Genesis 41 Part 60

Genesis 41 - Joseph is exalted

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Turn in your Bible to Genesis 41

Genesis is about the dawn of God’s creation, the decent into sins corruption and the blessing of God’s covenants

Genesis 41 ESV

After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.” Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.” Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.” This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

Pray

Skyler’s dreams

Main Idea: God providentially preserves, provides ,and promotes those in covenant

Verses 1-8 sets the stage for what is about to happen in this chapter. Joseph has been in prison two more years and now Pharaoh has had a set of two dreams that are troubling him.

We’ve seen this pattern in Genesis 37, 40 and now 41 where two similar dreams are paired together. Joseph interprets the two dreams in 40 and 41 and gives praise to the Lord as the one who gives understanding for this gift he has to interpret dreams that will come to pass. Dream interpretation is not prescriptive nor is this something given as a gift to the church in the New Testament.

Just like in Daniel Nebby was unable to get a good interpretation from any of his wise men so he finds a Hebrew named Daniel who gives him the interpretation. We are always pointed to the wisdom and power of Yahweh.

Verse 8 says all the wise men and magicians of Egypt were unable to to interpret. Think of all the wise men in Daniel unable to interpret the dream or how Moses goes head to head with the magicians in Egypt and they utterly fail. These guys are incapable of standing up against the power of Yahweh.

Verses 9-13 the cupbearer seemingly “remembers” Joseph now in this moment of distress from Pharaoh. Whether the cupbearer is using this as an opportunity to get in good with the king or genuinely wants to be helpful, is unclear.

When he says “I remember my offenses today” it can be understood as him saying something along the lines of an “unintentional oversight.” Either way, he speaks to Joseph’s capacity to rightly discern dreams and Joseph is summoned.

We are introduced into a second scene here in where Joseph is cleaned and brought before Pharaoh.

Joseph doesn’t hesitate to immediately place the emphasis on the work of Yahweh in him giving the capacity to interpret dreams. Pharaoh would have been worshipped as a god himself but Joseph doesn’t hesitate to stand up for the Lord in a foreign court. He says in verse 16 “it is not me but God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

Pharaoh recounts the dream for Joseph. There are a differences in his recounting particularly related to his description of the nasty cows. Pharaoh seems incredibly troubled and honestly think of the images here: cows, grain, the Nile….these are all images of Egypt’s prosperity! Its a scary thing when your livelihood is threatened.

Joseph responds and tells Pharaoh that God has revealed his future plans to him of seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Verse 32 Joseph says the doubling of these dreams is a fixing of this future reality from God. Think of Joseph’s faith here. Maybe he has a cool confidence because God has revealed to him through his two dreams what would take place in his future!

Joseph has symbolically been living in the reverse. He goes from famine to feast in this chapter.

Joseph gives Pharaoh a proposed plan of action to prepare for what has been revealed to come. He calls Pharaoh to find a discerning and wise man to carry out the proposal….in Deuteronomy we are told where discernment and wisdom come from ultimately.

Deuteronomy 4:5–6 ESV

See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

Joseph suggests Pharaoh should use the years of plenty to prepare for the years of famine with a good emergency fund….He must have taken Dave Ramsey.

Pharaoh is so impressed with Joseph he not only believes his interpretation but gives him complete power to carry out his plan.

Verse 37 we see an ascension moment in the text where by the hand of Pharaoh, Joseph is given immense power.

The confident proposal from Joseph is impressive to Pharaoh and he says this interesting statement “can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God?” Pharaoh has been so impacted by this he is will to move forward immediately with the proposed plan.

Joseph is “clothed” here. It should be noted he is disrobed in 37 by his brothers and disrobed by Potiphars wife in 39 which leads to his descent. Here he is given fine clothing as he rises to power revealing a full reversal of his fortunes.

He is called by Pharaoh Zaphenath-Paneah and given an Egyptian wife…..now lest you think Joseph is embracing Egyptian gods and their lifestyle…he is not. Similarly to when Daniel is named Balthashazar….but we still know him by his Hebrew name, Daniel. Joseph was forced into Egypt and continues to have a devotion to Yahweh and wants to return to the promised land even in death by asking for his bones to be returned. So there are a few clues in the text that tell us this is not to be seen negatively.

In verses 50-57 Joseph is given two sons by the Lord and he names them Manasseh and Ephraim both names reflecting on the work of the Lord in his life thus far (not pagan Egyptian names). Verses 51 and 52. These are both tribes of Israel and Ephraim in particular takes a prominence in the Old Testament.

All the earth comes to Joseph to buy bread in the last few verses my how the tables have turned.

A few messianic allusions to watch here. Joseph is raised to the right hand of Pharaoh, clothed in royal robes and given dominion over the kingdom. Here at the end of the chapter as well we see him feeding all who come to him with bread…..some interesting potential conclusions.

Lets talk for a second about how we understand this thing Corey talked about last week called typology. How should we read these things in the Old Testament?

A few key takeaways from this chapter:

God is our preserver

See how he is supernaturally caring for his people through the heartache of Joseph’s story. Let that encourage you this morning.

2. God is our provider

Not only does God feed the land through Joseph but he grants Joseph understanding in the moment and blesses the nations because of him…..sounds like a covenant.

3. God is our promoter

Philippians 2:5–12 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Because of the work of Christ on the cross he is the ultimate fulfillment of power and exaltation. For new covenant believers…..Union with Christ is such that….

Ephesians 2:6 ESV

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

We will rule and reign with him for eternity friends….Turn to him and surrender your life.

Main Idea: God providentially preserves, provides ,and promotes those in covenant