Genesis 41: 46-52
Now when Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had dreams that baffled his wise men, Joseph was called to interpret his dreams, and he also presented a plan for how to survive what the dreams predicted. Pharaoh believed him, and appointed Joseph his vizier, the second in command after Pharaoh, to administer the plan he gave him.
(46) Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
Now Joseph had to assess the whole nation's assets, so he went through all the land of Egypt. He familiarized himself with the lay of the land, in order to honestly tax the people's produce from their fields. It was a flat tax of 20% of all the grain from everybody's fields (verses 33-36).
(47) During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth abundantly.
Just as Joseph told the king from his dreams.
(48) So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields.
Joseph's experience in managing Potiphar's holdings prepared him for this. He had good business sense to store the gathered grain all over the whole land, in the cities near the fields where the grain had grown, and near the people who lived all over the nation. He didn't gather it up into a centralized place. He scattered the storage bins all over.
(49) Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.
The fifth of the grain that was produced during these seven years mounted up so abundantly that they didn't even have numbers to count that high, he just kept on building more bins to store more grain all over the place.
(50) Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
While Joseph is charioting around the land gathering all the grain into the storage bins, and managing all the kings people, he also is building his family. Life has never been better for Joseph! God has honored his patience and perseverance and has prospered him greatly.
(51) Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my troubles and all my father's household."
The name Manasseh means, "Making to Forget." Now he can focus on all the good that is happening in his life, and he's too busy to think about all the trouble his brothers brought on him.
(52) He named the second, Ephraim, "For," he said,"God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
The name Ephraim means, "Fruitfulness." God is prospering him not only with his work and his income, but also with two beautiful sons to carry on his line. So much bad has happened to him in this foreign land, but it has all led to this wonderful good life he is living now.
God used all the experiences in Joseph's life to prepare him for this very thing. Joseph had no idea of what would happen to him at every step of the way. Every time he thought he was doing well, it just collapsed on him.
When he obeyed his father and found his brothers, they betrayed him. Then when he was working for Potiphar and managing all his holdings, then Potiphar's wife goes and slanders him, and he ended up in jail. Then even when he thought the cupbearer would put in a good word for him, he forgot and let him down, so Joseph still sat and waited.
Joseph was disappointed at least three times that we are told about, when he did what was right but it turned out negatively anyway. God was building in Joseph the trust in Him and the perseverance to slog through those disappointments without losing faith in God. Without losing his footing. He was building character. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!" It's all in how we choose to respond.
O my Father, this story of this man is so encouraging. You had Joseph go through so much trouble and hardship and disappointment, yet he never lost sight of You, and the encouragement of those two dreams he had in early youth. His own dreams are now coming true, as he now has the honor and respect and homage of the whole nation of Egypt, one of the most powerful nations of that day.
My Father, seeing how Joseph hung on to You through the storms of life, and how You rewarded him, is so encouraging to me. You have me also sitting, waiting for what You have prepared for me. Strengthen me to keep on keeping on, as Joseph did. He didn't know how it would turn out until it did, and I don't know how my life will turn out, either; but I trust You and Your love for me, that uses everything I experience to prepare me, too. I don't know if what I think I see is what You have planned for me, or if You have something even better!
O Father, use me. Send me out, send my words out, into all the world; so that Your children will grow up in You, and that everyone will hear of Your great love for us all. Father, send out all Your children, wake us up to Your Plan of the Ages, and our parts in it, each one of us. Make each of our threads in Your grand Tapestry of Time to shine and sparkle against the black velvet backdrop of the threads of the evil, rebellious ones. And bring every embryo to the birth into Your family to fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable children.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, our Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
