The Story of Joseph, Part 7 (Genesis 41)

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had what we might call some very weird dreams. Joseph was able to interpret the dreams for Pharaoh because God showed him what they meant. Do you remember how many fat and skinny cows and how many good and thin ears of corn were in Pharaoh’s dreams? Yes, there were seven. Do you remember what happened to them? In both dreams the bad ate up the good. Joseph told Pharaoh that both dreams meant the same thing. God was showing him what would happen in Egypt, and the dream was doubled to show it would happen right away. There would be seven years of plenty in the land with great crops throughout all of Egypt, but that would be followed by seven years of great famine. The famine would be so bad that it would wipe out the memory of the good years. After Joseph told Pharaoh the meaning of his dreams, he gave him some good advice. Joseph suggested that the king appoint a wise person to be in charge of saving Egypt from the coming famine. This person should set up officers over the land of Egypt to store up corn during the seven good years in preparation for the seven years of famine. That sounds like good advice to me. What do you think Pharaoh did? After talking with the wise men of Egypt, Pharaoh called Joseph and said, “I have set you over the land of Egypt…and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than you.” Now, boys and girls, do you think Joseph’s promotion happened by accident or do you think it happened because God was with him? He came out of prison, and on the same day he became a ruler in the land of Egypt. To me, that was no accident! Do you agree?