In our last meditation, we learned that the patriarch Joseph was forgotten by a person he had helped get out of the prison that they were both in by interpreting a dream that prophesied his release. The person was the cupbearer and personal friend of Pharaoh, who was the King of Egypt. Joseph asked the cupbearer to ask Pharaoh to get him out of prison. However, the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph’s request after he was restored. Joseph remained in prison for two years before the cupbearer remembered what Joseph had done for him.
The circumstances that awoke his memory involved two troubling dreams that Pharaoh had (Genesis 41:1-8). Pharaoh was troubled because he didn’t understand his dreams. In his two dreams, Pharaoh saw seven fat cows devoured by seven lean and gaunt cows and then seven plump and ripe heads of grain devoured by seven thin and blighted heads of grain. Pharaoh asked his wise men to give him an interpretation of the dreams, but they could not. The cupbearer spoke up, and Pharaoh listened to his story of having one of his dreams interpreted by a fellow prisoner. The cupbearer admitted his fault of forgetting about Joseph and recommended to Pharaoh that he bring Joseph out of prison to see if he could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 41:9-13). Pharaoh rehearsed his two dreams to Joseph, and then Joseph gave him a supernatural interpretation. Joseph said that both dreams had the same meaning.
In the immediate future, Egypt would have seven years of great, fruitful harvests of plenty of grain followed by seven years of severe famine caused because of harvesting no grain whatsoever.
Joseph recommended to Pharaoh that someone be chosen to gather and store up extra grain in the years of plenty in order to survive in the years of famine (Genesis 41:14-36). Pharaoh made a determination to make Joseph the person in charge of gathering extra grain in the years of plenty and also promoted him to be the PRIME MINISTER in Egypt, making him second in power to Pharaoh. God exalted and delivered Joseph from the prison to the palace in ONE DAY.
God is both able and desirous of exalting his servants immediately if He so wills (Genesis 41:37-45). God did this so He could use Joseph to save the entire family of Jacob from perishing in the famine.
Lessons to Be Learned.
- God enables his servants to both endure and learn from patiently experiencing difficult trials. Patient endurance builds godly character.
- God gives his servants wisdom and knowledge in order to solve difficult problems.
God can both deliver and exalt his servants in an instant if He so wills.
- Joseph went from being a prisoner to becoming a Primer Minister in One Day.
