Let's go back to the book of
Genesis, if you would. Genesis chapter 41. I read that portion of Scripture
to you from Philippians, the second chapter, because Joseph
is a beautiful picture in a number of ways of our Savior. Most especially as he was brought
low and then raised up to be second in command over Egypt.
And you know, our Lord Jesus, He was God over all to begin
with. He owned everything. He made
everything. He preserves everything. He is the one who governs all
of the universe to bring to pass His eternal purpose. But willingly,
He assumed the role of a servant. in order to fulfill God's purpose
of redemption. And you can read in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, in the end, He will bring everything to that focal
point that God ordained, and then it says in 1 Corinthians
15, He'll turn the kingdom over to the Father. because we understand
that all things were under the feet of our Lord Jesus, but not
the Father. Not the Father. And in this,
he's a picture of Joseph, or Joseph is a picture of our Savior,
I should say, because Joseph is, he's exalted to be second
in command to Pharaoh. The only one who was over him
was indeed Pharaoh. Joseph, oh how humbled he was,
put into the pit and then sold into slavery, a servant in the
house of Potiphar, yet always faithful, regardless of his circumstances. He was exposed to temptation
and he did not yield. There again, a picture of our
Savior. even as Satan could not trip up our Savior when He was
tempted in all points as we are, and yet without sin. Joseph has
been in prison for two years, according to chapter 41 in the
first verse, but he was released by order of the King. And I think
of our Savior, He was imprisoned in the very tomb of death. but death could not hold its
prey. And God the Father, having been fully satisfied by His substitutionary
death, by the work that He did on our behalf to save us from
our sins, God was so well pleased with Him that He raised Him from
the dead. He brought Him up out of the pit of death, exalted
Him to His own right hand. Joseph is indeed a beautiful
picture of our Lord Jesus in many, many ways. Let me show
you several more things tonight. Here's seven things I want to
give you tonight. First of all, Joseph is full
of wisdom. He has already interpreted the
dreams of the chief of the bakers, and the baker met his death as
Joseph predicted. And then the chief of the butlers,
he had had a dream, and Joseph interpreted that dream, told
him he'd be exalted, and he was. He had unusual wisdom that God
gave him. And then, of course, we know
that the king, Pharaoh, had a couple of dreams. And none of his magicians,
none of his soothsayers, none of the wise men in the kingdom
could interpret his dreams. But then the chief of the butlers
said, I remember. There's a fellow, he's in prison. He interpreted the dreams that
I had. He interpreted the dreams that
the chief baker had. I believe he can help you, King. And so Pharaoh, he summons Joseph
to appear before him. And it says in verse 38, and
Pharaoh said unto his servants, chapter 41 verse 38, Can we find
such one as this is? A man in whom the Spirit of God
is? Now literally he was saying,
and the word God is plural, a man in whom the spirit of the gods
is, because he was an idolater, as all men are, and of course
as all the Egyptians were. They had many gods, the chief
of which was the god Ra. So he was an idol worshiper,
but he detected in this man Joseph an ability that was way above
his own magicians. And he said, I don't think we
can find anybody else like this. And we know that the Lord gave
to Joseph wisdom. Wisdom. What is wisdom? Well, wisdom is more than knowledge,
although it does include knowledge. Wisdom is the right uses of knowledge. It's using knowledge correctly. And God gave to Joseph unusual
wisdom. He gave him knowledge of these
dreams. So that that which he spoke to
the king was that which is recorded in the Word of God absolutely
accurate. Who gave him this wisdom? This
is a wisdom that came from above. And in this, he's a picture of
our Lord Jesus. You know, when our Lord was just
a lad, the Scripture says in Luke 2.40, and Jesus grew in
stature. Understand that part to a degree.
But it says, and also in wisdom. In wisdom. And in favor with
men and God. You remember when our Lord was
teaching, and He had given out several parables, breaking open
the Word of God to the people. And the rulers, as they listened
to Him in the synagogue teach, they were astonished. They said,
where did this man get this wisdom? Because he spoke with such authority. He had such knowledge. He had
such wisdom. He had such a grasp on all the
truth of God. Where did he get such wisdom?
And of course, we read in the book of John, they said, where
did he get his learning? He didn't learn in any of our
rabbinical schools. He didn't learn at the feet of
Gamaliel like Saul of Tarsus did. Where did He get His knowledge? Where did He get His wisdom?
Where did He get all of this learning? Well, my friends, He's
God incarnate. And He has infinite wisdom. He
has all knowledge and He has the wisdom to know how to use
it. And I'll tell you, He can impart
wisdom to us. He can give us knowledge of the
truth, knowledge of God, knowledge of ourselves, knowledge of the
necessity of His own death upon the cross of Calvary, and then
His consequential resurrection. He can give us knowledge and
He can give us wisdom. He is the wisdom of God. In fact,
He's our wisdom according to 1 Corinthians 1. Who of God is
made unto us? And here's the very first thing
that's mentioned. Wisdom. He is our wisdom. You say, Jim, do you have any
wisdom? I have Christ Jesus. In the eyes of God, I have all
the wisdom that there's necessary to have. Because He is my wisdom
and He is my righteousness and He is my sanctification and He
is my redemption. He is the wisdom of God. To Him
belongs infinite understanding of creation, divine providence, and salvation. Why, every facet of salvation,
He ordained and it all originated with Him the Father and the Spirit
before the world began. while He was there in the covenant
of grace. As all of the stipulations for
the salvation of the chosen people were all ironed out as it were,
worked out, signed, sealed, and delivered because He's the Lamb
slain from before the foundation of the world. He is the wisdom
of God. Secondly, Joseph was sent over
the house of Pharaoh. Look at verse 40. Listen to what
the king 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. Our Lord Jesus, He's
over the household of God. That's what the Scripture says.
What is the household of God? That's the chosen of God, the
redeemed of God, the called of God. We read in Ephesians 1,
He's the head over all things to the church. He's the head. He's set over the household of
God. And He's building the house.
In fact, the glory goes to Him because He's not only the owner
of the house, He's the builder of the house and He's the one
who's going to make the house ultimately complete. He said,
I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it." Here in the text it says He's over all the land
of Egypt. And I'll tell you, that One who
is greater than Joseph, He's over all the world. So often
in Scripture, and I'm sure you're familiar with this, that Egypt
is a picture of the world. Our Lord Jesus, He's not only
the Lord and the King over the household of God, But He's Lord
and King over all of creation. He rules everything. What peace
that gives to us is the people of God. And Isaiah says this
is what the preachers of the Gospel are to do. We're to say
to people, Thy God reigneth. What comforting words. Just three
words. But oh, how full of impact to
the people of God. Especially when you're going
through some of the things that some of our brethren and sisters
are going through. To just have this brought to
your memory. I talked to Peggy about this
Monday night, and also to Jill. And of course, I visited with
Ron here to talk to him about the things of the Lord. And we
know the Lord rules. He reigns over all things. Not
only governing the lives of His people, so that you can't wind
up in the hospital apart from the will of God. But those men
and women who take care of our brethren and our sisters who
are in a bad way, who are sick, who are hospitalized, even they
are under the dominion of our Lord Jesus. Not just us thinking
about the surgery Monday morning when Ron had double bypass. Not
only was the Lord governing and watching over him, but the Lord
is governing and watching and guiding the hands of the surgeon
and all who were involved in taking constant care of him. And that's the way it is with
all of the people of God. The Lord Jesus rules over all
the universe in order to see to it that His people are provided
for. So He governs all things. Thirdly, Joseph received marks
of authority. I want you to look with me in
verse 42. I'll give you several things.
Number one, look what Pharaoh did. He took off his ring, his
signet ring, He put it on Joseph's hand. What was the symbolism
of the signet ring? What was that used for? That
was the king's seal. Here's what that meant. It meant
that Joseph had full authority over all legal documents pertaining
to the kingdom of Egypt. It's like, here's what Pharaoh
said to him, to put it in today's language, I give you power of
attorney. You transact business for me. I give you that authority. gave him his signet ring. And
of course, the signet ring, and you can go through scripture,
you know, it had perhaps a symbol of the king or the coat of arms
of his family or whatever. But whenever a document was signed
or something had to be sealed, that signet ring, he took that
and then he had, not plastic, but clay or something of that
nature, and put that ring down in it. Wax. It's like when Daniel
was in the lion's den. The king ordered a stone to be
rolled in front of the mouth of the cave, and then he sealed
it with his own signet ring. That sealed not to be broken. Or, like in Matthew chapter 27,
when the enemies of our Lord Jesus, very concerned that His
disciples would steal the body of Jesus, and then say, well,
He arose from the dead. Here's what Pilate did. He said,
seal it. Here's my ring. Seal it with
my ring. And so he set a watch at our
Lord's tomb And that wax or whatever it was that was over the top
of the stone that was in front of the mouth of the tomb, it
was sealed with the authority of Pilate himself. And this is what the king did
for Joseph. You have all authority. You act
on my behalf. And our Lord Jesus. He's been
given the king, or the ring as our king. The signet ring. And all transactions between
us and God go through Him. That's how God deals with us.
That's how we deal with God. Because our Lord has all the
authority of God. Secondly, he was given vestures
of fine linen, the garment of royalty. The garment of royalty. Our Lord Jesus, he was clothed
with honor and glory as a result of his Death. And then they put
a gold chain around his neck. Another badge of honor. Another
mark of distinction. What a drastic change. From a
state of great humiliation to a state of greatest honor. That's
our Lord Jesus. And then the command goes forth
in verse 43. He made Him to ride in the second
chariot which He had. And those who went before Him,
they cried out, bow the knee. And I'll tell you what preachers
of the Gospel do. We go before Christ Himself. And we say to all who hear us,
bow the knee. And indeed, salvation in this
life is bowing the knee to King Jesus. It's a recognition He
is the Lord of glory. The only Savior of the sinful.
But those who will not be brought to bow before Him by His sovereign
grace in this life will be forced to bow the knee at the judgment. Bow the knee to King Jesus. I bow, don't you? I bow. In my heart, I bow to this One
who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Would you know of His authority? Well, look at verse 44. Here's
the authority Joseph was given. Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am
Pharaoh, and without thee, Without these shall no man lift
up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." Without Joseph. In other words, nobody in this
kingdom can make a move unless you say so. And my, what confidence
that gives us in whatever the future holds because No man can
lift up a hand or foot throughout all the kingdom of our Lord Jesus,
apart from His sovereign will and purpose. That's His authority. Here's
the fourth thing. Joseph received a new name. Look at verse 45. And Pharaoh, he called Joseph's
name Zaphnath-Paeonea. Zaphnath Paonea. And actually,
that has one Hebrew meaning, but it has two Egyptian meanings.
To take this word, Zaphnath Paonea, and put it into the Hebrew language,
of course, is what the Hebrews did. It means revealer of secrets. He revealed the hidden dreams
of the chief of the bakers, the chief of the butlers, and, of
course, the kings. dreams. The hidden secrets were
known to Joseph and he revealed them. And our Lord Jesus, He
is the revealer of the secrets of God. The secret of how man
can be just and justify, how God can be just and justify the
ungodly. That secret has to be made known
to you. It has to be revealed to you. The Scripture says of Daniel,
in Daniel chapter 2, Daniel said, the Lord reveals the deep and
secret things. He knows what's in the darkness.
Amos chapter 3 verse 7, surely the Lord will do nothing, but
He revealeth His secret to His servants, the prophets. Our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter
11, He said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the prudent,
and revealed them unto babes. And then He said, All things
are delivered unto Me of My Father. And no man knoweth the Father
but the Son, and He to whom The Son will reveal Him. Oh, Son
of God, reveal God to us. There has to be a revelation
of His grace. That's the Hebrew meaning of
Joseph's name. Revealer of secrets. But then,
the Egyptian name itself, number one, it means Savior of the world
or Preserver of the world. Because it was only through Joseph
that the very population of the world, it was only because of
him that the whole population didn't become extinct. Joseph
in that sense, he was the Savior, the preserver of all the world. To him only, God gave the secret,
this is how people will live. And it all rested on the shoulders
of Joseph. And I'll tell you, as far as
you and I are concerned, and salvation is concerned, it all
rests upon the shoulders of our Lord Jesus Christ. And He is
the Savior. You know, it's an interesting
statement in the book of Titus. He's the Savior of all men, especially,
especially those that believe. Our Lord Jesus is the One who
preserves this world. I was talking earlier about how
the Lord gives gifts and uses people in the world to take care
of His people. That is exactly the reason that
the wicked, those who will ultimately finally perish, the reason that
God keeps them in this world is to provide for and be a benefit
to the Lord's people. Make no mistake, there's only
one people that the Lord our God really cares for, and that's
His people. That's His chosen people. But
He'll use a whole world of people and preserve those people in
order to take care of His little ones. These doctors and nurses, people
who'll never come to knowledge of the Gospel, You say, why does
God keep them around? Ungodly people? People who deny
creation? Deny that God created man out
of the dust of the ground? Why does God keep them around?
Take care of us. What about these companies? They
have boards of directors that care nothing, many of them, care
nothing about people and certainly care nothing about the things
of God. Why does God let them live on His earth? To take care
of His people. Everything's for the people of
God, you see. And thirdly, and this is the
second thing on His Egyptian name, it means the nourisher,
and preserver of life. And our Lord Jesus, He gave us
life. He gave us physical life, spiritual
life, eternal life, which is the knowledge of God, and everlasting
life, a life that'll never end. And He's the preserver of that
life. That's why we won't perish. And then number five, Joseph
is given a bride. Verse 45, again. After Pharaoh called his name,
gave him an Egyptian name, Zaphnath-Paeonea, he gave him two wife, Asenath,
the daughter of Potipharah, who's the priest of On. You'll notice
that the father of this woman, His name ends with R-A-H. He was a priest of Ra, who was
the sun god of Egypt. And here Pharaoh, because he
has absolute authority, he gives to Joseph this woman as a bride. This is an arranged marriage. And I'll tell you, God gave to
Christ Jesus a bride before the world began. And it was all arranged. And our Savior came into the
world. And He laid down His life for the bride. Husbands, love
your wives. Is Christ also... What did He
do? He loved the church. Gave Himself
for her. To have a perfect church. A washed
church. A bride without spot and without
blemish. And then number six, Joseph is
given offspring. Look over verse 50. Unto Joseph were born two sons
before the years of famine came, which Asenath, the daughter of
Potipharah, priest of own, bare unto him. Joseph called the name
of the firstborn, Manasseh. That is, forgetting. And if you
have a center column, my Bible even says that. Forgetting. Or God causes one to forget. And I'll tell you, such was the
effectual work of redemption that our Lord Jesus accomplished,
He caused the Father to forget. our sins and iniquities. And
the Lord says in the promise of the New Covenant, their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. No more. And then Ephraim, which means
fruitfulness. And I'll tell you, In chapter
49 of Genesis, you remember when Joseph is blessing his sons.
He got down to Joseph. He said, Joseph is a fruitful
bough. And I'll tell you this, that
one of whom Joseph was a picture, our Lord Jesus Christ, He bears
a multitude of fruit for the glory of God. He has many sons,
many daughters, many children, many offspring. And there are
several of us here tonight and people watching. We're the offspring
of our Lord Jesus. It's because of Him that we live.
It's because of Him we're forgiven. It's because of Him that we're
righteous. It's because of Him that we need not dread sickness
or death. It's because of Him that we shall
one day dwell with Him forever in glory. And then lastly, in
verse 56, Joseph opened the storehouses. The famine, verse 56, and the
famine was over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened
all the storehouses. He sold unto the Egyptians, and
the famine waxed sore in the land. And in all countries, all
countries came into Egypt to Joseph or to buy corn because
the famine was so sore in all the land. But here's one big
difference. The storehouse of God's blessings,
they're under the absolute authority of King Jesus. But there is no
price. Except the price of His own precious
blood. It's free to us. Free. It costs us nothing. For Jesus
paid it all. all the debt that we owed. Sin
had left a crimson stain, but He washed it white as snow. And
somebody came to Pharaoh and said, we're hungry, we need bread. Guess what Pharaoh said? Go see
Joseph. Go see Joseph. Are you hungry
for God's salvation? You're hungry to have a knowledge
of God? Hungry for that forgiveness of
sins that only God can grant to us? Hungry for absolute righteousness? Go to Christ. Go to Christ. Oh, may God give us grace to
work in our hearts. We come to Christ Jesus because
all the vast storehouses of God's infinite mercies and grace are
under the dominion and absolute control of our dear Savior. Let's pray.