Where Can We Find Bread?
Going through Genesis, and particularly the life of Joseph, we are stopping at the places where the Bible comes alive when you consider that Joseph is a type of Christ as Savior of the World and Egypt is a type of the world. Through that lens, you see such a clear witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in one verse: And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. (Gen 41:55)
Only Joseph could give bread to these famished people of Egypt/the world. It pictures this: And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
What if folks back in Genesis 41 said, “I don’t want to go to Joseph. He’s not one of us. I’ll just trust my god Osiris, the god of fertility, agriculture and the afterlife.”
Not everyone is going to submit to the truth. We don’t hear what happened to the “unbelievers” in Joseph’s story. We can imagine they died of hunger. But we do know more about those who refused Jesus as the bread of life from our passage in John. Look. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? (John 6:41-42)
I guess first you have to get good and hungry before you will give up your stubborn arguments and go to the one who has/is bread.
That preaches, doesn’t it? Now a word to all you Bible students/teachers. Here’s a truth that will carry you far. It’s our graphic for this post. God’s truths are presented at least twice in the Bible because He has bound Himself to the principle that In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established (2 Cor. 13:1)
We are in Genesis 41. Remember that Joseph was asked to interpret Pharoah’s two dreams, which he pointed out meant the same thing. Here was Joseph’s explanation: And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. (Gen 41:32)
All through the Old Testament, truth is established by “two or three witnesses.” This carries over into the New Testament, as we’ve already seen in 2 Cor. 13:1. But here’s another example from the lips of Jesus. Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. (Matt 18:15-16)
Let’s circle back and conclude our lesson from our beginning Gen 41:55 verse: And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. This is just one of many Old Testament verses/stories that typifies the Gospel of Jesus Christ—establishing Christ’s claim in the mouth of two or three witnesses. It’s another angle of our previous point that God declares the end from the beginning. Keep treasure hunting! Jesus is the treasure. The whole Bible is the treasure map.
R&J Shee
PS. If you’d like to study further this Bible concept of establishing a matter by two or three witnesses, look up Num. 35:30, Deut. 17:6, 19:15, 1 Kings 21:10, 13, Matt. 26:60-61, John 8:17-18, Heb. 10:28-29, 1 John 5:7-8.