Open All the Storehouses
By Uriah Smith
“AND the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.” Gen. 41: 56. Between Jesus and Joseph there is more than an analogy; for the latter was a type of the former; and from this we may derive instruction and comfort. Anciently in Egypt there was a famine which waxed sore in all the land. So there is a famine in all the earth to-day, not, perhaps, a literal famine of bread in every locality, but a famine, a scarcity, of that which only a greater than Joseph, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, can supply, a famine of the word of the Lord and the truth necessary for this time. And our work is to try to save as many as possible of the children of men by leading them to turn their steps to Christ, to partake of the bounties of his grace, and make preparation for salvation in his kingdom. For we are living in a time when it is more apparent than at any previous time in the world’s history, that the world is lying in the arms of the wicked one; that wicked men and seducers are waxing worse and worse, and the love of many is growing cold. This exactly fits the sad picture of the last days. Every day’s reports of the outbreaking crimes, defalcations, frauds, dishonesty, and oppression, in the social, religious, and political worlds, are sufficient to awaken the most careless observer who is willing to see, to the fact that the days of Noah and Lot are stamping their impress upon the condition of our own times, and showing the relation we bear to the scenes which prophecy has marked out before us. When the famine came on Egypt, according to Joseph’s interpretation of the lean kine, and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, he “said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; and what he saith to you, do.” Verse 55. So now the One who corresponds to the king of Egypt in Joseph’s time, the Lord our righteousness, sends us to Jesus Christ for the truth for this time, the gospel of the kingdom, which is to go to all the world as a witness and a preparation for his coming, and which is the world’s great need to-day, as the people of Egypt needed the stores of the granaries of Joseph’s day; for this gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Rom. 1: 16. The king of Egypt could be approached only through Joseph. So with Jesus: “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14: 6); and, “All men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” John 5: 23. In all the land no other but Joseph could open the storehouses. So Jesus controls the great storehouses of God’s fullness, and we are to go to the Father through him for the supplies we need. For God “loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” John 3: 35. Joseph was the fit person to open the storehouses for the people. He had planned the storehouses, and was therefore the proper one to control them. Gen. 41: 33-36. “And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?” Verse 38. Joseph carried out the storage, on a noble scale: he gathered corn “until he left numbering; for it was without number.” Verse 49. So with our Lord. He has not only made ample provision, but he has wisdom to distribute it well. “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell” (Col. 1: 19); “and of his fullness have all we received.” Joseph, says the record, opened all the storehouses. For this very purpose he planned and filled them, to distribute to the people’s needs. This shows that the ample provisions of God’s grace are designed to be distributed. The storehouses were opened in an appropriate time; for the famine was upon all the face of the earth. Gen. 41: 55, 56. And Joseph kept them open while the famine lasted. This is more than fulfilled in Jesus, in whom all fullness abides. He is ever near, and may be approached daily. Every seeker will find in him a ready supply. Joseph opened to all; he had an eye especially to Israel; but he was a father also to Pharaoh, and the preserver to many peoples. It was a gratifying privilege to live near to such granaries. But how sad if any had died without their provisions! And how infinitely sad if any, under the free gospel invitation, let the opportunity go by unimproved. We do not read that any were sent away unsupplied. But the gospel does better than Joseph did; for food was sold only to those who wanted to buy; but the blessings of the gospel are offered to us without money and without price. But it is only our reasonable service that we surrender ourselves, our substance, our abilities, our time, our all, to the Lord, in return for the infinite blessings which he offers to us without money and without price. “Nothing ye in exchange shall give,
Leave all you have behind;
Freely the gift of God receive,
And peace in Jesus find.”