Genesis 41:41-57

Daily Reading for Friday, Week 4

Genesis 41:41-57 (English Standard Version)

⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt." ⁴²Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. ⁴³And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, "Bow the knee!" Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." ⁴⁵And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, ⁴⁸and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. ⁴⁹And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

⁵⁰Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. ⁵¹Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house." ⁵²The name of the second he called Ephraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

⁵³The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do."

⁵⁶So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

Pastor's Commentary:

God was working everything out just so that many lives could be saved through Joseph's work, and through the work of many in Egypt during those seven years. Just think of how God uses you to help others at your work. Even if you do not have a regular job, God still uses you as a mother or a father, a son or a daughter, a grandfather or a grandmother. These are all ways that God works here on earth to help people. You may not have the responsibility of being over all of Pharaoh's kingdom, but God does use you in many ways. Even now, just by reading this blog, God is using you as a student in Bible Study. Being a pastor just happens to put bread on my table. Thanks for helping me do that!

The way God sees things, even the menial things like changing diapers or cleaning out the sewers or even doing the dishes for your spouse, these are high and holy callings that God uses to help people. God takes your work and makes it His way of working in the world. That's something to think about the next time you have to clean out the kitty litter box!

The names of Joseph's two sons had a special meaning. Manasseh means, "God has made me forget" and Ephraim means, "Fruitful." Know for certain that God will not forget you, but He will be fruitful toward you for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Because Jesus died and rose from the dead we have the greatest hope in the life to come!

In this text, Joseph is like Jesus in some ways. The people are told to bow the knee to Joseph, and Joseph is given great power in Egypt. He is even the one who saves many lives. But we do not hope in Jesus for this life alone, but for eternal life. Then and there every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.