Genesis 41:1-57
Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 10 viewsNotes
Transcript
Genesis 41:1-57
Genesis 41:1-57
Thank you all for allowing me to have a few weeks off. Jeff taught 2 weeks ago and did an excellent job with his series on John 14:6 - The Way, The Truth, The Life, explaining who Jesus is and helping us communicate it also. His wisdom and life experience is truly special, and you men especially, I would encourage you to get to know him and let him pour into you.
Bill was up last week, and he took Genesis 40 of our study. While it only had 23 verses in it, the application was spot on: Sometimes life is unfair, A LOT, but in those times, we’re to live a life that honors God. Joseph did NOTHING to deserve the consequences he was facing, but he was faithful to the Lord thru it all. Do you think he cried out to the Lord? The Bible doesn’t say...but I would assume that he did.
The Lord blessed him. Did he see it? Did Joseph notice that he was being blessed? Do ANY of us notice our blessings when we’re in the middle of a trial? It’s usually a long time coming until we can look back and say “wow, how did I miss that?”
What are we doing in those times? Praying for miracles, right? Praying for blessings...and the Lord will one day show us and say “Did you not see how I provided for you? Did you not see how I was working? Did you not see the little ones that surround you? They are blessings!”
I will ask you, do you not think the Lord knows you don’t or won’t see them? Of course He does. He’s patient thru this, Romans 5:3-5.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
He knows you won’t notice it now, you will probably resent him for it even. He’s willing to endure that with you too, because He sees what we can’t. The end result.
We have been following this story of Joseph from hardship to hardship. Today we’ll connect the dots from beginning of his struggle to the end. Let’s get started seeing the end of the matter. The way the Lord would see it, knowing the outcome from the start. All Joseph must do is endure
1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river.
Let’s establish a time frame here. How old was Joseph when he was sold into slavery by his brothers? 17 years old. How long did he spend in Potiphar’s house as a servant? 11 years. In a few verses , we’ll read this: Gen 41:46
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.
That means 13 years a slave. 2 years in prison. That means Joseph almost immediately was put in charge of the inmates. This further makes me think that Potiphar (maybe someone close to him) was the man in charge in the prison.
Do we know who this Pharoah is by chance? Not exactly. This is about 1570 BC. Answers in Genesis seems to think it was Sesostris I, but it’s not clear. The Egyptian records are not very complete because they would often erase histories when competing Pharoah’s were raised up. Pharoah was considered an incarnation of the god Horus, and we’ll talk about that in a little bit.
This is a little bit of a flash-forward, there is still a story to tell, Joseph has a knack with interpreting dreams, and especially with Egyptian Pharoah’s dreams, they were special and they were often recorded to see if they would come true. Pharoah was about to have a dream he couldn’t understand...well, let’s get into that
2 Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. 4 And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.
You know what I’m going to ask, right? Woah...that was one scary dream. Would this dream make you wake up breathing heavy, sweating, wondering what was that thing was that was coming after you?
It’s funny, but let me creep you out. Think about it, read verses 3 and 4 again to yourself. This is unsettling.
Let me unsettle it more for you. In Egyptology, Isis, the mother of Horus in her human form had wings, but her animal form was normally a cow. So, if Pharoah was Horus incarnate on earth...what is he seeing? A message that is telling him: Listen to this, REMEMBER THIS DREAM!
Incidentally, what is the Hebrew word for cow? Parah - sounds kind of like Paroh, huh? That’s not Egyptian vernacular, but to a Hebrew, they would see it.
Where did the cows come from? From the river, what river? The Nile river, the symbol of prosperity and economic stability. The Nile was the lifeblood of Egypt. The fine cows came first, then the gaunt ones. Then watching them eat...Ever watched a cow eat? Now you’re thinking about it, nevermind, you get my point...
He fought back to sleep and what happened next?
5 He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. 6 Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 7 And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream.
Grain was a main staple of the agriculture of the land there, something they could count on. Now, think about watching plants eat each other. I don’t even know how that would work.
Let’s look at the similarities. The number 7, and 7. What does 7 mean to the Jew? It means completion, right? Fulfillment. These dreams would make me tell my wife. I don’t dream much...So, what does Pharoah do? I’m glad you asked!
8 Now 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 its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.
All the king’s horses, and all the kings men...Most of you know the interpretation of this dream, some of you may not, we’ll get to that very soon...but how would you interpret it?
He called the signs and wonders men to him, and nobody could interpret it for him. Why? Are these dreams positive or negative? What happened if you told Pharoah something bad was happening? What happened if one of these men told him something wrong? Off with his head, right?
Pharoah knows this means something bad will happen, and desperately wants to know what it means. Egypt was known for the Nile River, it’s cattle, and it’s grain exports...these dreams meant something was going to happen to the very symbols of Egypt’s economy. As he was searching, something stirred in one of Pharaoh's servants.
<2 SLIDES>
9 Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day. 10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, 11 we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12 Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. 13 And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”
How do you not remember the person who saved your life? It took him 2 years to recall this. Just like Bill said last week, they had the dream the same night. That’s a slow burn, isn’t it? How mad would you be at God if you were Joseph? How embarrassed would you feel if you were the cupbearer? Why would God allow this injustice? 3 days and Joseph should have been a free man! He even aknowledged that he owes his life to Joseph. Why God? Why?
Interesting question. We’ll address that in a little bit. In the mean time, we’ve got a long way to go, so back to the text!
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.” 16 So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
Joseph was shaved. Hebrews were a hairy people, Egypt didn’t allow for that, especially if you were of the working class. Shaved head and beard would be customary. It also says they brought him quickly out. Pharaoh was struggling with the imagery he witnessed in his dreams, they hurried.
Joseph answers Pharoah with Elohim will give Pharaoh an answer. What does Elohim mean in the names of God? The Creator God. Egyptians would understand that reference as in conflict with their creator God which, thru the dynasties could have been Ra, or Amun, or a handful of others. It is interesting that Joseph uses the Creator here, and we’ll get into that later.
Joseph makes his call that the Lord will calm Pharaoh. So, we have a retelling of the dreams - When the Bible repeats something, it’s important.
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. 18 Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 19 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. 21 When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke.
We have more of the story here, don’t we? “Such ugliness as I have ever seen...and when they had eaten them up, they were just as ugly as before.” Interesting his fascination with the ugliness of the cows AND their appearance afterward. Like I talked about before, I don’t want to imagine a cow eating another cow...but he watched the whole thing in his dream. That would unsettle me. THEN
22 Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good. 23 Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 24 And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
This story didn’t change, obviously not as disturbing, but like I mentioned before too, these were things that were important to ALL of Egypt, and this behavior was so unnatural...what could it mean? And Pharaoh throws his wise guys under the bus, frustrated his A-team couldn’t help him either.
Help me Joseph, Help Help me Joseph...I told you, always a song in my head when things are hard. This was a hard week, but I put this in here, because right now in my Thursday night portion of my prep for today, the Beach Boys broke thru. Back to the text again:
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. 28 This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
Do you remember how Joseph explained his dreams as a teenager to his brothers and parents?
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Joseph was so quick to tell of his dreams, and he told the dream kind of the same way Pharaoh did. Joseph knew what it meant, BUT SO DID HIS BROTHERS. When he’s interpreting this dream, he now sounds more like a man of wisdom than a young man who may think of himself as more than he should. What did Joseph need? He needed some huge doses of humility, and these 13 years were the prescription for him.
Thru this message, God has shown Pharoah. What God? Which Egyptian god? NO, Joseph is saying MY GOD, the God of the Hebrews. Which would further the mystery in Pharoah’s mind, right? Not only is this an affront against Egypt, BUT, against their god’s too.
Let’s go on a bit further:
29 Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 30 but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. 31 So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32 And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
WHY does God repeat the dream? To prove this is established by GOD. Joshua’s God. The God who allowed him to be thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, raised up to lead Potiphar’s house, falsely accused of adultery, thrown into prison, and left in prison for a total of 13 years.
Joseph hasn’t turned his back on God yet. He has every right to, doesn’t he? He’s steadfast in his faith. It’s hard when all we see is our circumstances to comprehend that God sees the beginning and the end. It’s important to remember, but it doesn’t make it any easier.
God had a timeframe on this...like with the cupbearer’s dream, right? 3 days and they’d see if Joseph was right. How long would they have to wait to see if this one came true? At least 10 years. 7 of plenty, and at least a couple of famine to know “This Joseph knows what he’s talking about.”
Pharaoh has the right to dismiss all of this as nonsense, especially the fact that God was talking to an incarnation of an Egyptian god on earth. That’s how the people looked at Pharaoh, right? That would mean that Pharaoh wasn’t a god, right? This is dangerous for Joshua in the eyes of the people too.
God then talks thru Joshua to give instruction to this god-man that he can choose to listen to, or not, and here it is:
2 SLIDES
33 “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”
37 So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”
What was Joseph proposing? That SOMEONE would have to give account for all of the grain, and set aside 1/5th for 7 years. That’s 140% of 1 year, but these weren’t normal years. That 140% would be more than enough. Does anyone else see the numerology? 7 + 7, that number means completeness before God, 14 years, 14 relates to double blessing AND the providence of God to the Jewish people. How much was to be taken in? 140%.
What do we have there? 14 and 10. So, 14 meant God’s providence, and 10 also means completeness, but this time complete as a whole. As an example, 5 is half of 10, which represents incompleteness. Pointing to the creation story, what was created on the 5th day? Land anmials and plants. Man was created on the 6th day. The world wasn’t complete until the 6th day.
Got is telling the Jews thru this story, that this is clearly from God, that God would show his providence and sovreignty before His people AND before Egypt who worshipped many gods. AND, that Joseph, with collecting the 140% over the years would allow the Lord AND Joseph to bless the people until this story is completed.
That’s a long way off base, but I want you to see the subtlty of the Word and how powerful it is when you know the meanings of these numbers especially. Don’t get caught up in them, but SEE THEM and think “Does that number hold significance in this story?”
What were the people around Pharoah saying in verses 37-38? How dare this slave speak this way. This is way extra of the dream...the dream didn’t say anything about this instruction, did it? The only way anyone would listen to this advice is if Joshua’s God intervened in this conversation, right? This would be a war of the God’s. The God of Joseph giving advice to the Egyptian god king.
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
It’s always amazing to me to watch what the faithfulness of one person can do in softening the heart of the most prideful. Because of Joseph’s faith in God, Pharoah put his faith in Joseph. All of his faith, right? Let’s read on:
2 SLIDES
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-Paaneah. And he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
This kind of power would easily go to someone’s head, right? Pharoah knew there was something special about Joseph. He had to give him an Egyptian name though, what does it mean? Nobody really knows...and it’s not important to this story, is it?
Something that set him apart. Live a life full of faith and integrity. It’s a hard walk, but the Lord is preparing you, like He did Joseph for something bigger. You HAVE to let the Lord work on you though. Now, we get a recap, and a time jump. What is following would be called a montage in the movies:
46 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 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. 48 So 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; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. 49 Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.
Joseph is now 37 years old, and half of his prophecy is completed. What else happened in that time?
50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. 51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” 52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Good things come to those who wait, right? Joseph waited for his wife, and was blessed with children. Manasseh and Ephraim. The half tribes.
Manasseh means literally to cause someone to forget, and Ephraim means to be fruitful.
Thru it all, Joseph sees it was worth it. All the pain, struggle, confusion, the hopes dashed...all of it. Most of all...this lesson is being taught to us to give us hope, right? But this story has a few more verses left:
53 Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended, 54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.” 56 The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. 57 So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.
Pharaoh said what? “Go to Joseph.” The generosity of the Lord was spread thruout the world. The wisdom of the Lord would be on display. The Glory of the Lord would serve everyone who would come to them. All because of the faithfulness of one man named Joseph.
8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
Some of you have worked on pottery here, my wife and daughter went out and made some beautiful art recently. It’s a lot of work to make what they made. First they make their mold of whatever they are making out of the softened clay. They shape it, then fire it, then paint it, and it’s done, right? Easy.
NOPE. First you take your hunk of clay and beat it, smash it, roll it, spin it, carve it into the main shape you want it. THEN, you get out tools to score it, design it. You can graft things onto it by carving the areas, adding water, and attaching it. If you make a mistake, you cave that clay back into a hunk and start again, this time things are a bit different, but mainly the same.
THEN, once it’s in the general shape you want it, you scrape it smooth, wet your finger and rub it down. Once it’s how you want it, what MUST you do next? Let it dry and harden in that shape. To do some more work, sometimes you have to let it harden for a short amount of time. You don’t want to damage the structure, but you have fine-tuning to do on it. The drying process takes about a week...you HAVE TO WAIT.
THEN comes the fire, this sets the pottery as ceremic. It’s still not finished, but it’s generally what you want at that point. After the firing and cooling, you add your glaze, you paint it. This is where the creativity really starts to come to fruition. Up until this point it’s been craftsmanship, now this is getting close to the finished product...but there’s still another step.
What is it? WAIT for it to dry properly and cure, then Fire again...before it can be used properly, or put on display, it must finalize this step, or else it will be ruined with use.
See, God molded Joseph with his brothers. Dried him out in Potiphar’s house. Put him thru the fire with Potiphar’s wife, glazed him in prison, then put him in the fire again for 2 years. NOW, he’s useable. Some of us are in some position on this potter’s chart.
The clay doesn’t know what it will become. Everything that’s happening to the clay IS BEING DONE TO IT INJURIOUSLY. What has the clay done to deserve this treatment? NOTHING! IT DID NOTHING WRONG!
What gives the potter the right to beat up, score, split, scrape, pinch, mold, and if need be crush the clay back into a ball and do it again? Then, while it’s all disjointed and uncomfortable, it leaves it out, vulnerable and alone to harden and cure. THEN the potter, to add insult to injury, boils out all of the remaining moisture violently, forcefully, sometimes slowly.
After all of that, when the clay is cooled, it gets dressed up fancier than before and it thinks it’s something special. And what happens then? The potter throws it in the fire AGAIN because HE’s NOT DONE WITH IT YET. How dare He?
What does the potter then do? He lets his creation cool off one last time, then He sets it on display and says “Look at what I made. It took me many years to get it right, but I knew that this was inside that mushy ball. There were times when I needed to start over because it wasn’t cooperating with me, but it’s finally done. Now, it’s so precious to me, I’m going to put it on display.”
What do people do that come see works of art? “Tell me how you made it? How did you do that? What’s the story behind this work of art?” What does the artist do then? He goes around the peice, explaining that labor of love, those pitfalls and challenges AND how it was overcome. All the way, He knew what He was making, what it would take, and more importantly, what it would cost the clay to get to that masterpiece.
And when He’s asked how much would it cost for Him to part with it, He would say “It’s not for sale.” The potter knows every seam, every stitch, every stroke.
Inevitably, someone would come that wouldn’t take
