We are in an ongoing study in the book of Genesis. We are presently in Genesis 45, where we read in verse 1:
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
As we have previously learned, this is dealing with the dividing point of the Great Tribulation. We can not refer to it as the exact “midpoint” because it is not exactly in the middle, but it is the dividing point of the Great Tribulation. As we have discovered, the midpoint of the Great Tribulation is the time when God will begin to open up the Scriptures. As it says in Daniel 12:4, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”
Joseph, who is a picture of Christ, has been concealing his identity from his brethren, along with the truth concerning the historical dearth that is to come over the land. Now, he is making himself known; he is revealing himself. In the process of doing so, he is going to reveal some other facts about this whole period of time.
We read in verse 2:
And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
As we learned in our last study, God is telling us in this verse that when He provides a plan of escape for His people during the time of the Great Tribulation, the world will hear. The world will understand that God is not finished with His people.
When we looked at this in our last study, we compared this to Numbers 14:11-19 where we saw that this was similar to the time when the Israelites came out of Egypt. God was wrathful towards the Israelites because of their ongoing rebellion towards Him. Yet Moses interceded and, in essence, said, “You cannot destroy the people, O Lord; because then the world would hear and they would say that You were not able to bring them into the Promised Land. The Egyptians would hear and the rest of the world would hear that You delivered them out of Egypt just to destroy them in the wilderness, that You were not able.”
During the Great Tribulation, we find a similar situation. We find that God’s judgment is on the churches and congregations, and if that were the end of the story, the world could say, “God is not able to bring His people into the Promised Land of Heaven.” This could be their thoughts, if God did not have another plan. But God does have another plan. His plan is to call His believers out of their churches and congregations. As He brings them out, He continues providing their nourishment and protection. As in the past, in our day, too, the Egyptians will hear. The people of the world will hear that God is finished with the churches and congregations, but that He is still dealing with individuals out in the world. God is still saving people in the world.
Then verse 3 says:
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
It is not hard to imagine why his brothers were troubled. They had sold Joseph as a slave to the Midianites. His own brothers sold him as a piece of property, and under the ownership of the Midianites, a number of terrible things could have happened to him. For all intents and purposes, they killed him. They had no concern for his life.
Now, though, here is Joseph. His brothers had no idea that he would end up in Egypt. We read nowhere that the Midianites informed the brothers of what they were intending to do with Joseph. His brothers simply sold him to the Midianites, and the Midianites went on their way. Evidently, their plan was to go to Egypt, because that is where they sold Joseph to Potiphar. It would have been a great surprise to the brethren that Joseph was in Egypt at all; but not only that, but that he was there as the ruler.
They finally discover that their brother Joseph is this ruler who has been speaking very roughly to them. They discover that Joseph is the ruler who is controlling the corn, which, in effect, means that he can control their very lives. They are greatly troubled by this revelation. They are troubled by this appearance of their brother. Suddenly, they recognize him, and they are afraid.
That word “trouble” is translated as “afraid” in a few places. The brethren were afraid, just as the revelation of God, during the Great Tribulation, causes the believers who are in the churches to be afraid. They are still inhabiting the land of Canaan—they are only temporarily visiting Egypt—and this brings fear to them. They are troubled; they are afraid of His presence. They are afraid of this revelation of God. There is fearfulness among the true believers.
This is a very healthy thing. When people fear the Word of God and hear that God is judging the church and is finished with the congregation, they are going to check it out very thoroughly. They are going to make sure that this is what God is saying in His Word. True believers are troubled by this news.
However, many others are not troubled. In Jeremiah 5:21-22, it says (God is speaking to the inhabitants of Jerusalem):
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence…?
These are a people who do not fear God; they are not afraid at His presence. God is saying, through the prophet Jeremiah, “I am going to destroy Jerusalem. I am going to destroy Judah, and I am going to bring the Babylonians from the North.” We know this is all pointing to our day, when God will loose Satan and bring judgment against the congregations by Satan. Where is the fear? Where is the fear after hearing these things from the Bible? This is not coming from a dream or a vision or out of man’s mind, but from the Word of God, the Bible. “Fear ye not Me? Saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at My presence…?”
Many in the churches are not afraid. The proof of this is that they are continuing on, Sunday after Sunday, as though God’s Word does not indicate that judgment begins at the house of God (I Peter 4:17), as though God has not commanded them to depart out of the midst of Jerusalem (Luke 21:21), as though He has not said, “Come out of her, My people” (Revelation 18:4). They do not fear God at His revelation. Yet, the brethren of Joseph are afraid at Joseph’s presence. They are trembling at his presence—they are troubled at his presence—which is a very healthy and good thing.
Going back to Genesis 45, verse 4 says:
And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Joseph revealed himself, and his brothers were troubled at his presence. They were, basically, in shock. Then Joseph says, “Come closer, come near to me. Look at me—who am I? I know you. Remember how I seated you in order by your age when you had lunch with me?” Right now, his brothers are probably going through all the things that had just happened. Of course this was Joseph.
He says, “Come closer to me,” and they do. Joseph is assuring them that this is the truth of the situation. It does sound strange—how could it be that Joseph is in Egypt? How could it be that he is ruler of this country? How could all this be—it is incredible! But it is true.
We have seen that the language of “coming near to me” has to do with receiving the blessing of God. In Genesis 27, Isaac, whose eyes were dim, was going to give a blessing to Esau, but Jacob instead went and fetched the venison to give to his father. Isaac intended to bless Esau, but it was actually Jacob whom he wound up blessing. Isaac said to Jacob (thinking it was Esau), “Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son,” and Jacob came near. This word that is translated as “come/came/went/
bring/brought near,” is actually found six times in verses 21-27.
Jacob comes near, and Isaac blesses him—thinking that the one he is blessing is Esau. Later on, Jacob himself will call Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh near to him, and they will come near (Genesis 48:8-10). He will bless Ephraim first, and then Manasseh.
Coming near is language indicating that one is receiving the blessing of God, which has to do with salvation. When Jacob received the blessing and Esau did not, this indicated that Jacob was the favored son. He was the one who would typify the elect, while Esau would not typify the elect.
Now the brethren of Joseph are called near—“Come near to me to receive the blessing of God.” The elect of God will come close to Him. This is going on today as God is opening up the Scriptures, revealing truth and blessing His people.
Can we say that we have been blessed? We tend to dwell on the negative aspects of the Great Tribulation—God’s judgment and His wrath—but have we not also been blessed during this time? If it is true (and it is) that there is a famine in the land of hearing the Word of the Lord (Amos 8:11) and that the people in the churches are not being saved nor are their ears being opened up to salvation, and yet God has called the true believers out—have we not been blessed by that? Yes, we have been blessed.
Outside of the church, we are now in a situation where there is no prohibition or blocking of God’s Word. There is the possibility that God might save those who come under the hearing of His Word but are not already saved. The true believers are now in a situation where they can share the Gospel and expect God to bless His Word according to His will. All of this is part of the blessing of God. He has called us near, He has called us close to Him; and this is the same pattern that has developed as Joseph calls his brethren near.
Then in Genesis 45:5, it says:
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
What Joseph proclaims to them is amazing, is it not? Joseph is telling them, “Be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves.” Now, what had they done? Deuteronomy 24:7 says:
If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
They took their brother, they took someone from among the children of Israel, and sold him as merchandise. They sold their own brother, and, according to the Bible, this made them worthy for death. This was a sin that God stated one should face the death penalty over. They should have been put to death for this; yet Joseph told them, “Be not grieved.”
Now this is strange. Psalm 38:18 declares, “I will be sorry for my sin.” Joseph, however, is saying, “Be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves.”
The brothers had shown an indication that they were grieved over their sin towards Joseph. Earlier, when things were not going their way with that cruel Egyptian lord who was demanding they go and bring their younger brother back with them, we read in Genesis 42:21-22:
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
They were guilty, and they were feeling their guilt. We know that Joseph heard this, because we read in verse 23:
And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Joseph realized that they were feeling sorrow and remorse over their sin. Therefore he says, “Be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves.” Historically, Joseph had forgiven his brethren, and he was not going to hold a grudge or be angry with them; he had forgiven them for this sin. The second part of Genesis 45:5 assists us in understanding what helped Joseph to forgive his brethren. We read there:
…for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Joseph had many years to think about all that had happened to him, twenty-two years to be exact. He was seventeen years old when he was thrown into a pit, and, at this time, he is thirty-nine. We know his precise age. This is the second year of the famine; he was thirty when he was lifted out of the prison (Genesis 41:46), the seven years of plenty would make him thirty-seven, now, immediately following two years of famine, he is thirty-nine. Twenty-two years earlier, he had been thrown into that pit—Joseph had a lot of time to think.
As a slave in Potiphar’s house, Joseph would have probably been thinking, “What is God doing?” Especially as things got worse, and Potiphar’s wife accused him of adultery that he did not commit, and as he was thrown into prison, he must have wondered all the more, “What is going on here? I keep trying to do it God’s way. I keep trying to be faithful and obedient to God. I keep trying to do things as the Word of God would have me to do them, but my life just keeps getting worse. It is turning into a bigger and bigger mess.”
“First I was thrown into a pit. Then I was sold to Midianite traders who sold me as a slave into Egypt for a period of years. I did the best I could there, and it looked like things were getting better when Potiphar lifted me up in his house, but then his wife lied against me, and now I am thrown into a prison. I am going down; everything is going from bad to worse.”
Joseph was in that prison at the time when Pharaoh’s butler and baker were also thrown in. They had dreams that troubled them, and it so happened that Joseph was someone to whom God had given the ability to interpret dreams. He interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker; the baker after three days was killed, and the butler restored to his office. Joseph said to the butler, “Remember me when you are before Pharaoh, because I have done nothing to come to this place.” Yet, he was forgotten. Everything he did was according to God’s will, yet things just kept getting worse and worse.
Finally, Pharaoh has dreams that greatly trouble him. He does not know why, but he knows these dreams are extremely important. They are troubling his soul to the point where Pharaoh believes that he must have the answer to them.
At this point, the butler remembers Joseph. Joseph is ushered out of prison and brought before Pharaoh, and overnight he is transformed from a slave in prison to being lifted up to the right hand of Pharaoh as his second in command. Now he begins to think and to understand why God did all these things. “This was God’s purpose; this was God’s reason all along. This is why there were all those difficult times in my life. This is why there were all those dark moments.”
It is true that when we understand God’s will for us, it helps us to live through the difficult things in our lives. When we can see no rhyme or reason as to what we are going through, and we are simply living without any particular understanding of what God is doing and things are assailing us, then we can get depressed, we can get cast down. But if we understand that God has a plan and a purpose and a will for us, and we only want to do things His way and leave everything under His control, then we realize that there is a purpose for everything. This understanding is what gives us direction and purpose for our lives. Therefore, Joseph is telling his brothers in verse 5:
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
This word “preserve” is found twice in Ezra 9:8-9, translated as “reviving.” Ezra is a book dealing with the Jews who were coming out of Babylonian captivity. We read in Ezra 9:8-9:
And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
This word is connected with grace in verse 8 and with God’s mercy in verse 9. Joseph uses it in Genesis 45, saying:
…God did send me before you to preserve life.
This language is pointing to God’s salvation plan; it is all related to that. Then verse 6 of Genesis 45 says:
For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
We know that this historical situation is pointing to a certain aspect of God’s salvation plan—the Great Tribulation. Acts 7:11 tells us that a “great affliction” came over the land, and we know that those two words are “Great Tribulation.” Everything fits perfectly. Joseph is revealing himself in the dividing point of this famine or dearth. He is revealing that he is not in Canaan but in Egypt. He is telling his brothers that the famine has been two years already and will continue five years more.
We continue to wonder, “What does God want us to learn by telling us this?” We can find the answer if we simply continue to do what we have been doing: see this for the historical parable that it is and look for the spiritual meaning. We know that Joseph is representing Christ. Joseph is telling his brethren everything they need to know regarding the famine of their day, just as Christ, if we use the parallel, is going to tell His brethren—the true believers—everything that they need to know regarding the time of Great Tribulation.
First of all, we can expect from this that God is going to tell His people when the Great Tribulation began, and He is going to tell them not at the beginning, but at the dividing point. Here Joseph says that the famine has been two years already in the land.
Now some people have said, “Why did you not know of the Great Tribulation at the time that it began? Why did you not know the dates and all of the things that were pertinent to the Great Tribulation from the very beginning?” This is because that was not God’s plan.
I am sure that Jacob and his family began to understand that they were in a famine. They probably could not put their finger on exactly what month or year that the famine had started, but they knew that they were in a famine. That was why they were going to Egypt to find corn. Now Joseph is saying that the famine has been two years in the land. If we go back two years, we can determine that in the year 1879 B.C., the famine started historically.
God is going to inform His people. According to this verse, we will know when the Great Tribulation began. It is interesting that we believe that we have a good idea that the Great Tribulation began in 1988. As we have studied the Bible, many things point to 1988 as the beginning point.
The year 1998 is interesting. Joseph is thirty-nine years old—there is no question about that—and the number thirty-nine is broken down to three times thirteen. The number three points to God’s purpose, and the number thirteen points to the end of the world. Therefore, it is God’s purpose that He will reveal the truth regarding end-time events once we reach that time of the end of the world, which comes after thirteen thousand years of history. 1988 happens to be the thirteen-thousandth year of the earth’s history, according to the Biblical calendar of Genesis. We now have a very good idea that 1988 was the beginning point of the Great Tribulation (there are other factors that point to this as well). According to this verse, we should expect to have some information of when the famine began because Christ will reveal it to us.
Now let us go to Luke 24, where we read of the account of the two men on the road to Emmaus. In verses 15-16, we read:
And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
This is the same as it was with Joseph’s brothers. Their eyes were holden; they did not know Joseph. But he made himself known to his brethren, and we read here in Luke 24:44-45:
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures…
Christ made Himself known, and when God makes Himself known, it is through the understanding of Scripture. When Daniel 12:11 states that the abomination of desolation will be standing in the holy place, we first read in Daniel 12:9-10:
And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Why is this? Because Christ will open up the understanding of Scripture, according to Luke 24. God makes Himself known to His brethren, to His people, just as Joseph made himself known to his brethren. Now Joseph is going to reveal information concerning the timing of the Great Tribulation. If we go back to Genesis 45:6, we read:
For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
What else is Joseph telling them? He has told them that the famine began in 1879 B.C., and now he is telling them that it is going to end in 1872 B.C., because seven years total will be the length of the famine. He is letting them know that this dearth, this great affliction that has come upon the land, will have an ending point in five more years. They know exactly when it is going to end. They could now live their lives with this knowledge. I am sure it was very helpful to them to know that it would not be a Great Tribulation that would go on for perhaps twenty years, but just for five years more.
As we look at the spiritual meaning of this, we see that Joseph is representing Christ. Christ, therefore, is going to reveal to His people the duration of the Great Tribulation. He is going to let His people know how long it will last.
First of all, He is going to let us know when it began (1988 in all likelihood). Then, He is going to inform us of the specific length of time that it will continue. We will know when the Great Tribulation will come to an end, and if we know when the Great Tribulation will come to an end, what else will we know? The Great Tribulation is the last event in God’s salvation plan. There is no other era; there is no other age coming. There will be nothing following it except the return of Christ. Therefore, if we know when the Great Tribulation will conclude, then we will know when the Lord Jesus Christ will return.
In following the same methodology in Genesis 45:6 that we have been following all along (in which we have seen all the parallels and how this relates to our present time of Great Tribulation), we understand that God is going to reveal to His people when the world will end. He is going to reveal the year.
Now Joseph did not get specific. He did not indicate that on such and such a date at such and such an hour the famine would end. Rather, he spoke in terms of years—“The famine has been two years and it will be five years more.” They could know that it began in 1879 and that it would end in 1872, but he was not specific. He could have been a little more specific with them, but he was not.
They did, however, know the year. They knew the year when that famine (which typifies the Great Tribulation according to Acts 7:11) would end. Joseph is picturing Christ, who is now opening up the Scriptures. What we know is that at the dividing point of the Great Tribulation, the Lord is going to reveal to His people the year of His return.
I believe that this is definite. I do not think that there is any question about it—this is what the Bible is teaching. God is going to reveal the year of His return. I am not saying that the year is definite. That is information that is not indicated here; it does not say what year is in view. But it does shows us that Joseph informed them of how much longer the famine would continue, which indicates that Christ is going to inform us of how much longer the Great Tribulation will continue.
Then in verse 7, it says:
And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
“A great deliverance,” “to preserve you a posterity in the earth;” this word “posterity” is the same word “remnant” that is found in Micah 7:18, where it says:
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
That remnant is the posterity of his heritage. Joseph says, “God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth.” This is speaking of the true believes in the churches and congregations, the remnant of God. They have to come out. They have to leave the church and come only under the care of Christ out in the world. It does not say, “God sent me to preserve you a posterity in the land of Canaan,” which would point to the church, but, “to preserve you a posterity in the earth,” in the world. Egypt is typifying the world. The remnant of God will be preserved as they are protected and nourished by Joseph in Egypt.
This also helps us to understand why Joseph said to them, “Be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves.” They had committed a horrible sin, but as Micah 7:18 indicates, God passes by the transgression of the remnant. They had transgressed, they had sinned greatly against Joseph, yet God passes it by. He forgives. He overlooks their sins because they all are paid for in Christ.
We are all sinners and all of our sin is against God (Psalm 51:4). Yet Joseph, a type of Christ, is saying, “As you sinned against me, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves. I am going to pass by all of your sins. All of your iniquities and transgressions are going to be forgiven. There will be a posterity that is preserved in the earth. Your lives will be saved by a great deliverance.”
Again, we tend to look at the negative aspects of this period of time. We look on the dark side of this time of Great Tribulation. Yet, it is a time of great deliverance, a time of great mercy as God is saving a great multitude across the earth. All of this would not have happened if the churches had continued on as they were. Because God is now judging them, there has to be another plan, and that plan is that Christ would continue to work outside of the churches—no longer using the testimony of the churches and congregations, but using believers outside of the congregations to bring the Gospel to the world. This will bring about a great deliverance. As the language of Genesis 45:7 says:
…to save your lives by a great deliverance.
This is definitely focused on salvation. God is going to save a great many people in this time of Great Tribulation, this time of the latter rain.
We will stop at this point and continue in Genesis 45, Lord willing, next time.