During our study in Genesis, we have looked at the account of Joseph and Jacob and the famine of that day. Now, we are on our last study in this series.
We have seen that as this worldwide famine progressed in severity, the people of Egypt were coming to Joseph (who was a representative for Pharaoh). First, they gave Joseph all of their money. Then they sold all of their cattle and livestock. Finally, all they had left was their land and themselves, and at that point they told Joseph, “We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent…buy us and our land for bread” (Genesis 47:18-19). Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, and all the people of Egypt as servants to Pharaoh.
This was an incredible occurrence for Egypt and for the throne. Pharaoh’s position as ruler of the land was now mightily established as it had never been before. We can see how, over time, he would be looked upon by the people of Egypt as a god. This Pharaoh owned everything—all the livestock, all the land—even the people. As we saw in our last study, it was a generous act on Pharaoh’s part to allow the people to keep four parts of their harvest for themselves and only require the fifth part to be given back to him.
Did the people have any other option than to sell themselves and their belongings? Their only other option was to slowly die of starvation. Therefore, they say to Joseph and Pharaoh in Genesis 47:25:
And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
This is a clear picture of salvation. During that famine, these people were bought with a price. They were bought by Pharaoh, who typifies God, and by Joseph, who represents the Lord Jesus Christ. They were bought and they were no longer their own.
Likewise, all believers can say that they have been bought. God tells us that we are not our own once we have become saved, that we do not own ourselves but are His servants. He says this to all Christians, to every child of God. This is also what happened to the people of Egypt.
The thing that stands out to us is that this happened to everyone in Egypt. The whole nation was bought—every single person in Egypt, with the exception of the priests. We read in Genesis 47:22:
Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh…
Another exception would be Jacob’s family, the Israelites. They were not bought. They were given the land of Goshen, which is another picture of salvation.
When Jacob and the Israelites go into Goshen, it is one picture of salvation. When God establishes that the priests’ land not be bought, it is another picture of the body of believers. a third picture (and one that uses the vast majority of the people in view here) is the nation of Egypt—the men the women and the children. We do not know how many people this was (the Bible does not tell us), but we do know that Egypt was a mighty nation in the world of that day. We can imagine that there were probably a few million people in Egypt who were bought, if not more. Compared to the total population of the world at that time, this would have been a great number of people that God had redeemed in this picture.
This all takes place during the second part of the famine. This is after the first two years, when Jacob and his sons were still suffering the effects of the famine in the land of Canaan. They have now come out and ventured into Egypt; it is the second part of this seven-year famine, and there will be five more years to go from the time when Jacob enters into Egypt.
As it is progressing, the people of Egypt are being bought. Every single one of them—a great multitude, a vast majority of these people in Egypt—was bought and redeemed. What we see is that God has a plan during the second stage of the Great Tribulation, a plan to save a great many people. That is what we can learn as we are reading about all of the people in Egypt being purchased and redeemed by God.
We know that this dearth that came over the land typifies the time of Great Tribulation—Acts 7:11 tells us this. We have been comparing these historical happenings in Genesis to the spiritual events that God informs us of in the Bible, which He says will take place during the Great Tribulation. Do we find anywhere in the Bible where God indicates that a great multitude is going to be saved during the time of the Great Tribulation?
Now, would that not stand out if we were wrong, if we were totally off base in our understanding of what is going on here? Let us say that we continue holding to our previous understanding of the Great Tribulation, where the Gospel is being pinched off and fewer and fewer people are being saved in the world. Then we come here to Genesis, and we see that it is a historical parable of the Great Tribulation. Wow, everyone in Egypt was redeemed! How would we fit that in? In our previous understanding, Satan is becoming more and more powerful and the Gospel lights are going out; fewer and fewer people are being saved. How could we harmonize this and make it fit?
God has really corrected us. He has made us rethink our previous understanding (the understanding that as we go further along in the Great Tribulation, fewer and fewer people are going to be saved), and He has done it by revealing His Word and opening up the Scriptures. He has let us know that His plan is for the Gospel light in the church to be put out, but not in the world. He is going to send forth the Gospel, and that is light that brings salvation into the dark world. He is going to save a great multitude.
That is what we have learned from other passages. And now, as we read what is going on in Genesis 47, we see that it harmonizes and fits together.
During the second part of this awful famine, which God Himself says in Acts 7:11 typifies the Great Tribulation, all Egypt is redeemed. They have all been bought, and they say to Joseph, “Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord.” That is language of salvation, and, therefore, this picture of being redeemed, being bought by Joseph during the second part of the famine, is very definitely pointing to God’s saving work during the second half of the Great Tribulation, the second stage. It fits with what we read in John 21, where some of the Apostles (I think there were seven of them) went fishing. It says in John 21:3:
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
Because the “night” is pointing to the darkness of the Great Tribulation, especially the first part when nobody is being saved, no fish are caught. If you look up “fish” everywhere in the Bible, it clearly points to men. God likens those whom He saves to fish. He told the fisherman, when He was calling them to be Apostles, “I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
Here in John 21, they catch no fish. They catch nothing that night because no one is being saved during the 2300 days of the first part of the Great Tribulation. But then in verses 4-6, we read:
But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
“The multitude of fishes”—the first part was the darkness, the night. They do not catch a thing. But then Christ appears. They do not recognize Him—He is on the shore, veiled and hidden from them. They do not know that this is the Word made flesh, that this is Christ Himself, until Jesus makes Himself known. Then verse 7 says:
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord…
Now God is opening up the Scriptures that have been sealed, His Word that has been closed up until the time of the end. Now they can see that it is the Lord. Jesus gives them instructions on how and where to do the fishing, just as He is telling His people today where to fish.
Are we to continue fishing from the ship, from the churches and congregations of the world? Not unless we enjoy catching nothing. Not unless we like going fishing and coming home with an empty bucket. No, we are to come out of the church and share the Gospel to the world from that vantage point. And what are we going to catch? A multitude of fish. That is what we read here—“they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” Then in verses 8-9, we read:
And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
They take the fish, drag them to the land, and find a fire of coals. They lay the fish on the fire, because when someone becomes saved, then, immediately, their sins are placed on Christ and forgiven. It is as though they have gone through the fires of Hell with Him. The sins of that individual whom God just saved have been washed away, and the only way sins are washed away is when Jesus pays the penalty of enduring the equivalent of an eternity in Hell. The fish are laid on the fire; it is a figure that God uses to show that they have gone through Hell in Christ.
We see the same picture in Acts 28. This is following the information of Acts 27, where the ship was destroyed in a shipwreck. That ship is pointing to the church; it never made its destination—those on board barely got to shore. Yet God saved everyone who was onboard, 276 souls, some of whom found broken pieces of the ship that they managed to float to shore on.
Some people have tried to use this to say, “You see, there will be a remnant of churches. The ship is destroyed, but they are still using a log or a beam that was part of the ship in order to get to shore.” That kind of thinking might be allowable, except that the shore is not picturing Heaven. The shore is picturing the time when believers are coming out of the churches and congregations; and once they get to that shore, it is pointing to that second half of the Great Tribulation. Therefore, even if we would allow that a broken piece of the ship was a church that someone was drastically holding onto to make it to land, it does not indicate that they are holding onto the ship or holding on as a member of a congregation until the end. The shore is not picturing Heaven, but the coming out of the congregations—because now they are amongst the barbarous people of the land and the ship is gone.
There is another picture of salvation in Acts 28:2-3. It says:
And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold…
This would be pointing to the latter rain. It continues:
…And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks…
This word “bundle” is actually the word “multitude.” Paul gathered a “multitude” of sticks. The passage continues:
…and laid them on the fire…
Just like the multitude of fish were laid on a fire, this “multitude of sticks” is pointing to those who will be saved and will have their sins forgiven when they become saved. They have gone through the fires of Hell in the person of Christ. Again, a multitude is in view.
Think how we look at this historically. Would you gather a multitude of sticks for a fire? This has in view a number that can not be counted, yet the reason God uses this language is because He is pointing to those whom He intends to save during the second half of the Great Tribulation.
Now these are figures—the fish and the sticks. But God comes right out and clearly states this idea in Revelation 7. He does not make us doubt. We do not need to see any synonyms after the first few verses of the chapter. He has been talking about sealing the 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, which would total 144,000; these 144,000 are the first fruits, as we read later on in Revelation 14. The firstfruits began being gathered at the Feast of Pentecost, which signaled the beginning of the New Testament Church Age, and would continue to be gathered throughout the Church Age. Then it says in Revelation 7:9:
After this…
“After this”—it is after the firstfruits have been gathered in, after the 144,000 have been sealed and saved. That 144,000 is looking at the fullness of those whom God would save during the New Testament Church Age. The verse continues:
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude…
“A great multitude”—again, the phrase “after this” is pointing to today. It is pointing to this last part of the Great Tribulation, when there are only a few short days left before Christ returns. This is the last event before the end of the world, and God has saved the best for last. He is going to save a great multitude. It continues:
…which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues…
Four groups are mentioned, because this is going to be worldwide. It is going to be a universal salvation of God as He is going to do His mighty work in all the lands of the world, saving people outside the churches and congregations. It goes on to say of these people, this great multitude, that they:
…stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Let us remember what we read in Daniel 12:9-10, which says:
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…
“Many”—a great multitude qualifies as many, does not it? Many will be made white.
God is giving us plentiful information here. He is letting us know in many different ways and forms that His plan is to save a great multitude. How many is a great multitude? Out of six billion people, how many would it be? We know that the vast majority of six billion will not become saved; that is not going to change. There will be billions standing before God on the Day of Judgment who will be found guilty and thrown into Hell forevermore.
But what about the remnant that will be saved? Out of six billion, it could be 100,000 people; it could be 150,000 people; it could be 200,000 people. We do not know exactly how many God is going to save, but we do know that it is a vast number that no man can count or know. It is a great multitude, the final fulfillment, the fullness of all Israel. It is the completion of God’s promise to Abraham when God said, “Look now toward Heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Genesis 15:5). A great multitude of people are going to be brought into the Kingdom and become saved.
Going back to Revelation 7:9, it says that the great multitude was:
…clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Then verses 10-13 read:
And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Whom is this question referring to? The great multitude are the ones who are clothed in white robes. The question is asked, “Where did they come from?” They are not the 144,000 who were sealed. Who are these people that have found salvation?
God wants us to know the answer—that is why He highlights it here by asking the question. He did not have to ask the question, so why did He? He did it in order that we would know the answer. Verse 14 says:
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation…
“Great Tribulation”–those two words only identify with one period in history. It is just like the three thousand that became saved on the day of Pentecost. Those three thousand and Pentecost are joined together; we know that the day of Pentecost is when those people became saved. Likewise, this great multitude became saved during the final Great Tribulation of the world.
God would send this little season of affliction, of judgment; and yet along with it, He would send salvation. It is a little season where there will be salvation, a final season where God will pour out the latter rain and bring forth the fruit so that He can complete His overall salvation plan. This world can find its end, and the New Heavens and the New Earth can begin.
These came out of Great Tribulation. We see as we are reading in Genesis 47 that what is in view is God’s plan to save a great multitude. He has been doing this in our day. He is continuing to do it, and He will do it until the last of His elect are saved. Redeeming all the people of Egypt is a picture of the great multitude that God intends to save in our day.
Going on back in Genesis 47:27, we read:
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
This is yet another picture. Even though we know that Israel’s multiplication, as God increased them into a mighty nation, was extended over a 430 year period, God uses it here in this context. He inserts this verse to let us know that, once again, we should not miss the point. “Yes, I redeemed all of Egypt; and yes, My plan is to save a great multitude during that last stage of the Great Tribulation. Therefore, Israel ‘multiplied exceedingly.’” It is reemphasizing the truth that God is going to save a great many souls today.
Then verse 28 says:
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
Remember, earlier Jacob had gone to Pharaoh and Pharaoh asked him one question: “How old art thou?” Jacob replied that he was 130, saying “Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been” (Genesis 47:8-9). Therefore, we know that from this point (of which we even know this date: 1877 B.C.), Jacob would live seventeen more years, and he would die at the age of 147, in the year 1860 B.C.
God gives us all this detailed information; we have exact dates. We have seen before how very significant it is that Jacob said he was 130. This points to the fact that God’s plan is to bring these things to pass after 13,000 years of history. This occurred in 1988, which was the earth’s 13,000th year anniversary.
We also know that there is a timeline—we have talked about this before—that comes from Daniel 12, referring to 1290 days when the abomination will be set up. We have seen how, using a day for a year as the Bible permits us to do, this 1290 can be tied to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. From 1877 B.C. to 587 B.C. is 1290 years.
We also saw, using another Biblical principle, that there is a one-third/two-thirds ratio that God uses at times. For instance, after entering into Egypt, they would stay there for 430 years. If you triple the 430, it becomes 1290 and again falls on 587 B.C. Taking that same principle of one-third/two-thirds, we could triple the 1290 and we would get 3870 years. Counting 3870 years from 1877 B.C., we would arrive in A.D. 1994.
These are significant dates. We are taking the date 1877 B.C., which is not the beginning of the famine but the dividing point after two years, and when we add 1290, we reach the date 587 B.C. This date is another historical picture of the Great Tribulation, but it does not fall on the beginning of the destruction of Jerusalem. It falls at the dividing point in that seventy-year judgment of God. The beginning point was 609 B.C. The year 587 B.C. is sort of the first part of that event—there would still be another 46 or 47 years until the seventy years would be fulfilled in 539 B.C.
In sum, 1877 B.C. is the dividing point of a historical picture pointing to the Great Tribulation. When we add 1290, we land on the date of another historical parable of the Great Tribulation, the destruction of Jerusalem. And when you project it into the future by adding 3870, we would expect that the resultant date of 1994 AD would fall not on the beginning of the Great Tribulation, but on a dividing point. 1988 would, in all likelihood, be the beginning, and 1994 would be the dividing point, the beginning of the second part.
I know that this is a lot, but I say it because we have to understand the seventeen years. Why does God tell us that Jacob was in Egypt for seventeen years?
God is giving us a different picture. We know that the famine would end five years after Jacob entered into Egypt, or in 1872 B.C, and that Jacob would live twelve years beyond this. But this picture is just like that of Israel multiplying exceedingly. The seventeen years here looks at the duration of the second part of the Great Tribulation. It looks at the timeline that God will give Jacob (the elect) in Egypt (the world) before Jacob dies.
Now what happens when Jacob dies? What happens when any believer dies? Their spirit goes to be with the Lord. It is a parting—our spirit parts—and it is a picture of the rapture when our spirit goes to be with the Lord forevermore. So Jacob, typifying the elect, will live seventeen years in Egypt, and then his spirit will go to be with the Lord.
Seventeen years, counting from 1994, would fall on the year 2011. That would tie in with the other time passage from the flood of “yet seven days” that falls on 2011. This would just be a little more evidence that the year 2011 is a very significant date, and that there is a likelihood it could be the end of the world.
Continuing in Genesis 47, we read in verse 29:
And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
Here, Jacob is calling his son Joseph and he makes an unusual request: put your hand under my thigh. As he does this, in actuality he is drawing on family history. Abraham made this kind of request of his servant Eliezer back in Genesis 24. (The servant is not named in this chapter, but we know his name from Genesis 15:2.) We read in Genesis 24:2-3:
And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
As the account continues, that servant goes back to Haran and he does find a wife for Isaac. Yet we are not interested in that (even though it is a picture of the Gospel, because Isaac is a type of Christ; the servant is sent to get the bride, which would be pointing to the Gospel going into the world and Christ’s bride being gathered to Him). Before this servant goes, though, Abraham makes him put his hand under Abraham’s thigh.
The word “thigh” is also translated as “loins.” For instance, when it says that seventy souls came out of Jacob’s loins in Genesis 46:27, that word “loins” is the word “thigh.” It is pointing to the fact that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, will come out of the loins of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. He will come down through the line, and one day become the Son of David. The Lord Jesus will come through the loins of these men. That is the picture as Jacob is saying to Joseph, “Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me.”
Further on, Jacob makes Joseph swear, just as Abraham made Eliezer swear. This is pointing to God’s final plans for the consummation of the Gospel. Jacob is typifying the elect, who know that everything that is going to happen—Christ’s departure, His rapture, the carrying up of the believers—will happen because of the Messiah who will come from the loins of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Christ will come down through the lines of history and be born. Really, this is all focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of Him, God’s salvation plan will be begun and God will finish it.
Jacob is making this request of Joseph, and he says, “Deal kindly and truly with me.” But look at Joshua 2:14. These are the spies talking to the harlot Rahab, and they say to her in verse 14:
And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.
That is a picture of salvation. Rahab and her family were spared. Actually, the word “kindly” here and in Genesis 47 is the word “mercy”—“we will deal mercifully and truly with thee.” Jacob is using this language as he is speaking to Joseph his son, because Joseph is a type of Christ. “Deal kindly and truly with Your people, O Lord. Deal kindly and truly and complete Your salvation plan. Fulfill Your promise; fulfill Your Word that You have promised to Your saints since the world began that You will bring us out of this world and into the New Heavens and the New Earth.” That is what is in view here as Jacob is saying, “Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.”
Egypt is a picture of the world. “Do not leave my body here in this world. I do not want to remain here. No, I want to go to the buryingplace.” As Genesis 47:30 says:
But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace…
Let us go back to Genesis 23, where Abraham purchases a buryingplace after Sarah’s death. In Genesis 23:3-4, we read:
And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
Then there is bartering back and forth, and in the sight of all the people of the land, Abraham purchases a cave in Machpelah where he will bury Sarah. The purchase of this cave is pointing to God’s purchase of the world so that He can recreate it into the New Heavens and the New Earth.
This is the only land that Abraham ever really owned. It is a picture of the earth that the believers will inherit, and this is where Jacob is making Joseph swear that he will be taken to. Genesis 47:30 says:
But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt…
“Out of Egypt” is out of this world, out of being planted in the earth, in the dust of the ground. It continues:
…and bury me in their buryingplace…
That is, in the Kingdom of God. You will take me up into Heaven and I will forever be with the Lord. The verse continues, Joseph speaking:
…And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
Joseph is saying, “Yes, I am going to give you a new body to match your spirit.” He is saying, “I will create a New Heavens and New Earth,” as he is speaking for the Lord Jesus. “I will do as thou hast said.” Then Jacob says in verse 31:
And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him…
“Swear unto me”—do believers not trust God? So many times throughout the Bible, God has said that this is His plan. Our existence on earth is only temporary, a moment. We are just a passing through. We are seeking a heavenly city (Hebrews 11:16). God has let us know that this heavenly city will be created anew. There will be a place where there is love and peace and joy, a place where is there is no sin, where there is no death or tears or crying or any of the evil things we have in this world (Revelation 21:3-5).
God has said this again and again in the Bible, yet here, we read, “Swear unto me.” In other words, “Is this really true? Will You confirm it with an oath? Will You guarantee it? Will You say, ‘Yes, these things will take place’? Forgive me Lord, but I am a man of flesh and I have feet of clay. I need You to confirm this to me. Swear to me that as I die and leave this earth, I will be carried into the Kingdom of God.”
We read that Joseph “sware unto him.” Let us look at Hebrews 6:16-18, which says:
For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise…
That is Jacob, the elect, each one of us who are saved. God is going to:
…show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel…
“Immutable” means that it does not change. What God says will stand; it will come to pass. His Word is true and faithful. God is not a man that He would lie; He is not somebody who changes His mind in a week or a month (Numbers 23:19). What God says, God means. Therefore, He is speaking to the heirs of promise by the immutability, by the fact that His Word will not change but will endure forever. And it says that He:
…confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
God swears; and likewise Joseph swore to Jacob, “When you die, I will carry your body out of the land of Egypt and into the land of Canaan to the cave of Machpelah. I will bury you with Abraham and with Isaac and with their wives, where Leah was buried. I will bury you there because it is a picture, a picture that God will bring His people out of the world at the end and will fulfill His promise.” God will fulfill His Word and give us this glorious everlasting life in Heaven. This is the wonderful, wonderful information that the Bible has all throughout its pages, and this is what we are reading here in Genesis.
This is what will happen at the end, at the conclusion of the Great Tribulation, is it not? When we finally get down to it, the end of the world is coming. It will be awful for the many who are unsaved; but for the elect, it will be about as wonderful as anything we could imagine. This world will come to an end; we will no longer have to continue in this life, but we will see what God has waiting for us. We will see what is on the other side, the Kingdom of God. We will see what God has planned for us as we enter into His presence to be there forevermore.