The Pharaoh Hears God’s Word
“So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:8)
Joseph’s brothers had sold him as a servant. The Egyptian captain Potiphar bought him. He served Potiphar well until Mrs. Potiphar tried to seduce him. He kept refusing her advances, and she had him imprisoned on a phony sexual assault charge. Yet as Genesis 39:21 says, “But the LORD was with Joseph,” He interpreted dreams for two of Pharaoh’s servants, who had also been imprisoned.
Two years later, Pharaoh dreamed about seven healthy cows being eaten up by seven scrawny cows, and seven healthy ears of corn being eaten up by seven withered ears. He was troubled. His magicians and wise men could not help him. His chief butler told him about Joseph. Pharaoh called for Joseph. Joseph heard the dream and told Pharaoh it was God’s warning of a severe seven-year famine.
Pharaoh and his servants knew they were hearing God’s Word: “And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is?” (Genesis 41:37-38) Egypt was a land of heathen deities, but Pharaoh listened to this Hebrew, whose ideas about God were very different from Egypt’s.
As a Christian, you don’t know how people will respond when you tell them they need to receive Jesus as Saviour or when you share God’s Word, but you have to tell the truth. Joseph’s dream of his brothers bowing down to him was prophetic. They didn’t want to hear it. Mrs. Potiphar probably didn’t like being told she was wicked, but she was. On the other hand, Joseph told Pharaoh in so many words to listen to God’s Word and stop listening to his heathen advisers, and Pharaoh listened.
Pharaoh knew there is one God. Pharaoh said, “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God [not “the gods”] is?” People know in their hearts there is one God: “For the invisible things of him [of God] from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:20)
Later, Joseph told his brothers, “…he [God] hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” Joseph was not a “father” in the sense of a parental figure, but as a spiritual leader. We can suspect, then, that as Joseph served Pharaoh, he talked with him about worshiping the true God. And while the Bible doesn’t say so specifically, we can also suspect Joseph talked with Pharaoh about the coming Messiah.
Leaders need God’s Word like everyone else. If you are a leader, do you take time to read the Bible for God to speak to your heart? Leaders also need advisers who believe God’s Word. Do you go to a church where the Bible is preached? Do your advisers believe God’s Word or do they disdain it? Proverbs 11:10 says, “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.” Good advisers can do a nation much good. Bad advisers can do much harm.
We live in a time when “…truth is fallen in the street,” (Isaiah 59:14) People hear lies about when life begins, about origins, about gender, and about eternity. They need to hear the truth of God’s Word, and Christians need to tell it. People especially need to hear the truth about receiving Jesus as Saviour.
If you want to see from the Bible how to receive Jesus Christ, God the Son, as your personal Saviour, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 5/4/2023
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822