world and this present age is "the land of His affliction." But in application to us what is it but "old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new"-the new-creation position of all who are in Christ?

And this agrees with Ephraim having the first place in the blessing of Jacob (for he set Ephraim before Manasseh-Gen. 48:20), for "all things become new" is the present existing reality." Joseph's disappointment at this, and cleaving to Manasseh as the first-born, shows over-occupation with having left the old. But this can never feed the soul, for it is the new things that sustain and lead us on. "If ye, then, be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." (Col. 3:1:)

Joseph would have been unprepared to deal with his brethren in the final interview had he not been weaned from Manasseh. He might have reminded them of his superiority over them. But having learned that Ephraim has the first place-"fruitful in the land of affliction"- "walking in newness of life"-"reaching forth to the things that are before" (Rom. 6:; Phil, 3:), his heart is open and enriched-the "word of Christ dwells in him richly," (Col. 3:) and he has needed love and wisdom to minister to their actual need.

If we cleave to Manasseh, we are unprepared to help one another. If Ephraim has his place, we are, like Jacob, in the present enjoyment of communion with God; not mere recollection of truths learned in a happier past.

Then the Word has power, and does not fall to the ground. In i Sam. 3:, Eli had ceased to grow; but "Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground." His profiting appeared to all. "And all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord."

It was no longer dimness of sight and lamps going out as in the beginning of the chapter; but growing, and receiving revelations from the Lord, and blessing. No doubt Joseph (to return to him,) had exulted that his brethren should have been brought to him at last, and had become occupied with his own sufferings and victory in the past-"the things behind," and God straightway uses one like Jacob, who had been slow to learn, to rebuke him.

"And Israel (a prince with God) stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly. (Gen. 48:14.) . . . And Joseph said unto his father, 'Not so, my father; for this is the first-born,' " trying to remove his father's hand from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's. But his father refused, and said, " 'God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh;' and he set Ephraim before Manasseh." And so Moses, in blessing, speaks of the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh.

Thus Jacob, being humbled by past chastening and present circumstances of humiliation and trial, bears the banner of testimony that Joseph had for the time let slip from his hands. " Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." (Rev. 3:10, 2:)

We are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ (Rom. 6:), which is what is taught us (in type) by the whole book of Exodus. Israel was separated from Egypt and Pharaoh's host (the world and sin) by the Red-Sea judgment (the cross),-that is, death to sin and the world. That is the first part of the book; in the second part, they are brought to God at the mount, to receive His commandments. This tells us of the positive present reality for us-we are alive to God in Christ. It remains true that we are dead to sin, of course ; but we have to do with God :we are alive in Him whose life in us has its activity in going out to God-as constantly as the tree grows or as a life is lived-it is the "living sacrifice" of Rom. 12:1:Let us not be occupied with a position- with ourselves and with the past, to become withered and dry ; but consider by faith what it is to have to do with God always and everywhere, walking "in newness of life " in Him who is risen from the dead. (Rom. 6:) In this there is freshness of soul, and lowliness of heart and conscience :it is life, not death, for all live unto Him.

To put Ephraim first, then, is communion with God, not formalism,-having the mind of God, and truth suited to the occasion :it is firmness of purpose, arising from conscious subjection to God, that would not allow even Joseph to remove the hand from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's, and that will not allow the servant of the Lord now to be turned aside from the way by human influence or affection. Jacob was having a joyful look into the future-the joy of the coming kingdom-the ultimate fruitfulness of the cross, after all the affliction; and earthly influence and fleshly motive had no power with him. He was not leaning upon man, not even upon one so dear to him as Joseph, and so he was faithful to Joseph, and did him the truest kindness by not yielding to him. Thus a mere form of truth will adapt itself to circumstances and natural preferences, but in communion with God-in living to Him-in rejoicing in hope, the truth governs the heart and gives stability of walk and peace and power, victory over all hostile influences from without.

The Lord deliver us or keep us from any condition of soul in which we might hinder one another in the way of obedience and growth in the knowledge of the truth and of the Lord. May our joy be full, in realized fellowship (i Jno. 1:3, 4) with the Father and with the Son, and we shall be helpers of one another's joy, and be ready to submit to the example and the word of another who is nearer to the Lord than one's self. E. S. L.