Genesis 41

Genesis 41 – April 4

Joseph was cast out of his home in Canaan; Jesus voluntarily left his home in heaven. Jesus was likewise falsely accused. Jesus likewise did not defend himself. Jesus likewise was abandoned by those that he had helped in the time of his greatest need. Much more than Joseph, Jesus suffered alone. And in a much greater way, Jesus experienced the lowest form of humiliation, death on a cross.  But thank God that is not the end of the story.  

Pharaoh exalted Joseph and gave him a name above all others, and required everyone knee to bow to him. Pharaoh told Joseph that nobody was even allowed to move a hand or foot without his permission. In other words, he was their absolute master (or Lord). This should all sound deeply familiar. Yesterday we considered the humiliation of Christ in Philippians 2. Here is how that story ends.

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11)

Joseph was exalted to be the right hand of power in Egypt. He ruled over the nation with wisdom and justice. Because of his brilliant plan, the nation was well prepared for the coming famine. We read in verse 49, “And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.” There was literally too much grain to keep count. But those days of plenty came to an end, just as God has promised in the dream. And when that took place, the famine fell over the whole land. But not just in Egypt. Notice what it says in verse 54, “There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.” There was nowhere else to go. The only place that had bread was Egypt. 

Don’t miss this, because this is the entire point of these two chapters. This is the most important thing that we have seen so far in the life of Joseph. In fact, I think that in the picture of Joseph’s typological foreshadowing of Jesus, this is by far the most important connection. 

Verse 55, “When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” 

The equation is simple. You need bread. The world has no bread. Only Joseph can give you bread. Bread is a very common metaphor for salvation in the Bible. In a society where starvation was relatively common, people had a tangible connection to the reality that people who can’t eat will be found dead in the streets. The children of Israel were given bread from heaven six days a week called manna. The prophets spoke about bread that you could buy from the Lord without price. But we don’t see this metaphor of bread get paid off until we reach the true bread who came from heaven, Jesus Himself - the Bread of Life. 

Verses 56-57, “So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.”

Here is the bad news. The whole world is in the most severe famine imaginable. Not a famine caused by lack of rain, but a famine caused by a lack of God himself. We are separated from Him. We are incapable of being near Him because of sin. But Jesus says in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

There is a place of satisfaction. There is a place to find bread. In Genesis 41, the world had to go to Joseph to get bread. But, to you I say, go to Jesus, all the earth, who gives you Himself. As John Piper once famously said, “Jesus did not come to give bread, but to be bread.” He Himself is the bread of life and the only place where spiritual food can be found.

 

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