After Jacob's death,
it is most likely that Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of
the tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression and
deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the law.
As God's revelation to man has been progressive, first just a few
faint streaks of light that usher in the dawn, then broad daylight and
sunrise, and finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are not
to expect, in these early times, the full and distinct teaching on the
subject of holiness, which we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings
of the prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the New
Testament. The word holy does not occur in the book of Genesis, and the
word sanctify is found only once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day
and sanctified it.
And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, several narratives
of extreme interest, which give us glimpses, at least, of the purpose
of God that His people should be holy, and we even find intimations of
His method of sanctification, by conferring it as a second experience
upon His already saved children, as is so clearly revealed in the New
Testament.
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