Our church has a food pantry out of which we provide to those in need. It is called God’s Storehouse. Having read Genesis 41 recently, in which God fills the storehouses of Egypt, I began to have a deeper appreciation for our little storehouse food pantry and for the storehouse of God. “So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.”
We had a much better idea of the value and necessity of storehouses when farming was a way of survival for all. Because of supermarkets and farmer’s markets, most people no longer have a need to farm. But for purposes of definition, a storehouse was the place that farmers stored their crops after reaping the harvest. The storehouse was the place in which life-sustaining goods were kept in abundance.
That is exactly what the storehouse was in Genesis 41.
In summarizing Genesis 41, God fulfills the prophecies about Joseph by placing Him in a position that is second only to the King. Joseph predicts (when interpreting the King’s dreams) that God will bring about 7 years of bounty, followed by 7 years of incredible famine. Then we see in verses 46 & 47 (quoted in the first paragraph of this blog), that the bounty that God provided was incredibly substantial. The contents of the storehouse were so substantial that “all the earth” came to purchase grain.
God made a way for the people to survive the famine before it even came. He filled the storehouses so full that they didn’t just provide for Egypt, but for the whole earth. Again, He filled the storehouses of Egypt so full that they fed the whole earth! That is a faithful God.
Now, it doesn’t say that God provided lobster and steak 5-course meals for everyone. But, in a famine in which people lacked life-sustaining sustenance, God provided. And they lived.
God’s faithfulness didn’t end in Egypt. God is still faithful to provide.
Mankind began to experience a spiritual famine in the Garden of Eden. When that first sin took place, we became separated (by sin) from our Heavenly Father. But God created us for a spiritual relationship with Him. We hunger for it. We try to fill that void with things that are of no value, i.e. money, success, material things. But nothing satisfies that hunger. We are in a famine and on the verge of starvation. Without spiritual food, we will die an eternal death.
But God’s Storehouse is full. He filled it before this spiritual famine began as well. He had a plan of provision. That provision is Jesus Christ. He is the Bread of Life. “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35.
Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit then dwells within us. We become the temple (dwelling place) of the Holy Spirit. We become God’s Storehouse, filled with the Bread of Life.
Like the abundantly filled storehouses in Egypt, God has filled us abundantly (followers of Jesus Christ) with the Holy Spirit. We are the storehouse of the life-sustaining Holy Spirit. And there is enough for the whole world. God desires that all would come to know Him and that none would perish. So, He sent His son for the whole world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
The way that God filled the storehouses in Egypt and provided for the whole world so that they would survive the famine, He filled us. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We are God’s Storehouse. And God wants us to throw open the doors of the storehouse and feed those that are starving for the Bread of Life.
Will we feed them? Or, will we hide the life-sustaining contents of our hearts and watch those around us die (eternally) of spiritual starvation?
Father, we praise You for Your provisions. We praise You for providing for us before we even have a need. We praise You for the provision of our Savior, Your Son, Jesus. Father, we pray that we would be so filled with the Holy Spirit that we couldn’t keep the doors of the storehouse closed even if we wanted to. We pray that we would be so filled with You, Holy Spirit, that the storehouse doors would be blown wide open and the Bread of Life would pour out. Use us mightily to feed this spiritually starving world, Father. We pray this in Your precious and Holy name Jesus. Amen.
We all have a hunger for spiritual food. Some of us may deny it, some may suppress it, and some may reject it, but God created us for a relationship with Him. But we cannot have that relationship without knowing Jesus as Lord of our lives. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I pray that you will go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/). Please pray the prayer that is outlined there. Through this prayer, God will satisfy that spiritual hunger. He will adopt you as His very own son or daughter. He will love you in a deeper way than you even knew was possible. Please pray and, once you have, reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com to let me know. I’d love to be in prayer for you.
Luv Ya!
