So that's Genesis chapter 41
and verse 38. And Pharaoh said unto his servants,
Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit
of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
For as much as God hath showed thee all this, there is none
so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house,
and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be
greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh
took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand,
and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain
about his neck. And he made him to ride in the
second chariot which he had. And they cried before him, Bow
the knee, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand
or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name
Zaphnath-Paneah, and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter
of Potipharah, priest of On. And Joseph went out over all
the land of Egypt. And Joseph was thirty years old
when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went
out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land
of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years
the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food
of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid
up the food in the cities. The food of the field, which
was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph
gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he
left numbering, for it was without number. And unto Joseph were
born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath,
the daughter of Potipharah, priest of On, bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of
the firstborn Manasseh. For God, said he, hath made me
forget all my toil and all my father's house. And the name
of the second called he Ephraim, for God hath caused me to be
fruitful in the land of my affliction. And the seven years of plenteousness
that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And the seven years
of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said. And the dearth
was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the people of Egypt
was famished, the people cried, and when all the land of Egypt
was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh
said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph, what he saith
to you, do. And the famine was over all the
face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the storehouses
and sold unto the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt
to Joseph for to buy corn, because that the famine was so sore in
all lands. Amen. May the Lord be pleased
to bless to us this reading from his word. It's very clear that
Pharaoh discerned in Joseph a young man with extraordinary wisdom. Not only had he been able to
interpret the dreams that baffled the wisest men in Egypt, he also
had a plan to deal with the soon to come famine. A way of preparing
the nation for what was coming. Indeed, it was a way of saving
the nation from the ravages and the destruction of such a sore
famine of such a long duration. And it seemed very sensible to
Pharaoh and to his courtiers to set Joseph the task of managing
the affairs of this great famine that was coming. Gathering up
and storing the excess of grain in the years of plenty and thus
providing food for the hungry people when the time of the crops
failed. And it is likely that the Lord
who made Joseph wise also inclined Pharaoh's heart in this matter
of selecting Joseph. And indeed, perhaps to the hearts
of those who advised the king, if Joseph was elevated, he was
given a very high position in the land. Indeed, second only
to Pharaoh upon the throne. So that great honour and authority
was given to Joseph to allow him to fulfil the task that was
given to him. And it was an honour that befitted
the challenge that faced him. Pharaoh clearly took these dreams
very seriously. The Lord had shown Pharaoh that
this was a serious thing, and as God had revealed this to him,
Pharaoh was sure that there needed to be preparation made, hence
Joseph is given this role. But as we read these narratives,
these stories, these Old Testament pictures, as it were, we see
that they are also types of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've mentioned
several times before that Joseph is a very suitable type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I just want to say something
about this typology or these types, these pictures, analogies
that we are given, metaphors, if you like, in scripture, so
that we understand the significance and importance of them. These
types are not simply parallels or comparisons that we make in
hindsight. To the Old Testament believers,
to those who trusted in the Lord as we were reading together in
Psalm 125, these were promises in pictures. They were pointers, these Old
Testament stories, these experiences of the Lord's people were pointers
and indicators, revelations of the coming Messiah and what he
would accomplish. And we know that from Psalm 105,
where we've referred to that as well in the past, where Joseph
is mentioned as part of the history there of Israel that is recounted
by the psalmist. And in Psalm 105, we see that
that experience of Joseph was recorded to show God saving his
people and that the people knew that in the picture of Joseph
was a picture of God's deliverance and that the Lord's people were
preserved from their enemies and from danger because of these
events. In fact, it's very interesting
because in Psalm 105, the psalmist there uses the phrase everlasting
covenant to Israel. language that we still use today
to speak of our great salvation and the gift of God's grace to
us in the Lord Jesus Christ, because that is fully in accord
with God's everlasting covenant to his chosen people. That's the way that God delivers
his people out of their sin and out of their bondage, by sending
the Lord Jesus Christ as a deliverer, the same way as Joseph was sent
as a deliverer of his people. So Joseph was provided and prepared
by God to deliver the people from starvation and destruction. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
provided and prepared by God to deliver his people from the
wrath of God and from destruction. Pharaoh committed all authority
into Joseph's hand so that he could do the job that was given
to him. And our Almighty God has supplied
the Lord Jesus and fitted and furnished him with all that is
needful for him to bear our sin. And just as Pharaoh instructed
the people of Egypt to go to Joseph for food when they were
starving, God points his people, who hunger after righteousness,
to go to the Lord Jesus Christ, whose death and whose sacrifice
supplies every blessing required to satisfy our souls and deliver
our spirits. He's a suitable saviour. Pharaoh
said, go to Joseph and whatever he says to you, do it. And we
can do no better than going to the Lord Jesus Christ and doing
what he tells us to do. Did you notice that Pharaoh gave
Joseph a new name? In fact, Pharaoh gave Joseph
a lot of things, including a wife, and Joseph had two sons born
to him during those seven years of plenty, Manasseh and Ephraim. This new name that Pharaoh gave
to Joseph, some people think that the name that he received
from Pharaoh means preserver of life. And others think that
it means revealer of secrets. It's actually a word that's not
used again in scripture, I don't think at all. But both of those
interpretations were very apt for Joseph because he was indeed
a preserver of life as well as a revealer of secrets. But I hope you see too that they
are both also very apt titles for the Lord Jesus. And here
again we see the similarities between Joseph and our Saviour.
Our Saviour has preserved his people's lives by giving his
life for them as a substitute, in our place and for our sins. And he has revealed the secrets
of God, revealed the secrets of God's purpose, spoken to us
in these last days about the purposes and the will of God
for our salvation. He's revealed the way of life
and he's revealed the fullness of God's saving grace and purpose
to us. He is the living word of God
come amongst men and women and boys and girls in this world.
So all in all, Joseph's amazing work of preserving life in Egypt
and revealing the truth to Pharaoh points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Saviour is the giver and
maintainer of everlasting life. He is the revealer of the true
gospel of grace that brings us to salvation. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us. Amen.