Let us pray. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, 'It is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. ' Genesis 41:16. Dear God, through today's reading in Genesis 41, I thank you that you've given me the keys to any prison cell I find myself in. Through the keys of obedience, I thank you that when I use my gifts, my promotion is within reach. Thank you that, like Joseph, you're putting me in front of powerful people so that through your power and ability, I can be used as a vessel of solutions. I confess that my life will be a walking billboard for your goodness and faithfulness. As I reflect on the many times you've come through for me, I thank you for expanding my future and putting my life on the fast track. I thank you that all red tape is being cut when it comes to my destiny. I declare that open seats of influence are mine because I choose to honor you in every victory. So I thank you in advance for promotion, for I know that my promotion only comes from the Lord. Thank you that in a moment, you take me from prison to a palace.

In Jesus name, Amen. Thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for an incredible Bible story. Brought to you by BibleInAyear. Com.

From prison to palace. Before this story, we learned about Joseph's faithfulness in prison. His gifts for interpreting dreams was shown to Pharaoh's cup bearer and baker in the prison. He showed them kindness and interpreted their dream. Times. The cup bearer was restored to his position with Pharaoh, but the baker was hanged. The cup bearer forgot Joseph's kindness, and Joseph continued as a prisoner. Now we learn about Joseph finally being brought out of prison to help Pharaoh and Joseph's ascent to power, inspired by the Book of Genesis.

Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible in a Year podcast. In our last time together, we heard that Joseph interpreted dreams for two fellow prisoners, and both interpretations happened just as Joseph said. Though one of the men was hanged, just as Joseph foretold, the cup bearer was released returned to the palace, near to Pharaoh. Though the man promised to remember Joseph and help him once he was freed, this cup bearer soon forgot about that promise, and Joseph remained in prison. So today we're going to pick up with Joseph after two more years had passed as he is imprisoned. He continued to pray to God each day and to trust in God for his situation to change, that the time would soon be right. And yes, God is about to make it happen. This is what we'll hear today as the Pharaoh is plagued with a fearful and confusing dream that would rob him of peace. Listen as Joseph once again turns focus to the place where it needs to be and see how God blesses his faithful, obedience, perseverance, and faith. Listen now to find out what happens.

Two whole years had passed, and Joseph continued to faithfully serve in the prison. That night, he prayed to God again, hoping one day he would be delivered. Miles away in the dead of night, Pharaoh writhed in his bed. His eyes could be seen moving beneath his eyelids, and beads of sweat dripped from his furrowed brow. Vivid images splashed around his mind. He dreamed he was standing beside the Nile River. Out of the water, climbed out seven cows, attractive, plump, and well-fed. Coming from behind them, seven seven sickly and gastly cows emerged, crawling out from the river. Pharaoh watched as the seven sickly cows violently devoured the healthy cows. The Nile filled with blood, and Pharaoh awoke screaming. Pharaoh sat up in his bed. His short breaths could be heard cutting through the silence like a razor blade. He calmed himself and slowly drifted back to sleep. Pharaoh found himself immersed in a dream once again. Only this time, he was by an empty field. Brilliantly, seven ears of grain sprouted from the ground and shot into the sky. The grain was healthy and ripe. Pharaoh was enraptured by the grain's beauty when all of a sudden, seven more ears of blinded grains sprang up like weeds, choking out the healthy grains.

The east wind blew as a tempest, and the hot air brought Pharaoh to his knees. He awoke in another a panic. In the morning, he called all the magicians and wise men of Egypt to interrupt his dream. Yet they tried and failed. Pharaoh continued to be tormented by what he had seen, not sure why his heart and mind was consumed by fear. The chief cup bearer saw Pharaoh's troubled spirit, and it reminded him of the time he once was troubled with dreams. As he remembered this, his eyes widened and he gasped, saying, Today I finally remember my offenses. He turned to Pharaoh and said, When I was in prison with the baker, we both had dreams that concerned us. A young Hebrew was there serving, and he gave us each an interpretation that came true. Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. Joseph was shaved and given new clothes before being sent to Pharaoh. Joseph entered the palace doors, striding with the guards. The palace was more beautiful than he could ever have imagined. The halls were adorned with jewels and the floors hewn from marble and alabaster.

Ivory beams held up the ceiling, and in the center, sitting atop his throne, stood the most powerful man in the known world. I have heard you can hear dreams and give their meaning, he said. His voice was deep, exuding power and nobility in each breath. Yet behind the powerful voice, Joseph Joseph could sense fear. He had compassion on Pharaoh. It is not me. Dreams belong to God alone. He will give Pharaoh an answer, Joseph said. Pharaoh recounted his dreams to Joseph. Every detail and image was given to him. After he was finished speaking, Joseph sat silent for a moment. He looked up to the king and spoke with confidence. 'Your dreams are one, Joseph said. God has revealed to you his plans. The seven good cows and the seven good ears of grain represent seven years of great plenty and flourishing. The seven ugly cows and blighted grain represent seven years of famine that will follow. The famine will wreak havoc and destruction if we are not prepared. It will consume the land. The news troubled Pharaoh, yet he remained silent. He looked at Joseph with concern beaming from his eyes. Joseph sensed this and spoke again with confidence.

You should select a wise man among you to take care of the land. Appoint overseers and take one-fifth of the produce you gained during the seven good years. Store the grain and save it. Then, when the famine comes, you will have reserves for your land so nobody perishes. ' Pharoah's once exhausted face turned bright with hope. He stepped down from his throne to stand before Joseph Joseph. He was taller than he had imagined. He looked around the room to his advisors and said, Can we find a man like this who has the spirit of God? He smiled and looked at Joseph. Since your God has shown you all this, there is no one else better fit for the job. You shall be head over all my people, and they will all obey your command. Other than me, nobody will be greater. Listen and look. I have set you as head over all Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signant ring and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. Joseph was reminded of the robe his father once gave him. Pharaoh went into the city with Joseph, having him ride his second chariot.

As they passed through the city, people cried out, Bow and kneel. Pharaoh smiled and said to Joseph, No one shall without your consent. You are their leader. And Pharaoh renamed him Zaphanath Puneah. And he gave him in marriage Asanath, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of on. Joseph once again found himself lifted from a pit into the blessings of God. Joseph ruled the land with the same care as Potiphar's house in the prison. Favor followed Joseph, and the entire country of Egypt was grateful for him. Joseph, the young man once rejected by his own brothers, found himself beloved by an entire nation.

Day after day, Joseph pray that he would be delivered from prison. Even After praying for two years, he does not give up hope. He continued to faithfully serve God in the prison and those in the prison, giving comfort to prisoners who would cross paths with him. He had, as the scripture says, a most excellent spirit. So Joseph is doing enthusiastically what he was assigned to do. And he pointed people to his ever-faithful God, the one true God of Abraham and Isaac and his father Jacob. Then suddenly, the winds of change blow. As Pharaoh lies in bed, he dreams a dream that greatly disturbs him, a terrible dream. Dreams of good and bad cows and grain, each in groups of seven, half good, followed by half bad. Now, Pharaoh himself considered himself a God, was worshiped as a God on earth, but he nor his magicians and wise men could make heads or tails of these crazy visions. It's no surprise that when the Pharaoh is troubled, all the palace is upset. And so word reaches the cup bearer, the same man who forgot about Joseph two years ago after Joseph helped to get him out of prison by interpreting his dream.

But then the The man remembers, the cup bearer remembers that he has forgotten Joseph. So he tells Pharaoh his story, crediting Joseph for his ability to interpret difficult dreams. So Joseph is then called by Pharaoh, and Pharaoh wants to know what Joseph thinks about his dreams. Joseph, just as he did previously, does not take credit for himself. Instead, he says it is God, the one true God, who can give Pharaoh the answer that he's looking for. And here's the meaning of the dream. Egypt will experience seven years of abundance and then seven years of famine. Now, this is heavy and hurtful news, and Pharaoh is unsure as to what he is to do. But Joseph still empowered with the wisdom of God, he keeps telling Pharaoh what he needs to do to prepare for a coming famine. He is so thorough in his plan given to him by God that Pharaoh puts him in charge of enacting it. So now Joseph has moved from the prison to the palace. In an instant, Joseph finds the freedom for which he has prayed and trusted God for so long. Not just the freedom of being the second highest position in all of Egypt, for he was actually named the Prime Minister.

Joseph has now moved by God's grace and power from the prison to the palace. Isn't that the way with you and me so many times when we hold fast to God's promises and wait patiently for him? Then he does things in our lives beyond what we could have expected. He does them suddenly often, and we are in a place that we had prayed for all along. Joseph is no longer a prisoner. He is the Prime Minister of Egypt. He is a man who in all of Egypt, the Egyptians respected and obeyed him. Other than Pharaoh himself, there was no one more powerful than this Hebrew man, Joseph. He's now 30 years of age, and he realizes that God has delivered him and fulfilled the dreams of his heart. Still, Joseph does not forget that the real power lies with God, the God that he serves, the God who was with him in the pit when his brothers betrayed him, the God who was with him in Potiphar's house when Potiphar's wife falsely accused him, the God who was with him in prison, and now the God who is with him in the palace is truly one of the great comeback stories, great stories of the Bible.

So the question it is now that he is in the palace, will he serve God? Will he continue to be God's man in Egypt? And will he bring about not only the rescue of Egypt from a famine, but will he be faithful to his God? And what to do about those brothers who more than a decade ago conspired to hurt him, to harm him, and even to kill him. We're going to find out what happens with those brothers in the next episode. Dear God, like Joseph, we pray that we will wait patiently for you in our circumstances, knowing that sometimes you're not trying to change our circumstances, but you're changing us. Thank you for in your own time, in your own way, fulfilling your purpose and plan for our lives. Knowing that suddenly in your timing, in your perfect plan, your story and our lives will be fulfilled. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the pray. Com app and make prayer a priority in your life. If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you know.

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