Genesis 41

Joseph has had a pretty bad losing streak so far in the book of Genesis. He was the favorite son which placed him last on the list with his brothers. He had dreams that showed the future which made him an outcast in the family. His dreams gave him the future of being a very successful person which brought more hatred toward him. His brothers became sick of all the glorification of Joseph. They were fed up with him and wanted to rid of him. They threw him into a pit and decided to spare his life and be humane enough to sell him into slavery. Joseph no longer is a free man, but is owned by someone else. He gets thrown into jail where it seems like he might have a break, but he is left behind and forgotten by those he helps. His life that was supposed to be so glorious seems to have gone down the drain. Then we get to Genesis 41.

Pharaoh has a couple of dreams in Genesis 41. These dreams make Pharaoh a little bit uneasy. He does not know what to make of them, but he is nervous about them. He sends for wise men and magicians to tell him what the dreams mean. How typically human of Pharaoh. He sends out for humans to decipher a prophetic dream. He does not send his request to the Lord first off. He does not ask God what the dreams meant, but instead he goes to the people first. This is something that I feel like we do on a regular basis as humans. We do not go to God first, but instead, we go straight to our friends or whoever we see as wise first. When something freaks us out, it is not always easy to go to God because God may not have the answer that we want to hear.

Pharaoh hears about Joseph and he sends for him. Joseph explains that it is beyond his power to tell Pharaoh what his dreams mean. It is only through God himself that Joseph can tell Pharaoh his dreams. It is only through God that anything can be revealed to Pharaoh. Joseph recognizes God and tells Pharaoh that it is only through him that any light can be shed on this dream. He does not hesitate to tell him this.

Joseph explains to Pharaoh again that God is telling him. God is speaking to him. He is telling Pharaoh what is happening in the dreams. Pharaoh then has a choice whether or not to follow what God is telling him through Joseph or to continue to live life in his own way. This is Joseph's big break, he is brought out of everything that he was thrown into and made ruler of Egypt. This goes back to Joseph's dreams himself. He was made into someone who everyone will bow down to, even his family.

As I read through this, the biggest thing that I am reminded of is that God speaks. God speaks. We talked about this a little bit last week. We talked about how it freaks us out when God speaks to us. We forget as a body so often that God does does speak. This passage reminds me that we serve a living God. We serve an active God. Someone who is in our life and is intentional with us. We serve an intentional God. Looking back at previous chapters, we see how Joseph lived a life that was fully dependent on God. How else would he get through the pits? How else would he get through prison? Only a man of God who knows that God speaks can get through these things. Joseph knew from the beginning that God was going to make him into something. He saw his visions and spoke the visions of God. He may have been persecuted, but it is through those persecutions that he was refined and made into the leader that God wanted him to be. It all was in God's timing. We are so willing to turn to our friends especially when God's timing just isn't working out for us. However, God speaks and we need to be willing to listen. It is then that God's plan works out the best.