Genesis 41: Joseph is put in charge of Egypt

Synopsis:

2 years later, the Pharaoh dreams a couple of dreams and he doesn’t know what they mean. His butler tells him about Joseph, who is called to interpret the dreams of the Pharaoh.  He tells Pharaoh he will have 7 years of bumper crops but then there will be 7 years of drought. He tells Pharaoh they should plan for the drought by taking up 1/5^th of the harvest for the next 7 years so that it will be available during the period of drought.  Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of doing this. Joseph is now 30 and Pharaoh makes him his 2^nd in command. He gives him a wife and renames him Zaphnathpaaneah and his wife has 2 sons.  When the famine came and the people started to starve, Pharaoh sends them to Joseph  who sells the stored grain back to everyone at a profit and as a result, Joseph and Pharaoh became very rich.

In other words:

Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh and is put in charge of the entire country.  He uses that power to confiscate 1/5^th of all the grain so that when the famine comes, he and Pharaoh can sell the food back to the people.

Favorite bit:

That the scheme to hoard food is not only smart – it’s an economic risk that pays off quite well financially (Genesis 41:46-57)

Moral Lesson Learned:

Always plan for a rainy day (or in this case a famine), because preplanning for disaster is a smart thing to do. (Genesis 41:34-36)