“⁶For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity [a “remnant”] for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”

– Genesis 45:6-8 (NKJV)

“For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. (Notice the absolute and unequivocal manner in which Joseph boldly and confidently refers to the prophecies of the Lord as objective fact and incontestable Truth by Faith. What renders such utterances even more awe-inspiringly magnificent is that he speaks not as a prophet or mystic with little else to lose but reputation, but with conviction, as the very ruler of a great land, responsible for its sustainability, economy, agriculture and longevity in the most practical and pragmatic manner imaginable.) And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (What I find so exceptionally enamouring about Joseph  – perhaps because it addresses an area in which I am yet weak and afflicted but have received the promise and first birth pains of full deliverance from-, in my own life at the time of writing this – is his unwavering sense of identity and confidence in- and firm, resolute conviction of– his calling to fulfill many a great and glorious purpose. Not shying away from the knowledge in false humility – even boldly declaring it before the very men historically most predisposed to persecute him for it – and despite his being a truly humble, gentle, kindhearted man, but rather fully possessing this blessed state of having been chosen by Almighty God and wielding its power. What we effectively see here is Joseph announcing himself as the very saviour, the messiah of his time, the Christlike-one who very literally preserves life and rescues from death, as attested to in such phrases – not only reminiscent of-, but often identical to – the very Anointed Words in The Gospels of Our Beloved Lord Jesus the Christ during His time on earth, such as: “God sent me ” ; “to preserve . . . you[r] [lives] “ and: “to save your lives by a great deliverance“.) So now it was not you who sent me here, but God ; (despite all the unbelievably significant, far-reaching, Holy-Spirit-inspired Words of Life that just escaped Joseph’s lips – it seems almost unawares to him himself – he is still effectively attempting to construe his original argument, wrought in compassion, love and mercy, namely why the brothers ought not “be grieved or angry with [them]selves because [they] sold [him] [into Egypt] “, whilst at the very same time giving God all the glory and honour for He is worthy: truly, truly I stand amazed at how perfectly every single box is ticked simultaneously and supernaturally – for no human mind could ever organise its own thoughts and words so miraculously as when a True Child of God is led to speak Perfect Truth by The Spirit) and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Again, God receives all the glory, but Joseph does not sidestep by false humility the boldly stating of the objective calling upon-, blessing and promotion in- his own life as a chosen and esteemed vessel for  this very God, The One True God, God Almighty, The God of Israel. What I also love about this final statement, is the more subtle allusion to the other glorious purpose that Joseph came to fulfill in this smaller representation of a kingdom – that The True Messiah would ultimately come to fulfill Perfectly in the greater – namely, the infiltration of an unGodly, pagan, kingdom of darkness, as represented by Egypt, to effectively overcome and overthrow its ruler and rule and reign victorious with all power and all dominion, his enemies subjected under his feet and according to the principles, statutes, commandments and laws of The Kingdom of God. On a smaller scale I also enjoy the tenderness and mercy ultimately then utilised in this smaller kingdom – a gentile nation where many a beloved individual is drawn by The Father to the image-bearer of The Son, Joseph, for redemption and salvation, not least of all the Pharaoh. How precious to see this once great, seemingly unopposable, ruler now described as an infant who is now humbly learning at the feat of Joseph, now described as “his father” [Isaiah 9:6]; having to unlearn everything he thought he knew and be schooled in the ways of the Lord. It also serves to confirm Pharaoh’s salvation in a very subtle sense in that it is only truly a re-born child of God who would exhibit the strength of character and Godliness to, not only be used by God to promote Joseph over all Egypt, but to humbly step aside and allow himself to be so completely transposed by him. It also simultaneously serves to publicly put to shame the foolish pagan notion that pharaoh was a god, and yet peculiarly juxtaposes Joseph as a representative of God The Father and His Son, The Perfect Rabbi who teaches The Perfect Ways of God. There exists also many more a beautiful picture painted here as we consider for example, Joseph’s now become a good and loving father to others as per the blessed example of his own father Jacob and ultimately of course again, his Perfect Heavenly Father.)