And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his bondmen.
A prisoner has just told the most powerful ruler on earth what his dreams mean and what he should do about them. The whole court agrees with him. God's wisdom came through a forgotten prisoner, and it won over a whole royal court.
Joseph offered no proof beyond the plan itself. Its quality convinced the king, and even courtiers who might have envied him.
His interpretation carried its own light and evidence along with it; and Pharaoh recognised the wisdom of God, not only in this, but also in the counsel that Joseph gave. And who was wiser than Joseph to take Egypt's critical case in hand? He would manage its resources during the seven years of plenty. He would hand out the stores during the seven years of famine that would surely follow. So the king felt at once, and his servants too, despite the usual jealousy of a court.
The advice that pleased Pharaoh did not call for a new policy or a larger bureaucracy. It called for a person.
Joseph not only interpreted the dreams. He also told Pharaoh what should be done, since these things were coming. What was needed was the man of wisdom, the one to trust with carrying it out. Joseph was speaking on God's behalf. He showed that, on the human side, these acts of God called for one thing only: A MAN.
Egypt's own experts had already failed. The man whose words now satisfied the king had just come out of prison.
God has destroyed "the wisdom of the wise" and thwarted "the discernment of the discerning." Now He falls back on the man He kept in reserve, "a man in whom the Spirit of God is." But God's man is always of little account in the eyes of the world. This man is destined to wield a power that no human being, before or since, has ever held. Yet for the moment he is wasting away in a prison, counted among what is "low and despised in the world."
The plan Pharaoh approved dealt with grain and storage, not with religion. One writer links this to how a spiritual person sees things.
1 Corinthians 2:15 tells us, "The spiritual person judges all things" — that is, he judges in the sense of discerning. He discerns not only spiritual things but everyday matters too, and he judges them more rightly than any unbeliever does. That is because God is the Creator of material things just as much as of spiritual things.
Joseph described the kind of man the work needed, but he never put himself forward.
So, without any effort of his own, Joseph was lifted from undeserved depths of suffering and disgrace. He became prime minister of the greatest kingdom then on earth. Who could deny that it was God's doing in His providence, though not without remarkable means in His Spirit's power working in His servant?
Pharaoh accepted a plan that set one man over everything. The whole land would come under him through plenty and then famine. Writers see here a sketch of something far larger.
This, too, is God's plan for the future government of the world. God will not govern by parliaments or cabinets, or by advisers and ministers. He will govern by "a Man discerning and wise" set over all. And He will bring everyone under His rule, either in the day of grace or in the day of judgment — the years of plenty or the years of famine.
This rise points past Egypt, to someone greater.
And how plain this is as a picture of one greater than Joseph! He suffered first from His own people, who did not receive Him. Later He suffered death on a cross from Gentiles who did not know Him. Yet through it all He was the vessel of divine wisdom, far beyond Joseph or anyone else ever born.
- The plan — Pharaoh approved more than a reading of dreams. He approved a course of action, and its wisdom convinced him at once.
- The man — The plan needed one person to carry it out. God had that man ready in a prison, counted as nothing by the world.
- The gift — Pharaoh recognised the wisdom of God in Joseph. That discernment showed itself in grain and government, not only in religion.
- The lift — Joseph never campaigned for the post. His rise from disgrace to prime minister was God's providence, working through His servant.
- The reach — God will govern the world through one discerning and wise Man set over all. Everyone comes under Him, in years of plenty or years of famine.
And Pharaoh said to his bondmen, Shall we find [one] as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
Pharaoh had just heard a prisoner explain what every expert in Egypt could not. His question to his court raises the real issue: what makes one man able to handle what defeats everyone else?
Pharaoh had already asked Egypt's best minds, and they had nothing to say.
God had destroyed "the wisdom of the wise" and brought "the discernment of the discerning" to nothing. So He turns to the man He had kept in reserve, "a man in whom the Spirit of God is." But God's man always counts for little in the eyes of the world. This man was destined to hold power that no human being, before or since, has ever held. For the moment he lies forgotten in a prison, counted among "what is low and despised in the world."
So why could a prisoner do what the court could not?
The ability was no more in Joseph than in the wise men of Egypt. They may be learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and they may hold the very highest positions in the king's court. Joseph, on the other hand, is a young Hebrew servant in a dungeon. But God was with him, so he could surpass the wisdom of the wise and stand without fear in the presence of the king.
Joseph's advice went further than the meaning of the dreams. It narrowed the whole crisis down to one need.
Joseph did not only interpret the dreams. He also told Pharaoh what to do, because these things were about to happen. What was needed was a wise man who could be trusted to carry the plan out. Joseph was really speaking on God's behalf. He showed that on the human side, in the face of these acts of God, all that was needed was A MAN.
Pharaoh was used to sizing up men. What he saw in Joseph went past anything he could explain.
As a ruler of men, Pharaoh had no doubt gained some discernment, and he saw at once that Joseph was the man for this emergency. It really was the Spirit of God speaking and acting through Joseph. Pharaoh worshipped idols, so he only thought of "the spirit of the gods." Even so, he knew at once that this was more than human wisdom and more than human power to govern.
Genesis says little about the Spirit of God, and this verse is where the book last mentions Him.
In the book of Genesis we read nothing more about the working of God's Spirit. The one exception is the question Pharaoh put to his servants. He was looking for a discerning and wise man to be a saviour in a day of coming famine: "Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?"
Joseph's insight did not stop at dreams. It reached into harvests, storage and famine relief.
It was clear to Pharaoh that the Spirit of God was in Joseph. God had revealed the meaning of the dream to him, so no one was as discerning and wise as he was. 1 Corinthians 2:15 tells us, "The spiritual person judges all things." Here "judges" means discerns. He discerns spiritual things, and he also judges earthly matters rightly, better than any unbeliever, because God is the Creator of material things as well as spiritual ones.
That gap has not closed with time.
Having the Spirit of God is still what makes the vast difference between the children of God and the wise men of the world. Many have great minds, filled with all the learning this world can give. Some hold high rank in the religious world. But unless they are born again they are only natural men, without the Spirit. They cannot even see the things that belong to the kingdom of God.
Commentators see this scene pointing forward to Christ.
No one could compare to Joseph. No one like him could be found. Pharaoh gave him a new name, Zaphnath-paaneah. In Egyptian it means "Saviour of the world," and in Hebrew it means "Revealer of secrets." Our Joseph, our Saviour of the world, our Revealer of secrets, is the Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the Spirit of God was in Joseph, the Holy Spirit came upon the Lord Jesus at His baptism for public service.
- Crisis — Pharaoh asked Egypt's experts first, and they failed. God's man was still forgotten in a prison.
- Man — Joseph's counsel reduced the whole national emergency to one need: a man God could use.
- Spirit — Pharaoh worshipped idols and named the wrong source, but he could not miss the power. Genesis names God's Spirit in a man only here.
- Wisdom — the Spirit gave Joseph sound judgment in grain, storage and government, not only in dreams. That difference between the spiritual and the natural man still stands.
- Glory — the man no one matched, renamed "Saviour of the world," points to Christ. The Spirit came on Him for public service.
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has made all this known to thee, there is none [so] discreet and wise as thou.
Pharaoh had just heard a prisoner explain the dreams that no wise man in Egypt could read. Now he promotes that prisoner, and the reason he gives is that God has shown him all this.
Pharaoh calls Joseph the wisest man in Egypt. Joseph had already said the opposite about himself:
God has destroyed "the wisdom of the wise" and thwarted "the discernment of the discerning." Now He falls back on the man He had kept in reserve, "a man in whom the Spirit of God is." But God's man is always of little account in the eyes of the world. At that moment the man destined to hold a power no one before or since has ever held is shut up in a prison. He is counted among "what is low and despised in the world." … Joseph at once confesses, "It is not in me." It was no more in Joseph than in the wise men of Egypt.
Another writer hears the same note in Paul:
He denied having any power or wisdom of his own. He said instead that God would give Pharaoh a favourable answer. It is a mark of a true servant of God to say, "It is not in me." We see the same spirit in Paul: "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Cor. 3:5).
The verse puts God's name in the mouth of a king who worshipped idols. One writer weighs what Pharaoh saw and what he missed:
As a ruler of men, Pharaoh had no doubt gained a measure of discernment. He saw at once that Joseph was the man for this emergency. It was indeed the Spirit of God who was speaking and acting through Joseph. But Pharaoh worshipped idols, so he only thought of "the spirit of the gods." Still, he recognised at once that this was more than human wisdom and power to govern.
Pharaoh's reason is that God has shown Joseph all this. One writer draws a wider rule from it:
It was clear to Pharaoh that the Spirit of God was in Joseph. God had shown Joseph the meaning of the dream, so there was no one so discerning and wise as he. 1 Corinthians 2:15 tells us, "The spiritual person judges all things" — that is, he judges in the sense of discerning. He discerns spiritual things. He also judges everyday matters better than any unbeliever does, because God is the Creator of material things just as much as spiritual ones.
One writer notes how years of injustice turned out to be the road to power:
The nations could never have guessed it. The punishment laid on him, the guiltless one, was unjust — yet it was the necessary link in God's wonderful chain that put the rule of the world-kingdom in his hand! He had endured prison for years, under the worst of accusations. Now he was about to pass in one step to the highest dignity and the largest power. "Only as regards the throne," as the king said, "will I be greater than you."
One writer draws the lesson closer to home. Joseph refused sin and went to prison for it. Now he is set over Egypt: "temptation resisted always leads to triumph" (W. T. P. Wolston).
Joseph had told Pharaoh to look for "a discerning and wise man." Pharaoh answers that Joseph is that man. One writer sees here a pattern of how God will govern:
This too is God's plan for the future government of the world. God will not govern by parliaments or cabinets, or by advisers and ministers. He will govern by "a discerning and wise Man" set over all. And all will be brought under His rule either in the day of grace or in the day of judgment — the years of plenty or the years of famine.
Another writer asks why Joseph got the place:
Joseph received his high place in Egypt only on the ground of his personal worth and the real service he had done for the country and kingdom of Egypt. And we see from Philippians 2 that God has exalted Jesus (as a man) only because of His personal worthiness and His obedience to death.
- Given, not owned. Joseph said, "It is not in me." The wisdom Pharaoh praises came from God, and saying so marks a true servant.
- Reserved, not discarded. God set aside the wisdom of Egypt's experts. He turned to the man He had kept in reserve — despised and in prison.
- Wise in real things. Spirit-given discernment covers more than spiritual matters. It reads everyday matters rightly too, because God made the material world.
- Suffering was the road. The unjust prison was the necessary link in God's chain. In one step Joseph moved from the dungeon to a place second only to the throne.
- A pattern of Christ. God's way of governing is one Man, discerning and wise, set over all. Philippians 2 shows Him exalted on the ground of His own worthiness and obedience.