Genesis 41:1-57

To log onto UNITYINCHRIST.COM’S BLOG, Click Here

Share on Facebook

Genesis 41:1-57

“And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. 2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow. 3 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. 4 And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. 5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. 6 And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. 7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. 8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. 9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: 10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker: 11 and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. 12 And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. 13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. 14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. 16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. 17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: 18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: 19 and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: 20 and the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: 21 and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: 23 and, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: 24 and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. 25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. 27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. 28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. 29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: 30 and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in all the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; 31 and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of the famine following; for it shall be very grievous. 32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up a fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 And that food shall be for store in the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine. 37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? 39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: 40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. 41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. 42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; 43 and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. 45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest [or prince] of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. 46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. 49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. 50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. 51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: for God, he said, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house. 52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. 53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. 54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians; Go unto Jospeh; what he saith to you, do. 56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. 57 And all the countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn: because that the famine was so sore in all lands.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED541]

“We have followed the life of Joseph, followed him down into Egypt, hated of his brothers, thrown into the pit, sold to the Ishmaelites, carried down into Egypt, sold on the auction block, serving in Potiphar’s house, the house prospering, Potiphar’s wife’s pursuit, Joseph refusing, thrown into prison, and in the prison rising to authority there, running most of the prison. And then Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and his chief cook get thrown into the prison, having dreams, Joseph interpreting their dreams for them and asking them ‘Remember me when you’re restored to your position.’ And we ended last week at the end of chapter 40 with that Divine amnesia, God deliberately having the butler, who was the surviving one of the two, the cup-bearer, forget about Joseph. And again, just a challenge for all of us, when someone who has told us that they’ll remember us and do something for us and doesn’t, the possibility that we have to keep in the back of our mind is they have Divine amnesia, God had them forget us for a particular reason, and they really wanted to remember us and couldn’t. If Joseph had been set free from prison when the cup-bearer was restored, no doubt he’d have left Egypt, he’d have gone back to Canaan to find Jacob and his brothers, he’d have returned home, he was longing to see his father, and in that process of events he would not have been there for Pharaoh’s dreams, he would not have been raised up over all of Egypt, the children of Israel would not have been preserved, henceforth the tribe of Judah would have perished, the Messiah would never have come, and we wouldn’t be here this evening studying the life of Joseph. So personally I’m glad this guy forgot about him and he stayed in prison. It’s just easy for me to say, I’m on the other end of the equation. Remember Psalm 105 tells us that there was there that the LORD sent this man to Egypt, he didn’t feel sent when he came, he felt drawn to Egypt, it says God sent him, and put iron in his soul, he was in the fetters there, he was humbled. And God was preparing the man who would basically rule over the entire known world, except for Pharaoh himself, not in Princeton, not in Yale or Harvard, but where none of us would prepare someone to rule the world, in prison. And God was preparing his heart to take that position. The butler is returned, the cup-bearer to his position, a trusted position next to Pharaoh, and he has forgotten all about Joseph, and we find Joseph here in chapter 41 still in the prison.

Pharaoh Has Two Dreams, Nightmares--Joseph Is Summoned To Interpret Them

And it says “And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.” (verse 1) now those two full years weren’t more full to anyone than they were to Joseph, every time he heard the door creak or heard it slam he was hoping that he had been remembered. “at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.” (verse 1) So here’s Pharaoh, in a dream standing by the Nile. “And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.” (verse 2) no doubt in his dream, he’s thinking of Osirus who is portrayed as a bull, but with seven female cows with him that are healthy, there’s something in this that’s going to get Pharaoh’s attention. “And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.” (verse 3) So now seven skinny, ugly cows come up. “And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.” (verse 4) King James says “eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine.” The Hebrew says “they chewed them up.” So this is a troubling image in his dream, you know, seven beautiful fat cows there, grazing in the meadow come up out of the Nile, and then these ugly, mean, skinny cow-eating carnivorous cows come up out of the river, and it says they chew up the other ones, horn and hoof, they just consume them, which is a very troubling, you know how dreams are. [ya, they call those nightmares.] One of them while he was eating the other ones turned around and smiled at Pharaoh. You know how those dreams go. ‘They did chew up, consumed the seven well favoured and fat cows, so Pharaoh woke up.’ And when he woke up, he looked around, no mean skinny cows in the room, he was real glad, he settled down, his heart was pounding, saying ‘It’s a dream, it’s a dream,’ then he goes back to sleep again. “And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn [“corn” is King James for the word “grain.”] came up upon one stalk, rank and good.” (verse 5) Now King James says “rank and good” it means full or healthy. “And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.” (verses 6-7) Now that’s strange too, it doesn’t tell us how they devoured them, the skinny sheaves of grain ate the fat ones. “And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.” (verse 8) you know Pharaoh’s thinking ‘Too much pepperoni on the pizza before I went to bed last night.’ Now these are heavy-duty guys, we’re going to see in Exodus chapter 7 when Moses comes in and throws down his staff in front of them, it turns into a serpent, they throw down their staves and their staves turn into serpents too. Of course Moses’ serpent consumes them. Moses will turn the Nile to blood, God will turn the Nile to blood for Moses, it says then Pharaoh’s magicians turn water to blood. Moses brings up frogs, the magicians of Egypt bring up frogs. It isn’t until [God through] Moses turns the dust of Egypt to lice, that finally the magicians of Egypt say ‘now this is beyond us, this is the finger of God.’ So these guys are heavy-duty guys that are called in here, these are the real deal. The interesting thing is, they normally did not interpret dreams, because Pharaoh himself was considered god, he was both a political and religious leader in some ways of the land of Egypt, he was considered to be Ra himself, the incarnation of Ra, so he of course would interpret his own dreams. These dreams are very troubling, it’s unusual, it’s not like Nebuchadnezzar and his magicians, this is different. He brings these men in, he asks them for help, they come in, they’re unable to interpret his dreams for him. And it says “Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:” (verse 9) Now look, Joseph, Joseph has been forgotten by his brothers, he’s been forgotten by Potiphar, he’s been forgotten no doubt by Potiphar’s wife, been forgotten by the cup-bearer, he’s a forgotten man, remembered only by God, and he’s remembered by his dad, Jacob still has a broken heart. Dad’s hearts, interesting. But God has not forgotten him, and this is God’s timing. Now look, in a day, he starts out this morning condemned, condemned in the sense that he’s there having supposedly tried to rape Potiphar’s wife, he’s in prison, and probably would have been for the rest of his life. Wakes up in the morning that way. By the end of the day, he’s the second-most powerful man on earth. So this is a strange day. He’s finally at this point, God is ready, Pharaoh’s ready, the butler’s ready, everything’s ready, God’s timing. Pharaoh dreams a dream, God puts his finger on Pharaoh, stirs up some ugly cows in his brain, stirs up the dreams. The butler now remembers, ‘Oh ya, there’s this guy.’ Joseph after at least 7 years in prison, he’s been in Egypt at least 13 to 14 years by this point in time. He came when he was 17, 18, he’s 30 years old, we’re going to find out this day, it tells us in verse 46 I believe, he’s 30 years old. He had learned something in those years. No doubt when he first came down, he had huge struggles in regards to his brothers, many times probably in Potiphar’s house he thought ‘Those rats, if they hadn’t thrown me in that pit, if that hadn’t happened, I’d be home with my father right now.’ But then for obeying God, doing what was right, he’s thrown into prison for 7 years. And no doubt those 7 years in prison taught him that God is superintending in the affairs of men, that he can no longer be bitter at his brothers, because was it Potiphar’s hand or Potiphar’s wife’s hand that got him thrown in the dungeon in the prison? Or was it the hand of God that allowed that. God was with him there to interpret dreams, so God was still speaking to him. And we can spend a lot of time in our lives angry at circumstances and angry at people, and sometimes ultimately we have to come to the place where we say ‘God, you allowed this.’ You know, I’ve talked to people in church, I’m not saying it’s easy, where someone will say ‘I was abused when I was a kid, I went through this circumstance, and I can’t forgive.’ And again, someone else’s child who dies of cancer, and I say, you know it’s hard for those parents, God is the abuser in that situation. They have to come to terms with ‘There’s no human to be angry at. Why did God allow this?' And that huge difficult question, ‘Why? If you’re all-loving and all-powerful, you’re all-knowing, Why? Why this way? Why did it have to happen this way Lord?’ But Joseph has come, no doubt by this point in time, to his peace with God, ‘Where it was the hands of my brothers, but they were in your hands. I did what was right in Potiphar’s house, I refused to be sexually intimate with his wife, I honoured you, it was great wickedness, I didn’t want to sin against you, and it got me thrown in here.’ And he’s come to the point in time no doubt where his heart is where God wants his heart to be in regards all those things. Something he couldn’t have learned in seminary, he couldn’t have learned in Yale or Harvard, it is something that God had done in the man. “Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.” now take note of this in verse 13, it says, that’s because in Egypt, they believed that the person who had the authority to interpret the dream was also the one that had the authority that fulfilled it, the interpreter was also the causer. So he says here in verse 13, “And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.” Joseph was both the interpreter and the cause, that’s how they viewed that person. “Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.” (verses 9-14) ‘and he changed himself, his raiment,’ I bet he did, ‘and he came in unto Pharaoh,’ so imagine this day, however late in the day it was, I imagine Pharaoh had his magicians up early because he didn’t like the dream, and when you have those kind of dreams you’re still troubled when you wake up. Joseph is taking care of whatever business he’s taking care of, and all of a sudden he hears some commotion and they say ‘Pharaoh is summoning you right now.’ Now that’s a strange thing to hear in the middle of all that, ‘Pharaoh is calling you, you need to get yourself ready.’ Now Jews didn’t shave [now here we go again, Joseph was not a Jew, he was a Hebrew, one brother out of 12, and two tribes of Israel would come out of his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. But what he’s saying is Hebrews didn’t shave.] The possibility is that Joseph had never shaved, we know he’s at least got a 13-year growth or 7-year growth on his chin. They took Joseph, the shaved his chin, face, they shaved his head like a Q-Ball, here’s a guy who had never been shaved in his life. They put some of that black mascara around his eyes, they put a white, some type of white linen garment on him, and they took him out of the prison, they took him to stand before Pharaoh. He’s 30 years old. What a strange day this is going to be. He’s going to come into Pharaoh’s court, his magicians are going to be there, all of his court’s going to be there, Potiphar is there somewhere. And he stands in front of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh’s sitting on the throne. We don’t know which Pharaoh this is. He’s unnamed, he comes and he passes off the page. We have 13 chapters on Joseph who was a shepherd, who yielded his life to the Living God, we have 13 chapters on him and he will never pass from history, this Pharaoh, the most powerful guy in the world is unnamed, we don’t even know who he is. He came and he went, God was not impressed. When Joseph stood in front of him, he was on the throne, he had two crowns on his head, symbolizing Upper and Lower Egypt [some archaeologists feel this could have been Dozier with his grand vizier Imhotep], both ruled by him. That had been that way for over a thousand years, the Great Pyramid and Sphinx were built over a thousand years before this scene. One crown had a falcon on it, the other crown had the cobra, the serpent, in his right hand he had a crook, in his left hand he had a flail, the crook was Upper Egypt, the flail was Lower Egypt. He sat there, golden sandals, his sandals were covered with gold, he had one of those white pleated Egyptian skirts on that was from a special linen that grew nowhere else but in Egypt, and it glistened and was white, it was like silk, and he had a thick gold collar. Just, you can imagine Joseph being drug out of the dungeon, he must be, he didn’t get to the tanning beds before, this guy is white and shaved, and looks like Casper the friendly ghost, they drag him out and in front of Pharaoh, and here’s this young kid [he’s 30], they push him, and there he stands in front of Pharaoh.

Pharaoh Tells Joseph About His Two Dreams

“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying,” Listen to this, “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” (verses 15-16) Joseph is not touching the glory, ‘it’s not in me, I don’t interpret dreams, I’m just a man, anything I put my hand to gets me deeper and deeper into trouble as life goes on. But God, God will give you an answer of peace.’ We see that this man is now refined. “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:” ‘these were mean bad, skinny cows, I never saw anything like it,’ “and the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they” the skinny meanies “were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.” (verses 17-21) What he said was ‘I watched these ugly, mean, skinny cows eat these big giant fat cows, and after that they were still skinny, they didn’t gain any weight, they were still skinny, mean cows. And I woke up.’ “And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears” of grain “came up in one stalk, full and good: and, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians;” they’re all standing there, “but there was none that could declare it to me.” (verses 22-24) And no doubt Joseph is remembering his two dreams, and more, as this chapter goes on. It’s amazing, because there’s not much of a pause here at all. “And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.” (verse 25) now what he’s saying is both these dreams mean the same thing. It’s really one dream in two different perspectives. “God hath shewed Pharaoh” please notice this “what he is about to do.” (verse 25b) he’s telling Pharaoh ‘You’re not in charge, you think you’re the incarnation of Ra, but God is letting you know that he’s in charge, and this is what he is about to do.’ He’s giving a testimony there. “The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.” (verses 26-27) seven difficult years after that. “This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.” (verse 28) notice the “eth” there in verse 28 “he sheweth unto Pharaoh.” What it says is, ‘God is showing you, “sheweth” he’s showing you what he is about to do.’ “Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in all the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of the famine following; for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice;” the reason that you dreamed it twice, please notice what Joseph says “it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.” (verses 29-32) Now he’s remembering the two dreams that he had many years before this, 13 years before this at least. And no doubt he had learned over the years that God was refining those things in his own life. And now he’s seeing these shocks of grain, and he told his brothers he saw in a dream that they had been portrayed by shocks of grain coming and bowing down before him. And he’s realizing God had given him two dreams, and he’s saying to Pharaoh that the reason God gave you two dreams is the thing is established by God. ‘He’s letting you know that he’s confirming, by the mouth of two or three witnesses, he’s establishing, God will surely bring it to pass.’ Now God, does he ever do that in your life? [Yes, he has, I started using the battle analogy that the work I was doing in creating this website was like a spiritual "Memphis Belle" (a famous B-17 bomber in World War II) heading for a spiritual target over enemy territory. Once I made the analogy though, I started saying to myself (kind of doubting) "this is crazy." Then the Lord started backing up the analogy, and he did so well over seven times in two short years, twice by actually bringing the B-17 bomber that was used to film "Memphis Belle" to our local airport! The other two major signs were the mailing of two large zipfiles of B-17 nose art to me, unsolicited, by a former shipmate. Contained in the second zipfile was the actual file photo of the Memphis Belle and her crew being congratulated by Army high brass after their 25th mission (just before their return to the United States). These signs would come within weeks of my doubting myself and this analogy and whether the Lord was really backing it up. They occurred over a two year period. After the sixth sign from the Lord, I stopped questioning whether he was really doing and inspiring me to do this work I have started to undertake. Then a number of years later, an evening before I was sitting at the table, transcribing a sermon for this website up at my mother’s summer home in Kittery Point, Maine, I started to doubt, and asked God was he still backing up the Memphis Belle analogy. When I got up in the morning, on the horizon out at sea, in the clouds one of the clouds looked just like the number 12, the first two numbers of the Memphis Belle’s hull number (124485), and then while I was typing, some hours later, transcribing an expository sermon in the living room, I heard this very loud rumbling roar going over or nearly over the house, and I ran to the windows facing out to sea, and saw this B-17 bomber flying past and over Sea Point Beach and the Point, at about 200 feet above, taking a slow banking turn toward Pease Air Force base. That did it for me, answered my question. See https://unityinchrist.com/memphisbelle.htm] Wake up in the morning, headache, bad attitude, that’s never happened to you, this happened to me in 1974, so I try to make application, always wonder the place I could put it. You get in an argument with your wife, your kids, whatever, and then you sit down and your daily devotional [prayer & Bible study] is, you know, ‘Love suffereth long and is kind,’ that’s all I need to hear this morning. And you get in the car on the way to work, and you turn on the radio, and Charles Stanley’s on there saying ‘Today our text is Love suffereth and is long and kind,’ and you turn that off, get to work and your friend says ‘You know, I was reading about streams in the desert,’ and I say ‘Don’t even tell me.’ He does that for us. You’ve raised kids, haven’t you? Did you ever have one you tell things to one time? You know, normally by the third time, you then look at your kid with a blank stare in his eye and say ‘Do you know what I said to you?’ and they go ‘Ah huh,’ and you know they’re lying through their teeth. ‘What did I tell you?’ ‘Ahhh, I don’t know.’ God confirms to us, he does that, he’s done it in my life, he does it in your life, he’s gracious.

In One Day Joseph Goes From The Dungeon To Being The Second-Most Powerful Man On The Planet

He says ‘Pharaoh, the reason he gave you this dream twice, is he’s letting you know it’s established, he’s confirming.’ “Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.” (verse 33) Joseph doesn’t say ‘Here’s my resume’,’ he has no intention, he’s not thinking, probably what he’s thinking is ‘This guy forgot about me for two years, he didn’t remember me because all of a sudden he got tenderhearted and realized this poor guy, the reason he remembered me is because he did something again, they needed another dream-interpreter. That’s the only time I hear people, when somebody has a dream.’ You ever have a situation like that, you get involved, you do and do and help somebody, help them fix their car and do this and help them do that, and then you find out they just had a barbeque and they invited everybody but you? [How about having someone and her best friend that you’ve helped out over many years, and they dump you, dump the friendship. Been there.] And they you pray, and the Lord has to deal with your heart because your attitude’s bad, and two weeks later he calls you and says ‘Hey, you know, the car’s broken down again, can you come over here.’ ‘That’s the only reason they call me is because they need me.’ Joseph probably felt bad before he thought ‘Boy, I’m going to give Pharaoh my resume’ and he’s going to hire me, as the 2^nd most powerful guy in the world.’ ‘Let Pharaoh do this,’ now Joseph is not just interpreting the dream, now he’s advising Pharaoh on how he should respond to the dream. “Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up a fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.” (verse 34) Normally they would take a tenth, he’s saying ‘Double that.’ ‘These plenteous years are going to be so fat, the entire land is going to be willing to give you 20 percent of their crops and nobody’s even going to mind, there’s going to be so much that’s brought in.’ He says ‘Let them bring a fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.’ “And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.” (verse 35) Now I wonder where he learned to manage things in seven good years? At the house of Potiphar. “And that food shall be for store in the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.” (verse 36) I wonder where he learned to manage in seven years of difficulty? In prison, “the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.” Let’s do this, God gives him the interpretation and the plan, “And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?” (verses 37-38) Now look, when Pharaoh says that, theologically he’s not saying what you and I think when someone’s filled with the Spirit. He’s making an observation, he’s a polytheist, he’s saying this young man is inspired by one of the spirits of one of the gods, his observation is ‘this wisdom is supernatural, this is not just the guys in my court, this young man really has brought something forth from the spiritual realm, I sense something here.’ He says ‘Can we find such a man as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.” (verses 39-40) Now this is a strange day, isn’t it? Joseph has been through some strange days, he got up one day and went to talk to his brothers, and in one day he was a slave, thrown into the pit and sold. Joseph refused Potiphar’s wife, and in one day he goes to the dungeon. Now in one day he’s taken from the dungeon, this is kind of a jerky life, you know. In one day he goes from the dungeon to the second most powerful man in the world. Now this is the Prime Minister of Egypt that he’s appointed to, it was called the Grand Vizier. And this, we know much from the hieroglyphics about the second person to Pharaoh in Egypt. He was in charge of all tariffs and all taxes, he was in charge of negotiating all the borders of all of the provinces of Egypt, he met three times a year with all of the rulers of all of the provinces of Egypt, he rode herd on all of the armies and militaries in the lands Egypt ruled over so none of them would get too strong, but be strong enough to be an asset. Anyone who wanted to do trade from a foreign country came through him. The Grand Vizier of Egypt was over everything in the land, he was the second-most powerful human being on the planet, on earth. You know the Bible says the ‘promotion comes neither from the east or the west, from the south or the north, but it comes from the LORD, and ‘Cursed is the one who makes flesh his arm,’ Joseph had learned not to trust in man, but to trust in the LORD. Now just imagine what’s happening in his life here, in one day he’s raised up over all of the land of Egypt. He had been trained, look, this is for us, he had been trained in ignorance, he was not aware, all of those years that God was at work. What you and I are supposed to come away from this with, is the realization that there are whole seasons in our lives where God is actually preparing us for something that we would never dream of, for something that we would never dream he was getting us ready for (cf. Revelation 20:4-6, positions in the future coming Millennial Kingdom of God on earth, ruling with Jesus Christ, our future coming Lord of lords, and King of kings). And he tells us here not to despise the day of small things, because it’s in those things God is building character, he’s building things in our lives. And sometimes those days seem terrible, we feel like we’re incarcerated or in prisoned by some painful situation, there’s no escaping it. As we look at this picture that God gives to us, saying to us, God is saying to us, recording these particular details, because probably a whole book could have been written about Joseph, ‘I was at work, in all of those years when he asked ‘Why?’ and all of those years when he felt forsaken, and all of those years when he was tempted to accuse me of being unfair.’ This was a life, this was a man, this is a historical figure. In fact, I have this article, just the historicity of this man. It says “Explorers during the last century discovered a number of other fascinating ancient inscriptions in the Middle East that provide confirmation of facts recorded in the Sacred Scriptures. Abimheshem, an Arab from Yemen showed English explorer Mr. Cutterman a rich tomb of a wealthy Yemenite woman who died during the time of the Egyptian famine recorded in Genesis 41, the Yemenite tomb was fortunately discovered around 1850 after being exposed following a flood. The tomb contained a body of a rich noble woman who was covered with beautiful jewels, seven collars of pearls surrounded her neck, her hands and feet were covered with several bracelets, amulets, rings ankle rings, displaying costly jewels. In addition her tomb contained the coffer filled with rich treasure. However the greatest treasure of all was a fascinating engraved stone tablet, bearing her final inscription, which confirmed the Biblical account of Joseph’s careful management of the remaining food reserves during the seven years of famine. The Yemenite inscription was about a famine during the time of Joseph, this is what it said, “In thy name, O God, God of Henyar, I, Tshah, daughter of king Sefar, send my steward to Joseph, and he delaying to return to me, I sent my handmaid with a measure of silver, to bring me back a measure of flour. And not being able to procure it, I sent her with a measure of gold, and not being able to procure it, I sent her with a measure of pearls, and not being able to procure it, I commanded the pearls to be ground to powder, and finding no profit in them, I am shut up here. Whosoever may hear it, let him commiserate with me. And should any woman adorn herself with an ornament from my ornaments, may she die with no other than my death.”” Just a happy gal there, from Yemen. But saying that she sent to Joseph trying to get grain from Egypt, and Joseph was refusing, wasn’t tempted at that point by gold or precious stones, it was about God’s business. We’re talking about an historic figure, we’re talking about a young man of 30 years old, that had gone through, from the time he was 17, 13 years of what probably none of us want to go through, and the years before that were years none of us definitely want to go through. And here he is in a day, raised up to be the second-most powerful man in the world. See this, and this

Dozier and Imhotep: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djoser ] [1921-1976BC Senwosret I, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senusret_I the dates for Senwosret I match the time of Joseph, so either Dozier is misdated to much earlier and belongs where Senwosret is listed. My guess, Dozier could be misdated, the experts have gotten dates for various Pharaohs wrong all the time.]

“Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.” (verse 40) Now try to imagine this, what happens here. Potiphar comes home from work that day, and he sits at the dinner table with his wife, Potiphera, whatever her name is, and he says ‘Ah, remember that young Hebrew slave that used to work for us?’ ‘Oh ya, the good-for-nothing Hebrew Joseph that tried to seduce me?’ ‘Ya, that’s the one. Just make sure your accusations are well-founded, because he just was made overseer of all of the land of Egypt, and tomorrow I report to my new boss for work.’ Imagine what that conversation was like. She probably headed out of town. [‘I’m going to visit my long lost aunt, who lives in Yemen 😊’ ] Pharaoh says ‘Only I will be greater than you.’ “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.” (verse 41)

Joseph’s New Position Is Sealed By A Special Ceremony--And A Wife

Now verse 42 really describes a ceremony, and we have records of these ceremonies. “And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;” (verse 42) From that moment on Joseph had all of the authority of Pharaoh to make any decision, and he put that in print on something, that was the authority of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s signet ring, “and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen,” now this again is that white silk that they harvest only there in Egypt, “and put a gold chain about his neck;” it’s not a chain, it’s a gold collar, you’ve seen it, the Pharaoh’s wore it, it’s a thick woven gold heavy collar. All of this stuff is publicly being bestowed on Joseph in front of Pharoah’s court, everyone watching. “and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (verse 43) that’s how we know he was Grand Vizier of Egypt, that’s a very specific phrase, “and they cried before him, Bow the knee” it’s an interesting word, wherever Joseph went in Egypt, riding the Pharaoh’s second chariot, with a license plate that said #2, gold, white silk, guards, wherever he goes everybody’s yelling ‘Bow!’ everybody had to hit their knees when Joseph is coming down the street, “Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” (verses 43b-44) ‘Nobody is allowed to make a move without you, Joseph, in all the land of Egypt.’ “And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest [or prince] of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.” (verse 45) Now you don’t mess with your new boss if your name is Zaphnath-paaneah. The interpretation of that on the Egyptian side, and they wrestle with it, is “one who preserves all, the saviour of the world, one who sustains life.” Zaphnath-paanaeh on the Hebrew side, Hebrew scholars who worked at, “the interpreter of mysteries, or the interpreter of dreams,” [also “breadman of life” on the Egyptian side] both things are true. Pharaoh is conferring Egyptian citizenship on Joseph. Shepherds, the Haburi they called them, were despised, nomadic people [the Bedouin, more than likely]. But he’s making this man, Joseph, the second in control of all of the land, so he gives him an Egyptian name, he calls him Zaphnath-paaneah. We still don’t know Pharaoh’s name, but we know Joseph’s Hebrew name and his Egyptian name. “and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest [or prince] of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.” (verse 45b) now that’s not Potipher, it’s Potipherah, priest of On, which I guess is better than priest of Off. Now, it’s an interesting picture. The priest of On, Hierapolis, which is in the Nile Delta, about ten miles north of Cairo, was the center of Egyptian learning, science, religion, it was where the temple to the sun was, and the priest of On was the most powerful priest in all of the land of Egypt. Plato came there to study, Strabo, you study the great philosophers, many of them came to Hierapolis and studied there with the priest of On, because of what they know about medicine, because of what they knew about geometry, what they knew about science, you know, they have their books of the dead, of course those kinds of things [and Abraham more than likely visited there on his trip to Egypt, exchanging knowledge with them. We wonder, since Abraham, as it says in Hebrews, was looking forward to the city of God, the New Jerusalem. We wonder if God hadn’t given Abraham a vision of what it looked like, and in Revelation it says it’s 1,500 miles wide, north, south, east and west, and 1,500 miles high, which some feel is a pyramid. We wonder where the Egyptians got the idea of making pyramids, could it have been Abraham telling them what vision he had seen of the New Jerusalem?] But next to Pharaoh, in the religious world, the priest of On was the hierarchy of the land, and Pharaoh comes and takes his daughter and gives her to Joseph, Zaphnath-paaneah, to be his wife. Now her name Asenath is “one who belongs to Nath,” she no doubt is a priestess, and very high herself in society in Egypt. Little did she know when she woke up that morning, she’s no doubt been groomed for years by her family, that there’s some hairy, dirty guy in a prison that’s going to be her husband by the middle of the day. Of course by the time she sees him, he’s the second in command, he’s shaved and looks a lot neater, and he’s Zaphnath-paaneah, which means bald and shiny one, I don’t know. So this is a very interesting situation. Here’s Joseph, who is a picture of Christ, given a Gentile bride, whose a picture of the Church [the early Church was a combination of two branches, Jewish and Gentile, the Jewish branch of the early churches of God were under the administration of the apostle Peter, and the Gentile branch of the early churches of God in the Roman Empire were under the authority of the apostle Paul], that will be preserved for seven years of tribulation [he’s referring to the Church, the Philadelphia era of it, being protected during the tribulation], there’s just some interesting things as we see what God puts before us here. This woman, given to him, the priest of On, very powerful position, all of this to make his life easier. “And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.” (verses 45c-46) “And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.” (verse 47) The idea is, when they harvested, there was so much grain on the shock that they could actually grab handfuls of grain, that’s why it says it that way. “And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.” (verse 48) In each of the cities he had set up storehouses [see this]

“And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.” (verse 49) and this is important, “until he left off numbering; for it was without number.” The hieroglyphics we have discovered are very specific about the storage of grain, even to the point of storage in each city. It says here, during this particular seven years, the Nile had deposited so much silt and so much wealth in the ground, and the crops had been so tremendous, that they left off recording the amount of grain that was being stored, it was beyond measure, which is a remarkable statement as we study some of the history of Egypt.

Joseph & Asenath Have Two Sons, Manasseh & Ephraim

“And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.” (verse 50) Now here he is with this woman, a polytheist, probably a priestess. And what were those conversations like? ‘Joseph, you mean to tell me that all of the pantheon of gods in Egypt means nothing, Osirus, Ra?’ What did he say to her? ‘I’m a Hebrew, we worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we worship the One who is the Creator, he created the heavens and the earth. Here you are in Egypt with all this medicine, science, and you worship snakes and jackals and cows and beetles, dung-beetles,’ what an interesting testimony he must have given to Asenath, and I believe that she came to know the LORD, as we go on I think there’s some indications of that. But what an interesting place he’s at. Look, ok, before we go any further, this is not condoning anybody here dating an unbeliever, ok? If they take you out of prison and they shave you like a Q-Ball and make you the most powerful guy on the planet and give you the priest of On’s daughter and change your name to Zaphnath-paaneah, then go for it, but if that doesn’t happen I don’t want to hear about it. That’s not what this is about. For those of you who are in the evangelistic dating for Christ ministry, you know. [which I can tell you from experience, it doesn’t work 99.99 percent of the time, which is pretty bad odds if you ask me.] The more important lesson is here, verse 51, “And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: for God, he said, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” (verse 51) No bitterness, no bitterness, if you want to learn a lesson here, it’s not about dating unbelievers. “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” (verse 52) Look at this, he has a son, his first son he calls Manasseh, Manasseh means “forgetting.” Look, here’s a guy, hated by his brothers. Again, you rehearse his history, chased by Uncle Laban, Uncle Hairy is waiting to murder him, his sister Dinah is raped, his older brothers, Simeon and Levi murder a whole town, his mother, he sees as little boy, die on the side of the road giving birth to his brother Benjamin, his older brothers hate his guts, sell him, he does what’s right for God, get’s thrown into prison. Again, this is a guy who could cause a psychiatrist to jump out the window, this is a young kid that has every excuse in the world, and look at him here, he’s got no New Testament, he’s got no Old Testament, God never appears to him as he appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he doesn’t have a Wednesday night Bible study, he’s alone in a pagan land, he’s in charge of Atlantic City, he’s in charge of Las Vegas, he’s in charge of the biggest pagan empire in the world. And he finds enough fellowship with the Living God to name his first child “Forgetting,” because he said ‘LORD, you’re given me the ability to forget all of my bitterness in this land of affliction.’ Same God. If you’re struggling with unforgiveness and bitterness tonight, and we can all do that, we’re all made of the same stuff. But here’s a young man, only 30 years old, without all of the advantages we have. And somehow he sits back and says ‘LORD.’ Would you trade 13 years for this experience, I mean, would you, ‘Look at what you’ve done in my heart, LORD, you’ve caused me to forget all of my bitterness.’ And he names his second son Ephraim, which means “fruitful” or “doubly fruitful,” ‘LORD, you’ve made me so fruitful, you’ve been so gracious.’ What a reflection of this man.

The Second Half Of Pharaoh’s Dream Comes True

“And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.” He’s 37 at that point in time, “And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in the land of Egypt there was bread.” (verses 53-54) Now this is 20 years since he was carried away from Canaan, 20 years. “And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians; Go unto Jospeh; what he saith to you, do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.” notice, “And all the countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn: because that the famine was so sore in all lands.” (verses 55-57) The whole Mediterranean world was suffering, and God maneuvering the nations of the world, God allowed the rains in the regions of the lower Nile, the sources, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, the main tributaries, he allowed it there to rain and rain and rain, and so much silt came down that the land was blessed beyond what they had known, and then God snap! dried up the clouds for seven years, the Nile dropped, no irrigation, no silt, as the Nile went, Egypt went. No mistakes, God maneuvering the nations of the world to bring Jacob and his boys, the nation, 75 souls, down to Egypt where they would be for four generations, before God will deliver them and bring them out. The stage being set for some of the most remarkable things in the world. And look, we’re going to go there, we’re going to watch. We’re going to get to Moses. We’re going to think, Moses is the Commander and Chief of the Egyptian army, why didn’t he just take the children of Israel straight to Canaan? That would have been a whole lot easier with everything he had to go through with 40 years in the wilderness [to say nothing of spending 40 years leading Jethro’s sheep in the region of western Saudi Arabia]. Why did he do that? Most powerful man next to Pharaoh in Egypt then? Why didn’t he just take the children of Israel in a one-day journey straight to Canaan, give them the land? Why did he have to fail, why did he have to spend 40 years on the backside of the desert, why did he have to come and go through all this jousting with Pharaoh [Pharaoh Amenhotep-II], why the Red Sea, why the Passover? Couldn’t it just have been much faster, much easier, raise him up to be the most powerful guy in the world like he did Joseph? All of these things, God moves them out in front of us, all of these pictures, all of these things. Joseph, this needs to be a movie [Technicolor Dream Coat, anyone?]. If you’re a director or a producer, you have billions of dollars in the bank, I think you should do this. Pray about it. Remarkable scenes, I encourage you, read ahead. Look, as we go through this, this evening, I think the challenge again as I look in the Psalms it says ‘Moreover the LORD called for a famine upon the land, and he brake the whole staff of bread, he sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a slave.’ It says here God sent the man, again, ‘Whose feet they hurt with fetters,’ the Septuagint says ‘they humbled in fetters,’ ‘he was laid in iron,’ the English prayer book, ‘iron was laid in his soul,’ Hebrew, ‘his soul was put in iron,’ ‘until the time that his word came,’ now ‘until the time his dream was realized,’ that was his word, small “h” ‘until the time,’ by the way this is Psalm 105 if you want to read it during the week, ‘until the time that his word’ Joseph’s word ‘came, the word of the LORD tried him’ or ‘refined him.’ So it was a word to Joseph, the dreams that God had given to him, but on God’s side of it, it was the word of the LORD, ‘until the word of the LORD was manifested,’ which was after 13 years in Egypt. Until that time, until “his word,” his dreams were realized, the word of the LORD was refining him and trying him and purifying him, that’s the word that’s used for refining metals. ‘The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people, and let him go free, he made him ward of his house, and ruler over all of his substance, to bind his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his senators wisdom.’ Again, if we had a Joseph around today to teach our senators wisdom. What a remarkable picture. Let’s stand, let’s pray, sing a last song together this evening. Look, let me do this, I’m going to pray for you this evening, I don’t know who you are, but just if you’re struggling with unforgiveness, you’re not ready to give birth to anything called Manasseh in your life. You give birth to things, and they’re still in fact filled with bitterness, with your words, your attitudes, you’re giving birth to things that are very far from Manasseh, you’re very far from saying ‘Lord, you’ve given me the ability to forget,’ and move on, let me pray for you. And let me pray for you this evening if you’re incarcerated, you know, prison bars are not the only thing that incarcerate us, some people are incarcerated by attitudes, by memories, by drugs, by alcohol, by gambling, by pornography. As we stand here this evening, it doesn’t mean we’re not incarcerated, we’re not bound. But God is so faithful, and so able to teach us, to refine us, to have us repent, he is gracious to forgive and cleanse…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Genesis 41:1-57, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]