Joseph got in trouble because he said to his brothers when he was a boy and had had this dream that the time would come when he would be exalted over them. And now Pharaoh said, I am going to appoint you over everybody in my kingdom except me.
Now who does that include? The butler who forgot him? Potiphar, who put him in prison. and Potiphar's wife, whose lies put him in prison. in the first place.
The story of Joseph is filled with drama, surprises, and irony. It has encouraged Christians for ages and is filled with lessons for you and me.
So we're taking time this week to pause and to freshly walk through a story that may have become familiar for some of us. Hello and welcome to the Tuesday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb and I'm glad you could be with us today. Joseph has been sold by his brothers, he's been the victim of lies, he's been put in prison and seemingly forgotten. But God had not forgotten Joseph, and as we were reminded yesterday, God is the God of providence, and He is never late.
even when he calls us to wait.
So here's Dr. Sproll now as we see how God took Joseph from prison. to prominence. In our last session, we saw how that after two years. The butler finally remembered Joseph.
when he realized that Pharaoh had been so profoundly distressed by this dream that he had. And so after 13 years of trial and tribulation. Joseph is about to be vindicated. We pick up the story in chapter forty one. Beginning at verse 14.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph. and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. Maybe that day they brought him quickly out of the dungeon, but it wasn't quick enough to satisfy Joseph. He'd been there about three years. and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.
Interesting that that little detail is added there. that Joseph uh was given a new set of clothes. Because the clothes that he'd worn in prison were not Filling to appear before the Pharaoh. And it was the custom of the Egyptian men at this period in history to be clean shaven. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I've had a dream.
And there is no one who can interpret it. But I've heard it said of you that you can understand a dream to interpret it. And so Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Now the first thing that Joseph does here is expresses a statement of profound humility. Here Pharaoh himself. is talking to Joseph, who has been dragged out of prison. He's in exile. He's nothing.
in this land. Ended. Pharaoh's at his wit's end, and Pharaoh is saying, I've heard that you can interpret dreams. and nobody can interpret mine. Please help me.
I mean, what a time for Joseph to stand up there, let his chest swell out a little bit, and say, don't worry about it another minute, Pharaoh. I'll interpret it for you. I can handle this. Jesus said, It's not me. It is not in me.
to interpret your dream. Only God can interpret your dream. And here is Joseph bearing witness to Pharaoh. of the character of his god. And at the same time, Saying I'll give you the answer.
God will interpret this dream. to give Pharaoh peace. And so Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. And now, for the sake of time, I'm just going to skip over this part of the text because all that we have here is. the pharaohs recounting of the dream as we've already read it.
And he speaks of the The vouring of the Fat cows by the skinny ones and the good grain by the bad grain. And in verse twenty five we read this Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dreams of Pharaoh are one.
Now that's something that obviously the other interpreters had missed. Pharaoh, this really isn't two dreams, it's one dream. It's the same message. Given in two different forms. Joseph recognizing God's handiwork of confirming the truth.
by repetition. And he says there's a unified message in both of these dreams. The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has shown Pharaoh what he, that is what God, is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years.
and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dreams are one. And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blooded by the east wind are seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Indeed, seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt. But after them, seven years of famine will arise, and so all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will deplete the land, so that the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following it, for it will be very severe. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. And so Joseph interprets the dream. The cows and the wheat are all about what is about to unfold in the nation of Egypt.
Seven years of plenty followed by seven years of great distress and famine.
Now think about what famine can do to a nation. Think of Ethiopia, whose whole economy for the people of the land was found in cattle. They had no agriculture. They lived from their cattle. At a cattle disease, a severe blight came and completely decimated the herds.
And as a result, people in Ethiopia were dying by the millions. in our own day. Bangladesh, other places in this world where the famine comes and the crops are destroyed.
Now, in those days, they didn't have relief agencies from wealthy nations to transport goods and perishable food with airplanes and trucks and all of that.
So in that agricultural society, when a famine came, not for one year, but seven years, it would be worse than the bubonic plague. Life itself would be threatened. in the land.
Now, therefore. Let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man. and set him over the land of Egypt, Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.
So Joseph gives the word of God to the strongest politician. On the globe, and said it's time right now to introduce emergency measures of saving. for the future. And he said, What you need to do, Pharaoh. in each of the seven years.
Of plenty. We have to impose a special tax, as it were. This is not the ordinary tax. This is a crisis tax. of 20%.
20% of everything that has grown in this period is to be set aside in store cities as a reserve to have us able to meet the crisis of the famine when it comes. And you need to appoint somebody who's an able administrator. And I don't think we should jump to the conclusion that Joseph was suddenly suggesting himself here. He's just simply, this has to be done with no political machinations, no political chicanery, with the well-being, the real well-being of the people in view. In reading about this text, I was amazed at the level of taxation in ancient lands, not anywhere near the level of taxation in twentieth century America or in the economies of the Western world, such as in Europe and Canada and elsewhere.
And yet, here we are. With a tax rate. that far exceeds twenty per cent. in our country. And at the end of each year we're deeper and deeper and deeper in debt.
And as a nation. We are not saving. We are not protecting the future. of our people. We are not setting up reserves for the future.
as God commands this ancient pagan king to do. Because the ruler is responsible. to be a steward in the house of God. to be concerned for the well-being of his people. by making provisions for the future.
And you don't do that by spending more. Then you make. I don't know of any government on the face of the earth today. that couldn't learn something very significant from this text. We are a world.
of wasteful consumers. Who exploit the goods and the resources of the land. And don't preserve. things for the futures. Our silos are empty.
As we spend and spend and spend. And the more we tax, the more we spend.
Now, this program here that Joseph is advocating in the name of God. Is similar to what some of you remember still from World War Two. Where there was rationing. because there was a national emergency. And people were saving lard and silk.
and paper and all of these supplies. in order for there to be a future for the nation. And the people understood. that sacrifice was needed for survival. Because we were engaged in a world conflict.
And those kinds of severe situations call For sacrifices to be made in order to protect the future of the land and of the people. No different from what God is calling. Pharaoh to do. That food shall be as a reserve for the land for seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt. that the land may not perish.
Yeah. The famine. Verse 37 of chapter 41.
So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh. And in the eyes of all his servants. A man making a statement several years ago. in the midst of a political debate. He made this claim.
He said, I wish that we will have statesmen Who will look to the next generation. Instead of politicians, who look only to the next election. That stuck in my mind. That's the difference between a politician and a statesman. The statesman is concerned about the future generations.
The politician is only thinking short term. What do I have to do to get reelected? Instead, what do I have to do? that will really benefit The nation. Statesman.
are hard to find. But Pharaoh, at least this Pharaoh, was a statesman. and he was looking for the future of his people. And so Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find such a one as this? A man in whom is the Spirit of God?
Verse thirty nine Pharaoh said to Joseph Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house. and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.
When God vindicates his servant, he does it. Royally. Really royally. Far above and beyond anything Joseph could ask or think. That's God.
That's the promise that's made again and again in the New Testament: that if we are willing to endure suffering and humiliation for a season, that God has promised a future for his people beyond what eye has been ever to see or ear has ever heard or has even entered into the thoughts of man. We can't imagine. the wondrous things that God has in store. for his people who will trust him. in the times.
of languishing in prison. Again, the irony of God's sovereign providence here. Joseph got in trouble because he said to his brothers when he was a boy and had had this dream that the time would come when he would be exalted over them. Just a few scruffy Hebrew guys. And he got in trouble with his parents when he said there would be a time when he would be over them.
It's two people. And now Pharaoh said, I am going to appoint you over everybody in my kingdom except me.
Now who does that include? The butler who forgot him? Potiphar, who put him in prison. And Potiphar's wife. Whose lies put him in prison.
in the first place. Can you imagine in the next issue of the Egyptian Gazette. Potiphar's wife picks up the paper and sees this servant, this slave that she had slandered, is now the Prime Minister. I mean, she's saying to Ponifer, don't you think it'd be nice for us to go on a little trip or a vacation? I see them heading for Syria or someplace in a heartbeat to escape, because how do they know?
How vengeful Joseph might be. Then verse forty-two. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand. and put it on Joseph's hand. And he clothed him in garments of fine linen.
and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had. And they cried out before him, Bow the knee so he set him over all the land of Egypt. All of these symbols of power. are transferred to Joseph.
And it's not that Pharaoh said, go out and make a ring just like mine, so that Joseph can have one. Two, no. Pharaoh takes off his own signet ring. That is the sign of his unique royal authority and says, put it on Joseph. And he gives him the garments of fine linen, the garments of royalty in Egypt.
Where there the garments were white rather than purple in some of the other ancient kingdoms. fine white linen. And get him his own private chariot. And it'll be the second chariot. When we have the royal procession and Pharaoh drives in the first chariot, the second chariot will be manned by Joseph, second in command.
in the whole Nation.
Now that may seem extreme and extravagant, and you might think that Pharaoh is acting a little bit impetuously. But do you realize? First of all, Joseph has just saved the kingdom. Pharaoh would be king over nothing in fourteen years. without Joseph.
He would have been unprepared for the devastating famine. His land. Not only that. But he would still be. Trying to figure out this mysterious message that he had received.
Now, again, we have to read between the lines. Obviously, Pharaoh was inclined initially to think that Joseph might have an extraordinary degree of wisdom and might be useful in this place of power and authority that he needed somebody. But obviously, he's getting more information about Joseph and finds out that Joseph's track record is one of unparalleled excellence in administration. He's found his man. I once told somebody, I said, I need somebody to work for me.
I have a job opening at Lincoln Air. And the pay is terrific. It's the pay is two hundred thousand dollars a year. People say, well, What job do you have that offers $200,000 a year? I said, the job I'm offering for $200,000 a year is a job where somebody can come to Legion here and take care of all my problems.
And the guy said, well, I want that job. I say, well, here's the problem. First problem I have is where to find a $200,000 to pay you. Shit. That's just the short way of saying good help is hard to find.
Particularly when you get to the responsibility of that kind of management. to manage an entire kingdom. In times of Crisis.
Now, it's also important to understand that the place where Joseph was put was not only the head of peacetime operations in the land. But he was also in charge of war. He was the Chief Executive Officer for Domestic Concerns. But he was also the commander in chief of the armies of Egypt. All of that responsibility.
Given to a slave. Pagan from a dungeon. That's God. That's what God does when He raises up. whom he will.
and brings the mighty down from their thrones. That's the power that we see displayed. and the life of Joseph. We could easily look at this event in the life of Joseph and in the history of Egypt. And see at first glance the wisdom of the program that Joseph is recommending to Pharaoh.
for saving for future famine. And it would be easy, as I've already mentioned, to look at stark contrast between that and the way we manage nations today. And it's easy to throw stones at our politicians and our governments. But it goes beyond that. This kind of stewardship.
is to begin in the home. With us. That the principle that we have in Scripture. is that each family is responsible to provide for the needs of that unit. The Bible says that the father or the husband who fails to provide for his own household is worse than an infidel, worse than an unbeliever.
And the word provide means to look. A head. To make provisions. for the needs of his family. And you don't do that by spending more than you take in.
You don't do that without providing reserves for the rainy day, or worse, for the days when it never rains. and nothing grows. And so this principle applies not only to Pharaoh, the earthly governments. that it provides to us. That was R.C.
Sproul as we continue this week's study on Renewing Your Mind on the life of Joseph. You know, millions of people are being reached every month with the trusted teaching of Ligonier Ministries, including Renewing Your Mind. But we recognize, as Marcy reminded us today, that we can't spend more than we take in that is, we can't do more ministry than you financially support.
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Thank you.
Well, the scope of the famine that would come would be great, but so would God's provision. I hope you'll join us tomorrow. as we continue the study here. on Renewing Your Mind.
