Pit to Pinnacle; Prisoner to Prime Minister (Gen 41:1-57)

Genesis 41:1-57; Key Verse: Gen 41:28

"God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do."

Do you sense that God is actively yet silently working in you when your life seems to be "getting worse"? Joseph's life clearly got worse and worse for 13 years from Genesis 37-40. Yet, our God--the God of mystery and sovereignty--displays his perfect providence in the evolving story of Joseph's life. The theme of "The Hidden God" seems quite appropriate, as God allowed Joseph's life to go from bad to worse, even though he is "innocent." So far we have considered:

• The "Hidden" God in Joseph's Suffering (Gen 37:2-36).
• The "Hidden" God in Judah's Sin (Gen 38:1-30).
• The "Hidden" God in Joseph's Temptations (Gen 39:1-23).
• The "Hidden" God in Joseph's Imprisonment (Gen 40:1-23).
• Gen 41:1-57 could be titled The "Hidden" God in Joseph's Exaltation: Pit to Pinnacle; From Prison to Prime Minister.

We can consider Gen 41:1-57 in the following parts:

1. The Problem (Gen 41:1-8): Pharaoh is troubled by his dreams.
2. The Plan (Gen 41:9-24): Have Joseph interpret the dreams.
3. The Providence of God; the Point (Gen 41:25-32): God will do what only God does.
4. The Proposal (Gen 41:33-36): Look for a discerning and wise man.
   
5. The Promotion (Gen 41:37-45): From prisoner to prime minister, from pit to pinnacle, from the dungeon of despair/despondency to the height of glory.
6. The Program (Gen 41:46-49): Joseph collected food during the seven years of abundance.
7. The Profession (Gen 41:50-52): God made me forget; God made me fruitful.
8. The Provision (Gen 41:53-57): Through Joseph, God fed the world.

The sovereignty and providence of God is the overarching theme. God always does what pleases God Himself (Ps 115:3; 135:6; Jn 3:8). God is fulling his preordained purpose to save not only Joseph, but also Joseph's family, as well as all of Egypt and the surrounding nations including Canaan, where Joseph's family resided. The key verse of Joseph's story is best expressed in Gen 50:20. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." God would save Joseph and his family not only from the immediate famine, but also save them in far more profound ways that reveals the glory of God, and that delivers them from their own evil and dysfunction.

Theme: The sovereign God exalts his suffering servant to kingship in order to save the world.

Goal: To encourage God's people to entrust themselves to their sovereign God's good providence.

I. The Problem (Gen 41:1-8): Pharaoh is troubled by his dreams

Forgotten by man, but not by God. The last verse of the previous chapter says, "The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him" (Gen 40:23). As a result, Joseph, when his hopes of being released from prison was high, continues to languish in prison for two more years (Gen 41:1). Having one's high hopes dashed, might be more unbearable than a resignation to a situation with no hope at all. But though the cupbearer forgot Joseph for two years, God did not forget Joseph. After two more years in prison, at just the right time, God causes the forgetful cupbearer to remember Joseph. God accomplishes this by giving Pharaoh two dreams (Gen 41:1-7). "As it turns out, even the cupbearer's forgetfulness worked in Joseph's favor since, just at the opportune moment, he remembered Joseph and recounted his wisdom before the king." (Sailhamer, Introduction to Old Testament Theology. 297).

Troubled and with no one who can help. In the morning, Pharaoh was troubled by his dreams (Gen 41:8a). He does not understand its meaning. He probably guesses that they forecast something ominous because it has something to do with the Nile, which is the source of fertility and prosperity for the nation (cf. Eze 29:3). Pharaoh sends for all the wise men and magicians to tell them his dreams. They were the wisest, best educated men of Pharaoh’s kingdom, schooled in the art of interpreting dreams, but none could interpret them (Gen 41:8b). Why not? The things of God can only be grasped and understood by the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:10-16). The king's court grinds to a halt. Pharaoh is troubled because he does not know the meaning of the dreams God has given him, and not one of all his wise men can help him understand God's message.

II. The Plan (Gen 41:9-14): Have Joseph interpret the dreams

The rapidity of Joseph's change of status from slave to courtier. This predicament in the court finally jogs the cupbearer's memory of Joseph, who had interpreted his dream two years earlier. He tells Pharaoh what happened. Pharaoh had put him and the chief baker in prison. Each had a dream that same night. "A young Hebrew...a servant of the captain of the guard" (Gen 41:12) interpreted each dream for them, and it happened exactly as he had interpreted (Gen 41:9-13). "So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh" (Gen 41:14). The verbs in this verse expresses the urgency that Pharaoh felt and the rapidity of Joseph's metamorphosis from slave to courtier, from the "pit" or "dungeon" (Gen 37:20,22,24,28-29; 40:15) to Pharaoh's palace, and from humiliation to exaltation. This would not have happened if the cupbearer had remembered Joseph two years earlier when he was released from prison, for Joseph may have then been himself released from prison and forgotten. God is indeed sovereign as he fulfills all things exactly according to his preordained plan.

III. The Providence; the Point (Gen 41:15-32): God will do what only God does.

Only God gives a peace that quiets a troubled soul. When Joseph came before Pharaoh, Pharaoh said, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it” (Gen 41:15). Imagine the proud king of a great nation asking a foreign slave and a convicted criminal for help and advise. Imagine Joseph a foreign slave and convict being the center of attention in a royal court. How would Joseph respond? "Oh yeah, sure I can do it." Instead, he corrects the great Pharaoh! He said, "I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires" (Gen 41:16). "With hasty brevity he points from himself to God as the sole revealer, disposer and benefector." (Kidner) The KJV says, "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace" (shalom). Joseph is insistent that it will not be his own skill but God who will interpret Pharaoh's dream. Joseph is not only being humble about himself. At the same time he is offering something far better: a divine interpretation of the dreams. For it is God who will give the answer to the troubled Pharaoh, which will give him peace (shalom).

No one can explain the dream. Pharaoh proceeds to tell his dream in Gen 41:17-21. In retelling his dream Pharaoh stresses especially the negative aspect of the cows being ugly (Gen 41:3,19), that is, evil. Pharaoh is not just exaggerating; at some level he knows that his dream intimates something really terrible. In telling his second dream (Gen 41:22-24), Pharaoh stresses the failure of his magicians to interpret the dream to his satisfaction: "I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me" (Gen 41:24). Can Joseph now do what no other wise man in all of Egypt could? Will God reveal to Joseph the meaning of these dreams?

God reveals what he will do. Joseph says to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same" (Gen 41:25a). Just as Joseph's two dreams about his brothers bowing down to him had a single meaning, Pharaoh's dreams also have a single meaning. Joseph continues, "God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do" (Gen 41:25b). In giving Pharaoh this dream, God has disclosed what he is going to do in the near future. Through his servant Joseph, God will make it clear to Pharaoh what God is about to do in Gen 41:26-28. Seven years of bountiful harvests will be followed by seven years of poor harvests -- that is the meaning of the dream. Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine -- that is what God is about to do.

What God will do is fixed and certain. Notice that Joseph stresses the years of famine. Joseph devotes but one statement to the years of plenty (Gen 41:29), but five statements to the years of famine (Gen 41:30-31). Joseph makes his case and loudly sounds the alarm by this bounty of dramatic sentences. Seven years of famine was almost unheard of in Egypt, while the Nile normally flooded the fields every year with moisture and fertile silt. Thus Joseph warns, "The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon" (Gen 41:32). This plan is set and fixed by the sovereign God. God's providence calls for seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. The ESV says, "And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God" (Gen 41:32).

IV. The Proposal (Gen 41:33-38): Look for a discerning and wise man.

What God has determined calls not for resignation, but action. Instead of resigning to a sure thing, Joseph calls for action. "...the matter has been firmly decided by God... And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man..." (Gen 41:32-33). Joseph's emphasis on the certainty and imminence of what God will soon do, is not a call for resignation but action--exactly as in the preaching of the prophets. What is theologically noteworthy is the way in which the strong predestination content of the speech is combined with a strong summons to action. The fact that God has determined the matter, that God hastens to bring it to pass, is precisely the reason for responsible leaders to take measures. When Paul was planting the church in Corinth, he experienced much opposition. Perhaps he was discouraged. But Acts 18:9-10 says, "One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: 'Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.'” It could be reasoned that if God has many people in Corinth, Paul could leave or stop speaking. But it is because God has many people in Corinth, that Paul is to keep on speaking despite the persecution. The fact that God is sovereign and will fulfill his preordained purpose is never a biblical reason for resignation to God's sovereignty, since God will do whatever he has decided regardless of man's response. Rather, through out Scripture, God's preordained plan is always a call for responsible action.

God's wisdom brings peace. Joseph goes on to propose what Pharaoh can do to ease the dreadful effects of the coming famine in Gen 41:33-36. The gist of Joseph's proposal is to "look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt" (Gen 41:33). "The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials" (Gen 41:37). The news about the coming famine is horrible, but Joseph's proposal sounded good and sound to Pharaoh and his court. The prudent proposal of Joseph caused the troubled Pharaoh to be at peace. Joseph's proposal and practical call to action so pleased and moved Pharaoh that he asked a rhetorical question, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?” (Gen 41:38) Even a proud pagan king was able to recognize the spirit of God in a lowly slave and prisoner.

V. The Promotion (Gen 41:39-45): From prisoner to prime minister, from pit to pinnacle.

From prisoner to prime minister? Joseph would have been happy just to be set free from prison. But he was in for a surprise. Pharaoh said, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you” (Gen 41:39-40). Joseph was likely shocked. He could not believe what he just heard. Will Pharaoh actually do what he just said: Make him, a foreigner, a slave and a criminal, the prime minister of Egypt and the second in command only to the great Pharaoh?

Conferring honor, power, authority and blessing. Pharaoh repeats, confirms and finalizes what he had just said, “'I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.' Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck" (Gen 41:41-42). The signet ring gives Joseph the authority to validate documents in the king's name. Placing a gold chain around Joseph's neck is a well-known Egyptian symbol of investiture (conferring honor), one of the highest distinctions the king could bestow. "He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, 'Make way!' Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt" (Gen 41:43). "Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt'” (Gen 41:44). Pharaoh also gives Joseph a new, Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah -- probably meaning "God speaks and lives," and gives him a wife of nobility, Asenath, daughter of an Egyptian priest (Gen 41:45). Overnight Joseph is transformed from an imprisoned Hebrew slave to an Egyptian nobleman; even more, he becomes prime minister of Egypt without having to climb up the ranks.

VI. The Program (Gen 41:46-49): Joseph collected food during the seven years of abundance.

Diligent stewardship after a momentous promotion. After this miraculous promotion from prisoner to prime minister at age 30, Joseph does not retreat to recover from his recent travails. Instead, as he was entrusted with stewardship by Pharaoh, he travels throughout the land of Egypt and gathers up 20% of each harvest during the years of plenty and stores it in granaries in the cities (Gen 41:46-48). "Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure" (Gen 41:49). At first careful records were kept of the amount of grain put into storage. But as the volume increased, keeping careful records became impossible and finally was abandoned.

VII. The Profession (Gen 41:50-52): God made me forget; God made me fruitful.

Joy in the midst of sorrow; fruitfulness in spite of suffering. In addition to making the harvests fruitful, God also makes Joseph's marriage fruitful, giving him two sons (Gen 51:50). Joseph names the firstborn Manasseh ("making to forget"), for he says, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household" (Gen 41:51). The second son he names Ephraim ("twice fruitful"), for he says, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering" (Gen 41:52). Often we think that we experience joy by avoiding sorrow and suffering. But Joseph experienced and tasted God's victory and fruitfulness through much trouble and suffering, especially in his family. Surely, he missed his father Jacob who loved him more than his own life. Surely, he could never really forget being ruthlessly thrown into a pit and heartlessly sold as a slave by his very own dear blood brothers. Likely, he himself could not overcome such unbearable agony of soul. But he confessed and acknowledged that it was God who helped him to overcome himself, for he said, "God has made me forget" and "God has made me fruitful" (Gen 41:51-52).

VIII. The Provision (Gen 41:53-57): Through Joseph, God fed the world.

After the seven years of abundance ended, the seven evil years of famine come. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. As the famine was increasingly felt throughout Egypt, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the hungry Egyptians as well as to those from all the surrounding countries (Gen 41:53-57).

From this dramatic story, we learn numerous things. We shall comment on several things (A-F):

1. Always actively take responsibility. Joseph was not fatalistic. He did not give in to despair. He honored God by always being responsible. Knowing that God is sovereign did not cause him to surrender to blind resignation, but spurred him toward decisive action.
   
2. Boldly speak up without fear before God. Joseph was not self-conscious or fearful when he spoke to the most powerful man in the world.
3. Changes should not change you. Joseph's life changed drastically for the worse. The clothing motif spells a change in Joseph's status. Jacob's gift of the robe to Joseph elevated him among his brothers. When his brothers stripped him, he descended from a favored son to a slave (Gen 37:23). When Potiphar's wife disrobed him, it sealed his transition from trusted slave to prisoner (Gen 39:12). His change of clothing in order to come before Pharaoh (Gen 41:14) and being dressed in robes of fine linen (Gen 41:42) suggests that the clothing motif has now come full circle. Despite all these changes, Joseph was not changed by his situation, because the Lord was with him (Gen 39:2-3, 21,23).
   
4. Delight in the welfare of others. Joseph's concern was primarily for others: his father, his brothers, his master Potiphar, the prison warden, the king's cupbearer, and now even the great Pharaoh. Because Joseph truly cared for others, his heart was free to give his best when he advised Pharaoh the best course to take in view of the upcoming famine.
   
5. Entrust your life and future to God. Joseph's life has been at the mercy of his brothers, of his master Pothiphar and his wife, the chief cupbearer, and now Pharaoh. Yet, Joseph entrusted his life and future to the hand of God.
   
6. Focus on God always. Joseph's speech referenced God at every opportunity without coming across as pushy or overbearing (Gen 41:16,25,28,32).

Joseph was wonderful. Do you know who the ultimate Joseph is? The ultimate Joseph:

1. Actively took full responsibility for our sins and paid the highest price for it.
   
2. Boldly spoke up without fear before his murderer's accusers.
3. Changed not his mercy and grace toward us no matter how much we broke his heart (Heb 13:8).
4. Delighted for our welfare and benefit to the end (Jn 13:1; Jer 31:3).
5. Entrusted his entire life and death to God (Ps 31:5; Lk 23:46).
6. Focused on God always, and lived in the very bosom of his Father (Jn 1:18).

Though there are similarities between Joseph and the ultimate Joseph, there are also significant differences. Joseph took responsibility that eventually benefited himself. But when the ultimate Joseph took responsibility for us, he only stood to lose everything and he did. Joseph spoke up to Pharoah who needed his help. But the ultimate Joseph spoke up to the religious leaders who were determined to kill him, no matter what he said.

Do you know Jesus, the ultimate Joseph, who had everything but gave it all up, so that we who have nothing can gain everything?

References:

1. Greidanus, Sidney, Preaching Christ from Genesis. Chap. 21. Joseph's Rise to Power in Egypt (Gen 41:1-57). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmas Publishing Co. 2007, 394-409.
2. Kidner, Derek. Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: IVP. 1967, 194-198.
3. Altar, Robert. Genesis: Translation and Commentary. New York: W W Norton & Company. 1996, 234-243.
4. Duncan, Ligon. Pharaoh's Dream (Gen 41:1-37). Ruler in Egypt (Gen 41:38-57).
5. Johnson, S. Lewis. From Prison to Prime Minister (Gen 41:1-57).
   
6. Deffinbaugh, Deffin. From the Pit to the Palace (Gen 41:1-57).
7. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.
8. Commentary on Genesis, Vol 2, by John Calvin.
   
9. Exposition of Genesis by Herbert Carl Leupold.

Deleted Sermon:

God is sovereign; God does whatever pleases Himself. Ps 115:3 says, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." Ps 135:6 says, "The Lord does whatever pleases him." Jn 3:8 says, "The wind blows wherever it pleases." The wind represents the Spirit of God. The story of Joseph clearly reveals the God who does whatever pleases God Himself.

• God allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery by his own jealous brothers.
• God allowed Joseph to be falsely accused of rape and thrown into a foreign prison with no human hope of ever being released.
  
• God also gave specific dreams to the chief cupbearer and to Pharaoh at exactly the right time, and provided Joseph as the only one in all the land who is able to interpret those dreams.
• Despite Joseph's life getting from bad to worse, God was doing whatever pleased Himself in order to elevate Joseph to prime minister of Egypt, so that through him, God would fulfill his own purpose of fulfilling Joseph's dreams and saving his family and Egypt from a famine. More than that, God would save all parties involved in profound ways that they could never ever have saved themselves.

How do I live in light of the God who is sovereign? Like Joseph in prison, like his brothers in the prison of their own darkness, and like ourselves in the confines of our own predicament, we cannot ever truly save ourselves. How do I reconcile the God who is sovereign and live my life in a way that acknowledges his sovereignty? There is no short and simple answer. But an answer would be to always humbly submit ourselves to his sovereignty no matter what difficulties I am facing in my own life.