From Joseph To Moses And Aaron.

FROM JOSEPH TO MOSES AND AARON.

Psalm 105:16-26.

1. From Prison to Premiership.

Psalm 105:16-22.

PSALM 105:16. It is the LORD our God who “called for a famine upon the land: He brake the whole staff of bread.” Bread, or any staple, is aptly called ‘the staff of life’ – for without his staff man must surely fall. But such things are in the hands of God.

PSALM 105:17. But prior to the summoning of the famine, “He sent a man before them, even Joseph who was sold for a servant,” or rather, “a slave.” Yes, even behind that injustice, the LORD was working out His own hidden purposes to keep Israel alive.

PSALM 105:18. “Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron.” Joseph was first thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers, who then sold him as a slave to the Midianites. They in turn sold Joseph to an Egyptian who before long elevated him to the head of the household. Then the master’s wife told lies about Joseph, and he was cast into a dungeon.

PSALM 105:19. “Until the time that His word came: the word of the LORD tried him.” Our times are in His hand (cf. Psalm 31:15), but ‘the time appointed was long’ (cf. Daniel 10:1). Joseph had to endure much, and persevere long; but there was for him, as for Jesus – as also for us - a ‘fulness of time’ (cf. Galatians 4:4).

PSALM 105:20-22. None other than the king himself sent and released Joseph. This began the exaltation of Joseph, from the prison to the palace. Then from the palace to the premiership. And he who had been a slave in bonds was now able to bind the wrong-doers at his pleasure, and to teach the senators God’s wisdom. What a turnaround!

2. The Sending of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 105:23-26.

PSALM 105:23. “Israel also came into Egypt,” along with all his progeny. There they became “sojourners.” This is what Christians are: ‘strangers and pilgrims in the earth’ (cf. Hebrews 11:13). This world is not our home, we are just passing through. The tribes of Israel/ Jacob were drawn to Egypt by their need of food during a famine, and were initially welcomed by Pharaoh.

PSALM 105:24. There the LORD “increased His people” and “made them stronger” than the Egyptians. The children of Israel were ‘fruitful, and increased abundantly, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them’ (cf. Exodus 1:7). It was as if the whole of God’s creation blessing upon man (cf. Genesis 1:28) rested in this one family.

PSALM 105:25. “He turned their heart to hate His people,” to deal unkindly with His servants. When we are told that God ‘hardened’ the heart of Pharaoh (cf. Exodus 7:13), we are also told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (cf. Exodus 8:32). God is not the author of sin, but sin is already there in men - and God is well able to turn it to His own ultimate purposes. Men would later deal unkindly with Jesus and thus unwittingly play their part in the great act of man’s redemption.

PSALM 105:26. Into this situation, God commissioned and “sent” Moses and Aaron, just as He had ‘sent’ Joseph before.

Jesus, in His turn, ‘sent’ His disciples two by two. Two men plus God makes ‘a threefold cord which cannot be broken’ (cf. Ecclesiastes 4:12).