Browse Bible Study Resources

Youth Worship 7th January 2023 : “Joseph provided”

Text: Genesis 47:1-12
7 January 2023

 

INTRODUCTION

1. The whole family of Jacob had come to Egypt

2. The entire family of 70 would have to be provided for

PRESENTATION TO THE PHARAOH

1 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.”

2 And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.

3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”
And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”

4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

Genesis 47:1-4

1. Personal audience with the Pharaoh

a) Joseph had direct access to the Pharaoh
b) He informed the Pharaoh of the arrival of:
i) His father
ii) His brothers
iii) Their families
c) They were living in Goshen

2. Presentation of 5 selected brothers to the Pharaoh

a) They were brought to speak to the Pharaoh
b) The Pharaoh’s question:
“What is your occupation?”
Genesis 47:3a
c) Joseph had already primed them not to speak of being shepherds
d) But they answered:
“Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”
Genesis 47:3b
e) They also made their request known to Pharaoh

 

And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
Genesis 47:4

 

i) They had no standing before Pharaoh
ii) They had no basis of making this request to the ruler of the land
iii) How could they even think they could make this request at all?
iv) They had no knowledge of Egyptian court protocols

 

PHARAOH’S CONVERSATION WITH JOSEPH

5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

6 The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”

Genesis 47:5-6

1. Pharaoh did not speak to the 5 brothers of Joseph at all

2. He did not acknowledge their request either

3. Instead, he spoke to Joseph directly

a) He graciously spoke to Joseph
b) He was the governor of his land
c) He was the one managing the famine that threatened the land

4. His offer to Joseph

a) Joseph did not request anything
b) The Pharaoh offered the best of the land to Joseph
c) If Joseph knew of anyone who was competent, whom he recommended would become chief herdsmen over the Pharaoh’s livestock
d) There was no mention of the need for any shepherds!

PRESENTATION OF JACOB TO THE PHARAOH

7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

Genesis 47:7-10

1. Joseph presented Jacob to the Pharaoh

2. Pharaoh spoke kindly to Jacob
And asked him how old he was

3. Jacob’s response

a) He was 130 years old
b) But his life could not be compared to his father and grandfather
c) He went on to give a blessing to the Pharaoh

 

JOSEPH’S PROVISION FOR THE FAMILY

11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.

Genesis 47:11-12

1. Joseph had received a special dispensation from the Pharaoh

2. He proceeded to provide for:

a) His father
b) His brothers
c) He provided them with “bread”

3. This was the land of Goshen called:

a) The best of the land
b) The land of Rameses (Rameses was the name of the Pharaoh)

CONCLUSION

1. Joseph continued to stand out

a) From among his brothers
b) Before Pharaoh

2. His character was outstanding

a) In his provision for his father
b) In his provision for his brothers and their families