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46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. 48 So 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; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. 49 Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable. ~ Genesis 41:46-49
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 41. God very often uses agricultural themes to teach us eternal lessons. The context of many chapters in the Bible is that there is either abundance or famine. In today's passage we see that there is the abundance of grain. In Proverbs 18:16 we read, "A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." This verse was definitely applicable to Joseph who knew that his wisdom was a gift from the Lord. Joseph understood that any man who wants to lead the orchestra he must turn his back on the crowd.
In v.46 of today's passage we read, "Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt."
The age of Joseph was highlighted by Moses at the beginning of his rule for several reasons. First, it gives us a reference for how long Joseph was in slavery. He was sold off to Egypt when he was 17 years old. And so now we know that he remained as a slave for 13 years. Second, it provides the details concerning His life and how long he would be in this position until his death at the age of 110 years. He held his position of authority in Egypt for 80 years. Third, this gives us the dating of the world from creation. Today's passage was set in the year 2289 BC. Since Joseph was born in the year 2259 BC, today's events took place about 1700 years before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Last, Joseph's age was given to show the parallel between him in his exalted position and that of the beginning of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
In his high position, Joseph had access to stand before the king. His position was earned through His wise choices. He also had the right to go into and out from, the presence of the Pharaoh. Yet again, we see Joseph being used of God to point all aware to the coming Promised Messiah. Those who have ever believed in Him were prepared in advanced by the wonderful word of God. It is aways God's word that alerts us to His person and His activity in our lives.
In v.47 of today's passage we read, "Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly."
During this seven year period, Joseph collected food from throughout the land of Egypt. The food for you and me is analogous to the word of God. It is the veracity of God's word that causes our faith in Him to grow. His veracity is best seen through His faithfulness to the promises that He has given. This explains why Joseph was such a consistent and faithful believer. This verse in the Hebrew literally reads, "The earth brought forth by abundant handfuls." This is a unique way of saying that God was faithful to the promise that He had made to Joseph, and, since Joseph had come to see the veracity of God, he laid his life on the line before the Pharaoh. Joseph had tremendous faith. Someone once said, "Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right."
In v.48 of today's passage we read, "So 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; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them."
"All the food" here was the one-fifth which Joseph had earlier counseled Pharaoh to collect. That one fifth was gathered up over seven years and stored in store houses which had been constructed for this very purpose. It was incredibly wise of Joseph to put the food in each major city which all had these store houses. This helped in the distribution of the food to the people because it was closest to the people. Eventually, the amount stored was so immense that it was beyond description.
In v.49 of today's passage we read, "Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable."
There is that phrase again, "as the sand of the sea." This phrase is used 20 times in the Bible and it is always expressive of an uncountable number. Just as it would be impossible to go and count all the grains of sand on the sea, so was the abundance of the harvest stored up by Joseph. There came a point where it was evidently enough for any contingency that was anticipated to arise. We have to remind ourselves though that it was God who said this would happen, and that it was God who brought the flooding waters down into the Nile delta. And it would be God who would stop the floods. By using the weather in the upper Nile to control the river, and the lower Nile to control the heat and wind, there would be an immense famine coming. And all of this was for the purpose of leading those of faith in the God of the Bible to the Lord Jesus through one select group of people whom God had chosen.
In God’s redemptive plan, Joseph endured some very hard moments, being rejected by his brothers and falsely accused and forgotten while in prison. But, it was while Joseph was in prison that Joseph's walk with the Lord was forged deeper than it would have been otherwise. The Lord did not expect Joseph to overcome those hard times in his own strength. As Joseph bowed his will before God, God granted him the insight he would need to be the leader of the people.
Today, when we cooperate with God in His work, He gives us insight and stamina sufficient for the situation. When following God presents us with hard times, we can be assured that those hard moments will render a fuller weigh of glory enabling us to overcome the pressures caused by the trails. It pays to patiently rest in the all-sufficiency of the God of the Bible. This is largely why He has given to you and me such stories as Joseph's. Once day you will tell your story of how God enabled you to overcome and it will become a part of the survival guide of someone else.
