From the Pit to the Palace

Last week we had another great service and continued on the life of Joseph.

Joseph had a dream from God but he was also too immature to handle the information that God gave him!
After being rejected by family and even sold into slavery, God’s hand was with Joseph and God blesses him in the most difficult situations, from false accusations to prison.

You Know God’s hand is on Joseph when the prisoner is in charge of the prisoner!

What do you do when you do the right thing but get the wrong result?

First of all, Joseph wasn’t this mature in the beginning. He might have saved himself a lot of trouble if he would have served his older brothers the very same way he served Potiphar and the Warrant of the Jail.

But we see the pattern:
1. Honor.
2. Integrity.
3. Steadfastness.

And when you do it right and get the wrong result, you repeat. Don’t quit, repeat!

What is God trying to teach us in the process?

• Sovereignty: When something bad happens, is God still good and in control?
• Source: Who is the supplier and source of all that I have?
• Submission: Can I come under authority?

The process for Joseph gets even more complicated when he is in charge of two new prisoners that came directly from serving the Pharaoh, the cup bearer and the chief baker.
The bible says that both the cup bearer & the chief baker had dreams. The dreams were so confusing and it disturbed both of them.
“Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them.' Genesis 40:7

In the pit, we choose to be callused or caring. If we don’t learn how to care for people in hard places, we are not going to care for them in the high places.

Joseph interpreted the cup-bearer’s dream and told him it meant that in 3 days he would be restored to go back as the Pharaoh’s cup bearer!!
Right after Joseph interpreted the cup bearer’s dream he says this to him:
a. 'And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”' Genesis 40:14-15


The chief baker also had Joseph interpret his dream: “You are gonna also leave in 3 days, but Pharaoh is going to kill you.” That’s exactly what happened.
You would think that the cup bearer would have a sense of loyalty to Joseph who helped him in his time of distress, but look at what the bible says:
b. 'Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.' Genesis 40:23

When forgotten by men, remember who Gave you the dream. IF the dream was given to Joseph by God, God was going to be the ticket out of the pit, not the cup bearer.

Joseph’s dream was God’s dream and it will be God that provides the way out, so no man can get the glory that God deserves!

• Sovereignty
• Source
• Submission

Don’t quit, repeat! It’s about serving, leading, and honing the prophetic gift that God has given you.

While you are waiting God is stirring up something else that you have no idea about. Joseph had to wait 2 additional years before he got called up. But little did Joseph know that Pharaoh was having disturbing dreams himself. Dreams that he didn’t have answers for.

Pharaoh had significant dreams that Involved the nation in Genesis 41:1-8. Pharaoh sent for and told all the magicians and wise men of Egypt his dreams, but not one of them could tell him what they meant.'

When God is getting ready to make His move, only His people who have been through the process, Who have His Spirit and can discern His things are the ones that are going to be called up because they are the only ones that can prophetically give an answer to that which God is stirring! You have an advantage as a child of God!

God is preparing you to heighten your faith in such a way that your vision makes you indispensable.

The skills that Joseph gained in the pit, became indispensable in the palace. He had confidence but he also competence. Confidence without competence is carelessness.

He was confident in God, he was competent in the skills that he gained in the pit, and he cared enough to not just come with God’s revelation, but also a solution!

This is what happened:
'Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.” Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.” “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows. But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up. “In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind. And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.” Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine. “This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen. “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.”' Genesis 41:9-36

The bible continues by saying that Joseph suggestion were so lucid, articulate, clear that they were well received. But not only that, Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt. He gave him his ring, that made him second in command to only Pharaoh himself.

Joseph became the ruler, leader of all of Egypt and went from the pit to the palace. Why?

• Sovereignty
• Source
• Submission

Joseph went from wanting everyone to submit to him, to submitting to the will of God first!

God can use us fir amazing things when we do it His way. Join us tomorrow as we continue the story. It’s not over yet!