Joseph - a Healing for the World

 

The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 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.” 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. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. (Genesis 41:53–57 ESV).

 

Joseph’s story and influence have gradually shifted from a local setting in his family, to a national setting in the land of Egypt, to a much wider setting described as “all the world.” Indeed, because Joseph, with God’s wisdom, has stored up grain in Egypt against this major famine, Egypt has become the most powerful nation in the known world of its day. This famine has spread disaster in “all the other lands.” And “all the world” comes to Egypt to find food because the drought is “severe everywhere.”

 

Perhaps the most astonishing truth is in the Messianic Typology in this passage. It is painting a picture of the wondrous revelation that the entire world, facing death by starvation, can be fed with life-giving nourishment by one person. In this case it is Joseph; however, it unmistakably points us to Jesus. This story points us to Christ and his mission, appointed by God to save the world “when the set time had fully come” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus came to save us, the people of all nations, by feeding his very life into our starving souls.

 

This is a wonderful reminder, especially at this time of the liturgical calendar. We are thirteen days into the Lenten Calendar. Hopefully you are spending a bit extra time meditating on the incredible gift God provided for us in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It ought to inspire us to serve faithfully so that God can work in and through us just as he did Joseph. As Joseph’s life points to the mission of Jesus in many ways, our lives can reflect that of Jesus, the ultimate Savior and Sustainer of life. I wonder who will be brought into your path today that needs to hear their challenge is merely a means to a great good in their lives. Give hope in what seems to be hopeless; give grace, in what seems to be despair and loss. Give healing in a time when death seems so mighty. Jesus has conquered all of that an more!