Joseph Explained Two Dreams
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
This month we are starting a new series called “Follow God’s Plan”. We will be looking at the life of Joseph for the next four weeks!
Similar to last weeks lesson, what did Jacob have as he slept on the rock? A dream, that’s right! In today’s story, God through Joseph helped Pharaoh understand his dream that nobody else could interpret.
Lesson:
Lesson:
Our story begins with Pharaoh having two very specific dreams:
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Genesis 41:1-8 NLT
1 Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River.
2 In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass.
3 Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank.
4 Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up.
5 But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk.
6 Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind.
7 And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.
8 The next morning Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams. So he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them could tell him what they meant.
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So Pharaoh has two interesting dreams and doesn’t know what they mean, and no one else around him was able to tell what they meant.
But there was one person who could help Pharaoh: Joseph! Joseph got thrown into prison because of a lie that he was trying to be with another man’s wife.
While he was in prison, he helped interpret two prisoners’ dreams. One of them was going to die, while the other would live. Joseph asked the one who would live to tell Pharaoh about him and help get him out of prison.
But, the one who lived eventually forgot about Joseph. That was, until Pharaoh needed his dream interpreted.
The man who lived, the chief cupbearer, remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. This is what happened next:
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Genesis 41:14-16 NLT
14 Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh.
15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”
16 “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
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Notice who Joseph gave the credit to for interpreting dreams: God! It wasn’t Joseph, it was God.
So, Pharaoh retold his two dreams to Joseph. And then, Joseph, through God’s power, told Pharaoh what his dream meant:
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Genesis 41:28-32 NLT
28 “This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.
29 The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt.
30 But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land.
31 This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased.
32 As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.
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Joseph then told Pharaoh that he should find someone who is wise to set over all of Egypt so they can store up food for the famine that was eventually coming.
Who do you think Pharaoh decided to put in charge? Joseph! God blessed Joseph and allowed him to be in charge over all of Egypt, just second in command to Pharaoh himself.
Bottom Line:
Bottom Line:
So, what can we learn from this lesson?
We can glorify God by what we do.
Joseph honored God by glorifying Him every time he interpreted a dream. We too can glorify God in all that we say and do.
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
Do you guys think Jesus gave glory to God the Father for everything He did? Absolutely! Jesus said:
4 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
Jesus also told His disciples how they could glorify God:
8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
God wants us to glorify Him. We glorify Him by obeying His commands! Just like we talked about a few weeks ago, Jesus told us that if we love Him, we will keep His commands.
