Now will you turn with me to the
41st chapter of the book of Genesis.
This is a rather lengthy chapter for scripture
reading, but I think it is, would be
helpful to us to read the entire chapter
and in the message that follows we will
therefore be able to omit some sections in
the exposition.
So let's read together Genesis chapter 41.
I'll read and you follow along in your
text.
For some of you who I recognize may
be here for the first time, we're reading
from the New American Standard Bible.
Now it happened at the end of two
full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and
behold he was standing by the Nile.
And lo from the Nile there came up
seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed
on the marsh grass.
Then behold seven other cows came up after
them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and
they stood by the other cows on the
bank of the Nile.
And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up
the seven sleek and fat cows.
Then Pharaoh awoke, and he fell asleep and
dreamed a second time.
And behold seven ears of grain came up
on a single stalk, plump and good.
Then behold seven ears, thin and scorched by
the east wind, sprouted up after them.
And the thin ears swallowed up the seven
plump and full ears.
Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold it was a
dream.
Now it came about in the morning that
his spirit was troubled, so he sent and
called for all the magicians of Egypt and
all its wise men.
And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there
was no one who could interpret them to
Pharaoh.
Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying,
I would make mention today of my own
offenses.
Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he
put me in confinement in the house of
the captain of the bodyguard, both me and
the chief baker.
And we had a dream on the same
night, he and I.
Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation
of his own dream.
Now a Hebrew youth was with us there,
a servant of the captain of the bodyguard.
And we related them to him, and he
interpreted our dreams for us.
To each one he interpreted according to his
own dream.
And it came about that just as he
interpreted for us, so it happened.
He restored me in my office, but he
hanged him.
Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and
they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon.
And when he had shaved himself and changed
his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh said to Joseph, I've had a dream,
but no one can interpret it.
For I have, and I have heard it
said about you, that when you hear a
dream, you can interpret it.
Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, it is not
in me.
God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.
So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, in my dream
behold I was standing on the bank of
the Nile, and behold seven cows, fat and
sleek, came up out of the Nile, and
they grazed in the marsh grass.
And, lo, seven other cows came up after
them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such
as I have never seen for ugliness in
all the land of Egypt.
That's one slight addition that he makes in
the retelling of his dream.
And the lean and ugly cows ate up
the first seven fat cows.
Yet when they had devoured them, it could
not be detected that they had devoured them,
for they were just as ugly as before.
Then I awoke, that's another slight difference.
I saw also in my dream, and behold
seven ears, full and good, came up on
a single stalk.
And lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched
by the east wind, sprouted up after them.
And the thin ears swallowed the seven good
ears.
Then I told it to the magicians, for
there was no one who could explain it
to me.
Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh's dreams are
one and the same.
God has told Pharaoh what he is about
to do.
The seven good cows are seven years, and
the seven good ears are seven years.
The dreams are one and the same.
And the seven lean and ugly cows that
came up after them are seven years, and
the seven thin ears, scorched by the east
wind, shall be seven years of famine.
It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh.
God has shown to Pharaoh what he is
about to do.
Behold seven years of great abundance are coming
in all the land of Egypt, and after
them seven years of famine will come.
And all the abundance will be forgotten in
the land of Egypt, and the famine will
ravage the land.
So the abundance will be unknown in the
land, because of that subsequent famine, for it
will be very severe.
Now as for the repeating of the dreams
to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter
is determined by God, and God will quickly
bring it about.
And now let Pharaoh look for a man
discerning and wise, and set him over the
land of Egypt.
Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in
charge of the land, and let him exact
a fifth of the produce of the land
of Egypt, in the seven years of abundance.
That's the windfall profits tax of ancient times.
This is his economic program, and it's very
similar to the President's, because at the end
of this period of time everything will be
the government's.
Just wait and see.
Then let them gather all the food of
these good years that are coming, and store
up the grain for food in the cities
under Pharaoh's authority, and let them guard it.
I'm surprised that someone has not thought of
calling their plan, Joseph's plan, Operation Joseph, that
would have the biblical support for it.
Now we were reading the scriptures, weren't we?
Verse 36, and let the food become as
a reserve for the land of, for the
seven years of famine which will occur in
the land of Egypt, so that the land
may not perish during the famine.
Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh, and
to all his servants.
Then Pharaoh said to his servants, can we
find a man like this, in whom is
a divine spirit?
Now here we do have differences, of course.
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has
informed you of all this, there is no
one so discerning and wise as you are.
You shall be over my house, and according
to your command, all my people shall do
homage.
Only in the throne I will be greater
than you.
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, see, I have
set you over all the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from
his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand,
and clothed him in garments of fine linen,
and put the gold necklace around his neck.
And he had him ride in the second
chariot, and they proclaimed before him, bow the
knee.
And he set him over all the land
of Egypt.
Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, though I am
Pharaoh, yet without your permission, no one shall
raise his hand or foot in all the
land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphonath-Paneah, and he
gave him Asenath, the daughter of Paddekharah, priest
of On as his wife.
And Joseph went forth over the land of
Egypt.
Now Joseph was 30 years old when he
stood before Pharaoh.
Isn't it interesting in the typology of Joseph
as over against Christ.
Even when Joseph begins his public ministry in
Egypt, it's approximately the same age of our
Lord when he began his.
And special mention is made of it.
And Joseph went out from the presence of
Pharaoh, and went through all the land of
Egypt.
During the seven years of plenty, the land
brought forth abundantly.
So he gathered all the food of these
seven years, which occurred in the land of
Egypt, and placed the food in the cities.
He placed in every city the food from
its own surrounding fields.
Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance,
like the sand of the sea, until he
stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.
Now before the year of the famine came,
two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath,
the daughter of Paddekharah, priest of On, bore
to him.
Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, for he said,
God has made me forget all my trouble
and all my father's household.
And he named the second Ephraim, for he
said, God has made me fruitful in the
land of my affliction.
When the seven years of plenty, which had
been in the land of Egypt, came to
an end, and the seven years of famine
began to come, just as Joseph had said,
then there was famine in all the lands.
But in all the land of Egypt there
was bread.
So when all the land of Egypt was
famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for
bread.
And Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, go
to Joseph.
Whatever he says to you, you shall do.
When the famine was spread over all the
face of the earth, then Joseph opened up
all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians.
And the famine was severe in the land
of Egypt.
And the people of all the earth came
to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because
the famine was severe in all the earth.
May God bless this reading of his word.
The subject for this morning in the exposition
of Genesis chapter 41 is Joseph's exaltation or
from prison to prime minister.
A few weeks ago in one of the
messages in this part of the book of
Genesis, I made reference to a statement by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, to the effect that our
greatest mission is to rescue admitted truths from
the neglect caused by their universal admission, omission
I should have said neglect caused by their
universal admission.
Now that is a wise saying and it
certainly has application here.
We have again some of the greatest of
the truths of the Bible.
We've mentioned them so often they may seem
very hackneyed or they may seem like cliches
to you by now.
But their repetition saves us from forgetfulness.
And they are first of all the providence
of God.
The multitude of minute seemingly insignificant events, but
all evidently necessary, contribute to the accomplishment of
the will of God.
In fact as I've been reflecting on chapter
40, the chapter that we looked at last
week.
There's really no reason for that chapter being
in the Bible at all except to explain
how it happened that Joseph was introduced to
Pharaoh.
But from the beginning of Joseph's life the
providence of God is manifested.
From the jealousy that his brothers expressed.
From his sale as a slave into Egypt.
From his faithfulness under temptation.
For his sympathy with the sadness of the
men who had the dreams and could not
interpret them.
For his endurance of the harsh treatment in
the prison.
His loyalty to God.
Then the dreams of Pharaoh himself.
The memory of past mercies.
All of these things were the threads that
link the pit in Canaan with the power
that Joseph is now going to exercise in
the land of Egypt.
Not one of these little links, so seemingly
insignificant, is unnecessary.
Each is essential and they form part of
the all things that work together for good.
To them that love God.
To them that are the called according to
his purpose.
So a multitude of small events, but they
contribute to the overall plan of God.
It seems to me that one way we
should look at our own lives is in
the light of this as well.
For all of the things that happen to
us, even those little tiny things, are just
form part of the one overall program by
which God deals with each one of us
individually.
He does not deal with any of us
similarly.
He deals with us each individually and all
of the little things in our lives contribute
to the ultimate overall plan and program that
he has in mind.
Now the second truth that one notices here
in this chapter is the necessity of trust
in God and not in man.
See she from man whose breath is in
his nostrils.
The prophet Isaiah exhorts us.
And Joseph's life illustrates that.
And we think of the passage in the
book of Proverbs, the third chapter, those very
familiar verses.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he
will make your path straight.
Joseph is a man who illustrates very beautifully
the acknowledging of the Lord God in all
of his ways and he will not take
advantage of the circumstances which might have been
taken advantage of to secure his release from
prison.
And then overriding all of this is the
beautiful parallel that exists between the paths of
Joseph and the paths of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Both of these men had to travel the
road of humiliation on the way to exaltation.
It's almost as if the Spirit of God
has anticipated the life of Jesus Christ in
the life of Joseph.
That's what we believe.
That's what the New Testament tells us and
Stephen's speech is one illustration of it.
So we have some great and familiar truths
here but the repetition of them themselves and
should impress them upon our minds.
Now the preceding chapter closed with yet the
chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph but forgot
him.
Perhaps there is one more parallel here because
Joseph is forgotten by someone to whom he
has rendered great service.
And is it not one of the perils
of our life that we too forget so
often the benefits that have been shown us
by our greater than Joseph the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Well the story is the story of the
dreams of Pharaoh, their interpretation and the means
by which Jacob comes to be, Joseph comes
to be exalted in the land of Egypt.
God has great facility for gaining his ends
and here he does it by means of
two dreams.
Well Joseph says they're really one because they
have the same message.
It's now two years from Pharaoh's birthday party
when the baker was hanged.
They always liked nice entertainment for birthday parties
in those days, the Pharaohs did.
And that was the entertainment but it's all
forgotten now.
The cupbearer has been restored to service and
Pharaoh has two dreams and in the first
dream lying upon his bed in his palace
he finds himself standing by the Nile River.
These dreams incidentally are very Egyptian in nature.
He stands by the Nile River and he
notices that seven cows sleek and fat came
up from the Nile and they grazed in
the marsh grass.
The marsh grass was the grass from which
papyrus is taken and from which the papyrus
sheets were formed.
And he sees the seven well formed heifers
appear.
It was customary incidentally for the animals of
Egypt like the cows to go down into
the Nile River and stand with as much
water over them as possible to keep off
the flies and the other insects that bite
them.
And today if you travel to Egypt so
I am told you will see the same
thing.
That was evidently the background of his dream
and so he sees the heifers in the
midst of the Nile coming up and they
are grazing in the marsh grass and seven
other cows come up and these are different.
These are ugly and gaunt not sleek and
fat and suddenly they fall on the good
ones and consume them.
Pharaoh awakened and had another dream then and
the second dream was the dream of seven
ears of grain.
He saw one single stalk rise up suddenly
seven full ears of grain and then he
saw another stalk and evidently seven ears thin
and scorched by the east wind sprouted up
after them and suddenly in this dream just
as it happened in the first the seven
thin and scorched ears fell on the others
and consumed them and he awakened.
Now he was troubled because it was clear
to him that these dreams had some meaning
but he could not fathom them.
It almost appears that he should have been
able to fathom them simply because he was
an Egyptian.
They the obviously the lines of interpretation are
there for anyone to see whose mind is
open but he could not see.
So he did the first thing that one
did.
In Egypt they love interpreters of dreams astrologers
and others who practice the scientific arts so
called and so he called for the Egyptians.
They were men who were versed in hieroglyphics
astrology and the various other types of things
that characterize those arts and he told them
the dream but there was no one who
could interpret them to him.
This is I think a beautiful illustration of
the fact that the world does not understand
the things of God so just as Joseph
was opposed to the Egyptian interpreters of the
dreams just as Moses is later opposed to
the sorcerers from Egypt just as the Lord
Jesus Christ is opposed to the to the
scribes and the Pharisees and just as the
Apostle Paul is opposed to those who propound
heresies in his day divine wisdom and the
wisdom of this world divine wisdom and the
wisdom of this world are different as the
Apostle puts it in that very familiar text
that we often cite the natural man receive
it not the things of the Spirit of
God they are foolishness to him neither can
he know them for they are spiritually discerned
and so then if you're in the audience
this morning and you're getting nothing out of
it it's not entirely my fault it if
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ
it is impossible for you to understand spiritual
truth until you have received the one who
interprets truth the Holy Spirit and he comes
only as we have come to a knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ one might also
ask the question why did God speak to
them in dreams why did he not speak
to them directly well it's helpful to remember
that we are in the early stages of
the progress of the divine revelation this is
in a sense the childhood of the world
and he spoke to them on a level
that they could easily or more easily comprehend
he spoke to them by dreams that's why
in the Old Testament we do have some
of this well at this point the chief
cupbearer who has forgotten all about Joseph remembers
him and I gather myself that the reason
that he remembered Joseph is not because he
had really forgotten him but he senses that
now he might be able to make a
few points with Pharaoh by reminding Pharaoh of
the fact that Joseph is in prison and
so in other words he remembers Joseph in
order to gratify his master and gain some
recognition from him so he tells Pharaoh about
his experiences when he and the baker were
there and about their dreams and this Hebrew
youth the servant of Potiphar who was able
to interpret the dreams and things came out
just as Joseph had said and so immediately
Pharaoh wanting to know the significance of that
dream that may indicate incidentally that this Pharaoh
was a Pharaoh who was interested in the
well-being of his country he recognized that
these dreams had something to do with him
and with Egypt and anxious to find out
what it was he hurriedly sent for Joseph
I wonder what Joseph had been thinking all
of these two years was he reflecting on
the bitterness of his experiences how his brothers
had sold him into slavery how he had
stood for the Lord God revealing his dreams
to them and suffered for it how then
finally he had worked himself up to having
an important position in Potiphar's house and how
he had stood again for the truth of
the divine revelation that he knew at that
time and was mistreated and put in prison
and put in fetters and then was he
reflecting also upon the fact that the cupbearer
after it extended him the mercy of the
interpretation of his dream which came to pass
had forgotten him you can imagine that Joseph
by this time might have been a better
young man but there is no evidence of
bitterness in Joseph's heart at all it seems
to me that they are more correct to
say that undoubtedly while he was in prison
he had just a few more years to
reflect on what is the really important thing
in life and the really important thing in
life is what is the will of God
for me and Joseph when he might have
been tantalized by his experience and have come
out a bitter young man comes out and
in the midst of a great opportunity to
get himself out of prison by saying yes
I have authority to interpret dreams even denies
that he says it's not in me not
I God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer
so he reflected on what is the purpose
of God in our life that's something that
it doesn't hurt us ever to reflect upon
what is the purpose of God in my
life and it delivers us from bitterness over
the experiences that we have and it also
delivers us from undue rejoicing in the blessings
of life that we have for the final
the finally most important thing in our life
is what is the will of God for
me and the in the accomplishment of that
be it in a very insignificant place even
a place of suffering or in a place
of influence and prosperity the response to the
will of God is really the important thing
in life and it's on the basis of
that but God ultimately rewards his saints well
he made haste to come out the scriptures
the text says they made him run out
of the dungeon so they were really carrying
him out in a hurry a vivid picture
of the turn of fortune that came to
him in one moment he's in prison the
next he's appearing before the king of the
land so he gets his hair cut he
puts on the proper clothes to appear before
the king that's not a bad idea either
and I've often reflected upon the fact that
in the local church when we come together
we come together to have fellowship in Christ
and the scriptures say that when people meet
together in his name that he is there
and it's not so bad after all to
dress accordingly now I think that when a
person is unable to dress accordingly God of
course does not look upon our appearances but
if we are meeting with someone who is
very important well it doesn't hurt a bit
to dress properly but that's advice that's not
in the Bible so you can reject it
if you like and you won't make me
mad well Pharaoh says that he has heard
that Joseph is the kind of person who
can interpret dreams and Joseph says not I
incidentally that's one word in the Hebrew text
it's a compound of a couple of preface
prepositions on another root but nevertheless it's simply
not I verse 16 God will give Pharaoh
a favorable answer so flattery does not decompose
him nor will he seek release as a
payment for the interpretation he does not take
advantage of the occasion someone has given me
a little book in which a lot of
stories about grandpa who was a preacher since
I'm a grandfather who was a preacher well
I've been interested in these stories and one
of them is to the effect that grandpa
had the ability to ride rise to the
occasion and one of his series of meetings
in which some young toughs decided to harass
him so that he would pack up and
leave the little community one of them stood
up in the midst of his sermon and
said what's the difference between a preacher and
a fool and he replied stand here beside
me a moment and I think the audience
will see the difference and these young men
were still determined however to do something about
this and so the next morning in the
town as he was walking down the street
one of them stood and took off his
hat and bowed and said good morning father
Abraham and then a few feet down another
one stood in the same way and followed
the same gesture and said good morning father
Isaac and the third one bent over and
tipped his hat and bowed and spoke and
said good morning father Jacob and he stopped
and he said I'm neither Abraham Isaac nor
Jacob he said I'm really Saul the son
of Kish and I'm out seeking my father's
asses and I've just found three of them
now if you have any books you'd like
to send to me I'll be happy to
read them you see they send me very
scholarly literature now Joseph did not take advantage
of this situation he didn't look around and
say well the reason that Pharaoh that these
fellows cannot interpret dreams is because they're dull
they're dunderheads they're dunces come to the Hebrews
and we'll tell you where the truth lies
but he gives a rather gutsy witness not
I God will give you a favorable answer
now isn't it interesting that Joseph a man
of God is given insight and that is
true to our life today it is the
man of God who has insight in spiritual
things we were talking in the office I
was not talking I was listening to the
girls talk pardon me I was listening to
the ladies the young ladies talk in the
office the other day and they were talking
about Joseph and Joseph's plan and they were
making the simple statement that a Christian today
in our country could do so much for
the United States of America for the very
simple things that Joseph did in order to
bring this particular land through this difficult time
or principles that might be applied in any
country and they were commenting on the fact
that if we just followed the teaching of
Scripture the simple teachings of Scripture we would
not be in the economic mess that we
are in insight is given to men of
God and so Joseph is a man of
God and he has insight given to him
Pharaoh records his dream to Joseph small differences
are found in it to emphasize certain points
but nevertheless it's essentially as he has told
it previously and Jake and Joseph interprets it
with as one of the commentators has said
depth skill and a sure touch he comments
upon the fact that God is merciful to
the Egyptians in letting them know the future
twice he says God is showing to Pharaoh
what he is about to do and that
repetition itself emphasizes the certainty of the things
that is that are going to come to
pass and also one gathers from reading this
that this is a call to action all
prophecy all prediction is a call for action
and it was a call for action and
therefore there must be a response to it
and so Joseph in verse 33 through verse
36 unfolds his economic program now it does
include a kind of windfall profits tax which
incidentally should not give the president any comfort
in his own particular windfall profits tax but
it was something like that and essentially it
was this that a fifth of the produce
of the land in the abundant years would
be given in to the government in order
that they might be preserved through the seven
years of famine that was to follow there
are some interesting things about Joseph's program incidentally
I'm not sure that we can say that
this was a very good program let me
remind you of this that when this whole
program had unfolded everything belonged to Pharaoh because
the packs came in a fifth of the
produce and then in the years of the
famine it was doled out to the people
and then when they could not buy anything
or they did not have anything Joseph said
all right give me your cattle and then
finally the land and so the land and
the cattle and everything at the end of
it belonged to Pharaoh it's no wonder that
we read down here that the proposal seemed
good to Pharaoh and all his servants because
everything is winding up in the hands of
Pharaoh and almost lost a friend at breakfast
this morning when I suggested that in humor
incidentally I suggested that maybe after all Keynesian
economics is biblical and he almost was unable
to digest his breakfast after I said that
but on the other hand Joseph is the
means for the preservation of life of the
Egyptians and at the conclusion of it they
are very happy over the things that have
happened because in the 47th chapter we read
that the people said you have saved our
lives let us find favor in the sight
of my Lord and we will be Pharaoh's
slayer slaves and so it may be that
for their life it was worth it but
in the end of Joseph's program everything finally
is in the hands of Pharaoh it was
of course a very practical kind of proposal
that J that joke that Joseph suggested let
me read it to you again beginning with
verse 34 let Pharaoh take action to appoint
overseers in charge of the land and let
him exact a fifth of the produce of
the land of Egypt in the seven years
of abundance then let them gather all the
food of these good years that are coming
and store up the grain for food in
the cities under Pharaoh's authority and let them
guard it and let the food become as
a reserve for the land for the seven
years of famine which will occur in the
land of Egypt so that the land may
not perish during the famine it was evidence
to of the fact that Joseph the man
of God is very practical in the application
of the prophecy that he has been able
by God's grace to unfold in my little
book that my friend has given me there
was another little story that I thought was
pretty good he said that a young minister
was preaching a trial sermon in a village
church hoping to be called to the pulpit
well the officials were anxious that they should
have a man who was an educated man
and they were not sure of him and
so they decided to with the help of
a school teacher give him a slight examination
afterwards and so as they sat down the
lead man with an air of scholarship began
by saying preacher would you say that a
hen set or sit and the young man
who came from the hills said I don't
really care whether she sits or sits what
I'm interested in is when she cackles is
she laying or lying now that's supposed to
illustrate practicality whether it does or not Joseph
was a practical man and after his prophecy
he suggests a program and Pharaoh likes the
program and all of his servants like the
program in fact Pharaoh says can we find
a man like this in whom is a
divine spirit now if you have a new
American standard Bible you will notice that the
word spirit is spelled with a little s
now frequently this has been said to you
and I'm sure you know this in the
Hebrew text as well as in the Greek
text there are no capital letters in the
manuscripts and consequently this is a matter of
interpretation if the context suggests that the reference
is to a divine spirit the Holy Spirit
then the translators would translate with a capital
s but it's clear that they do not
think that Pharaoh would know about the divine
Holy Spirit and so they have translated it
this way in whom is a divine spirit
it is on the other hand possible to
render it the other way Pharaoh may have
more information about theology than they the translators
have given him credit for and in that
sense if it should be rendered in whom
is the Spirit of God as the text
reads literally the Spirit of God then it
would be the first mention in the Bible
of the Holy Spirit in his activity of
in doing men with power and in this
case in doing Joseph with power to interpret
dreams whenever in the Old Testament you read
about the Holy Spirit being in someone it
is not the permanent indwelling of the New
Testament which the Lord Jesus says on two
occasions has not yet occurred it is the
work of the Holy Spirit in an individual
giving them power to accomplish specific tasks for
example the Holy Spirit was in those who
constructed the tabernacle so with skill they conducted
it it is the work of spirit is
the spirit in the endowment of power in
this case if all is that is meant
is that Joseph has a spirit that's not
human a supernatural kind of spirit then this
translation would be correct can we find a
man like him in whom is such a
divine kind of spirit that may be all
that Pharaoh understood but at least he understood
that there was something special about Joseph and
as a result of this he says since
God has informed you of all this there
is no one so discerning and wise as
you are you are the one that ought
to administer this program and so he is
given the task of doing it Pharaoh took
off his signet ring from his hand he
put it on Joseph's hand he clothed him
with garments of fine linen he put a
gold necklace around his neck he had him
ride in the second chariot which indicates that
he was not simply the head of a
department under Pharaoh but he was the second
in the land and furthermore no one should
raise his hand or foot in all the
land of Egypt except Joseph should give permission
and he also gave him a wife and
it gave him a wife from an important
family as well now it's possible to interpret
this as a mistake on Joseph's part and
perhaps it was we'll say just more about
that in just one moment but we'll just
leave it at that he gave him a
wife and so Joseph has an Egyptian wife
a Gentile wife now then the remainder of
the chapter is the record of the administration
of Joseph the seven years of plenty and
then the sons of Joseph are mentioned and
that's an interesting little insight into Joseph because
it indicates that even in the midst of
all of the things that were happening in
Egypt his thoughts were still thoughts about his
God that he had learned about in the
land of Canaan for he names the first
child Manasseh and he names the next one
Ephraim for God has made me fruitful in
the land of my affliction even in the
midst of his prosperity Joseph remains the man
under God interested in the will of God
as a result of Joseph's work disaster was
averted in the land of Egypt and Egypt
influence actually is preserved throughout the whole of
the world well let me conclude by just
saying a few words about things that at
least for me have made an impression upon
me again I mentioned this is a magnificent
example of the providence of God in the
accomplishment of his purposes FB Meyer who has
a little book on Joseph has I think
some interesting and helpful words concerning Joseph he
says it was a wonderful ascent sheer in
a single bound from the dungeon to the
steps of the throne his father had rebuked
him now Pharaoh the greatest monarch of his
time welcomes him his brethren despised him now
the proudest priesthood of the world opens its
ranks to receive him by marriage into their
midst considering it was a to conciliate a
man who was from that moment to be
the greatest force in Egyptian politics and life
the hands that were hard with the toils
of a slave or adorned were adorned with
a signet ring the feet are no longer
tormented by feathers a chain of gold is
linked around his neck the coat of many
colors torn from him by violence and defiled
by blood and the garment left in the
hand of the adulteress of exchange for vestures
of fine linen drawn from the royal wardrobe
he was once trampled upon as the off
scouring of all things now all Egypt is
commanded to bow down before him as he
rides in the second chariot prime minister of
Egypt and second only to the King now
our thoughts of course turn again to the
parallel between the life of Joseph and the
life of Christ in the chapter that we
discussed chapter 37 I made reference to some
of these things let me remind you of
them because Stephen in his speech in the
book of Acts makes reference to them there
are so many things about Joseph's life that
picture our Jesus that Stephen was not making
a mistake but really studying Scripture when he
likened Joseph's life to our Lord Jesus Christ's
life for example Joseph was a man in
whom the father's affection found its delight Jacob
loved Joseph more than all the other children
our Lord Jesus Christ at the baptism hears
the voice from heaven this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased Joseph
has a commission from Jacob to go out
and find the brethren the Lord Jesus is
one sent forth in the fullness of time
to redeem them that were under the law
Joseph is rejected by his brethren in the
New Testament we read that he the Lord
Jesus came unto his own and his own
received him not he was rejected by his
brethren Joseph was then exposed to the humiliation
of slavery and ultimately the jail in Egypt
the Lord Jesus Christ was exposed to humiliation
the Apostle Paul speaks about the fact that
though he was in the form of God
he did not think it robbery or a
thing to be grasped after to be equal
with God but he emptied himself took upon
him the form of a servant came in
the likeness of men and ultimately became obedient
unto death and even such a death as
the criminal death of a cross such a
thing as a cross the Apostle puts it
in words that stress the character of that
humiliation now of course Joseph is not a
man who suffers vicariously in the sense that
our Lord Jesus did but that suffering in
that jail was on the way to the
blessing of the children of Israel the Lord
Jesus Christ's humiliation was the humiliation of the
suffering of death by which the blood was
shed for our redemption they're all there's always
another degree in the sufferings of the Lord
Jesus as over against the sufferings of men
and then just as Joseph is exalted hurriedly
hurriedly out of the prison so the Lord
Jesus Christ on the third day is resurrected
and becomes the exalted Lord at the right
hand of the father able to save unto
the uttermost those that come unto God by
him just as Joseph is exalted to be
a savior so the Lord Jesus is exalted
to be a savior and it's interesting to
that while Joseph was in Egypt as the
exalted Prime Minister he obtained the Gentile bride
I don't want to make too much of
this but you'll remember that the Church of
Jesus Christ today is primarily a Gentile bride
now the Church of Jesus Christ today arose
out of the Jewish people who were on
the day of Pentecost it was first of
all Jewish in its character and has always
had Jewish people in it down through the
centuries there is a remnant according to the
election of grace forming part of the Church
of Jesus Christ all through the ages but
this is the time of the fullness of
the Gentiles and when the time of the
fullness of the Gentiles comes to an end
the Apostle Paul says then all Israel shall
be saved our Lord Jesus acquiring a Gentile
bride in the present day is very close
to that which Joseph did in illustration in
his day but finally ultimately Joseph's brethren are
reconciled to him through the work of Joseph
and so Israel the nation dwelling apart now
in rejection scattered to the four corners of
the earth the scriptures tell us will eventually
be reconciled to their brother the Lord Jesus
Christ I will pour upon them the spirit
of grace and supplications it is the work
of God who in the future works in
Israel I will pour upon them the spirit
of grace and supplications that's efficacious grace for
the nation Israel and they shall look upon
me whom they have pierced Zechariah continues and
there shall be a grand reconciliation of the
nation Israel and I want to tell you
this that all the saints of heaven are
going to rejoice over what happens when Israel
that crucified the Lord Jesus makes that great
confession in Isaiah chapter 53 confession of sin
confession of having crucified their Messiah and mourn
before the Lord God as one mourns for
an only son it almost always brings tears
to my eyes to think of that glorious
day when Israel is reconciled to the Lord
Jesus Christ I remember later on in this
great book of Genesis Joseph went off by
himself and wept and so our Lord Christ
will be touched by the repentance of the
nation Israel that's a remarkable picture that the
Holy Spirit has constructed through the life of
Joseph to represent the life of Christ now
Joseph became a benefactor and in his degree
that is in the political and material way
he became a of the land of Egypt
he was the absolute master of the land
politically and materially and of course they came
to him Pharaoh said go to Joseph and
Joseph saved them we have of course a
Joseph greater than that Joseph he too is
a Savior and if you want to know
what it is to be saved from the
guilt of sin and to have the assurance
of eternal life and to have your future
mapped out by God go to Joseph go
to our greater than Joseph he's more competent
than Joseph he has a kingdom of greater
spiritual breadth and greater administrative capacity and also
greater justice and he welcomes those who come
to him to receive the forgiveness of sins
if you're here this morning and you've never
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ we invite
you to come to him who laid down
his life that you might live may God
help you to recognize your lost condition the
famine of your own spirit apart from God
and may you come and receive as a
free gift everlasting life come to Christ come
to our greater than Joseph come to our
great prime minister of the affairs of God
the second person of the Trinity himself and
receive everlasting life we invite you to come
as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus come
now let's stand for the benediction father we
are so grateful to thee for the Word
of God for these wonderful glorious experiences that
one of the Saints of the Old Covenant
had and we thank thee for the grace
manifested in the dealings with Joseph Lord help
us to learn from Joseph's life enable us
O God to learn the importance of submission
to the will of God enable us to
learn the lesson of courage before Kings or
before our friends enable us Lord to realize
that the most important thing in life is
not our money our possessions our friends even
our family the most important thing is our
relationship to thee O God Lord there are
probably some in this audience who have never
come to Christ give them no rest nor
peace until they rest in him may at
this very moment within their own hearts the
Holy Spirit bring the sense of guilt and
condemnation to them may there be confession and
then the glorious gospel Christ died for our
sins and may there be response give salvation
Lord may grace mercy and peace be with
us as we part for Jesus sake Amen