Genesis 41. Pharaoh has now acknowledged
the wisdom of Joseph. And he now says that by the word
of Joseph, by Joseph's word, the people would be ruled. Let's read it in verse 40, Genesis
41, verse 40. Pharaoh says, 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. Now, we've seen how Joseph is
a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and here he is
seen as the word of God for the people. He's the word that they
are to hear. They are to follow his word,
be obedient to his word, to believe his word. And he's the one that's
revealing to them salvation. He's making known how the people
shall be saved. Luke 10, 22, all things are delivered
to me of my father, our Lord Jesus Christ said, and no man
knoweth who the son is, but the father. He and who the Father
is, but the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him." Christ
by His Word, He makes known by Himself, He makes known who the
Father is. We wouldn't know who God is except
Christ reveal Him to us. Now this truth is Christ being
the word and the revealer goes all the way back to Genesis chapter
1. If you look there in Genesis
chapter 1, I want to show you a few things that speak to this,
that show us that Christ is the light, And he gives understanding
to the people. Christ is the light, and he's
the one who brings forth and makes known the will of God,
the purpose of God. He's the word of God, and he's
the light of God, making known to us the mystery of God. It's
by Christ. Now, look at verse 2. Genesis
1, verse 2. And the earth was without form. and void, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep." Without form, there's no body. There's
no life, no body of earth, no life. And it's in complete darkness,
no light, no understanding. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters, and God said, let there be light, and
there was light. And so the word of God teaches
us that this light is Jesus Christ. And this light, by this light,
the uncreated, eternal light of God, it's Christ shining upon
the earth, brought forth by God, by the word of God, to shine
a light upon this earth without a body, life in darkness." Now
what does the Word tell us? John, stay there in Genesis 1,
but in John 1 verse 3, all things were made by him and without
him was not anything made that was made and him was life and
the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness,
shineth in the darkness and and the darkness comprehended it
not. So here's this light shining
upon the earth without a body, without life, in darkness. There's no understanding. There's
no understanding yet. The light's shining on it, and
there's no understanding. It remained ignorant. So what
does the Lord do? What does Christ do in Genesis
chapter 1? He gives understanding. He gives
understanding, right? So having brought forth the light,
he then divides the light from the darkness. He divides the
light from the darkness on day one. On the second day, he makes
a covering. He provides a firmament separating
the waters below and the waters above. That firmament is a covering
under which all living things dwell. Without that covering,
there's no life here. No life. It's an atonement. That word is atonement. It's
a covering for the life that he's creating under that atonement
there. That's day two. And then what
does he do on day three? He gathers the waters together
into seas. The waters are the peoples. He
gathers them into seas. And we see then a body raised. That land is raised. It comes
forth. On the third day, Christ was
raised from the dead. And on that third day comes the
land. And what happens? Bam! All this
fruitfulness spreads forth. Grasses, and herbs, and grains,
and trees, and bushes, and vines, and they're all fruitful. A picture
of Christ in His resurrection, bringing forth fruitfulness in
His people. On the fourth day, he left a
witness of that light in creating the sun and the moon, a witness
of the light, that uncreated light, Christ shining forth on
the earth, bringing forth light and heat and warmth and life
there on the fourth day. And then from that on the fifth
day, we see this abundance of light spring forth under that
witness. to the preaching of the gospel,
as it were, life springs forth. Now, the fowls of the air and
the creatures of the sea. And so he brought forth understanding. He established understanding
to that dark world. He brings that forth, all that
life. And having established that picture,
having given us that understanding typified there in the creation,
on the sixth day, he creates man. He brings forth man and
brings him into that understanding of what he's done, of who he
is, making known to us who the true and living God is and how
he saves his people from their sins. He reveals the mystery
of God to us in the face of Jesus Christ. When he says, back in Genesis
41 now, when he says, according unto thy word shall all my people
be ruled, if you have a King James version, and it's got a
margin there, additional references there, you'll see that there's
two additional interpretations of that word and what it means.
One is armed, so that it would read, according unto thy word
shall my people be armed. He's preparing them, Joseph is
preparing them for the coming famine, that death, that destruction
that's coming upon the world for their sin. It's a picture
of Christ who prepares his people, who arms his people with knowledge
and understanding of God and what he's doing, how he saves
his people. He's arming us with that. And
the other word is kiss, kiss. My people shall kiss thee. They'll obey your word. They're
going to hear your word, and they're going to obey your word.
They're going to keep your word for their lives. Psalm 2, verse
12 says, kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. In America, we're
not used to a king. We never served under a king. But those that do are humble
before the king. They submit to the king, because
if he wills it, you can be dispatched just like that and removed. He can take your life from you.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. And those who trust Christ for
all their righteousness have no problem kissing Christ in
obedience. bowing down joyfully to him in
obedience because he is the Lord and the Savior and thankfully
he's gracious and kind and long-suffering with his people and very loving
toward his people. Now Joseph was taken from prison
and he's exalted now to the throne of Pharaoh to sit with him and
rule over all the people. And his exaltation here, what
he did, how he was exalted, is all a picture of Christ. It's
all a picture of what Christ did. You think about Joseph and
how he bore the shame, bore that shame to accomplish salvation
for the people. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ bore
the shame of his people. for them in his own body on the
tree. And he laid down his life, sacrificed
himself unto the Father on the cross to make an atonement, to
make satisfaction unto God for the sins of his people, to give
us peace with God, to reconcile us to God by the death of himself.
And he was buried and raised again. for by the glory of God,
and is now ascended to the throne of God, where he reigns in glory. And he says to him that overcometh,
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame
and am set down with my father in his throne. That's our inheritance,
brethren, Christ's inheritance with Christ. We're one with him. We are the bride of Christ. That's
our inheritance. That's our joy and our gladness. Now next in verses 42 and 43,
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 so Joseph, who was made a
servant, when his father gave him Aaron, and he left, gave
him an Aaron, go and seek your lost brethren. Go find them. And he goes out from the Vale
of Hebron. It's a picture of Christ, who left his father's
throne, who laid aside his glory, and became the servant of God.
to suffer for his people. And Joseph, he suffered by the
hand of his brethren, who mocked him, who ridiculed him, who despised
him, who treated him shamefully, throwing him in a ditch and then
selling him to the slave traders who brought him down to Egypt.
among the Gentiles, where he was turned over to them. And
there he was made a slave and cast into prison. It's a picture
of Christ's suffering, who was laid in the prison of the grave
for his people, who suffered for his people to put away their
sins, to save us from the dearth, that famine coming upon the earth. The promised judgment of God,
which is coming upon the earth, Christ is the Savior, the deliverer
from that. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." Just like they did
for Joseph, bow the knee. Every knee shall bow, every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the Savior of his
people. He's the Savior. He's the ruler.
He's Lord and Christ. God hath declared it by his resurrection. And then all these little details,
right, which are given about Joseph having fine linen and
a gold chain put around his neck. These are all things testified
that show us that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. He's
clothed with a garment down to the foot and gird about the chest
with a golden girdle. Revelation 113. In Hebrews, Christ
was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honor. That's Hebrews 2.9.
Peter saying, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince
and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. Acts 5.31. This is no ordinary
man. This is the promised salvation
of God. This is the seed that should
come to deliver his people, to put enmity between the seed of
Christ and the seed of the serpent, to reveal himself in them, his
glorious salvation of what he accomplishes in his people, to
deliver us from that famine, to provide for us all that we
need to stand before holy God. Now in the next verse, verse
44, I want you to see that which he speaks of regarding the salvation
of Christ that he accomplishes in his people so that his people
are made new creatures. We know him. We have understanding
by him. We worship God in spirit and
in truth. Verse 44, Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I am Pharaoh and without thee. Without thee shall no man lift
up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." Now, if you look
up that word, lift up, and what it means, it's used to describe
an exaltation of someone, the raising up of someone, the acceptance
of someone, being exalted. And it's also used in reference
to worshiping God. That same word is used for the
worship of the true and living God, such as when a heave offering
is made. So it's used a number of times
in scripture in numbers. It says, ye shall offer up a
cake. and you shall offer up, so shall
ye heave it. Lift it up in worship of God. You worship God, and that's what
that word lift up means. And then for exalting someone,
I will exalt him. I will lift him up. I will raise
him up. And so Pharaoh's saying here,
no man shall be exalted. No man shall worship. And that's
the picture. It's a picture of what Christ
has done for us, that by him, we worship God. By him, we are
exalted, being accepted of God. Without Him, we're not accepted
of God. We can't come before the throne of God and worship
Him in spirit and in truth, being accepted of Him, being received
of Him. There's no worship apart from
Christ. There's no acceptance apart from
Christ. Without Him, we can do nothing. And it speaks to the
hands and feet here, and I can't help but see Christ, who with
His hands and His feet, nailed to that cross, obtained. That's
salvation for us, so that now by Him, by His grace, we worship
God. By Him, we are brought into fellowship
with God. By Him, we are accepted of Him
and exalted, that we know God, and worship Him, and serve Him,
and are received of Him, and can stand before the throne of
God, accepted of Him. who sees all, who knows all,
who sees every stain, every sin, every blot. But in his people,
because of Christ's blood, he sees no wrinkle, no spot, no
stain were received of him. And so our Lord, when he came
into the presence of his disciples, having been raised from the dead,
said, behold, my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle
me and see. for his spirit hath not flesh
and bones as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed them his hands and his feet." That's our acceptance. That's our forgiveness. That's
how we worship God. His thanks be to the Lord Jesus
Christ, who obtained our eternal redemption by himself. And he
says, without me, he can do nothing, nothing, apart from Christ. And
so we look to Him, brethren. We come to God in Christ. By Him we are accepted and received. The beauty here in beholding
these various types and pictures here in Joseph is it testifies
of Christ. It gives us an understanding,
preparing our hearts for him who came in the flesh and accomplished
our redemption. It testifies of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It testifies of the salvation
of God spoken of throughout this word. As our Lord said, it speaks
of me. You search the scriptures for
them, you think you have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of me. Of me. And if we would come to
God, we must come to Christ. We must look to Him. We must
trust Him, believe Him. And He gives that faith. You
that hear Him, believe Him, follow Him, trust Him, venture upon
that word wholly, believing that He is the Savior. He is salvation. Worship Him. serve him, bow the
knee to him, and give God all the thanks and the praise for
him. Because if you do cry out to
him, if you do believe him, it's all his work of grace in you.
It's his power. It's his glory. And so it testifies
of all his adorning grace, which he works, not only which reveals
Christ, but reveals Christ in us. It speaks to what he does
in us. Without him, we can do nothing.
and he makes us to know that truth. Then in verse 45, and
Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paaniah, and he gave
him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar, priest of On, and
Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. So, beginning
with this name here given to Joseph by Pharaoh, Zaphnath Pahaniah,
in the margin we see the Hebrew interpretation, which means the
revealer of secrets. And Joseph did that. He revealed
the secrets of God. He revealed the mystery of God. And in the Egyptian, it means
Savior of the world. He's the Savior. He's the one
who by his wisdom, by his knowledge, he saved his people from their
sins. He delivered his people, just
as we see worked out in the wisdom of Joseph, who saw and understood
the things of God. and then took action and accomplished,
did everything necessary for the salvation of the people.
So the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of his people. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. He is the Savior
of both Jew and Gentile. so that he is the Savior of the
world. There's not another. There's
not another salvation. There's not another road to God. There's not another way. It's
Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by the Lord Jesus Christ. As narrow as Pharaoh
made it for Joseph, without you, no man will lift a foot or a
hand. So it is with Christ. Without
him, no man can be saved. No one can be saved. No one can
be delivered from the wrath of Almighty God, which is coming
against the earth for our sins and our wickedness in Adam. But
He's provided a way. He's provided salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Hear Him. Believe Him. Look to
Him. You'll know His name when He
brings that famine to bear in your own soul. I'm sure there's
a lot of people around Egypt that did not know Joseph. But
once they got hungry, once they started starving and feeling
the pangs of hunger, they heard, there's bread in Egypt. There's
bread. Where do we go? Who do we talk
to? Go to Joseph. Go to Joseph. Joseph will give
you the bread you need. So it is with the Lord Jesus
Christ. When you're satisfied and fat and sassy, you don't
think about Him. But once you are hungry, and
once you have nothing, and you're a needy, vile, wretched sinner,
poor sinner, you go to Christ. You go to the Lord Jesus Christ
and beg Him for bread. And all who come to Him seeking
mercy find it. He's never turned away one sinner
who sought Him for mercy. And only that one man who said,
tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Give me
fleshly, worldly riches. And he said, no. I'm not come
to do that. But every sinner, every broken,
wounded, sick, diseased, filthy sinner, every one of them found
mercy who came to Christ and asked him, have mercy on me.
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And he stopped,
and he had mercy on Blind Bartimaeus. He had mercy on the Syrophoenician
mother who said, help me, Lord. I'm not sent to you Gentile dogs. Help me, Lord. That's true. But
give me a crumb for my daughter. Save my daughter. And he did.
He did it. He did. All who come to him seeking
mercy find mercy. And that's when we know when
we need mercy. That's when you'll know who he
is, and you'll love him for it. Additionally, Pharaoh gives Joseph
a wife, a picture of the father choosing a bride for his son. And in our case, it was before
the foundation of the world. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. Apart from Christ,
we're not holy. We're not righteous. We're not
going to be without blame before him in love. But by him we are. We're delivered. We're saved.
And so his bride pictures the church of our Lord, whom the
Father elected and effectually brings to his son, gives to his
son. His son saved her, provides for
her all that she needs. He gives her as her husband. as her Savior, as her faithful
Lord. Now, here we seem to get a retelling
of events, albeit very quickly, here of all that we've seen accomplished
of our Lord and what he's done for his people, pictured in Joseph
here at this point, where we're transported back to eternity
and the giving of a bride. He has a bride given to him,
and then the Lord goes forth. He goes forth out of the veil
of heaven out into all the land, out into the world, to reveal
and to accomplish this salvation. It says, and Joseph went out
over all the land of Egypt, and it was to accomplish that necessary
work, to lay up for the people, to store up for the people all
the salvation that they need against that day, against that
coming day. in a perfect time, seven years
and seven years, in a perfect time, according to God's will
and purpose, when it comes, God's people, the people in Christ
will have all they need to endure the wrath of God because Christ
endured it for us. He bore it for us in our room
instead. He accomplished our redemption. And it wasn't just for the people
of Israel, but for his people scattered throughout all the
world, of every kindred, tribe, people, and nation. Now listen
to Romans 9-11. For the children, being not yet
born, there were people who knew nothing of this, who had no understanding
of what was coming. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth." And so it shows us that when Christ
came, he knew for whom he was coming. He knew his bride. He knew her. He loved her. And
he came and provided all that she needs. He came and laid down
his life for her. And for his people, he shed his
precious blood. his precious blood to the saving
of their precious souls. Our life was precious in his
sight. And so he came willingly for
us. It says in Isaiah 53, verse 10
and 11, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
he shall see his seed. He knows exactly who he's laying
down his life for. Verse 11, he shall see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Because he knows,
he delivered her. And he provided for her a beautiful
garment of righteousness in and by him. He accomplished that. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. And you see that pictured in
Joseph. By his knowledge, by his understanding, he went and
laid up for all the people to deliver them. And it's a picture
of what our Lord did for us in grace and in mercy to provide
for us. And so the ministry in the world,
it begins and were further told of Joseph and his many types,
verse 46, and Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. And that's true of the antitype,
the fulfillment of the type. The Lord Jesus Christ, after
he was baptized by John the Baptist, what does it say? Jesus himself
began to be about 30 years of age. It's just showing us that
he is the Savior. He's the provision that God has
given for us. And so that's when his public
ministry officially began as the Savior. And Joseph went out
from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land
of Egypt. So having that approval, that
authority of Pharaoh, We see a picture of Christ having all
power and authority given to him to accomplish the will of
God in the earth for the salvation of his people. And so we see
there Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just a picture of God the
Father giving all authority, putting us into the hand of Christ
to accomplish our redemption. And we see it when a voice came
from heaven, said, this is my beloved son, hear him. Hear him. You listen to him. You look to
him. He'll tell you everything you're to do. He'll lead you
safely through and bring you to Canaan's heavenly shores,
our heavenly inheritance. And then the father's trust and
confidence in the son was well pleased. We read of Joseph. He
went throughout all the land of Egypt We read of Christ, and
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
every sickness and every disease among the people. And so he accomplished
the redemption of his people in what he did. Let me just close
with Titus 3, verse 4 through 7. But after that, the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,
which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that, being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life. That's what he accomplished. He makes us new creatures. He
cleanses us of our sin, makes us new creatures in regeneration
by the giving of the Holy Spirit, testifying that we are Christ. And we have a more sure, lasting,
eternal inheritance in the heavens with Christ. Believe him. Amen.