Make Way 4- “Make Way”
1. Introduction.
Genesis 41:39
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
Ge 41:40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
Ge 41:41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”
Ge 41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
Ge 41:43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way !” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
Ge 41:44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”
God provided the title ‘Make Way’ to the word He has been giving us over a number of weeks, because I believe that He is concerned to see us break out from where we are into a new place in God, that we make a way for the King in our lives and declare to the world around us
Make way for the Word of God
Make way for the Kingdom of God
Make way for the Son of God
Having said that, I then discovered that most translations of Genesis 41:43 do not use the term ‘Make way’ but rather ‘Bow the Knee’
You cannot read the term “bow the knee” without thinking of that wonderful passage in Phillipians 2
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Joseph is very often talked about as being a picture of what Christ would be like what theologians call a
Type of Christ
and you can so see the picture in those words
He humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
We have seen that in all the story of Joseph, there has been a clear word to us concerning how God wants us to be Christ-like. We have gained these simple truths from the story of this desert tribesman elevated to rule all Egypt.
Listen.
Obey God and respond to His prompting.
Bring revelation with wisdom
Acknowledge God as the source of our life and revelation.
Protect in prayer those who God has shown us that he has His hand upon
Demonstrate God’s ownership of our own lives
Express the Government of God in all we do
Place God’s trademark on all that we touch
Walk in the inheritance Christ brings us,
Acknowledge the lavish grace of God to us.
2. Another Gift
So far then we have seen that God’s word to us has been strengthening us assuring us of who we are in Him and what great gifts He has for us who believe.
Yet Pharaoh King of Egypt has a further gift for Joseph- What more?
Now in the gift giving stakes this guy had already overdone it a little don’t you think?
Freedom from prison
Made prime minister
Given a gold signet ring
Given beautiful clothes of finest linen
Given a gold chain aound his neck
And now he hands him the keys to the Porsche,
And yes and a pair of motor cycle outriders with flashing lights and sirens to go with him everywhere he goes.
A chariot not just any chariot but his second chariot, the one he would use when his chariot was in for service.
A chariot was a big deal A chariot was power on wheels- two wheeled wooden structure decorated but as light as possible
Usually the chariot had a driver a chauffeur and was drawn by one or two horses.
It was chariots that changed the balance of power in the Middle-East. Egypt’s chariots enabled it to conquer great areas of land and defeat all attempts at invasion. It was the Persian and Assyrian chariots that made them able to conquer most of the known world. They were a huge military advantage.
A chariot provides
So Joseph is given a chariot, A means to act faster and more powerfully than those around him.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” (Jn 16)
Yes we can liken this chariot to the work of the Holy Spirit giving us supernatural gifts to act to empower us, beyond what is known otherwise.
We have at our disposal Gifts of healing, of knowledge, of prophecy, of wisdom. All ours; to enable us to bring Gods presence, His kingdom into every situation.
3. Make Way
We need to allow room for the Spirit of God to move we need to make way for the Spirit of God
Even more we need to position ourselves to allow the chariot to pass easily. We bow the knee showing submission to the work of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Egyptians bowed the knee to allow Joseph freedom to act and bring change.
Not pressing forward to hinder its path- Its not about gaining a personal attention, but about us enabling being best positioned to allow the work of God
Make Way - Make a Way.
Joseph goes on to gather into the stores of Egypt an abundance so great he stops bothering to count it and in their poverty of the famine he becomes the saviour of Egypt giving to all as they have need.
Matthew Henry compares the work of Joseph to Jesus and says
“The brightest glories of the upper world are put upon him, the highest trust is lodged in his hand, and all power is given to him both in heaven and earth. He is gatherer, keeper, and disposer, of all the stores of divine grace, and chief ruler of the kingdom of God among men. The work of ministers is to cry before him, “Bow the knee; kiss the Son.”
We are called to bow the knee to make a way for our Lord Jesus to get to know the people of our town. We are called to position ourselves in our work in our families, in our friendships to make a way for the king-
To enable us in this task God gives to us His gift of the Holy Spirit, empowering us with His gifts to reach the lost and needy of Basildon.
4. Authority
Finally Pharaoh Lord of Egypt King of the upper and lower kingdoms of Egypt declares to Joseph in solemn and deep sincerity.
"I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”
Gen 41:44
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16
T.J.Blake August 2004.
Tim Blake, 22/08/2004