Read Selected Scriptures from Gen. 41-42

·       41:1: The NKJV says “two full years” passed.  Literally, the Hebrew is “two years of days.”  The emphasis is on day after day after day Joseph was in prison, remembering the dreams he had as a child when God revealed His plan for him.  Again, note the closing comments of the previous post.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). 

·       41:14: Shaving was important.  It may not be to you, but at my age I often don’t shave every day.  But if I am meeting with someone I will clean up a little better.  It’s not hypocrisy.  It’s respect! 

·       41:16,28: God reveals His plans to the kings of the nations that have a connection to Israel.  Pharaoh and Abimelech in the times of Abraham, Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus are examples of this. 

·       41:50: Through Tamar and Judah, and through Asenath and Joseph, Israelite blood has Canaanite and Egyptian DNA.  Again, let me remind you of Matt. 1 and the women mentioned in the Messianic ancestry: Tamar (Canaanite), Rahab (Canaanite), Ruth (Moabite), Bathsheba (Israelite) and Mary (Israelite).  The issue is not pure ethnicity.  The issue is God’s work and His knowledge of us.  When we acknowledge that God knows us, as our Creator, we are saying something amazing when we consider the complexities of DNA. 

·       41:51: “Manasseh.”  We need not be defined by our trials.  Think about that.  God enabled Joseph to forget all the trials.  He had not developed an “oh, poor me” mentality that stayed with him after the days of hardship.

·       41:52: “Ephraim.”  While we need not be defined by our trials, our trials will be used by God for our good and His glory. 

·       41:57: God blessed all the nations as He blessed the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

·       42:1,36: It seems that life in Jacob’s house was not particularly enjoyable.  Jacob was really discouraged after the “loss” of Joseph.  Jacob does not seem to have the faith that his son Joseph had, the faith that gives us joyful confidence through difficult “years of days.”  But the joy would eventually come.  For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy (lit. a shout of joy) comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).  Jacob never forgot his difficult life.  He told Pharaoh, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life (Gen. 47:9).  But the day of the “shout of joy” did come, with such emotion that he almost died of a heart attack (Gen. 45:25-28).  May we live by faith in the days of discouragement.  And may we not live in bitterness because of those days.  God is always working in us (Phil. 2:13).