By Ashlee Price
The baker’s glared at Joseph. How dare he give me this interpretation! I don’t believe it one bit; he thought. But when he remembered the interpretations were from God and not Joseph, he realised he couldn’t be angry. He sighed heavily and soon his angry eyes changed and filled with tears. We don’t know for sure, but we can imagine Joseph putting his arm around the baker to comfort him in his last days on this earth, and perhaps he shared the good news of salvation with him, so that he could decide to follow God before he died. However it happened, we know Joseph was kind and caring and did all he could to uplift the hearts of others around him.
Sure enough, three days later, the baker was taken out to be executed, and the butler was returned to Pharaoh’s palace. Before the butler had gone though, Joseph asked him to tell pharaoh about him, so that he might be let out of prison, as someone had unfairly placed him there by Potiphar.
But when the butler found his home in the lavish courts with marble walls instead of the grey cells of the jail, he quickly forgot about Joseph and never made mention of him to Pharaoh.
Joseph remained in prison for two more years, losing hope of ever getting out, when God finally opened the way for him to be set free.
One night, the pharaoh had two dreams that troubled him, and none of his wise men could interpret it. And when he told his officers about them, something triggered the memory of Joseph in the butler’s brain. He said to Pharaoh, “I know of one who can interpret your dreams. It is a Hebrew slave in the prison—the baker, whom you executed two years ago, and I both had dreams, and he could interpret them correctly. The baker was to be executed, and I was to be reinstated to my position in your courts.”
Pharaoh was embarrassed to have to get an interpretation of his dream from a slave, but he was desperate enough to try anything that would give him relief. So he sent for Joseph and Joseph was brought to Pharaoh’s palace.
Standing before Pharaoh and all of his counsellors, Joseph listened to the dreams.
Pharaoh’s first dream was about seven fat cows coming out of the river, followed by seven skinny cows. And the skinny cows ate up all the fat cows, but remained unhealthy-looking, just as they had before.
The second dream was about seven plump ears of corn growing on a stalk, followed by seven withered ears of corn that ate up the plump corn, yet remained just as withered as before.
“What do these things mean?” Pharaoh asked worriedly.
“Pharaoh’s two dreams are one,” Joseph began. “God wishes to show Pharaoh how to prepare for the future, which is why He wants to reveal the meanings to you. There are going to be seven years of plenty, where everyone will have enough food and water. But seven years of famine will follow, where people will starve and some even dying. The solution to this problem is that Pharoah should appoint one man over the land of Egypt, and make preparations to store up food during these seven years of plenty for the seven years of famine, so that there will be enough food for his people to survive.”
Pharaoh was pleased with Joseph’s interpretation, so he began searching for a man to appoint over Egypt to store up the food for the years of famine, just as Joseph had said. Pharaoh realised he could find no better person to fulfill the great honour than Joseph himself, as he had proved himself loyal to his commander, Potiphar, and the jailers in the prison.
So Joseph was made the second in command over all of Egypt, with only the Pharaoh ruling above him. And Joseph was very thankful for the opportunity to share the worship of his God with the officers in Pharaoh’s palace. Throughout all his days, he remained ever faithful to the Lord, who had always been his true Master, no matter who had been put in charge of him.
Joseph later prepared the storage of food that God had revealed for him to do in Pharaoh’s dreams, and so when the years of famine came, there was plenty of food for everyone to eat. But Joseph’s story doesn’t end there: he saved his whole family from starvation when his brothers came to Egypt looking for food to take back to their families. God helped restore Joseph’s relationship with his brothers, and Joseph could see his beloved father again after all those years.
The rest of the life of Joseph shows that God really cares and looks out for us in everything that we face in our lives. Even when you feel like your situation is too impossible for Jesus to fix, just remember how God used Joseph’s unpleasant experiences to bring good things into his life. God can turn any bad experience into one that will glorify Him if we will trust His perfect plan for our lives.
PICTURE CREDIT – FreeBibleimages
