Joseph is alive (Part 2) By Dr Nathaniel Omilani

 

We began to see the meaning of the clause “Joseph is alive”. In the edition,it was established that Jacob could not have benefited from God’s provision through Joseph if he only believed and stayed back in Canaan.  Before you can benefit from all God has in stock for you, it is also important to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and saviour.

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

The provision Jacob and his sons enjoyed through Joseph mirrored what God has in stock for everyone who surrenders to Jesus. In Egypt, everyone paid to survive during the famine.

Genesis 47:12-21

¹²Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and his entire father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.

¹³There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

¹⁴Joseph collected all the *money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.

¹⁵When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up.”

¹⁶“Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.”

¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys.* And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

¹⁸When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

¹⁹Why should we perish before your eyes-we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.

²²However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

Everyone in Canaan and Egypt paid for the food during the famine. At the beginning of the famine, they paid with their money. When they had no money, they paid with their livestock. When there was no more livestock, they paid with their land. The household of Jacob paid nothing to get food because Joseph is alive. Their livestock fed for free too.

Joseph was alive to satisfy Jacob and his household with the good things of life at no *cost*.  Similarly, Jesus is alive to satisfy you with God’s goodness and grace (John 10:10). Without you paying anything Jesus will satisfy you with what the world is chasing after (John 7:34)  that is why he said come _*My yoke is easy and my burden is light*_(Matt 11:28-30). Feeding well during the famine at no cost is an example of an easy yoke.

 

No wonder Jesus said through the prophet Isaiah _*”Come, all you who are thirsty*, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk *without money and without cost.*_ (Isaiah 55:1)

Remember that the Priest in Egypt enjoyed what Jacob and his household enjoyed.  We can conclude that the treatment they (Jacob and his family)  got during famine was meant for a particular class-the  priest. Although they are not Egyptian priest but they enjoyed what the Egyptian priest enjoyed.  The simple way of becoming priest in this dispensation is to be connected to the blessings of Abraham.

Exodus 19:6

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.

The leading promise of God for the Jewish nation is that they are kingdom of priests. You can connect with this promise through Jesus

Galatian 3:14

He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

After you surrender your life to Jesus, you become priest and kings and you enjoy several benefits.

Jesus is alive to satisfy you with good things at no cost.

Action Point

Thank God for bringing you to the place of rest. Also tell the Lord to save a friend and relation of yours.
Confess the good things that are yours in christ