"I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."
That is extreme confidence. Confidence in hearing God and confidence that God will do what He says. Here Joseph is, brought up out of prison, allowed to shave and change clothes, standing before the most powerful man on earth... He was brought out of prison for one task, and the first thing he says is: "I cannot do it." I wonder how long he waited to finish his sentence. I wonder if Pharaoh's facial expression changed during that lull.
After Pharaoh tells Joseph his dreams, Joseph tells him that "God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do." This is an amazing statement. My previous interpretations of this passage always revolved around how God was setting this up for Joseph to get where he was later to be. I kind of ignored the fact that God was blessing an Egyptian Pharoah. Joseph repeats this earlier phrase when he interprets the dream: "It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do." That is a great privilege. Joseph is also going out of his way to difuse the reaction to his wonderful gift of dream interpretation. It is God doing the work, not him. Even though a little bit of bragging might have helped get him out of jail, he refused to take the glory.
No sooner had he walked out of prison, being led by guards no doubt, is he given a ring, fine linens, a gold chain necklace, and he rode around in a chariot, where men shouted before him, "Make way!" What a turn around. He was put in charge of the whole land of Egypt. He was given the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. Joseph was only 30 when all this happened. Quite a heady turnaround for the young man.
Joseph stockpiled a fifth of the grain during the plentiful years of Egypt, preparing for the seven years of famine to follow. The grain was so much in abundance that records stopped being kept. Joseph had two sons, the first of which was named Manasseh, which meant "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The second was named Ephraim, and he pronounced, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." It is obvious by these statements that he hadn't forgotten the tragic events that brought him to Egypt, but it was a kind of "forgiveness forgetting" that he applied to these memories. This would help explain how God forgives and forgets. He doesn't actually forget, like an imperfect mind loses information once stored there, but He applies a forgiveness that doesn't budge an inch to bitterness.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 1, 2007 09:37 AM