It's warmer up here than it is down there. I want to thank everybody for the prayers for my wife and I while we were sick. a lot better still have some side effects but doing a lot better if you would turn to genesis is the camera ready? I forgot to ask genesis chapter forty one we're still going through the story of joseph If you remember from last time, we talked about his life with Potiphar and his troubles with Potiphar's wife and in his imprisonment. And where our story picks up today in Chapter 41, he is still in prison. For now, he's about to be released. We'll see why here in a few moments. And let's just start with, we'll throw verse one. And it came to pass at the end of two full years. So Joseph has been in prison for two full years, is what he's saying here. And that Pharaoh dreamed. And behold, he stood by the river. What river would this be? Well, in Egypt, the Nile River. And behold, there came up out of the river. This is his dream. And follow this closely because Joseph is going to explain it later. And behold there came up out of the river seven well-favored, kind, and fat-fleshed, and they fed in a meadow. Now this word kind could be translated cow or cattle. Why the King James translators did not translate it that way, I don't know. I can't answer that. It's not something that I've looked into. I just know that everything that I've looked at tells me that this is, this word kind means cow or cattle. And they were well-favored, it says. In other words, they were healthy and fat-fleshed. These were very healthy cattle, well-fed, well taken care of. They fed in a meadow. They had the best grass to feed from, to eat from. If you were to go over, at least from the pictures I've seen and videos, documentaries and things I've seen of that part of the world today, there's not many meadows left, is there? It's mostly desert. Not all, but the further you get away from the river, of course, it's desert. We don't commonly think of Egypt as being a fertile place. But one day, back in the past, it was a fertile place. Again, Egypt is one of those places in that part of the world where when their enemies came in and overthrew them, they destroyed the ecosystem. The whole purpose of that was so that that former civilization would never come back. Well, people have come back, even to Egypt. It's now not like it was originally, but they are able to live there. They have made changes and are growing things in what was once desert now. So that's the situation that we're looking at here. At one time, it was a fertile place. And behold, seven other kind came up after them out of the river. ill-favored and lean-fleshed. So you had seven very healthy, well-fed cattle and seven that were scrawny. They weren't so well-fed and weren't so well taken care of and maybe even diseased, we don't know. They were lean-fleshed, ill-favored and lean-fleshed. and stood by the other can upon the brink of the river. If you've ever seen, and I grew up around cattle, so if you've ever seen cattle, one that's not as well fed as the rest, you can spot them a long ways off. I mean, their ribs are showing, especially their hip bones are prominent. You can just tell by looking at them that they don't look good, they don't feel good. You can tell that by looking at them. And that's what he's describing here. And then you have those that are fat-fleshed, that are well-fed. You can't see the ribs as much. Their hip bones are not as prominent because they're well taken care of. And the ill-favored and lean kind of flesh did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kind. So Pharaoh awoke. Now, being around cattle, I've never known a cow to eat another cow. Never seen that happen. Does it happen? I couldn't tell you. But that's not the normal for cattle. They're not cannibals. They are vegetarians. They don't care for meat. And so this is something I'm assuming would have troubled Pharaoh because he would have known this. In his day and time he had cattle of his own. He had been around them. He knew it was not normal for cattle to eat each other. And certainly Those that were ill and scrawny would not have been the ones eating the fat ones. It would have been the other way around, mostly. At least in the animal world, that's the way it would have been. But in this case, you see the ones that are weak and that are not well taken care of are the ones that are eating the well-fed ones. And N.O.C. has another dream. And he slept and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. Now, that's something that you certainly don't see. If you ever raised a garden with corn, you're not going to see seven ears of corn on one stalk. If you do, you better get some pictures and send it to somebody for proof, and you might win some awards for it. But that's not the normal, and Pharaoh knows that. And behold, seven thin ears, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And if you've ever done much farming, you don't look forward to an east wind. An east wind is not a good thing as far as farming and as far as crops, as far as animals. Why? Well, what direction does our storms and rains come from normally. They come from the west, don't they? The south and the west. In the wintertime, they come from the north. But even in that part of the world, the winds and the rain would come from the west, not the east. That's the way God set things in motion. So you have these seven years that or very well, they're very good, they're plump, they look good. Then you have seven ears that are scrawny. Same story, same dream as the cattle, it's just different things are used. And the seven ears, seven thin ears, devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Now you can think, Pharaoh's gotta be thinking, this is crazy. Certainly ears of corn do not eat each other. That's not even a possibility, humanly speaking. But this is a dream, remember? And some would say, well, he had too much pepperoni pizza before he went to bed. No. We'll see in a moment, these dreams are coming from God himself. And we think, well, why would God send a dream to a lost man, one who is not saved? And as far as we know, this Pharaoh was never saved. There's no evidence of it. Well, God does as he wills, doesn't he? He uses who he wills. He may use an unsaved person to get his own people's attention sometimes. He did that quite a bit. with different pharaohs, didn't he? Even in Moses' day, God used Pharaoh in Moses' day to get God's people's attention. Now, and it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled. And it would be, you think about this, if you had two dreams like this. And understand also, in their day and time, and part of it was because of their false religion, Part of it was because we know that this was the Lord working in this time anyway. But with their false religion, they put a lot of emphasis on dreams. They put a lot into dreams. If you'll notice here in a moment, he tells where he calls his magicians to come in and explain these dreams. Why did he call on these men? Because that's who he had called on before. He had had dreams before. This was not something new. But for whatever reason, these dreams troubled him. mostly because he didn't understand what they meant, but he knew that they were of some significance. 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. So Even his false prophets. That's what these men were. That's what we call them today. Magicians and soothsayers and all those. They're false prophets. They couldn't even come up with in their wicked imaginations. Couldn't even come up with any kind of idea on what these dreams were about. There was none that could interpret them to affirm to Pharaoh. You would think that these false prophets could have come up with something, some wild, off-the-cuff idea of what this was. But again, I believe this is because God was in this. God is the one that kept them from leading Pharaoh astray in this. And as we'll see in a moment, God uses his man to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, the dreams of a lost man. then spoke the chief butler under pharaoh saying i do remember my faults this day who's his chief butler remember him from last time go back to chapter forty in the last two verses but he hanged the chief baker as joseph had interpreted to them yet did not the chief butler remember joseph but forget him Remember, these are the two men, Chief Baker and Chief Butler, were the ones who were in prison with Joseph for a time. He interpreted their dreams that they had while in prison. And it was because of his interpretation of these dreams, Pharaoh killed one and brought the other one back and put him back in his same position that he had been in. restored him to his former glory in the house of Pharaoh. Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me inward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker. This is the butler talking, the chief butler. He's recapping his story. And he says, And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. He dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard. And he told us and he interpreted to us our dreams to each man according to his dream he did interpret. Now remember, Joseph, when he was with these two men, what? His request was of the butler. When they were going out, being released from the prison, one was going to be put to death, the other one was going to be saved. He made a request that they remember him. That when the butler got back into his former position, he says, one day, remember me one day when the opportunity arises. Remember me. I'll still be here in the prison. How I helped you. It was payback time. That's what we would call it. This man remembered Joseph. Two years later though, wouldn't you think within that two years there would have been another time that he could have helped Joseph? Certainly there should have been. Again, this is the hand of God in this. God's timing. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was, me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. Then 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. Joseph cleans himself up. He's released from the prison. He's told he's going to be going before Pharaoh. He knows what to do. Remember Joseph has been there before. He knows the protocol. He knows the traditions of going before the king. You clean yourself up, put your best clothes on, whatever it takes. You don't go before Pharaoh looking like a bum, looking like a man who just got out of prison. You go there dressed nicely and clean-shaven. That's what Pharaoh expected. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have had a dream. I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it. I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. Now, think about this. Joseph has only interpreted two dreams. He is not what we would call professional at it. This is not his profession. His profession has been he was over the captain of the guard's house. over Potiphar's house. He was a businessman, an executive, if you will, of types. He was not a professional at interpreting dreams. He'd only, as far as we know, he's only interpreted two dreams so far, and it wasn't because of him, it was because of the Lord. Joseph knows that, Pharaoh doesn't. And Joseph answered, saying, it is not in me, God should give Pharaoh an answer of peace. So Joseph tells Pharaoh where his interpretations come from. They come from God. Not from himself. It's nothing that he has done. It's all of God. He quickly gives God the glory for this. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, in my dream, so he tells Joseph his dream, he said, I stood by the bank of the river, and behold, there came out of the river seven kind, fat flesh and well-favored, and they fed in a meadow. And behold, seven other kind came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness. And the lean and the ill-favored kind did eat up the first seven fat kind. And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them. But they were still ill-favored as at the beginning, so I awoke. So in other words, you couldn't tell. These scrawny cattle had just eaten these fat cattle, and you couldn't tell. They were so poor that so poor looking that even after they ate the others, you couldn't tell that they had eaten them. They were still scrawny. It didn't change them a bit. And I saw my dream, and behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good. And behold, seven ears withered thin and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told this unto the magicians, but there was none that could declare it to me. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is won. God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do. You notice, Pharaoh tells his dream, there's no hesitation at all. As far as we can tell, there's no span of time. Joseph doesn't have to go home and think about it. He doesn't tell Pharaoh, I'll get back with you in the morning. Immediately, God gives Joseph the answers. And what does He tell him? They're all one dream. They're about the same thing, in other words. They're two different dreams, but they're about the same thing. And it's something that is about to happen to the land of Egypt. The seven good kind are seven years. And the seven good years are seven years. The dream is one. So what you're going to have is, they're about to have seven years prosperity. Seven years of good times. seven years that their crops are going to flourish, their cattle are going to produce, they're going to get lots of meat, lots of milk, whatever else they use their cattle for. And then he says in the seventh thin and ill-favored kind that came up after them are seven years And the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine." What's he talking about? They're going to have seven prosperous years, and then they're going to have seven years of famine. Pharaoh has been shown what's about to happen in his kingdom. This is what's troubling. When he realizes this, he's troubled. He says, what do we do now? Now he's got Joseph, this Hebrew, this man of God, who doesn't worship after his gods, after Pharaoh's gods. Joseph's god is not one of the gods of Egypt, remember? He's not. They believed in multiple gods. And even at some point in history, they believe that the pharaohs were gods. Well, if pharaohs were gods, why is Pharaoh going to a man of God to seek interpretation of his dreams? Shouldn't he have been able to interpret his own dreams if he was a god? Well, that tells you how foolish false gods are. 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 a famine shall consume the land." Now if you've ever, I don't think we've ever, maybe we might have come close to it during the Great Depression in the 1930s, But but we've not seen a great famine in this land like he talks about here. Spiritually, yes, I believe we are in a great famine right now. But physically speaking, we have not seen a great famine in this land. We've always had plenty. But there's going to come a time in Pharaoh's day. They're going to have seven years of great plenty, and then The famine is going to be so great the next seven years, they're going to forget about all the plenty. It's going to be like with the scrawny cattle eating the fat cattle. They're going to eat them and you're not even going to be able to tell it. At the end of the seven years of famine, you're not going to recognize that they had seven years of prosperity before that. 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." It's going to be a very bad famine, a very grievous famine. It's going to be a lot of people that have to go without. And for that, the dream was troubled, or was doubled unto Pharaoh twice. It is because a thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. So he brought this, God, it's my understanding of this, that God has brought this twice, this same dream twice to Pharaoh to make sure he understood that it was a serious business. That not only is this from God, but hey, you better pay attention and do what I tell you. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise and send him over the land of Egypt. Notice Joseph says this. Pharaoh needs to look for a man who's wise and is discreet and will do what's right, will help you do the right thing in the kingdom before the famine hits. In other words, he tells him you need to find a man who, you need to find an advisor. A man who can rule well, who can take advantage of the prosperous years so that when the famine hits, everything is okay. Your people don't starve to death. And you notice Joseph was not talking about himself here. He didn't recommend himself. He just threw this out there. This is what, well, this is what God has recommended to Joseph, but we'll see that Joseph is the man. Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint officers over the land and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. So a fifth part, 5% of what the land produces, put in storage, and save up for the years of famine. 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 storing to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through the famine. So Joseph lays out here a plan of what Pharaoh needs to do. And what's the result of him laying out this plan? Well, he gets picked to be the guy, don't he? You ever done that on the jobs? Made a suggestion and the boss liked it and you got stuck doing the job? Sometimes it can be good, sometimes it's not. In this case, it was a good thing. Verse 37, And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. Not just Pharaoh, but all his servants. Hey, this sounds like a great idea. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this? Is a man in whom the Spirit of God is? Pharaoh recognizes God, doesn't he? The God of the Hebrews. Imagine that. recognizes that the God of this slave is more capable than his false gods at solving the problems that are ahead of him. You don't see that much, do you? Even in Bible times, even in Israel, did they very seldom recognize God for who he was And it appears as though, even though we don't believe this Pharaoh was a saved man, it appears as though he has more faith in the God of Israel than Israel themselves did at times. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. faro recognizes joseph is the guy they don't know of another godly man we don't know who else was in the kingdom at that time the scriptures not clear on you know we know joseph's the rest of his family his brothers his father uh... his cousins and uncles and all those people were all back in canaan still they weren't in egypt as far as we know Joseph is the only godly man in Egypt at this time. He's the only Hebrew in Egypt at this time. They know who the Hebrews are just from stories they've heard and because remember Abraham all the way back to Abraham and Sarah came and visited Egypt but there's not many of them there if there's any other than Joseph. And Pharaoh tells him You are the one. You're the one we need. Thou shalt be over my house. Now watch how much power he gives Joseph. 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. He's given Joseph all the power of the kingdom except for the throne. Pharaoh will be the only man over him. 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 thy knee, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. He's next in line to the kingdom under Pharaoh. That's not to say that if Pharaoh was to die during this time, Joseph would not be next in line to Pharaoh to be to the throne. Pharaoh, that's already planned out. In their day and time, he would have been Pharaoh's son that would have been that way, been the next in line for that. But next in line under Pharaoh, as far as power, Joseph has more power than any man in the kingdom, other than Pharaoh. And he now has the ring from Pharaoh's hand. What's so special about the ring? It was his signature. If you remember, the king used his ring as his signature, and that was a common practice in all the kingdoms in that day and time. If the king used his ring and dipped it in hot wax or whatever else they used, that was his signature. He would put that on letters. He would use it on other documents when they would pass new laws, those types of things. Joseph has the power now. He's dressed him in kingly apparel, put a gold chain around his neck. showing the signs of wealth now and royalty. And he gets to ride in the second chariot to back up to chariot one. He's got it all. And then he has the people, the people are crying out and bowing down to him. Now, normally, a man of God, in other instances throughout the scripture, the man of God would not have put up with this. He would have told the people to stand up. In this case, you don't see where they're bowing to worship him. They're bowing in, I don't know if you want to call it reverence or in respect, maybe is a better word, out of respect for him because he's been made ruler. And if you notice throughout this whole story, there's no opposition, at least not yet anyway, there's no opposition to this happening, to Pharaoh making Joseph a ruler over the land. What about those magicians? The story of Moses is oftentimes the magicians and soothsayers that the Pharaoh then had, when Pharaoh seemed to be leaning towards letting the people go, those men would throw a fit. They would advise the Pharaoh to do otherwise. In this case, we don't see that. They know that drastic times are coming, and they need a man that's a leader, that's going to lead the people and to do what's right. 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. No man is going to be able to do anything without your command. Now that's a little strict, I think, but that's how they ruled over the people. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name, and I'm not going to try to pronounce that, But he changed his name. Similar to what, remember Nebuchadnezzar changed the names of Daniel and the three young men with Daniel? It's a similar situation. He changes his name and gives him an Egyptian name. And he gave him a wife. That was nice of him, wasn't it? But you notice that this wife is not Hebrew. She's not of the family of Abraham, is she? But he gives him a wife, Esenath, the daughter of Potphara, priest of Om, and Joseph went out all over, went over all the land of Egypt. So he gives him, Pharaoh gives him a wife of a priest. What kind of priest would this guy have been? Not a good priest, not a godly priest. This would have been a priest of the false religions of Egypt. The city of Om was a place, was a city where a lot of false religion took place. It was their worship center in that day. And so this man very possibly could have been the high priest. I don't know. It doesn't tell us. And you have to be careful too. Some try to say that this is Potiphar. This is not spelled the same. And they have different offices. So this is not Potiphar that we read in the last chapter. I read where some try to say that this wife was the daughter of Dinah, Joseph's sister. No evidence of that here either. Don't fall for things that are not spelled out clearly. But Joseph for the first time we're seeing someone in the lineage of Abraham who is a good godly man marry outside the family. Always before, they've always married within the family. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they all married within the family. Joseph now is married outside the family, but it's not It wasn't necessarily his choice, I guess you could say. Pharaoh gave her to him. He has children with her. You go on and read, 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. So he went out to survey what they had and to make sure things were being carried out. In the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth by handfuls, best crops they've had ever. This is the most prosperous Egypt has ever been and ever will be. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were 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 gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much until he left numbering before it was without number. They got to be so much that they lost track. They couldn't count. They couldn't keep up with the count. They were so prosperous that they just couldn't count anymore. They got to be too much for them. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Esenath, the daughter of Potphara, and named Potphara, I forgot to mention this earlier, but the last part of that name, R-A-H, means Ra. Some say that he was a priest of Ra. Ra was one of the false gods of Egypt. The chief false god, if I understand right. So that tells us there that he was not a godly priest. Anyway, the priest of own bear unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. We'll hear that name again, won't we, in the study of Israel. For God said, he hath made me forget all my toil in all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim. We'll hear Ephraim's name again. For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. And the seven years of Plinius that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And the seven years of Dirth began to come according as Joseph had said. And a Dirth was in all lands. But in all the land of Egypt there was bread. So all, he says, the dearth was in all lands. But in all the land of Egypt, there was bread. Now some would say that this famine was just a local famine. It was just concerning Egypt. We know better than that. If you read the rest of the story, and we'll see more next time when we get into the next chapter, it didn't affect just Egypt. Canaan was affected by this also. So this was a widespread famine. 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, what he saith you, to you do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth. What does he mean by that? I believe he means the whole earth. He says, over the whole face of the earth. There are some historians and there are some commentators that will tell you that, well, it was just in that area, that part of the world. That's not what God says. He says it was over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians. He didn't give it to them. It wasn't welfare, was it? They had to work for it. Whether they had their own money already, or they bartered with something else, or maybe they worked the storehouses themselves. And sold unto the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. Now here we see this is just talking about the land of Egypt. But, get to the next verse, the last verse of the chapter. In all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn because that the famine was so sore in all their lands. This was not just localized to Egypt. It was at least the countries around them. But if you look at what we read back in verse 56, the first part, he says, all the face of the earth. But all the countries around Egypt came to Egypt. And you think about those in Canaan. Next time we'll see where Joseph's family that was still in Canaan came to Egypt because they had heard that there was food there. But you think about how long a trip it was from Canaan to Egypt, to where, to Egypt that he was in, there close to the Nile. It was a long trek. Remember Moses? And those people, the Hebrew children that traveled through the wilderness to get to Canaan, they would have had a similar trek. Now, I'm not saying it would have took 40 years, but it would have took a long time. Remember, they went 40 years because of their unbelief. But it was still a long ways. So countries all over that part of the world were affected by this famine. And countries all over that part of the world knew Egypt had been wise and had heard the stories of this man, this Hebrew in Egypt, who had helped them store up food for this famine. And originally, Pharaoh had done it for his own people. But you notice Joseph opened the storehouses up, not just to the Egyptians, but to other countries. This was, I believe this was God showing his power to all those in that part of the world. Hey, here, my man has done what I told him. And look how Egypt has prospered. You know, we think, well, why would he prosper Egypt? They were so wicked and steeped in false religion and all that. Had no desire for the things of God. Well, sometimes God does that. Look at our nation. At the mercy that God has shown our nation. You look back in the scriptures and the things that our nation has done and is doing still, God would have called down fire and brimstone for it. But why is he not? Well, his people are still here, I believe. His churches are still here. And as long as we're here, and I'm not saying that this is no guarantee, but this is just my personal belief that as long as the churches are here, he's going to show mercy on our land for a time. That still could change, though. We know God is taking his wrath out on a nation, even with his people there. He did that in Israel. You know, Jeremiah, and there were some other prophets that were very godly men that were in the land still. But, Joseph, very godly man. He was patient. You don't see him complaining and grumbling a lot, even while he was in prison. He did get thrown into prison under false pretenses. Nobody would listen to him. And then you notice Pharaoh, Pharaoh never even brings up why he was in prison, does he? Pharaoh doesn't care. If you can interpret my dreams, that's all I want to know. He wasn't worried about his past. So we'll stop there for this morning. We'll pick up next time with when Joseph's brothers come and visit him, unknowingly come and visit him in Egypt, at least at first, they don't know that he's Joseph when they first get there. So we'll stop there for this morning.