Genesis 40 Series, Part 16, Verses 10-15
Hello, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #16 in Genesis 40, and we will read Genesis 40:10-15:
And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler. But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
I will stop there. In our last study, we were talking about the vine. We have already seen that the vine can be a reference to Christ because Christ said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches…” We also saw that the vine can point to Israel of the Old Testament and the corporate church of the New Testament.
We went to Psalm 80:8:
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
The heathen would refer to the nations that inhabited the land of Cannan. The vine would be national Israel. Of course Egypt was a historical place where the Israelites were servants to Pharaoh, and after 430 years they were delivered out of Egypt. That is the spiritual picture, and the coming out of Egypt is like coming out of the world through salvation, or the “appearance of salvation,” for those that entered into the churches and congregations, just as the overwhelming majority of the Jews that were delivered from physical bondage in Egypt perished in the wilderness due to unbelief, as we read in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. So too, for many of those who entered into the churches who had come out of the “house of bondage,” spiritually speaking, the overwhelming majority remained unsaved. They were Christians in name only, and this was true over the course of the church age, as the Bible says, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
So the figure of bringing a vine from Egypt can be used to picture the nation of Isarel or the churches. We can prove that. We read in Psalm 80:12-16:
Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
There is a vine and a vineyard, and the hedge is said to be broken down. But if we go to Isaiah 5, we will read about the New Testament church that God also established as a vineyard that was to bring forth fruit, which identifies with salvation. The churches were established to bring the Gospel of salvation so that the elect could become saved by the “early rain,” the Pentecostal rain that would bring forth the firstfruits unto God. It said Isaiah 5:1:
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
I mentioned this last time, but the Hebrew word translated as “hill” is translated as “horn” everywhere else. We can find a couple of verses that speak of horn and salvation. For instance, it says of God in 2Samuel 22:3:
…he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation…
It also says of God in Luke 1:69:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
That would be Jesus Himself who is likened to a horn of salvation. So it is a very fruitful horn, and that is because it identifies with salvation. Fruitfulness and salvation go hand in hand.
Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 5:2:
And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine…
It is just like what we read in Psalm 80 where it said He brought a vine out of Egypt and planted it. Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 5:2:
… and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
The word translated as “wild grapes” is actually a word that identifies with a stench. There was a stench in the vineyard with the grapes. Then it says in Isaiah 5:3-4:
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
This word is Strong’s #891, and it is related to Strong’s #887 that is used in Exodus 7:18 and Exodus 7:21, where we will see the problem with this vineyard. It speaks of God turning the river of Egypt to blood, and it says in Exodus 7:18:
And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.
Then it says in Exodus 7:21:
And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
We can imagine multitudes of dead fish after the river turned to blood. It stank so badly. When we go to a supermarket, and we bring a fresh fish home there can be a smell, but imagine if the fish were to rot in a river of blood. What a stench! And that is our word, and God is saying that is what the grapes brought forth. God looked that it should bring forth grapes but it brought forth a stench! The fruit was ruined.
You know, this is not the same type of fruit, but it is a similar idea where God describes in Jeremiah 24 two baskets of figs. We read in Jeremiah 24:1:
JEHOVAH shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of JEHOVAH, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
Remember the historical onslaught of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians against Judah and Jerusalem? It is a historical parable that taught about God’s end time plan to loose Satan to come against the camp of the saints (the New Testament churches), and overcome them and be victorious. Then Satan took his seat in the temple (the churches) showing himself that he was God. That is what this parable is telling us. These two baskets of figs were “before the temple of JEHOVAH after Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.” That is pointing to the time of the loosing of Satan at the end of the church age (in 1988). Christ’s Spirit departed from the churches, and Satan entered in, and now we see this picture of two baskets of figs that the Lord will use to instruct us concerning His people who are alive at the time of the Great Tribulation when judgment began at the house of God. In other words, it is speaking of we who have gone through that period of time. Then it says in Jeremiah 24:2:
One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
The word “naughty” is the word “evil.” The figs were evil. You know, I like blueberries, but after a couple of days you find that some are moldy, and you cannot eat them because they are “bad.” Here, the picture is one of “naughty” or “evil” figs, and God says that they were so evil they could not be eaten. God goes on to say in Jeremiah 24:3:
…What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Again, in the Bible fruit identifies with people. There are two baskets of figs, and two different peoples – good fruit and evil fruit. The Bible says, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” The people of the churches at the time of the end contained both, also known as the wheat and the tares. Keep in mind that Satan was loosed in 1988, but God did not open the scriptures and grant us understanding until a few years after that in 2001. So we see these two groups, typified by the two baskets. Then it says in Jeremiah 24:4-7:
Again the word of JEHOVAH came unto me, saying, Thus saith JEHOVAH, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am JEHOVAH: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
What was God going to do with the good figs? He said, “Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.” This was the land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, the Promised Land. But God sent His people out, just as He told His people to depart out of the churches in Luke 21:20:
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
That is what the Babylonians did, historically to the city. Then it says in Luke 21:21-22:
Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
The days of vengeance for whom? For Judah? No. God had turned them into a “proverb,” according to 1Kings 9:7. And remember that Luke 21 is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24 where the disciples asked Jesus, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” This has to do with the second coming of Jesus at the end stage of earth’s history which began in 1988, the 13,000th year of earth’s history, and it was also the year of the end of the church age. Then a few years later in 1994 judgment officially began on the house of God, the corporate church. (1Timothy 3:15-16 describes the “house of God,” as the church.)
So here God is referring the historical parable that is described in much of the book of Jeremiah concerning the assault of the Babylonians against Judah and Jerusalem. Again, when you see Judaea compassed about with armies, spiritually, we were to depart out of the midst and go to the mountains. Just to show you that this is parallel to Matthew 24, we read in Matthew 24:15:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place…
This is referring to what was said in the book of Daniel. Look it up. The “abomination of desolation” is mentioned at least a couple of times in Daniel, and in each case it is speaking of the end. Let us prove that by reading Daniel 11:31:
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
(The daily is the light of the candlestick, representing Christ in the midst of the churches.) Then it says in Daniel 11:32-35:
And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. ow when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
Again, they shall place the abomination that makes desolate, and this happens at the time of the end.
Or we can look at Daniel 12:9-11:
And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
We read in Matthew 24:3:
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
That is the time being spoken of in the whole chapter of Matthew 24. Again, it says in Matthew 24:15:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place…
It is the time of the end. And the “holy place” is the church, not Israel. The nation of Israel plays no part except the signpost of them becoming a nation again, as the “fig tree in leaf.” That was an indicator that we can know that the time is nigh.
It so happens that right now Israel is very divisive as far as world matters are concerned, as God is causing divisions in the world. Israel has been a nation that has historically been divisive, or at least that is how other nations have viewed them. It is just one of many things God is doing to bring about worldwide division, which is a characteristic of Judgment Day.
Again, it said in Matthew 24:15-16:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Judaea is referring to the corporate church, and the mountains represent God, as we read in Psalm 125:2:
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so JEHOVAH is round about his people…
Going back to Jeremiah 24, God was commanding His people to go into captivity, and it said in Jeremiah 24:5:
Thus saith JEHOVAH, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
Going into the land of Chaldeans (Babylon) is a picture of the world. When we hear the church age is over, God said we were to depart out of the churches and go into the world. Go to God Himself, which means to go to the Bible, but we were no longer to go to a corporate church. Then we read of the wonderful blessings.
Then in verse 8 we read of the “evil figs,” and those that remained in the churches were the bad fruit. By their fruit you will know them because they disobeyed the commandment of God to leave and depart out, thereby showing their character in the separation of the wheat and tares. They were tares. It says in Jeremiah 24:8-10:
And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith JEHOVAH, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
It was God’s judgment on the churches and the congregations, the unsaved that remained in the churches. It is terrible. Over these years since May 21, 2011, numbers of so-called true believers have gone back, indicating what kind of fruit they really were, tragically.
I think that is all we have time for right now. Lord willing, when we get together next time, we are going to look more at the “three days.” This is something that has blessed me as I study it, and I hope it will be a blessing to you.