Genesis 41:1-57 - In the Waiting
Thank you, Ethan. Thank you, Mitrice. I appreciate you guys.
If you have your Bibles, we are in Genesis. Last week was chapter 40, and this week we are in chapter 41. We’re going to keep walking through the book and see what insight we can glean from the text.
I need to be honest with you about two things from last week. One is that I felt awful, like I got hit by a truck. So my apologies if I didn’t come shake your hand and say welcome, or if I was already in my car by the time the gathering ended. My bad. Second, there are messages you teach where you think, Boy, I hope they get something from it. Last week was not one of those. Last week was one of those messages where I said, “Lord, I need this. I’m going to just go ahead and preach it to myself, and if it’s a benefit to anybody else, then praise God.”
When we talk about spiritual desolation, it’s not a subject matter I had ever heard anybody talk about growing up. I’d never felt permission to struggle. I just felt like you kept grinding it out, and eventually, maybe it would get better. I really needed to hear the idea that God is with us even in those moments where He doesn’t seem to be. What’s interesting is that we got more feedback this last week from that message than many messages we’ve done in the past. It gave me permission as a pastor and an elder here to walk out my life with God—which has its consolation and desolation—and it gave you permission to walk that out as well. To that, I say, praise God. That’s why we assemble as a church. That’s why we gather and work through the Word of God: to walk this out together.
The Purpose of Spiritual Desolation
Last week, as we covered the idea of spiritual desolation—those dry spots where God seems distant and your spiritual life feels stale—we noted that this is where spiritual formation happens. In fact, spiritual formation is best accomplished through times of desolation. If you find yourself feeling distant from God, can I encourage you? Theologically, God has not left you nor forsaken you. He is right there with you, chipping away everything in you that is not like Jesus.
We also said that spiritual formation takes time. There is no recipe, no magic prayer you can pray to immediately remove desolation and restore joy. Oftentimes, it takes more time than any of us are comfortable with.
Third, spiritual formation rarely seems fruitful in the moment. The goal of the spiritual life is not to become spiritual masochists who seek out pain or flagellate ourselves to get closer to God. But while spiritual formation rarely seems joyful in the moment, it always becomes clearer in the rearview mirror. Regardless of what you’ve been through, if I asked you to explain a time when you grew most in your relationship with Jesus, it was probably through tears. Though you didn’t see it in the moment, you look back now and say, “I’m thankful for that. I wouldn’t have asked for it then, and I don’t want to go through it again, but I see the fruit that came out of it.”
In Genesis 41, we see Joseph in a time of desolation in prison, forsaken and forgotten by the world for two full years.
Genesis 41:1 (NASB)
Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.
In that two-year period, Joseph is learning how to wait on God. We read through the Psalms and see this idea of waiting on the Lord, but we are not very good at waiting. We don’t like waiting for anything. In his waiting, Joseph is learning to love God not for the blessings God provides, but for who God is—period.
When you first get married, it’s all consolation and joy; the feelings are always there. Over time, those feelings can fade, and it’s easy to think something is wrong. But there is a deeper joy in loving someone for who they are, full stop, not just for how they make you feel. That’s what we are being invited into with God. Joseph learned that over those two years in prison.
Preparation in the Wilderness
Joseph isn’t the only biblical character who had to wait on God. Just about anyone used mightily by God experienced a season of desolation.
Moses spent forty years in the wilderness waiting on the Lord. That waiting wasn’t purposeless; Moses was literally learning the terrain, “Google Mapping” the route he would take as deliverer to lead Israel out of Egypt.
David spent years shepherding sheep. You might look at that and think, What a waste of time. But out there, he was learning to play music, write poetry (which we now know as the Psalms), and throw stones to kill lions and bears. When Goliath came, all those years of preparation were put to use.
The apostle Paul came to faith in Acts 9 and realized that despite his elite education, he had missed how Jesus was the hero of every Old Testament story. He spent years in Arabia with the Scriptures, studying what he had missed.
These times of preparation in obscurity are extremely useful. God does something in us as we wait on Him.
What was Joseph’s issue that God had to address? With David, you can point to murder and adultery. With Joseph, you have to dig a little deeper. In Genesis 37, Joseph had dreams about him being exalted and his family bowing down to him. You can imagine the sibling rivalry as he ran to tell his older brothers. There was pride, arrogance, and a desire for control. If Joseph were sharing his testimony at a recovery meeting, he’d say, “My name is Joseph, and the Lord is recovering me from pride, arrogance, and control.”
God was working on those issues. In the kingdom of God, pride comes before a fall, and everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, while everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke 14:11 (NASB)
‘For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’
David wrote in the Psalms:
Psalms 51:17 (NASB)
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Joseph learned how to walk in humility and let go of control because for two years, he had zero leverage to get out of jail.
God at Work on Both Sides
When you go through personal desolation, it’s easy to look inward and think it’s only about you. God was doing a work in Joseph, but He was also doing a work in Pharaoh. God was preparing Pharaoh to exalt Joseph instantly, but God had to bring Pharaoh to the end of himself first.
You might say, “Wait a minute, Pharaoh doesn’t even know God.” God doesn’t need Pharaoh’s permission. The proverb says:
Proverbs 21:1 (NASB)
The king’s heart is [like] channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.
Proverbs 16 adds:
Proverbs 16:4 (NASB)
The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.
God can multitask far better than any of us.
At the end of two full years, Pharaoh had troubling dreams. In the morning, his spirit was troubled, so he called all his magicians and wise men, but none of them could interpret the dreams. That’s when the chief cupbearer finally spoke up:
Genesis 41:9 (NASB)
Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, ’I would make mention today of my [own] offenses.
He told Pharaoh about the young Hebrew in prison who had accurately interpreted his dream two years prior.
Look at how quickly God can lift someone out of desolation:
Genesis 41:14 (NASB)
Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.
Joseph went from sitting in a dungeon to standing before the most powerful monarch in the world in a matter of minutes.
Pharaoh said to him, “I’ve had a dream, and no one can interpret it. I’ve heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.” Notice the focus: you, you, you.
A prideful young man would have jumped at that: “That’s right, Pharaoh. You’re looking at the guy.”
Instead, Joseph answered Pharaoh:
Genesis 41:16 (NASB)
Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, ‘It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.’
That is hard to do when standing before the one man with the power to grant your freedom. But Joseph had learned humility.
Exalted at the Proper Time
Joseph explained the interpretation: Egypt was about to experience seven years of great abundance followed by seven years of severe famine.
Genesis 41:29-30 (NASB)
’Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.
Joseph then proposed a wise administrative plan: appoint discerning leaders, collect a fifth of the produce during the seven good years, and store it in reserve for the seven years of famine so the land would not perish.
Notice that Joseph laid out the plan with an open hand: “Let Pharaoh find a discerning and wise man.” He wasn’t aggressively self-promoting. He simply gave godly wisdom.
The apostle Peter learned this same lesson of humility through his own desolation and wrote:
1 Peter 5:5-7 (NASB)
You younger men, likewise, be subject to [your] elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
When is the proper time? When it’s not about you anymore. In the meantime, cast your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. That is what Joseph learned in the dark.
Pharaoh listened to the proposal and asked his servants:
Genesis 41:38 (NASB)
Then Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?’
Pharaoh recognized something uniquely divine in Joseph. He told him, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”
Genesis 41:40 (NASB)
‘You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.’
Think about that. Joseph went from running a prison to running the entire superpower of the ancient world. If your view of God is small, expand it. When you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will exalt you at the proper time.
Pharaoh placed his signet ring on Joseph’s finger, dressed him in fine linen, put a gold chain around his neck, and had him ride in the second chariot while people cried out, “Bow the knee!” Joseph was given a new name, a wife, and absolute authority.
From obscurity to royalty. From jail to a palace. From poverty to riches—after thirteen long years of servitude. Joseph was seventeen when he was sold into slavery, and he was thirty when he stood before Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:46 (NASB)
Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
Thirteen years is a long time. It would have been easy to lose hope, become bitter, and say, God, I thought You were good. Why am I stuck here? But Joseph stayed faithful. He was faithful in Potiphar’s house, faithful in prison, and now faithful as prime minister of Egypt.
Whatever your situation is right now—even if you’re working a job you dislike—be faithful. Work as unto the Lord and not unto men.
God’s Bigger Plan
God blessed Joseph with two sons during those years of abundance. He named his firstborn Manasseh, meaning “making to forget,” because God had made him forget all his troubles. He named the second Ephraim, meaning “fruitful,” because God made him fruitful in the land of his affliction.
Genesis 41:51-52 (NASB)
Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, ‘For,’ [he said], ‘God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.’ He named the second Ephraim, ‘For,’ [he said], ‘God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.’
Why did God orchestrate all of this? Why allow Joseph to go through thirteen years of hardship just to place him in charge of Egypt’s food reserves?
When the seven years of famine struck, the famine was severe over all the earth. People from every nation traveled to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph.
Genesis 41:56-57 (NASB)
When the famine was [spread] over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. [The people of] all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
Just up the road in Canaan, an old man named Jacob and his sons were running out of food. In that family line was the seed of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. When starvation threatened that family, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain. And who was standing at the door managing the storehouse? Joseph.
God sovereignly placed a man on the inside decades ahead of time. The circumstances seemed terrible, but God was preserving the lineage of the Savior of the world.
Psalm 105 recounts this beautifully:
Psalms 105:16-19 (NASB)
And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, Joseph, [who] was sold as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him.
The Word of the Lord tested, refined, and purified Joseph in the furnace of desolation until God’s purpose was fulfilled.
Walking Through Your Own Waiting
If you are in a season of desolation, have you asked, Lord, what are You doing in me?
Instead of just praying, “Lord, get me out of this, bring back the sunshine, fix this right now,” have you prayed:
Psalms 139:23-24 (NASB)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Is there pride, bitterness, or control that God wants to strip away?
Psalms 34:18 (NASB)
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalms 42:1-3 (NASB)
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While [they] say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’
Not all desolation has an immediate light at the end of the tunnel. God does not promise a trouble-free life; He promises His presence in the midst of the trial. Some chronic illnesses, painful memories, or deep losses remain with us. But God is with you in the middle of them, doing a work in you.
Furthermore, God is often doing a work in you so that He can do a work through you. He is preparing you for a kingdom assignment. If God had told seventeen-year-old Joseph everything he would have to suffer before reaching Pharaoh’s palace, Joseph never would have signed up. But God in His grace walks with us step by step.
Paul reminds us:
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB)
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Desolation never feels pleasant in the moment, but God is using it to form you and prepare you. Open your hands to Him. Humble yourself under His mighty hand, and let Him exalt you in His perfect timing. In the meantime, cast every anxiety on Him, knowing He cares deeply for you.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for the hope we find in the story of Joseph. Thank You that You were with him in the waiting, in the prison, and in the palace. Lord, we take courage knowing that You are still the same God today. For those of us walking through seasons of desolation, dryness, or waiting, give us peace. Strip away our pride and our need for control. Do a deep work in us, and prepare us for whatever You want to do through us. Teach us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. In His name we pray, Amen.