Joseph’s Prison Years
Joseph was put in prison by Potiphar due to the fact that Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape on her. Joseph obviously did not attempt to have his way with Potiphar’s wife; she wanted revenge on Joseph for not complying with her sexual advances on him. Potiphar’s wife got her revenge on Joseph – now he was in prison.
Joseph immediately became in favor with his fellow prisoners and guards due to the fact that he was able to interpret dreams – a gift from God. Once the interpretation of the prisoner’s dreams came to pass, the other prisoners and guards were amazed.
Joseph Meets Pharaoh
The Pharaoh of Egypt had a series of dreams that were troubling him. The cupbearer remembered when he was a prisoner and Joseph interpreted his dream and it came to pass. The cupbearer told Pharaoh about the prisoner named Joseph and that he was able to interpret dreams. The Pharaoh wanted Joseph to interpret his dreams immediately.
The Pharaoh told Joseph about the series of dreams and Joseph began to interpret the dreams. The interpretation of the dreams revealed that there would be seven years of agricultural prosperity and then seven years of famine that would follow. There would need to be an overseer to gather a fifth of all the agricultural produce during the years of prosperity and to store the produce for later use during the seven years of famine.
The Overseer
The Pharaoh believed Joseph’s interpretation of his dreams and made Joseph the overseer of the food gathering project – no one was higher ranked in Egypt than Joseph other than Pharaoh from that time on. Joseph instructed the Egyptians on how to go about gathering and storing the produce during the prosperous years.
The Famine
When the famine hit Egypt, the Egyptians were prepared for it because Pharaoh believed in Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams from God. Joseph was also the overseer of the rationing of the stored produce as well. One day, Joseph recognized his brothers in the waiting line to purchase some produce. Joseph played with them for a while by keeping his identity concealed but eventually made him known to them.
Joseph’s brothers were amazed at the stature of prominence he was at in Egypt and asked for forgiveness of their treatment to him during their younger years – he forgave them. Joseph told his brothers to go back to their father Israel and ask if he would like to live in Egypt. The brothers went back to Israel, told him what took place, and asked if He would like to live in Egypt – He gladly took the offer to move to Egypt. Israel and all his sons were back in his life and lived well the rest of their lives in Egypt with the favor of Pharaoh.