THERE’S POWER, PRESTIGE AND PROSPERITY WITH OUR GOD

IN THE DAYS OF HIS POWER SERIES.

TOPIC: THERE’S POWER, PRESTIGE AND PROSPERITY WITH OUR GOD

COMPILED/EDITED BY-:
Rev. Innocent Chukwudi Peace-Udochukwu President Living Fountain Ministries Int’l LIFOM

“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.”

SCRIPTURE frequently sums up a man’s life in a single sentence. Here is the biography of Joseph sketched by inspiration:— “God was with him”

Externally it did not always appear that God was with him, for- he did not always seem to be a prosperous man; but when you come to look into the inmost soul of this servant of God, you see his true likeness— he lived in communion with the Most High, and God blessed him: “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man.”

The transition for Joseph in one day is breathtaking. One moment he is still in the royal dungeon of Egypt, and then next moment he is being rushed to get cleaned up and prop­erly clothed in order to stand before Pharaoh. God’s timing is not al­ways personally comfortable, but His timing is the best, never too early or too late. God sent the dreams that disturbed the Egyptian king, and God used the occasion to awaken the chief cupbearer’s memory concerning a “Hebrew lad” who perfectly interpreted two dreams two years earlier. The spotlight now falls upon Joseph again so that he can be the agent of revelation to the royal pagan court.

Joseph not only has provided an accurate interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, but Joseph also gives Pha­raoh unsolicited advice about how to guide the nation through the next several years. This defies sense! Who would have thought that a for­eigner (“Hebrew”), a youth, some­one from the dungeon, serving a sentence for assaulting the wife of a high Egyptian official — who would think that such a person would now be telling a “living god” how to run his country? God’s ways are certainly not our ways, but they are amazing to behold! Pharaoh did not have the interpretation to his own dreams, and his magicians and “wise” men did not know what the solution was, but God gave all answers to Joseph. And these pagans recognize that Joseph has spoken with true wisdom.

Pharaoh is led to confess that the “spirit of God” is found in no one else but in Joseph. Pharaoh’s advis­ers are reduced to silence; they are now “dumb” in more ways than one. To Pharaoh, Joseph has the “spirit of God,” not in the sense of Holy Spirit, since the Pharaoh is not a Trinitarian. Still, to the New Testa­ment believer, Pharaoh’s words resonate on that level: Christian believers know that the Holy Spirit of God is with Joseph to give him understanding of both dreams and insight into a national crisis that will be present in seven years time.

“And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: 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. 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 the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. 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”
Genesis 41:37-44

Pharaoh promotes Joseph, putting on him the royal signet ring, fine linen robes (new clothes again!), and a gold chain. He gets his own limousine (actually, a chariot), which Egyptians are obliged to greet with acts of bowing and hom­age. Pharaoh remains the head of the state, but in fact Joseph is in charge. “Without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt,” Pharaoh tells Joseph (verse 44).

Joseph is 30 years old (verse 46) when he is promoted to being vizier, the second in charge of all Egypt, something like a modern-day prime minister. In thirteen years he has gone from being a boy hated by his own brothers, to becoming the func­tional ruler (under Pharaoh) of the entire land of Egypt! It is not that Joseph is personally clever in es­caping trouble: the Lord God was with him, enabling him to escape and to use his God-given talents and wisdom with very powerful effects.

Joseph is 30 years old (verse 46) when he is promoted to being vizier, the second in charge of all Egypt, something like a modern-day prime minister. In thirteen years he has gone from being a boy hated by his own brothers, to becoming the func­tional ruler (under Pharaoh) of the entire land of Egypt! It is not that Joseph is personally clever in es­caping trouble: the Lord God was with him, enabling him to escape and to use his God-given talents and wisdom with very powerful effects.
Joseph steps up to the plate as he is assigned a great task, namely, se­curing the food of Egypt in anticipa­tion of a great period of famine. He travels throughout the entire land of Egypt, becoming familiar with the land, its agriculture, its officials, and its people. He has been assigned high honor, but it does not go to his head in order to inflate his ego.

The seven years of plenty begin. Normally, the seasonal flooding of the Nile River sets up the situations that lead to good years of food pro­duction. The flooding deposits rich soil along the Nile banks, enabling fields to produce bumper crops.
What was different now during the seven years of plenty, we cannot be sure. In any case, the food com­ing in during harvest seasons is overwhelming, “like the sand of the sea,” the same kind of language that God had used to describe the number of children to be given to Abraham and Jacob (see Genesis 22:17 and 32:12). Food harvested near particular cities was stored in those cities. Joseph now gathers the food “beyond measure” (verse 49), so much, in fact, that record-keeping breaks down. But God, who controls the seasons and all harvests, was providing so much grain in these seven years because it would have to be enough to carry Egypt (and many others!) through a seven year period of famine.

In addition, in a world in which pub­lic officials are corrupted by money and prestige, using high office to line their own pockets, we may well believe that Joseph did his honest best to make suitable arrangements to store food supplies throughout Egypt. Had he not done his job well, when the famine came to strike the land, there would not have been enough food, and then Joseph would have lost his life. Even in a totalitarian state like ancient Egypt, rulers (like Joseph) are servants of the Most High God, ones who must someday give to God an account of their office (see Romans 13:1)
Joseph Feeds the World (41:53-57)

Joseph experienced both humiliation and exaltation. By God’s grace alone, he remained faithful to God, who has a great plan that He works out through all the twists and turns of our lives. Our calling is to be faithful to this God and the work that He assigns to us. Joseph becomes responsible for feeding Egypt and later the rest of “the world” (at least, the eastern end of the Medi­terranean). God placed Joseph here for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and the rescue of God’s people. Indeed, in so many ways Joseph’s life and career anticipate and parallel so much in Christ’s own life. His own would not receive him, he is lowered into the pit (like a grave), then raised to rule at the right hand of the authority, in charge of all things so that blessings might be distributed to many. No, Joseph is not Jesus Christ, but God is draw­ing out a pattern here that we will see fleshed out in fullness and in reality when Jesus Christ comes into this world. For our heavenly Father has given all authority to our risen Lord Jesus Christ (see Matthew 28:18) so that everyone in need might go to Him, and He will tell us what to do (see Genesis 41:55; Matthew 28:18-20).

Let us seek after a double part with God’s people by keeping heartily with them. Who is willing to suffer with them that he may reign with them? Who is willing to cast the riches of Egypt behind his back that he may have a double portion in the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey? I think I hear some of you say, “Here I am, sir. I shall be glad enough to share with God’s people, be it what it may.” Carry Christ’s cross and you shall wear Christ’s crown. Go with him through the mire and through the slough, and you shall be with him in the palaces of glory; you shall share a double portion with him in the day of his appearing. This can only be because the Lord is with you: that must be the beginning and end of it. “The Lord was with Joseph O Lord, be with us. O thou, whose name is Immanuel, God with us, be with us, henceforth and for ever. Amen and Amen.

SHALOM!

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