Genesis 41:42, commentary and pictures

Pharaoh publicly invested Joseph with ruling authority second only to himself, setting him apart for honor with the royal ring, fine clothing, and gold chain. In a sudden and great reversal he was lifted from the dungeon as a prisoner and foreign slave to lord of Pharaoh's house and ruler over all Egypt, called at a national crisis to carry out the plan that would preserve the land by God's overruling choice and instruction. False accusation, temptation, imprisonment, and affliction prepared him for usefulness by teaching him obedience, humility, and willingness to learn and serve before he was exalted in due time. Prosperity is a dangerous test of character, yet beside the throne as in the prison cell he remained unchanged in devotion with an eye single to God's glory, kept pure and untarnished by carrying his religion everywhere in continual dependence on God. He was thus set next to the throne of the world's greatest empire to shine the knowledge of God in idolatrous Egypt, revealing by wisdom, justice, purity, and benevolence the love of the Creator to Egypt and to all nations connected with it.

Investiture, Rise, and Preparation

Pharaoh's act was a public investiture in authority and honor, placing his own royal ring on Joseph's hand, arraying him in vestures of fine linen, and putting a gold chain about his neck as the marks of a ruler under Pharaoh with only Pharaoh above him. The clothing with signs of honor raised him to an exalted position of public authority in Egypt.

The elevation was sudden and great, lifting him from the dungeon as a prisoner and servant of captives to wealth and honor second only to the king. He was made lord of Pharaoh's house and ruler of all his substance, and set as ruler over all the land of Egypt. He was called at a great crisis to the leadership of the nation, to carry out the plan that would preserve it.

The rise came by God's overruling hand and the Lord's choice, placing him in that important position and setting him to work in the line God had chosen for him after much affliction. His wisdom, sound judgment, and evident connection with God qualified him to rule despite his standing as a Hebrew slave. God instructed him, so that he was appointed to bind princes and teach senators wisdom while all Egypt marveled at his wisdom.

Hardship prepared him for usefulness, for false accusation, imprisonment, temptation, adversity, and hardships gave him the experience that fitted him to fill the exalted position. Through hardship he learned obedience and humility, and his willingness to learn and to serve others in prison preceded his promotion in due time. It was because of the part he acted in the gloomy prison that he was finally raised to prosperity and honor, when God overruled the evil done to him and exalted him.

The verse stands within the prediction of seven years of plenty and seven years of famine made known in Pharaoh's dreams. What was once only a matter of prophecy was then fulfilled in accordance with the prediction within the stated period. In this it shows that Scripture sometimes gives a definite time for predicted events.

Faithfulness in Prosperity's Danger

The ring and chain and linen marked a sudden and great elevation to wealth and high honor next to the king, calling Joseph at a great crisis to leadership of the nation and placing him in one of the world's high places of success and honor. That promotion was a great change of fortune bringing fierce temptation, for prosperity is a dangerous test of character. It is impossible to stand upon a lofty height without danger, while poverty and lowly places are comparatively safe. As the tempest that leaves unharmed the flower of the valley uproots the tree upon the mountaintop, so exaltation exposes character to perils unknown below.

Joseph bore the test of prosperity as well as the test of adversity, preserving his integrity in that position. He remained unchanged in devotion, with an eye single to the glory of God. He manifested the same fidelity and the same sacred and lofty regard for God's will beside the throne as in the prisoner's cell, in the palace of the Pharaohs as in prison. The gold of his character was undimmed by prosperity, and he was kept pure and untarnished in the king's court.

The secret of that unwavering fidelity was that he carried his religion everywhere. The love and fear of God kept him, for though a stranger in a strange land, separated from father and brethren with often sadness, he did not forget God but depended on God continually. He let religion give tone to everything he did, faithfully discharging the duties of the office and position where God had placed him as ruler.

That lofty height teaches the need for complete and entire consecration, with living faith connection with God. The more difficult and exalted the position, the greater the need of Jesus, requiring hiding in Jesus and holding the hand of Christ. It requires guarding against presumption and self-sufficiency, and cherishing a spirit that would suffer any temporal loss rather than sin. It requires gaining the precious victory over self and over hereditary and cultivated traits of character, in which selfish ambition and desire for supremacy die when Christ takes possession of the affections. For many whom God could have used in poverty and crowned with glory hereafter are ruined by prosperity and dragged down to the pit, because they forget to be humble and forget that God is their strength and become independent.

In this Joseph is one of the few who withstand temptation and entanglement in exaltation. He is an example youth should imitate by keeping the heart fixed on heavenly things instead of being captivated through unwise association. His life displayed precious fruits of character.

Witness to Nations and Church

God lifted Joseph from the dungeon as a servant of captives and set him next to the throne of the world's greatest empire, making him lord of Pharaoh's house and ruler of all his substance to bind princes and teach senators wisdom because God instructed him. All Egypt marveled at his wisdom, and after much affliction the Lord's choice laid a heavy burden upon him in idolatrous Egypt and set him to work in the line God had chosen for him. The purpose of that exaltation was that the knowledge of God might shine forth in the kingdom of Egypt and that heavenly illumination might extend far and near. He was made a light-bearer not to Egypt alone but to all peoples and to all nations connected with that powerful kingdom, so that God might manifest Himself through him.

By wisdom and justice, by purity and benevolence of daily life, and by devotion to the interests of the people though they were idolaters, Joseph was a representative of Christ. In their benefactor, to whom all Egypt turned with gratitude and praise, that heathen people and through them all connected nations were to behold the love of their Creator and Redeemer. He did not betray his sacred trust, and his position there stands as the example of how God's people can represent Him to the surrounding world.

His being given various positions of trust with Pharaoh's authority placed upon him illustrates the assignment belonging to ministers. Those ministers need an all-round education that trains physical powers as well as mental powers, not book learning merely. That education is after the order of the schools of the prophets, and it fits students to graduate to the higher school above where Christ leads His people and instructs them in deeper knowledge.