#26. Joseph the Slave.#--The brothers change their plan, and sell Joseph to traveling Midianites. These take him to Egypt, and sell him to Potiphar, an officer in Pharaoh's court. Note here his fidelity in all things, so that he becomes really the overseer in Potiphar's house (Gen. 39:6). Instead of resenting his purchase by Potiphar, he takes things most patiently, and does his duty bravely. #27. Joseph in Prison.#--Once more, through no fault of his own, Joseph suffers further degradation. To prison he goes. We said "through no fault of his own." This is an understatement, for it was on account of his fidelity to his master that he was shamefully traduced, and so sent to jail. Yet even here his spirit of loyalty to duty did not desert him. Again we find him trusted and put in charge of all prison matters. (Gen. 39:22, 23.) But what has become all this time of God's plans for Joseph? Are they to be thwarted? Nay, wait until the fulness of time, and then note how God's plans ripen, and are fully perfected. In the meantime note Joseph's wonderfully sweet spirit. See how he notices the sad countenances of butler and baker in prison. Note how he sympathizes with them, and tries to help them. Here again, as in the case of Abraham, we see the exemplification of the Golden Rule, long before it was uttered. Had Joseph been like some modern men, he would have taken vengeance on the butler and baker, they being Egyptians. He would have said, "These Egyptians have enslaved and imprisoned me for no fault of mine. Now is my chance, and I will pay them back." But no such bitter thoughts seem to have entered his pure mind. In the meantime note his steadfast faith in God and his persistent loyalty to duty, however hard that might be. #28. Joseph's Exaltation.#--This came with a leap. The story is familiar. But in studying the lesson, let the student not fail to read it once more, most carefully. If it seem somewhat incredible that Pharaoh should make a prime minister out of a prisoner at one stroke, bear in mind that in the East they do not do things in Western fashion. Even to this day "East is East, and West is West, And never the two shall meet." The writer during his boyhood knew of a case illustrating Eastern methods, which took place when he was living in his home in Constantinople. The Sultan had a dentist. One day while his dentist was off hunting, the Sultan got a toothache. He sent for his dentist, but could not get him. His courtiers then got hold of a poor dentist who could hardly make his living. He went to the palace and extracted the offending molar. At once the Sultan deposed his regular dentist, put this man in his place, created him a pasha, or peer of the realm, gave him a large stipend, and a palace in the city and another in the country. Thus at one stroke the man passed from obscurity to prominence, and from poverty to wealth. This is the manner of the East.