My kids and I discuss these events up until now, and talk about the amazing faith and trust Joseph has in God. After all, Joseph has been abandoned and sold by his brothers, then when he thinks he's been vindicated to be Potiphar's second in command, he's thrown into prison unjustly! We like to talk about how hard that must have been for Joseph, and we apply it to the trials in our lives today...how we should use our faith and trust in God like Joseph did.
Joseph is still using his gifts from God by interpreting dreams...so we see that he's not bitter...he knows God is still working in him. Interestingly, the two other prisoners are a wine-taster and a baker. I like to ask my kids if this sounds familiar...bread and wine?
Joseph predicts that the wine taster will be restored to his duties in three days, and the baker will have his head cut off in the same time. It was the custom in Egypt at that time, to stick the decapitated heads of criminals on tree branches along the highway into town...it was used to warn strangers that the leader meant business!
Another thing I like to point out to my kids, is even though Joseph interpreted these dreams for the others, he still must have had faith in his own dreams...Joseph knew God was going to fulfill his promises to Joseph!
Pharoah was greatly troubled by his dreams, and his "wise" men couldn't interpret them. So a Hebrew slave comes along to display God's power...I remind my kids that another Hebrew slave does this later...Daniel. Also, another Hebrew slave shows Egypt the power of God...Moses!
(v.16) This is important to show our kids...Joseph gave all the glory and credit to God for interpreting these dreams. Joseph could have used this gift for his own personal gain, but was obedient and humble instead.
(v.25) I like to ask my kids to name the times the dreams came in pairs...Joseph's own two dreams, the dreams of the two prisoners, and Pharoah's two dreams. Some Bible scholars like to point out that when God wants us to be sure to pay attention, He does or says something twice. We can remember Jesus saying, "Verily, verily" many times to stress the importance of what He was about to say.
Joseph started a Hebrew slave, and God had him placed in a position where he was second only to the Pharoah. Daniel would do this as well...twice!!! Later, I will show the very interesting parallels of Joseph and Jesus.
(v.46) Remember I said to take notice of Joseph's age when he was sold by his brothers? He was 17 years old, and now he is 30. So, for 11 years Joseph served Potiphar, was imprisoned for two years, and now he's the #2 of all in the greatest empire on earth!
How many of us would have the patience and perseverance of Joseph to wait 13 years for God to answer our prayers? God answers all our prayers, but not on our time schedule...God is outside of time, and only He knows when we should receive His blessings.
I like to point out that Job and Joseph are great examples of faith in hard times...when we think we're being inconvenienced for a short time, it's good to remember these two pillars of faith to put things into perspective!
NOTE: Joseph still remained true to his Hebrew heritage...he named his sons Hebrew names:
Manasseh = "forget" which signifies that God had Joseph forget the misery of being separated from his family.
Ephraim = "fruitful" which shows Joseph that God planned for him to be fruitful in the land of Egypt
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