Genesis 40-42
CHAPTER 40
The chief cupbearer and chief baker are in custody and put in prison and assigned to Joseph. They both have a dream that they don’t understand and when Joseph notices their sad demeanor he asks them about it. We see that even though Joseph is in jail he still feels care and compassion for those around him. When Jesus is in our hearts, we feel compassion for others and the need to help. Joseph asks them to tell him their dreams and with God’s help, he is able to interpret them. For, “do not interpretations belong to God?” (Gen 40:8)
God spoke in dreams so he could certainly help Joseph interpret them. Examples of God speaking through dreams are when:
· God spoke to Jacob in dreams (Genesis 28:12, 31:11).
· God spoke to Solomon in a dream (1 Kings 3:5).
· God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream (Daniel 2:1).
· God spoke to Daniel in a dream (Daniel 7:1).
Joseph interprets their dreams and tells the cupbearer to remember him, show him kindness, and mention him to Pharaoh when he is out of prison. He also interprets the bakers dream correctly and he is impaled 3 days later, just as Joseph had described. We see that Joseph wasn’t afraid to tell the whole truth. Although, the cupbearer was restored to his position, he did not remember Joseph and forgot him until two full years had passed (Gen 41:1).
Chapter 41
Finally, 2 years later, when the Pharaoh has a dream that not even the magicians and wise men of Egypt could interpret, the cupbearer remembers Joseph. This is how life is for us sometimes. We know there is a calling on our lives, we know that God is doing something, but maybe the timing is not for this very moment. So, therefore we must wait, and the waiting is the hardest part. But, it is in the waiting that we are being prepared, it is in the waiting that we are being molded into who God wants us to be, it is in the waiting that we are being made ready for the job we are to do.
Joseph is brought out of his jail cell and into the presence of Pharaoh. Pharaoh tells him his dreams and Joseph interprets them with ease. Both the first dream of the cows and the second dream of the grain “are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine” (Gen 41:25-27). Not only does he interpret them but he gives Pharaoh instructions on what he must do with this information in Gen 41:33-36.
Pharaoh, amazed, asks the question that brings everything together just as God had planned from the movement he was sold into slavery 13 years before. “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the Spirit of God?” (Gen 41:37) He finds no one like Joseph and places him in charge of the palace, with everyone submitting to his orders, and only in respect to the throne, was Pharaoh greater than he (Gen 41:39-40). Wow! Isn’t God amazing? Everything, every single trial, every single circumstance, every suffering he endured, brought him to this very moment. Second in command of all of Egypt. “Joseph’s was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Gen 41:46).
Soon after Joseph is given a new name, Zaphenath-Paneah and also takes an Egyptian wife named Asenath.
Jewish legends say each letter of Joseph’s Egyptian name meant something. Linking them all together, these legends say the meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name was “Seer – redeemer – prophet – supporter – interpreter of dreams – clever – discreet – wise.”
i. More likely the name means, God Speaks and He Lives, referring to God’s word coming through Joseph, his own preservation, and the way he preserved both Egypt and the whole region. (Enduring Word Commentary)
He also has two sons, the first is named Manasseh, meaning forget, for God made him forget all his trouble and his father’s household, and the second was named Ephraim, meaning twice fruitful, for God made him fruitful in the land of his suffering.
Joseph plans everything out well with the wisdom the Lord gives him and he stores “up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure” (Gen 41:49) that all of the world heard about it and came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was everywhere (Gen 41:57).
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
CHAPTER 42
Joseph, now governor of Egypt, recognizes his brother as they come to buy grain. They bow to him and therefore fulfilling the dream he had at 17, the dream that had made their bitterness grow into hatred, and therefore caused them to sell him into slavery. But, they did not recognize Joseph.
Joseph calls them spies and asks where they come from, and when they say that they are honest men, twelve brothers, sons of one man, in Canaan, a younger brother with his father, and a son that is no more. Maybe after many years of telling themselves this lie they actually believe it, but their conscience doesn’t let them forget, for once Joseph calls them spies and puts them in prison for 3 days they believe they are being punished for what they did to Joseph.
On the third day they agree to prove their honesty by leaving Simeon in prison and going back for Benjamin. Why Simeon? We don’t know, maybe Joseph chose him because he didn’t have as much part of the selling of Joseph in Genesis 37, or maybe he volunteered. What we do know is that he stayed and the brothers went home with grain, and their silver still in their bags. This made them afraid because they had already been called spies and now they could be called thieves and put back in prison upon their return.
Once arriving they tell their father the news of what happened and Jacob, knowing the kind of men his children were was distressed.
“You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”
Jacob doesn’t know exactly what happened with Joseph, but he does suspect some foul play with his sons, so he does blame them for his loss of Joseph and is fearful the same will happen to Benjamin. But, Reuben, too much surprise, is willing to lay down his own sons lives to prove that he will keep Benjamin safe. Reuben is the oldest, the one that commits incest with his father’s concubine Bilhah (Genesis 35:22) and the one who was not able to save Joseph from his brothers (Gen 37:29-30).
But Jacob cannot bring himself to trust them or trust God. He spoke of Benjamin as if he had only one son left, “My son will not go down with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow” (Gen 42:38).
This is where we end day 27’s reading. Tomorrow we will read Genesis chapter 43-46. I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time. I know I am! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our upcoming weekly zoom sessions!
