The account of Joseph who became the viceroy of Egypt after he divinely interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh is not just a story related to his time period.
The events that happened during Joseph’s life in Egypt are prophetic and will be happening again in the end times.
Specifically, the event(s) we will focus upon involves the 7 year period of plenty followed by the 7 year period of famine.
We are familiar with the account in Genesis of Joseph rising to the second most powerful position in Egypt, just under Pharaoh himself. We know how Pharaoh commissioned him to set up the nation-wide program to store up grain and corn during the time of plenty in the land BECAUSE Pharaoh believed Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams he had. He believed there would be a seven year period of plenty that would be followed by the same amount of years of famine. The scriptures document how Joseph oversaw the whole process of storing up the seven years of bountiful harvests. Then the scriptures shift and document the events that happen during the seven years of hardship in the time of the famine. Yet, there was enough grain and corn that Egypt was able to share with neighbouring peoples. Case in point is Jacob and his family.
Where do we see something similar to that in the prophecies of the end times?
It begins with the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39 concerning the Gog/Magog war. Elohim puts hooks into Gog’s jaws and draws him back to The Land where Gog and Magog are destroyed. What happens after they are destroyed?
· Ezekiel 39:9-10 “Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both bucklers and shields, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them. 10 They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoils of those who plundered them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” declares the Lord God.”
These two scriptures are very informative. The scriptures prior to these verses detail the destruction of Gog and Magog by YHVH. Then verses 9-10 document what the inhabitants of the cities of Israel will do with the items that Gog and Magog had brought down into The Land to use for battle. The people of Israel are able to utilize the spoils of the war for a period of SEVEN YEARS.
The scriptures that follow to the end of the chapter outline what Elohim will be showcasing to the world during this time. This is a time for the nations to know the reason for Israel’s demise of long ago and for the nations to also know that Elohim has remembered Israel and is restoring her.
With the conquering of Gog/Magog and Elohim remembering Israel, the nations of this world will know what Elohim can do as described in verse 21.
· Ezekiel 39:21 “And I will place My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.
This is the time when Elohim reveals to the world Who They are. No longer will the world be unaware of the One true Elohim.
Then from that moment, Elohim restores Israel as described in verses 25 to 29. The wording clearly indicates that in order for the people to return and utilize the spoils of war, it will be done as a time of peace and plenty. And with the lands of Magog conquered and safety has been established in Israel, this will also be a time when people of the House of Israel will make Aliyah back to The Land being filled with the outpouring of the Ruach haKodesh as described in verse 29.
So, we have a period of seven years after Gog and Magog is destroyed which can only be described as a time of plenty because the inhabitants of The Land utilize the spoils of war instead of taking from their own fields or from the forest.
Sound familiar to the account of Joseph?
There is more which solidifies the account of Joseph as a parallel prophecy for the end times and it pertains to famine. Elohim commissioned the prophet Amos to speak warnings to Israel and the surrounding nations for they were deviating from His way. The consequences involve deep hardship and as noted in the following scripture, a consequence that is familiar to the account of Joseph – famine.
· Amos 8:11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord.”
Two aspects of this one verse are revealed here. A famine will come to the land and the famine will be of the hearing of the words of the LORD.
Amos does not specify how long the famine will last, but since we already have the account of Joseph with the seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine, we can use this as a template to understand the length of time for this famine of the words of the LORD.
Tie this in with what we have learned from Ezekiel 39:9-10 about the seven year period that will be a time of plenty and peace, we can see the connections.
And it is the scripture of Amos 8:11 which tells us what the famine will involve. As already mentioned, it is the cessation of the hearing of the words of the LORD.
Thus, we can determine that the time of plenty will involve an abundance of hearing the words of the LORD. As His people make Aliyah to Israel and the surrounding conquered lands, the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) which encompasses the seven spirits of Isaiah 11:1-3 will be poured out upon Israel as prophesied at the end of Ezekiel 39.
· Ezekiel 39:29 “I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.”
And this is very telling; since we know that after the time of plenty comes a time of famine, it behooves us to do the same as did Joseph. During the time of plenty, he stored up grain and corn. We must store up the words of the LORD during the time of plenty with the Ruach haKodesh so that we have sufficient spiritual nourishment to survive through the time of famine. By doing so, we act as the five virgins who were wise (Matthew 25:1-13).
Can we know when the time of plenty and the time of famine of the hearing of the words of the LORD will take place?
Yes we can and the degree of certainty is quite high. We have the confirmation that we are to know this by the parallel in the account of Joseph. Pharaoh had a dream which warned him about what was to immediately happen. We too will know in advance – it is for our survival.
To know when these two seven year periods will take place, we must draw from the 70 Week’s prophecy of Daniel 9 because these events occur within the 70 Weeks (Years). In this prophecy, Daniel records that the 70 week’s prophecy is broken into three parts; a 7 week portion, a 62 week portion and a 1 week portion. These three segments are clues meant to help us identify when this 70 Week’s prophecy is enacted. And Daniel records what other signs to look for to know when this prophecy begins; namely a decree to rebuild Jerusalem with plaza and moat. (See article “70 Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9 – Overview Explanation”)
The start of the 70 Weeks prophecy happened in 1967 just after the Six Day War. Many speculate that 1948 has been the start point of this prophecy; but there is no evidence of a decree to rebuild Jerusalem with plaza and moat. None of that took place at that time. However, these points of this prophecy did take place in 1967 when Israel finally had control of the Old City and decreed the rebuilding of Jerusalem by building a plaza at the Kotel (Wailing Wall) and by upgrading the water system (moat) into the Old City.
And ironically, the start up of all the rebuilding took place at Shavuot which happened just one week after the victory of the Six Day War. Why is that ironic? Well, Shavuot means ‘weeks’ which solidly correlates with the whole prophecy of Daniel 9 which revolves around ‘weeks’ – 70 of them to be precise.
Shavuot means ‘week’ and we can rightfully say that the 70 weeks prophecy can also be interpreted as 70 Shavuot’s. And since there is only one High Sabbath of Shavuot per year, we can also rightfully interpret Daniel’s prophecy to refer to 70 years.
Not only do we have confirmation of the plaza and moat decree and its building*, we also have another confirmation; the first segment of Gabriel’s message about the 7 years. Seven years after 1967 is the Hebrew timeframe of 1973/1974. This is when the Yom Kippur War took place from October 6-24, 1973. Interestingly, the final treaty of peace pertaining to this war was signed just days before Shavuot in 1974. This gives us confirmation that the first segment which Gabriel highlighted has happened. This means we are currently in the midst of the 62 week segment. We are in the midst of prophecy.
From 1967, we can count forward for 70 years which brings us to the year which spans 2036/2037 (remember that the counting of years for the 70 Weeks prophecy begins with Shavuot and ends with the next year’s Shavuot). Daniel’s prophecy ends with a spectacular event happening in the midst of the final 1 week – that being the ceasing of the sacrifices and offerings, which is the signal for the start of the 42 months of tribulation. Once the sacrifices and offerings have been stopped, more prophecies are activated, namely the numerical prophecies of 1260 days, 1290 days and 1335 days as well as those in Judea who must flee and those in the nations of the world who experience an exodus of great proportion.
Keeping it in mind about what prophecies have been activated when the sacrifices and offerings are stopped, there are two speculations of dates that can be determined for the time of plenty and time of famine.
Speculation One: We must begin at the end and work our way backwards to figure out the dates for this speculation. We must figure out when the famine ends so we can begin to count backwards to know its beginning. We have a very big clue in the year 2040/2041. This is the year in the End Time Timeline (on this website) that has been determined as the year of Yeshua’s return. It is fitting that His return would act as an end to the famine, since the famine which Amos wrote about pertained to the hearing of the words of the LORD. What is one of the names which Yeshua holds? He is also known as The Word. When He returns, we will not only see Him but we will be HEARING Him.
Therefore, from 2040/2041 we can count backwards 7 years to find the date when the famine begins. That would be the year of 2034/2035. There are many factors about what significant events happen at this time, such as the growth of the little horn among the 10 horns (kings) to the point that he takes control by subduing three of the ten kings. This is when the little horn transitions into the King of the North.
Not only does 2034/2035 reveal the start of the seven years of famine, it also identifies the end of the seven years of plenty. So, from this date, we count backwards to figure out when the seven years of plenty began. That will also tell us when the invasion by Magog (lead by Gog) will occur because the outcome of that invasion is what triggers the seven years of plenty. Counting seven years back, we come to 2027/2028.
Speculation Two: When the sacrifices and offerings are stopped, those in Judea must flee and those in the nations of the world are to experience an exodus of great proportion. What transpires for these two events is that these people are nourished.
So, from the time the sacrifices and offerings are stopped in 2036/2037 – which as we remember is also the end of the 70 weeks prophecy - is when the people involved in fleeing and as part of the greater exodus begin to be nourished. This means that prior to this; there must have been a famine (of the words of the LORD).
Since we have determined that the period of famine is a seven year time frame, we then can count backwards from the start of the tribulation at 2036/2037 for a seven year period and arrive at 2030/2031. This is interesting because we know there is something significant with this year. The world’s elite intend to impose their program upon the world with the Great Reset and the inauguration of The Fourth Industrial Revolution. This is what starts the famine of the words of the LORD and ends the time of plenty.
What about the time of plenty? Simply count backwards another seven years from 2030/2031. We arrive at 2023/2024. This is the year when the Gog/Magog invasion may well take place, with their defeat at the hands of Elohim. The results as described in Ezekiel 39 will then manifest.
One final interesting point of note is that the year 2023/2024 is 50 years since the Yom Kippur War. This is a jubilee of sorts. This means we are 50 years into the 62 year segment of the 70 years prophecy. Even more confirmation comes when we add 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine (14 years total) to 2023/2024; we come to 2036/2037 - the end of the 70 year prophecy and the start of the tribulation.
The event in Joseph’s time is a clear parallel to the end time clues of Ezekiel 39:9-10 and Amos 8:11. We are now armed with the clues to know what is coming so we are prepared and ready. This time of plenty and famine is more about our spiritual nourishment and it is the words of the LORD that we must store within our hearts, minds, souls and spirit. This is what will carry us through the hardships of the famine and tribulation and enable us to answer Yeshua when He returns and asks if there are any faithful. Let’s be ready.
The following charts displaying Speculation One and Speculation Two may offer some help in visualizing the dates and times of the time of plenty and the time of famine.
*Documentation of the decree to restore Jerusalem in 1967
The above graphic displays the broader elements and timeframes of the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine pertaining to Speculation One.
The above graphic displays the broader elements and timeframes of the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine pertaining to Speculation Two.
The above graphic displays details of the events of the 70 Weeks/Years prophecy with the speculated dates of the Gog/Magog invasion inserted within. These dates are of Speculation One.
The above graphic displays details of the events of the 70 Weeks/Years prophecy with the speculated dates of the Gog/Magog invasion inserted within. These dates are of Speculation Two.
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