Genesis 41:37–57

Genesis 41:37–57

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Joseph’s Rise to Power

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?”

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ge 41:37–57

• Transcript

  Just about ready to go. Well, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and devotions is where every day you and I we get together. Every weekday we get together we have some coffee. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year 2023 Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis to Leviticus. I'm so glad to be with you today. Why don't we have some coffee? We'll get into God's word and we'll wrap up Genesis chapter 41. In Genesis chapter 41, remember yesterday Joseph has been released or he has been brought up from prison. He's interpreted Pharaoh's dream. Now the question is, what is Pharaoh going to do about it? Is he going to listen to this guy? Or is he going to go do some other plan? Verse 37, I know we need to pray. God, we need you. Lord, forgive me for treating prayer as an afterthought. For father without your spirit, we can't understand or apply these things to our lives and Father, we pray that you would teach us Help us, Lord to understand them. And God, please work in in our hearts in Jesus's name, Amen. Here we go first. 37 So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants, and Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find such a one is this a man in whom this is the Spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, and as much as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 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? And Pharaoh said to Joseph, scene, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he clothed him and garments of fine lemon linen, and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot, which he had, and they cried out before him, bow the knee. So he sent him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh also said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent, no man may lift his hand or foot and all the land of Egypt in Pharaoh call Joseph name zofnass paneer. And he gave him as a wife, as the North, the daughter of pata. Pata Farah priest. Of on. So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. Joseph was 30 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. Now in the seven plentiful years, the ground brought forth abundantly and he gathered up all the food of the seven years 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. Joseph gathered very much grain as the sound of the scene until you stop counting, for it was immeasurable. And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom asanas the daughter of Patera priests of none bore to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasa. For God has made me forget all my toil in my father's house. And Joseph was born Oh, sorry. And the name of the second he called Aetherium for God has caused me to be fruitful, in the land of my affliction. Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended and the seven years of famine began to come. As Joseph had said, the famine was in all the land, but in all the land of Egypt, there was bread. 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. The famine was over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the store houses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe. In all the land. Well, we need to ask ourselves a What's this about be what's the best verses summarize this and see, what are we called to do in response to these words? So what's this about? Well, this is rags to riches. This is Joseph going from being in the prison of the captain of the guard to be made second in command. Right, he goes from being forgotten to everybody having to bow the knee to him. They look around and all his chief advisors say this is a good plan. What are we going to find a guy like this? How are we going to know someone who's trustworthy? How are we going to know someone who's able to do this and thinks, you know, I know a guy who was willing to tell me he couldn't answer it. But God could give him the interpretation, who was found faithful in prison? I'm gonna, I'm gonna give it to him. Right? He says, Where can we find such a one as this man in whom is a Spirit of God? And then I have all of 39 and 40 and 41. I have that whole paragraph with two lines down the side just saying just highlight all this, right? In as much as God has shown you all this there is no one as discerning and wise as you. He will be over my whole house, right? He makes him second in command. And he puts a gold chain around his neck. He puts a signet ring on his hand. And he puts him in the second chariot. So when they're riding through the, the, the town when they're going through Memphis when they're going through Ramsay's right when they're going through these, there's they're going to cry out, bow the knee, because Joseph is the vice regent. Right, Joseph is second in command. And so they see Joseph, and they see one who God has been with. It's interesting that Pharaoh also gives him one more thing. He gives them a wife now Porphyra some people have speculated, oh, this is Potiphar. And this is the priests of art on this pagan god. And so they they're giving Joseph kind of this high status, high level wife, and maybe this is part of her who he was enslaved to. I don't think that's the case. I think this is just, you know, and they gave them Bob's daughter who's Bob Well, there's there's a million Bob's that's my opinion, what's going on here? I don't think that this is, it could be that would be quite an irony, wouldn't it be? I don't think that that's what's going on here. But they give him a daughter of the priest of on and He has two sons before the famine comes Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh means something along the lines of forgetfulness and a frim means something along the lines of fruitfulness. He's forgotten what goes on in his father's house. And now that he's in Egypt, he's fruitful. So Joseph is living his life. He's collecting the grain. He's doing exactly what God had given him the wisdom to tell Pharaoh to do and then after seven bountiful good years. The story concludes at this point with telling us it happened. Just as Joseph had said, God hadn't fooled them. But it was true. The seven good years are coming to an end. The famine came. But yet there's bread in Egypt. There's still hope for life in Egypt, even as all the crops are failing. There's hope in Egypt. Why? Because of Josef's plan, because of the wisdom that God had given him. So what's this about? Well, this is God doing exactly as he had promised in Joseph stream. On that tomorrow, because tomorrow, Saturday, but on Monday, next time we get together, we're going to find out that Joseph stream hasn't been forgotten. Joseph has been lifted up. And it's going to be his brothers. And even his father who could now come to him to find life. But that's a that's a preview for Monday. So what's the best first to get out this well, I've already told you if I have all of verse 3940 and 41 underlined. You might argue, just 43 would be fine. That'd be okay too. And then I have verse 54. The famine was in all the lands but in all the land of Egypt, there was bread. But you can tell me I have a lot underlined letter that I have 1-234-567-8910 Things underlined in this section of the chapter to kind of get at the heart of it. If I was just glanced down, remember, but what would you say is the best verse that gets at the heart of this passage? Well, let's see calling what do we call to do? I'm going to just kind of push us to trusting in the Lord. If the Lord says something, we could take it to the bank. We these people in Egypt, pagan people, trusted Joseph, that the interpretation was from God. And they would take a fifth I'm sure some of them grumbled and complained, just like I just paid my taxes on Tuesday. Trust me. I don't like paying taxes. Nobody likes paying taxes, but they're inevitable. So I'm sure some people grumbled and complained about paying 20% of their taxes to the government and yet, they pay this 20% They pay it and they know, okay. We can pay this. And if he's right, we'll still have food. We'll still have bread. And that's what that's what happens. Because they're trusting Joseph but implicitly, they're putting their trust in the God whom Joseph revealed to them. But we have something far better than just trusting Joseph. We have God's word has made promises to us. And they're good enough. Not just to say, Oh, I believe it. But they're good enough for us to actually change our lives in accordance with His promises. right to say, Okay, God has promised me that he is gone and prepare to home for me and heaviness told me to set my eyes on heavenly things, the things which are above and not here. So I can start changing my desires and my affections even here now in life. Because of what he has told me is true. Do we have that same type of trust that Joseph had the same type of resolve? Let's go ahead and pray. Father, we do believe but help us in our times of disbelief. Let us know that you are in control. You are provenant you are sovereign in all things, and even when we might not see the way in which things are supposed to happen, or do you take the long view and you know how you are going to accomplish your purposes. So God we pray that we would trust in you and follow after you. Do pray that this would look like godly actions in our lives. In Jesus's name, Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you. May you trust your god your Shepherd, your King, as he leads you and guide you in all of life. I'll see you tomorrow or no say on Monday. Bye Transcribed by https://otter.ai