My Reflections

Summary of Week 6 Joseph Bible Study

After he gave a satisfactory interpretation for the two dreams of Pharoah, Joseph not only gave Pharoah advice on how to handle the situation predicted in the dreams. He advised him to set up someone in authority over the land of Egypt to put back a fifth of the produce during the seven years of plenty. This way they could prepare for and survive the seven years of famine. His advice pleased Pharoah. Pharoah considered him wise and dependable because of his interpretation of the dream and his advice on how to handle it. Pharoah even asked his servants if they knew of a man that had the Spirit of God like Joseph did. (Even non-believers can recognize the Holy Spirit working in a believer)

The Bible tells us that Joseph was 30 years old when this occurred. So, he was in slavery and prison for a total of 13 years because he was 17 years old (found in Gen. 37:2) when his brothers had sold him into slavery. During this time, he had been placed in leadership positions by those in authority over him which I am sure helped him gain experience before he was made second in command over all of Egypt.

Pharoah changes Joseph's name to Zaphnath-Paaneah when he promoted him. In general, it means "revealer of secrets". He is given Asanath, daughter of Potipherah priest of On. On was a city in Egypt. Potipherah was a priest of Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Asanath's name meant "daughter of Nieth", another Egyptian goddess. Potipherah's name means, "he who Ra has given". For more information on these names, see... ▼

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaphnath-Paaneah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asenath
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potipherah

I can't help but wonder how Potipher and his wife reacted to all of this, because now he was in a position even above them. Some people believe Potiphar and Potipherah are the same person. However, Potiphar was captain of the King's guard while Potipherah was a priest of Ra in the city of On. I believe they are two different people. Besides, I don't think Joseph would consider it a reward to have the woman who got him thrown in prison as a mother-in-law.

During these seven good years, Joseph and his wife welcomed two sons into the world. His firstborn, he named Manasseh and the second was named Ephraim. Manasseh was named because God made him forget all his toil and all his father's house. Ephraim got his name because God had made Joseph fruitful in the land of his affliction. For more information about Manasseh and Ephraim, see... ▼

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manasseh_(tribal_patriarch)

Joseph gathered up as much food as he could during the 7 good years and stored it in the cities. He gathered so much corn during this time that they stopped counting it.

https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/evidence-seven-year-famine-joseph/
This article is about evidence regarding a multi-regional draught leading to a large famine. This is one of several like it. I did a Google search on "evidence of worldwide famine in Egypt". I enjoy seeing archeological evidence of Biblical events as it can be very interesting.

The Bible says that all the known countries of the world at this time came to Joseph in Egypt to buy corn because the famine was so bad and the seven years of plenty were forgotten also. The land went from extreme plenty to extreme drought very quickly. I can only imagine that it was shocking to see even though they knew it was coming and had prepared for it.

Jay O'Toole pointed out that the number 2 repeats a lot in the story of Joseph. For example: His father, Jacob, was one of 2 twin brothers, Pharoah had 2 dreams. There were 2 men who had 2 separate dreams in prison with him that he interpreted, Joseph remained in prison for 2 years after he interpreted their dreams, he had 2 dreams himself when he was young, he had 2 sons, he was often made to be 2nd in command, etc... Can you name any more? Here is a website I looked up that mentions the significance of the number 2 in the Bible for those of you who may be interested. https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/2.html

Meanwhile back in the land of Canaan, the drought and famine were really bad. I imagine Jacob's family were having a family discussion about the famine and what they were going to do to survive it. Jacob says he has heard that they could get food from Egypt. He tells his sons to go buy food from there so they can live.

However, now Benjamin was apparently the new favorite son, and he wasn't going to let him go anywhere so something didn't happen to him like it had Joseph. Getting rid of Joseph didn't exactly solve Joseph's brothers' issues they apparently found out. I am sure they experienced a lot of feelings of regret and guilt as a result of their actions.

When Joseph's brothers arrived in Egypt to buy food, Joseph recognized them. Hower, they did not recognize him. Joseph kept himself disguised and spoke roughly to them, accusing them of being spies. They argued about it for a moment.

Joseph puts his brothers in prison for 3 days, they got a small taste of what they had put him through. However, after 3 days, he lets them take provisions home but requires them to return with their youngest brother that was left home to prove they were telling the truth because he feared God. However, He kept Simeon in the prison. By now, their previous sins against Joseph were beginning to haunt them. We will see more about this as we look at the scripture for this next week. For more information on the name of Simeon, see... ▼

https://bibledictionarytoday.com/biblical-names/simeon/
His name means, "God has heard".