Genesis 41:33  Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34  Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35  And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36  And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.

Over the past several weeks we have seen reports of riots in SriLanka that have caused a change in government in that country. This change has not been for the good. The new leaders have used much more force than the former leaders did. The protestors are said to be shocked at the response that the new leaders have used.
In the Netherlands we have witnessed the farmers protesting against the government plan to try to limit nitrogen use and ultimately to reduce the productivity of the farm land. In Canada, many people joined this protest this past weekend. Our governments are clueless when it comes to almost everything and they certainly do not care about the well being of the average citizen. The governments that are doing these things are following the plan of the WEF. The goal is called the “Great Reset”. The goal of this is to change the thinking of humanity by 2030. The common statement they are making is “you will own nothing and be happy.”
For the past two+ years world leaders have also been trying to slowly but surely decrease the population of the world. Al Gore is on record talking of this goal. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is the plan. The elites believe there are too many people living on this earth and they believe it is necessary to drastically reduce the population of the world. God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply, but secular man thinks he is so much wiser than God.
All of this is in direct contrast to what we see taking place in the life of the fledgling nation of Israel in our text. Egypt was a very powerful nation at that time. It is interesting to note that God gave the Pharaoh of that time two dreams that were related to each other. The Pharaoh was disturbed by the dreams, but he did not understand what they meant. His counsellors did not know what they meant either.
God had been preparing Joseph, the 11th son of Jacob, and the firstborn son of Jacob of Rachel. Jacob loved Joseph more than he did his other sons. Joseph’s brothers despised him and they developed a hatred for him. They sold him into slavery and Joseph ended up in Egypt. There he conducted himself with great wisdom. He was put in charge of Potiphar’s household. He proved himself to be a wise young man. Potiphar’s wife was a wicked woman who wanted to commit immorality with Joseph. Joseph knew the fear of God in his heart and he refused to entertain her advances. Eventually she found a way to catch him somewhat off guard and as he fled from her, she caught hold of his outer robe and he left it behind and fled. She used this as an occasion to concoct a lie that would get Joseph in trouble.
Wicked people prove their true nature in many ways. They care nothing for others. They are very selfish and will trample on anyone they can to get what they want. If they cannot have what they want, they will try to make life miserable for others.
God was with Joseph and he protected him even though Potiphar’s wife made up a lie about him. Potiphar could have had Joseph killed for what he was accused of. Instead, he put Joseph in prison. In prison, Joseph continued to prove himself a wise man. He served the jailer with integrity and the jailer put him in charge of the prisoners.
While Joseph was in prison Pharaoh had been upset with his baker and butler and had cast them in prison. While there, God gave those two men dreams as well. Neither of these men could understand what their dreams meant. The following morning, Joseph could see these two men were troubled. Joseph was a God-fearing man. He cared about others. He was not on a pity party. He saw these men were troubled and he wanted to help them. He asked them what the trouble was and they told him of their dreams. God gave Joseph the wisdom to be able to interpret these men’s dreams for them. The interpretation was accurate and the results came to pass in just a few days. The baker was ordered killed by the Pharaoh, and the butler was restored to his duties. Joseph had asked the butler to remember him when he was restored back to his duties. The butler was a lost man, and while grateful for having his dream interpreted, he forgot all about Joseph. He had his job back and he had his freedom again and that was all that mattered to him.
Two years after this is when the Pharaoh had his dreams. It was when he was seeking someone to interpret those dreams for him that the butler finally remembered Joseph. He rightly told Pharaoh what Joseph had done for him and the baker. Joseph was called to come before Pharaoh. We see that Joseph showed honour for those in authority over him. He changed his apparel and he prepared himself to be presented before the king.
Joseph made sure that Pharaoh understood there was a God in heaven who interprets dreams. Joseph did not want Pharaoh to get any wrong ideas about him. He was a faithful servant of God. A faithful servant of God exalts His name at all times. Others need to understand the need to know the true God.
Pharaoh was a pagan man but he did not take offence to what Joseph had just told him. This Pharaoh was different than the one who would come after him. Pharaoh relayed the dreams to Joseph and Joseph gave him the answer he needed. He reminded Pharaoh that God was giving him a message. God was warning him of a famine that was soon going to come upon Egypt and the nations around them. God had a plan and He was moving things along according to His plan.
In the verses we have at the top of our devotional, we see that Joseph was not a boaster. He was a humble man of God who gave Pharaoh some wise counsel. He needed someone who was discreet and wise. The word translated as “discreet” means “to know or to understand”. Pharaoh needed someone who would know how to prepare for the famine that was coming. He needed someone wiser than he was and wiser than his counsellors were.
Pharaoh saw in Joseph what was needed to look after this matter. Again we see God’s hand of favour at work here. Pharaoh could see that he had no-one in his inner circle or in his kingdom that had demonstrated the wisdom of Joseph. Joseph had already told Pharaoh that it was God that gave him the dreams, and it was God Who had given Joseph the ability to interpret the dreams. This Pharaoh saw the value of having a man like Joseph take charge of this matter.
The world did not know about democracies at that time. That was a good thing. God’s design for man was a theocracy. God ruled in the Garden. The devil tried to change that and he was able to get Adam to fall into sin. God still ruled and He judged all those involved in that event and He drove the man out of the Garden of Eden. He would not allow man to have any further access to the tree of life that was in the Garden. God demonstrated His rule over the affairs of man in chapter 4 and He has shown His rule throughout the entire history recorded in the Bible. God is still ruling today.
We see that God’s rule does not stop man from having the ability to make choices. Someone mentioned to me recently that God made a mistake when He allowed Adam to choose to eat from the forbidden fruit. I stated that God did not make a mistake. God gave man the ability to choose. God does not want robots. He wants people to see the benefits of listening to Him. Since the fall of man, God has given man the opportunity to see the importance of repentance toward Him and trusting in His provision for salvation. Since the fall of man, God promised:

Genesis 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

All people have had the opportunity to look to that promise and trust in the promised seed of the woman. God gave some further details regarding that seed throughout the Old Testament and He presented the Seed of the woman in the New Testament. That seed is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Back in our text, Joseph trusted in God’s promise. He was able to be a blessing to a pagan king because he trusted in God.
We need to see the importance of knowing the true God and of being willing to serve Him where He wants us to be. He needs to be exalted in our world today. People need to be reminded of the importance of knowing Him and serving Him.
Pastor Bartel