At the age of 17 years old, Joseph
was sold into slavery. You think about that, that's
kind of amazing, 17 years old, just a boy really. At the age
of 30, Joseph was made a ruler in Egypt. And that means for
nearly 11 years he was a slave in Potiphar's house. And then
he spent at least two years longer as an inmate in prison. So here
in Genesis 42, Joseph is approximately 39 years old, still a young man. The seven years of plenty have
passed, and we're in the second year of the famine. So 22 years
have gone by since Joseph had seen his family. He'd been estranged
from his family for 22 years. In Genesis chapter 37, Joseph
was sent by his father Jacob on an errand of mercy to his
brethren and they received him not. Instead, they hated him
without a cause and sold him into the hand of the Gentiles.
Then for Several weeks we followed Joseph's time in Egypt and we
saw how they too treated him badly, causing him great shame
and humiliation. But God vindicated his faithful
servant. God made him a ruler over Egypt. God placed him at the right hand
of Pharaoh in all power. God was behind it all. Everything
else was a second cause. We talked about that. No doubt
that Joseph here foreshadowed Christ, the beloved of his father.
When we talk about Joseph here, very similar to the story of
our Lord Jesus Christ. God sent Christ to his brethren,
according to the flesh, the Jewish nation, seeking their welfare,
but they despised and rejected him. Isaiah 53 tells us just
that. He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. His brethren, too,
sold him out and delivered him to the Gentiles. The Gentiles
unjustly condemned him to death, and it wasn't any ordinary death.
The scripture said even the death of the cross, a painful, shameful, accursed
death. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. God Almighty
came as a man, made himself of no reputation, took upon him
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
And being found in a fashion as a man, he humbled himself. And he became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, and wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him. Doesn't that sound like Joseph's
story? And given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. Now, why did Christ die the death
of the cross? He bore the curse of the law,
being made a curse for his people. And that's what we read in Galatians
chapter three, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
how? By being made a curse for us. So the way we can be redeemed
from the curse of the law, as it is written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. Christ's body was placed in the
prison of the tomb, but in due time, God delivered him up and
exalted him at his own right hand. Sounds very familiar to
the story of Joseph, doesn't it? what a picture Joseph is
of Christ. And we've seen that over and
over again. I think Mr. Pink, I forgot, I
didn't write it down, but over a hundred things that he mentions
Joseph as being a type of Christ in over a hundred some ways.
But I don't wanna just see a picture of Christ, I wanna see Christ.
So that is always my prayer, that God might show us the Lord
Jesus Christ, high and lifted up. Christ and Him crucified. For several chapters, we're told
nothing of Joseph's family, but now in Genesis chapter 42, we're
reacquainted with his father Jacob and his brethren. And in
verse one here in chapter 42, we read, now when Jacob saw that
there was corn in Egypt. And let me just pause there for
a second. That word corn means grain. It's actually defined in the
Hebrew as food broken into kernels. I thought that was interesting.
Isn't that what the gospel is? The gospel is heavenly grain,
heavenly bread, which is broken into kernels, broken into nuggets
of grace so that we can feed upon Christ and forever live. We've got to have that heavenly
bread in order to sustain life in us. Verse one again, now,
when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto
his sons, why do you look upon one another? And he said, behold,
I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get you down thither
and buy for us from thence that we may live and not die. And
Joseph's 10 brethren went to buy corn in Egypt. But we're
gonna find out later that it can't be bought. They couldn't
buy it. That's a future study. Thinking
about this famine that God sent, men and women were dying in this
horrific famine all around Joseph's brethren and his father, Jacob.
They were almost two years into this famine already. Things had
gotten real bad. There was no food to be found
in Canaan, but then news came to Jacob that there was corn
in Egypt. Jacob didn't know this. He thought
his son was dead, but there's corn in Egypt because Joseph
was in Egypt. You know, there's still salvation
in this world because the gospel is still in this world. How does
God save those who believe? By what the world calls the foolishness
of preaching. But eternal life is found in
the preaching of the gospel. And here we have a picture of
man's lost the state, lost condition. Men and women are dying today
in a devouring spiritual famine. There's no bread to be found. except where Christ is. No sustenance
of life without the living bread. And here Jacob declares good
news to those whom he loves. Here is the gospel. Jacob saw
that there was corn in Egypt. Unknown to Jacob and his sons
was the fact that Joseph had gone before them. to provide
all things necessary for life. Beloved, there's corn, there's
grace, there's mercy, there's eternal life in the Egypt of
this world. Why? Because God has been pleased
to send his gospel. Christ has gone before his brethren
to provide all that they need to dwell with him forever. And
the reason that there's corn in Egypt is so that there'll
be corn for Jacob and his family. You remember what God said about
Jacob? That seemed so long ago now,
but God said, Jacob have I loved. And his love is never ending.
It's an everlasting love. And he still loved Jacob, even
now. God's gonna take care of those
whom he loves. He's gonna see to it that his
elect are provided for. God's gonna make all things work
together for their good and to his own glory. Now, no doubt
Jacob was getting old and he was worn and he was weary, yet
we find him here leading the way for his family. We find out
in verses ahead of us that Jacob's family now consisted of 66 family
members. And that's not counting his son's
wives, and it's not counting Joseph. And as we say, here in
this, the beginning of this chapter at this time, reality was beginning to set
in. They were beginning to run out
of food. The handwriting was on the wall, but God revealed
something to Jacob. And verse one says that Jacob
saw that there was corn in Egypt. No doubt that Jacob's son looked
upon one another in despair. Jacob asked, why are you looking
upon one another? They'd never been so desperate.
God had blessed this family, provided for them at every turn,
but now there was no grain for their sheep. They were shepherds
and their sheep were without grain. There was a famine in
the land. They had no food for their children, desperate. They had nothing for themselves
to eat. And their expressions to one another revealed their
personal inability to provide for their families. Judah looked
upon Reuben, and Reuben looked over to Simeon, and Simeon looked
to Zebulun, and each of them just kind of shook their head
and shrugged their shoulders. And as to say to one another,
no use looking to me. I don't have anything either. None of them could provide for
themselves much more for one another. And I think about those
foolish virgins whose All their lamps went out. They didn't have
a drop of oil between them. And these brothers looked at
one another. They didn't have a drop of oil between them either. Therefore, none of them could
help the other out. All of a sudden, by the providence
of God, they've all been thrown into poverty. They couldn't provide
for themselves what was needed. Did you hear what I said? They
couldn't provide for themselves what was needed. Has God brought
you to that kind of spiritual poverty? So Jacob, their patriarch, their
spiritual head, their father, he gives them some good news,
good news. He gives them good news that
was very good advice. The gospel, friends, is much,
much more than just good advice, but the gospel is good advice. Come to Christ or you'll die.
That's good advice, isn't it? Jacob asked, why do you look
one upon another? There's no salvation there. No
salvation there. In verse two, Jacob says, behold,
I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get you down thither
and buy for us from thence that we may live and not die. You
see, this is a matter of life and death. I wonder how many
people really realize that today, that this is a matter, this thing
of the gospel, this thing of believing and trusting Christ,
it's a matter of life and death. They're in a pitiful predicament. Their situation is desperate
and bleak. They didn't need clothing. You
know, a man can exist, though his clothes be torn and tattered. They didn't need luxuries. I'm
sure there was things that they wanted. I'm sure that there were
things that they desired. That's just human nature. We're
all guilty of that. But at this time, they didn't
need luxuries. They needed the necessity of
life. They needed bread. They needed
food. They didn't need tents, shelters. Those things they had. Jacob's family had worldly wealth. They had all the things that
money could provide, but they needed food. They needed the
one thing needful to live. They needed the one thing needful
to survive. You know, many today have all
the necessities of physical life, but spiritually, they're lacking
what they need the most. They're lacking the one thing
needful. They're lacking Christ, the bread of life. And they're
starving. Spiritual famine. Our Lord said,
I'm the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever. Not just live, but live
forever. And when a sinner begins to hunger
and thirst after righteousness, many at first like Joseph's brothers,
look to others. They look to one another. But
there's no life there. Protestants may say, maybe the
preacher can help me. Catholics may say, well, surely
the priest can assist. Folks say, I'll go to church. They can provide what I need.
But food's only found in one place. There's life only in one
person. Jacob asked his sons, he said,
why look ye one upon another? Jacob said, you can't help yourself,
you can't help one another, but there's corn in Egypt. Get down thither. Jacob had heard
some good news. The word that Jacob heard was
gospel to him. When you're starving, when you
see that you don't have long to live, that you're running
out of what you need, the gospel to Jacob was there's
corn in Egypt. Jacob saw that there was corn
in Egypt. He knew that it was so. And I
found it very interesting that verse one tells us that Jacob
saw that there was corn in Egypt. Then in verse two, we read, Jacob
said, I've heard that there's corn in Egypt. I believe it was
Mr. Spurgeon who said, true faith
sees with its ears. I guess that's right. True faith
sees with its ears. Good news has to be heard. Jacob saw that it was so. Did
Jacob run down to Egypt and see the corn? No. No, he heard with
his ears that there was corn. And God revealed, God showed
to him that it was so. And faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God. Seeing comes by hearing and hearing
by the preaching of God's word. I believe that there's corn in
Egypt, don't you? I believe that there's redemption
to be had now in this world. I believe that there's salvation
in Christ Jesus. I believe that as He is, so are
we in this world. I believe that it pleased the
Father that in Him, that is in Christ, should all fullness dwell. You know, being full is good
news to one who's starving. I'm gonna be full. There's fullness
in the bread of life. Oh, restoration of life is good
news to one who's dying. In Christ there is exactly what
you want and need. If you're guilty, there's pardon.
If you're weak, there's strength. If you're filthy, there's cleansing.
If you're naked, there's clothing. If you're dead, there's life.
In Christ Jesus is everything you need, and in Christ Jesus,
is everything that God requires. Suppose Jacob would have said,
there's plenty of corn in Egypt, but you can't have any of it. Well, that wouldn't be good news,
would it? What if he had said, there's corn in Egypt, you go
down there, but they're not gonna sell any of it to you. Would you consider that good
news? Not if you're starving. Not if you're dying. And, you
know, I was thinking today, sadly, that's what many think of the
election of God. Folks seem to think that those
who preach and teach election, teach that there's no reason
for a sinner to believe in Christ if they're not the elect of God.
That's the biggest nonsense that I've ever heard. We encourage
every man, woman, and sinner to believe. We don't know who
the elect of God are. Somebody sarcastically said to
one old preacher, I don't know if it was Mr. Spurgeon or someone
else, but They said, well, if you believe in election, why
don't you just preach to the elect? And he said, well, you
go stick a sticker on them, and that's who I'll preach to. We
don't know who God's elect are, so we preach the gospel to all
who will hear us. That's God's business. Ours is
to preach the gospel. We know that God knows who will
believe, just as God knew who would go down to Egypt. The doctrine
of election does not in the least affect the freeness of the preaching
of the gospel. There's never been a man, woman,
sinner who sought God for mercy, for bread, for Christ, the living
bread, who was ever refused. Can't find it in the scripture,
nowhere. Christ said, he that cometh to
me, I will in no wise cast out. And this good news, this gospel,
I would have you know, this is also in the present tense. Even
that's good news. Even that's good news. Jacob
did not say to his son, there was corn in Egypt. Well, that
wouldn't do him any good. That wouldn't help me at all. Jacob said, there is corn in
Egypt. Beloved, there is salvation. There is forgiveness. There is
acceptance. There is reconciliation. There
is eternal life. There is in Christ Jesus all
that a sinner needs. There's corn in Egypt. We need
not die. There's mercy with the Lord.
There's salvation with God. We need not die. Knowing that
there's corn in Egypt, knowing that there's salvation in Christ,
shouldn't some action be reasonable? Again, verse two, Jacob said,
behold, I've heard that there's corn in Egypt. And immediately,
without even a breath, he says, get you down there. And for us from thence, that
we may live and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went
down to buy corn in Egypt. It was time for them to go to
Egypt. If they didn't, they'd die. Serious, serious business. And that's our message in preaching. Get down to Egypt. Get down to
Joseph. Come to Christ. You know, it
was a great undertaking for Joseph's brothers to go down to Egypt.
They were shepherds. They were stay-at-home and not
experienced travelers. Their time was occupied in staying
in one area and looking after their sheep. They didn't roam
all over foreign countries. They weren't experienced travelers
by any chance. It'd be a real risk for them
to cross the desert and go into Egypt. Yet Jacob told them not to gaze
at one another, that going to Egypt was the only way to escape
the famine and the death that was certain if they didn't. And
what a picture we have here, preaching the good news gospel. God's word reprimands us for
despairing looks and despairing words. God's word
encourages us to reason with God. God says, come, let us reason
together. There are many people today that
had no hope in Christ, yet they do nothing at all to find life. Somebody needs to tell them the
good news. There's corn in Egypt. If you're hungry, corn can be
found in Egypt. If you want to eat, you need
to get to where the food is. You need to take some action.
Now, let me say this. I'm not preaching works. I know
that salvation's of the Lord. I know that by nature, no man
can come to Christ. I know that by nature, no man
will come to Christ that they might have life. But God did
say, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked turn from his way and live. In order to live, the
sinner has to turn. In order to live, the sinner
has to repent. That's what the word repent means,
to turn. You have to turn, you have to
repent from your evil ways. That's what the Lord said. And
I know that God has to enable you to do that. You know that. But I also know that you have
to turn. And God says it twice in that
passage. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways. And God asks, why will you die?
And that's what Jacob is saying here to his son. Why are you
looking upon one another? You better get down to Egypt.
That's where the corn is, that we may live and not die. You
know, in Kings chapter six, I know you remember the story. The scriptures
tell us of a great famine in Samaria. It lasted for seven
years also. Things were so bad and food was
so scarce that an ass's head, a jackass, a donkey's head was
sold for four score pieces of silver. If my math and conversion
table are correct, that's about $400 in today's currency. Things were so bad, people were
so hungry that mothers, and I'm not making this up, you can read
it, 2 Kings 6-7, that mothers were boiling and eating their
children. You think, how can something
like that be? Then in 2 Kings 7, the very next
chapter, we're told the story about four lepers who were sitting
at the city gate. And they looked at one another
and they said, why sit we here and die? You remember that story? As lepers, they weren't allowed
in the city because of their condition, they were unclean.
Yet now it really didn't matter because the famine was in the
city too. If they went into the city, they'd
die from the famine. If they remained outside of the
city, they would die in the famine. But they said to themselves,
if we cast ourselves upon our enemies, the host of the Syrians,
we might be saved. And what they were saying was
this, let us put our lives in their hands and lie at their
mercy. They thought if they don't put
us to death but give us bread to eat, our lives will be preserved.
If they kill us, well, we're going to die anyway. Whether
we stay here or go into the city, so let's at least be proactive
in this thing. While we might be saved if we
throw ourselves upon the mercy of our enemy. And do you remember
what happened? They ran into the camp of the
Syrians and all the Syrians were gone. Well, where were they? Well, God had made them to hear
the noise of chariots. God had caused them, the enemy,
to hear the noise of horses. God made them to hear a multitude
of a great host. And they fled and they left everything
they had. And these four lepers go into
the camp and they ate and they drank and they carried away their
gold and their silver and their possessions. And then they went
to their people and told them and they went and did the same
thing. You see a desperate man, desperate
woman will do desperate things. You might be surprised at what
you might do if you were starving. And that also applies to spiritual
famine. Oh, if God shows you that you
don't have what you need. And that's what Jacob's telling
his sons here. He says, there's corn in Egypt.
Are you going to sit here and die? Are you just going to sit
here and die? Why will you sit here and watch
one another die? Get down to Egypt. Do all you
can to get corn. I know the way's long. I know
the way's hard. Why, you might die on the way. Many, many things,
perilous things awaited them, I'm sure. But you're going to
die if you stay here. What do you have to lose? And the wretched, starving sinner
will even throw themselves upon the mercy of one who has by nature
been their enemy. That's exactly what I did. A
desperate sinner will throw themselves upon the mercy of God who's been
their enemy. And you might say, well, I never
was God's enemy. I beg your pardon. Paul said
in Romans 5.10, for if when we were enemies, enemies of who? Enemies of God. By nature, we
are enemies of God. We need to be reconciled to God. He's the one that we've offended.
We need to be reconciled to the one that we have opposed. I will
not have Him to rule over me by nature. How are we going to
be reconciled to Him? Well, we're reconciled to God.
Paul tells us right there in that fifth chapter of Romans,
we're reconciled to God by the death of His Son. and much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Paul wrote
to the church at Colossae and he said, and you that were sometime
alienated, and enemies, enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled, how? In the body of his flesh, through
death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. Unblameable and unreprovable
where? In God's sight. In God's sight. He's the one with whom we have
to do. He's the one whom we have offended. He's the one that we
hated without a cause. He's the one that we must appease.
And that's what makes grace amazing. People sing amazing grace, have
no idea why they're singing it. But some of you know why you
sing Amazing Grace. God died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God. That is amazing. Do we really
understand what that means? God remained just and justified
the ungodly. God remained right. That's what
just means. He's right. He's always right. and made right those who were
wrong. That's my interpretation, but it's correct. God remained
holy, righteous, and unchargeable. He didn't compromise His holy
justice. God satisfied His justice and
justified His chosen people. That's amazing. Only God could
do that. That's a just God and a Savior
who's amazing. And we sing, I stand amazed in
the presence. I do. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus of Nazarene. And I wonder how He could love
me, a sinner condemned and unclean, only by the work of righteousness
that He did and the satisfying of God's holy justice in my place. And now when I stand before God,
He says, enter in, thou good and faithful servant. I think
about that so often. God's saying that to me. Only
in Christ. Only in Christ. Well, I'll finish
up. In order to live, you had to
get corn from Pharaoh. It was Pharaoh's corn. It all belonged to him, but you
had to go through Joseph to get it. You had to go through him
to get it. Pharaoh had entrusted all power
and all judgment to Joseph. There was none so wise and discreet
as he was. If you were to get corn, if you
were to have nourishment, if you were to receive food, if
you were to have that sustenance of life, Joseph had to give it
to you. Look at verse 5. And the sons
of Israel, speaking of Joseph's brothers, they came to buy corn
among those that came. For the famine was in the land
of Canaan, and Joseph was the governor over the land. And he
it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren
came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to
the earth." You're going to have to bow to Christ in order to
live. You're going to have to bow to
Him. Isn't that what Joseph's interpretation of the dream that
he had? One of the very reasons his brother hated him so much?
He said, I had a dream, and it was the foretelling of this very
thing right here. So, let me leave you with a little
teaser for next time. Look at verse 7. And Joseph saw
his brethren, and he knew them. but made himself strange unto
them. And he spake roughly with them,
and he said unto them, whence come ye? And they said, from
the land of Canaan, to buy food." Now, let me just say this, and
you be thinking about this before next time. Salvation has something
to do with God knowing you. Christ said to those workers
of iniquity, you remember that? On that day of judgment, they
said, we've done this, we've done that, haven't we, haven't
we? And he said, I never knew you. I never knew you. Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. You know, to some, God makes
himself strange unto. God doesn't reveal himself to
everybody. But he reveals himself to those
that God gave him, those that God gave Christ. Christ reveals
himself to them. Here's something else to think
about. If you come to try to buy food, you're going to be
spoken roughly to. It's not for sale. Not to Joseph's
brethren, it's not. No, sir. If you come with a work
of righteousness that you do, if you come trying to buy corn
or earn this redemption, this salvation, you're gonna be dealt
roughly with. Verse eight, Joseph knew his
brethren, but they knew not him. Oh my, if you're ever gonna be
saved, Christ is gonna have to reveal himself to you. If you're
ever to be saved, He's going to have to know you, and then
you're going to have to know Him. We love Him because He first
loved us, and we know Him because He first knew us. Oh, may God
be pleased to reveal Christ to those that are yet lost. For
He is to you and in you the hope of glory. He's the only hope
of glory that I have. That's just the simple truth.
It's all found in Him. There's corn in Egypt. Better
get down there. That's where it is. OK. I appreciate your attention. I want to stop this just real
quick.