Source:
Harvesting People During The Famine
Three
Pictures (1 Peter 2:9-10)
God shows us: Kings, Priests and Prophets.
1 Peter 2:9
But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light:
1 Peter 2:10
Which
in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not
obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Who is God speaking to here in 1 Peter chapter 2?
God is addressing us as “A chosen generation”. God is speaking to the Saints; He is
speaking to the Believers who in chapter 1:1 are called “The Strangers”, because we are strangers and pilgrims on this sin
cursed earth. This earth is not our home.
And here in 1 Peter 2:9 God calls us “A chosen generation”, because all
those who have become saved, all those who have become Believers, are believing
because “God has chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before Him”, as we read in Ephesians and in other parts of the Bible.
Is that not wonderful how God gives us all these
beautiful titles?
But God did that for a reason. God gave us these
titles to teach us something about salvation.
God says here in 1 Peter 2:9 that we are “an holy nation”, which means a
separate nation, just like the name Saints means: “the separated ones”. And
then God gives us three more titles. God says here that we are “a royal priesthood”, which means that
we are of royal descent; we belong to a kingly household. Christ is our King,
and He has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.
Secondly, we are not only called “royal”, but we are also called “a priesthood”. The New Testament
teaches that the Saints are called a “Priesthood of Believers”, and Christ is
our great High Priest. There are no other priests between Christ and us,
because Christ is our only Mediator to God.
Thirdly, we are called “a peculiar people”. This translation does not do justice to the
original Greek text. It would be better to say: We are called a people that are
“a purchased possession”. We have
been purchased “that ye should shew
forth the praises of him who hath called you” by His grace. We are to
proclaim Him “who hath called us out of
darkness into his marvelous light”.
These three groups of people: Kings, Priests and
Prophets are prominently on display in 1 Peter 2:9. Here in 1 Peter 2:9 these
three groups of people are actually the same group: the “chosen generation”. But in Genesis 47 God gives us three different
pictures of three groups of people: Kings, Prophets and Priests. But
spiritually these three groups of people represent the same group: they are the
“chosen generation”. Lets now look
at the first picture: The Kings.
Joseph’s
Brethren (Genesis 42:5, Genesis 42:17, Genesis
42:25)
Joseph’s brethren dwelt in a land wherein was no
food, because the famine was in all the lands. Then their father Jacob sent ten
of his sons to Egypt to buy grain. We read in Genesis 42:5,
Genesis 42:5
And
the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was
in the land of Canaan.
And is that not typical of all of us who eventually
become saved?
First we dwell in a land, which is smitten with a
Spiritual famine. It is a world that supplies no food for the Soul. There are
only husks, which the swine feed upon.
And HOW do we initially come to Jesus?
We come with money in our hands, just like the
brothers of Joseph did. We want to pay for our spiritual food. We want to do
something in return for what God has done for us.
But how does God treat us when we do that?
He speaks roughly to us, just like Joseph did when
he recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize Joseph.
God wounds us before He heals. He puts our face in
the mud in order that He may heal. He tells us: “There is NONE righteous, NO NOT ONE”. He tells us that we are
rebellious sinners who deserve to be sent to Hell forevermore.
And what is our initial response?
We deny that we are totally depraved and “dead in trespasses and sins”. We deny
that we are haters of God. Then we read in verse 17,
Genesis 42:17
And
he put them all together into ward three days.
Joseph put them all in jail for three days. Joseph
was putting these men into their proper place: The place of shame and
condemnation. He made them feel it. That is what God did, or does with us.
First we must be abased before we can be exalted. God makes us feel that we
deserve nothing good.
And then Joseph released nine of them, but kept
Simeon in prison.
Genesis 42:25
Then
Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s
money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he
unto them.
Why did Joseph do that?
We must realize that God wrote the Bible, and so it
was God who initiated these plans in Joseph’s head. Joseph, as a representation
of Christ, makes it known to his brothers that deliverance is by grace alone. The
Bread of Life cannot be purchased. It must be received as a free gift. The
terms of the Gospel are “without money
and without price”. (see Isaiah 55)
The
Grace of God Is Free (Ephesians 2:8-9, Genesis 45:5-8)
God says in Ephesians 2:8-9,
Ephesians 2:8
For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God:
Ephesians 2:9
Not
of works, lest any man should boast.
That is why Joseph, as the type of Christ, ordered
the money to be restored to his brothers. Just imagine the consternation of his
brothers when they discovered that their money was put in their sacks.
But when their food was eaten up they had to come
back to Joseph, and they came with more money and with Benjamin, the youngest
son of Jacob. But Joseph was determined to bring his brother’s sin out into the
light. There can be no peace with God until a change of heart has occurred.
Joseph again put his brothers to the test: Joseph
threatened to take Benjamin captive and let the ten brothers go home. But then
we see that the grace of God had changed his brothers on the inside. Now they
gave up every attempt to clear themselves. Now they admitted that they were
guilty and that “God hath found out the
iniquity of thy servants”. They remembered their sin of selling their
brother to slave traders. Then Judah stepped forward, and Judah offered himself
to be the Substitute for Benjamin. Judah offered himself to be the lifelong
slave of Joseph in the place of Benjamin.
This was the moment that Joseph had waited for. What
a change from the brothers he used to know. Now he could see the work of the
Holy Spirit in their heart. They were declaring before God that they were
undone, and lost, and that they needed mercy.
How did it happen that they had such a change of
heart?
It was all by the free grace of God. And everything
else they also received by the free grace of God. They did not need to come
with money. They were of the family of Joseph, and Joseph was rich beyond
measure. Remember, Joseph was a picture of Christ. In this picture, the
brothers were of the family of Christ.
Now Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And
Joseph said in Genesis 45:5-8,
Genesis 45:5
Now
therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither:
for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Genesis 45:6
For
these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years,
in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Genesis 45:7
And
God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save
your lives by a great deliverance.
Genesis 45:8
So
now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father
to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of
Egypt.
These are exactly the words that the Lord Jesus
speaks to us. The Father “did send the Lord Jesus before you to preserve life”,
and “to save your lives by a great deliverance”.
How did the Lord Jesus Christ save our lives?
He did that by laying down His life on the cross,
and He did that for His own sheep. That was a great deliverance. No, Jesus did
not die to save our physical life, but He died to save our soul, by paying for
the sins that cleave to our soul. Once He has redeemed our soul, He also owns
the body that our soul possesses. And then Jesus says to us, I will give you:
The
Best of the Land (Genesis 47:5-6, Genesis 47:11-12,
Revelation 12:14)
Throughout these chapters in Genesis, Joseph is a
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Pharaoh is a picture of God, and that the
land of Egypt is a picture of the Kingdom of God. These representations only
apply to the last ten chapters of Genesis. After Genesis, Egypt turns into a
kingdom of Satan. Just like the Churches and congregations start out to be the
Kingdom of God, but during the Final Tribulation Period near the End of time
the great Apostasy in the Church turns it into Satan’s kingdom.
Joseph said, “There are five more years of famine
coming”, and Joseph invited his father and his brothers and their families to
come to Egypt so that he could provide for them. And they came. Here we see the
first picture in this chapter. This first group of people was treated as
royalty, because they were of the family of Joseph, and Joseph was royalty. We
read in Genesis 47:5-6,
Genesis 47:5
And
Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto
thee:
Genesis 47:6
The
land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land 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, then make them rulers over my cattle.
The children of Israel were given the best of the
land. The land of Goshen was the Nile-delta. It was the most fertile land of
Egypt. They received the land for free. Joseph nourished his father and his
brethren with bread totally free of charge. They received the honor to be
rulers over the cattle of Pharaoh. They did not have to pay for any of those
favors. Pharaoh welcomed Jacob and his household with open arms into Egypt.
They were treated like kings in the land of Egypt. You have to realize that all
this happened in the midst of a famine, when there was not enough food for the
Egyptians.
What is God telling us here?
We read in Genesis 47:11-12,
Genesis 47:11
And
Joseph 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 Rameses, as Pharaoh had
commanded.
Genesis 47:12
And
Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household,
with bread, according to their families. (It was a Gift)
Spiritually, this means that if we are born in the
family of Christ, if we have been born of God, then it is guaranteed that
Christ will feed us with the Bread of Life freely, so that we will not die from
lack of spiritual food, even in the time of spiritual famine. That is a great
comfort to the Saints. We are called sons of the King of Kings. We are called
sons of God, and we are secure forever. God says of us in Revelation 12,
Revelation 12:14
And
to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and
half a time, from the face of the serpent.
But now look at the second picture in this chapter.
Look at the Egyptians.
The
Egyptians (Genesis 47:13-17)
Did the Egyptians have to pay for bread?
Let’s continue to read from verse 13,
Genesis 47:13
And
there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the
land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
Genesis 47:14
And
Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in
the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the
money into Pharaoh’s house.
Genesis 47:15
And
when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the
Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in
thy presence? for the money faileth.
Genesis 47:16
And
Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money
fail.
Genesis 47:17
And
they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange
for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the
asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
It is very clear that the Egyptians had to pay for
bread right from the beginning, from the first year.
What is the spiritual picture here?
Pharaoh represented God. Egypt represented the
Kingdom of God. The famine is a famine of the Word of God. This is a famine
that is far worse than a physical famine where people die of starvation. In a
spiritual famine people die and go to Hell forevermore. That is much more
terrible than physical death The Egyptians represented the people of the
Kingdom of God, therefore the Egyptians also represented saved people, like the
children of Israel.
The time in history that this picture represents is
the Final Tribulation Period when the true Gospel will be scarce throughout the
world. The saved people want to continue to receive the Word of God, and for
this they are willing to give up everything that they have. They are willing to
give up their money, and their possessions so that they and their children may
have spiritual food, so that they will be spiritually nourished. They are not
trying to buy their salvation, but it is the nature of the Saints that they
want spiritual bread, the Bread of Life, to remain spiritually healthy.
Did you notice how often bread is mentioned in this
chapter?
It seems as if bread was the only thing they ate.
They did not even eat their cattle. This does not seem logical. But remember
that God used this historical event to craft these words in such a way that we
can learn from it the various aspects of salvation. Now we know that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”. And God is teaching us
here an important lesson.
Jesus said:
No
Man Can Serve Two Masters (Matthew 6:24, Genesis
47:18-21)
Matthew 6:24
No
man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other;
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon.
We see that principle clearly here in the Egyptians,
who represent saved people, because they are the servants of Pharaoh. They
willingly gave everything they had to receive spiritual bread.
But now God is developing another aspect of
salvation. We read in verse 18,
Genesis 47:18
When
that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We
will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath
our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our
bodies, and our lands:
Genesis 47:19
Wherefore
shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for
bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed,
that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Genesis 47:20
And
Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every
man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became
Pharaoh’s.
Wow. Here we see another land purchase. (see article
“The Second Land Purchase”)
· First, Abraham bought a piece of land from the
Gentiles, for a burial place.
· Second, Jacob bought a piece of land from the
Gentiles, to build an altar there.
· Third, Boaz bought a piece of land from Ruth the
Moabitess, a Gentile, and he also bought Ruth the person, to indicate the
bringing in of the Gentiles.
· Fourth, David bought a piece of land from Ornan
the Jebusite, a Gentile, to build an altar there and to build the temple there,
indicating the New Testament temple of Believers including the Gentiles.
· Fifth, Joseph bought the land of Egypt from the
Gentiles, for a present to Pharaoh, represent God.
All these land purchases are pointing to the cross
of Christ. Because Christ paid the full price for the souls of His elect, that
is why their bodies and their land became His also.
Joseph was able to give all the Egyptians bread, and
Joseph became more and more in charge of their lives.
Is that not a perfect picture of how Christ becomes
more and more in charge of our lives?
We cannot have two masters. And look what Joseph did
with the people, in verse 21,
Genesis 47:21
And
as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of
Egypt even to the other end thereof.
Joseph bought the people of Egypt, who are now
representing the Kingdom of God, because in this picture they were saved
people, and thus God lives in their soul.
In the New Testament, what do saved people do?
They become witnesses. They prophesy, which means
they proclaim the Word of God, which is the Bible, only the Bible. That is the
definition of a Prophet: One who proclaims the Word of God. Here we see that
the Egyptians represent the group known as Prophets, because Joseph sent them
to every city in the land of Egypt.
Now we want to look at three characteristic words:
Unto
This Day (Genesis 47:23-26, Romans 12:1).
Let’s continue to read verses 23-26,
Genesis 47:23
Then
Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land
for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
Genesis 47:24
And
it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto
Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your
food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Genesis 47:25
And
they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my
lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.
Genesis 47:26
And
Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should
have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not
Pharaoh’s.
Is it not interesting that God said in verse 26, “Unto This Day”?
You find this expression sprinkled throughout the
Bible.
What does it mean when God says “Unto This Day”?
Well, it means exactly what it says: Whatever is in
view applies “Unto This Day”, and
tomorrow it still means “Unto This Day”
and the day after tomorrow it still means the same thing, and so on the Word of
God still stands until the end of time. God means what He says. Therefore, the
only way we must understand these words is by looking at the spiritual meaning
of the passage that is in view.
What is in view here?
God says in verses 24 and 26, “And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the
fifth part unto Pharaoh”, and that is a law which still stands unto this
day.
Does this 1/5th part law apply to the current
inhabitants of the land of Egypt, who are mostly Moslems?
Or does this 1/5th part law apply to any of the Jews
living today, who have cut out the N.Testament?
The answer is: Of course not. God laid down this law
for servants of God only; it is for Believers only. God says to Believers in
Romans
Romans 12:1
I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service.
In other words, God does not want only 1/5th part
from us. God wants our whole bodies. The 1/5th is a fraction representing the
whole. There is a perfect English word for it. It is a SYNECDOCHE, which means
it is a part representing the whole.
Remember this word; it comes back again and again.
We have seen in Genesis 47 the family of Joseph who
we recognized as “the Kings”. We
have seen in this chapter the Egyptians whom we recognized as “the Prophets”, but what about “the Priests”?
The
Priests (Genesis 47:22, Genesis 47:26)
Genesis 47:22
Only
the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned
them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore
they sold not their lands.
Historically, the Priests did not sell their land,
because they were given food from Pharaoh’s table. There was no need for the
Priests to sell their land, because they did not feel the effect of the famine.
Spiritually, the Priests represent another picture,
separate from the other two pictures that we have already seen. Just like the
Egyptian Priests were servants of Pharaoh, so the New Testament Priests are
servants of God, and God Himself will nourish them.
What is a Priest?
A Priest is just the opposite of a Prophet. A
Prophet proclaims the Word of God, or the Message from God to the people. A
Priest brings the petitions from the people to God. So, when God addresses the
New Testament believers as “a royal
priesthood”, God indicates thereby that we are a “Priesthood of Believers”
who need no mediator between Christ and us.
We can come directly to the throne of Christ and
bring there our petitions.
But what shall we ask Him?
God says that He has already given us all things.
There is no need for us to ask anything for ourselves. But we can petition God
on behalf of other people. In this way we are really filling the role of a
“Priesthood of Believers”.
And then there is this puzzling verse 26,
Genesis 47:26
And
Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should
have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not
Pharaoh’s.
Does this mean that Pharaoh was not king over all of
Egypt?
No. That is not correct. From this verse we can see
that this story of the Priests must be interpreted spiritually, because Pharaoh
was king over all of Egypt. The lands of the Priests were not little enclaves
within Egypt where Pharaoh had no power over at all.
So, what is the meaning of verse 26?
The meaning is that eventually, on the Last Day,
(remember “unto this day”) the land of the Priests will not be part of the New
Heaven & New Earth, because in the life hereafter there will be no more
Priesthood of Believers. There will be no more unbelievers on whose behalf we
will bring petitions for salvation.
Now verse 26 completely harmonizes with the
spiritual interpretation of Genesis 47.
But there is one additional thorny problem to be
solved, and that is:
The
Big Land Purchase
(Genesis
47:19, Genesis 47:23).
We have already seen in the previous land purchases
that we have studied that these were miniature pictures of Christ purchasing
the world, so that He could guarantee to us a New Heaven & New Earth where
only righteousness dwells. Again here in this chapter the picture clearly shows
that Joseph, as a representative of Christ, bought the entire land of Egypt for
Pharaoh, as a representative of God. For example verse 19,
Genesis 47:19
Wherefore
shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for
bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed,
that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Did Joseph buy the people and the land?
Notice how the bodies of the people and the land are
never separated. We can see this again in verse 23,
Genesis 47:23
Then
Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land
for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
Was this the BIG land purchase, which was a picture
of Christ buying the world, meaning that Christ bought this present sin cursed
earth?
Did Christ buy this junk?
Yes and No!
The language clearly indicates that Christ bought
this world. But we have to understand HOW He bought this world. We have to
understand the question: “WHO bought WHAT, and for HOW MUCH”?
When the Lord Jesus Christ was going to the cross,
He was imputed with the sins of every person whom God intended to save. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He
shall save His people from their sins”. Christ did not make it possible for
people to become saved. He shall save His people. Christ is not a possibility
savior, but He is Almighty God who does save whom He wants to save. Therefore,
when Christ was going to the cross, He paid the price for all the sins He was
carrying. The wrath of God was poured out upon Him, to the extent that every
sin He carried was fully satisfied in the eyes of a perfectly righteous God.
Because God is a righteous Judge, the penalty that Christ had to pay was the
penalty that we would have to pay, which is the equivalent of an eternity in
Hell. He suffered that full penalty both in His body and in His Spirit.
And when Jesus cried “It is finished”, He fully paid for our sins, and thereby He had
purchased our souls for Himself. There is where our sins were. But when He owns
our souls, He also owns our bodies which those souls posses. This means that He
also owns the land that we stand on.
Christ did not buy the land separately. He purchased
our souls, but that includes our bodies and the land. It is a reversal of the
process that Adam went through.
Let me give another example: The children of Israel
did not fight the land of Canaan; they fought the people, the Canaanites, and
when they conquered the people, they inherited the land. Through the conquest
they bought the land. That is the sense in which Christ bought the world.
Now, let’s take a good look at verses 23 and 24
again. The question is:
What
Are Our Rewards?
(Genesis
47:23-24, Luke 18:29-30)
Genesis 47:23
Then
Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land
for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
Why did Joseph give them seed to sow the land?
Joseph knew very well that there were five more
years of famine, and that the people would not get any harvest. That seed would
go to waste. Here again you can see the necessity to interpret this chapter
spiritually, and not just historically.
The seed represents the seed of the Word of God.
Even in the famine of the Final Tribulation Period the Gospel must still go out
throughout the entire world. God has work for us to do, because “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by
the Word of God”. We must be sowing the seed of the Word of God to reach
those souls who have already been purchased at the cross. The very same seed
that saved my life should also be used to sow into the world. And now verse 24,
Genesis 47:24
And
it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto
Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your
food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Is this our reward for doing the work of God?
NO! Not at all! It is God’s plan that we use the
four parts to lubricate the machinery. In other words the four parts are also
to be used to serve God, by feeding ourselves and by feeding our family, so
that we have the energy to sow the seed, so that there will be an increase. We
see that the mandate to send forth the Gospel is already here in Genesis 47.
We must never work for rewards. That would degrade
the Gospel to a system of selfishness. When the Lord Jesus walked on this
earth, Peter asked Him that same question:
What’s in it for us?
Luke 18:29
And
he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house,
or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Luke 18:30
Who
shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come
life everlasting.
Our rewards are spiritual rewards, and they are
received here on this earth. But in the world to come we all receive the common
denominator, which is “Life
everlasting”.
How can we ask for more?
Romans 8:32
He
that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things?
By Alfred J. Chompff
No comments:
Post a Comment