GOSHEN'S BLESSINGS by BILL BURNS
Egypt is once again in the news. What takes place in Egypt will have to do with
these end times that we live in. Egypt has historically been involved with
Israel. Egypt was the first nation to bring Israel into bondage.
Spiritually speaking Egypt represents bondage to the world system – bondage to
the natural or physical, material world around us.
I want to look into the spiritual types and patterns regarding Egypt as they
relate to the Church.
The Joseph Covenant
In 2007 while Marsha and I were in Moab, the Lord revealed that the prophetic
journey that we, as a church, are involved in would last seven years – like the
seven lean years that Egypt and Israel went through. In 2007 we saw skinny cows.
The world has been in an economic downturn that has been quite evidence since
2007. During that time, like Joseph, we as a people would have to endure the
same hardships that Joseph did – betrayal, false accusations and imposed bondage
(prison).
Joseph also represents a time of the release of spiritual gifts that fulfill
destiny.
Moab’s Covenant
Because we received this spiritual understanding in Moab (Utah), the LORD showed
us that the Joseph Covenant is like the second covenant He made with Israel once
they left Egyptian bondage.
Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded
Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the
covenant which He made with them in Horeb.
This covenant promises prosperity.
Deuteronomy 29:
10 "All of you stand today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your
tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel,
11 "your little ones and your wives—also the stranger who is in your camp, from
the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water—
12 "that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath,
which the LORD your God makes with you today,
13 "that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be
God to you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your
fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 "I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone,
15 "but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well
as with him who is not here with us today.
Deuteronomy 29:9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that
you may prosper in all that you do.
Goshen’s Blessing
Goshen means “drawing near”. We are in a time (perilous) in which we should be
drawing nearer to God. Goshen represents a safe and blessed place in which to
dwell, while those in Egypt (the world) are enduring the time of the skinny
cows.
Joseph represents a type of Jesus who makes provision for His people in these
times.
Genesis 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the
earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Genesis 45:10-11 "You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near
to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your
herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, lest you and your
household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five
years of famine."’
Egypt
The world (Egypt) found themselves losing their prosperity and going into
debt.
Genesis 47:
12 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household
with bread, according to the number in their families.
13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so
that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and
in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the
money into Pharaoh’s house.
15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all
the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in
your presence? For the money has failed."
16 Then Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your
livestock, if the money is gone."
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in
exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the
donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that
year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We
will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of
livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our
lands.
19 "Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our
land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed,
that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate."
20 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the
Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land
became Pharaoh’s.
But … Israel Prospered
Genesis 47:27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen;
and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.
Goshen A Protected Place
When it was time for Israel to leave Egypt and inherit the Promised Land, God
sent them a deliverer whose name was Moses (drawn out – of water).
Moses brought God’s judgment upon Egypt in the form of plagues – water turned to
blood, frog invasion, lice, and flies:
Exodus 8:
21 "Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of
flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses
of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which
they stand.
22 "And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people
dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I
am the LORD in the midst of the land.
23 "I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this
sign shall be."’"
Then, came the fifth plague – disease on livestock.
Exodus 9:
3 "behold, the hand of the LORD will be on your cattle in the field, on the
horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very
severe pestilence.
4 "And the LORD will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the
livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of
Israel."’"
5 Then the LORD appointed a set time, saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this
thing in the land."
6 So the LORD did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt
died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.
And, the plagues continued to come on Egypt, but Goshen remained a protected
place; you get the point that I am making.
Goshen is a protected place and a place of safety for God’s people in these last
days.
The 10th Plague – Death
Exodus 11:
4 Then Moses said, "Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out into the
midst of Egypt;
5 ‘and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of
Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who
is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.
6 ‘Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was
not like it before, nor shall be like it again.
7 ‘But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue,
against man or beast, that you may know that the LORD does make a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel.
1 Corinthians 15:55 O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your
victory?"
1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Goshen –- A Spiritual Habitation
That spiritual habitation is established by obedience, faithfulness, and faith.
Establish your Goshen today; we are living in perilous times.