Table of Contents
Genesis 41:38
Scripture abounds with men and women who seemed, on the surface of things, to be marked for greatness and success, but disappointments and heartaches more often than not preceded their prominence and recognition in life. We “dare to be a Daniel,” but shrivel at the idea of being thrown to the lions! We dream spiritually of being a Paul, but cringe at the thought of cold cells and a chopping block. “I wish that I was like Peter,” we might say, and forget that he denied the Lord three times and was eventually crucified upside down according to tradition. Women long to bear a son like Samuel who can make a difference in the world, but don’t relish the idea of waiting for the Lord to give them that son. Esther is held up as a heroine to many young girls, but they don’t understand that she sacrificed her life to the Lord saying, “If I perish, I perish,” before going before the king to plead for the lives of her people.
1 Joseph was one of those who seemed to be marked
Joseph was one of those who seemed to be marked for greatness from birth. Rachel and Jacob gave his name, which means to increase or to add addition. His brothers took notice of his special character and sold him into slavery. Potiphar purchased him out of slavery, saw that the Lord was with him, and made him overseer over all he had. Joseph was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and imprisoned, but won the admiration and favor of the keeper of the prison who placed all the other prisoners in Joseph’s care. Later, after Pharaoh had a troubling dream, the butler remembered a young Hebrew man in prison who had interpreted his dreams. He told the king. Pharaoh called for Joseph who interpreted the dream of the king with such accuracy that Pharaoh exclaimed, “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art” (Ge. 41:38-39).
What type of spirit, or characteristics, did Pharaoh notice in Joseph that caused him to lavish praise on a young Jewish man and elevate him to the second highest position in Egypt?
A man such as this, Pharaoh rightly understood, was a man in touch with his God, whoever He might be. “What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh” was the simple message of Joseph to the king. Unlike the magicians that Pharaoh depended upon, Joseph was in touch with his God. This he proved as he interpreted correctly the strange dream of the king, which left the magicians speechless and the god who they represented humiliated.
2 What our world needs today
What our world needs today are men and women who are in touch with Joseph’s God. Joseph had already developed and enjoyed a personal, spiritual relationship with God before he was sold by his brothers into slavery. God spoke to him through dreams, and he listened. Samuel was a young boy when he heard the voice of God and simply said, “Speak, Lord; thy servant heareth.” Samuel went on to have a long and effective ministry as priest and prophet in Israel. Before Daniel was a prophet, he was a worshiper of the Lord. Called by Nebuchadnezzar to come and interpret his dream, Daniel stood before the king and said, “The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days” (Da. 2:27-28). Peter and John were summoned to come and stand before Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and the elders in Jerusalem to answer for their disobedience to their commands to not preach in the name of Jesus. Luke said, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Ac. 4:13). The type of boldness, power, wisdom, and effectiveness these men and others had was developed by being in touch with the living God. It is no wonder then, when Joseph interpreted the dream of Pharaoh, that the king could only exclaim, “Can we find such a one as this?”
The interpretation of the dream by Joseph resonated in the soul of the king. Pharaoh beheld in Joseph “such a one” who knew the truth of God. Truth was what the king longed for. Truth was not what he could get from his magicians. The truth was scarce then as it is now. Pharaoh needed to know what God was about to do (28). Truth was what Pharaoh got from Joseph.
3 The spiritual climate in Joseph’s day
The spiritual climate in Joseph’s day was like that which was in Samuel’s years later when it was written, “And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” The significance of the word precious is ‘costly, rare’. The sense of this statement is that “At this time in Israel’s history (the late Judges Period), special revelations from God were rare. These normally came to prophets in visions or dreams (Nu. 12:6; 1 Sa. 28:6).”[1] Our country and communities, our churches and world are in need of men and women like Joseph who will declare “thus saith the Lord” when it is unpopular and often unwelcomed, and when it is becoming increasingly rare.
4 The morning following
The morning following the troubling dream, Pharaoh called for the magicians and wise men to come to interpret his dream; but none could (v. 8). Listening intently to the king, the butler, who was in the royal room, remembered his fault in not mentioning to the king how Joseph had rightly foretold his restoration to the court while he was incarcerated. Joseph was immediately summoned to come and interpret the king’s dream. Pharaoh was in need of “Such a one as this,” a man that he could trust, and he found him in a young Hebrew slave, an incarcerated man, who trusted in his God. Pharaoh would soon find out that Joseph had proved himself in Potiphar’s house, with the keeper of the prison, and in his accuracy as an interpreter of dreams. Trust was what he needed at this moment of his life. Trust was what he found and got in Joseph.
Trust is a virtue and characteristic sorely missing in our society today. It is more important than ever that a world that looks at Christians with suspicion and distrust know that our yea is yea, and our nay is nay. May we with the help of the Holy Spirit be “such a one as this” and the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable unto Him (Ps. 19:14).
