The Dinner with Joseph - Tuesday evening, 6.30.2009

Genesis 43:32- They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews; for that is detestable to Egyptians. The men had been seated before him in the order of their age, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

During the second trip that Joseph’s brothers made to Egypt to buy food, they received an invitation to dine at the house of the official in charge of dispensing grain during the famine (this was Joseph, but they did not realize it).

They were already nervous because after their last trip they discovered that their payment money had reappeared in their sacks; as the dinner scene unfolded, they became even more disquieted. Joseph was giving them hints about the larger situation going on around them, which they could not see. These details also have prophetic hints, offering us a message about the larger situation going on around us today.

The Lord summons us to a banquet as well. “He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.” (Song of Songs 2:4). “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” (Psalm 23:5). Jesus repeatedly compared the Kingdom of God to a banquet, to which many are invited. There are parables about those who declined the invitation to His banquet in Matthew 22:2-14 and Luke 14:16-24. There is also the Parable of the Ten Virgins, in Matthew 25:1-13, that describes our need to be spiritually prepared (to have an ample supply of oil, the Holy Spirit) when the banquet begins.

The prophet Isaiah foretold this aspect of our salvation, which the Messiah would bring: “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all people, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wine.” (Isaiah 25:6) The “finest of wine” refers to the Holy Spirit, poured out on us in full measure in these Last Days, through the Blood of Jesus. (Matthew 26:27-29). The “best of meats” refers to the spiritual food the Lord gives us - of Himself, as we are participating in His Body and doing His will. (John 4:34).

Joseph seated his brothers around the table by age, which astonished them. From their standpoint, there was no way this Egyptian government official could have known their exact ages or birth order; some of them were very close in age, having been born to different wives of their father at nearly the same time. From Joseph’s standpoint, it was obvious how old they were. This reminds us of the reaction unbelievers have to revelations and spiritual gifts in the services that show the secrets of their hearts. For them, it seems there is no possible way the preacher delivering the revelation could have known their background or situation; but it is obvious that the Lord knows everything, just as easily as Joseph knew his own brothers. (This is why we cannot settle for having vague, general revelations in our church services - mere proclamations of things we already believe, such as the Lord being present - because then the visitors miss out on having a deep experience with the gifts).

The Lord wants to arrange things in order in our lives and in his church. He is not a God of confusion; when the Holy Spirit is in control, He makes the church services orderly, not chaotic. The Lord puts everything in place in the church through revelation, designating who should serve in what task, when the services should be, how long the services should last, what style of worship pleases Him, how we should train the children in the things of the Lord, how we handle spiritual gifts to keep out any false ones. Many of the modern Christian movements lack this aspect. They put so much emphasis on “freedom” that the Spirit cannot bring order; they say they want to give the Spirit freedom to operate, but they end up just giving the members freedom to express themselves, and the Holy Spirit cannot arrange anything in this situation. The Work of the Holy Spirit brings order through revelation (not tradition or human ideas), putting everyone in the proper place at the proper time. This is part of our testimony for the visitor and the new convert - they become integrated into an organized project where the Lord is in control, just as Joseph’s brothers took their seats at the table and found that a place was prepared for them in just the right spot.

Benjamin received a fivefold portion. In the Joseph stories, Benjamin becomes a symbol of the New Birth. Regeneration is what Jesus most wants to see in our lives, just as Joseph insisted on seeing Benjamin when the brothers wanted to buy grain. Joseph said, “You shall not see my face again unless he is with you,” (Gen. 43:5), and that they would “die” if they did not bring Benjamin (Genesis 42: 20). Without being born again, we cannot see the face of Jesus, and we cannot have eternal life; we shall die in our sins. The brothers also could not return to their father without Benjamin (Genesis 44:26), just as we cannot return to our Heavenly Father without the New Birth.

Benjamin received five times as much food as his brothers, which illustrates for us the priority Jesus places on spiritual birth in our lives today. It is much more important to him than any other need in our lives. Man comes to God thinking his most important need is financial, or physical (health), or something with his family. God does give us blessings in these material areas, but the Lord’s priority is our spiritual lives, our salvation. A large portion of the spiritual resources the Lord has given us today are for the sake of generating new conversions, New Birth - whether spiritual gifts (there are usually more gifts when visitors are present in the service), revelations in the Word, spiritual anointing, etc.

In fact, “five” is a prophetic number referring to the fivefold ministries that Jesus gives to the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. (See Ephesians 4:11-13). Some ministers mistakenly think their calling to one of these five offices is a gift for them. Instead, the Word says these five ministries are a gift to the faithful church (though God uses men in these roles) to help it grow to the full stature of Christ, with all the members fully equipped to serve the Lord and produce fruit.

The Egyptians sat at a separate table from the Hebrews. Here the text switches briefly from calling them “Joseph’s brothers” to calling them “Hebrews,” to make a prophetic statement: “Hebrew” means “wanderer,” one who does not have a home in this world, just like the faithful church. This speaks of the separation of the church from the world. This is not because the church hates the world, but because the world cannot appreciate the things of eternity, or the people who do not belong to this world. When the church mixes with the world, the result is not that the world changes, but that the church changes; it yields to the pressure from the world to conform. The world has no desire for the things of eternity, but the people in the church, still carrying their flesh with them, have some desires for the things of the world. Paul says that true believers are like the stench of death to the lost, those who are perishing (2 Cor. 2:15-16), because we are a constant reminder that they are spiritually dead, and that the things of the world are passing away. As Jesus said in his prayer at the Last Supper: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:14-16).

Joseph still served food to these Egyptian guests - just as the Lord Jesus gives blessings and little experiences with revelation to unbelievers to draw them to Himself - but the table he provides for his faithful church is not available for the world. The world would ruin it, being a blot at the feast. (See Jude 1:12). Again, the reason for separation is not that the church members hate the people in the world (on the contrary, we love them and pray for their salvation), but that the world hates the things of eternity and pressures people to focus on worldly things instead of godly things.

Joseph sat by himself to keep from revealing his identity to both sides at this moment - he did not yet want the Egyptians to think about the fact that he was a Hebrew, and he did not his brothers to know who he was. Prophetically, this points to the fact that the Lord is perfectly holy, separate from all sin and the filth of this world. We come to him and participate in his project; he does not compromise or make concessions to us. Regardless of how unfaithful we want to be, He will not bend or become unfaithful, because “He cannot contradict himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13).

The story of Joseph has a prophetic aspect, pointing the Lord Jesus and the project of salvation. Joseph summoned his brothers into the house - despite the fact that they were foreigners and would normally be unwelcome in Egypt - and ate with them. Today the Lord Jesus says to the church, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20).