The Story of Joseph, Part 8 (Genesis 41-42)

Joseph was seventeen years old when his brothers sold him into Egypt. He is now thirty years old, and Pharaoh has put him in charge of all of Egypt. Someone said that he moved from a pit to a palace and from rags to riches. I think that’s a pretty good move, don’t you? Do you think it all happened because God was with Joseph? I do. He was honest, he was a good worker, he was faithful even in hard places, and God was with him! We know God gave Joseph a special gift to be able to interpret dreams, but what about Joseph’s own dreams. Do you remember the dreams he had as a child that showed his brothers would bow down to him? Do you think that will ever happen? We’ll get to that later, but right now Joseph has a big job to do. During the seven years of plenty he must save and store up food that will keep everyone alive during the seven years of famine. Joseph told his workers to take one fifth of each crop and put it in storage. He told them to build storage buildings and to fill them with grain. They built more and more storage buildings and filled them all with grain until there was so much grain stored in Egypt that it could not be counted. But now the seven years of plenty are over, and the famine begins. Do you think there will be enough food for everyone in Egypt, and what about Joseph’s father and brothers in the land of Canaan? Will they also become hungry for food, and what will they do?