Gen. 41:47-5247And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 48And 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: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. 49And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. 50And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him. 51And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. 52And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. (Genesis 41:47‑52)
“And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And 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.” vv. 47,48.
Joseph immediately went about his business, gathering wheat and other foodstuff into granaries and warehouses, for he never forgot the famine that was to overtake the land. He “laid up the food in the cities,” where it was distributed according to his planning and authority. It would have resulted only in confusion if each man or each little company of men were to store and distribute according to their own thinking. If they were to be saved from the great catastrophe that was to shortly fall, they must be obedient to Joseph’s word.
With a greater disaster confronting this world—a day of dreadful judgment—God has appointed One whom the prophet Isaiah describes as “A hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.” Isa. 32:22And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2). Today the invitation is for all men everywhere to turn to Him for salvation. “Tell ye, and bring them near;... there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isa. 45: 21,22.
This is what Joseph portrayed in type—all nations of the world were to look to him for the preservation of life and it would be upon his terms only that they would find it. There are many today who desire to secure themselves from the judgment to come, but who do not want to follow “Joseph’s way,” that is, the way that God’s Word offers. We are told “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world” and many of these are but the voices of men speaking in their own wisdom. How important it is to remember there is only one sure place of knowing God’s Word—the holy Bible, His own revelation to mankind.
“And unto Joseph were born two sons, before the years of famine came: which Asenath... bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh... And the name of the second called he Ephraim.” vv. 50-52. These two boys were born during the seven years before the famine came, presenting a picture of the family that is now being formed through faith in Christ, before the famine comes. When Joseph’s father later inquired “Who are these?” Joseph answered: “They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place.” This lovely expression reminds us of the words of the Lord Himself when His redeemed will be about Him and He shall exclaim: “Behold I and the children which God hath given Me.” Heb. 2:1313And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13).
Rejected by his brethren, Joseph became fruitful in the land of his affliction. And so it is with Christ. His ancient people might despise and reject Him, yet in the day of His rejection “He shall see of the fruit of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” His toil has its glorious answer in the great harvest of souls gathered out of the world during the time of His rejection by Israel.
It is “while it is called today” that the offer of salvation—acceptance into the family of God—is made. through faith in Christ.
ML 06/18/1967