Joseph the Egyptian Prisoner
READ Genesis 39:21-23; Genesis 40:14-15, 23
Talk about the inmates running the asylum! How did Joseph came to gain the trust of the
Prison Warden to this degree?
He was a man of integrity and
though wrongly imprisoned, would not seek to escape.
Even after the butler forgot
Joseph for 2 years, he would not escape.
READ Genesis 40:1, 8-13, 16-19
If dream interpretations belong to God, how was Joseph
able to understand them correctly?
He has a spiritual gift.
God inspired him with the
understanding; by this point in his life, Joseph was animated by the Holy
Spirit (mind of God), so God’s thoughts flowed into him as if they were his
(and they were, as he and God were becoming one in spirit as Joseph continued
to submit his will to God’s and honor the situation God had placed him in by
staying in the prison).
What is the objective of spiritual gifts?
To help others to come unto
Christ - they are ministering gifts not self-aggrandizing gifts.
READ Acts 2:17-18
Who can have these gifts?
Anyone, as God is no respecter
of persons - including a youngest brother of 11 or a young, foreign prisoner.
There is no gender or age
requirement for spiritual gifts: women have the right to receive them as much
as men do, and the young can receive these gifts as easily as the elderly.
Spiritual gifts must be sought
for from God; who ever does the spiritual work can have the spiritual gifts.
READ Genesis 41:1-8
What do you think the dreams mean?
7 years of plenty followed by
7 years of famine.
As Ebenezer Scrooge might
point out, Pharaoh needs to change his diet or make sure he isn’t eating so
close to bedtime.
READ Genesis 41:14-16, 25-32
Why does God speak to people in dreams?
It is a very subtle test.
It is a precursor to receiving
a more.
He can appear to people in
dreams without having to shield them from His glory.
What would happen today if a political leader like the
President of the United States or the Russian Prime Minister received a dream
like this and not the President of the LDS Church?
People would think he was
crazy if the leader thought it meant something… dreams are just dreams! (like
Hitler being into astrology).
Church members may not believe
them unless they were legitimized by the “authorized” leader (unless the
political leader was a Republican…).
What lessons can we learn from this experience of
Pharaoh and young Joseph?
You don’t need to be a “Church
member” to receive revelation or be spiritually gifted.
You don’t need to be a Church
leader to receive or interpret revelation.
God may show a vision to one
person and the interpretation of that vision to another person; this would not
be done out of whim but because it is important for both parties to have this
shared spiritual experience.
READ Jeremiah 31:33-34 and
D&C 84:98-99
What does the Lord tell us about who shall KNOW Him in
the Last Days?
ALL shall know Him, from the
least to the greatest.
What does KNOW him mean?
To know is to KNOW He lives
but was slain - see 3 Nephi 11:14-15.
To know Him because He has
taken up His abode or habitation with you and you have spent lots of time with
Him (see John 14:21-23).
Joseph the Egyptian Leader
READ Genesis 41:37-41
What does this experience teach us about Pharaoh?
He wanted someone filled with
the Holy Spirit to help him lead the people; perhaps he doubted the degree to
which he had that Spirit, though; or perhaps he wanted those who governed with
him to share it, too.
He was righteous enough to
recognize/discern that Joseph had the Spirit of the living God in him.
READ Genesis 41:47-49
Did it cost Egypt to store the excess food?
Yes - they would have had to
have built granaries and spent the labor to carefully store it.
Would they have done this without Joseph’s warning to
Pharaoh?
It’s doubtful.
The world usually assumes that
when things are good, there is no reason why they won’t continue that way
(especially if they think that their success is attributed to their own efforts
and smarts); plus, as resources are never infinite, any expenditure of time and
money on one project, takes away from other projects that could have been
accomplished – it’s opportunity cost.
READ Genesis 41:54-57
If they had the foresight to store the grain, in the
case of an international crisis like this today, what would the “world power”
likely do?
Either sell the food at a
premium or…
Gain power over the countries
and people who bought or were given the food - “you owe me”.
Not to be too cynical but all
organizations work to create value for themselves; this is why God wishes that
we would personally be engaged in good causes and do many things of our own
free will (see D&C 58:27) rather than leave it to an organization with an
agenda (however “good” that agenda might seem to themselves).
READ Genesis 42:5-8,
14-15,19-27
What does Joseph do to his brothers?
He disguises his true identity
from them.
He gives them the food.
He accuses them of being spies.
He tells them that they need
to bring back Benjamin.
He keeps Simeon in prison as
ransom.
He listens to them “repent” of
killing Joseph.
He hid their money in their
sacks.
So, they know they are in big
trouble if they ever return for Simeon.
They come back for more food,
bringing Benjamin.
Joseph has his precious silver
cup hidden in Benjamin’s sack - stealing it is a death sentence by Egyptian
law.
Judah (who sold him to the
Arabs in the first place) begs to be punished in Benjamin’s place.
READ Genesis 45:1-8
When Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers,
what does he tell them?
That God sent him to Egypt.
While the brothers betrayed
him and sold him into slavery, God had a plan the whole time. God took advantage of the (poor) use of
agency by the brothers to enable Joseph to become the person the Lord wanted
him to become – and to save the brothers at the same time. However, God did not inspire the brothers to
sell Joseph into slavery.
Last week we talked about Joseph’s two dreams - How did
the temporal salvation dream (about the grain) play out?
Joseph is “broken off” to a
place apart from the House of Israel.
Joseph resides in a distant
land, unknown to his family (where he will live until his death).
Joseph’s experience (slavery,
temptation, wrongly accused, prison, forgotten, finally triumph) in the distant
land prepares the way for the salvation of Israel.
Israel began to be saved when
they learned of Joseph (or what he had caused to happen as the Captain of
Egypt), who was separated.
They bow down to him and he
makes himself known unto them - their temporal salvation is also the reunion
with their lost brother who they had sold.
READ JST Genesis 48:8-11
How does the spiritual salvation through Joseph (the
“star” dream) mirror the temporal salvation he provided?
Joseph had the birthright to
receive the High Priesthood or Holy Order (the Coat of Many Colors or Coat of
Light was a proof of his having the birthright).
Through his faithfulness to
the Lord throughout all his trials in Egypt, he had gained the ordination from
God; and through that High Priesthood, his seed (Ephraim and Manasseh through
Lehi) would bless all of Israel in the last days.
READ JST Genesis 50:25
What part of Joseph’s family is broken off and removed
to a place apart from Israel?
Lehi and his family.
Where is the distant land and how do we know it was
unknown to Israel?
The Americas are promised to
Joseph (Ether 13:6-7).
Christ told the Nephites that
Israel didn’t know about them (3 Nephi 15:19-21).
How do the experiences of the tribe of Joseph in the
distant land prepare the way for the salvation of Israel?
The Book of Mormon is the
means of bringing salvation to Israel by restoring the true doctrine of Christ
and the covenants through which the remnant of Israel can know Him (JST Genesis
50:31-32).
The work of the gentile
Egyptians in growing, harvesting and storing the life-giving food mirrors the
work of the latter-day gentiles.
The Egyptians were saved by
the food first - Israel came only after the famine had been two years into its
seven-year cycle. (2 Nephi 30:3); the gentiles are the “last” that would become
“first” in the latter-day restoration of the fullness of the Gospel of Christ.
How does Israel begin to be saved by learning about
Joseph of Egypt? (READ 2 Nephi 30:4-7)
They learn that THEY are the
lost ones because they don’t know who they are - until they read the Book of
Mormon.
They learn the truth about the
Messiah - that he is Jesus Christ.
They learn about the covenants
they’ve been promised and HOW great things the Lord has done to them.
How does Israel bow down to Joseph in the last days?
They receive the gospel from
Joseph (Ephraim) where they fall down before “him” and are crowned with glory
(D&C 133:30-34).
They receive it at the hand of
Joseph Smith (2 Nephi 3:6-7, 15)
– one “like unto” Joseph of Egypt – via the Book of Mormon.
How is Joseph’s saving of the House of Israel from
physical and spiritual death a type of Christ?
He is the beloved son.
It is divinely revealed that
he will rule over Israel.
The children of Israel reject
him out of jealousy and hate.
Notwithstanding their
treatment of him, he seeks out his brothers on behalf of his father.
The children of Israel
conspire to kill him.
He is betrayed by the hand of
Judah (Greek = Judas).
He is sold for the price of a
slave.
This very attempt to destroy
him sets in motion the events that will eventually save the House of Israel
from death.
He resists temptation
perfectly.
He begins his public mission
at the age of 30.
He provides “bread” for Israel
(sacrificing His body to death and the resurrection He then attained) - saving
them from death.
He offers that bread without
price (as Joseph of Egypt gives his brothers their money back).
In the offering of that bread,
he offers them the opportunity to repent.
And if Joseph is a type of Christ, then who are we?
The children of Israel.
READ AGAIN Genesis 45:1-5 and
42:21-24
If Joseph is a type of Christ, why does He weep for us?
When we finally see Him for
who He is, we hold ourselves back from Him, we prefer to shrink into the
shadows because of the guilt we feel over the pain we’ve caused Him.
And the realization that each
of our sins has been a failure to love Him, but we would rather “sell Him” and
profit.
So, He weeps for the
separation that we MAINTAIN, even when He is before us and has revealed Himself
to us in the flesh.
But He continues to plead to
us “come near to me, I pray you”; He begs that we “lay aside the sins and guilt
and allow me to heal you with the bread of life”.
