Joseph

Joseph - Part 2
Genesis 40-41

After Joseph was put in prison, and the keeper put him in charge of the prisoners, the Pharaoh's butler and baker were put in prison also. They were put where Joseph was.

And each of them dreamed a dream, both in the same night, and they were both very sad. And so Joseph asked them why they were sad, and they told him that they had both dreamed dreams, but there was no one to tell them what the dreams meant, and so Joseph said to them "Doesn't the meanings of dreams belong to God? tell me them" Joseph is showing them that he believes in God.

And so the butler told Joseph his dream and here it is: In the butler's dream there was a vine with three branches, and it blossomed and ripe grapes came from the blooms. And the butler took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and gave it to him. And so Joseph told the butler that his dream meant that in three days, the butler would be once again serving Pharaoh, and then Joseph asked the butler to remember him, and to speak of him to Pharaoh, and he tells the butler that he was taken out of his home and now he is in prison, having done nothing wrong.

Then the baker told Joseph his dream, and here it is: In his dream he had three baskets on his head and the birds ate out of the baskets on his head. And Joseph told him that in three days he would be killed.

And three days later both of the dreams came true just as Joseph said they would, but the butler did not remember Joseph as he said he would.

Two years after that, Pharaoh dreamed and he dreamed there were seven fat cattle, and seven thin cattle and the thin cattle ate the fat cattle. Then the next night he dreamed that there were seven fat ears of corn and then seven thin ears of corn and the thin ears ate the fat ears. And he was very upset about his dreams, and so he looked for someone to tell him what his dreams meant. Then the butler remembered Joseph and how Joseph had told him about his dream in prison, and so Joseph was brought out of prison to tell Pharaoh what his dreams meant.

And so Joseph said that God is showing Pharaoh what is going to happen. Joseph always says that God is in control. He told Pharaoh that there are going to be seven good years of lots of food in Egypt, and then seven years of famine, that is when there is no food and people are starving. Joseph told Pharaoh that God is shortly going to make this happen. And he told Pharaoh to appoint a man and save one fifth of all the food of the next seven years, to save so that when the famine comes, there would be food in storage.

And so Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all his house and all his people, only Pharaoh would be greater than Joseph, because Pharaoh knew that the spirit of God was in Joseph. And he gave Joseph a new name which was Japhnathpaaneal, and he gave him a wife called Asenath.

And Joseph was thirty years old when he became head of Pharaoh's house. And he stored up all the food necessary to keep the people through the famine. And he had two sons before the famine came.

And then the famine came, and all the countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy food because of the famine.

Memory verse: Gen 41:32...the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Questions:
1. Who did Joseph say the meanings of dreams belong to?
2. What happened to the butler and the baker?
3. Why was Joseph taken out of prison?
4. Why was Joseph made the head of Pharaoh's house?
5. Who came to Egypt for food?

Answers:
1. God
2. the butler became Pharaoh servant again, but the baker was put to death.
3. Because Pharaoh had two dreams and the butler told him how Joseph had told the butler the meaning of his dreams and that it came true.
4. Because Pharaoh knew that the spirit of God was in Joseph, and that he could be trusted to take care of the people in the famine to come.
5. All the countries, because the famine was in all the land.

VickiGross/Aug'02