Thursday Night Bible Study

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Genesis 41 

"The Pieces Are Moving" • 7.22.10 • Thursday Night Bible Study

Intro.

- Joseph probably had his bag packed. He had said his final goodbyes, put in his notice with the warden and trained the seven guys necessary to replace him.

- After a day became three and three days became a week, which gave way to a month, Joseph settled back into reality.

- Pharoah's butler, the man that he had interpreted a dream for, had insufficient pull to affect his status. He did not know that the butler had just completely forgotten about him.

- The reality was that he was still a prisoner and still consigned to this dungeon. What now?

Text

• Genesis 41:1-8 : "Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 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. And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream. 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." : Talk about having a cow!

- Notice a few things here. In verse 1, there is a painful time stamp telling us that this occured at the end of two full years! 24 months, 31 days, 23 hours and 58 minutes!

- Joseph's trial, unbeknownst to him, would continue long after his successful foray into dream interpretation.

- He was locked down in the dungeon, going about his work, wondering why it was that God ever let him do what he had done. It didn't make sense to him.

- Joseph is in a prison, but a crisis brews in the Palace. Joseph is sleeping peacefully and the Pharaoh is the one who is awake and troubled, literally disturbed.

- Cows were worshipped in Egypt. They were a symbol of one of the gods of Egypt. The fruit of the harvest was the result of the gods.

- Both dreams are troubling because of the unnatural results that took place. Skinny cows are eating, but they never stop being skinny. The thin heads eat, but never grow.

- It seems that Pharaoh's dreams were so real, that when he woke a second time, he was relieved that it was only a dream!

- As we mentioned last week, dreams had a powerful effect in the minds of the Egyptians.

- Pharaoh got the entire house to work on the interpret these dreams. Nobody could do it!

- Where did these dreams come from? We know that they came from the Lord, but Pharaoh won't know that for a little while.

- God is giving the Pharoah a dream of things to come, one that only He and Joseph will know the answer to.

• Genesis 41:9-13 : "Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: 'I remember my faults this day. 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, we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. 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. And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.'" : The chief butler finally speaks up. His Pharaoh is troubled and his experience provides the door of opportunity.

- This episode which had happened two full years ago, brought Joseph into the forefront of a discussion in the most powerful house on the Earth!

- Joseph had faithfully performed his duties in the jail. He had stepped up and given glory to God and exercised a gift of interpretation.

- That one act of faithfulness, though temporarily forgotten, will now be the key to his release.

- Let me go a step further than that: Joseph, by diligent attention to his gifting of administration, was put in a position to be given greater responsibility!

- I mention this because you and I will never know the importance of faithfully executing our duties and faithfully representing the Lord, in the smallest ways, in the darkest dungeons.

- Turn over to Matthew 25. Jesus is telling the story of the men who were given talents to be stewards over. Two were faithful and Jesus said this to them:

• Matthew 25:21 : "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'"

- Who knows what doors will open to us when we are faithful? The truth is that when we are faithful in the little things, God will put us over greater things!

• Genesis 41:14-16 : "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. 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.' So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, 'It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.'" : The Pharoah was this desperate: He would send for a Hebrew slave in order to get at this interpretation! Wow!

- That would be like the President pulling a landscaper in for some advice on the economy!

- He did not wait to bring Joseph out. He did so quickly! Literally, he brought him out hastily, with runners!

- I am impressed about tribulations that this is often the case. The time seems to travel so slowly during the storm, but then, it's just over and everything has changed!

- Joseph experiences that here. In one breath, he is out of prison and in the next, standing cleanly shaven, freshly clothed, in the Palace!

- The Pharoah tells Joseph that he's heard about him. I wonder if Joseph threw a dirty look at the Butler at this point! Here Joseph has the opportunity to brag.

- "Yes, I am rather proficient in dreamology. You could say that dreams have always gotten me to where I am!"

- Joseph knows better. This was not something he could do, but it was well within the realm of God's ability! God would bring an answer of peace.

- Joseph is introducing Pharoah to his God and He is a God who gives peace.

- Don't miss this: Pharaoh needs more than anything in his life at this moment, both peace with God and the peace of God. Only the Lord can give this to people and Joseph understands that.

- The Pharoah, who may have believed himself to be endowed with deity, was hearing about the God of the Hebrews, the God of this slave, possibly for the first time.

- In the providence of God, He has allowed a crisis to come into the life of Pharaoah, to free Joseph, to position Him for the survival of His people and to introduce Himself to this pagan!

- In our lives as Christians, crisis moments are meant to strengthen faith. In the lives of unbelievers, those same moments are meant to produce faith!

- The peace that Pharaoh wanted could not come to him any other way, save the God of peace, who Joseph knew.

- This is so vitally important for us to digest. The Pharaohs in our lives are waiting for the Josephs to say "God will give an answer of peace!"

• Genesis 41:17-32 : "Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: 'Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 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. And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. 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. Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good. Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 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.' Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, 'The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. 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. This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 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. So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." : Pharaoh tells Joseph about his dreams, which are not two dreams but one, which in turn, is a prophetic picture of what is about to happen.

- Joseph says, "God has shown Pharoah what He is about to do." This is His doing!

- What you are about to experience is something outside of anything that you think that you know. This land, which has a mighty river running through it, is going to be struck by famine.

- God is the author of it! He is allowing it! He wants you to know Him, so He is bringing this to pass in your life!

- God is greater than your famine. He has allowed it in your life for the sake of that contrast!

- We have seen famine afflict Abraham's time, that when all else fails, Egypt seems to have it all together. This time, the famine will hit Egypt as well.

- Joseph tells Pharoah that after seven years the plenty will be forgotten, the famine will deplete the land.

- God is so gracious to have warned the Pharaoh of this impending doom. Never think for a moment that God lacks a witness in any man's life.

- God got to Pharaoh in a way that no other man could. He is doing that in the lives of your friends as well.

- As Christians, many times we are helpless. There are no words that can be said. But when we avail ourselves to those lives, when the crisis comes, we'll be right there!

- In God's providence, he picked a man that would stand and speak about God's hand in the middle of this.

• Genesis 41:33-45 : "Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 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. 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. 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. 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 as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?' Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Inasmuch 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, 'See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.' 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. 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. 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.' 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." : Joseph's solution is taxation and storage of the actual agricultural production of Egypt.

- In the good years, there would a 1/5th gathering from all of the people. That would have been a tremendous intake, well over the needs of just Egypt.

- It was Joseph's idea and the Pharaoh, having only met this Hebrew a short time before, understands that He is the right man for the job.

- Just like that, Joseph is promoted again to an administrative position, in the greatest most influential land of that time!

- This has been Joseph's story since he was 17 years old. God has prepared him one step at a time. Each time he is honing skills and being readied for greater responsibility.

- In addition to the position, Joseph is given prominence and an Egyptian bride.

- Everything that Joseph had lost, or lost the opportunity for, God repayed through Pharaoh in the span of just a paragraph of time!

• Genesis 41:46-49 : "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. Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. 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. Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable." : Don't miss this statement: Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before the Pharaoh. This means that his trial lasted intermittedly, for 13 years of his life.

- Thirteen years of confusion. Thirteen years worth of questions. Thirteen years of loneliness.

- Here, he does what God has always gifted him to do, the only difference now is that he is doing it on a larger stage.

- Joseph's work was difficult, but fruitful. So much came in, that Joseph stopped accounting for it. The seven years of famine for Egypt would be covered.

- It's interesting that Joseph likely only had the interests of Egypt in mind. God had a much bigger vision in mind!

• Genesis 41:50-52 : "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. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: 'For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.' And the name of the second he called Ephraim: 'For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.'" : Joseph and Asenath have two children, both are named with Hebrew names.

- Joseph it seems, unlike Judah, was able to rightly lead his family spiritually. Both names are not only Hebrew, they are rich with meaning regarding God.

- First, in Manasseh, the name means "one who forgets." There was such joy in Manasseh, such love and fulfillment, that Joseph forgot his pain.

- I love this about God. He does not erase our memories or reduce our pain. He does not minimize what has occurred. He always adds blessing to our lives.

- But please notice this: Joseph chose to put the past behind him. He chose not to carry it. He chose to leave it behind. This is key to what we learn next about his second son.

- Then came Ephraim, which means "double land." Here, Joseph has known nothing but affliction of soul and body.

- Ephraim is a sign that he would make him fruitful, even in difficult circumstances. Truthfully, you need to understand that until you forget, you won't be fruitful!

- Until you forgive those who have hurt you, you won't move forward to bless!

• Genesis 41:53-57 : "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 lands, 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 storehouses 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 lands." : Now, the scene is set. Egypt has begun to feed itself, but it did not stop there. God's famine came upon all countries.

- All around that area, there was a deep loss, which will begin part 3 of our story next week.

Conclusion

- As we conclude, I want to leave us with several points that come from our chapter tonight.

- First, Dungeon Life Is Prepartion For Palace Life! Everything that God allowed to happen got Joseph ready for the moments to come. Don't resent dungeons!

- Second, The Gift You Have Is The Gift That God Needs! What if Joseph had wished that He was a prophet? What if Joseph neglected his gift to seek after something else? Use your gifts!

- Third, The Time Spent Waiting Is Not Without Purpose! There is a perfect time for your trial. In you, character is developed. In the people around you, crisis is brewing.

- Finally, You Will Look Back And It Will Make Sense! Looking in and around will just cause confusion. Try to put it together. You can't! But one day, you'll see the why of everything!