In the verses before us tonight,
we've got a beautiful picture of redemption, a beautiful illustration
of what Christ does for His people. I'm interested in that. Look
at verse 11. And Joseph placed his father
and his brethren and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt.
in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had
commanded. It says Joseph placed his father
in his breath, and that word placed means he set them down. The Hebrew word for placed here
is yahshab, and it means that Joseph settled them. He made them to abide in the
best land. Interesting enough, that Hebrew
word also gives reference to marriage. It means to marry,
to keep, to establish. That's what Christ, our Joseph,
has done for his people. He married them. He keeps them. He provides for them. He establishes
them. He makes them to abide with him. He sets them down so that they
may rest as he provides their everything. I think of that passage
in Hebrews 10 that says, and every priest standeth daily ministering
and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take
away sins. But speaking of Christ, it says,
but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
isn't that an amazing thought? It only took one sacrifice from
Christ. He's God. Just one sacrifice
from God. one sacrifice for sins forever
and he sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Isn't that
an amazing thought? But God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. And he's raised us up together
and made us what? Sit. Sit together in heavenly
places in Christ. And then I ran across a passage
today in Revelation chapter three, verse 21, that says, to him that
overcometh will I grant to sit with me. in my throne. Isn't that amazing? The thought
that we're such, so one with Christ, that we'll sit with him
in his throne. He said, even as I also overcame
and am set down with my father in his throne. Joseph placed
them, he settled them, he made them sit down, and he caused
them to rest. How? Provided everything for
them. That's why you and I can rest
in Christ. He provides everything for us as our heavenly husband. Notice also here in verse 11,
that Joseph gave them a possession. He gave them the best land, it
says. He gave it to them as Pharaoh had commanded. You know, God
commands the best for his chosen people. The best. Psalm 119 says, he sent redemption
unto his people, and he hath commanded his covenant forever. Holy and reverend is his name. Joseph placed his father and
his brethren, and he gave them a possession. And what a wonderful
thought for us to consider. You know, a possession is something
that belongs to us. It's ours. Joseph didn't make
his father and his brethren renters in Goshen. They weren't squatters. This land belonged to them. He
gave it to them. It was theirs. And in this life,
in this world, all that we possess is not really our possession
when you think about it. You know, I live in a house,
but somebody owned that house and lived in it before I did.
And when I'm gone, someone else will live in that house. One
day it'll belong to someone else after I'm gone. In reality, it's
only on loan to me. That's the way all the things
in this life are. They're just on loan to us. In
the end, we take nothing in this world with us. That's what Job
said. He said, naked came I out of
my mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave. Everything
we have, the Lord gave us. And the Lord taketh away, blessed
be the name of the Lord. And I suppose the only real possession
that we have, the only real possessions that are really ours, are those
that are eternal. They're the only things that
we'll take with us when we leave this world. They will be the
only true possessions that the believer has and will take with
them. And what are they? Well, first
I know this, they're gonna be found in Christ and in Him alone. I know that God has blessed me
with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. So I know that those blessings,
heavenly blessings are in Him. And I know that Christ is mine
because John said, he that hath the son hath life. Christ is
mine. Paul said that in Christ all
things are yours. And ye are Christ's and Christ
is God's. In Jesus Christ, God is mine. Our Lord said in John chapter
20 verse 17, he said, I ascend unto my Father and your Father. He said to my God and your God. He's my God. Christ my Savior
and God my Father are my eternal possession. I will take them
with me when I leave this body of death. There are some things
that we will take with us. It won't be anything material.
It won't be anything temporary. But we'll take with us some eternal
things. And those are our true possessions. They are eternal possessions. All that belongs to Christ is
mine. Isn't that an amazing thought?
His righteousness is mine. He is the Lord, our righteousness.
Isn't that what the scripture says? He's our righteousness. His acceptance is mine. We're
accepted in the beloved. Christ is the beloved, he's my
beloved. I am my beloved's and my beloved
is mine. I am joint heirs with Christ. All that his is mine. The scripture
says, as he is, so are we in this world, right now. His holiness is mine. In the
body of His flesh, through death, He will present me holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. Holy? As holy as Christ Himself. Such is my union with Him. Look
at verse 12. And Joseph nourished his father
and his brethren and all his father's household with bread
according to their families. Now the word nourished here in
verse 12 is really a precious word. It doesn't just mean to
feed. It means to maintain. It doesn't
mean to just feed once, but it means to keep on feeding. It means to sustain, it means
to constantly provide. Isn't that what Christ does for
us? The psalmist said, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. They that seek the Lord
shall not want any good thing. You, child of God, shall not
want any good thing. What did Joseph nourish his father
and brethren with? That which they needed most,
bread. Verse 12. And didn't the Lord Jesus say,
I am the bread of life, and he that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst? John
6, 35. Did he not say, I am the living
bread which came down from heaven? If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. All truly Christ provides for
his elect in every minute detail. He provides, he sustains, he
keeps us by his grace. The thought that he saves us
is an amazing thing, but the thought that he keeps us in spite
of us, He provides for us everything
that God requires of us. And that's what it means to be
nourished, provided for, sustained, maintained, cherished, nurtured,
strengthened, even in the midst of famine. Look at verse 13. And there was no bread in all
the land for the famine was very sore. so that the land of Egypt
and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine." Now,
there are basically three types of famine. There are famines
in the earth, where God withholds rain and there's a shortage of
food in a particular place. Then there's a famine of hearing
the word of God. We talked about that Sunday. Amos said, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not
a famine of bread, nor thirst of water, but of hearing of the
words of the Lord. And then lastly, there's a famine
within. A famine within our nature. Fallen men and women have within
them a famine. In a famine, everything dies. That's what we are by nature.
We're dead in trespasses and sin. And in verse 13, we're told,
and there was no bread in all the land for the famine was very
sore. And what a picture this is of
our spiritual famine within. The Hebrew word for bread here
means fruit. You and I have no fruit within,
none that we can call our own. We're dead. There's a famine
within us. This famine is very sore within
us. Men and women by nature are dead.
Sin has slain us. We cannot receive the things
of the Spirit of God. That's what is said of natural
men and women. And this famine is difficult. So very sore, that's what that
word means. Difficult within man. So sore that men and women faint
by reason of the famine. And I found it interesting that
the word fainted here means much, much more than just passing out
or losing consciousness. It means to be rabid. It means
to be insane. It means to be mad, crazy, like
that demoniac that lived among the tombs. Boy, what a pitcher
he is of you and I by nature. Famine within will make men and
women rabid. That's so in the natural and
physical realm, and that's so in the supernatural spiritual
realm. In 2 Kings 6, stick your marker here. I'm going to turn
you there. We read of mankind's madness. Insane actions and severe
famine. 2 Kings 6. We'll come right back
to Genesis in a moment. 2 Kings 6. And let's read a few verses beginning
in verse 25. 2 Kings 6 verse 25. And there was a great famine
in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it
until an ass's head. a donkey's head, was sold for
fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's
dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was
passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying,
Help, my lord, O king! And he said, if the Lord do not
help thee, when shall I help thee? Out of the barn floor or
out of the winepress? There's a famine in the land.
And the king said unto her, what illeth thee? Now notice what
she says. Notice what's going on here.
You're talking about madness. And she answered, this woman
said unto me, give thy son that we may eat him today. and we
will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled of my son and did
eat him. And I said unto her on the next
day, give thy son that we may eat him. And she hath hid her
son." Oh, I'm telling you, there is no depth of depravity that
man's not capable of sinking to. And this famine was so bad
in Samaria, and it was also bad in Egypt. So bad that people
fainted, they raged as mad men and women. I don't know, most
of you may remember, you may not, but in 1972, a plane crashed
in the Andes Mountains, and while waiting to be rescued, the survivors
ran out of food, and some of them became so hungry that many
of them turned to cannibalism in order to stay alive. Now that's
been in my lifetime. When a man or a woman is desperate,
especially dying of starvation, they're capable of doing about
anything. Things were real bad during this
famine in Egypt. Folks were at their wits end
and they began to rage. Now back in Genesis chapter 47
in verse 14 we read, And Joseph gathered up all the
money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan
for the corn which they bought. And Joseph brought the money
into Pharaoh's house. Every dime that the Egyptians
had had been spent on corn. Joseph gathered it all up. There
was no money left. Pharaoh had it all. It all belonged to Pharaoh. And I'm telling you, this is
a real picture. The earth is the Lord's in the
fullness thereof. Everything belongs to him. What
are we to learn here? God's gonna bring his people.
I believe this is what these verses are teaching us. God's
gonna bring his people, his elect, to the conclusion and the realization
that nothing in this world is ours, nothing. Absolutely nothing. All the wealth in this world
belongs to God. Just as in Egypt, all the money
belonged to Pharaoh, it was all his. Everything in this life
just don't belong to us. The earth in its fullness is
the Lord's, all of it. Joseph brought all the money
into Pharaoh's house because it all belonged to Pharaoh. It
was his corn and it was his money. Look at verse 15. And when money
failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the
Egyptians came unto Joseph and said, give us bread, for why
should we die in thy presence? For the money faileth. The money
failed because it was all spent in the third, the fourth, and
the fifth years of the famine. There was two years left. When
all is spent, now listen, when all is spent with the sinner,
When we see that we are nothing and that we have nothing, then
we'll come to Christ as the people did Joseph. And we'll say to
God Almighty, if God ever brings you to this point, this is what
you'll do. You'll come before God Almighty
and you'll say, give us bread. Give us bread. When a sinner
is stripped of all their self-sufficiency, when they'll ask themselves and
the Lord this question, for why should we die in thy presence?
Why should we die in thy presence? Why would we choose to die when
we have before us the very one who can give us bread, life,
and sustenance? That's a good question. And that's
a question that many today should ask themselves. Why would any
sinner die when Christ, the bread of life, stands and bids all
who are weary and heavy laden with sin to come to Him that
they might find rest for their soul? Why would anyone die? Why would we die when God Almighty
says to us, cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby
ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit? But why will you die, O house
of Israel? Why would a sinner die when God
says, as I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked? but that the wicked turn from
his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? Why would we die when
the very one who gives life stands before us and bids us to come
to him? Oh, I'm telling you, there's
nothing in this life that will give us what we need in order
to inherit eternal life but our Joseph. All but Christ is mammon. Man cannot serve both God and
mammon, for man cannot serve two masters. He'll hate the one
and love the other, or else he'll hold to the one and despise the
other. Christ said, you cannot, you don't have the ability to
serve both God and mammon. You can only love one person
the most, right? That's right. We're gonna have
to let go of the things of this life. I believe that's the lesson
here. We're gonna have to let go of the things of this life,
and we're gonna have to set our affections on things above, treasures
above, what the Lord called. Where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
Did you notice in verse 15 that they said, give us bread? They
said, give it to us. Give it freely. Give it to us
for nothing. You see, there was no money left
to buy it with. Have you come to that point? Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye, buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. You know why? We don't have anything. We don't have anything to buy
with. We have nothing. We are nothing. This famine is
bringing these people to the end of themselves, but they're
not there yet. They're still holding on to some
things. Are you? Am I? We're gonna have to let
go of all. We're gonna have to trust in
Christ alone. Look at verse 16. And Joseph
said, give your cattle. and I'll give you for your cattle
if money fail." You still got some things. Give up your oxen,
give up your sheep, your horses, your asses, you still have some
possessions. You're gonna have to give them
all up. You have to give it all up. Verse 17, and they brought
their cattle unto Joseph. And Joseph gave them bread in
exchange for horses and for the flocks and for the cattle of
the herds and for the asses. And he fed them with bread for
all their cattle for that year. Now, notice that Joseph gave
them bread. It says in exchange, but notice
that the words in exchange are italicized, they were added.
God, the Holy Spirit here is reminding us that we have nothing
to give God in exchange. Those were added by man in this
translation. We have nothing to give God in
exchange for His mercy and His grace and His goodness to us.
He freely gives to the sinner when the sinner has nothing to
give. But you're going to have to see that you have nothing.
God doesn't barter with sinners. He doesn't need anything from
us. And again, we see that everything
belongs to the Lord. The scriptures say, for every
beast is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. Psalm
50, 10. Now, if you belong to Christ,
God is gonna show you that Christ is truly the only possession
that's really yours. That's the only thing we're gonna
get out of this thing alive with, and that's Him. Christ and His righteousness
is the only thing that the believer possesses that they can take
with them, that they can call their own, as God taught you
that. Look at verse 18. When that year
was ended, they came unto Him the second year. And they said
unto Him, we will not hide it from my Lord, how that our money
is spent. My Lord also hath our herds of
cattle. There is not aught left in the
sight of my Lord, but our bodies and our lands. When I read this
verse, I was first reminded that we can't hide anything from the
Lord, can we? He knows all, he knows our money
spent. He knows we have nothing, we
are nothing. He knows that we are spent. He
knows that we have nothing to offer and barter with Him. Hebrews 4.13 says, neither is
there any creature that's not manifest in His sight, but all
things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession, For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. So
let us therefore come boldly into the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We stand naked and open unto
the eyes of our Lord. And it is this one, whom we stand
before, with whom we have to do. Now, how does this apply? Well, if you were to live in
this famine in Egypt, Joseph was the one you had to deal with. And we hold fast our profession.
What is that profession? That we have a great high priest.
That's my only hope. I have a great high priest. We
have a great mediator. We have one who was touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. Joseph, as a picture of our Lord
and Savior, certainly had his share of infirmities. He'd certainly
been touched with the feeling of infirmity. He'd been a servant
in Potiphar's house. He'd been accused of something
he didn't do. He had been a prisoner in the dungeon of Pharaoh. He had himself been tempted,
but sin not. What a pitcher he is. He never
charged God foolishly in all this, but trusted God and gave
him the glory in all his adversity. He was the go-between. He was
the mediator between the people of Egypt and Pharaoh. And in
order to live, you had to go through Joseph to get bread.
And what a picture of Christ Joseph continues to be. Now look
at verse 19. Wherefore shall we die before
thine eyes, both we and our land, by us and our land for bread. And we and our land will be servants
unto Pharaoh and give us seed that we may live and not die,
that the land be not desolate. Now the question here that I
proposed to myself when I was considering these verses was
this, have I given all to Christ? Have I given all to Him? Have
you given all to Christ? You see, these folks now had
nothing left but their body and their land. And now because of
the famine within, they offer those to Joseph for life. Notice
their confession that we will be the servants unto Pharaoh.
That's exactly, that's exactly what God brings his people. Brought
to know that only the king can sustain you. Everything you have
belongs to him and everything you need he has. This is the
only way you can receive seed for life. This is the only way
that you can live and not die. Not only is our earthly dwelling
place desolate, man, the land was worthless to them. There
was a famine in the land. But we ourselves are desolate.
No life within, dead in trespasses and sin. Did you notice that
the request to buy them and their land was their suggestion? That's
where the Lord would bring his people. Lord, I don't have anything
to offer. It's all yours. Take me. Mold me and make me a servant
unto you. Oh, that's where the child of
God's brought. Do you see where the Egyptians were brought in
order to live? That's the same place God's people are brought.
They must give all they have, even themselves unto Him. Verse 20, and Joseph bought all
the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For the Egyptians sold every
man his field because the famine prevailed over them. So the land
became Pharaoh's. Child of God, Jesus Christ has
bought you with a price. For you are bought with a price,
therefore glorify God, where? In your body. And in your spirit,
which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6.20, you're bought
with a price. Be ye not the servants of men,
be ye the servants of God. We'll be Pharaoh's servants. Jesus paid it all. He paid the
penalty of the law. He satisfied the holy justice
of God. Joseph bought it all for Pharaoh.
Jesus Christ bought it all for God. Christ died in the place
of chosen sinners, yes. But Christ died to pay our debt
to God. He died to redeem his elect from
the penalty of sin. The payment was to God. Why? Because God was the one who was
offended. God was the one who had to be
appeased. Joseph had the only remedy there
was for the folks in the famine. And Christ is our only remedy
for the famine within, which is sin. And in light of this
story, it seems most appropriate to ask the same question our
Lord Jesus did. He said, for what is a man profited
if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Well,
that's a sobering question, isn't it? What is any man profited
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And then he
asked this question, or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? The answer? He'll give everything. He'll give everything. He'll
give up everything He has in order to have Christ. If God
brings Him to the end of Himself, He will. He'll give up everything
He has in order to have life. Verse 21, And as for the people,
He removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt,
even to the other end thereof. God moves his elect toward and
into a heavenly city whose maker and builder is God. The Lord
Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, you
shall be also. Now look at verse 22. I'm about
finished. Verse 22, only the land of the
priest bought he not. For the priest had a portion
assigned to them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which
Pharaoh gave them, wherefore they sold not their lands. Now
I gave this some thought, and I'm still looking at it, but
this is one thing that I want to bring out, at least tonight. These were the priests of Egypt.
These aren't the Lord's priests, but these are heathen priests.
And I thought to myself, why does the Lord allow false religion
to prosper? It seems that even in hard times,
even hard economical time, religion continues to prosper. They continue
to build, it seems. Why is that so? Because God allows
it. That's why. God has assigned
them their portion. just as Pharaoh did his priest. God lets some have their way,
even if it's to their own destruction. That's all I know to say about
that. Verse 23, then Joseph said unto the people, behold, I have
bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh. Lo, here is
seed for you and you shall sow the land. Friends, God has given
us seed to sow. Why? He's got other sheep that
he must bring into the fold. That's why we're here. That's
why we preach. Verse 24, and it shall come to
pass in the increase that ye shall give the fifth part unto
Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own for seed of the field,
and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food
for your little ones." Now Joseph here imposed a tax or a tithe,
whatever you want to call it, on the Egyptians. And God causes,
I thought about the God causes, and he enables his people to
give. to the cause of preaching Christ.
It pays for the seed that's sown. What God enables us to give and
what God puts on our hearts to give, it keeps the lights on.
It supports a pastor so he can devote his time exclusively to
study and prayer in order to bring God's Word to his people. It pays for the expenses. It supports missionaries. It
pays for a radio program. That's what we, and it provides
for spiritual food for us and our families. And God's people
are glad and they consider it a privilege to give to the furthest
of the gospel. That's what we see in verse 25.
Look at that. And they said, thou has saved
our lives. Let us find grace in the sight
of my Lord and we will be Pharaoh's servants. The believing child
of God makes the same confession, Lord, Lord, you've saved my life. Let me continue to find grace
in your sight so that I may be a faithful servant. Well, I'm
out of time, but let me show you this in closing. Joseph asked
no more of the Egyptians than God has required of those who
desire to be eternally safe. I think we've seen tonight very
well that the Egyptians valued their physical salvation and
redemption so much that they gave up their money, they gave
up their material goods, and even themselves. These are the
terms that God has laid down for men and women who desire
eternal life. It's total surrender. Total surrender. Lord, help us to surrender All
to you. Now here's the last thing that
I want you to see. I want to leave you with something
really good. During all these happenings, during all these
things that transpired between the people of Egypt, Joseph and
Pharaoh, in this horrible time of famine, what's going on with
Jacob and his family? Look at verse 27. And Israel
dwelt in the land of Egypt in the country of Goshen. And they
had possessions therein. And they grew and multiplied
exceedingly. In the midst of famine, oh, friends,
the Lord knoweth those who are His, and the Lord knoweth how
to deliver the godly out of temptations." And what a God, what a Savior,
and what a Gospel. We say that all the time. Oh,
may God enable us to love, worship, praise, and give Him all the
glory for Christ's sake and the salvation of our souls.