Ecclesiastes 3:15 says,
“What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.“
In other words, God makes history (Jesus’ story) repeat itself. Whatever is recorded in the Bible has a definite impact on us because there is not one parable or verse that we cannot relate to.
Under Pastor’s influence, I’m compelled to share with all of you about the story of Joseph. Joseph’s story reflects very much like Jesus’, if you understand both their lives recorded in the Bible. Here’s a brief background (in case you are clueless about Joseph’s story):
A young Shepard named Joseph had eleven brothers – 10 born of servants and Leah (who was very much resented in the Bible), and the youngest one named Benjamin who, together with Joseph, were born of Rachel – and whose father was Jacob, the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham.
Joseph was richly blessed, highly favoured, and deeply loved by his father, Jacob. Jacob loved Joseph so much that he gave his son a special robe of many colours. As a result, all of Joseph’s brothers (excluding Benjamin) were very jealous of Joseph and tried to kill him. Many things happened and all the ten brothers lied to Jacob about Joseph’s death while Joseph ended up being sold as a slave in Egypt and landed into jail. Because Joseph knew God was always with him, he prospered even when he was in jail. Joseph had the ability to interpret dreams. He interpreted the cup bearer’s dreams while the latter was in jail and subsequently, the cup bearer’s dreams came to past according to Joseph’s prophecy. So, Pharaoh summoned for Joseph to decipher his dreams…
What exactly was Pharaoh’s dream? Pharaoh dreamt he was at the river bank, when seven fat and prosperous cows appeared before him. Then, seven of the thinnest and ugliest cows Pharaoh has seen in his entire life appeared before the seven prosperous cows, and the thin cows engulfed the fat cows. Joseph hence prophesied that the seven fat cows represented seven years of prosperity in the land of Egypt, while the seven thin cows represented seven years of famine following the prosperity in Egypt.
I noticed how famine was represented by cows in the Bible. And this year happened to be the zodiac year of the cow for the Chinese culture. 2009 is the year of the cow and the first year of the global crisis..
Anyway, through Joseph’s wisdom from the Lord, he advised Pharaoh to set aside 20% of all of Egypt’s harvest in the seven good years to prepare for the seven years of famine that were to come. And Pharaoh gave Joseph his power, where Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt for the next ten years and more.
Pharaoh told his people, “Whatever Joseph says, just do.” And this was similar to what Mary said when Jesus and his family were attending a wedding that ran out of wine. Jesus told the servants to fill six jugs of water, and Mary told them, “Whatever He says, just do.” When the jugs of water went past Jesus, they turned into wine. Here, I learnt something: Do whatever Jesus says although it always goes against your logic. Subject your human logic to faith and pray beyond your understanding in Tongues. Pastor put it this way: Praying in English is like walking up the stairs. Praying in Tongues is like going up the escalator – you rest but yet you make progress.
So, back to the story of Joseph. The time came when famine flooded the land of Egypt (just like the financial famine that is taking a toll on the world now). Jacob, still having believed the death of his son Joseph, sent his ten sons (except for Benjamin) to Egypt in search of ‘little food’. But I say to you, believe in God for MORE THAN little food in such times of famine! Believe in your mighty God for BIG THINGS, Amen!
The 10 brothers of Joseph went forth to meet Joseph but did not recognise their brother. Instead, Joseph requested to see Benjamin before giving food to the brothers. In Genesis 43:16-17, “When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager of his household, ‘These men will eat with me this noon. Take them inside the palace. Then go slaughter an animal, and prepare a big feast.’ So the man did as Joseph told him and took them into Joseph’s palace.“
In Hebrew, Benjamin means grace. We are the Benjamin Generation! Our Abba Daddy is God and our mother is grace!
Notice the words “the manager of his household” in bold? Why is it that the Bible always leaves out the names of these unnamed servants? Just as Boaz said to his servant in Ruth 2:5, “… Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, ‘Whose young woman is this?’“, who subsequently told Boaz about Ruth, or Abraham when he sent his oldest servant in Genesis 24:2-4 to find a wife for his son Isaac. These unnamed servants actually refer to the Holy Spirit who aids God intangibly and helps in professing the good name of the Lord, as these servants have served their masters.
So, when Joseph laid the feast before his brothers, he immediately asked for Benjamin and his first words to his youngest brother was, “God be gracious to you, my son.” (Genesis 43:29) You see, when Jesus speaks, He speaks forth grace upon you. Upon doing so, Joseph left the room and ’sought a place to weep’ (Genesis 43:30-31). In many ways, you – as a beloved of Christ – have a massive effect on your heavenly Joseph, Jesus!
Later on in the passage, when the brothers’ plates were served from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s plate came piled high, far more so than his brothers. It says in Genesis 43:34, “Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.“
Benjamin was the last son of Jacob, and also represents us as the end-times generation – the Benjamin Generation. Because of grace and Jesus at the cross, we will receive five times more than anyone else in the time of famine. We will receive without having the jealousy of those around us, like the ten brothers of Joseph and Benjamin. YOU WILL GET THE BEST IN THE LAND DURING FAMINE, AMEN!
Reading on, Genesis 47:11-15 talks about the famine in Egypt at its peak with currencies losing their values (as per the currencies in our world today), until the people had no money and were left with their lifestock and land. However, when they looked to Joseph for food, Joseph told them to trade their lifestock for bread instead. This left the people with nothing but themselves and their land to live off. Still, Joseph nor Pharaoh never made their people slaves of Egypt.
Joseph wanted to teach the people of Egypt an important principle: He gave them a seed to sow in the land of Egypt during the time of famine and told them to set aside 20% of the harvest to Pharaoh while they got to keep the remaining 80% of harvests.
Let me decipher this for you: God’s way of prospering His people isn’t via communism but capitalism. His way of gaining is by trading. God wants YOU to SOW in the land in the years of FAMINE! Sow into God’s Word! Sow into His purpose and He will multiply your seeds sown!
It kind of works this way:
1 (apple) seed from God —> Sown into the ground —> Seed grows into a huge (apple) tree with many branches, each branch bearing many fruits (apples) —> Each fruit (apple) has many seeds —> Your one seed is multiplied into many, many seeds!
As 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 puts it, “For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, He will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.“
God is so eager to bless His people.
So, wise up and follow Jesus! Amidst the storm, the famine, and the darkness in the world, He is your never-changing Prince of Peace, your Bread of Life, and your Lighthouse that shines brighter and brighter unto your path of righteousness.
Remain rooted in Jesus, beloveds! And you will never be uprooted in this time of famine.
|Snippets Of Rest|©
