We are moving along in our study of the lives of Jacob and Joseph that took place such a long time ago in Egypt, where we are currently in Genesis 45. We have even been able to determine the exact year that the events in Genesis 45 took place—1877 B.C., roughly 3900 years ago. So, we know that 3900 years ago, the events that we are reading about in Genesis 45 took place.
When we read about something that took place 3900 years ago in secular history, for example, if some evidence of a particular kingdom or historical account is unearthed, this knowledge has no particular meaning to us today. It has very little relative meaning. All we can hopefully learn is how a particular people lived. We might be able to learn a little bit about their society and about their culture. We might be able to learn how these people and their cultures are somehow related to us—that they are our ancestors of long ago, and we know that modern man came out of these historical experiences in history, but that is basically all we can learn. This is the type of information that we can learn about from secular history, but as we read Biblical history, there is a different level of relativity altogether. Biblical history is related to man on an entirely different level than secular history. Learning about the Assyrians or Babylonians or Egyptians from the archeologists’ digs and finds pales greatly in its relationship to man in its comparison to Biblical history.
We know that it is God Himself who has recorded this Biblical history, and because of that, we can know that it is absolutely true. However, when we read the historical accounts that are recorded in our history books, we cannot always be certain of their validity. History can be revised and rewritten, it can be changed and altered; but not so with the Bible. Everything we read regarding Biblical history is absolutely true. We can know with complete certainty that the Biblical record happened exactly as we are reading it.
We also know that God is a God who knows the future. We know that God looks from the beginning of time to the end of time, and that He knows all things in between (Isaiah 46:10). He can bring about certain developments in history. He can cause things to happen. He can move in the lives of men, and He does move people to will and to do of His good pleasure, both the saved and the unsaved (Philippians 2:13). God orchestrates all events, and He brings all things to pass.
As far as Biblical history is concerned, God caused all of these things to transpire exactly as they did in the lives of these men. Joseph being sold as a slave into Egypt, his time in Potiphar’s house, his time in prison, his elevation as Pharaoh lifted him out of prison—God was orchestrating all of these events, bringing all these things to pass in order that we would have this Biblical historical account. But is that the only reason?
If we read the Bible as so many theologians would have us do, we would read and learn about the historical record, and we might also glean a few moral teachings. As we read the Biblical history of Joseph’s time in Potiphar’s house, we would discover that Joseph did not commit fornication with Potiphar’s wife, and we would be able to discern that we are to avoid fornication. But this level of understanding would not really be that much different than the moral teaching that we can learn from secular history—we can, of course, learn a few moral teachings from secular history, also.
If we were to follow what many churches teach today concerning Old Testament history, we would learn about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we would learn about a variety of things that happened in their lives. If we were to stop there and not look for the Gospel or the spiritual meaning of their lives and what happened to them, we would be only one step above reading the secular history books. Even on this level however, because the Bible is the Word of God and given to us by God, there would always be some benefit to reading Biblical historical accounts over secular history.
God, however, recorded this history for a reason. He gave it for a very distinct purpose, and that purpose was to teach the Gospel. For example, God charges the readers of the book of Galatians, “Do ye not hear the law?” Do you not hear what the Law says (Galatians 4:21)?
In Galatians 4, God gives us the account of Hagar and Sarah and their two sons, and He explains that they are pictures of the two covenants. These verses in Galatians were taken from the history of the book of Genesis. However, nowhere in the book of Genesis will you find that Hagar is referred to as a type of “Jerusalem which now is,” or that Sarah is a picture of “Jerusalem which is above,” or that their two sons are an allegory of the two covenants. This is not found in the book of Genesis.
We can determine from this that God is teaching us to how to understand the Bible, how to understand the history that we find in Genesis as well as elsewhere in Scripture. In Galatians, God tells us that these things are an allegory; they represent two covenants. Therefore, we can conclude that this account of Joseph’s life is a parable, an historical parable.
We now have to ask what the historical parable of the life of Joseph is, therefore, pointing to. What is the Gospel dimension of what we are reading? We have been going over Joseph’s history, and we have seen how this historical parable ties in and relates to our present day. We know that God Himself has connected what is going on during this famine of Joseph’s day to the Great Tribulation of our day. As we have already discovered, Acts 7:11 makes this connection very clear when it states that the famine (or the dearth) of Joseph’s day was a Great Affliction, a Great Tribulation.
We have seen again and again how this relates to our day. 3900 or so years ago, God was moving within these men of old as they lived out their lives and said the things that they said in the circumstances that they were in (2 Peter 1:21). These words were recorded by Moses a few hundred years later as God gave him the information. Moses is the one who wrote the Pentateuch, and it was all recorded in exact detail as God wanted us to have it.
In this account, God is looking ahead to the Great Tribulation and the end of the world. He knew exactly what He was doing when He said in Genesis 45:1:
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.
Two years had already passed, and now in the midst of a famine, Joseph is making Himself known.
Then we read in verse 6:
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 have seen that Joseph represents Christ—this has been continuous throughout all these chapters. Why change it now? Joseph still represents Christ. We also know that the famine represents the Great Tribulation. We know that for two years, Joseph has concealed his identity; he has hid himself from his brethren. Now he is revealing himself.
What does this mean? It can only mean one thing: that God sealed up the Word till the time of the end. As Daniel 12:4 indicates:
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Are Joseph’s brethren, the Israelites, gaining knowledge at this point? Are they learning? Yes, they are learning a lot. They are learning a great deal about the famine that they are in. First of all, they are learning that the famine has been going on for exactly two years, and that there are going to be five more years of famine.
There is no possibility that they can survive a severe seven-year famine in the land of Canaan. Would it be possible for them to go back and continue to live in the land of Canaan? Would it be possible for them to find sustenance in a land when there are no crops, as it says, “there shall neither be earing nor harvest”? There has been no crops for two years, and for five more years, for the duration of this famine, there will be no harvest. Can they go back?
A great amount of information is being revealed to them, and we know that this is pointing to our day. God has told us that during the Great Tribulation, He will open up Scriptures. He will give His people (who are typified by the Israelites, the brethren of Joseph) increased knowledge regarding the Great Tribulation.
We cannot miss that this opening up of the Scriptures contains the fact that Joseph, or Christ, will tell His people exactly how long the tribulation will be. In this passage, Joseph tells his brethren that the famine will be seven years long. They would have been able to discern that the famine began in 1879. It is now 1877, the second year of the famine, and they now know that it will last for five more years. It will continue until 1872 B.C., then the famine will be over. Historically, they would then enter another phase of history, another stage of God’s salvation plan.
We know that they would continue to live in Egypt for a period of 430 years, but the picture that God is drawing here is of the Great Tribulation. He is telling us that this time typifies the Great Tribulation. Joseph typifies Christ. Joseph is telling his brethren exactly how long the famine will be, which means that Christ will tell His people—in the dividing point of the Great Tribulation—exactly how long the Great Tribulation will last. Christ will let His people know the time duration of the Great Tribulation.
The Great Tribulation is the last event that will occur before the end of the world, when Christ will return. There is nothing that comes after the Great Tribulation. The Apostles asked Jesus in Matthew 24:3, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus goes on to describe the Great Tribulation. Then later, in verse 30, we read, “They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.” We know from this that the next thing we will see is the return of Christ.
Therefore, if we or anyone else knows exactly how long the Great Tribulation will last and when it will end, then we will also know the timing of Christ’s return. We will be able to know the date, as far as the year goes, of the end of the world.
Is God indicating here that He will tell His people exactly how much more time they will have of the Great Tribulation, just as Joseph told his brethren, “Yet there are five years”? The answer would seem to be yes, He will reveal this to His people. Part of the increase of knowledge that has been sealed up has been a date, concerning the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is plenty of information in the Bible that does point to the fact that God will give His people information concerning the timing of His return, and we see that here.
Then in verse 7, it says:
And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth…
We have seen that this word “posterity” is the same word as “remnant.” In this verse, God is speaking about His remnant in the earth. We see this same word in Micah 7:18, where we read that the Lord “passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage.” This is pointing to those who are saved. In the passage in Genesis, we can see that Joseph was sent before his brethren to preserve or to keep this remnant in the earth.
It is interesting that in Revelation 11:13, after the two witnesses stand upon their feet, we read:
And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
“The tenth part of the city fell.” The tenth part usually relates to the believers. In the Old Testament, we read that there were seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). They were the remnant of Israel. We read that “the remnant were affrighted.”
So, why is God indicating here that judgment comes upon the remnant? Earlier in Revelation, in chapter 8, we read that the third part is destroyed. Again and again throughout Revelation 8, judgment falls on the third part. Why is this? I thought that God likened the believers to the third part? Back in Zechariah 13:8-9, we read of two parts being destroyed and one part, the third part, being brought through the fire.
God is indicating that when we get to a certain point in the Great Tribulation, judgment will fall on the remnant in the church. There was a group in the churches and congregations that was so close to the true believers, you could not tell them apart. They gave the appearance of being the remnant of God. They believed in election. They could understand spiritual things, even parables. They recognized the need for there to be teaching on Hell. They were growing together with the true believers in the churches, and God let them grow together.
Then we came to the point in time when God opened up the Scriptures and called His people out. God began to separate the wheat from the tares. A distinction was made between those who gave such a close appearance of being true believers and those who actually were.
Those who are left in the churches and congregations can now be called the remnant because the true believers have come out. For instance, today there are still a handful of churches that teach election and Hell and many truths that are apparently faithful to the Bible. They are giving the appearance of being this remnant. Yet God has a plan whereby He is going to finally judge the tenth part. He will bring judgment on the seven thousand; the remnant will be destroyed.
That is why in Genesis 45 Joseph says, “God sent me before you to preserve a remnant…” not in the church, but in the earth. The true remnant is now to go to Egypt. The true remnant is to be outside of the churches and congregations. They are to be out in the world. This is where the elect of God (which is always the true remnant) will be found. This is how God will preserve a remnant in the earth and “save your lives by a great deliverance.”
Then in verse 8, we read:
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God…
We wonder about this. Joseph is speaking to his brethren and saying, “It was not you who sent me here.” Was it not them? I thought that they were the ones who threw him into a pit and sold him to Midianite slave traders. Did that not result in his going into Egypt?
Joseph has come to the realization of a very important truth: “God,” he says “sent me before you to preserve you a posterity. It was not you that sent me hither but God.” God is the One, Joseph realizes, who is behind all circumstances and happenings. All occurrences—every thing that takes place in the world—are conducted by God.
We say that God orchestrates events. What does a conductor do? He directs or orchestrates a band. The conductor indicates, “It is this one’s turn to sound; now it is that one’s turn to sound with that instrument.” He is conducting all of the different parts of the band, and he orchestrates it so that it all sounds beautiful, so that it all fits together and becomes one piece.
God is the conductor of all events, of everything. As we look at it, things seem chaotic. If we read the papers or listen to the news, or even dwell on our own lives, we can get to the point where we wonder, “Where is the order? What is going on here? Is God in control? Everything seems haphazard. It seems that things just happen randomly, that the pieces fall where they may.”
There are a lot of different expressions to describe this, but actually, it never is haphazard. Nothing is ever random chance or coincidental. Things always, always are orchestrated by God—every event, even the thoughts that we think.
Now we must be careful, because God is never the author of sin—the Bible is clear about that (James 1:13-17). But He is the One who restrains sin, and He is the One who lifts His hand of restraint. According to the degree that He restrains or lifts His restraint, that is how man will respond. He hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so Pharaoh responded in a very predictable way.
God restrains mankind to some degree. He will have His hand of restraint upon men’s lives and upon their sins. We will see some people acting morally and decently in certain areas. For others, God will lift His hand of restraint off of them, and we will see people committing unbelievably grievous sin.
All is ultimately and finally under God’s control and His power, and He is working all things out in accordance with His plan. As far as believers, God says, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Proverbs 21:1). The king’s heart, the child of God, is in the hand of the Lord. He is in the will of God. We may think that we know what we are doing; where we are going, what job we will work at, how we will give our money, who will become our friend and who will not, whom we marry and whom we do not, what children we have—but the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, and He turns it as the rivers of water.
Have you ever seen a picture of the Amazon River, and how it makes those wide, looping turns? It can be straight for a long period of time, then suddenly it turns. This is a good example of our lives as they are in God’s hands. He will move us as the rivers of water. He knows our destination; He knows where He wants us. For instance, we can wonder who will be going on this or that tract trip. We do not know. We may have an idea, but God knows definitely who will go. He knows whom they are going to meet while passing out tracts, and whom He is going to save, etc. This is only a very small example of God’s sovereignty. But, what about the unsaved? God also says that He seals their instructions as they lie upon their beds (Job 33:15-16). His instructions are sealed for the coming Day.
This is what we see in Genesis 45. God’s sovereignty in all areas is what Joseph is beginning to realize—“It was not you that sent me hither, but God.”
We also have this example concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 2:22-23, we read:
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God…
So who did it? God did it; it was His determinate counsel and His foreknowledge. The passage continues:
…ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
God set the circumstances. Christ became man. He entered into the human race and went to a rebellious people, a people who were far from God in their hearts. At a certain point in time, God released His hand of restraint and man acted predictably. Man’s nature is very predictable; therefore the Jews took Him with their wicked hands and turned Him over to the Romans. Christ was crucified and slain, all in full accord with the will of God.
This was God’s will, and this is what we can see in the life of Joseph. He is a type of Christ. It was his brothers’ evil intent to sell him into slavery, yet God had other purposes. Joseph speaks of this later in Genesis. In Genesis 50, seventeen years later after Jacob dies, this is still fresh on their minds. We read in verses 18-20:
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
This is exactly the same thing. They intended evil; they thought evil. They had no good intentions as they violently threw him into a pit. But God turned it to good. “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose,” it says in Romans 8:28.
We can look at our lives, and if we are a child of God, if we love God (only because He first loved us), then everything is working together for good. No matter how bad it seems, no matter how terrible it is—severe physical illness, financial problems, family problems, divorce—all things are working together for good to those who love God. This can be a great comfort to each and every believer. We trust that as we look at a problem and can not see any possible good that can come from it that God is the One who is behind everything, and that He can work things out for good.
Joseph has come to this understanding. He has come to the realization that it was not his brethren that sent him hither, but God. Notice how this helps him to forgive his brethren, how it enables him to forgive them. He realizes that God had a purpose, and he goes on to say in Genesis 45:8:
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh…
We have been looking for the spiritual meaning, and we have seen that Pharaoh is a picture of God, and Joseph is a picture of Christ. Now it says, “He hath made me a father to Pharaoh.” Is this a problem? We know that Christ is the Son. That is how the Bible teaches us about the Lord Jesus—He is the Son in the triune Godhead. But Jesus also says, “I and My Father are One” (John 10:30). He is saying, “I am the same as the Father. ‘He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.’ If you have heard My words, you have heard His words” (John 14:9-10).
Back in Isaiah 9, as the promise is given of the coming Messiah, we read in verse 6:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The Son is called “the everlasting Father.” He is the everlasting Father. Therefore, there is no problem here as Joseph says that he is made a father. He is typifying Christ, who is the Son, but we cannot distinguish the persons of the Godhead. They are three persons but One; we do not try to understand that. Then it goes on to say in Genesis 45:8:
…and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Again, this is the spiritual house of God. We read in Hebrews 3:6 that Christ is a “Son over His own house; whose house are we.” Pharaoh made Joseph a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt and the lord of his entire house, just as Christ is Lord over the spiritual house of God.
Let us go to Psalm 50:10-12, which says:
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
Egypt is a picture of the world, and God says that the whole world is His. Joseph, the Lord Jesus, is made a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. He is the ruler of the world.
Going on to Genesis 45:9, we read:
Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
Now that Joseph has revealed himself, it is a different story. This is not the beginning part of the Great Tribulation, when they first showed themselves in Egypt and Joseph concealed himself.
It is interesting that Joseph concealed himself for quite a long period of time, but now that he has revealed himself, he says, “Haste ye; hurry up. Come quickly. You have to go back to Canaan. You have to get my father Jacob and all the clan and bring them back into Egypt.” There is a sense of urgency.
Why was he not that urgent earlier on? Because at that point, it was not the time for urgency. God had a plan, and according to His plan, there was to be silence in Heaven for “about the space of half an hour” (Revelation 8:1). There was to be no opening up of the Scriptures during the first part of the Great Tribulation. But when we transition into the second part of the Great Tribulation, it is a different story.
For instance, Revelation 18:4, which says “Come out of her, My people,” has been in the Bible for nearly two thousand years. It was in the Bible for the first part of the Great Tribulation. Was there any sense of urgency during the early days of this Great Tribulation as believers read that particular verse or the rest of Revelation 17 and 18? There was nothing. We did not see it; we did not understand it. But now God has opened the Scriptures and taught us that Babylon is a reference to the church that has become a harlot and is under His judgment. Now there is a sense of urgency when we read of Babylon in Revelation 18:4:
…Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Now we have to speedily obey; we have to quickly do God’s will. We did not understand it before, but now it is a different matter. Now Joseph has made himself known, and he is telling them, “Haste ye, haste ye. Do not take your time in returning to Canaan. Then once you are there, do not feel like you have all the time in the world. This is a grievous famine, a grievous dearth, that has come upon all the world. You must come into Egypt.”
This is the same as when God indicates that His people must come out of the church. There is a famine in the land, a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord (Amos 8:11). This is not a time to take leisurely. We do have to study these things; but some people say, “I am going to study that further,” and then they do not study it. They do not read the Bible; they do not check things out. They feel that they have all the time in the world. They say, “Maybe next week I will get around to studying that issue. Maybe I will check out those verses when I get some time.” No, this is not that kind of a doctrine. This is not that kind of teaching. This is a doctrine that affects one’s life, and it is very urgent.
Therefore, God is indicating that we must quickly obey. If we do not understand this doctrine right away, then we must make the time to check it out. We must get serious about it. We can sit down and read the book “The End of the Church Age and After” or “Wheat and Tares.” We can find out what these books are saying and check to see if God truly is teaching that the Church Age has come to an end. If He has, then we are to get out! Get out of Canaan and go into Egypt. Get out of the church and go into the world.
Let us look at Genesis 19 where we read of this issue of haste in connection to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. These men, these angels, that we read about were actually God making an appearance. It says in verses 12-16:
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered…
God is hastening him; the angels are hastening him. The city is going to be destroyed shortly, and Lot is lingering. He had family there, his daughters and his sons and his sons-in-law, and he could have had grandchildren. He cared for them—they were his own family. This can cause someone to linger and to not quickly obey the Word of God, and this is what caused Lot to not obey when these angels were telling him, “Get out of the city.” Yet he is lingering, because of family concerns. Then it says in verses 16-17:
And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
This is why there is an urgency and a need to make haste. This is why we have to quickly obey: because fire and brimstone will soon fall upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
Historically, the destruction was so soon behind their departure that they could feel the heat and hear the sound of the brimstone hitting the ground. Lot’s wife looked behind--that is how close it was. Yet with us, we might be thinking, “God is judging the church, but it is a spiritual judgment, right? It is a spiritual famine, and we know that there is no salvation taking place within the churches and congregations. Because it is a spiritual famine, it is not all that urgent.”
Yes, it is a spiritual famine, but remember that God is judging the church in that He is binding them as tares to be thrown into the fire (Matthew 13:30). The fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom is right on the heels of the churches and congregations of our day. It is right at the door. All of those that remain in the churches are going to be bundled up as tares and thrown into the fire and cast down into Hell. This is an extremely urgent matter and a reason not to linger, but to obey.
The wonderful thing that we read in these verses is that the Lord being merciful, took Lot by the hand. We might linger, but God will take us by the hand and get us out. The hand represents the will; therefore, the Word of God will convince His people and move them to come out of the church.
Joseph is urging his brethren, “Go back to Canaan now. Haste ye. Go back now that you have this information that I have made known to you. I have let you in on this secret that has been hidden. I have let you know that Joseph now reigns in Egypt. Now haste ye, get out of Canaan and bring your whole family to Egypt.” Now that God has made known that the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God, has departed out of the midst of the churches and congregations, there is a need for the people of God to make haste and come out.
Let us read the last part of verse 9, which says:
Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
Egypt would be to the south of Judah and Jerusalem. It would be in a lower-lying area by which one would have to go south to get there. That is why Joseph says, “Come down unto me.” But as with everything in the Bible, there is a reason and a purpose for this language. Why “come down” to Egypt?
We have to come lower; we have to humble ourselves under the will of God (1 Peter 5:6). We have to humble ourselves and be obedient to God’s command. We have to leave Canaan, which is the Promised Land, the place that God promised to the fathers. Now we must enter into Egypt, the world, a place that it is hard to find anything good about in the Bible. We must come down and lower ourselves, humble ourselves.
Likewise, as God is commanding those in the churches to come out, this takes humility. It takes someone to lower themselves beneath the Word of God and to come down off the pedestal, to come down beneath the Word of God and be obedient to it, to do it God’s way and in accordance to His will as we find it in His Word. “Come down unto me, tarry not.”