Or, Joseph’s Rise from Prisoner to Prime Minister
Scripture: Genesis 41:37-57
Date: March 19, 2017
Speaker: Sean Higgins
When a thing is fixed by God, the thing is fixed indeed. He not only makes bad things better, He has predestined to do so. Genesis 41 has fixes on at least three levels. The first level is the fix of the future abundance and scarcity. Pharaoh dreamed about fat cows and fat grain being eaten up by skinny cows and thin ears. None of his dream-priests could interpret the meaning, but Joseph explained that the dreams were one and that “the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God” (verse 32). Seven years of prosperity would be swallowed up by seven years of famine such that “all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt” (verse 30). The next fourteen years in Egypt were fixed.
The second level of fixed future regards another set of dreams, concerns both a wider geographical context and a more narrow set of characters. Joseph dreamed of himself as an upright sheaf and his brothers and sheaves gathered around and bowing down (Genesis 37:7). He also dreamed of a galaxy wherein his brothers as stars and his mother and father as moon and sun bowed down to him (Genesis 37:9). Such dreams were obnoxious to his brothers and sounded presumptuous to his father. When his brothers sold him for dead that galaxy seemed far, far away. But the ignorance of the magicians was the plan of God for sake of Joseph’s opportunity to shine. The previous 13 years in Egypt had been fixed.
The third level of fixed future regards a vision given by God to Abram. “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:13-14). God predestined to keep His covenant people alive in a foreign land (Genesis 50:20) until the time that He would deliver them by His mighty hand for an everlasting testimony. Centuries previous and coming were fixed by God.
While God always works all things according to the counsel of His will, we don’t always see the convergence of so many levels in such a precise point. The fulcrum of the fix pivoted in about an hour.
As I said, Pharaoh dreamed and was disturbed by the dream but none could tell him the meaning. The chief cupbearer remembered how Joseph had interpreted his dream, and that of the chief baker, and referred Joseph to Pharaoh. All manner of manic effort was made to hurry Joseph before Pharaoh and, when Pharaoh told his dream, Joseph told him the interpretation. Joseph went even further than asked and offered Pharaoh unsolicited counsel on how to prepare for the coming famine. Appoint an overseer of overseers, federal over local, and start banking a national reserve of grain against the years of hardship.
Would Pharaoh accept the interpretation? How would he take being advised by this young, foreign, slave-prisoner?
The first part of the chapter (verses 1-36) which took place all on one day are fulfilled in the second part of the chapter (verses 37-57) which take place on that day and over the next eight-plus years.
Pharaoh did not erupt in anger toward Joseph, nor did he turn to his counselors and immediately begin brainstorming solutions. This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. Somehow there was immediate, unanimous agreement and approval. This consensus may be one of the most miraculous elements in the chapter. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” The answer was so obvious; the answer was standing in the room. Joseph and Pharaoh may not have been talking about the same God, but Pharaoh recognized divine presence and guidance in Joseph.
We might think an award would be in order, maybe an extra ration of wine that night back in his prison cell. Perhaps Pharaoh would thank him for his service and free him from prison to go home, but that would be a surprising and excessive prize. What happened next could not have been predicted.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:39–41)
Joseph rises from prisoner to prime minister, to second-in-charge, over…all the people and all the land . Moses doesn’t say whether or not this appointment also pleased the servants of Pharaoh, but from here through the end of Joseph’s life there are no stories at all concerning envy toward or conspiracy against Joseph in Pharaoh’s house. Joseph urged Pharaoh to “select a discerning and wise man” (verse 33) and Pharaoh realizes that there is none so discerning and wise as you are.
The events in verses 42-45 happened some that day and some over the coming days. The activity is Pharaoh’s; he is the subject of the verbs. Pharaoh installs Joseph into office with power, Joseph does not grab at it.
In verse 42 the signet ring sealed documents and letters with royal authority. Joseph spoke as Pharaoh. The garments of fine linen were royal apparel, distinguishing Joseph with regard and rank, along with the gold chain about his neck .
In verse 43, when they went out through the city, the cavalcade was changed: Joseph rode with Pharaoh. He made him ride in his second chariot. More than that, They called out before him, “Bow the knee!” The translation of the word abrek is uncertain, but “Kneel!” fits the context. It could be something with the effect of “Make way!” (NIV) or “Attention!” (HCSB note). Pharaoh has installed Joseph with distinction and dominion.
In verse 44 the extent of Joseph’s rule is clarified. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” The monarch empowers his minister. No one may do anything of which Joseph does not approve. They can’t lift a finger or take a step without his authorization.
And in verse 45 Joseph is naturalized into the culture by name and by marriage. Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah , which undoubtedly had significance but we don’t know exactly what it is. And he gave him in marriage to Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. The city of On , called by the Greeks “Heliopolis” or “City of the Sun,” was a significant place and Potiphera was a man of political, not just spiritual, prominence. Joseph is now one of them, but also above all of them.
The remainder of chapter 41 summarizes the seven years of abundance and the beginning of the famine. Three things describe Joseph’s administration.
The seven plentiful years occurred just as Joseph prophesied, and he worked with great wisdom and diligence.
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. He was seventeen years old at the beginning of chapter 37, and probably still seventeen when sold to the Midanite traders. For thirteen years he got up every morning and served someone else, away from his family, earning esteem only to have it do him no apparent good, until now. Now he commanded the entire country.
And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. We might call this style of business MBWA: management by walking around. Joseph (and his entourage) made a circuit through all the land in order to promote and put his policies into practice. He apparently received little if any pushback.
During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. (Genesis 41:47–49)
Joseph worked, though he himself couldn’t make a single grain grow. The earth produced abundantly by God’s grace and power. Then Joseph and his collection teams stored up grain in great abundance , and Moses likens it to the sand of the sea , a metaphor important to promises of God given to Joseph’s father (see 32:12). As Solomon would later make silver as prevalent as stones in Israel due to its abundance, the Egyptian government stopped even trying to quantify the grain stores.
Assiduous means showing great care and perseverance. Joseph did not think to himself, “I’ve slaved for thirteen years, I deserve a break. Make others do the work.” As prime minister he exercises assiduous oversight with wisdom, energy, diligence, and ability to lead.
Moses records a second kind of fruitfulness Joseph experienced before finishing the seven years of plenty. Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” It has now been nineteen years since being sold away from his family, and with the birth of his first son Joseph is so overwhelmed with joy that the pain is (almost) forgotten. The name Manasseh sounds like “making to forget” in Hebrew. The use of Hebrew rather than Egyptian names means hasn’t forgotten everything he came from.
It might seem dishonorable to forget his father, Israel, and the promises given by God to and through Israel. But Joseph clearly hasn’t forgotten all about them; he’s referring to them at the moment. He’s emphasizing that the hardship was forgotten, as if he said, “God’s grace has painted over all the suffering caused by my father’s sons.”
The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” This second son’s name sounds like “making fruitful” in Hebrew. Joseph recognizes God’s blessing on him even in the soil of suffering. He got grief from his father’s house, and grief in Egypt, but God was good to him.
What else could God have given to Joseph? God gave him the whole world and yet Joseph did not lose his soul. His plans had worked. The economy was strong and years of extra grain was stored against the future. He had his own family. Things were good. And instead of swelling pride and a head trip, Joseph humbly gives credit to God.
The final paragraphs of chapter 41 begin to fulfill the dreams of two people, Pharaoh and Joseph himself. The famine arrives as scheduled and the shortage of food will draw Joseph’s brothers from Canaan in the next chapter.
The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” (Genesis 41:53–55)
The seven years of plenty…occurred…as Joseph had said . Joseph’s words were corroborated and his trustworthiness increased; he was a man to be listened to. That the seven years of famine began to come indicates that the famine didn’t arrive overnight. There may not have been a clear break in seasons. But however quickly the people realized it, two things were true: in all the land of Egypt there was bread and also all the land of Egypt was famished . This isn’t a contradiction because being hungry is not the same as not knowing where the store is. The shelves in the store may be full even if your stomach isn’t. When the people cried to Pharaoh for bread he sent them to Joseph. Pharaoh wasn’t distancing himself from the needs of his people, he had already appointed Joseph to take care of his people. Joseph was ready to open the storehouses rather than hoard the grain.
So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. (Genesis 41:56–57)
Not only did the Egyptians come to buy bread, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth . This was a severe famine indeed.
The fix is in. Joseph’s brothers will soon need to come get food from the only person in the world who has it: Joseph. God fixed the years of abundance as surely as He fixed the years of famine. God fixed the day of Pharaoh’s dream as surely as He fixed the magicians’ ignorance. God fixed the who, the what, the when, the where, for sake of His why.
The lengths God went to raise Joseph took no little coordination. The lengths included brotherly bitterness, false accusations by Potiphar’s wife, and disregarded ability the chief cupbearer. The lengths included political figures all the way up to the King, economic and industrial programs, and domestic and international crisis. All this was used by God to make Joseph glorious; He predestined Joseph’s glorification. When we encounter God, we encounter the glorifying God, the God who glorifies. God has fixed glory for His people.
The fixed purpose of God to glorify does not make us idle or ungrateful or unprepared. God’s word reveals our responsibilities as well as God’s control over all things.
This is Paul’s message in Romans 8. God predestined His people for glorification, though the path is suffering. He purposes the end and He purposes the preparation process which often involves pain. But this pain conforms us to Christ’s image, and this future is fixed by God.