In our last session, we looked at Pharaoh's dreams and we saw that the text that we looked at in our last session started with, at the end of two full years. It means that after Joseph had revealed the nature of the dreams that the two guys that he met in prison, the royal cupbearer, also known as a butler, and the royal baker had, and he revealed their dreams. that the cupbearer was restored and went back to Pharaoh in his political position, being very, very close to Pharaoh and the guy that tests all the food and the drinks and so on. And the royal baker died. And we saw in that message that the reason that was is because the baker was careless in his responsibilities and didn't really care much for what he was doing or Pharaoh. And Pharaoh, having at that time the highest political position in the world, had to be very, very careful because many people wanted his job. And it was plenty of political intrigue that took place at the court of Pharaoh. So, two years after, this is when the story picks up here. Joseph is still in prison. He hadn't lost heart, but he told the cupbearer, he says, when you're restored, He says, you put a good word in with Beryl for me. You know, I'm here innocently. I didn't do anything. I'm not a natural born slave. I wasn't born into slavery. I was stolen away. My brothers did this to me. I shouldn't be here. I didn't do anything wrong. And even though he was still in prison, then it would be seven years that he stayed in prison. He still had faith in God. Now, Pharaoh has two dreams. Joseph had two dreams at the beginning of the story of Joseph with his brothers and his father. And they interpreted those dreams. Joseph didn't. He just basically told them that he had these two dreams. And they said, what, are you going to be over us? Are you going to rule over us? Who do you think you are? And they hated him all the more for it. He had two dreams that he interpreted. In prison. One for the Royal Cupbearer, one for the Royal Baker. Now, Pharaoh is having two dreams. One of them is involving the Nile River, which is the source of food, all food if you will, in Egypt. Egypt is in the middle of the Sahara Desert. There is no rain there. And the Nile produces all the agriculture that they get. The Nile floods periodically its banks and the water comes up for a long, long distance. And it does as well at the Delta up in the north, or I should say down in the north because the Nile flows from south to north. The first dream opens where Pharaoh says he sees seven stout cows in the river and seven very gaunt cows come out of the river and they eat the seven stout cows. He wakes up and he thinks, well, it's just a dream, you know, it's not really a big deal, so I'll go back to sleep. Then he gets a second dream. And the second dream really bothered him a lot. I mean, he was beside himself with agitation. It was similar to the first dream, except there were seven stalks of grain or seven ears of grain on a particular stalk and they were healthy and full and seven gaunt stalks or grain if you will, eat those and they were dried by the blasting of the eastern Sirocco winds that come either from Arabia or from the Sahara Now, these winds typically lower the level of water in the Nile area and the Delta so it doesn't flood and therefore there's no irrigation, if you will, in the banks of the Nile to produce the needed rain and the needed soil, good soil for agriculture. So, the seven stalks that are dry eat. the seven healthy ones, and him being the Pharaoh now gets really concerned. He says, something's going to happen here. Something bad is going to happen. So he gets a hold of his magicians and his wise men because he knows that the fertility of that Nile region and the Delta is what their economy depends on. That's where they made their money. That's where they got their life from. And if this was going to be a problem, he wanted to know about it. They had two gods that he thought were represented here. Isis, the god of fertility, and Osiris, the god of vegetation, and both are represented by cows or a bull. And Pharaoh knew something's taking place. There's something going on. I need to understand this. These wise men were unable to do anything for him. We see similar wise men with Moses and in Daniel's court as well, in Babylon later on. They were occultists and they were reaching out to the occult to try and get some meaning of these dreams. And the occultist can get some meaning. Satan will give, as an imposter, some truth, but very little. You see this in horoscopes. There is some degree of truth there, but not full truth. The Bible is full truth, and God provides full truth. The dreams that Pharaoh was receiving came from God. They did not come from Satan, and therefore, these guys were not able to provide an answer. Then, the cup bearer, this butler who was restored, speaks up. And he says, you know, I remember a guy that was in prison with me that interpreted dreams. And at the time, the cupbearer had nothing to gain politically by helping Joseph. Yeah, Joseph told him his dream, and the dream came true. But he didn't owe Joseph anything, so when he got back in court, he knew that Potiphar had thrown him into prison. Potiphar, being the chief executioner, also reported to Barrow. So you've got these two guys reporting to Barrow, and the cupbearer's not going to say, hey, you ought to let Joseph out. I know this guy here. Potiphar put him in, but you ought to let him out. That would be politically inappropriate for him to do that. But the political intrigue here is really interesting. If Joseph could provide a satisfactory interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, then the cupbearer would be the hero for bringing him up. And if he didn't provide a satisfactory resolution to these dreams, he was doing what Pharaoh's servants couldn't do too. So, in either case, the cupbearer is going to look pretty good. He's helping Pharaoh out somewhat. The cupbearer does not speak about Joseph being a predictor of dreams that are going to come true. He says he has this ability. In other words, he's not telling Pharaoh, this guy's going to tell you the outcome. He's just telling him about his ability. So he's not going too far over the edge here of making himself politically inexpedient to Pharaoh. He was concerned with his job, too, because Pharaoh had so much stress. It's interesting to look at the Hebrew text here. There's so much stress in these Hebrew words here that show that Pharaoh was nervous and anxious and beside himself. And the cupbearer didn't want to have a new regime coming in. It's hard enough to adjust to the regime you have. Whenever there's a new regime that comes into an organization, there is always fallout. It's been said that usually when a new regime comes in, 90% of the people that are there are gone. The direct reports are gone within a year. They just can't get along with a new person. And that's part of the political intrigue here. And these high powerful positions, people are thinking about this all the time. One of the things that we used to say in the corporate world when I lived there is that everybody's walking around with a dagger behind their back. Because they want the next guy's job that's above them. That's more important than anything in large organizations. But these dreams that the cupbearer related impressed the Pharaoh because he told him about both good and evil. He didn't sugarcoat these things. He just said basically this is what the guy did and it impressed Pharaoh. So he sends to get Joseph out of the dungeon and bring him back and he has him shaved The Egyptians did not like people with beards. The Hyksos had beards, but the reigning Hyksos at the time would shave themselves to comply with the Egyptians, to get the Egyptians to follow them. They didn't want to just use military prowess as they had to take control of Egypt. So they wanted him to look as good as he could when he came into Pharaoh's court. And Potiphar probably dressed him because Potiphar, being close to Pharaoh, knew what was taking place. He had to order the release. And Joseph realized this is his one chance to be released from prison. If I can make a good impression here, I'm going to do it. So, Pharaoh begins this discourse with Joseph, telling him of what the dreams were, and telling him that his soothsayers, his magicians, were unable to give him the interpretation of the dream. And he lets Joseph know that he knows what's been said about him. He said, when thou hearest the dream, thou canst interpret it. Joseph, knowing God, and this is important that we see this, that it's not me, God will give an answer of peace. It's not in me. God, is who is going to be in control of this? And Joseph knows that and he tells Pharaoh. Now, Joseph's not saying that the dream is going to be to his liking. He's just saying that you're going to have the satisfaction of knowing what the dream actually means. He's also saying that it's going to remove your anxiety because you're going to know what the outcome of these dreams is. And he wants Pharaoh to respond to this divine plan. Joseph also wants to be saved. You know, the same idea here of God controlling things is seen in Proverbs 21.1 where the text says, The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the water courses. He turneth it whithersoever he will. Wow. Just like God can change the course of a stream of water, he can turn a king's heart to do anything he wants. And we need to be aware of that. That he allows kings, presidents, and so on Their own devices to act out God's plan is overall plan. We just don't understand how exactly God does this, but God's plan, His will marches through human history and it will always get done. We just can't see how some of these components that happen can relate to God's plan when they're so clearly sinful. This guy was an absolute autocrat. There was nobody more powerful in the world than him. He didn't have anybody that he was responsible to. And he was in control here. Pharaoh then recalls this dream, but he adds a couple of new details that he didn't give before. He says that the thin cows that ate the stout cows were worse, thinner than he's ever seen before. And even after they ate the stout cows, they were still gaunt, they were still thin. So then he goes on to describe these Sirocco winds that causes grain to be withered and they ate the healthy stalks of the grain. And he concludes this by saying, hey, look, my guys just could not interpret this for me. They didn't understand it. So Joseph immediately begins his interpretation. And the sense of urgency is pretty apparent here, because he's brought out of prison quickly. And he's in front of Pharaoh. And he tells Pharaoh that the two dreams are the same issue. And when things are presented more than one time in the Bible, it's for emphasis. And there's two dreams here. And he says, the two dreams are the same. It's the same issue. What God is about to do, he hath declared unto Pharaoh. And Daniel is going to tell Nebuchadnezzar the same sort of a thing. Daniel and Joseph are the two guys that became prime ministers in pagan countries so that God could exercise his will in those particular countries and those particular times. Joseph tells him that there's going to be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. It's going to be a very, very difficult time for all those that live in Egypt. The flooding is going to stop and there's going to be seven years of a grievous famine. And then Joseph follows this with a strategy that he says Pharaoh should implement. He tells Pharaoh, Go ahead and appoint a wholesome, trustworthy, and effective economic czar and a team of overseers to implement this plan. He says, first of all, you've got to tax people at the rate of 20% and they were taxing people at 10% at that time. You tax them at 20% and you store the grain that comes from this overabundance, a bumper crop of produce, you store it in visible silos around the country in the cities, not out in the country where people aren't going to be. Let them see the grain. These farmers are still going to have their normal yield because it's going to be such a huge bumper crop that they're not going to notice this heavier tax. And that tax is what's going to provide for those seven lean years And he says, you know, you're going to be the savior here when this happens. And the pharaoh can see this. He's trusting Daniel. He says, OK, the Hyksos were in charge of Egypt and they were generally hated by the Egyptians. They had taken over as the military wing, if you will, of the Semites that invaded Egypt and they invaded into the eastern Nile region and then they gradually went to lower Egypt and they got into upper Egypt and they controlled the whole country for a long time. And in doing so the Egyptians were obedient to them but only initially through military intervention. The military of the Hyksos is what kept the Egyptians in control. They feared the military. So he's saying, Daniel's saying that you do this, store this food, and let the people see this food. It's going to be visible to people. So they'll see how genuine you are in following this plan out. And when the famine struck, Pharaoh was going to be the Savior. Pharaoh was going to be a Savior, because he will have provided for these people. The Hyksos were not going to have to rely so much on military force because the population is going to be economically deprived for those seven years. And the government would be selling these resources back to them. Now in today's text, we're looking at Pharaoh appointing Joseph as the prime minister. And the text is Genesis 41, starting in verse 37 to 44. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou. 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 signet ring from his hand, and he 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 set him 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 his foot in all the land of Egypt. Now Pharaoh listened to Joseph's dreams, the interpretation, or I should say of the dreams, and what he needed to do to save his country from this famine. And he agreed with Joseph, and he thought the plan had merit. So he turns to his advisors and he says to them, can we find such a guy here, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? The advisors don't say anything. You know, we can assume that they thought that they would be the chosen to take this role of the economic czar, if you will, take control of the economy. Because they were close to Pharaoh. They knew Pharaoh. They were his advisors. And we can see by their silence that they probably didn't care much for what was going to happen next. Because they were not chosen. Pharaoh mentions a man in which the Spirit of God actually resides. And it's interesting, the text here, the Hebrew text is Ruach Elohim, and Ruach is spirit, and Elohim is a term that is used sparingly throughout the Old Testament to refer to the Trinity, to refer to the God in control of the universe, Jehovah God, and his name is Yahweh. or it refers in many instances to the pagan gods. It's just a generic term and it depends on the context into which this is used. This context here suggests that it's a reference to the pagan gods because this is Pharaoh, a polyistic pagan, coming up with this statement. You know, the context governs how we translate the word God, and in our English Bibles it just says God or Lord. It doesn't really clearly elucidate the Hebrew text here. This Hebrew text is suggesting that this is the pagan gods that he's talking about, just the generic, some god, some god is doing this within you. And we know that there's a bunch of gods and we just see this all in you. He knew that this source of the dream was way beyond the natural because he understood it, he accepted it, and he was looking for someone that could do what Joseph said. And in Joseph's own words, they're a discerning and wise person. So Pharaoh immediately selects Joseph for this job. And just look at this. Joseph is in prison. In prison. He'd been captive for 13 years. The last seven were in prison. And in prison, he suffered torture, suffered humiliation and pain, and he never lost his faith in God. And now he's getting elevated to the office of prime minister of the greatest nation on the earth at that time. And he's going to control the entire economy of this nation. Everybody's going to report to him. They're going to do whatever it is that he says. Pharaoh is going to retain the supreme rulership, but Joseph's going to do everything else. It's almost like Pharaoh is just saying, you got it all, man. I'm just going to back off here and you do it. But I'm still in control, but you're going to do everything. I'm letting you handle the whole thing. Joseph had control over the economy. He could make treaties and direct trade policy with other nations. And this was now the fourth time that he'd been elevated to that of an overseer. He was elevated to that of an overseer by his dad after Reuben sinned. His dad placed him in charge of the agricultural activities of his brothers. And he was elevated in Potiphar's household. He was elevated in prison to be over the other prisoners. And now, at 30 years of age, he's getting elevated to be the prime minister in control of all trade and economic affairs and everything else that happens in that country. Joseph was not a heady, prideful guy. He was humble, he trusted God for his circumstances, and he's always giving credit to God for what's happening. He's not saying, I did, I am, I will, I can. He's saying, God is working, God is doing this, God says. And with the selection, Pharaoh takes his signet ring off and he gives it to Joseph. Now the signet was an extremely important device in the ancient Near East. It would validate an individual's authenticity that they participated in a particular economic activity or a particular agreement. We see signets that are impressed in wax to make an impression or their ink goes down there. Well, the signet that he has now guarantees the authenticity of the throne on the trade documents and the economic documents that he's going to make. He had complete control. He was now the authority in Egypt. Pharaoh gave him a fine linen robe, and he put a gold chain on his neck, also symbolizing the authority that he would have now. A royal procession is organized, and they're going to have this parade to show off Joseph. Pharaoh puts him in the second chariot. And the chariots weren't even around before the Hyksos came. The Hyksos brought chariots in. And Joseph is in the second chariot. It's the first time also that chariots are mentioned in the Bible. With Pharaoh being a hyksos, he was trying to let the population know that Joseph, this Hebrew, was given this authority and they wanted the visibility of Joseph's ascension to this office to be known to everybody. Joseph had to succeed in this. So, Pharaoh was designing the politics for Joseph to be effective, to carry out what he had to do. The population had to obey him. I mean, Joseph couldn't do all this himself. He had to get the population to obey him and follow him. There was going to be a very, very difficult period coming on this country. We haven't been through a famine. Famines are just terrible. And you see the stories in the Bible with parents eating their children, taking bark off of trees, and we haven't been through a famine. We don't know what that's like. It's just terrible. Pharaoh has runners even going before this procession, this parade if you will, shouting out Joseph's name, exclaiming him to be the new guy that has elevated to this high office and telling everybody along this processional path to bow their knees to Joseph. So Pharaoh did everything he could to smooth the path for Joseph to be effective in carrying out these responsibilities. Joseph is essentially like the Grand Viceroy of Egypt. And he says, finally, no one can do anything in this country without your approval. We need to pay attention to that. Nobody can do anything in this country without your approval. The economic future of Egypt is going to depend on the implementation of Joseph's plan. Because Pharaoh believed there were going to be seven good years and seven really bad years and Joseph was the only one that could do this. Pharaoh then even renames Joseph. He renames him to give him a name of the Egyptians. Genesis 41 verses 45 and 46 say, And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphonoth Paneah. And he gave him to wife Azanoth, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of An. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. And 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. Because Joseph wasn't an Egyptian, this was going to hinder him in his performance. So Pharaoh had to do all these things. The Hyksos ruling the Egyptians, they don't like the Hyksos. Now Pharaoh is bringing in a Hebrew. They're still, you know, where's my guy on the top here? Why aren't, you know, you want me to follow these guys from these other backgrounds, but why should I? So he gives him an Egyptian name to help with that. The exact meaning of this name is pretty obscure, but we get the sense that it refers to God having spoken, or God is living, or somehow God is working through this situation. But this is just you know, an additional means of drawing him closer to the population so that they respond to his commands. And the wife he gives him was carefully chosen from a section of elite society that was close to Pharaoh. There's a prominent priest called Potiphar. This is not the Potiphar, the chief executioner. This is a different name, different region. But this guy, this guy was very, very influential in their polytheistic pagan practices that they had. And so this was placing Joseph in high elite society so that he would be accepted and he married an Egyptian. He didn't have any choice. You know, we're not supposed to be unequally yoked. Joseph knew that, but he was forced into this. And we'll see how he responds to this. This more fully integrated him into the Egyptian society, and it's going to cause him to be more effective in carrying out this master plan. He's 30 years of age. 30. 30 seems to be the age of majority, if you will, in the Bible. The Kohen, the priest, under the Mosaic law, had to be 30 years of age before they could perform their functions. Daniel was 30 when he became prime minister of Babylon. Jesus started his ministry when he was about 30 years of age. There's something in the biblical text here that says 30 years of age is about the time when individuals are able to handle their youth with maturity, if you will, and carry out their responsibilities. It's been 13 years since he came here as a slave, and now he's beginning his role as the overseer of the granaries of Upper and Lower Egypt. He starts off with a personal survey of the country. I'm going to go out and take a look at everything. I want to see what I got here. And this particular responsibility within the Prime Minister's role would be like our Minister of Agriculture or our Secretary of Agriculture. He was going to grab control right now of their economy and he starts with finding out what it's like. The text moves on in Genesis 41 verses 47 to 49 with, and in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls and he gathered up all the food of the seven years which are in the land of Egypt and laid up the food in the cities. The food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much until he left off numbering, for it was without number." Now, just as Joseph predicted, there was a bumper crop that lasted for seven years. And he had implemented this 20% tax, and after the seven years, there was so much collected, they couldn't even count it. And he had it stored in the cities around the country so it was visible. God was obviously blessing this country right now. And the people didn't even notice. They thought things are just great. And isn't that how it is when things are going well with us? We don't plan for the future. We don't plan for bad times. And that's what they were doing. But Joseph planned for them. Text moves on in verse 50 to 53. And unto Joseph were born two sons. Before the year of famine came, Humas, the daughter of Potiphar, priest of On, bore unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. For he said, God hath made me forget all my toil and my father's house. And Amos the second called the Ephraim, for God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. And the seven years of plenty that was in the land of Egypt came to an end. Now, during the seven years of plenty, Asenoff gives birth to two children. Joseph names them with Hebrew names. He doesn't give them Egyptian names. Joseph now has control. He's got power. And you can see from this that he's not accepting the polytheistic, pagan religion that his wife was born and raised in. He is hanging on to Jehovah God, Yahweh, the God of the universe. The firstborn name means forgetting and Ephraim means doubly fruitful. The Hebrews will give name designations to their children that refer to specific situations that they're going through or times that are taking place and they have great meaning. This is obviously reflecting on Joseph looking back and saying, I've suffered a lot. Things were tough, but man, things are good now. Things are really, really good now. And I'm forgetting those bad things. I'm forgetting them. The lesson for us here is to do the same. Don't hang on to old hurts, old pains. Don't keep reliving them. That's exactly what Satan wants us to do. If you keep reliving the old pains, you're staying back here, your sanctification stops. That's your growth in Christ. It stops. Because you can't move forward from the pain. It's over. Forget it. I mean, you've got to like it. God wants you to leave it back there. I know people that are living 30 years in the past. They can't get beyond something that happened to them 30 years ago. They keep reliving it over and over and over again. You've got to get rid of those things. To live in the past keeps those old pains alive and Satan gets his way. He keeps us from realizing everything God has for us, including our growth in Christ. Look what 2 Timothy 2, verses 11 to 12a says, It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. In other words, he suffered, we've suffered, now we're reigning with him. We're with Christ. The suffering's gone. Let it go. Let it be in the past. And Romans 8.18 says something quite similar. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. God has revealed himself to us, and he's given us this Bible which shows us what's coming. And he gives us his peace, his comfort, that surpasses all understanding, if you take it. It's there. Take it. Don't live in the past. Don't live with that pain. The text moves on to show that the famine did come. Starting in verse 54 to 57 is where we'll close today. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said. And there was famine in all lands. But in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph, and what he saith to you, do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold them to the Egyptians. And the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came to Joseph, came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain. because the famine was sore in all the earth. The famine covered the entire earth. It says it twice in that text. Just like Joseph predicted, the famine came. The seven years of plenty ended. The famine was there. They were entering an extended period of drought and famine. The flooding of the Nile stopped because of these Sirocco winds. And there was a grievous famine. The country had expected this high standard of living. You know, you can be told that tough times are coming and you still won't save. You can be told that tough times are coming and get out of debt and you still won't get out of debt. And when the tough times come, you're in a very, very difficult spot. Make no mistake about it, tough times will come. That's just the way this world is. You can see it here. You can see what's happening in our country. You can only borrow so much money before the economy collapses. Before the economy collapses. So what do the Egyptians do? They go to Pharaoh and they complain. Hey, we don't have any food. What are you going to do for us? They go to the government and He says, hey, go talk to Joseph. He handled this thing. He did it for us. He did it for us. You know, in difficult times, we should be given to God, even as we do in good time. Our time and our resources should be going to God because we will get back many times what we've given him. That's not the reason we give to God. We give to God to further His work, and because it's out of obedience. You don't give because you're going to get back. But that's what He does. He will give you back more than what you gave. These people complained, and typically in a government way, Now, this one didn't do that because Pharaoh said, here, you go talk to Joseph. Joseph's been handling this whole thing. But typically what governments do is because they usually sell themselves to get an office on the basis of, I'm going to give to you, I'm going to give to you, I'm going to give it to you. They really don't have any genuine control over the economy or the weather, or in this case, the flooding of the Nile. If the government does the economy any good, it's usually getting out of the way and letting the economy function all by itself through lower taxation and low debt. When a government starts borrowing horrendous amounts of money, what it ends up doing is crowding out private investment out of the available capital that's out there and causes the economic activity to decrease and get worse. That's what governments do. Too much government crowds out that private investment. Joseph didn't just give this grain out to the people. He sold it to them. And he sold it to the other nations around him. These people should have saved. They knew it was coming. It was announced. It was proclaimed. Joseph went throughout the entire country telling people. He maintained very strict control over these inventories to stop looting and waste, because he knew this food had to last for seven years. And he was trusting God that it was going to be lasting seven years, but he still had to maintain control over these inventories. It was just good, sound economic practices to taking care of what he had done. Pharaoh realized that this was a good move. Because not only were the people eating, other countries were coming and they could eat too. And Pharaoh was profiting when the other countries were losing. This was a good deal all around. I mean, getting these dreams and having Joseph placed in the office of Prime Minister over this process and then seeing everything that Joseph talked about actually come to pass just caused Pharaoh to be very, very pleased with what was taking place. Amen?