this morning once again to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 41. Genesis chapter 41. I'm going to read just a portion of the chapter. We'll start in verse 1, but we'll skip a portion and then close our reading before the end of the chapter. I trust we will, in many ways, be very familiar with the context. But let us read together. Genesis 41, beginning in verse 1. And it came to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed. And behold, he stood by the river And behold, there came up out of the river seven well-favored kind in fat flesh, and they fed in a meadow. And behold, seven other kind came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other kind upon the brink of the river. And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed kind did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kind. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed the second time. And behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. And behold, seven thin ears, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And 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 the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day. Pharaoh was wroth with his servants and put me in ward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker. And we dreamed a dream, and one night I and he We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream did he interpret. And it came to pass as he interpreted to us, so it was. Me he restored into mine office, in him he hanged. And Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. And he shaved himself and changed his raiment and came in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it. And I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. And now skip down to verse 25. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good years are seven years, and the seven good years are seven years. The dream is one. and the seven thin and ill-favored kind that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty years blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh, what God is about to do He showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, and there shall arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land, and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following, for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man, discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, Let Him appoint officers over the land and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come. And lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh. And let them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt. Let the land perish not through the famine." And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all the servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such in one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, For as much as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. And they cried before him, Bow the knee. And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paniah. And he gave him to wife Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, a priest of own. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. And Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. We'll end reading there. We trust that the Lord will again add His blessing to the public reading of His inspired Word. Let's do bow our heads once again and our hearts together. Our gracious Heavenly Father, We read today a story that in many ways and to many of us is the most familiar story. And yet, Lord, it is a remarkable story indeed. And so we ask that You will help us in these few moments that we share together to have hearts that are ready and eager to learn something not only of this Joseph, but to hear of our greater Joseph. And what a wonder. Lord, what a pleasant and happy truth that our greater Joseph is exalted this day. Nevermore shall cruel sinners set it not, our glorious Lord. So make much of our Lord today, we ask. We pray it in Jesus' worthy name, Amen. Well, this chapter in Joseph's story that is set before us today puts before us a turn of events that is so overwhelming, so nearly unbelievable and inexplicable, that we're left with no other explanation except the plain one that's given in the text. This was the hand of God. as it was said in all the troubles and all the steps downward, the Lord was with Joseph. Well, the Lord's presence with Joseph is with him now to bring him up. How else can we account for an advancement that is so sudden? A promotion to honor that is so full and complete? In the morning, Joseph is a prisoner. He's falsely accused, personally innocent, as well as imminently virtuous. But nonetheless, he's accounted as guilty and treated by all as such. The penalty of guilt rests upon this most innocent man. And yet within the passing of but a few moments, Joseph is exalted from being a prisoner of the state to being head of the state that had formerly imprisoned him. A convicted and imprisoned slave in the morning. An exalted and glorious prime minister in the evening. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Again, this isn't just the romantic story and daydream of Moses as he put pen to paper. This is inspired history. God worked this. God was beneath, above, around all of these circumstances. I want to first consider today some of the pieces of this story before we focus on what is the obvious theme. Joseph has interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker accurately and faithfully. We concluded our thoughts last week with just that suggestion that he reported the good news and the bad news. But consider this. And this we do not know. It is but conjecture and one suggested by another. But it may well have been that it was better for the baker who perished than for the butler who was restored to office. You might say, how can this be? Well, only upon this suggestion. Consider how the baker must have spent those three days following the report that his head would be lifted off. He would be executed. He would meet his Maker. Joseph has three days to speak to him of his Maker. He has three days to speak to him of the promises of Eden. The promises that have carried through Noah and that flood that there would have been reports and knowledge of for sure. And of the promise that had been given particularly to Abraham. and that he was in that line and knew of this truth and knew of the promise of this coming Savior. Perhaps indeed, the baker turned out better than the butler. We don't know. The one who made these suggestions had this to say, earthly humiliations are often the precursors and causes of spiritual elevations. The baker's earthly gains were over. Heaven before he lost his earthly life. What eternal gain that was. While Joseph has been humbled in Egypt for more than a decade, the two years following the butler's release and restoration to his office must have now been the low point. Whatever transpired with regard to the baker, the two years that followed were hard ones for Joseph. Why has no news come? Was the request reported and ignored? Or was he forgotten? We don't know. A lot of suggestions are given. Perhaps the butler is scared to shake the boat, as it were, as he's been restored to office. He doesn't want to bring this up. Maybe it's insignificant. Maybe he'll enrage Pharaoh again by bringing up news from the dungeon. But he doesn't remember Joseph. And so Joseph here, I say, goes two more years that are perhaps the deepest point of his humiliation. of his sorrow, of his frustrations. As the proverb says, hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Perhaps he'd entertain hope. He sees the hand of God in the dreams of these prisoners of Pharaoh. He sees the opportunity to send a message to the throne. I'm unjustly imprisoned. I've been of help to your servants here. Consider my case." Kind of like an appeal, I suppose, to the Supreme Court. But his hope is dashed. Day after day, month after month, then year after year. Transpire. No news. Here, Joseph must have had an ever-increasing faith. faith in the midst of his deepest disappointment. God, he believes, will yet honor the revelations of his youth. But when and how can he possibly go any lower? Loneliness and waiting belong to Joseph. But there is an occasion in which the butler's, quote, memory kicks in at just the right time. Whether he had really forgotten or had chosen to ignore Joseph is really irrelevant. In the providence of God, an event occurs that doesn't allow the butler to ignore Joseph anymore. Pharaoh's dream to dream. God has repeated it to him twice. He brings it to the magicians of Egypt. Commentators, it's interesting how boldly at times they can tell the story and read between the lines. Some suggest that it was a pretty simple dream to interpret, and the magicians of the court decided not to do it. They didn't want to bring bad news as well as good news. Others suggest that perhaps, as we read on the surface, they were unable to interpret it, and so they sought one who was able. But whether Joseph is the only one who is able, or if he's the only one who is willing and able, the butler remembers him and brings him before the king. An event occurs that the butler can no longer ignore. We come also with the thought of Joseph as he's brought in before the king. This providence, he perhaps doesn't know, perhaps he does. You just wonder what the rumor mill concocted in those few moments between the butler's memory kicking in, his word Pharaoh, and then the message sent down to bring Joseph up out of the prison. How many twists and turns had the story in the events of the night and the early morning had in the report of all the servants in the palace and then in the prison? Well, whatever it is, whatever pieces of it are known, Joseph hurries. He shaves himself. or comments about beards and hair and the lack thereof in Egypt and other parts of the world will leave off. But Joseph comes in before the king. And what does he do? You think of Joseph's mindset as he's called before Pharaoh. He doesn't have, in a sense, much time to prepare. In another sense, he's been preparing many, many years. But he comes before Pharaoh, and he puts God's honor and truth above his own personal needs and desires. You think of the care that he had to take in the few words, potentially very few words, that he would have opportunity to speak before Pharaoh. What does he do? Did he begin the long, sad story of all the people that had sinned against him? It's a pretty long list. No, he honors God. He humbles himself. You can imagine just what the eye contact between the butler and Joseph must have been. Joseph doesn't bring in the fact of the butler's selective memory No, he humbly answers the word that God would give. He honors God. He humbles himself. He doesn't attack the butler. There are a lot of personal lessons we could certainly draw from this part of Joseph's story. But I want to think today more from a corporate vantage point I think here perhaps in more ways than others in the different chapters of Joseph's life that are put before us, we see the reflection of the greater Joseph standing in bold relief. The corporate lessons that flow from the story of Joseph's exaltation. The world will hang in the balance Egypt and the surrounding nations will depend upon Joseph's success. But the real purpose, the real thing God is doing behind the scenes is saving Israel. He's preserving the people through which, of course, Christ will come. But think with me, if you will then, on the major outlines of this story. This record of Joseph's exaltation. First, and very simply, he is removed from prison and justified. Can we imagine another season in history where someone's exaltation has occurred so quickly and span such great distances, if you will. He's a servant in the prison of Egypt. He's falsely accused and yet despised and forgotten. That's the morning. He's prime minister in the evening. The only one higher than Him that night is Pharaoh himself. Taken from prison. Never to return. He's washed and shaven and presented before the king. Here, Joseph will never return to that place. We can say, as we so often sing of our Savior, His humiliation is gone. Joseph is hurried from the prison. He's taken in before Pharaoh. A higher authority than any that have imprisoned Him has vindicated Him. Has released Him. You think if they had had to go back and try and read the records and get the story of how this awful prisoner got there. All the tangled web of the lies that were forged. The betrayal of his brothers. The sin and betrayal of his master's wife. Potiphar's casting him into prison and what Potiphar's opinion of all of that must have been. But here, a higher authority than all vindicates him. You think of this exaltation of Joseph. This Hebrew slave. People knew of them. It's interesting just as you read the incidents in the story, the comments that others make with regard to the Hebrews, with regard to Joseph's people. Abraham's seed are already known. Joseph is despised. None really care for him until this point when he's brought out of prison and exalted and made ruler over all the land. Only in the throne is Pharaoh higher than Joseph. It's not difficult at all to connect the dots and see the resurrection of Jesus. You could go to Philippians 2 and just work through all the steps downward. All that humiliation. all that scorn that was placed upon Him, as was Joseph. And yet there comes a point in which He is highly exalted. You think of the chief priests. You think of Pilate on the day of resurrection, on Easter morning, when the tomb is found empty, All they can do is fabricate another lie. Well, thankfully, I'll not turn it up, but there's a text in the book of Acts that is remarkable. If you ever need a text to convince you of the grace of God, We read in Acts after the resurrection and the report of the apostles and the preaching of the Gospel that many of the chief priests were obedient to the faith. They had denied their Messiah. They had crucified the Lord of glory. And we will be singing the praises of that Lord in eternity with them. You think of, I say, the chief priests and Pilate on Easter morning. We killed him. What else could we do? We're going to kill him again? No. His humiliation is over. Our Savior raised from the dead. I remember hearing it in seminary put this way. The preaching of the resurrection was the apologetic of the disciples. It was their argument proving the faith. God raised Him from the dead. How do you argue with that? He is removed from prison and justified. Think secondly. He's addressed in terms of highest preeminence. Pharaoh gives Him a name in v. 15, Zaphnath-paneah. The commentators struggle. to give a list really of potential meanings for this name. One, the revealer of secrets. Another, the Savior of the world. I guess depending on what dialect and what languages are brought together to configure the name. But here, this Joseph is one they had to bring out of the lowest prison, the place where the king's prisoners were kept. He's given new garments. Pharaoh himself takes off his signet ring. Places it upon Joseph's hand. And he says to Joseph, only in the throne will I be greater than thou. All of Joseph's sorrows. All of Joseph's the sins, the crimes that had been committed against Him. These are instantly forgotten and gone. It's interesting when you think of the names as we'll come to see later of His children, but Manasseh's name is forgetting. Here, He is spoken of in the highest terms. What do we read of with regard to our greater Joseph? I love that phrase that Pharaoh says, only in the throne will I be greater than thou. What do we read in 1 Corinthians 15, that great chapter of the resurrection? For He hath put all things under His feet, but when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is accepted which did put all things under Him. Pharaoh says to Joseph, I'm making you ruler over everything. The only thing, the only one in Egypt that's going to be higher than you is me. You think of what that must have done in the palace. Announcement apparently was rather well received. For Joseph goes through the land and is exalted and his power is exercised it seems without any opposition and with ease. Think of our greater Joseph. We read that text in Corinthians. He's put all things under Him. It is manifested that He's accepted which did put all things under Him. Some may imagine some difficulty here with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity. Is Jesus somehow lower than God? Not in His eternal perfections. Not in His eternal person. not in His position as the Eternal Son, the second person of the triune God, but this second person of the Trinity, took into union with Himself our nature. He is not merely God." That phrase is even a difficult one to utter. Merely. How can we use that with reference to the infinite? He's not only God. He's the God-man. And as the second man, that last Adam, He has completed that covenant in which the first Adam, that first man failed. And now this Jesus, This crucified, resurrected, ascended Jesus has taken a seat at the right hand of the Father. He is to be regent over the rest of creation. Our mediator. The one is the second man who is also the Lord from heaven. rules and reigns over the rest of creation. Only in the throne, if you will, is the triune God higher than Him. This Jesus in our nature fulfilled that covenant that we broke. He merited that life. He merited that position that we forfeited. that we in Adam, the first, chose death instead of glory. He endured death. We might inherit the glory that He earned. He is addressed in terms of highest preeminence. He is given new garments. Can you imagine? Some commentators wanted to wrestle with how long perhaps it had been since Joseph had had a bath. And you think of the servants all along the list of servants that would have sent the messages and got the people engaged and run to the prison and said, Joseph, you've got to hurry. You've got to bathe. You've got to shave. One even commented that he perhaps shaved his head as well as his face. The Egyptians didn't have beards and often shaved their entire heads. There's a nobility about that. So I'm looking forward to some of that maybe. I told my wife one day, I'm going to stop shaving my face and start shaving my head. I'm halfway there. She hasn't given me permission for the second half of that yet. But imagine as he is given new garments, not even just the cleaned ones that they brought him from the dungeon in. and garments Pharaoh assigns to him. And he takes the signet ring off of his own hand and places it upon Joseph's finger and says, only in the throne will I be greater than thou. Our greater Joseph is ascended to the right hand of God. He's seated there today in our nature. Have you ever thought? I trust it's not an idle thought. That as Jesus said to the disciples before His ascension, I go to prepare a place for you. I remember one of the memory verses as a little boy. In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. That as a part of His preparing of those mansions, those rooms, And this is where we have to struggle with orthodoxy. God had no need. His knowledge, all of His perfections are infinite. But it's the God-Man. It's the exalted Jesus who's preparing that place that we, as we're made like Him, will dwell in forever. He knows something of our nature as He prepares them. He knows it even by experience now. Joseph is addressed in terms of highest preeminence. Only in the throne is Pharaoh greater than him. Only in the throne. only in His eternal position as the triune God is our triune God higher than the place the God-man has merited for us. We will not become little gods. We'll be glorified humans, but we'll be joined. to this heir of all things. He's removed from prison and justified. He's addressed in terms of highest preeminence. Thirdly, He is presented for all to admire. Look, if you will, in verse 42 and following. 42 and 43. We read, and Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, put a gold chain about his neck, and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, bow the knee, and made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." He's presented for all to admire. Philippians 2 chronicles that downward spiral, as it were, of humiliation, and then that upward exaltation. It speaks of a point in which every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Egyptians. Many of them perhaps ignorantly. Many of them certainly with some knowledge. You think of the stories. Think of the little pieces of this. Potiphar. You know I bought that guy from A bunch of traveling slave traders. It's amazing. He was such a good worker. Well, whatever the story was in our house. Then he's in a prison. And what they knew of him there. What pieces of the story, perhaps true, perhaps untrue. Rumors and truths. But all those just fade into insignificance. He's presented for all to admire. Pharaoh places Him in his own chariot. Bow the knee. Bow the knee. The Gospel applications here are clear. When do we bow? Do we see Him in His glory now? Do we understand who He is and what He has done? We see our need of such a Savior. We marvel at His willing condescension, His willing humiliation. We could say there's a piece of the typology that doesn't fit. Joseph didn't volunteer for his humiliation. He was taken advantage of. He submitted Himself to it in remarkable ways. But life will depend on whether they bow the knee, whether we bow the knee on this side of the grave or on the other. But every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. to the glory of God the Father. There's coming a day in the story in which His brethren, His wicked, sinful brothers will come and appear before Him. And they will bow the knee to this Joseph. He is presented for all to admire But lastly, he's given a home and an inheritance. Pharaoh moves immediately. I've often entertained the thought, what personal effects has Joseph accumulated over these almost 13 years? My math is failing me. It's not in my notes. between 10 and 20 at least at this point. I don't think he has a lot to recover from his cell. But now he is given a robe. He's given Pharaoh's own signet ring. He's given a choice bride. Do you ever think about that woman's experience in life? She's the daughter of an Egyptian priest. She has a little paganism in her background. She is given in an arranged marriage to probably one of the greatest husbands the world's ever known. What kind of a husband must Joseph have been? Everything he put his hand to was blessed of God. to have one like that leading your home. Hebrew names are given to His sons. Being exalted in Egypt hasn't gone to His head. He knows who He is. He knows why He's there. He knows His God is God. Wow! This daughter of a pagan priest is joined to this man. Learns of his God. Raises his sons. Manasseh, the eldest, meaning forgetting. Joseph could forget that he could put behind him all the sins that had been committed against him and the suffering that He endured because of those sins that weren't His. It's one thing when we suffer hardship because of our own sins. Our own crimes. To suffer for so many years because of other people's crimes and crimes against you. Things they should have been punished for instead of you And He chooses to name His firstborn son, Forgiving. His second son, Ephraim, Fruitful. This branch of the tribe of Joseph, these two tribes you'll recognize. would far outshine the tribe of the elder brother. It would be the larger tribe and such influence that at times in the Old Testament record, the whole northern kingdom of Israel is referred to as Ephraim. Joseph is exalted and he takes the world with him in his exaltation. He saves the world. He doesn't let power go to His head. He doesn't build the big storehouse behind Joseph's house. No, He honors the Word that God has given. He serves humbly and nobly. He's come out of His suffering to be singularly exalted. And this lesser Joseph, in a very real sense, saves the world. Our greater Joseph, our Jesus, has taken our sins upon Him. He has endured an infinite humiliation. He is enjoying an infinite exaltation. And the phrase we read in Hebrews, bringing many sons to glory. The story of Joseph isn't about Joseph's glory in a sense. It's his servitude to save others. There's his real glory. It pleases the Father then to exalt Him, for He is so humbled Himself. The pieces of Joseph's story in being taken from prison and judgment and exalted to the throne are many and precious and powerful. How much more the exaltation of the greater Joseph, not merely from the dungeon of a pharaoh, the jail of a pilot, No, to endure the wrath of God against our sins. To bear them in His own body on the tree. He bears them away. He merits for us glory. We follow in His train. Joseph is exalted in Egypt for the greater end of saving the chosen people of Israel, his father. But let us today, as we meditate on this remarkable, precious chapter of the story of the lesser Joseph, have thoughts of our greater Joseph. Indeed. Let's bow our heads together. Our Heavenly Father, we today come and pray that You will help us as we read the familiar story. Lord, even as we stumble through the manifold applications of this story to our Jesus, to think of the One that You have raised from the dead. The apostles could go through the world. So many things they could and did speak of But we read in the book of Acts a refrain, God raised Him from the dead. There was their apologetic. There was their great argument. It's a testimony to the success of His work and to the glory of His Person. And we today, we gather on this day of resurrection We pray, too, through the name of One who is seated at your right hand, the God-Man, our Jesus. And give us grace today to marvel that He voluntarily endured His humiliation. He voluntarily took upon Himself wrath that belonged to us, and you have vindicated Him You have taken Him out of prison and from judgment and seated Him on His throne above. We wait for the day in which the skies will part and He will return and every eye shall see Him. And just as it was said throughout the land of Egypt, as Joseph rode across the land in his chariot, bow the knee, that as our Jesus returns, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Lord, write that truth on our hearts this day that we might have even greater cause to rejoice in the day that the very words are uttered. We pray it in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen.