From Prisoner to Governor

Joseph had explained Pharaoh’s dreams and proposed a plan to store food. Pharaoh had to decide whom to trust with that task.

Pharaoh looked at his officials.

Joseph's explanation was wise, and his plan was good.

“Can we find anyone like this man?” Pharaoh asked. “God has shown him what these dreams mean.”

Then Pharaoh turned toward Joseph.

“God has helped you understand these things,” Pharaoh said. “There is no one as wise as you.”

Joseph had entered the palace as a prisoner.

But now Pharaoh gave him an enormous responsibility.

“You will be in charge of my palace and my people,” Pharaoh declared. “Only I, as Pharaoh, will have greater authority than you.”

Pharaoh removed his special ring and placed it on Joseph's finger.

He gave Joseph fine clothes and placed a gold chain around his neck.

Then Joseph rode through Egypt in Pharaoh's second chariot. Servants went before him and called for the people to make way.

Everyone could see that Pharaoh had placed Joseph in charge of Egypt.

Joseph could hardly have imagined this moment while sitting inside the dark prison.

He had been betrayed by his brothers.

He had been taken far away from his home.

He had been accused of something he had not done.

He had been forgotten in prison.

But God had never forgotten Joseph.

God had been with him in his father's home, in Potiphar's house, inside the prison, and now in Pharaoh's palace.

Joseph had become a ruler in Egypt.

Soon, he would begin the important work of preparing the land for the difficult years ahead.

And although Joseph did not know it yet, God's plan would one day bring him face to face with his family again.

Joseph began the important work Pharaoh had given him. During the seven years when Egypt grew more food than anyone could count, Joseph traveled across the land and prepared for the future.

The storehouses filled with grain. Basket after basket was poured inside until the grain looked as plentiful as the sand beside the sea.

Then the rain stopped, the fields dried, and food became hard to find. The years of famine had begun.

People came from many lands to Egypt because they had heard that food was there. Joseph opened the storehouses, and the grain he had saved fed many hungry families.

The full storehouses had served a much greater purpose than keeping riches: now they helped families have something to eat.

Preparing carefully and sharing in time can ease other people’s suffering. Joseph had been given a great responsibility, and he was using it to care for lives. Far from Egypt, his own family also needed food.