FROM DOWN AND OUT TO LARGE AND IN CHARGE

Proclamation:

“You shall be in charge of my palace, and all people are to submit to your orders.  Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.  So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.’”  Genesis 41:40-41 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of God which were written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Midianites who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. (Genesis 37:36)  The Lord God was with Joseph and he did well and became the overseer of his master’s house. (Genesis 39:2-4)  Soon his master’s wife approached him and asked him to sleep with her and Joseph refused her several times. (Genesis 39:7-10)  Then it came to pass that she caught him by his coat and asked him again, and he left his garment in her hand and he fled.  However, she lied and said that he tried to force himself upon her but fled when she screamed. (Genesis 39:11-15)  When she told the story to her husband, he had Joseph put in prison, (Genesis 39:16-20) but The Lord God was with him and he found favor with the keeper of the prison. (Genesis 39:20-23)  The chief of the butlers and the chief of the bakers were also imprisoned with Joseph.  Both men had dreams which Joseph interpreted for them and things came to pass as he said. (Genesis 40:1-23)  Two years later Pharaoh had a dream which none of his wise men or magicians could interpret. (Genesis 41:1-8)  Then the chief butler remembered that Joseph had interpreted his dream correctly and he told this to Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:9-13)  Hearing this, Pharaoh sent for Joseph, told him the dream, and he said that God had showed him that there would be seven good years followed by seven years of famine. (Genesis 41:14-32)  Pharaoh then placed Joseph in charge of his house, people, and land, and made him second in command in all of Egypt. (Genesis 41:39-41)  Joseph had them gather up and store corn for seven years (Genesis 41:48-49) and he sold it to the people when the famine came. (Genesis 41:55-57)

Application:

Joseph went from the bottom of a pit, to being a slave, and to prison but rose up to be in charge of the country because The Lord God was with him. (Genesis 39:2 and 39:21) We need to learn to praise God in good times and bad times. (Philippians 4:12)  It is God who gives us the strength to make it through the storms of life. (Philippians 4:13)  It is His strength which manifests itself during our periods of weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)  We should really count all of our trials and tribulations as joy because they are opportunities for God to show up in our life. (James 1:2)  Remember to give God the credit.  “In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)  Joseph made it clear that the dream interpretation was from God and not his own doing. (Genesis 41:16)