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GENESIS 41
Joseph was remembered and brought to Pharaoh to fulfill God’s plan. -- (DATE: From 1670 to1663 before Christ)
DISCOVER Genesis 41: Two years after Pharaoh’s servants had met their lot, Pharaoh had two similar dreams in the same night. In one, seven well formed cows climbed out of the Nile to graze among the reeds, but were eaten shortly after by seven ugly and famished cows that climbed from the same waters. In the second, he saw seven rich ears of grain that were erased by seven thin and blighted stalks that sprouted after them. Deeply troubled by these dreams, Pharaoh called for every magician and wise man the land of Egypt could muster to come to him and tell him the meaning of his dreams, but none of them could give an adequate explanation. -- It was then that the chief cupbearer remembered his time in prison and said to his lord that there was a Hebrew in the house of the captain of the guard, who had correctly interpreted his and the chief baker’s dreams when they were imprisoned there. So Pharaoh called for Joseph to be brought before him. After Joseph had been properly allowed to wash, shave and had been given good clothes, he was brought before Pharaoh, who first asked him if he really could interpret dreams. To this Joseph answered humbly that it was not he who would give the answer Pharaoh sought, but his God. Satisfied with this answer, Pharaoh told him of his two dreams. -- Joseph answered that the two dreams were one and the same. But God had let Pharaoh see two dreams to let him know that what was to come was God’s divine decree and would come soon. The meaning of these dreams was the following: for seven years the land of Egypt would have rich harvests as it had never known before, but those would be followed by seven years of famine so severe that those seven years of plenty would soon be forgotten, as if they had never occurred. -- Therefore, Joseph immediately suggested, Pharaoh would do well by keeping a fifth of all the harvest for the next seven years, and store this surplus so that the land of Egypt would not perish in the seven years of famine that would follow. And he further made sure to add that Pharaoh should decide on a wise and discerning man, who would oversee this important task done. -- Hearing all that, Pharaoh saw that there was no man in Egypt that was blessed by God as Joseph was. Thus he made him his overseer, and set him over everything in Egypt, and only Pharaoh would be over him by virtue of his throne. -- To instate Joseph in this office, Pharaoh placed his signet ring onto his finger on the spot, and had him dressed in fine clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. Further, Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-Paneah (one possible meaning of this name is: “He takes care of those who are weak to live”) and provided him with a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest of On. For the next seven years, Joseph traveled through Egypt and collected from the overly abundant harvest, and had this surplus be brought from outlying areas to storehouses in central locations. So he and his helpers collected grain like sand in the desert, so much that soon they gave up trying to count or measure it. -- During those seven good years, Joseph’s wife, Asenath, bore him two sons, his firstborn Manasseh and his second born Ephraim. -- When those seven years came to an end, Egypt, and all the surrounding countries, where struck by a famine so severe that all people became famished. So the Egyptians came to Pharaoh and demanded food, but Pharaoh told them to go see his overseer, as he would take care of them. And so Joseph ordered the storehouses to open up and sell their grain to the people who hungered. The news that there was food to be found in Egypt soon spread to all neighboring countries, and soon people came from all over to buy food in Egypt.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we marvel at your dealings with men. Joseph was in the deepest pit and you raised him to an illustrious royal court by giving him the correct interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams. Thank you for beginning to prove Joseph’s own childhood dreams as being true, which shocked his family at the time, that he would attain a higher position than all of them. But before you elevated Joseph, you trained him for years in humility and patience to be ready for the tasks you had ordained for him. Thank you for your kindness and gentleness to help the Egyptians and the surrounding nations survive seven years of severe famine. In your wisdom you also secured the survival of your chosen family of Jacob later on. To you belongs all the glory and praise for your wise dealings with us sinful sons of Adam. Amen.
QUESTION 41: How was Joseph elevated from a prison pit to become the highest official in Egypt?