The King's Corn and the Bread of Heaven Text: Genesis 41:53-57
Introduction: The Government of God
We live in an age that believes in the absolute sovereignty of impersonal forces. Our experts and talking heads speak of economic cycles, climate patterns, and geopolitical necessities as though they were the ultimate realities. When the stock market trembles or the bread lines lengthen, they scurry about, adjusting their models and tweaking their policies, all in a desperate attempt to manage the chaos they believe is ultimate. They are pagan priests, reading the entrails of the market, utterly blind to the hand that governs all things.
But the Christian worldview begins with a radically different premise. We believe that history is a story, and that it has an Author. We believe that famines and feasts, the rise of nations and the fall of sparrows, are all orchestrated by a sovereign God who is working all things together for the good of those who love Him. The story of Joseph in Egypt is one of the clearest demonstrations of this principle in all of Scripture. It is a direct assault on the modern secular assumption that God, if He exists at all, is a distant and uninvolved landlord.
Here, in the transition from overwhelming plenty to desperate famine, we see the meticulous providence of God on full display. This is not a story about shrewd economic planning, though Joseph's wisdom is certainly a factor. This is a story about how God uses the levers of civil government, the realities of global economics, and the desperation of human hunger to advance His redemptive purposes. He is preparing to save the line of the covenant, the family of Jacob, from whom the Messiah will come. And He is doing it through a man He has prepared, a man who was betrayed, sold, and forgotten, and who now stands as the savior of the world. This passage is not just about grain. It is about the government of God, and it is a picture, painted in bold strokes, of the greater Joseph who was to come.
The Text
Then the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. So there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. Then all the land of Egypt was famished, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.” Now the famine was over all the face of the land. And Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Now all the earth also came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe in all the earth.
(Genesis 41:53-57 LSB)
The Unfailing Word (v. 53-54)
We begin with the turning of the tide, from abundance to want.
"Then the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. So there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread." (Genesis 41:53-54)
The first thing to notice is the absolute precision of God's prophetic word. The famine began "just as Joseph had said." God is not a God of approximations. His word does not almost come true. The seven years of plenty were not six and a half. The famine did not arrive a few months late. The word spoken by God through His servant Joseph was as reliable as the sunrise. This is foundational. If God's word concerning the weather and the crops is this certain, how much more certain is His word concerning salvation and judgment?
This famine was not a localized drought. We are told it was "in all the lands." God is the God of the whole earth, not just a tribal deity for Israel. He holds the rain and the harvests of every nation in His hand. He can make the clouds withhold their rain from the entire known world to accomplish His specific purpose for one particular family. This is a staggering thought. The economic and political life of the entire region was being turned upside down to set the stage for a family reunion in Goshen. Our God plays the long game, and He moves nations like chess pieces to fulfill His promises.
And yet, in the midst of this global crisis, there is an island of provision: "but in all the land of Egypt there was bread." This was not because Egypt was naturally immune. It was because Egypt had listened to the word of God. A pagan nation, led by a pagan king, was blessed with salvation from the disaster because they heeded the prophet God sent them. This is a pattern. God's wisdom, when applied, brings blessing, whether it is applied by a believer or an unbeliever. When a nation organizes its affairs according to the grain of God's created order, it will reap the benefits. Joseph's plan was not magic; it was sanctified common sense. He saved during the fat years to prepare for the lean years. This is basic fiscal prudence, a principle that our own debt-addicted governments have long since forgotten.
The Only Source of Bread (v. 55-56)
As the crisis deepens, the people's desperation leads them to the only possible solution.
"Then all the land of Egypt was famished, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, 'Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.' Now the famine was over all the face of the land. And Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt." (Genesis 41:55-56 LSB)
The famine was not a mild inconvenience. The word is "famished." The severity of the situation is emphasized. And in their desperation, the people do what people always do: they cry out to the civil magistrate. "The people cried out to Pharaoh for bread." They looked to the top of the political structure for salvation.
And here we see something remarkable. Pharaoh, the most powerful man on earth, points them away from himself. His response is one of the great typological statements of the Old Testament: "Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do." Does that not echo in your ears? At the wedding in Cana, when the wine ran out, Mary told the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it" (John 2:5). Pharaoh, in his pagan wisdom, understood something profound. He was the king, but Joseph was the savior. He had the title, but Joseph had the bread. Pharaoh essentially abdicates his authority in this matter and places all of Egypt under the authority of Joseph's word.
This is a stunning picture of Christ. In the great famine of our sin, we cannot go to any other king. We cannot go to the government, or to philosophy, or to self-help. There is only one place to go for the bread of life. The Father Himself says, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!" (Matthew 17:5). Go to Jesus. Whatever He says, do it. He is the one who has the words of eternal life.
So Joseph, the rejected brother, the forgotten prisoner, now becomes the sole dispenser of life. He "opened all the storehouses." He alone held the keys to the storehouses of grain. In the same way, Christ alone holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, all the storehouses of grace and life, are found in Him (Colossians 2:3). There is salvation in no one else.
The Whole World Comes to Joseph (v. 57)
The scope of Joseph's authority and provision expands to its fullest extent in the final verse.
"Now all the earth also came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe in all the earth." (Genesis 41:57 LSB)
The famine was global, and so the solution had to be global. "All the earth" is a hyperbole, of course, referring to the known world of the ancient Near East. But the theological point is universal. The famine of sin and death is universal. It affects every person from every tribe and nation. And the provision in Christ is likewise universal in its scope. He is the savior of the world.
They all "came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph." Notice, the bread was not free. It was sold. Joseph was not running a welfare state in the modern sense. He was engaged in commerce. This was a responsible, orderly distribution, not a chaotic handout. It required the people to bring what they had, first their money, then their livestock, then their land, and finally themselves (Genesis 47). In the same way, the salvation offered in Christ is a free gift, but it costs us everything. We must come and "buy" without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1), which means we must exchange our filthy rags of self-righteousness for His perfect righteousness. We must give up our autonomy, our rebellion, our very selves, to receive the bread of life.
And so, the stage is now set. The famine is severe everywhere. The only source of bread in the world is Joseph. And somewhere in Canaan, an old man named Jacob is about to hear a rumor that there is grain in Egypt. The sovereign plan of God, which began with a boy's dreams and a bloody coat, is about to reach its glorious, weeping, and joyful climax.
The Greater Joseph
It is impossible to read this account without seeing the shadow of a greater reality. Joseph is arguably the most complete type of Christ in the Old Testament. He was the beloved son of the father, sent to his brothers. They rejected him, conspired against him, and sold him for the price of a slave. He was handed over to the Gentiles, falsely accused, and condemned, though he was innocent. He was thrown into a pit, a place of death, and was numbered with two other transgressors, one of whom was saved and the other lost. He was raised out of that pit and exalted to the right hand of the throne, and all were commanded to bow the knee to him.
And here, in our text, we see the purpose of his exaltation. He was raised up in order to become the savior of the world, the provider of bread. He saves the Gentile world first, and then, through that provision, he is reconciled to his penitent brothers and saves them as well. This is the exact pattern of the gospel. Jesus was rejected by his own brethren, the Jews. He was handed over to the Gentiles and crucified. He was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the Father. And from that position, he has become the bread of life for the Gentile world. And the day is coming when his brethren according to the flesh, the people of Israel, will look on him whom they have pierced, and they will recognize their brother, and they will be saved (Romans 11).
Pharaoh's command, "Go to Joseph," is God's command to the whole world today. In the midst of the famine for truth, the famine for meaning, the famine for righteousness that grips our world, there is only one place to go. Go to Jesus. He is the bread of life. He who comes to Him shall never hunger, and he who believes in Him shall never thirst. The storehouses are full. The bread is available. Go to Joseph.