5 Core Truths- Genesis 41:1-36

because we've been doing a thing where we stand

up and we read a part of the passage and then

where we go from there. And this morning we're

going to do it a little bit differently. We're

not going to do that today. But that's because

I want to take a minute to give us five things

we're going to be looking at this morning as

we walk through Genesis 41. So I actually had

the privilege when I was in seminary of preaching

through the life of Joseph at a church as an

interim pastor. And when I got to Genesis 41,

you know, I was admittedly probably a little

too short on time and I... Kind of was like Pharaoh

had a few dreams, and Joseph, you know, was able

to interpret those dreams, and it was all cool,

and there's that. And I remember getting to the

application point and being like, I have no idea

how this applies to our lives. And I stumbled

through something, and the people of the church

were very gracious to me. There was one older

woman who was 95, and every week she would come

up to me. This was the middle of the COVID pandemic,

and she would say, Pastor, could I give you a

hug? And every week I was like, yes, yes, you

can. But, you know, I think looking back at that,

I think I made a fatal mistake with Genesis 41.

I think it's one that we can make oftentimes

as we read through Genesis 41. And so we get

so locked in on the narrative structure. We get

so locked in on the events going on. And we see

it all from Pharaoh's perspective and Joseph's

perspective. We get so locked in on that. And

we missed it in the middle of all of that. God

is at work. It's not just a dream. and then a

second dream. It's not just Joseph coming and

interpreting the dream. God is at work in the

middle of all of that. And so today there's actually

five points that I want to give us that we're

going to learn about God from this passage, from

Genesis 41, verses 1 through 36. And you're going

Genesis 41:1–36

to hear this phrase from me a few times, that

theology, or literally knowing God, leads us

to doxology, or praising God and giving God glory.

Our theology leads us to doxology. And this morning's

passage is a great example of how we need to

understand theology. And theology is not just

something we leave in a classroom at a seminary

building where we just sit down and talk about

Calvinism and Arminianism and pre -tribulation

or post -tribulationalism. Theology is literally

knowing God. To love God is to know God. To love

God more is to know God more. And so I want to

challenge each of us this morning to be theologians.

There's a phrase that my theology professor always

used to say constantly, and say, you need to

be a good pastor theologian. I want to take that

and change that a little bit. You need to be

a good Christian theologian this morning. You

don't have to be a pastor to be a theologian.

You don't have to sit in an office and write

books all day to be a theologian. You should

be a theologian right now by growing to know

God more. And so here are the five points. They're

in your bulletin, so you can follow along with

them. There's five things we're learning about

God today. First, God's plan is bigger than we

know. God's plan is bigger than we know, and

if you don't get it written down now, that's

okay. We'll bring these up as we go through them.

Secondly, God works at all times. I don't know

about you, I have a certain limit of how much

work I can do during my life and during my day,

and when I hit that point around five o 'clock,

I'm kind of useless after that. I'm done working.

God works at all times. Third, God has a purpose

for trials. God has a purpose for trials. Fourth,

this is one of my favorite ones we see in this

passage. God meets us where we are. God meets

us where we are. It can be kind of easy for us,

I think, as we look at a passage like this to

start thinking to ourselves like, well, okay,

there's Pharaoh, there's Joseph, Joseph's stuck

in prison. Where is God in all of this? The truth

is that God meets us where we are. And fifth,

God makes a way for salvation. God makes a way

for salvation. There's also one main point. If

you can go ahead and put that one up on the screen

real quick. And this is going to be kind of the

central theme of all five of these. You'll notice

it's almost identical to the second one. God

is working at all times. Friends, if you hear

nothing else this morning as we look at Genesis

41, I want you to hear that. God is working at

all times. It is no accident, we say this often

here, it is no accident that you are here this

morning. We believe you are here for a reason.

God is at work to bring you here. God is at work

when you are in class. God is at work when you

are at work. God is at work when you are at home.

God is working at all times. When Joseph is stuck

in prison for multiple years, God is working.

When the cupbearer forgets about Joseph for multiple

years, God is working. When Joseph goes to sleep

in prison, God is working. At all times, God

is working. And so as we look at this passage,

let me encourage you again. Let me plead with

you again. Let's be actively trying to know God

more this morning. Let's leave other distractions

at the door, and let's know God more. Let's hold

God closer. So I ask you to look at verses 1

through 7 with me. I've got them up on the screen.

And these are where I say God's plan is bigger

than we know. Let me read the scripture to us,

and we'll talk about it as we go. It says, at

the end of two years, Pharaoh had a dream. He

was standing beside the Nile when seven healthy

-looking, well -fed cows came up from the Nile

and began to graze among the reeds. After them,

seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from

the Nile and stood beside those cows along the

bank of the Nile. The sickly, thin cows ate the

healthy, well -fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

I'd wake up too if my dreams were cows committing

cow cannibalism. It says, he fell asleep and

dreamed a second time. Seven heads of grain,

plump and good, came up on one stalk. And then

after them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched

by the east wind, that's going to bring a famine

and a drought to Egypt, sprouted up. The thin

heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump full

ones. And then Pharaoh woke up and it was only

a dream. So chapter 41 picks up two years after

the end of chapter 40 where Joseph is forgotten

about in prison. The cupbearer was restored to

his position. If you remember, after he has a

dream that Joseph interprets, the baker has a

less fortunate outcome and dies. So we pick up

in chapter 41, two years after those events.

For two more years, Joseph has been stuck in

prison, totally forgotten about. But what are

we going to see today? God is working at all

times. It's specifically in these seven verses

that God's plan is bigger than we know. And so

the narrative shifts a little bit in verse one.

It goes from prison with Joseph to Pharaoh at

the top of his reign having a dream. And in his

dream, it's pretty simple. He's standing next

to the Nile River. That's the major river in

Egypt. I was a geography teacher. If you have

questions about the Nile, we can talk about that

later. And he sees seven healthy cows come up

from the Nile River and they begin to graze.

This is pretty normal for them. This is central

actually to Egyptian life and it still is in

many ways. The Nile River was the determining

factor of how the year was going to go for Egyptians.

If there was plenty of water, then crops would

grow. They'd be able to irrigate their fields

with it. If there wasn't enough water, they'd

be in a famine. If there was too much water in

the Nile River, it would flood and there wouldn't

be crops for people. So Pharaoh's dreaming and

he sees these seven good -looking cows coming

up. He's like, yes, this is a win. And then after

that, he sees seven sick cows come up from the

Nile and they go stand right next to the healthy

ones. But instead of grazing, they turn around

and they eat the healthy cows. I got so curious

about that this week because some animals are

pretty typically going to eat other animals and

their species. And so I looked it up. And we

also have a number of vet students that come

to our church. And so I got looking into this.

Cows do not commit cannibalism. Google was very

confused by what I was looking up with this,

and it was giving me some very strange responses,

but the number one thing it kept saying is, cows

don't do that. I'm pretty sure if Google was

a person, he would have been yelling at me by

the end of this. Cows don't do this. But that's

why it matters. That's why it stands out as so

different, because cows don't do this. Sick cows

don't turn around and eat healthy cows. Healthy

cows don't get eaten by sick cows. That's not

how this works. And so Pharaoh, understandably,

wakes up from a dream. Now, I'm not a huge one

to try and put emotions on people in the Bible,

but I think, understandably, he's a little bit

concerned here. We're going to see that later

on in the passage. So he calms himself back down.

He goes to sleep. I don't know if you've ever

had that before, where you wake up from a dream.

It throws you off a little bit. You calm down.

You go to sleep. Like, okay, just have a nice,

calm next couple hours of sleep. And he falls

asleep, and he has another dream that's eerily

similar to the first one. In this dream, he dreams

of seven heads of grain. They're super healthy,

and then there's seven more that are super sickly.

They're dying as they come up. Once again, just

to be quite clear, grain does not eat grain.

I used to live in the middle of what could best

be described as farm country. And I went to college

in Laramie, Wyoming. I know a lot of people in

the ag world. I have never once heard of them

being like, yeah, you know what? I was actually

out back the other day, and this corncob ate

that corncob. It was pretty wild stuff. It doesn't

happen. It stands out as different because that's

not how the world works. And yet again, Pharaoh

wakes up, but just yet again, it's been a dream.

And let me remind us, dreams in this culture

matter a ton. In the ancient Near East, that's

going to be Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, places like

that, dreams were really important. So what do

all these dreams teach us? I think there's something

we learn. Well, they teach us that God's plans

are bigger than we know. See, to Pharaoh, this

is just a dream that he's had at this point.

But what we know is that God is actually behind

this dream, that God is at work right now. So

often in life, we have a tendency to write things

off as a coincidence or as unimportant. We just

write it off as luck. It was just luck that got

us here. But what if it isn't? What if it isn't

coincidence that your brand new neighbors don't

know Jesus? What if it isn't coincidence that

you are right here this morning, right now? Friends,

there was a good friend that Hope and I made

in a place where we lived previously. I'm not

sure all the details, but... They came to church,

and we met them, and then about two weeks later,

they had a child, and it's a great moment, right?

Except that instead of coming home, that child

got taken to Iowa City to go to NICU for months,

and I don't just mean like a couple weeks or

five weeks. I mean months, probably four or five,

six months. Friends, it wasn't just a coincidence,

though, that we met them right before that happened.

It wasn't just a coincidence that we've been

able to get in touch with them and start building

a relationship with them. That wasn't just a

coincidence. God was on the move in that in ways

that we had no idea of in the middle of that

time. And in this case, it would be easy for

Pharaoh to say, it's just coincidence that I

had two dreams just like this. But it's not.

God is behind this dream. God has a plan, and

it's bigger than Pharaoh, or Joseph for that

matter, ever could have imagined. And please

hear this. This isn't some name it, claim it,

prosperity gospel, just ask for it and you'll

get it because you're owed this by God thing.

This is real truth that God has a big plan, and

believer, you are a part of it. I want you to

take 30 seconds real quick to give you a glimpse

into the plan that God has for every single person's

life, for your life right here if you know Jesus.

We find it in Matthew 5, verses 13 through 16,

Matthew 5:13–16

because at all times it is in God's plan for

us to be light and darkness, for us to be a light

to our neighbors who don't know Jesus, for us

to be salt of the earth, a city on a hill that

shares its hope with the world, and a lamp in

a dark room. Friends, that is God's plan for

you today. It is God's plan for you today, whether

you're one of our young adults going to a volleyball

game in a little bit, or if you're going to go

from here, go to lunch, and then go home and

take a nap. It is part of God's plan for you

to be light and darkness. It's not just that.

God also has specific plans for you. Ephesians

2 .10 says this, for we are his workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus for good works. Notice

this, which God prepared ahead of time for us

to do. It's not, hey, you are God's workmanship

created in Christ Jesus. for good works which

coincidentally will come along periodically and

hopefully you recognize them. No, it's good works

which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

We'll hear this from Titus 2 .14. He gave himself

for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, that

is all sin, and to cleanse for himself a people,

that's anyone who follows Jesus, for his own

possession, eager to do good works. Friends,

God has a plan and it requires action. God's

plan is much bigger than you and I may know today

or tomorrow. And that is great news. And we see

this at work here in Genesis chapter 41, where

Genesis 41 · chapter mention

we see that Pharaoh has this dream. He might

write it off as coincidence, but it's not. We

might say that Joseph is still in prison is a

coincidence, but it's not. God has a big plan

here. Look at verses 8 through 12 with me. We're

going to see once again that God works at all

times. This is what verses 8 through 12 say.

It says, when morning came, he being Pharaoh

was troubled. So he summoned all the magicians

of Egypt and all its wise men, those many people

who can interpret dreams. And Pharaoh told them

his dreams, but no one could interpret them for

him. Not a single person there can. And then

from out of nowhere, we read this. Then the chief

cupbearer said to Pharaoh, today, So in verse

8, we see that Pharaoh is troubled in the morning,

so he calls out all the magicians, all the wise

men of Egypt together to come and interpret the

dream. But they're not able to. And here's the

thing with these wise men and these magicians.

At times they just made stuff up, you know. Oh,

Pharaoh, you had a dream about running four miles

and winning the battle. Yes, Pharaoh, you are

great. They have no idea. They also had a system,

though, that they used to interpret dreams, and

I won't go in depth on it, but it was really

demonic. That's what it was. They would consult

with Satan and they would get into things we

should never get near, okay? That's what they

did. I think it's easy for us a lot of times

as Christians in America maybe to ignore that

there's a real spiritual conflict going on around

us 24 -7, and I'm not here just to preach on

that today, but please be aware of that. When

you see magicians and wise men in the Old Testament,

with about the single exception of Daniel and

his friends, understand these aren't just people

who are smart or who have a college degree. These

are people who are consulting with Satan to try

and gain interpretation. These are people who

are, in some ways, the religious backbone of

evil in these countries. But these men, as much

as they try, they try all their techniques, but

they cannot interpret this dream for Pharaoh

because this is no ordinary dream. And friends,

once again, if Google can't understand what I

mean when I Google do cows eat other cows, these

people have no chance of interpreting this dream.

because this is a dream from God. And then from

out of nowhere, the chief cupbearer comes up

to Pharaoh and he says, listen, I messed this

up. I dropped the ball. There's this Hebrew guy

who he can interpret dreams. If you remember

back to Genesis 40, he was supposed to go tell

Pharaoh about Joseph. Like, hey, there's this

guy who's not even from here, but he's imprisoned

here. Let's just send him home. Like, let's just

get him out of here. But he totally forgot about

Joseph. But God is working at this exact moment

right now to bring Joseph back up to this chief

cupbearer's head, to bring him right back to

his mind. Do you ever have that moment maybe

where you're sitting there and you think back

to an old friend or somebody that you used to

know? It's like you take a minute, you pray,

or you take a minute, you send them a text. Okay,

just thinking about you, like wondering how you're

doing. Friends, it's not just coincidence that

that pops into your head. God is at work. And

so this man who's forgotten about Joseph now

remembers him. And let me challenge this. God

is using all of this, even Joseph being forgotten

about, for God's greater plan. Something I think

Joseph summarizes really well in Genesis 50 20.

When he's talking to his brothers, his brothers

are convinced he's gonna have them all thrown

in jail and killed, and their father's dead.

And he says this, you, his brothers, planned

evil against me. God planned it for good. to

bring about the present result, the survival

of many people. God is at work in all of this.

It may not feel like that when we face a trial.

We may not be sitting here, if we're honest,

saying, you know what, you're right, Joseph had

to go through this for the sake of other people.

But that is the truth. It is the truth. Joseph

had to go through this. Think about it like this.

If Joseph does get released two and a half years

ahead of time, You know, the cupbearer says,

oh my goodness, there's this guy, and we've got

to release him. We've got to send him back home

to his dad. And Pharaoh has these dreams, and

who's there to interpret them? No one. And as

we'll see later on in these chapters, the famine

hits. It's severe across the land. It hits Canaan.

And there's no food even for Jacob and his sons.

If they hadn't saved the food, where would food

have been coming from? Listen, God is at work

in the middle of this trial. God is working at

all times. And here in these verses, verses 8

through 12, we see a very blunt example of God

being at work, wherein God clearly works in the

chief cupbearer's mind to bring back Joseph to

him, but that does not mean it's the only time

that God works. See, sometimes we find ourselves

in hard situations in life that we don't want

to be in. A couple years afterwards, we zoom

out. And we see that God brought us through that

season for a far greater purpose. It doesn't

mean every detail makes sense. I'm sure until

the day Joseph died, Joseph wondered, but God,

did I have to stay in prison? God, did I have

to have the neck iron and the leg iron on? But

God, did I have to go to Egypt as a slave in

the first place? If you've gone through a hard

season, maybe a health issue for you or your

spouse or Maybe you've lost a job. It can be,

just if we're honest, difficult, discouraging,

hard. And you may never fully understand why

you had to go through that situation. But don't

lose heart in it. Because listen, God is working

at all times. It's like what we sang this morning.

Even when we don't see it, He's working. Look

at verses 13 through 16 with me. God has a purpose

for trials. I really want you to hear that this

morning, that God has a purpose for trials. We

see that in verses 13 through 16 where it says

this, it turned out just the way he interpreted

them to us. So the chief cupbearer is talking,

he says, listen, not only was this guy who interpreted

the dreams, he did it perfectly. Listen, I was

restored to my position, the other man was hanged,

and that leads right into this, then Pharaoh

sent for Joseph. And they quickly brought him

from the dungeon. He shaved. Think about that

for a minute. Joseph maybe hasn't shaved since

he's gone to prison. At least two years, but

it's longer than that. I can't go more than like

three or four days without shaving before I just

feel like really bad. Okay, he changes his clothes.

That's another. Maybe he hasn't changed his clothes

since then. It's gross. And he goes to Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh says to Joseph, I have had a dream

and no one can interpret it, but I've heard it

said about you that you can hear a dream and

interpret it. Now, if it was you or me, we might

hear that and say, yes, Pharaoh, we can interpret

this dream. Because after all, if you don't interpret

this dream, you're going back to prison at best.

Look at what Joseph says. I am not able to. Joseph

answered Pharaoh, but he's not done. It is God

who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. So

Pharaoh sends for Joseph. It's not optional.

Let's be clear. It's not like Joseph's being

told, like, hey, if you want to go see Pharaoh,

go see Pharaoh. This is like, you will go see

Pharaoh right now. So he goes. Pharaoh brings

him up to speed. He shares the situation, explains

what he needs, and then Joseph gives his answer.

I am not able to. In that moment, there's this

sinking feeling in the cupbearer's heart. Like,

he's worried he'll be killed over this. He just

told Pharaoh, hey, Pharaoh, there's this prisoner,

and he's going to interpret your dream for him.

He just put his life on the line here. And for

Pharaoh, he's like, there's still no answer for

my dream. My last hope, my last solution, it's

failed. Like, what's going on? But the story

isn't over because Joseph does say he can't interpret

the dream, but he doesn't stop there. Instead,

he tells Pharaoh that God will give him the interpretation.

Again, Joseph stops in the middle of a situation

like this to give the glory to God. It's just

like Genesis 40, verse 8, where Joseph does almost

Genesis 40:8

the exact same thing to the baker and the cupbearer.

He says, stop. I don't give you the interpretation.

God gives you the interpretation. It's like in

Genesis 39, when Potiphar's wife says, you're

owed this, Joseph. Really, you are owed this.

Like, let's go do this thing. And Joseph says,

no, I will not sin against my God. Again, Joseph

takes advantage of his situation to point people

to God. Cornerstone, please hear this. God has

a purpose for the trial that Joseph has gone

through. There is the part I just mentioned about,

you know, if he's not even in Egypt anymore,

what happens with all of this? But there's something

else. I think if we're honest, we can all agree

that the Joseph we meet in Genesis chapter 37

Genesis 37 · chapter mention

has probably at best a lack of common sense.

And at worst, maybe a little bit of an ego to

him. But yeah, he is better than his brothers.

He does work harder than his brothers. He is

his dad's favorite. Friends, throughout Genesis

39 and Genesis 40 and into Genesis 41, can I

challenge you with something? Joseph, who's 30

years old at this point, has gone from a cocky

17 -year -old to a 30 -year -old who trusts God.

That's a really hard 13 years. It's a 13 years

I hope you never have to go through where you're

sold to another country as a slave and then thrown

in prison there. But Joseph emerges from this

trial and this season mature in his walk with

God. He's mature and reliant on God, understanding

that the only way he gets through this is God,

not his own strength. The fact that his father

has money does him no good right now. The fact

that he's super talented does him no good. He's

stuck in a literal pit in the ground. But God,

God will see him through to the other side. I'd

also argue that we see this change in Joseph's

life through the dreams themselves, actually.

See, in Genesis 37, Joseph has a dream and he

tells everyone about it. It's very much about

his role and what he'll do. He doesn't say, God

gave me a dream and God told me this. He just

says, I had a dream and this is what it means.

Here, before Joseph interprets any dream, Joseph

stops and he gives God all of the glory before

doing anything else. Rather than getting any

glory for himself, this is all about God. That's

the thing about trials. Trials kind of chisel

us down. They break us down, and it hurts in

that moment. But we come out on the other side

stronger and closer to God, having grown closer

to God in our sanctification. I think a good

example of this actually is physical therapy.

When I was in physical therapy after my car accident

in college, my physical therapists referred to

physical therapy as pain and torture. And so

they would look at you and you'd show up like,

you ready for some pain and torture today? Like,

no, I'm really not. Like, I did not sign up for

this. I really would rather be in class right

now. I don't want to be tortured. And listen,

it was. It was really hard. It was really rough.

I know Hope remembers some of that because we

just started dating when I was working on that.

It was hard. And I'd leave in pain and it struggled.

And when I started, my shoulder, we didn't even

know we had a tear up there, but I did. When

I started, my shoulder would give out when I

lifted like a little 2 .5, so I'd be over there

with all of the older ladies, and we'd all be

lifting their 2 .5s, and we'd be talking to our

grandkids, and I'm over there, and my shoulder

would just drop out of socket. Like, what is

going on? But friends, I came through the other

side of that, strengthened, with my shoulder

feeling better, my back was doing better. It

was worth it in the end, even though the trial

wasn't fun. The pain and torture was awful. Never

in a million years would I sign up for that again,

but it was worth it. Friends, that's the same

thing going on with Joseph's trial here. I promise

you, if you would have looked at Joseph when

he was 90 years old and said, Joseph, do you

want to go back to prison for another 13 years?

Do you want to start at the bottom again? He

said, no, I have no interest in that. But he

came out of his trials as a more mature believer,

a more mature follower of God. We could even

use this phrase, a man of God. So let me ask

you, where in your life do you need to be patient

right now and have faith to let God work and

to let God guide you through a trial? And maybe

it's not here in this exact moment. Maybe you're

like, hey, I'm not really feeling like I'm in

a trial right now. That's okay. But let me ask

it this way then. Look back at another trial

or another difficult time in life. We've all

had them. What did you learn from that? What

lessons did you learn? You know, or maybe stop

and evaluate your own faith today. Are you as

strong in your walk with God as you want to be?

Let me challenge you that. God has a purpose

for trials. Don't miss the purpose that God gives.

Here's our fourth lesson about God today. God

meets us where we are. God meets us where we

are. We're going to see in this next section

that God meets Pharaoh in a way that Pharaoh

will listen to. Pharaoh, this man who does not

worship God, this man who does not know who God

is, who does not acknowledge God, God is still

going to take the time to stop and meet Pharaoh

where Pharaoh is. Listen to verses 17 through

24. It says this, so Pharaoh said to Joseph,

in my dream, and you'll notice also this just

gives us more confidence in the text. It's a

little bit different, okay? Pharaoh adds some

of his own commentary into his dream. So Where

was I? In my dream, I was standing on the bank

of the Nile when seven well -fed, healthy -looking

cows came up from the Nile, and they grazed among

the reeds. And after them, seven other cows,

weak, very sickly, and thin, came up. I've never

seen such sickly cows as these in all the land

of Egypt. These are really messed up cows. Vet

students, I don't think you guys could save these

cows. I think they're done. I think they're goners.

And when they devoured them, you could not tell

that they devoured them. Their appearance was

as bad as it had been before. That's not normal

either. If you eat a bunch of food and you're

underfed and you don't get something like refeeding

syndrome, you should look healthier, not look

the exact same. He says, then I woke up. In my

dream, I also saw seven heads of grain, full

and good, coming up on one stalk. And after them,

seven heads of grain withered thin and scorched

by the east wind, representative of famine, sprouted

up. The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven

good ones. I told this to the magicians, but

no one can tell me what it means. So Pharaoh

explains his dream to Joseph. He has a little

commentary about how he feels as he sees these

cows, how bad the grain looks, stuff like that.

And it matters, right? Because it's a sign that

that really happened. That Pharaoh was a real

man who had real thoughts and real emotions.

He isn't just a created character so that it

fits the narrative. Pharaoh is a real human being.

And Pharaoh's really scared of his... dream because

he doesn't understand what's going on. I think

that's something we can relate to. A lot of the

time, and I don't put a percentage on it, but

I'd say pretty often when we are scared, when

we're anxious about something, it's because we

don't really understand what's going on or we

don't understand how we'll get through that situation.

Now sometimes we're scared because we know exactly

what the word terminal means in our doctor's

office. We're aware of the implications of that,

but so often our fear and our anxiety comes from

the unknown. Hey, this thing just happened. What

happens next? Hey, I just lost my job. What do

I do next? Hey, I failed that test. How do I

pass this class? Can I pass this class? I don't

know anymore. But as much as we might battle

with the fear of the unknown, there's someone

who always knows, and that is God. Nothing going

on in Genesis 41 is a mystery to God. Instead,

God is using a dream to get Pharaoh's attention

because he knows Pharaoh. He knows that Pharaoh

will listen to this and uses a dream to communicate

his message very purposefully because God meets

us where we are. A few years ago, I went through

something called Secret Church. It's put out

by a group called Radical out of Washington,

D .C. And in it, they were highlighting the underground

church in a country in the Middle East. I won't

say which country. And they did some interviews.

It was very powerful to listen to and just to

hear about some of the struggles that that church

would face on a weekly basis. Stories of the

police showing up because the singing had been

too loud. Stories of businesses being fined every

day for made -up violations just because they

knew that the owner of this business was a Christian.

But one of the things that came up in there was

they would also have people who would come to

church periodically and say, I had a dream last

night. that I needed to come to this building

to hear about a man named Jesus. And I don't

know why I'm here, but what I do know is this,

whatever this Jesus has is what I want. My point

is this, God still uses dreams in places like

the Middle East because that's how God meets

people where they are. They'll listen to it.

If we're just honest with ourselves for a minute

as Americans, like I had a pretty wild dream

the other night wherein I became a rancher. I

did not turn around and tell Hope, let's go buy

a ranch in Montana, or let's go move to North

Dakota. I didn't say that. That's just not how

our culture works. But friends, I want to be

clear on this. The reason this matters so much

is because God does meet us where we are, and

God does meet us how we need to be met, because

God knows you and God loves you. Let's see what

Joseph says back to Pharaoh in verse 25. It says,

then Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh's dreams

mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh

what he is about to do. The seven good cows are

seven years, and the seven good heads are seven,

the seven good cows are seven years, and seven

good heads are seven years. The dreams mean the

same thing. The seven thin sickly cows that came

up after them are seven years, and the seven

worthless heads of grain scorched by the east

wind are seven years of famine. It is just as

I told Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he's

about to do. Seven years of great abundance are

coming throughout the land of Egypt. And after

them, seven years of famine will take place.

And all the abundance in the land of Egypt will

be forgotten. Notice that. That's an important

phrase there. Will be forgotten. Not just there'll

be seven years of famine. The famine will be

so bad that they will forget what the seven good

years looked like. The famine will devastate

the land. The abundance in the land will not

be remembered because of the famine that follows

it, for the famine will be very severe. Since

the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means

that the matter has been determined by God and

he will carry it out soon. So Joseph gives Pharaoh

this long -awaited interpretation. In verse 28,

Joseph explains that God, notice this isn't Ra,

this isn't Set, this isn't one of the other Egyptian

gods, this is God, this is Elohim, the God that

we are worshiping here this morning, has revealed

what is about to happen. For seven years, Egypt

will have lots of good food and they will have

plenty. And then for seven years, there will

be famine. That's the sick cows and the bad grain.

And understand, in a desert -located agricultural

culture like Egypt, famine meant disaster. Many

people would die. Typically, famines in Egypt

were also linked to a pharaoh losing their throne.

So this isn't just, hey, a bunch of people are

going to have a hard time. This is, pharaoh,

your reign's over. Like, if you don't listen

to this, you're done. You will be replaced. Your

dynasty will be destroyed. The famine's going

to be so bad, Joseph says, that the years of

abundance will be forgotten. That phrase just

struck me over and over and over again this week.

Because, friends, sometimes that is trials, where

the trials feel so bad that it's hard for us

to even remember the good times we had with God

before the trial. But that's when we have to

lean in even closer to God. We have to remember

God's plan even closer. And that's when we have

to look at this last point. Remember this last

point that we have this morning, that God makes

a way for salvation. See, God's just given a

very somber message to Pharaoh through Joseph,

but he doesn't leave him. It just stuck with

this message. He continues on and Joseph says

this, so now let Pharaoh look for discerning

and a wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let Pharaoh do this. Let him appoint overseers

over the land and take a fifth or 20 % of the

harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven

years of abundance. Let them gather all the excess

food during these good years that are coming

and under Pharaoh's authority, store the grain

in the cities so that they may preserve it as

food. The food will be a reserve for the land

during the seven years of famine that will take

place in the land of Egypt. And then the country

will not be wiped out by the famine. Here's our

last takeaway about God. God makes a way for

salvation. Not only does Joseph have an interpretation,

Joseph has an application, so to speak. God has

given him insight into the next steps that Pharaoh

needs to take. And here they are. Egypt needs

to appoint somebody who is wise and discerning

to make sure that one -fifth of the harvest every

year is stored. Basically like an investment.

So the country will not be wiped out by famine.

It takes wisdom. It takes discernment. It takes

that Pharaoh listens. Understand that prophesied

famine is going to be terrible, and God is warning

Pharaoh that this is the only way to be saved.

But also notice God is providing salvation. If

you're sharing the gospel with somebody who grew

up in church and has walked away from God, you

might hear something like this. Well, my problem

with Christianity is that God is so different

in the Old and the New Testament. You know, in

the Old Testament, God just runs around killing

people, and in the New Testament, God's all about

love. What happened there? Now friends, there's

a much longer answer to this, but I do want to

bring up Genesis 41 as an example that this is

not true. The Egyptians are sinful and they are

deserving of destruction. Egyptian religion involved

a lot of deplorable practices, at times including

child sacrifice. But God brings Joseph to Egypt

and through all these struggles and orchestrates

so that Egyptian lives can be saved. Understand

that. God does provide a way for salvation. Even

to a people who are not deserving of it, God

provides a way for someone to be saved. And God

has done that same thing for us. God has done

that exact same thing for us. Titus 3 says this,

For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived,

enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living

in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

It's not just my interpretation of what we're

like before Jesus. That's what God says that

we are. Then verse 4 says this, but when the

kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind

appeared, He saved us, not by works of righteousness

that we had done, not by our own actions, but

according to His mercy, through the washing of

regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

He poured out His Spirit on us abundantly through

Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been

justified by His grace, we may become heirs with

the hope of eternal life. This saying is trustworthy.

I want you to insist on these things so those

who believe God might be careful to devote themselves

to good works. These are good and profitable

for everyone. Do you notice that contrast in

there? I really hope you do because that contrast

isn't just a New Testament contrast, it's an

Old Testament contrast too. That before we personally,

each person in this room, before we know Jesus

or knew Jesus, We could be described as foolish,

disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions

and pleasures, or chasing after what makes us

happy in the short term, living in malice and

envy, or hating one another, detesting one another,

being jealous of each other. You're jealous of

that classmate that's smarter, jealous of that

neighbor down the street who has more than you.

And that rules our lives. But the story doesn't

end there. Let's sort of end there because like

we read in verse 4, when the kindness of God,

our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared,

he saved us. Friends, just as God provides a

way for the Egyptians to be saved, God has provided

a way for you to be saved. It comes not through

our works, but through God's mercy. If you're

here this morning and you have not accepted this

gift of mercy, If you have not gone to God and

said, God, I'm not enough. I am a sinner. I do

wrong things. I fall short. But God, through

your grace, you are enough. Through your grace,

you can redeem me. Through your grace, you can

save me because of what Jesus did, his perfect

life, his death, and his resurrection. I want

to call you this morning to do that. I want to

challenge you. to take a minute to do that. Now,

I'm very intentionally stopping our passage right

here because I really want us to focus on what

God does in those 36 verses before next week

we see what Joseph experiences starting in verse

37. Because we're going to see a lot more about

God next week, but we're also going to see a

lot about what happens when Joseph comes out

the other side of a trial and how we should respond

when we go from that desert place into a place

that's not quite so desert. And friends, I do

want to just make one more point before we move

on. I think this really matters. Nowhere in verses

33 through 36 does Joseph say, Pharaoh, appoint

me to do this job. Joseph never says, Pharaoh,

what you need to do is make me the man in charge

of all of this. There's real humility in Joseph.

But I do want to read us Genesis 41, 39 through

40. Where it says, so Pharaoh said to Joseph,

since God has made all this known to you, there

is no one as discerning and wise as you are.

You will be over my house and all my people will

obey your commands. Only I as king will be greater

than you. Friends, God has positioned Joseph

for this exact situation. This has all happened

according to God's plan. This is no accident.

So take a minute and let's wrap this up. Let's

put a bow on this. A point of application for

ourselves. You know, we've looked at five points

today. That God's plan is bigger than we know,

that God works at all times, that God has a purpose

for trials, that God meets us where we are, and

that God makes a way for salvation. We've come

to know God more through those, because we understand

God more. Like I said earlier, our theology should

lead us to doxology, which is praise, which is

literally giving glory to God. But I want to

go one step further than that. See, if knowing

God leads us to praising God, our doxology, our

praise of God should lead us to action. I worry

that far too often we learn more about God and

we say, yes, theology leads me to doxology and

I stand here in church with my arms lifted high

and I sing praise and then I went to lunch. And

like, well, I can't stand in the middle of Applebee's

and sing. I can't go to shawarma joint and, you

know. Start seeing out you've already won in

the middle of shawarma joint. That's just not

how this works. So yeah, okay, great, I've got

good theology, but it stays right there on the

weekends or it stays in my apartment. You know,

I saw this in seminary where we'd be sitting

around watching like a Nuggets playoff game in

the bubble, not at all that I'm referencing the

true story. And then somebody would be like,

have you read this great theology book yet? And

then the people go launch into a three -hour

conversation about it. You'd be left in the dust

just thinking that was a nice three -pointer.

And friends, I worry that we can take our theology

and keep it there. We keep our doxology locked

up to a place where it's quiet for us, to our

car ride to work where we're playing some Christian

worship music. But that shouldn't be the case

because our doxology should lead us to action.

Because we really don't just praise God as we

sing, we praise God every day as we live. We

praise God every single day with the way that

we work as we read in 1 Corinthians 10. With

everything that we're doing like we read in Colossians

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. And so there's one more way that I

really want to challenge us to respond to our

greater understanding and knowledge of God. And

it's going to have something to do with action.

If we really believe that God is working at all

times, and if we really believe what I referenced

earlier, that part of God's plan for us at all

times is Matthew 5, 13 through 16, being salt

and light, being that city on a hill, being called

out as different. then we have to understand

this, that God is at work at all times, opening

many doors all around us for the gospel to be

spread. And let me encourage you this morning

that just like Joseph, we need to wait patiently

for those moments, but there's something else

we have to do. See, it's easy for us to wait

for the moment, right? I'll just wait to tell

my neighbor about Jesus. I'll wait to talk to

this person about Jesus until it's the perfect

time. And when we do that, I worry that sometimes,

and I worry this because I know it's true for

me, that we struggle to seize those moments.

Friends, one of my biggest takeaways from Joseph

in Genesis 41 is it's not just that he gives

all the glory to God. It's not just about God's

plan. It's also when Joseph is given that moment

to serve the Lord and proclaim his name, he does

it. It's not me who gives you your interpretation,

Pharaoh. It's God. How easy would it have been

for Joseph, the prisoner who's just been pulled

out of prison, to say, you know what, Pharaoh,

I think I can help you out with that one. But

he doesn't. So let me encourage each of us this

morning to be like Joseph, to patiently wait

for those moments, but then to seize those moments,

to seize those opportunities. Don't hold back

in those opportunities. Don't wait. You know,

sometimes there's opportunities that we do miss,

and that can be hard. I know in my life there's

many that I've missed. I think about one from

a couple years ago where my neighbor was about

to have open heart surgery. And in the moment,

I was just like, well, that really stinks. Like,

I do know the way he lives. He should probably

try a diet and he should probably try some exercise.

Like, that would really help him out. He should

probably stop shooting fireworks off while holding

on to them. But in the moment, you know, I thought

that's really all there is to it. Like, you know,

thanks for telling me. Old man, which is what

he went by, which is a weird thing to go by.

Okay, old man, thanks for telling me that. Then

I walked away back over to my house, and I sat

down in my living room, and it hit me. It hit

me. He just told me, hey, I'm pretty freaked

out about this because, you know, my sons aren't

in a great spot, and I'm kind of by myself all

the time, and, you know, I'm scared about this

surgery, and I don't know what's going to happen.

And I just said, okay, I'm sorry to hear that.

What if I would have stopped and said, hey, listen,

I don't know what's going to happen to that surgery

either, but I can tell you the best news ever.

And then talk to him about Jesus. So friends,

I share that because it's not like I'm over here

saying I'm perfect at this and no one else is

because I'm not perfect at this. But I do want

to challenge us that if we know God well, and

if we truly let our theology form our doxology,

then our doxology should lead us to action. And

that action should be bringing the best news

of all time to the world around us. Bringing

the truth of the gospel to that roommate, that

friend, that classmate, that co -worker, that

family member. Because friends, if we really

believe this, if we really know God, if we really

believe these five points that we saw today,

that God's plan is bigger than we know, that

God works at all times, that God has a purpose

for trials, that God meets us where we are, and

that God makes a way for salvation, then we should

have our eyes open to all of those trials around

us. Because friends, if we really know that,

if we know that our God is the God who has a

purpose for trials, then when we see our neighbor

hurting, we know that God has a purpose for it.

And what if God's purpose was to open a door

and to soften our hearts so we can bring the

gospel? So let me encourage you. Let's be faithful

like Joseph, to be bold, to boldly declare the

message of the gospel and of God when we're given

that opportunity. God, thank you so much for

today. God, we just, I'm humbled, God, looking

at the example of Joseph, God, not by perfection,

Lord, but by faithfulness. By faithfulness, God,

that in the middle of a situation where he absolutely

could have taken the glory and the credit for

himself, God, that he didn't, and that instead

he stopped. I said, it's not about me, it's about

God. Lord, I ask that you would embolden us in

that this week, God. Lord, embolden us that as

we face difficult times, God, as we face trials,

that you have a plan, that you are at work, God.

God, when we are feeling low and discouraged,

would you encourage us? God, as we sing these

songs of response, Lord, I ask that you would

just even be putting people on our mind right

now. People in our mind right now that we can

go to, even today, God, and bring the best news

ever to. Lord, we pray all this in your name.

Amen.