Jacob and Joseph have now been
reunited. They were back in chapter 46
as we studied last week. You know, for the first 17 years
of Joseph's life, Jacob took good care of him and the rest
of the brethren. Jacob was a good father, as we
would define good. He did the best he could in raising
his family, as all fathers seek to do. No father is perfect. No father is without sin. No father is without weaknesses. But those who know God, those
who are the beloved of God, seek to raise their children in the
nurture and the admonition of the Lord. And Jacob sought to
raise his sons and the daughter that he had, following the same
biblical principles as Isaac and as Abraham before then. He made mistakes because he was
a man. There are no perfect men or women
in this world. There are no perfect fathers,
except our Heavenly Father. and He is altogether perfect.
He makes no mistakes with His children. He does all things
well for all of His offspring, for all of those who are born
again of the Spirit of God, born again by the incorruptible seed
of the gospel of the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And our God makes no mistakes in regards to His children or
in regards to anything as far as that goes. He governs all
things in utmost wisdom, and He has absolute omnipotence in
every single thing. Now, many years have gone by
now since Joseph left. Lots of things have happened
to Joseph. He was sold into slavery. He wound up in Egypt. As you
know, he wound up being a servant in the house of Potiphar. And
then he was such a good servant that he became gradually entrusted
with even the finances of Potiphar. He was a man who knew the Lord.
He knew the Lord because the Lord knew him. And all things
went well for Joseph until he was falsely accused by Apollifer's
wife of making advances toward her. And those charges, of course,
were false, but she charged him falsely, and he wound up in prison. There beside him in prison were
cast two of the men who were officers for Pharaoh, that is,
the chief baker and the chief butler. There was one innocent
man there. It was Joseph. There were two
men who apparently were guilty of offending Pharaoh in some
way, the chief butler and the chief baker. reminds me of our
Lord Jesus, absolutely innocent. And yet he was crucified between
two men who had done some awful things. And as it was with those
two men, so it was with Chief Baker and the Chief Butler. One
of them perished, and one of them was delivered. The chief
baker died, and the chief butler was spared. One of the thieves
was spared by the sovereign grace of God. Our Lord Jesus did a
work of grace in his heart right there on the cross of Calvary.
And He put within that man a desire to know God. He put within that
man new life. Spiritual life. He was born again. having heard our Lord speak,
born again by the Spirit of God. He believed on the name of the
Son of God. And he was spared, spared by
the grace of God, while the other one died in his sin and perished. Well, Joseph said to the chief
butler, you're getting out. that you're going to have freedom.
But don't forget me. Don't forget me. Mention me to
Pharaoh that I've been falsely accused. Well, the chief butler,
he is a bit forgetful, you know, and more kind of self-centered
like everybody is, and he got out and he forgot about Joseph
until Pharaoh had a couple of dreams His magicians, his soothsayers,
couldn't figure out. And then the chief butler, kind
of a light bulb went off in his mind, you know. Oh, yeah. There was a guy, O. King, there was a guy in the
prison where we were. He interpreted our dreams and
they came to pass. The chief baker, you executed
him. And, but yet you promoted me.
I'll bet you he can interpret your dreams. And so he sent,
the Pharaoh sent for Joseph. And indeed, Joseph did interpret
his dreams. And he said, it's going to be
seven years, going to be lots of harvest, going to be plenty,
lots and lots of food. but you better store up because
that's going to be followed by seven years of famine. So the
seven years of lots of corn, grain, and so forth came in and
then God sealed up the heavens. The rain didn't fall. The sun
burnt up the crops that remained. Everybody got hungry except except
the Egyptians because Pharaoh had put Joseph in charge of the
granaries. He was entrusted with that responsibility. You go around and buy up all
the grain. Get it from everywhere. You fill
up them granaries. You fill up them silos. And he
did. And Pharaoh made him ruler over
all. He was in charge. Joseph was
exalted. He had been brought to utter
humiliation. But he was exalted to be the
ruler, to be the governor, to be the second in command of the
king. See there a picture of our Lord
Jesus? Brought low. The Scripture says
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The apostle Peter in Acts chapter
2 at Pentecost spoke of our Lord Jesus dying and then being raised
from the dead. And he said, that same Jesus
whom you crucified, preaching to the Jews now, that same Jesus
whom you crucified, God has made Lord and Christ. And then the
people on the conviction of the Spirit of God said, men and brethren,
what shall we do? Oh, how refreshing that would
be if some poor sinner would say to a preacher of the gospel,
I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. I'm a sinner
against God. What shall I do? What shall I
do? Peter said, you repent. You repent. and then you acknowledge your
repentance, your change of heart, change of mind, change of direction,
change of attitude toward Jesus of Nazareth, and you confess
that change in the waters of baptism. So, Joseph, Joseph,
exalted. He was brought low, but he was
exalted. by the king. Well, as I said,
seven years of glorious harvest went by and then they got into
the famine, two years into the famine. And now Jacob and all his family
leave the land of Canaan. and they go into the land of
Egypt, specifically into that portion referred to as Goshen,
which was the best of the land of Egypt. Joseph is now 39 years old. He left home when he was 17 years
old. Now he's 39. and his father comes, and there's
a wonderful reunion, and Jacob will be under Joseph's care,
just like Joseph was under the care of Jacob for how many years?
You remember? 17 years. Joseph was under the care of
Jacob for 17 years, and now Jacob comes into Goshen, and he's going
to be under the care of Joseph for, guess how many years? 17 years. 17 years he'll be taken care
of by his son. And we see in this chapter how
Joseph abundantly provides for his family. That's the title
of the message. Joseph provides for his family. And I'll give you about four
things here if you'll stay with me now. We'll work through these
12 verses. Number one, Joseph ruled, but
he was answerable to Pharaoh. Was he exalted? Yes. Was Joseph
the ruler? Yes. Was Joseph the governor? Yes. But there was one who appointed
him to these positions. That is Pharaoh. And Joseph answered
to Pharaoh. Now stay with me. Even so, our
Lord Jesus Christ He is God over all, blessed forever. We know
that. He's divine. He's the second
person of the blessed Trinity. But He left heaven's glory and
He came down here to this earth and joined His deity to human
flesh and became the servant of Jehovah. Now He's equal with
God in every way. But in the covenant of grace,
He agreed that he would be made lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. He had to be made like unto us,
you see, in order to suffer the penalty for sin. The wages of
sin is death. That's what Christ had to suffer.
He had to suffer, bleed, and die to satisfy God's righteous
justice. He had to be a man. He was God
and he was man. He was the God man. That's who
he was. And he answered to the Father
in all things. In all things. He was the perfect
man. He was obedient to the Father.
He lived before the Father's ever watchful eye. In Isaiah
chapter 53, we read, He shall grow up before Him as a tender
plant. Before who? Before God. Before the eyes of the Father.
He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root
out of dry ground. Our Lord Jesus humbled Himself
and though still equal with the Father, He became the servant
of Jehovah. He was answerable in all things
to the Father. That's why He told the Jews in
John chapter 8 and verse 29, He that sent me is with me, the
Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things
that please Him. And we see His acts of obedience
all throughout His earthly pilgrimage, always speaking the words that
the Father gave Him to speak, always fulfilling the purpose
of the Father, and drawing unto Him those whom the Father gave
Him in covenant grace. And we see our Savior's position
perfectly well in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So
if you would go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and then we'll go
back to Genesis 47 of course. But look at 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Now you being familiar with the scriptures as you are, you
know this is the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Of course, the apostle is speaking
about the resurrection of all of the people of God and the
final resurrection. So he says in 1 Corinthians 15,
22, for as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own
order Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ
at his coming. Then cometh the end. That means the termination of
things. And the word end has as its basic
meaning the last thing in a series. This is the last thing that's
going to happen. Well, what is the end then? What's the last thing that's
going to happen? When He shall deliver up the
kingdom to God, even the Father. When He shall have put down all
rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He hath
put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under
his feet. Watch this though. But when he
saith all things are put under him, it is manifest, it is obvious
that he is accepted which did put all things under him. That
is not the father. Not the father. The father is
not under the rule of the servant. The servant is under the rule
of the father, just like Joseph, you see. Joseph, he had charge
of everything except Pharaoh. Now look at verse 28. And when
all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also
himself be subject unto Him that put all things unto Him, that
God may be all in all." You see, our Lord Jesus is presented throughout
His work in fulfilling His obligations in the covenant
of grace. He's set forth as the perfect
servant, the servant of God. A position He willingly took
to serve the cause of God. And He ruled over all things. And in the end, He will go to
the Father, as it were, and present the kingdom, that is, all of
the people that He redeemed by His precious blood, all of those
souls entrusted to Him before the foundation of the world.
He will present them all to the Father. He will turn the kingdom
over to the Father. Here, Father, I have been the
perfect servant to You. You see, somebody's got to serve
God perfectly. Adam sure did not. And we sure
do not. But we had a representative who
did. And he'll turn the kingdom over
to the Father. Now, of course, this is not saying
that Christ is inferior to the Father, because he's God. He was God when He was in this
world, God when He was hanging upon the cross of Calvary, God
in the tomb, God in His resurrection, and in His exaltation. He will
always be the prophet, priest, and king of His people. As the
Savior, though, in order to save us, He had to stoop down. What a mighty stoop it was. came into this world to fulfill
his covenant obligations. And now Paul takes us to the
very end. This is the termination of all
things. The kingdom of God is now full
and complete. All of the elect of God have
glorified bodies. The Son of God presents the kingdom
to the Father. After all, did he not say in
John chapter 6, and this is the Father's will, which he came
to fulfill, which the Father gave him, that of all which he
hath given me, Christ said, I should lose nothing, but raise him up
at the last day. And here's the end. You like
to read the end of a book? Read the end of the Word of God.
It's a book that ends in victory, not defeat. It's the victory. We're more than conquerors through
him who loved us. He is the victor and we are victors
in the Lord Jesus. So as we go back to Genesis 47,
Joseph rules. But bear in mind, he's answerable
to Pharaoh, and you can see the respect that he shows to Pharaoh,
even as our Lord Jesus showed respect to the Father, something
we did not do. He was obedient to the Father
in every way. That's first thing. Here's the
second thing. Joseph, he had a place ready
and prepared for his people. Look again, and I've read these
verses to you, but let me point them out to you again. Verse
one, 47, Genesis 47, one. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh
and said, my father and my brethren and their flocks and their herds,
and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan and
behold, they're in the land of Goshen, the land that Pharaoh
said, take them to. Look again at verse six. The
land of Egypt, Pharaoh said, is before thee, in the best of
the land. God gives the best, doesn't he?
He gives the best to his people. He gave his darling son for us. Thanks be unto God, Paul wrote,
for his unspeakable gift. God gives the best. the best
of the land that make thy father and brethren to dwell. In the
land of Goshen let them dwell. And if thou knowest any men of
activity among them, make them rulers over my cattle." Look
at verse 11. And Joseph placed his father
and his brethren. He didn't say, now, go there. Joseph put them there. That's what it says, and Joseph
placed his father and his brethren. He didn't say go wherever you
want to go. He put them there as the one who had absolute authority. He placed his father and his
brethren and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt in the best
of the land, in the land of Ramesses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Does that not remind you of the
one who's infinitely greater than Joseph? Couple of things
here. He has, number one, the Lord
Christ, Christ himself, has brought you to the very place where you
are right now. Right now. Where are you? He said, I'm in
this building. Yes, you're in this building.
What's the purpose of being in this building? To hear His messenger
speak to you about the Son of God and His great salvation.
Who provided this privilege for you? Who put you here tonight? In fact, for those of you who
are the people of God, think back. Where were you when you
first heard the gospel of God's grace? In that place where you
were, you weren't there by accident. God put you there. He put you
there. God prepared somewhere for you
to go and hear the truth of Christ Jesus. The best place you could ever
be in this world is where the gospel of the grace of God that
centers in the Lord Jesus Christ is going forth. That's the best
place you can be. Oh God, keep me in that place.
Keep me in that place. I say to those of you who are
watching by way of the internet, and I hope the internet's still
up and you're able to watch tonight, you occupy right now, where you
are right now, this very moment, you occupy the best place you
could possibly be in this world because I'm talking to you about
Christ, God's Son, and that life that is in Him that is so abundant
and so free. and so glorious. We're talking
about forgiveness here. We're talking about righteousness
here. We're bragging on the Son of God. You're right where you
need to be. Don't go to the kitchen now. Stay right where you're at. You're
in the best place you can be right now, where you can hear
the gospel. Keep this in mind. Joseph, he
had sinned for his family. and He arranged all of this for
His family. And this is a glorious thing
to remember as the people of God that our Lord has arranged
all things for the good of His family. Our sovereign king, our savior
rules above and he's moving people and things around in order to
do what is best for his people. And I'll tell you, when he puts
you under the sound of the gospel, that's the best place you can
be. That's the best land. That's the land of Goshen. That's
the land of Goshen. You remember perhaps reading
of or hearing of the conversion of Charles Spurgeon. He was on
his way to worship somewhere else and it came with a snowstorm.
And I read, I'm reading again his autobiography and it was
a bad snowstorm and he ducked into a primitive Methodist chapel. The minister couldn't even be
there that day, and it was the janitor who was there. Uneducated. He wasn't a public speaker. He
was there, and he said, somebody needs to say something here.
And Charles Spurgeon, on his way somewhere else, he said the
snow was heavy, miserable. He ducked in there, really, to
get out of the weather. But he said he was burdened with
his guilt. And that janitor, the custodian
of the building, he got up and he read out of the book of Isaiah.
The Lord said, look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the
earth, for I am God. And he looked at Charles Spurgeon
and said, you look absolutely miserable. Look to the Son of God, he said. An uneducated man. Spurgeon said,
I looked. I've been looking ever since.
Who do you reckon put Him in that place? Who brought up the
snowstorm? Who arranged all things? The
same One who arranged all things so that you would sit under the
gospel of the grace of God. and hear of Christ and His work
of redemption, He's brought you to the right place. But look
at it again this way, He's bringing you to another place, a place
prepared for you in glory. You remember our Lord Jesus said
to His disciples in John chapter 14, let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare, you know what
He said? A place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there ye may be also." I'll tell you, brethren and sisters,
there's a place prepared for us already. It's a place for
a prepared people, and that place is prepared. It was prepared
by our Lord's substitutionary death. That's how He prepared
the place for us. He died to satisfy God. Law and justice had an issue
against us. And Christ said, take me instead. Take me instead. And He died
in our ruined place instead. He took our place. And now we
have a place in heaven. Prepared by the Son of God. What
is that place? It's the father's house. It's
the father's house. I remember when I was a little
boy in Bassett, Virginia, my daddy would say to me, I'm going
to see Papa Sam and Mama Essie. That's his dad and mom. That's what we called them, Papa
Sam and Mama Essie. He said, I'm going home. You
want to go with me? I said, absolutely. Always loved going to his father's
house. I'm going to my father's house. That's a prepared place. Many
mansions, is what the Savior said. Many mansions. And he'll come and receive me,
perhaps by death. and if not by death, He'll come
again, His second coming, and receive me unto Himself. We're
going home, folks. Isn't that wonderful? We're going
home. We're going to the Father's house.
You know, the Father's house, that's where the family's at.
That's where you're loved. That's where you're not rejected.
That's where you're welcomed. That's where everybody loves
the Father. And our Lord Jesus is Himself
God incarnate. And we shall see Him whom Isaiah
said, one of His names is the everlasting Father. That's the place prepared for
us. Well, here's the third thing
quickly. Joseph presented his family to the king. Now look at verse two. And he
took some of his brethren, even five of them, and presented them
unto Pharaoh. And then look again in verse
seven. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him
before Pharaoh. Here's my brothers. Here's my
father. Pharaoh, may I present to you
my family. May I present to you my family. And I'll tell you, when the resurrection
is over and the great white throne judgment is finished, and all
things are created new, When all of God's elect have
new bodies, there will be one final work for God's faithful
servant to execute as the surety and mediator of the new covenant. The shepherd will present the
sheep to the father. The savior will present his church
to the father. The son of God will present his
brethren to the father. The king will present his kingdom
even to the father. And as is written in Hebrews
chapter 2 and verse 13, he will say something like this. Behold
I and the children that thou has given me. Here they all are. Not a one of them is missing.
All that you gave me in covenant love, I have redeemed. I have
bought them. I have washed their sins away. They're robed in my righteousness. The Spirit of God has quickened
them. He's made them spiritually alive,
and they have come to me by faith. And now, Father, here they all
are. I present them to you. Holy. blameless, spotless, a
glorious bride. Joseph presented his family to
the king. And one more thing, number four,
Joseph, he nourished all of his father's household. And look
at verses 11 and 12 again. And Joseph placed his father
and his brethren gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the
best of the land, in the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished, Joseph
nourished his brethren. and all his father's household
with bread according to their families." And if you have a
center column, as my Bible does, and I love the Cambridge Bible.
I've used a Cambridge Bible since 1969, and I just wouldn't have
any other. They've been making English Bibles
longer than anybody. But it says over in the center
column, or as a little child, He nourished his father and his
brethren and his father's household as little children. And isn't
that the way the Lord nourishes us? We're His little children. His little children. And the
word nourished, it has a compound meaning. It means maintained. So Joseph maintained his family. It means he supported his family. It means he well supplied the
needs of his family. And it means even more than that.
It means he confined his family. He confined his family. What
does that mean, Jim? He made sure that they didn't
leave. And he confines us in the kingdom
of grace. Let me tell you something. He won't leave us and we won't
leave Him. We won't leave Him. Why not?
He's got us confined. Oh, blessed, gracious confinement. Saved by the grace of God and
kept safe by our Lord Jesus Christ. Children of God, be comforted. Our shepherd is the nourishing
shepherd, who having undertook an old eternity to save his sheep,
he will meet all of our needs, spiritual and according to his
will, even physical, through life and throughout eternity. That's why Paul says in Philippians
chapter four and verse 19, He says to the Philippians, but
my God, my God, He shall supply your needs according to His riches
in glory. But that's not the end of the
verse. By Christ Jesus, He's the great supplier, the nourisher
of all of His people. O blessed Son of God, infinitely
greater than Joseph. But we thank the Lord that he
has given us Joseph as a portrait of our Savior, and that we can
look through his history and we see, ah, this man in so many
ways pictures our dear Redeemer. That's closing prayer.