Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #3 of Genesis, chapter 5 and we are continuing to look at Genesis 5:3:
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
We had begun to look at the age “130.” We saw that Abram was born to his father Terah when Terah was 130. Terah had three sons, but only one crossed over to the Promised Land and the other two sons did not, pointing to the “one third” and “two thirds,” representing saved and unsaved mankind. Remember in Revelation it referred to “666,” the number of man.
Now we have seen a third time in the Bible where we find an individual’s age noted to be 130. Last time I read this in Genesis 45, but let me read it again regarding when Joseph revealed himself to his brethren in Genesis 46:36:
For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Then we went to Acts 7:11-14:
Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
As I pointed out last time, the words “great affliction” are a translation of “megas” and “thilipsis” or “great tribulation.” They are the identical two words translated as “great tribulation,” and let us read about that in Matthew 24:21:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Then He went on to explain further what He meant by “great tribulation.”
Therefore, when God refers to the famine or dearth that came in the time of Jacob and Joseph as a time of “great affliction” or “great tribulation” and it means God is making that link. He is telling us to take a look at that famine in the Book of Genesis and we will find out some information that will relate to the Great Tribulation and teach us about the Great Tribulation. God is saying that the famine of Joseph’s day was a picture or historical parable illustrating the Great Tribulation which would come at the time of the end. In Matthew 24, Jesus brought up the Great Tribulation in response to the disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” So, there will be “great tribulation” at the end of the world.
Is it not amazing that Joseph was “hidden,” just as God was “hidden” in the sense that His Bible was sealed up. Then Joseph, a type of Christ, revealed himself just as God revealed Himself in the time of the Great Tribulation. Here, in the first part of that “great affliction” or great tribulation, Joseph was hidden to his brethren, but then he revealed himself to them after two years. Notice the dates that were given in Genesis 45:36:
For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
We know from the Biblical calendar of history, which we will be laying out in the coming studies, that the seven years of famine began in the year 1879BC and, therefore, when Joseph said it had begun two years ago it was the year 1877BC. So the date 1879BC was the beginning of the famine and after two years in 1877BC there is going to be a drastic change in regard to the famine for Jacob and the brethren of Joseph. There will be five years more of famine, so if they are in 1877 Joseph is saying that in 1872BC the seven-year famine will conclude. As Joseph, a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, reveals himself during the famine (a figure of the Great Tribulation), he reveals three key dates concerning the Great Tribulation: 1) a beginning date; and 2) a dividing point within; and 3) a concluding date.
And how do we stand at this time at the end of the world? We stand in an advantageous position, having gone through the Great Tribulation. What were the key dates we learned about the Great Tribulation? We learned it began May 21, 1988, just as Joseph revealed to his brethren the beginning year of 1879BC. We learned there was a dividing point of the Great Tribulation in 1994, because the character of the first part of the Great Tribulation was so grievous that if it continued God could not save that great multitude He intended to save, so He made a change by sending the Latter Rain in that Jubilee Year of 1994. God also informed His people by opening the Scriptures that they were to depart out of the churches and go out into the world where the Latter Rain was falling, just as Joseph informed His people that they needed to get out of the land of Canaan because the famine was too grievous and there would be no change in the great affliction throughout the seven years. In order to be nourished by Joseph and to find food, they had to go into Egypt because there was corn in Egypt. It was exactly the teaching that God’s people learned in the midst of the Great Tribulation. We learned we had to get out of the corporate church because of the famine, not a famine of food and water but of hearing the Word of the Lord. No one was being saved in the congregations. We did not learn that early on, but we learned it once God opened up the information, just as Joseph revealed information to his brethren. Jacob and his family learned they had to leave the land of Canaan, just as we had to go out into the world from the churches.
Do you see the tremendous parallels in what this historical parable is teaching on the Great Tribulation in our time and what actually occurred in our time and of which we are witnesses? We were a witness to the beginning date in 1988, the dividing date in 1994 and the concluding date of May 21, 2011, after the full 23 years the Great Tribulation. Likewise, Joseph revealed 1879BC as the beginning point, 1877BC as the dividing point and 1872BC as the end of the famine. By the way, this is a point we can make when people say, “The Great Tribulation did not end on May 21, 2011 and we are still in it, but do not know where we are within it or when it will conclude.”
But, according to what Joseph revealed to his brethren, he did reveal the three key dates and we have also known three key dates:
And this matches what we are reading in Genesis, chapter 47 concerning the famine that God called “great tribulation.” In other words, the Bible is telling us that God would inform His people regarding these key dates within the Great Tribulation. For someone to say that we can know when it began and we can know that 1994 was the time the Latter Rain started, but we cannot know when it will end does not agree with Joseph revealing himself and these key dates to his brethren.
Joseph did reveal himself and then his brethren went back to the land of Canaan to tell their father Jacob that his son Joseph was alive and the spirit of Jacob revived and all that relates to the reviving of the “two witnesses” and how God’s Word revived the great multitude outside of the churches and congregations in the world.
When Jacob finally came into Egypt, there was an official presentation of Joseph’s family to Pharaoh and Jacob was brought before Pharaoh and it says in Genesis 47:5-9:
And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Is this not something? The Bible does this so often, we might take it for granted, but is it not incredible how God orchestrates circumstances, dates and details so that we learn that the famine of Joseph’s day was equivalent to the Great Tribulation, according to God’s description in Acts, chapter 7? We learn that it matches the details of the end time spiritual famine that came upon the churches. As I just mentioned, Joseph gave three key dates to his brethren and we also were given three key dates in regard to the Great Tribulation.
And now they are just coming out of the land of Canaan, picturing the corporate church and its grievous famine and that relates to the time of God’s judgment beginning at the house of God. When did it begin? It began in 1988, which was the 13,000th year of earth’s history. It is “10 x 10 x 10 x 13.” The “10” to the 3rd power indicates the purpose of God and the number “13” points to the end of the world. That is when the famine upon the corporate church occurred and during the time of this grievous famine in the churches God opened His Bible to reveal what He had done and to reveal His judgment upon the congregations and to reveal His command to His people to depart out of the midst of the corporate churches and flee to the mountains. All that information was unveiled, as the Bible was no longer sealed. God revealed it to His people after 13,000 years of earth’s history.
Here, again, there is an official presentation to Pharaoh of Joseph’s family. Joseph is now second in command in Egypt and he has been a tremendous blessing to Pharaoh. Since Joseph interpreted his dream, Pharaoh and Egypt have become the mightiest kingdom in all the world. The kingdom of Egypt gained power over its people like never before and all the nations round about them were struggling in the famine, but Egypt prospered and it brought them incredible riches. So this was a time when Pharaoh wanted to do something nice for Joseph because Joseph had been a wonderful servant to him and he brought Pharaoh great prosperity and blessing, so the family of Joseph is brought before Pharaoh.
If this were any other Book, it would not have any real significance and we could almost miss the significance of this encounter, except for the fact that Pharaoh asked Jacob just one question (as far as we know). Again, it says in Genesis 47:7-8:
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
After Jacob answered him, it says in verse 10, “And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.” There were not two or three questions – there was just one question: “How old are you?” Can you see how God set that up and arranged for that question to be asked? It reminds us of Revelation, chapter 7 when the great multitude appeared and the question was asked, “From whence came they?” The question was asked in order that we can hear the response. The great multitude came out of “great tribulation.”
You know, this appearance before Pharaoh could have worked out a thousand different ways. Pharaoh could have asked, “What is your occupation?” There are a lot of different questions that Pharaoh could have respectfully asked, wanting to give honor to Joseph, but he picked that question. Of course, it would have been vastly different and we would not have anything to say about it in relationship to our topic, if Jacob had been any other age. There are a lot of ages that would not relate to anything else and they do not break down into significant numbers, but it so happened (not because of coincidence) because of the perfect will of God and His perfect ability to orchestrate the things of history and, therefore, Pharaoh did ask the question so Jacob could respond, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage.” That almost reminds us of the statement back in Genesis 37, verse 2, where it said, “These are the generations of Jacob,” and then we read of Joseph being 17 years old and the historical account of his dreams, and so forth. And we wonder what that has to do with the “generations of Jacob,” until we remember that Jacob is a type of the elect of God. These are the generations of the elect of God, so here are God’s elect toward the end of time, as Jacob says to Pharaoh in Genesis 47:9:
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
He is 130 years old and the days have been few and evil and that is certainly true if we were to say that the 13,000 years of earth’s history, the days of the years of God’s elect on this earth have been few and evil because there has always been tribulation, as the Bible says, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” But at the time of the end it magnified into “great tribulation.”
But the question about Jacob’s age is asked so he can give us the answer, “I am 130,” because it is the dividing point of the seven-year famine and it relates to Great Tribulation. Again, and again, and again, God ties in “great tribulation” with the number “13.”
Remember good king Josiah? Josiah began to rule in the year 640BC and we read in 2Chronicles 34:1:
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
Josiah was just a boy when he began to reign and he reigned for 31 years. From 640BC to thirty one years later brings us to 609BC and Josiah was killed in battle. He was the last good king in Judah and from that point on things went horribly for Judah. Their kings were all evil and they came under foreign occupation, first with Egypt and then with Babylon. The year 609BC was the beginning of the seventy years of tribulation. That 70-year period went from 640BC to 609BC until the King of Babylon was slain and King Cyrus allowed the Jews to go free, but only after the seventy years which typified the Great Tribulation. And how old was Josiah upon his death? He was eight when he began to reign, so eight plus 31 is 39. He was 39 when he died. The number “39” breaks down to “3 x 13.” The number “3” is the purpose of God and the number “13” is the number of the end of the world and the number that identifies with the 13,000th year of earth’s history. It was the time when the Spirit of God would depart from the churches and the churches would become “dead,” just as Josiah was killed. The churches became subject to Satan, the enemy of God, just like Judah became subject to foreign rule to Egypt and then to Babylon.
God identifies the number “13” with the Great Tribulation. Actually, since Jacob was 130 when he stood before Pharaoh, in the midst of that seven-year famine of “great tribulation,” how old was Joseph at that time? Joseph came out of prison at age 30 and he immediately interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and from everything we can tell the seven years of plenty began right away, so the seven years of plenty would have taken Joseph to age 37. Then came the famine and they were two years into the famine when Joseph was age 39. That is the identical age as Josiah when he was slain and began the seventy-year period that typified the Great Tribulation. Joseph’s age of 39 is “3 x 13.” And at the time that Jacob was 130, it is “10 x 13.” We can see the strong emphasis on the number “13.” Actually, when Joseph was born, Jacob was 91 and the number “91” is “7 x 13.” God has placed a special emphasis on the number “13” in this historical account of Jacob and Joseph.