When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.”
Egypt's storehouses were full. But Pharaoh did not hand out grain at the palace door. When the people cried to him, he sent them all to one man. So a national food crisis becomes a personal question: who do you go to for bread?
Famine wakes up the need
For seven years nobody needed Joseph. One writer follows what hunger changed — for Egypt, and for the brothers who sold him.
Hamilton SmithDuring the days of plenty the world paid little heed to Joseph. Of his brothers we hear nothing; they were completely indifferent to him. When, however, the shortage set in, need is awakened. "All the land of Egypt was famished," and Jacob and his sons face starvation and death. The need calls out a cry for bread. The Gentiles have to learn it, and the brothers discover it: no one can meet the need except the one they once scorned and rejected.
One writer turns that on the reader: hunger, not comfort, is what sends a person to Christ.
W. T. P. WolstonPerhaps, my dear friends, you have held out against the famine. Do you know what brought the prodigal son back to his father in Luke 15? There was a famine. Do you know what brought me to Christ forty-three years ago? Famine in my heart. You have heard the gospel dozens of times. You say, I am not going to have Christ just now. But already you have begun to find that the world does not satisfy you. Yes, you have an empty heart.
The king's answer is a person
Pharaoh does not describe a policy. He names a man, and tells the whole country to do what that man says. Commentators hear God's own answer to a hungry conscience in it.
F. B. HoleThe closing verses of Genesis 41 record the complete fulfilment of Pharaoh's dream. The famine that resulted was unusually severe, covering the whole inhabited earth. When the people cried to Pharaoh for relief, his reply was simple: "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do." This at once reminds us of the words the mother of our Lord spoke at His first miracle: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). Does a conscience-stricken sinner cry out today for salvation? The answer in three words is, "Go to Jesus." All God's grace and generosity flows through Him.
Why the hungry cannot bypass him
The people took their hunger to the throne, not to Joseph. One writer says people still treat Christ that way.
W. T. P. Wolston"Go to Joseph," said Pharaoh, and that is what God is saying to you from glory — "Go to Jesus. Bow to Jesus." I think I can see them all ignoring Joseph and going to Pharaoh. People now ignore Jesus in the same way, yet think they may go to God direct. You must bow. He is given a name above every name, and God has declared that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.
Another writer comes at the same point from God's side.
Frederick W. GrantFace to face with our need, we learn our true nothingness. We cry out to Him, and He proves Himself the living God. But God's remedy is Christ alone. He has put all things in His hand, absolutely and without changing His mind. He would have all men to be saved, but there is no other name given by which we can be saved.
Storehouses opened — with one difference
Joseph unlocked the stores he had spent seven years filling. One writer draws the parallel to Christ, then names the one great contrast.
L. M. GrantJoseph opened all the storehouses of Egypt. In the same way the Lord Jesus has opened the storehouses of heaven, through His great sacrifice of Calvary, to bless those who find themselves reduced to spiritual poverty. There is one great contrast. The Lord Jesus gives free of charge, "without money and without price." People from all countries came to Egypt to buy food. The grace of God in Christ is available for all the nations today. The whole world is in a state of spiritual famine.
The man who sends the glory back
Pharaoh points the nation to Joseph; Joseph keeps pointing the nation back to Pharaoh. One writer sees the arrangement stretching far past Egypt.
C. H. MackintoshThough exalted by Pharaoh, he hides himself, as it were, and binds the people in lasting obligation to the king. Pharaoh says, "Go to Joseph," and Joseph, in effect, says, "all you have and all you are belong to Pharaoh." This is a delight to see. It leads the soul on to that glorious time when the Son of Man will take the reins of government into His own hand, by divine appointment, and rule over the whole redeemed creation.
Summary
- Famine — plenty left people indifferent to Joseph; hunger produced the cry. Emptiness is what drives anyone to seek supply.
- Cry — the people appealed to the throne, and the throne redirected them. Going "direct" was the one thing Pharaoh would not allow.
- One man — all the grain sat in one pair of hands. Commentators read that as God putting all things in Christ's hand, with no other name that saves.
- Obey — the order was not only to go, but to do what he said, echoed in "Do whatever he tells you."
- World — Egypt, the nations around it, and the brothers who sold him all came to the same door. Joseph turned every benefit back to his king.