Sunday School: Joseph Serves in Egypt

Encore Post: People in ancient times believed that dreams predicted the future. Kings and other important people hired magicians, astrologers and other wise men skill in interpreting dreams. Because of this, God used dreams from time to time to send messages to kings and to his prophets. God sent dreams to Joseph’s father, Jacob. God sent dreams to Joseph to predict his future as the second in command of Egypt. It was this dream the angered Joseph’s brothers enough that they sold him into slavery in Egypt.

Joseph was sold to Potiphar, the Captain of the Palace Guard for Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph worked hard for his master, who discovered the semitic slave had a talent for administration and so put him in charge of his household staff. The captain’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, grabbing his robe as he fled from her. In revenge, the woman accused him of raping her. So Potiphar threw Joseph in prison.

The warden of the jail discovered the same skills in Joseph, so he ended up in charge of the jail. It was there that he met Pharaoh’s butler and baker. Both of these servants had dreams that Joseph correctly interpreted. Eventually, he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh himself. From the kings perspective, all of his wise men, the best in the world at the time, couldn’t explain his dreams. But Joseph could. So he concluded that Joseph was the wisest of them all. So Pharaoh appointed him to rule Egypt under his command. God had fulfilled the dreams he had given Joseph.

God used Joseph, then, to prepare for famine in Egypt and then feed the world. 1500 years later, another Joseph had a dream. God told that Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary, because God was the father of the child she carried. He did and became the stepfather of Jesus, who would save the world from sin.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

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