Sorry, this is the beginning
of verse 25 of Genesis 41. And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The
dream of Pharaoh is won. God has showed Pharaoh what he
is about to do. So the message came from God.
It was God's doing, what He was going to do. And even though
He showed it to Pharaoh in the dream, He hid from Pharaoh the
meaning of the dream until He brought the interpreter, who
is Joseph. And verse 26. Joseph says, the
seven good kind, or the seven good cows, are seven years, and
the seven good ears are seven years. The dream is one. In other
words, it has one meaning. Both dreams have one meaning.
Verse 27. And the seven thin and ill-favored
kind that came up after them are seven years. And the seven
empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of
famine. This is the thing which I have
spoken to Pharaoh. What God is about to do, He showeth
unto Pharaoh." Now, Joseph says, this is the thing I have spoken
to Pharaoh. Because remember, Joseph represents
somebody. In Romans chapter 15 verse 4
it says that the things that were written beforehand, before
the time that we now live in, those things were written for
our learning. That through the comfort of the
scriptures we might have hope. And that hope is in the Lord
Jesus. We know that all things in the Bible ultimately point
to God's revelation of Him. In Romans chapter 1 verse 3 it
says the gospel is concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This historical account of Joseph is teaching us about the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what did Jesus say when He
prayed to His Father in John 17? What is eternal life? What
did the Lord Jesus say? He said, this is eternal life,
that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent. Jesus told the Pharisees in John
5.39, So all of Scripture is intended to teach us about the
Lord Jesus Christ. When we read the Bible, When we read the Bible, we should
read it in order to know Him. To know the Lord Jesus Christ. Because knowing Him is eternal
life. And seeing Him, we see the very
heart of God. We see God the Father in seeing
the Lord Jesus. And so these things are meant
to teach us about Christ. Christ Himself. In the volume
of the book, from first to last, it's written, Jesus said, about
me. In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 7.
So here we see that these things were spoken by Joseph. Joseph
represents the Lord Jesus and he tells Pharaoh, this is the
thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh. Because who is the Lord
Jesus? What is His office? He's called
the Christ. We call Him Christ because that
means anointed. Anointed with what? Well, in
the Old Testament, they anointed prophets, they anointed priests,
and they anointed kings. And what did they anoint them
with? Oil. But in the New Testament, that is revealed to be oil signifies
the Spirit of God. And so, when God the Father says
He's the Christ, it means He's anointed. He has the Spirit of
God on Him. When the Son of God came into
this world and took on our nature, human body and soul, and lived
the full life of a man, the Spirit of God was on Him without measure.
God's Spirit was on Him in order that He might be our prophet,
our priest, and our king, and our prophet to tell us what God
has said. to reveal God to us. And so he
says here in verse 28, this is the thing which I have spoken
to Pharaoh, because Joseph is significant, or he signifies
the Lord Jesus as our prophet here. He says, what God is about
to do, He showeth unto Pharaoh. And then in verse 29, he says,
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty. throughout all
the land of Egypt, and there shall arise after them seven
years of famine, and all the plenty shall be forgotten in
the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land." So first
famine, I mean first plenty and then famine. And the famine would
be so bad that all the plenty would be forgotten. Now, this
is a very bad thing. If the plenty is forgotten, there's
nothing left. Of all those seven years of plenty,
because the famine would be so severe, there would be nothing
to eat. And without anything to eat, the people would die.
And the country, the land of Egypt, would be lost. The king
and his people, and all the surrounding lands where the famine was, would
perish because of the famine. So it was God's purpose. He's
going to give the plenty. He's going to give the famine.
And the famine would be so bad that unless something happens,
the people will all perish. Doesn't that teach you something?
Does it remind you of the truth of scripture? We want to think
about what the famine and the plenty have to do with, but let's
go on, because we find out that God not only is going to send
the plenty and send the famine, but He's going to send a man,
and that man is Joseph. And through that man, He's going
to instruct the king, and the king will do as He says. And
so we'll see that God not only intended to bring the plenty
and the famine, but also to deliver these people from the famine.
He says in verse In verse 31, I'll read it again,
he says, "...and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason
of that famine following, for it shall be very grievous. And
for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because
the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it
to pass." Two times God gave Pharaoh the same message. And
the doubling of the dream, Joseph said, meant that God was going
to bring it to pass, that it was established, and it would
come to pass shortly. And this is the way God says
it in Hebrews chapter 6, that God, by two things, spoke to
our consolation, to our comfort. The two things were that He swore
by Himself, and His counsel is immutable. And because God swore
by Himself and He cannot change, therefore whatever God says must
come to pass. He didn't need to swear in order
for Himself to make sure it came to pass, but He swore by Himself
in order to give us comfort that it might come to pass. But what
do we find? In Scripture, from the first
to the last, it's all about the Lord Jesus Christ and our salvation
in Him. Isn't it? Isn't that what the
book is about? It's about God's revelation of
His Son. It's about the salvation that
the Lord Jesus Christ worked out. for His people, to the glory
of God. And it's about all those who
will perish outside of Christ. This is the message of Scripture
throughout. And so, in these things, what we see here is that
the thing is established by God. The Gospel is so established
by God that it's in the entire volume of the book. And it will
come to pass without fail. Now, verse 33. Now Joseph gives
advice to Pharaoh. He's going to instruct Pharaoh.
He says, Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet. And
the word discreet means someone who's prudent in judgment. Someone
who can discern and make wise decisions and make good judgment.
So he says, Look out a man who is discreet and wise and set
him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let
him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part,
or twenty percent, of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous
years. And let them gather all the food
of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand
of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that
food shall be for store to the land against the seven years
of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land
perish not through the famine." Now, how did Joseph know that
this is what should be done? How did Joseph know that in order
to... God was going... He had established
this. Famine was going to come following the seven years of
plenty. But how did Joseph have any idea what to do? And how
is it that what he decided needed to be done was exactly what God
meant to be done? Well, it was because God gave
him this wisdom. Read on. It says, And the thing
was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
Pharaoh is a word that means it's a title. It's not a name.
The man's name wasn't Pharaoh. That was his title. In the Egyptian
culture, it meant he's the king. So when you read Pharaoh, just
think the king, the eyes of the king. It seemed good in the eyes
of the king, or pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
What Joseph said seemed very good to the king and all of the
king's servants. Isn't that what the gospel is?
It's good news from heaven. It seems good to God, because
he says it's good news. He's the one who said it's good.
And it seems good to all his servants. the king's servants. And so he says here, and then
Pharaoh, the king said unto his servants in verse 38, Can we
find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is
Who in all of Scripture can we find as the Lord Jesus Christ,
a man in whom the Spirit of God is? He's both God and man. And
in John 3.34 it says that God doesn't give the Spirit by measure
to him. It's without measure. Everything
that he thought, everything that he intended to do, his motives
of his heart, the works of his hands, everything that he spoke,
all was exactly, precisely, according to the mind and will and purpose
of the Spirit of God. He was full of the Spirit of
God. Whatever He said was God's Word, God's mind, God's heart.
And what we see and what He did is the very heart of God. When
you see Christ, you are seeing God Himself. Not seeing Him with physical
eyes, but perceiving Him, understanding Him. When we see what He did
in order to save His people by His own sacrifice of Himself,
we're seeing the grace of God and the humility, the condescending
grace of God. And this should cause us to pause
a long time when we think about this. Looking upon the compassion
and the grace of Christ, we're seeing God Himself. in His truth
and in His grace. Isn't that what John said in
John chapter 1? That the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. We beheld His glory full,
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
This is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Truth, because
He kept God's law. He fulfilled it and brought it
to completion. And grace, because He did it
not for Himself, but for His people and for the glory of His
Father. He was full of grace and truth.
Can we find such a man as this in whom the Spirit of God is?
You see, God's Spirit taught Joseph here in history that in
order for him, in order for the people of Egypt and his own people
to be saved from famine, that something had to be done in the
time of plenty to store it up. So that when the famine came,
there would be bread for them so they would not die. They wouldn't
perish from the famine. And that's the way that Joseph
understood what needed to be done. It was because God showed
it to Joseph. It was God's will. God not only
sent the plenty, but God also sent the famine. And the God
who sent the plenty and the famine also sent a Savior. And that's
why he sent Joseph here. That's why he gave Joseph this
wisdom to teach Pharaoh and Pharaoh's wise men. in order to cause them
to understand what needed to be done in order that they might
be saved from the famine. That the whole land perish not.
And so we read on, he says, And Pharaoh the king said to Joseph,
for as much as God has showed thee all this, there is none
so discreet and wise as thou art." None. None in all the land
of Egypt. None could understand the message
of God. No one knew what to do even when
the message was explained except Joseph. And no one knew what
to do to save his people from their sins except the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Isaiah 53 verse 11 it says,
"...by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many."
How? Who is the righteous servant?
Isn't it the Lord Jesus? How did He justify many? He Himself
bore our sins in His own body on the tree. And not only did
He bear our sins, but in doing so, He fulfilled all righteousness. All that God required, both for
our obedience and to put away our sins, was fulfilled in His
death. He's the one who's discreet and
wise. He's the one who knew what to do and did it, and by His
knowledge He justified many. He's the righteous servant who
made Himself a servant willingly, and confessed our sins over His
own head, and bore the punishment for them, and fulfilled all righteousness
for us in our name, in our place. and for our eternal salvation.
This is our Lord Jesus Christ. And so when Pharaoh looks upon
Joseph and his servants all hear what he has to say, they say
like they said in John 7, the men came back from hearing Jesus
and the Pharisees asked him, why didn't you take him? These
were the officers. The Pharisees asked the officers, why didn't
you take him? Why didn't you bring him to us?
And they said, because never man spoke like this man. No one
ever heard the words that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke, but
the Lord Jesus. He's the one. Moses was a prophet. Abraham was a prophet. David
was a prophet. Jeremiah was a prophet. But God
could have raised up stones. to praise Him. But there was
only one man who could have filled that role that Jesus Christ filled.
The Lord of Glory, the Son of God. He's the one God honored. He's the one God set up and exalted
and honored because He was worthy. And because He would do what
He would do. Save His people. So God brought the plenty. God
brought the famine. And before God brought the plenty
and the famine, He brought a man. And He gave that man His own
spirit. And through what God taught Him,
He would bring salvation to these people. That is the Gospel. What is the plenty? All the promises
that God put in the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation
of the world for His people to save them from their sins. He
put that in Him. He gave to the Lord Jesus Christ
a commission. He appointed Him and anointed
Him and sent Him. to be the propitiation for our
sins. All the promises of God in him
according to 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20 are yea and amen. All the
promises of God are given to him. And they're given to him
in order that he might fulfill those promises from God for his
people and save them from their sins. And so, we see that in
Joseph here. We see that he did this in order
that God did this, brought the plenty, brought the famine. The
famine, what is that? Well, God put the promises of
salvation and eternal glory for his people in Christ before the
foundation of the world. But what is the famine? Well,
that's all the judgment that God brought upon the world because
of our fallen Adam. Because of our sin. Well, how
can we explain all of the curse that's on this earth and the
corruption that's in our own heart? Our own guilt and sin.
Isn't it only because of our own sin? Our sin in Adam and
our own sin? And so God brings the famine.
And what is famine? It's the lack of bread. It's
the lack of food, isn't it? We have nothing to eat. But what
do we feed? What do our souls feed on? What
should our souls feed on? Shouldn't they feed on the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? But because we fell in
Adam, there's none righteous. No, not one. There's none that
understandeth. There's none that seek after
God. We're all gone out of the way. We're all together become
filthy. We're unprofitable. There's all
the good that God promised in Christ and in creation when He
made it and said it's very good and put us in that garden in
our father Adam. It was all plenty. But when we
fell in Adam, all the plenty was forgotten. Our spirits died
in sin. We were dead in sins. Our souls
were under the sentence of death and our bodies began to die and
we were subject to eternal damnation. And that was God's doing because
of our sin. God promised the plenty. And
God brought the famine of judgment because of our sin. But in the
Lord Jesus Christ, He sent before, before these things came, He
sent, I mean after the famine came, He sent the Lord Jesus
Christ in order to bring the plenty that He had reposited
in Him to save His people in a time of famine. And so we see
this. What is the bread? What is the
bread that God gives in order to give life to His people? Look
at John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Amos said in
Amos chapter 8 verse 11 that there would be a famine of hearing
the word of God. But listen to what it says here
in John chapter 6. Remember how God took care of
Israel in the wilderness? They had nothing to eat. God
sent them something. What was it that God sent them?
How was it that God kept them alive? What food did God give
the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness? It was
manna, wasn't it? And the children of Israel, they
saw the manna on the ground. They said, What is it? Because
that's what manna means. What is it? They didn't recognize
this was the bread of God. This was what God sent. They
didn't know who the bread pointed to. But in John chapter 6, in
verse 33, the Lord Jesus Christ explains. He says, And so the
Pharisees said this, Then they said to him, Lord, evermore give
us his bread. And Jesus said to them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. How
is the Lord Jesus Christ bread? We know what bread is. We eat
it all the time. But how is the Lord Jesus Christ
bread? These people, when He said, I'm
the bread of life, they wondered, how could He give us Himself
to eat? That's gross. And so they were
offended. They completely missed the whole
message. They couldn't understand it.
Because it hadn't been revealed to them. But Jesus said, I am
the bread of life. What does that mean? that the
Lord Jesus is the bread of life. Well, he says in verse 8, he
says, I mean, verse 37, "...all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out." Who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ? Who believes on him?
All that the Father giveth me, he said. And why do they come? For life. And how do they receive
life from him? Well, verse 38 says it. I came
down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, All the
people that He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day." The last day, Christ is
going to raise up all those the Father gave to Him. And how do
we know those the Father has given to Him? Verse 40. This
is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth
the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and
I will raise him up at the last day." Faith is seeing the Son. Saving faith is seeing the Son. Seeing Him as the One who is
the Bread of Life. But again, how is He the Bread
of Life? Look at verse 51. I am the living
bread, which came down from heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, who is God over all, one with the Father and with
the Spirit, came down from heaven in order to take on the body
of a man, in order that he might offer himself to God for the
sins of his people and fulfill God's law for them as their righteousness. He says, 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
This is it. My flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world. You see what Jesus did? He came
into this world to give Himself in order that He might save His
people. And the way He did that was to
give His flesh, His body. A body thou hast prepared me,
He says in Hebrews 10, 7. For what? To lay it down in sacrifice. And in that one offering, Hebrews
10.14 says, He forever perfected them God gave to him in order
to save. And this is what Jesus is speaking
about here. Who is this world that Jesus would give this life
to? Who is the world that Jesus would come and give his life
to? Does the Lord Jesus give life to every single person in
the world? Does every single person in the
world go to heaven? Did Judas go to heaven? How about
Esau, or Pharaoh, who wanted to destroy Israel? How about
Cain? Or how about Balaam, the prophet?
How about all these people who served idols and rejected Christ
when He came? Did they go to heaven? Did the
rich man in hell go to heaven? Did those who will stand before
Christ on the last day and say, Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied
in your name and done many miracles in your name? Will they go to
heaven? No. Many. are called, but few are
chosen. There will be many in that day
who perish." So the Lord Jesus Christ didn't give them life,
did he? But he says here, I came down
from heaven, verse 51, I'll read it again. I'm 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. Did
He give His flesh for the life of Judas, Esau, Cain, Balaam,
and those that perish under the wrath of God? He didn't. If He didn't give them life,
His life wasn't given in vain. He's God over all. Christ actually
accomplished something when He died. He actually saved His people. And so he says here, I'm the
living bread, because when he gave his life for his people,
there was no possibility that they wouldn't receive life from
that. That's what he's talking about in John 6.37. We just read
it. And this is the Father's will,
verse 40. which hath sent me, that every
one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Why do they
believe? Why do they come? Because they were given to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because He drew them with cords
of love, and He brought them to Christ, and gave them the
faith in order to save them from their sins. And this is how the
Lord Jesus is the bread. This is how He fulfilled the
prophecy that Joseph lived and spoke here in Genesis 41. God
put these promises in Christ before the foundation of the
world. He came into the world. He fulfilled those promises.
He stored up the unsearchable riches of God's grace in order
to save His people from their sins. And He gives them that
bread in famine, when they deserve to die, when there's nothing
else. And the king is going to exalt Joseph and honor him. And
we'll see why he honors and exalts him in order that he might give
this salvation to his people. We're going to read some verses
in the New Testament, but let's read in Genesis 41 how this happens.
He says in Genesis 41 verse 39 again, And Pharaoh said to Joseph,
For as much as God has showed thee all this, there is none
so discreet, so discerning and wise as thou art. Thou shalt
be over my house. And according to thy word shall
all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be
greater than thou. And Pharaoh said to 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, a
herald went before the chariot, they cried before him, bow the
knee. And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh
said to Joseph, I am king, or I am Pharaoh. And without thee
shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
You couldn't do anything. You couldn't go anywhere with
your feet. You couldn't do anything with your hands unless Joseph
said you could do it. It had to be according to His
will. It had to fulfill His purpose for all the land of Egypt or
you weren't allowed. The law of Egypt was the will
of Joseph. And what was Joseph's will? It
was to save! It was to save these people by
storing up this bread. And what was the will of our
Savior? To save His people. By making Himself an offering
to God for them. By reconciling them to God. By
bringing them to God by His own sacrifice. Perfecting them forever
in the eyes of God. And bringing every blessing from
God to them because He made them holy in God's sight by his own
work on the cross. Verse 45, Now think about this.
What is Pharaoh doing? What's the king of Egypt doing? He's honoring Joseph. He puts
upon him the best linen of Egypt. He takes his own ring off and
he puts it on Joseph's hand. The ring of authority. The ring
of rule. The ring of honor. The ring that
people would kiss in respect of the king. He put that on Joseph's
hand. Here, honor him! Honor him! Psalm 212 says, kiss
the son. Must he be angry when his wrath
is kindled but a little? Worship him." That's what he
was saying. Look at Joseph. Look at him. Isn't he magnificent? He's full of honor. His wisdom
is so great. In fact, Pharaoh put Joseph over
all his own house. He wanted to make sure his house
survived. He wanted to make sure his house
was preserved. That they didn't lose their family. That they didn't lose their kingdom.
That he didn't lose his honor and his glory in all of Egypt. So he put Joseph over it all.
He so honored Joseph. He gave him all the honor that
he could put upon him. And he even made people bow before
him, riding around in the chariot, the second chariot, the one that's
right next to Pharaoh's, so that when you ride, the herald will
go before you and say, bow the knee to Joseph. What is all this
saying? Well, it's saying how God honors
his son. God honored and exalted His Son. Why? Well, because He's worthy. Because He's wise. But why else? Only because in Himself He was
worthy? More than that, God honors His
Son because of what He would do. Because He would bring glory
to God in His salvation. In Psalm 21.5 it says, great,
look at this, a couple of verses with me. Hold your finger there
in Genesis 41 and turn to Psalm 21. He says in Psalm 21 and verse
5, He says, His glory is great in
thy salvation. Honor and majesty hast thou laid
upon Him. Why did God the Father honor
His Son? Because He saved His people from their sins. He made
himself of no reputation. He didn't think it robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. And he humbled
himself and became a servant, took upon him the form of a man.
And he became obedient unto death, therefore God has highly exalted
him. Look at Hebrews chapter 1. I
want to read this with you here. And think about how God honors
His Son and why. Hebrews chapter 1. God, verse
1. Hebrews 1.1. God, who at different
times, or sundry times, and in various ways, or divers manners,
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. God spoke by
the prophets to the fathers in the past. But in these last days
He has spoken unto us by His Son, and in His Son, whom He
hath appointed heir of all things, What does it mean to be the heir
of all things? Remember, Isaac was the only son of his father
Abraham. And when Abraham died, he gave
Isaac all that he had. It means that he's his only heir.
He's the only one who's the only begotten of the Father, was the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who is God's son.
And if he's God's son, what does that mean about him in his nature?
All that God is, He is. Because He's God's Son. There's
nothing that God is that Christ isn't. The fullness of the Godhead
dwells in Him bodily. And so read on. He says, He's
made Him the heir of all things. He's put all things into the
hands of His Son, like Pharaoh did in Egypt. He's spoken to
us by Him. And by whom also He made the
worlds. He's the Creator. Who could create
but God? Eternal God. All things were
created by Him and for Him. And there was nothing that was
made that He didn't make. Time was made by Him. And everything
in creation. So He Himself is not created.
He Himself is before time. He is the Eternal God. And look
at verse 3. Hebrews 1.3, who being Christ,
who being in the brightness of His glory. Now Isaiah 42 verse
21 says, God will not share His glory with anyone. And yet here,
the Lord Jesus is the brightness of God's glory. When you look
to see God's glory, all you can see is Christ. Just like when you look at the
sun, all you can see are the rays of the sun. You can't see
the fire that's inside of it. You can't see the essence of
the sun. You only see the outshining of it. Christ is the glory of
the Father. Who being the brightness of His
glory and the express image of His person. There's absolute
exact sameness in Christ, the Son of God, as there is in God
the Father. Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
And it says, "...and upholding all things by the word of His
power." Everything that was done in Egypt had to be done by His
will. He upheld everything. Joseph
did, and here Christ is. And now listen. And here's the
culmination of it. "...when He," this One who is
eternal God, co-equal with the Father, Almighty, All wisdom,
unchanging, when He had by Himself cleansed us or purged our sins
in the Day of Atonement, He sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on High." What happened? Here Christ humbled Himself to
the lowest point. I'm a worm and no man, He says
by the prophet. And yet here God has highly exalted
Him. He sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on High. Why? Because He's worthy. But also because He purged our
sins. Now, remember back in Genesis
41? What did they say? It says when
the king, Pharaoh, heard Joseph's words. What he was going to do.
What he ought to do. All of the king and all of his
servants thought that was good. That was really good. That's
great. You see, not only does God so
honor His Son, but because who honors, think about this, if
I say, If I want to honor you, and I bring you a cake, or make
you some kind of a gift, or give you a card, and everybody, you
stand over there, I'm going to bring this person up here, we're
going to honor them. How much honor do you really get? It's
only proportional to the person who gives you that honor, isn't
it? If I honor you, it's not worth much. If the governor honors
you, maybe it's worth a little bit more. But if God the Father
honors you, What is that worth? That's the highest possible honor,
isn't it? If God so honored His Son, What does that mean about
us who are nothing? How much honor should we give
him? That's why Pharaoh commanded the people when he sent out the
herald before Joseph, bow the knee, give him all the honor,
all the praise, all the glory. You cannot honor him too much. You can't ascribe too much greatness
and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Give Him all the honor and all
the glory. Why? Because He's worthy. Why
else? Mostly because He saved His people. You see, when God honors His
Son, it's because He did His will and His work to His glory.
But when we honor Him, what do we do? It's because He's forgiven
us our sins, isn't it? When we honor Him, we say, there's
my Savior. There's the One who laid His
life down, who had compassion on me when I was His enemy, and
saved me by His own work, His own sacrifice of Himself. He
knew what God required of me, and He met it, and brought me
to Himself. And so, as sinners, we say, there's
nothing higher that I need than to be forgiven by God. And I
find it in Christ, and so I honor Him. And so that's what this
is speaking of, the honor that God gives to His Son. And the
honor that those who are saved by Him give to Him. When He had
by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of
God. And under the Son He saith, in verse 8 of Hebrews 1, Under
the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Now
has love righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God hath
highly exalted his Son." Back in Genesis chapter 41, Pharaoh
called Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paeonea. Which means a few things in Scripture. I mean, in all that I could read. It means Savior of the world
or Savior of the ages. It also means the one who interprets
dreams. In the margin of my Bible it
says that. It says the one, the man to whom secrets are revealed. So he is the Savior because we
know he is the one by whose wisdom he stored up the grain that was
able to preserve Egypt in famine. But he's also the one that revealed
God's will that this be done this way. And he's the one who
had the wisdom to do it. And so it means both those things.
And so the Lord Jesus is the Savior of the world. Who are
the ones that Joseph saved? Well, it was all the ones that
he fed the bread to, wasn't it? All the ones that Joseph gave
grain to, who had nothing in themselves, who were in famine
and had no bread, they came to Joseph. And he gave them grain.
And therefore they lived. But because they had no bread,
and because they came to Joseph, he was their savior. And who
does the Lord Jesus Christ save? All those who have nothing and
come to Him. Who were brought by the Father
to the Lord Jesus. Who were given to Him. As we
just read in John 6. He saves them. And so He's the
Savior of that world. Of those people that He saves.
Not of every person in the world. Because He didn't save every
person in the world. And He's not a failure. He's not a Savior
whose name is tarnished because He attempted to do something
that He didn't do. But He saves people from their
sin. They're sin. When we're sinners, we have no
strength. We have no strength to do anything.
We don't understand. We don't seek after God. That's
what Romans 3 says. And not seeking after God means
we're not interested in God. In fact, we're His enemies. We
don't believe Him. We don't understand Him. How
could it come from us? We're sinners. God has to do
something. He has to do it all, and He has
to do it by His Son. And that's why we say that salvation
is of the Lord. It's by His grace, and by His
power, and to His glory. Because we contribute nothing.
Faith itself is not of ourselves. It's a gift of God. It's of His
grace. And so His name is Zaphnath-peony
because He saves His people and He gives them bread, which was
Himself. The Lord Jesus offered Himself to God. His flesh and
blood are our meat and drink. And we eat Him by believing Him.
And Pharaoh gave him a wife, too, whose name was Asenath.
And Asenath, the name means danger, or one who is in trouble. She was an Egyptian,
so we know she was a Gentile. And her father was a priest of
Onn. And actually, his name means
someone who belongs to the sun, S-U-N. So he was a worshiper
also of the sun, a priest of the sun, perhaps. And so we don't
know too much about him, but we know that this woman wasn't
a godly woman. She was an unworthy woman. She
was a woman you wouldn't think would be married to someone so
noble as Joseph, someone who loved righteousness and only
did right. But here in this woman we see another picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ, those to whom He is married. Who were they? What are they like? Well, they're
the ones who are in danger. They fell into great danger by
their fall in Adam. They came under the wrath of
God. And in their lives, we are by nature the children of wrath
as others. And we also walk according to
the course of this world in our nature, our old nature. That's
the way we are by nature. Unless the Lord Jesus Christ
presents us to Himself and Himself to us, and makes us His bride,
and saves us from our idolatry as Gentiles, who are alienated
from the life of God, alienated from all things that have to
do with God, without Christ, without God in the world, unless
He does that, we're lost. And so he says this in Ephesians
chapter 5. Let me read it to you. Ephesians
chapter 5 and verse 25. We're getting close to the end
here, so I'll cut this short. He says in Ephesians chapter
5. He says, "...husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify,
or purify, and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
the gospel." that he might present it, the
church, to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish."
That's why Christ did this, to save us. He gave himself for
us to save us. He made us his wife, we who were
unworthy, and in ourselves under the wrath of God, but he saved
us from that wrath. And so it says in verse 46 of
Genesis 41, Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. He was given a wife before he went out and did these
things. Joseph went out from the presence
of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt like the
Lord Jesus was given a people before he left heaven to come
into this world. 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 Anber to him. And Joseph called
the name of the firstborn Manasseh. For God, saith he, saith 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. The Lord Jesus
Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, and was exalted
by God the Father, he was exalted in order that he might be a prince. and a Savior to give repentance
to Israel and the remission of sins. That's what it says in
Acts 5.31. He was exalted to save. He was
found by God in His eternal purpose and will to be the Savior, the
mediator, who would save His people from their sins. Even
though God would bring plenty, followed by famine, He found
a man and sent him before to save His people. And the result
of that was this fruit His firstborn son, God has made me forget,
His second, that He was fruitful. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
was raised up, He said, He would be raised up on the cross and
He would draw all to Him. And He was fruitful because of
that, because of His cross work, because of His exalted place
in glory. And verse 53, 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, because that's where Joseph was. In the kingdom
of God there's bread. And when all the land of Egypt
was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh
said to the Egyptians, go to Joseph, what he saith to you,
do." When we realize in our soul, I have sinned against God, and
we seek Him who smites us because of our sin, He's going to say
one thing to us, go to Christ, and whatever He says to you,
do. And what does the Lord Jesus
Christ say to us? Believe only. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what he says? What
must I do to be saved? The Philippian jailer cried and
Paul said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look! Isn't that
what the Lord Jesus said in Isaiah 45, 22? Look unto me and be ye
saved. All the ends of the earth. Look!
Don't contribute. Don't think about how you're
going to improve. Look! Look what he did. You're a mess. You're dead in
sins. You have no power to save yourself
or to make yourself better. Look to Christ. Go to Joseph. Whatever he says, do. Verse 56,
And the famine was over all the face of the earth, because there
is salvation in only one. There's no other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved, but the name of the
Lord Jesus. And Joseph opened all the storehouses
and sold unto the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in
all the land of Egypt. And all the countries came into
Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn, because that the famine was sore
in all the lands. And what does it say in Isaiah
55? He says, Ho, every one 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. Why do you spend
your labors for that which is not bread? He says, hearken diligently
unto me and hear that your soul may live. That's the way we look.
We hear. God gives us ears. Faith to see Christ and find
in Him our salvation. We say, Lord, I can't save myself.
I have nothing to bring. I have no potential. I'm like
a little baby. I can't do anything. I'm like
a leper. I'm unclean, like a dead man.
I can't contribute one thing. I need you to save me by yourself. And then we look and see. And
that's what He did on the cross. He purged our sins by Himself.
And so we say, Lord, I come to You. And I take of You by this
God-given faith. And I live upon You. Let's pray.
Dear Father, we thank you for your mercy that you've prepared
in the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from the judgment we deserved.
You blessed this world in creation. You made man upright in the garden,
but we've sought out every invention. And we've subjected ourselves
to the corruption of our own nature. We find ourselves in
our nature to be the very enemies of God and we're helpless to
change. We're hopeless without Christ
unless you save us. And so we ask, Lord, for your
namesake, not for our own righteousnesses, but for your namesake, for the
glory of your name and your grace, save us for Jesus' sake. Look upon him and cause us to
look upon him only and come to him and find all of our salvation
in him, all blessings, all acceptance, all grace, all that God has for
sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ and help us to never look to
another or to leave him. bind our hearts to you in this
grace of faith. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.