What a blessing. Such a picture
of Christ. Clear picture. Verses 1-8. Let's just read those. We do
not have time to touch on every verse. Verses 1-8, Genesis 41. It came to pass at the end of
two full years that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river.
Behold, there came up out of the river seven well-favored
kind, cows, and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the meadow. And
behold, seven other kind came up after them out of the river,
ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other kind upon
the brink of the river, and the ill-favored and lean-fleshed
kind did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kind, or cows. So Pharaoh woke. And he slept
and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of corn
came up upon one stalk, rank or fat and good. Behold, seven
thin ears, blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured
the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh woke, and behold,
it was a dream. It came to pass in the morning
that his spirit was troubled. And he sent and called for all
the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh
told them his dream, but there was none that could interpret
them unto Pharaoh. Joseph, here's another picture
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did say, did he not, that
they are they which testify of me. And I believe, I'm just sure
that when he preached to those disciples on the road to Emmaus,
remember? opening out of the books of Moses
and the prophets and the Psalms, those things concerning Himself.
I don't see how He could have preached without preaching Joseph,
at least some of it. But they are they which testify
of Christ. Here in this story, Pharaoh represents
our God. Egypt represents this world,
and Joseph represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright? All right,
you remember in the last story how that Joseph, or the last
couple of stories, Joseph was despised and rejected by his
brethren. And what a picture that is of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He was despised and rejected
by his brethren, but God sent him. God sent Joseph into Egypt. They knew him not. His brethren
didn't know him. The world didn't know him, but
God sent him, didn't He? To be the Savior. He sent Him
to be the Savior, not only of His brethren, the sons of Jacob,
but Egypt. Joseph was the means of saving
Egypt. Now I want you to look at these
scriptures that may give you a problem sometimes. 1 Timothy
chapter 4. Go over there. Here are some Scriptures. And
I remember years ago, we went through studies, the women's
Bible study and the men, where we looked at Scriptures that
seemed to say one thing different, but some conflicting
what we thought were conflicting Scriptures. But first, Timothy. Verse 4, verse 10 says this,
it says, We labor, therefore we both labor and suffer reproach
because we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all
men. See that? Especially those that
believe. Especially those that believe.
The reason the world exists today, the reason the world is still
standing, The food that people eat, all of their sustenance,
all of their provisions are provided for them by Jesus Christ. You see, He has all authority
in heaven and earth. The earth is the Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ. The world and the fullness thereof,
and the people that dwell in it, they all belong to Him. So
everyone whose life is spared, Christ spares it, but He's a
special one. He saves the souls of, eternally,
His people. You see that? He was sent, Joseph
was sent to Egypt to save his brethren. That's who He was specifically
sent to save. But Egypt was blessed because
He was there, wasn't it? You understand that. John 1 says,
He came into the world, the world knew Him not. The world was made
by Him, knew Him not, but He came unto His own. His own received
Him not. But that's who He came for. His
own. And let Him love His own. Sorry
brothers that they were. But he's not ashamed to call
them brethren. But he loved them to the end. And we're going to
see, Lord willing, we get through this story. When we get to that story of
him making himself known to his brethren, there's not a more
wonderful story in the whole Bible, except Christ. Alright, Joseph is the revealer
of dreams. Pharaoh looked for someone, a
magician, a wise man in Egypt, the wise men of the world, magicians,
conjure up something. Nobody could reveal the mind
of Pharaoh. No one could reveal his mind.
Christ said, no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and He to
whom the Son will reveal Him. Christ is the revealer of the
Father, the revealer of His mind, His will. Doesn't it say in Ephesians
1 that He is abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of His will? What is
that mystery? Listen carefully. Listen carefully. This is the story. that in the
dispensation of the fullness of time, after it's all over,
He's going to gather it together in one. And what's the story
about? Gathering those sons of Jacob
to Joseph. Even the Father is coming to
Him. Christ is the revealer of secrets.
He's the gatherer. He's the revealer of the future.
The revealer of hearts. Oh, there's nothing hid from
Him. He's the revealer of hearts.
Alright, let's look at this butler's confession, verse 9. You remember
the story of the butler? There were two fellas that offended
Pharaoh. He was wroth, and he threw them
both in prison. But one of them, according to
the word of Joseph, was brought out. One brought that cup of
Pharaoh, representing the blood of Christ. And that's why he
was spared. He brought what the king demanded,
the cup, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like Joseph
said, you're going to go to the king and you're going to bring
what he requires. What he provided, his cup, and
what's in it, what he provided, the blood. That's what Christ
said. You go to the Father by my name
and he'll receive you. He'll let you out of prison.
And he did. Well, he forgot him, remember?
The butler forgot Joseph. Now, this is a picture not only
of how we forget the Lord even in our converted state, relievers. We go lengths of time, don't
we? But we don't think much about
the Lord, to our shame. Hmm. To our great shame. And then we remember. And it
gives us great grief. But this is also, I believe,
a picture of how that Christ was the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. That we had been ordered delivered
long before we knew Him. Long before He made Himself known
to us. Long before the Spirit of God
came and convicted us of our sin. The butler is living his
life. Two years. Two years, Joseph. And that's another message by
itself. How that Joseph was in prison for two years. A dungeon,
it says. It wasn't a fine place. It wasn't
a nice place. Who did that? God did that. To a real man, Joseph. Did it
to Paul, didn't he? Did it to John Bunyan for twelve
years. It's our Lord. That was their
help. That was Joseph's help. But Joseph's
a picture of Christ. At any rate, this butler remembered. He suddenly remembers, doesn't
he? He suddenly remembers Joseph. And what's he saying? Verse 1,
I remember my faults this day. Oh, my sin. This is what God
the Holy Spirit does to every one of His chosen people in time. He convicts them of sin, of righteousness, of judgment.
Sin because of what? Christ said, because they believe
not on Me. This butler says, I remember
my fault as a man in prison that I forgot all about. And the reason
I'm standing here today is because of him. See that? He said in verse 10, Pharaoh
was wroth with me. Put me in the ward. Me and the
baker, we dreamed a dream. Each man. There was a young man,
a Hebrew, a Jew, servant to the captain of the guard. We told
him. He interpreted our dreams. And it came to pass, verse 13,
just like he said, and here I am restored because that young man
said I would be. Oh, when the Spirit of God convicts
of sin, righteousness, and judgment all pertaining to the Lord Jesus
Christ, He brings to remembrance not only our sin, but all things
that Christ said. He brings to remembrance all
that Christ said. And you know, everything Christ
said comes to pass. He told His disciples, heaven
and earth will pass away, but not one word of mine will fail.
You'll remember this. And I'm telling you now, he said,
before it comes to pass. So when it does, you remember.
That's what I said. You will know I'm the Christ,
the Revealer, the Savior. Turn with me to Isaiah 43 and
keep Genesis 41. We're going to look back and
forth a little bit at these two because they go together. Isaiah
53. Isaiah 53. You have it? Isaiah 53. Here in our text, look at Genesis 41, verse 46. Joseph was 30 years old when
they brought him out to stand before Pharaoh. This is when
his ministry begins. This is when he's revealed as
the Revealer, as the Savior of Egypt. Thirty years old, isn't
that coincidental? No, it's providential. It's the
Lord's purpose. He stood before Pharaoh, king
of Egypt. Christ came. Thirty years old,
a man appeared before God and men. Verse 14, here in our text,
says, Pharaoh sent and called him. Pharaoh sent for him. Look at what happened. Brought
him out hastily. Out of the dungeon. Shaved himself. changed his arraignment and came
in before Pharaoh. Oh my, what a picture of our
Lord Jesus Christ this is. He was in the dungeon. Isaiah
53, verse 8, he was taken from prison and from judgment. He was cut off, you see, out
of the land of the living. Why? For my people. for my people."
He was in that dungeon and brought out because of his people. Shaved. He shaved. Isaiah 50 says, I
gave my cheeks to them that plucked off my hair. Changed his raiment. He came
before Pharaoh at 30 years and changed his arraignment. He was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. Stripped
and clothed with flesh. And he did this before
God and man, that Calvary. And then after that, he reveals
the dream of Pharaoh. He was brought before Pharaoh,
Christ on Calvary's tree, taken from prison. They stripped him,
changed his raiment, made sin for us. Who got his raiment? Prisoners. shaved himself, the Lord had
them pluck his beard, gave his back to the smiters. All this
for the transgression of my people was he smitten by his stripes
where he wounded for our transgression. And after Christ did that work
on Calvary's tree, we're going to see the purpose, the mind,
the will of the Father completely revealed, not until. We don't
know the mind of God, the will of God, except through Calvary. You understand me? You see, this
happened before he revealed the dream. Are you with me? At Calvary, God is only known
at Calvary in all His character, the holiness of God. Men say
God is lucky. Well, He is. But that's not the
first thing you see at Calvary. You see the holiness of God.
You see the wrath of God. You see the justice of God. I
will by no means clear the guilty. Christ was made guilty. But you see the love of God.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed. You see
the mercy of God. Where is the mercy of God? Well,
His general mercies are over all His work. He feeds His tender
mercies over all His work. But that's not His saving mercy.
His saving mercy is in Christ crucified. See, the mercy of
God, the grace of God. Oh, God gives unto us every good
and perfect gift. Everything comes down from the
Father of life, whom there is no shadow of turning, no variable.
And how good God is to all. Gives good gifts unto men, but
thou that unspeakable gifts. The gift of sovereign grace,
of infinite grace, of eternal grace, of saving grace is seen
at Calvary through Christ our Lord. The purpose of God is only
seen at Calvary. The will of God, the mind of
God, the whole world revolves around Christ and Him crucified.
Only then do we see. Look at verse 42 in Genesis 41,
after Joseph revealed the dreams. Verse 42, Pharaoh took off his
ring from his hand, put it on Joseph's hand, arrayed him in
vestures of fine linen, put a chain of gold about his neck, made
him ride in the second chariot, cried before him, bow the knee,
everyone, bow the knee. He's a ruler over all. Oh, Christ made himself of no
reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant. brought
out of the dungeon, stripped himself, made sin for us. And because he hath done this,
God hath given him a name which is above every name, that the
name of Joseph. Well, yes, Jesus. Every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. Who wrote this
book? There is no doubt in it. There
is no doubt. People are looking for signs
and wonders. I'm giving the message away on
Judges 6. I'm giving it away. People are
looking for a sign. He said, no sign of it yet. God keeps showing us signs. Signs, they're all one-sided. David said, Open thou mine eyes
that I might behold wondrous things from your Word. This is
wondrous, isn't it? This is wondrous. I fully expect
you to say to me after this, that was wonderful. If it's about
Christ, it is. It is. It's wonderful. And Isaiah
53, look at verse 10. Isaiah 53, 10. It pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He put him to grief. When thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed."
Joseph is going to see his brethren. You prolong his days. The pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Everyone prospered
because of Joseph. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied from prison to the throne. And by his knowledge,
Pharaoh said, can we find a man with wisdom that knows what to
do in this time of famine? Pharaoh said, yep, standing right
in front of me. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify me, and he'll bear their iniquity. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great. What's he going to
do? He's going to divide the spoil. He's going to dole it
out. He has it all. all the corn in
Egypt, all the blessings of God. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly, He hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly things in Jesus
Christ. Accordingly, He has chosen us
in Christ. Joseph's brethren were sure glad
that Joseph was their brother. When this is all over, they're
all going to know, you know why we're saved? Joseph. And Joseph said that, didn't
he? You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And I'm enjoying the daylight
Saturday. Listen, go with me to 1 Timothy.
Pharaoh was a wicked, godless king. He was a wicked ruler.
The king of Egypt. Did God have mercy on him? 1
Timothy 2, this was a blessing to me thinking about. 1 Timothy
2, look at this. These may be verses that give
you problem. We went through these verses
carefully years ago. 1 Timothy 2, verses 1 through
6, Paul tells young Timothy, I exhort, therefore, first of
all, supplication, prayer, intercessions, giving of thanks be made for
all men. And what he's saying is all sorts of men. You can't
pray for every single man, can you? You don't know them. But
for kings, for all that are in authority, that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life. Pray for your rulers, he said.
Pray for the king. Pray for the president. Pray
for the governor. That we might live a quiet and
peaceable life. Why? Because his heart is in
the hands of the Lord. Like the rivers of water, He
turns it with us wherever He will. Pray for Him that the Lord
will turn His heart. Read on. This is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one
God, one mediator between God and men, not man, but men, the
man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified
in due time. Now, you know. You know this
well, that he's not saying that Christ died for every single
man, but for all sorts of men. For kings, for rulers, for kings
and for peasants. Not many wise men at the fleet,
but there's some. Not many mighty, but there's
some. Not many noble, but there's some. So he says, you pray for them.
Did the Lord have mercy on Pharaoh? Did the Lord reveal Himself to
Pharaoh through Joseph? It kind of appears that way,
doesn't it? After Pharaoh died and Joseph
was gone, it says he rose up his son, and they didn't know
Joseph. And that's when they were put
in bondage. But under this Pharaoh, the sons of Jacob, they were
great. Pharaoh gave them the best of
the land, Beulah. Lands of Goshen? That's what Pharaoh gave them.
The finest land in Egypt. Did the Lord do something for
him? What about Darius or Darius in Daniel's day? Darius, remember? He threw him into the lion's
den. Well, later he came to that lion's den and said, Daniel,
is your God able to deliver you? Yes, yes, King. And Darius said, I thought there
was three men in there. This is Shadrach, Daniel, and
the Lion's Den. I'm getting the three Hebrews
mixed up. Same thing. But the Lord delivered
Daniel out of the Lion's Den, and Darius said, Daniel's God
is God. He said, now everybody worship
Him. What about Nebuchadnezzar? You studied that, didn't you,
Melanie, with your young people? What about Nebuchadnezzar? After
God reduced him to a beast because of his pride, he said, I make
a decree that everybody worship the God of heaven. He's God. It's his kingdom, and he sets
up over whom he will. He's the God over all. What about Manasseh? I was going
to have you turn. Don't have time. Jot this down. 2 Chronicles 33, beginning with
verse 11. The most wicked man to ever reign
in Israel was Manasseh. God said that. Nobody ever did
as evil as Manasseh. Nobody. This is our God. Is He able to save the worst? I mean, Manasseh was the worst.
Is He able to save a man like that? I kind of feel like the
fellow we've got in power right now is just like Him. Do you? Corrupting our nation. I'm not
speaking evil of Him. I'm just telling the truth. Is
God able to save a man like that? That story says He had mercy
on Manasseh. And Manasseh had all the idols
destroyed. and told the people to worship
the living God. Can you imagine that? God's able. He's even willing. Pharaoh's dream. I've got to
quit. Pharaoh's dream was this in short. Seven years of famine. I mean, sorry, seven years of
plenty followed by seven years of famine. Verse 33. Look here.
It says, Pharaoh said, let a man be found
discreet and wise and set over the land, set up officers, because
there are going to be good years and bad years. Seven years of
plenty shall be followed by seven years of famine. And Pharaoh
had Joseph put in charge of, because look at verse 39. Oh
my, I wish we could go through every verse. He said, God has
showed you everything, there's none so discreet and wise as
thou art. That's our Lord Jesus Christ
in wisdom personified. And Joseph was 30 years old and
he gathered, verse 48, he gathered all the food of seven years in
the land and it was all in his hand. Verse 49, corn like the
sand of the sea, very much. He had an abundance. It was all
in His blessed hand. Alright? What is this seven years
of plenty and seven years of famine? Well, it was all according
to the word of Joseph, wasn't it? Joseph's the one that said
that. And Joseph gathered all the food.
It was nowhere else to be found. And he laid it up. In storehouses. And that's the next book. There's corn in Egypt. Joseph
and it was like sand. Alright? The Lord has literally
fed this world with plenty down through the years, hasn't He?
It's just amazing, amazing grace is what it is, how the Lord has
fed this world so many mouths to feed, and yet this world,
this earth, abundantly supplies its need. Isn't the Lord good
to all? He opens his hand and everybody's
fed. The young lions don't lack. The
Lord provides them with everything. Fish, everything receives at
the hands of who? The Lord Jesus Christ. You say,
He's Lord. God made Him Lord over them.
Alright? There's been times of great plenty. But always, always down through
the years, there's been famine. Judgment. Drought. Famine always
comes because of what? Drought. The Lord withholds the
rain. Everything lives because of this
water of life. And if men aren't thankful, if
men take it for granted, if men start complaining, if men don't
give God a thought, He withholds the rain. And everything
just dries up. Just dries up. And it's the judgment
of God. And it's the just judgment of
God, isn't it? It's exactly what we deserve.
And haven't we seen that? What we have there is perfect
goodness, seven years, and perfect justice. Perfect justice. God put in Deuteronomy, here's
blessings, here's blessings, here's curses. Oh, my. And He's blessed so many. Well, this is a spiritual picture. And I'll close with this. In
Amos chapter 8, there's a story. If you want to turn, you can.
Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos chapter 8. It speaks of a famine. A famine. Not of bread. Amos chapter 8 says in verse
11, The days come, saith the Lord God, I will send a famine
in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord. And it's going to be so
scarce like bread. They're going to wander from
sea to sea, from north even to the east, run to and fro to seek
the word of the Lord, and they won't find it. But I tell you,
who hasn't? Our God and our Christ. Alright,
here's the picture here. Since Christ came, there's been
truth abounding and truth scarce. We've seen the Gospel abounding
and we've seen the Gospel removed. When Christ came, the Gospel
was plenty. And if the church today suffers
persecution, it may be the best thing to ever happen to this
world. Because it happened in the early
church when they persecuted all the disciples at Jerusalem. Spread
everywhere like wildfire. And the Lord sent that gospel
all over the world like sand in the sea. and had a great harvest. Great harvest all over the world. Years of plenty. Gospel plenty. About around 400 A.D. Dried it up. Called them the Dark Ages. For about a thousand years, nobody
had the Word of God. Roman. Rome. Antichrist. He took the Word away, the seed.
He took the seed away. He took the seed away. The Gospel
away. He dried up. You talk about earthquakes
and famines when the Lord mentions these in Matthew 24. You study
down through history, you'll see all these things constantly. Judgments of God. Drought. Famine. Pestilence. Diseases. Why? Lane
years. Lane years. 1400's, 1500's, 1600's, Martin
Luther. One ear of corn. John Knox. John Calvin. John Bunyan. John, John, John. Everywhere. Men like John. Raised
up. Went out again. Plenty. And we're
on the end of that. We're on the end of that. It's
drying up again. It's drying up again. You have to
go here and there, don't you? You have to go here and there
to find it. You can find it. It's there.
There's a handful of smattering of corn on the mountain. You
can go. You can find it. And everyone there is preaching Christ.
That's how you know. I believe we're in those latter
days until the Lord completely removes it, completely removes
it, and then He's coming. We read there on Wednesday night
how the Lord said, here's what's going to happen. Here's what's
going to happen when I create new heavens. He said, my servants
are going to eat and the rest of them will be hungry. My servants
will drink, but they'll be thirsty. Isaiah 8 says they're going to
look to the earth. They're going to look to the
earth and be hungry and fret themselves and curse their King
and their God. They're not my people. They're
not my people. Jacob's sons are going to live
high on the hog. Jacob's sons are going to have
wagging nose in a time of famine. That's our Joseph. Alright.