41
1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. v.5; 37:5, 9; 40:5 2 Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. 4 And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. 5 He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. v. 1; 37:5, 9; 40:5 6 Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 7 And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. so Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream. 8 Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all it’s wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for the Pharaoh. Dan. 2:1,2
It took two full years since Joseph rightly interpreted the dreams of the chief baker and the butler imprisoned with him. This isn’t the first time that God spoke to men thru their dreams. During Abraham’s stay in the land of Gerar, king Abimelech took Abraham’s wife Sarah for himself, and God came to him in a dream, warning him that he and all his people would die if he were to keep Sarah and lay with her (Gen 20: 3-7). The dreams of the Pharaoh, in my opinion are not necessarily for the benefit of the Pharaoh, or the people of Egypt, but more so, to carry out God’s plans for Joseph and his role in preserving the nation of Israel, and also to fulfill the prophecy the Lord gave to Abraham concerning his descendants being afflicted for four hundred years (Gen. 15:13).
9 Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day. 40:23 10 “When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody of the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, 11 “we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. 12 “Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. 13 “And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.” 40:20-22
Joseph asked the butler to remember him when he was released from prison in hopes of finding some kind of favor, that would free himself from prison. It took two whole years for the butler to remember Joseph. The only reason that makes sense to me as to why the Butler forgot Joseph is because God Himself either blotted the remembrance of Joseph from the butler, or God hardened his heart. in either case or for whatever the reason, It was still the Almighty One who was controlling Joseph’s fate. All the while I can’t help but wonder; what was going thru Joseph’s mind during the two year span from when he first interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker? He had to, at one time or another, and maybe often, he thought back to the time he was with his father and brothers, contemplating his own dreams he had in regards to his future. Being sold by his brothers into slavery, then, just as things were looking bright for him, he is wrongly imprisoned for over two years, for something he was falsely accused of. This would cast a sense of hopelessness to most people I would think, to the point of just giving up on life itself. Joseph’s faith was undoubtedly tested time after time, but he never wavered, he stayed steadfast in His faith in God, knowing that somehow, some way, all things will work together for good to him who loves God (Rom. 8:28), But With God on our side, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31). Just as God did not spare His own son, but delivered Him up for us all (Rom 8:32), Joseph, being a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, Will be delivered up from death; for being in prison, especially at that day and age, is just as well as being dead. God will deliver Joseph up, at the time that is fitting, according to His good will and purpose, to save them “All”, that is, the Israeli nation from certain death themselves during the famine that is to come. Joseph confesses this fact pretty much himself, to his brothers after the death of his father Jacob (Gen 50:20).
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.” 16 So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “it is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
As I stated in my previous commentary: Joseph holds steadfast in his faith in God. Here Joseph gives all the glory to God telling the Pharaoh that it is not him who has the ability to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream, rather it is God who will give him an answer to his question, not only that, Joseph say’s to the Pharaoh that God will give him a sense of peace (A peace of mind), in the answer that the Lord will give to him.
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. 18 “Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 19 “Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, Such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 “And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. 21 “When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as the beginning. So I awoke. 22 “Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good. 23 “Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 24 “And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
None of the magicians in all of Egypt could interpret these dreams. Joseph once asked a rhetorical question to the butler and the baker,”Do not dreams belong to God?” God will reveal the meanings of dreams to certain select men of His own chosen. He would never reveal the interpretation of dreams to Magicians, sorcerers, diviners, or astrologers of any kind, for He detest such men, they are an abomination to Him, (Deut. 18:9-14), is it no wonder that God specifically forbids the Israeli people not to seek after these kind of people when they enter into the land of promise? It is things like this that God will one day bring them out of, to turn them away from. These magicians, if they could interpret the dream, probably would not give the glory to the one true God for the interpretation, but rather give this glory to one of their own gods conjured up in their own minds, images made from stone, or gold or silver, that can neither speak, see, nor hear (Psa. 115. 1-8),
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: Dan. 2:28, 29, 45 26 “The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 “And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. 2 Kings. 8:1 28 “This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 “Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; vv. 47-49 30 “but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. vv. 53-57; 47:13 31 “So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32 “And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33 “Now therefore, let the Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 “Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35 “And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. v.48 36 “Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.” 47:15, 19
As I have stated before, Joseph does indeed give all the glory to God for the interpretation of these dreams. And he lets the Pharaoh know that it is his God, the God of his family; Abraham Isaac, and Jacob. Joseph does not literally say this, but I believe it is well known to the Pharaoh which God Joseph is talking about. I say this because the Egyptians served many gods. The Pharaoh knows he is a Hebrew because the butler told him so. The BDB and Strong’s number (H5680), define Hebrew as a designation of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and the Israeli people. The exploits of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, what their God has done for them throughout the years are well known, in my opinion, throughout all the land of Egypt. The number seven in the bible is a sign of perfection. In this dream we see that there are seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. this is a total of fourteen years (Seven times two), According to all my research the number fourteen’s spiritual significance is that of salvation and deliverance. This makes sense in the fact that all the nations of the land will be delivered from the famine after the fourteen years have been completed. One last thing to note here is that from the time that Joseph was first sold into slavery, to the time he became ruler over all of Egypt (Second to the Pharaoh), was approximately fourteen years (Gen. 37:1, Gen. 41: 46), making Joseph thirty years of age. Here I see once again as Joseph being symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus christ started His ministry at thirty years of age (Luke. 3:21-23), Joseph will minister over all the harvest in the land of Egypt, for God’s purpose to deliver the nations of the earth from the famine and bring salvation to all, just as God the Father sent His only son Jesus Christ as our salvation (luke 2:25-30, Acts. 4:10-12), and one last nugget here is the fact that the Passover is observed on the fourteenth day of the first month Nissan (Exo. 12:1-14, 27), it appears to me that the number fourteen does have much spiritual significance to this story. Joseph’s life is so symbolic of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the more I read about his life the more I see the similarities between the two, yet I too must give all the Glory to God for having His Spirit reveal these truths to me.
37 So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.” 40 “You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”
The advice given to the Pharaoh by Joseph I believe, was inspired by God through His Spirit. Even the Pharaoh acknowledges such in verses thirty eight. Which just reinforces what I stated earlier: even though the Egyptians worship many gods, and the Pharaoh himself is worshiped as a god, he still knows who the one true God is, and he states that His Spirit dwells in Joseph. His advice to the Pharaoh was to appoint a wise man of Egypt, to oversee all the land of Egypt, appoint officers, to collect so much of the grain, and store it up during the time of plenty so that there would be enough stored up during the time of the famine (Gen. 40:33-36), however we read in verse eight of this chapter that the Pharaoh called all the wisest men in Egypt together to interpret his dreams, yet none could. This is why Pharaoh appointed Joseph for this role. In verse forty I see another simile between Joseph and that of Jesus Christ: God subjected all things to Him (Jesus Christ), Yet Christ Himself will also be under the rule of the Almighty God who subjected all things to Him (1 Cor. 15: 28),The Pharaoh, who is a godlike figure to his people, has subjected all things to Joseph, yet Joseph is still subordinate to the Pharaoh, but co-equallying sharing in all the Pharaoh’s glory.
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
Joseph was put in charge over all the land of Egypt, The Signet ring given to Joseph will enable him to go throughout the land of Egypt unimpeded. Wherever he goes, the princes and those in charge will know that whatever Joseph asks of them, or commands them, will be as if the Pharaoh himself is speaking to them. Before this event Joseph went from being the favorite of his father Jacob (Israel), to being sold into slavery (for the past thirteen years), by his brothers, the last two of these thirteen years he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit (Just as Jesus was imprisoned for crimes he was innocent of: Matt 27: 24), And now, in a sense, at the blink of an eye he has been transformed into this new man, second only to the king of Egypt. Let me go off point for a moment, and then bring it back, if you will? I would like to just quote a comment made by Mike Bennett that appeared in an article in the United News magazine dated Sept 1, 2008, titled: Forward! The Transfiguration (A Preview of the Kingdom):
Mike Bennett: The word translated “transfigured” is later used to show the change we Christians must make to become in the likeness of Christ (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
Joseph has been translated, transfigured, if you will? clothed in fine linen, and giving a necklace of gold to wear around his neck, into this glorified man of Egypt, second to the Pharaoh, just as our Lord and Saviour was transfigured, appearing in a vision, his clothing appearing white as snow (Matt. 17:2, 28:3, Mar. 9:3), symbolizing innocence, goodness, purity, virginity, all the virtues that Joseph represents, and are the types of Qualities that Jesus Christ has. we do not know what color the fine linen that Joseph was dressed in, but the symbolism in the attire in which he was clothed in (the necklace included), Identifies Joseph as a very important figure in Egypt, again, second only to the Pharaoh, just as we see Jesus described, not only in the transfiguration story but also as His appearance was when St. John saw Him in a vision, as he was caught up in the Spirit on the day of the Lord (Rev 1:10-13), The way Adam Clark comments on verse thirteen of chapter one in the book of revelation, I think ties together very well the symbolism between Joseph and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the above verse forty two:
Adam Clarke: down to the foot — a mark of high rank. The garment and girdle seem to be emblems of His priesthood (Exo. 28:2, 4, 31); Septuagint. Aaron’s robe and girdle were “for glory and beauty,” and combined the insignia of royalty and priesthood, the characteristics of Christ’s antitypical priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek.”
In the vision John sees Jesus dressed down to the foot, in the garment He was wearing, just as we see the description of the attire worn by Aaron and the priests in Exodus who served the Lord in the temple. Tied around Jesus’s breast was a gold band, and Joseph we see had a golden chain around his neck. In my opinion This golden jewelry is a representation of the powers that have been given to Joseph by the Pharaoh, Jesus was seen wearing a golden band in John’s vision, yet this is a much higher honor given to our Lord than that of Joseph. As Jameson Faucet Browns commentary explains:
Jameson Faucet Brown: The ordinary girding for one actively engaged, was at the loins; but Josephus [Antiquities,3.7.2], expressly tells us that the Levitical priests were girt higher up, about the breasts or paps, appropriate to calm, majestic movement. The girdle bracing the frame together, symbolizes collected powers. Righteousness and faithfulness are Christ’s girdle. The high priest’s girdle was only interwoven with gold, but Christ’s is all of gold; the antitype exceeds the type.
43 And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!”So he set him over all the land of Egypt.” Esth. 6:10, 11
The Pharaoh put Joseph in his second chariot as they rode through the city, the people cried out “Bow the knee!” Just as Paul exclaimed to the believers in Phillippi: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on the earth, and of those under the earth.” (Php. 2:10), I can almost hear them saying basically the same thing about Joseph as he rode next to the Pharaoh. As Jesus Entered into Jerusalem they, “cried out, saying, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. ‘Blessed is the kingdom of our father David, who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mar. 11:9-10). In Joseph’s instance, the people of Egypt are basically doing the same thing. The greek word for Hosanna is strong’s lexicon number (g5614), meaning oh save, an exclamation of adoration. Joseph rides in the second chariot, in the name of the Pharaoh, and he would save the people of Egypt from the famine. And to the Egyptians, their lord is the Pharaoh, who is considered the most highest in the land. Joseph is being bestowed the same honor by the Egyptians, as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was when He entered Jerusalem; Albeit to a much lesser extent; I am not putting Joseph as Jesus’s equal, I am just showing another simile in Joseph’s life and that of Jesus the Christ.
44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
The Pharaoh is basically saying here that He is Pharaoh, A god of the Egyptians (If you will), “I will do all I want and there is no one who can question my authority. ‘So therefore I, the Pharaoh, give you Joseph, the authority over all the affairs of my kingdom. Everything must pass through your hands for approval or disapproval. The Pharaoh may have made these remarks in front of all his commanders, and leaders of Egypt, as witnesses to Josephs authority. Dare anyone to question the Pharaoh’s decisions!
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he gave him as a wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. 37:2
Asenath (H621), Joseph’s wife who belonged to the Goddess Neith. Neith was an ancient goddess of war and weaving. Neith was the creator of the world and the mother of the sun, Ra. So Joseph was married into the priesthood of the Egyptians. These were the gentiles of the time, and Joseph was married into them, this could be a precursor to the bride of christ in which the Gentile church is married to Jesus.
Zaphnath-Paaneah, (H6847), Was Joseph’s name changed to. The Brown-Driver-Briggs definition of this name = “treasury of the glorious rest.”, The Strong’s definition just says that this name is of Egyptian derivation of the name Tsophnath-Paneach, The Concise Bible dictionary gives both the Hebrew and Egyptian coptic interpretation of Joseph’s new name:
Concise Bible Dictionary: Name given to Joseph by Pharaoh (Gen. 41:45). The learned Jews translate it as a Hebrew name, “Revealer of secrets,” as in the margin of the A. V.; but as an Egyptian name, which it is, it has been interpreted “Prince of the life of the world.” In the LXX the name stands ψονθομφανήχ equivalent to the Coptic Psotempheneh, which has been thus explained: p represents the article; sote is “savior,” m, is sign of the genitive case; phthe article; and eneh is “world.” “The savior of the world.” The two latter meanings suit Joseph well, as being a type of Christ.
Whatever definition is given of this name, be it Hebrew, or The Egyptian name (which this undoubtedly is), they both reveal to me as another example of Joseph being a type of Jesus. We know Jesus as the revealer in the book of Revelation, the first verse starts off, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Then the Egyptian Coptic Psotempheneh, meaning savior of the world again points to Christ, as all believing Christians know Jesus as the saviour of all the world (John. 4:42, Luke. 2:11). At every turn, in Joseph’s life I keep seeing Joseph as a type of Jesus Christ. And I just want to let it be known, that I did not go into this study of Joseph trying to prove that Joseph is a type of Jesus. I have heard this mentioned before, but everything I am learning of Joseph is being guided by God’s Spirit, revealing to me these truths of Joseph. I have never been taught this before in my life. I could not have come to the conclusions I have come to, about Joseph as the type of Jesus, up to now, without His Spirit showing me the way. I am no one special, it is only by the grace of God that He has drawn close to me. Revealing to me His story in a way to which He knows I can understand it. I can do nothing without Him living in me (John. 5:30-32, ERV). In order to incorporate Joseph into the Egyptian society and be more accepted, the Pharaoh marries Joseph into an Egyptian priesthood family. Potiphera (H6319), was the priest of the city of On (H204), The city of On was the center of sun worship. Also known as Ra or Re, the ancient sun god of Egypt was considered to be the king of all the other gods of Egypt. He was also described as the creator of everything. By the fifth dynasty of Egypt Ra was a powerful god, closely associated with the Pharaoh (See gods of Egypt: Ra, ancient Egypt online). This would put Joseph after that time frame, according to most historians,(See Bible Wise, The Egyptian Pharaohs with Joseph), and even my own chart of the genealogy of Adam to Joseph,
Establishing Ra as the most important god during the time of Joseph. Let us put ourselves back to the time of Joseph and the world he has been living in for almost half of his life But before I go there, let me state very plainly here that Joseph never, ever, forgot about, nor lost faith or ever stopped worshipping the God of his fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (The one true God, the true creator of all things), I am merely trying to show how all this correlates with him being a type of Jesus, even as far as the family he marries into and who his stepfather is. Joseph’s stepfather is the priest of the city of On (which is the center of sun worship), who was known as the creator of all things. The world in which Joseph lives in worships the sun, and many other gods. Another reason why I believe the Pharaoh married Joseph into the family he chose, is Because Joseph was able to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams, and, that Joseph told the Pharaoh it would be God who will give the Pharaoh the answer to his dreams, given him peace, and it is God who has shown him what was about to occur, The Pharaoh, in my opinion, thinks of Joseph as a direct mediator between god and man (that is, the Egyptian god), and since Ra, or the sun god, is “the god” above all gods of Egypt, it is only fitting that Joseph marries into the family of the high priest of Ra. So Joseph is living in a world that worships many gods, and Ra is the main god of Egypt. also the people of Egypt consider Joseph a savior of the world. In the time of Jesus, it was Rome who was in power of most of the modern world of the time, and the Romans also worshiped many gods, and in the later part of their history they celebrated what was known as the feast of Sol Invictus (the unconquered sun), it was celebrated on December 25th, and it was later turned into the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The practice of celebrating christmas as the birth of Jesus christ (Which is the biggest celebration of the year by most professing christians), basically incorporating Jesus into the practice of worshiping the sun. The marriage of Joseph incorporated him into a family that also worshipped the sun god (Ra). So just as Joseph was living in a world that worshiped a false god known as Ra, and sometimes called Re, So to did Jesus live in a world that worshipped the same false god (sometimes referred to as Mithra), the sun god, who was suppose to be a mediator between God and man; See Mithra: The Pagan Christ: by Acharya S/D.M. Murdock. Just as I stated the Pharaoh believed Joseph to be. And both were called saviors of the world. Joseph considered a savoir in the known world of his time, and Jesus as savior of all the world, at any time in history, past, present, and future.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of the Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 37:2
This would put from the time of creation to this time at approximately 2230-2236 AC (After Creation). The reason Joseph went throughout all the land of Egypt was to form the logistics, for appointing officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. This is precisely what Joseph recommended the Pharaoh do, in order to store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that food would be set aside as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which would come immediately after the seven years of plenty (Gen. 41: 34-36). In my opinion this could have taken Joseph up to a couple years to coordinate this huge project throughout all the land of Egypt. Joseph went from being a slave of Egypt at the age of Seventeen to being ruler of Egypt (2nd only to the Pharaoh), in thirteen years time. When you think about that, it is an amazing feat to accomplish in such a short period of time, at such a young age. It just goes to show that just as we read in Genesis 39:2. God was with him all this time.
47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. 48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. 49 Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.
Just as God revealed to the Pharaoh of what was to come, sure enough it did. It reminds me of what I just heard a minister say at the feast this past year, as far as the meaning of fearing God. He said that part of that fear is to understand that “God means what He says, and say’s what He means.” This truth is shown over and over, time and time again in the scriptures, from the beginning to the end. There was so much abundance of grain in the land that Joseph couldn’t even keep up with all food that ended up being stored during the time of plenty.
50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of the famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. v. 45; 46:20
During this time of plenty God blessed Joseph with two sons, who would one day be grafted into the family of Israel, as we will later see. Asenath either accompanied her husband during his travels throughout the land, or Joseph took time off (at least twice), to go home and rest a little before journeying on. By the time the famine was over, and the house of Israel was living in Egypt, the youngest son of Joseph could have been as young as seven years old, and the oldest as old as thirteen.
51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”
Manasseh (H4519), The oldest son and heir to the birthright blessings according to the customs. Which is not always the case, as in the story of Esau and Jacob, the sons of Jacob/Israel, and as we will read later, will not be the case between the two sons of Joseph (Gen. 48:17-20).
52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” 48:1-22
Ephraim (H669), The second and last son Joseph is to have. Even though Joseph has prospered tremendously during his stay in Egypt, he still considers Egypt as the land of his affliction. It is this statement that leads me to believe that the four hundred years of affliction, which God told Abraham would come to pass upon his descendants, begins at the time Joseph was sold into slavery (Gen. 15:13),
53 Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended, 54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. vv. 29-31 55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.” 56 The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. Acts. 7:11 57 So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the lands.
Jesus once Said,”I am the bread of life. He Who Comes to me shall never hunger.” (John. 6:35, 48). Over all the face of the earth, Only in Egypt was there bread, because Joseph dwelt among them. In essence Joseph was the bread of life during this time. The people of Egypt cried to Pharaoh for bread, but The Pharaoh told them, “go to Joseph, and whatever he says to you, do” from then on the Egyptians came to Joseph, who became their mediator to the Pharaoh, for the bread which gave them life. Jesus said no one comes to the Father but thru Him (John. 14:6), and Just as Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, so to Joseph is the way, and the life in all the land of Egypt. The famine in the land of Egypt (in my opinion), is representative of the darkness in which they lived. There was no light in them because they worshiped false gods, and therefore the laws of the Lord were not in them for they knew them not. In my opinion, in verse fifty six where it says, “famine was over all the face of the earth” I take this literally meaning the earth as a whole, not just the countries that surrounded Egypt. The reason for my belief comes from the time of creation in genesis chapter one. There God says almost the exact same thing when referencing (interestingly enough), the herbs of the field: And God said, Behold! I have given you every herb seeding seed which is “UPON” (H921), the face of all the earth (Gen.1:29). The word upon used on Genesis 1:29 is the same lexicons strong number that is used for the word “OVER” (H5921), in verse fifty six in this chapter. Most , if not all commentaries I have found state that verse fifty six is only talking about the surrounding countries of Egypt at that time. If that was the case then what surrounding area of the earth would God be talking about in Genesis.1:29, if He didn’t mean all of the earth as a whole?