Good morning, beloved friends and brethren present. It is a great privilege to be here in the city of Sucre, Bolivia, to share these moments of fellowship with you around the Word of God, and thus, to see what God has for all of us at this end time.
Because the Old Testament reflected the Divine Program that He would carry out in the New Testament, we can read in the New Testament and we can read in the Old Testament, and see the Divine Program of our time in both parts of the Bible.
Therefore, on this occasion we are going to read a passage of the story of Joseph.
After Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream… Notice, Pharaoh was able to see something great in something so simple; meaning that he could see in simplicity, in a simplicity like the one that was in Joseph on behalf of God, he could see God manifested there.
When he interpreted the dream here, then, notice… let’s see where we can start. Let’s start on verse 25. There, Pharaoh has already told him the dream; now Joseph starts interpreting the dream, he says [Genesis 41]:
“And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one…”
That is, the dream about the thin cows and the thin ears of corn, and the thick ears of corn and the thick cows. Because it is given… These two dreams are referring to the same thing; and because it is given two times: it is a confirmation; like when Jesus would say: “Verily, verily I say unto you.”
Now, Joseph tells him:
“The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.”
In other words, the things that are going to happen, Joseph says to Pharaoh: “The things that are going to happen, well, God has shown them to you.” He has shown them to Pharaoh, but He showed them to him in this symbolic way; and a prophet was required at that time, to whom the Word comes, to whom the Divine Revelation comes, and who is the interpreter of the Word of God; who can receive the knowledge from God of those symbols, and then give the meaning to the person or to Pharoah.
It says, notice:
“God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God…”
In other words, it is unchangeable, it is established; as it was shown in the dream: that is how it will be.
And Pharaoh didn’t know what that dream meant, but he knew it was important.
And now Joseph tells him: “The dream means this: seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine.
Having plenty is well favored, but famine is ill favored.
So, it was presented that way, and here it is confirmed that it will come:
“…the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.”
In other words, it wasn’t too far off, the seven plenteous years were about to start.
And when there is plenty, people say: “God isn’t going to bring any judgment, God isn’t going to do anything, He won’t punish anyone.” But notice, here Joseph tells Pharaoh: “Seven years of plenty are coming, but then seven years of famine are coming.”
“Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise,” (meaning, a man… a faithful and wise servant, a wise man), “and set him over the land of Egypt.
Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”
In other words, Pharoah is the one who is going to vote in favor of Joseph here. He says to Pharaoh’s servants, to those who… to his helpers, he says:
“…and Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”
Surely everyone told him: “We won’t find him. We hadn’t found him, we were looking for someone to interpret the dream and no one could do it; and now this young man came along,” (he was about thirty years old), “and he was able to interpret it.”
And he recognized that the Spirit of God was there. Notice, it says here:
“…and Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”
It was in him; he was the prophet of that time, and he was the one God used for the salvation of Egypt in that time.
And in another time, he used another prophet for the destruction of Egypt, when He delivered the Hebrew people.
Now, Joseph became very great in Egypt:
“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.”
And notice, because he interpreted two dreams for him that meant the same thing. But they were, these two dreams were… What were these two dreams? The content, symbolically, of the things that were going to happen at that time.
Because when God is going to do something, He reveals it first: “And surely the Lord God will do nothing without first revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.”1[Amos 3:7] So, here was a prophet to interpret that dream or those dreams, and make known the things that were going to happen.
And they listened to Joseph; a young man who was about thirty years old, but he had the Spirit of God in him to make known the things that were going to happen. He took the things that Pharaoh had seen in a dream—he took them, opened those things in terms of the content of those things, and made known what was going to happen.
Notice, he was acknowledged by Pharaoh: he acknowledged that the Spirit of God was there; and they couldn’t let that man go, because he would be useful, a great blessing in Pharaoh’s empire, because the Spirit of God was in him. He had the solution to the greatest problem that Pharaoh and his empire would have in that time.
Now, it says:
“Thou shalt be over my house,” (meaning, he put him as a faithful and wise servant, he made him ruler over all of Pharaoh’s goods, all the goods of his house), “and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou,” (in other words, the second in command in Pharaoh’s empire was Joseph).
“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Let’s read until there.
Joseph, notice, is a type of Christ. And when he had these two sons, he named the second one Ephraim, which means ‘fruitful,’ because God made Joseph fruitful in that Gentile land, and Joseph became a fruitful tree.
“THE FRUITFUL TREE.”
Joseph represents Christ, Asenath represents the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, Manasseh represents the Hebrew people, and Ephraim represents the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gentile Church.
Now, we find that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is represented here two times: in Asenath and also in Ephraim.
Now, we find that Christ was despised, rejected by the Hebrew people; He was sold for thirty silver pieces and crucified; He died, He was buried, then He resurrected and He ascended to Heaven.
Now, we find that this was represented in the life of Joseph, being hated by his brothers. Then they sold him: they threw him into an empty pit, and when some Ishmaelites passed by (I think that’s what they were, or Midianites; they were Ishmaelites, I believe), they sold him to them; and those traders were going to Egypt, and they sold him there as a slave.
But notice, Joseph was navigating under those circumstances, but everything was being led by God; it was to preserve life.
Joseph, being a prophet, knew that all things work together for good. Therefore, everything would work together for good, even though his life would be full of many difficult situations, but in all of them, God would be with him, and he would actually see all the problems in his life, all the difficult situations, as a step, to go up as far as he saw that he would in the dreams he had there in his house; because those dreams—not only did he have those dreams, he also had their interpretation.
And notice, around… let’s see, at the time when Joseph was living with his father…
They were Ishmaelites, it says in [Genesis] chapter 37, verse 28; they were descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham.
Now, let’s see here, where… Chapter 37, verse 8, let’s see this… I think we are going to have to read a lot here. Let’s start on verse 1 of chapter 37 of Genesis, it says:
“And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours,” (that is, the colors of the rainbow).
“And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.”
Notice, something so simple, something related to the field and their everyday environment, was signifying something great for the life of Joseph, it was showing God’s Program with Joseph.
“And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?” (See? They also understood.) “And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.”
Because his father was also a prophet. And those dreams, although they were strange… and Joseph knew what those dreams meant; and Jacob also knew it, because Jacob told him:
“What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?”
Jacob, being a prophet, knew the meaning of that dream, although he got a little angry… look, it says:
“And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him.”
He rebuked him but he couldn’t do anything; the dream was going to be fulfilled, because it was the Divine Program that God was showing Joseph through those dreams.
And his father, being a prophet, who had also had dreams from God and visions, and had met with the Angel of the Lord, well, now he knew that among his sons, one had turned out to be a prophet.
And notice, out of twelve sons, for one to be a prophet? That was good! It would be bad if none of them were. But now Jacob has the blessing of having among his sons one who will continue his ministry, one who will continue his prophetic trajectory.
Now, Jacob already knew that God had a great blessing through and for Joseph, and through Joseph for the entire Hebrew people. And his brothers were envious of him, but Jacob loved his son Joseph.
And we find that all of this is a type and figure of the life of Christ; here we have the First Coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ.
He was the man, the prophet, in whom the most perfect type and figure of the First and Second Coming of Christ was fulfilled, in other words, in whom God typified the First and Second Coming of Christ; to the point that everything that will happen in the First and Second Coming of Christ is reflected in the life of Joseph. And he was the man who remained steadfast, serving God without sinning; he was truly a perfect type of Christ.
Look, Joseph even knew the exodus of the Hebrew people; because surely Jacob received this knowledge from Isaac, and Isaac received it from Abraham; for Abraham passed on that prophetic teaching to his children, and from his children it was passed on to his grandchildren, and from his grandchildren to his great-grandchildren.
Notice, and God had said to Abraham that his seed would serve in a land that is not theirs,2 and Abraham didn’t even have children yet. Sarah was barren and Abraham was already quite old, and God is talking to him about Abraham’s seed, and he doesn’t have children yet.
But notice, what God says must be fulfilled; and since nothing is impossible for God,3 God works at the relevant time for the fulfillment of what He has promised, and He makes the impossible possible.
Now, here Joseph becomes a fruitful tree, in other words, a fruitful man, a fruitful person, by having these sons; and he named one of them Ephraim, which means ‘fruitful.’
And now, since Joseph represents Christ, we find that Christ was hated by His brothers, He was sold, He was crucified; He died, He was buried, then He was taken out of the grave, raised, and then He ascended to Heaven, and sat at the right hand of God in Heaven. And we find that this entire Divine Program was reflected in Joseph.
Now, when Christ ascended to Heaven, the same thing happened as when Joseph ascended to the throne: Pharaoh took off his ring…
Kings and pharaohs also sealed documents with their ring, and most of those rings had the name of the king or pharaoh.
Now, he receives the ring, the seal of Pharaoh; he also receives a royal garment, a royal robe; he also receives a gold chain; they make him ride the second chariot (the first was Pharaoh’s and the second was Joseph’s); and they change his name to Zaphnathpaaneah, and they give him Asenath as his wife.
And we find that from that point on, in the eyes of many people, Joseph appears to be a Gentile, because he went dressed like a Gentile. Notice, they shaved his beard before he went before Pharaoh, and they fixed him up; and when he goes up to the place where he is the second in command in Pharaoh’s empire, there Joseph is in the position in which he saw himself in the dream; and the rest was a matter of waiting for a few years to pass.
Notice, from that point on, from the time Joseph was made second in line to Pharaoh’s throne, from that point on there would be seven years of plenty.
Joseph’s brothers wouldn’t meet Joseph at that time yet. Before that, Joseph was going to have his children, these two sons, before the difficult time began. And then, when the time of the famine squeeze began, that was already the Divine cycle for Joseph to reveal himself to his brothers at any moment.
They were going to feel the need for physical food, because the famine was going to spread throughout the territory of Egypt and also to other territories, like the land of Israel. And by the time the first year passed, the reserves that the Hebrews may have had, and so forth, were already exhausted.
And when a certain time came, Jacob sent his sons to look for food in Egypt, because they heard that there was a prince in Egypt who had food, and that he was the only one who could sell food.
Jacob sent some of his sons over there; they went, found the prince who was in charge of all the food, who was the second in command in Pharaoh’s kingdom or empire, and they bought food from him.
When Joseph saw them, he recognized them, but they didn’t recognize him.
Now, they went to buy food, where? Among the Gentiles.
And the Pharaoh’s kingdom at that time, with Pharoah as the top leader and Joseph as the second in line to the throne, notice: Pharaoh represents God and Joseph represents Christ.
Christ ascended to Heaven and sat on the Throne of God (and he was about thirty-something years old, about thirty-three years old too). And none of what is done on Earth takes place without Christ putting His Seal; in other words, Christ is the One who has been ruling the whole Divine Program all these years, and Christ has been on the Father’s Throne as the Scripture tells us: “He sat on the right hand of God in Heaven.”4
Christ, also notice what He had said in Saint John, chapter 5, verses… Let’s start on verse 19, it says:
“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” (To whom has the Father committed all judgment? To the Son.)
“That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.”
All judgment has been given to the Son.
And now, we can see that this is the same thing that Pharaoh did with Joseph: he made him ruler over his house, and gave Joseph all authority and power, and said to him: “No one will do anything here but by your word; no one will lift up his foot or hand if not by your word. Only in the kingdom,” (Pharaoh says), “will I be greater than you.”
And now, that is the same thing that has happened with our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, who ascended victorious to Heaven and sat on the right hand of God, and received a Name which is above every name: the Eternal Name of God; It is that new Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says that He has a new Name;5 just like when Joseph was put on the throne, made second in line to the throne, he had a new name.
When his brothers came to Egypt to buy food, they saw Joseph, but they didn’t know it was Joseph; because he had a new name, he was dressed in a Gentile way, and he was dressed in the clothing relevant to the work he was in charge of. So, they didn’t recognize him that first time.
Then they returned to their land with the food; later it ran out, and they were sent back again.
And one of the times they came to look for food, Joseph revealed himself to them when he saw his brother Benjamin, who had not come the previous times. Benjamin came the third time.
And Joseph, because they were brothers by father and mother… the rest were not Joseph’s brothers by father and mother, but Benjamin was. Joseph’s heart, his soul was moved, he wept, he left from among them and wept;6 then he came back, and then revealed himself to them, embracing Benjamin and revealing to Benjamin and to all of them that he was their brother, Joseph, whom they had sold.7
Benjamin represents the one hundred and forty-four thousand Hebrews, who are the ones that will move the heart of Christ, to reveal Himself to little Benjamin, and thus, reveal Himself to the Hebrew people at the end time.
And just like Joseph’s brothers saw their brother Joseph among the Gentiles, the Hebrew people will see Christ veiled and revealed, manifested with His Gentile Church at the Last Day, carrying out the Work relevant to that time; and they will see God’s glory manifested at that time among the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is coming for His Church, for it is the time for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to be called, gathered together, and for those who are alive to be changed, and for those who departed to be raised.
Christ, in the midst of His Church, will be revealed in the stage of the adoption.
The great miracles and wonders that have been promised to be manifested at the end time will be seen by the Hebrew people, being carried out among the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they will say: “This is the One we were waiting for.”
Christ will reveal Himself to the Hebrew people, and then, one hundred and forty-four thousand Hebrews will be called, gathered, and sealed with the Seal of the living God. And that is how the number of God’s elect will be completed.
For the number of the elect of the Gentile Church is completed at the last call, which has already started, and with Latin American and Caribbean people, God is completing the number of the members of His Church, and then there are still the servants, who are one hundred and forty-four thousand Hebrews, who will be the eunuchs there in the Kingdom of Christ with His Church, for that group of one hundred and forty-four thousand Hebrews to serve Christ and His Church.
Now, we can see how the life of Joseph and his great events show what would happen with Christ and His Work, both with the Gentiles and with the Hebrew people.
And now, notice how before the start of the seven years of squeeze, of famine, Joseph already had both his sons, and he was already a fruitful man, he had already multiplied.
And now, we find that Christ is the greatest and most important fruitful Tree of all trees. God represents men in trees.
And now, Christ, as the Tree of Life, notice, brings forth much fruit. Christ is a fruitful Tree, and every member of the mystical Body of Christ is a fruit of the Tree of Life, a fruit of Christ, a fruit that has been born of the Tree of Life.
And just as Joseph multiplied by having children, now Christ has multiplied by having sons and daughters: by believing in Christ and receiving His Holy Spirit, and thus, being born again, being born in the Kingdom of God, in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, as fruits, as a fruit of the Tree of Life, of the fruitful Tree, which is our beloved Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, we have seen which is really the fruitful Tree: it is the Tree of Life, it is our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. And we are all a fruit of that Tree.
And since that Tree of Life is the Son of God, what fruits does that Tree give?
What does a mango tree produce? More mangoes (if they are really big, they are called mangas, right?) or mangas. And an orange tree, or china tree, as we call it, produces chinas [oranges]. And notice, they are produced by the natural branches that the tree produces. If they graft a lemon branch into it, well, that will give lemons.
But the Tree of Life, which is Christ, notice, during the seven ages He has had seven branches, and in those seven branches He has brought forth sons and daughters of God.
And now we are at the top part of that Tree, where He also brings forth sons and daughters of God; where a shoot of that Tree has sprouted or been born, and It can’t bring forth anything but sons and daughters of God; because, since that Tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, It brings forth sons and daughters of God.
See who is the fruitful Tree that Joseph was pointing to through his life? He was pointing to our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, who would bring forth much fruit, many children, which are the members of the mystical Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, notice, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ; and He will also have one hundred and forty-four thousand Hebrews.
We can see that we are at the end time, where many things that have been promised, many of them have already been fulfilled, and others are in the process of being fulfilled.
Now, Joseph was recognized as someone in whom the Spirit of God is when he was able to interpret—from those dreams that Pharaoh had, he was able to interpret the things that were going to happen in that time.
And now God allows us to know the things that will happen in our time, and He also shows us the things that have happened during the past ages of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also during the past ages and dispensations of the Hebrew people.
We are living at the time in which we have been seeing the fruitful Tree, our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, and we have also been seeing Its fruit, which are sons and daughters of God.
“THE FRUITFUL TREE.”
We are a fruit of the Tree, we are fruits of that Tree in our age and in our dispensation; just like in other ages there was also fruit of that Tree, which was brought forth by the Life of that Tree, by the Holy Spirit, which is the Life that was in Jesus Christ, the Tree of Life.
It has been a privilege to be with you this morning, testifying to you these things that would happen and were shown in the life of Joseph.
And we can see that there are still things that would be happening at this time in which we live.
May God continue to bless you all, may God keep you, and thank you very much for your kind attention.
With us now: Miguel Bermúdez Marín.
“THE FRUITFUL TREE.”
1 Amos 3:7
2 Genesis 15:13
3 Luke 1:37
4 Mark 16:19
5 Revelation 3:12
6 Genesis 43:29-30
7 Genesis 45:1-4