41 WHEN TWO FULL YEARS HAD PASSED, Pharaoh had a dream: Genesis 41
Joseph, a Hebrew, a believer in one God, after a further time of waiting became ruler of Egypt (represents the world). God brought it to pass in His perfect time. He placed a man who feared and honoured Him over all the land. Could we be about to see this again today?
Joseph gave Pharaoh the interpretation of his dreams, a prophetic outline of the next fourteen years, seven good years followed by seven years of famine.
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.’ 42 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 round his neck. 43 He made him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, ‘Make way!’
Joseph lost his identity when ‘his brothers’ stripped off his robe and threw him into the cistern, and then sold him into slavery. Pharaoh gave Joseph a new identity when he made him the ruler of Egypt. His Ring, fine robes to replace the one he’d lost, a gold chain and a chariot to ride. Some in the body may be about to be confirmed in their new identities by the Lord.
45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh, a ruler, continued to establish Joseph’s new identity by giving him a new name and a wife. Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt, he had total freedom to move around after being confined for a long time. God will bring His people into freedom once again, after the enemy’s attempts at imprisonment.
50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, ‘It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.’ 52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, ‘It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.’
Before the years of famine Joseph had two sons born and their names are significant. Genesis 41:51, 52 Manasseh, it is because God has made me forget all my trouble and my family. Is God telling some today to forget the past and move on to the things He has for them? We can’t go forward looking back! Ephraim, twice fruitful in suffering. Many of us have gone through difficulties, but God uses them to produce fruit in our lives. Joseph’s second son, Ephraim, was the greater under his father Jacob’s blessing, but they were both blessed boys, counted as Jacob’s own sons.
48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. IN EACH CITY HE PUT THE FOOD GROWN IN THE FIELDS SURROUNDING IT. Genesis 41
Each area was responsible for its own harvest, no centralised control. I believe it will be this way in the days of harvest that lie ahead, authority will be within the local body.
God bless and keep you today.