Two new guys move in to the cell block, the Matitre d’ and the Chef de Cuisine. Joseph gets assigned to “wait on them.” Think of the irony of that. They are the ones who usually wait on Pharaoh. In fact, they’re each in charge of a whole team of servers and chefs. Joseph waits on the waiters. That’s giving me Jesus at the last supper vibes. The One Who is about to be revealed as the greatest is serving the servants.
I find the dreams in these chapters fascinating. They’re like riddles. They make no sense until someone tells you the answer, then it’s as obvious as the nose on your face.
Like this…
What kind of coat is best put on wet?
🤔
🧥
🧐
💦
🕵🏻♂️
🪣
A coat of paint.
🙄🤦♀️
What has many teeth, but can’t bite?
(I know- I’m as annoying as a kid with a joke book right now but maybe you can use it at work or to annoy your family.)
What has many teeth, but can’t bite?
🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷
Hmmm can’t bite…
🦈🙅♀️
😬
Not a dog. 🐩
😶🤐
Teeth…
🤔
A comb. 🤦♀️🪮😏
When Joseph tells the men the interpretation of their dreams it’s like- oh, of course! That makes complete sense.
Then on Pharaoh’s birthday… does anyone else find it hilarious that Pharaoh celebrated his birthday? 🥳 🎂 I think that’s amazing and very funny for some reason. Maybe I’m subconsciously picturing the stern Yul Brenner from The Ten Commandments with a birthday hat and cake. Anyway, on his birthday- I suppose for entertainment- he restores the Maitre d’ and executes the chef and the two dreams are fulfilled.
So, Joseph had asked the chief cupbearer to mention his situation to Pharaoh but in all the excitement of getting his job back, Joseph is forgotten.
…Until Pharaoh has dreams.
And as Joseph interprets them for Pharaoh we get a very important lesson on interpretation in general.
“Now concerning the repetition of the dream twice to Pharaoh, it is because the matter is established by God, and God will do it quickly.” Genesis 41:32 LEB
If it’s repeated, it’s important.
If you’re trying to understand the Bible better, keep your eyes peeled for repetition. And it may not be identical repetition. Pharaoh didn’t have identical dreams of cows and more cows. He had dreams of fat & skinny cows, then fat and skinny grain. We need to tune our brains to pick up themes. Concepts.
God doesn’t always spell everything out. Modern humans – we’re all a bit dull honestly. Look at our entertainment. Little to no nuance. If something isn’t exploding, it’s boring. We’ve been shocked and awed so much that when the U.S. Government actually came out and admitted on television that UFO’s were real, everyone yawned and kept scrolling.
🛸🛸🛸👽👽🥱😴
If an idea or concept is repeated, sit up and pay attention. And it may be as subtle as trying to spot a deer in the woods. The deer isn’t the one wearing blaze orange so you’ll really have to be observant.
Joseph had a great deal of good sense. And he knew how to apply it. Pharaoh appoints him over the land and he suddenly goes from being a slave to a sovereign. This is a powerful picture of the exaltation of Christ from a criminal’s cross to the right hand of God Almighty.
Joseph is given a high-class Egyptian wife, Asenath. This is probably stretching the prophetic picture, but, Jesus does have a primarily Gentile bride.
I’d like to detour for just a sec and think about Asenath. All we know about her is that she was “the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.” Her name means “belonging to Neith.” Neith is one of the earliest goddesses in Egypt’s archeological record. Neith was worshipped as a celestial deity who opened the way for the sun on its cosmic path across the sky. She was also a goddess of war and associated with death- particularly the little caskets that held embalmed organs. (Now you know- in the extremely unlikely event that this comes up in a trivia game.) 🤓
Asenath was of high social standing because her father was a priest in the city of On, later named Hieropolis by the Greeks. Here is an interesting quote I found on an African website about ancient On:
“The priests of On were very mystical and were the repository of the ancient mysteries of Egypt. The priests of On guided their mysteries jealously and were the only priests that crowned the Pharoahs. No king of Egypt could be recognized without being consecrated by the priests of On. They were called the “Priests of the most high”. The Pharoh and his family traditionally resided in the city of On.”
Extra-biblical texts have some pretty tall-tales about Asenath. Some legends have her as the daughter of Dinah from the disastrous incident with Shechem. Others conflate Potiphar (the Captain of the Guard who initially bought Joseph), with Asenath’s father Potiphera. There are ancient Jewish commentaries that claim she converted to Judaism before marrying Joseph. I’m pretty sure that all of this is complete hogwash. There wasn’t even such a thing as Judaism yet. A captain of the guard is not a priest. And there is zero biblical or reliable extra-biblical evidence that she was the daughter of Dinah that somehow ended up as “the daughter of” an Egyptian priest.
Asenath was an Egyptian woman. Probably fairly young. Probably educated. And utterly pagan. But I have not a doubt that Joseph would’ve told her all about the Most High Yahweh Whom he and his fathers worshipped. I mean- his own father Jacob had met this Yahweh face to face. There’s no way that’s not getting shared. Perhaps Joseph even had theological discussions with his father-in-law. Wouldn’t that be something to know about?!
My modern feet fit into Asenath’s shoes about as well as Cinderella’s step-sisters but- if I had been given in marriage to man of integrity and intelligence and wisdom and humble strength like Joseph (not to mention he’s a hottie 😍) , I’d want to know what made him tick. And if his God was the answer, I’d want to serve that God. For me, Asenath is one of the Bible’s many delectable mysteries. At any rate, she and Joseph seem to do well together. They have 2 sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, before the famine begins. Life is good for Joseph, even when the drought comes.
New evidence suggests that when the Bible says, “And every land came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, for the famine was severe in every land.” (Genesis 41:57 LEB), – it means just that. Every land. The work of Dr. Nathaniel Jeansen shows a big genetic mixing based in Egypt that involved people groups from even other continents! Click HERE for that video. The bit focused on this account starts about 32min in.
If this is true- and I have no reason to doubt the plain reading of the text- then Joseph is beginning his greatest parallel picture of Christ yet. If all the nations come to him for sustenance (to not die) then Joseph is actively being the savior of the world.
To The Reader 