Genesis 41:44, commentary and pictures

Pharaoh granted Joseph authority second only to himself, making his power over the land effective so that no man in all Egypt could lift hand or foot without him. The exaltation was sudden, to great wealth and honor from the prisoner's cell and dungeon, after false accusation, adversity and humiliation, where he had been a servant of captives and a prey of ingratitude and malice. Providence overruled the designs of his enemies and raised him to honor, his trials prepared him for the position, and the exaltation reversed his humiliation.

The surrounding passage foretells seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine made known in Pharaoh's dreams, and those events occurred exactly within the given time in accordance with the predictions. This shows that God foretells events to happen within definite chronological periods and fulfills them, giving ground to trust the chronological periods extending to the second coming as times before appointed. God chose and set Joseph at a great crisis to the leadership of the nation, next to the throne of the world's greatest empire, to carry a heavy burden in idolatrous Egypt and work in the line God had chosen. He was placed there after much affliction and after proving true to his allegiance, so that the knowledge of God and heavenly illumination might shine forth in Egypt and extend far and near to all nations connected with that powerful kingdom, not to Egypt alone, and he did not betray that sacred trust.

All Egypt marveled at the wisdom with which God had instructed him, and by his wisdom and justice, by the purity and benevolence of his daily life, and by his devotion to the interests of the people though they were idolaters, he 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. The lofty height of success and honor brought danger, for great changes of fortune bring temptations that assail prosperity as fiercely as a tempest uproots the tree on the mountaintop while leaving the flower of the valley unharmed. The high position tested his integrity and character just as adversity did, but he preserved his integrity with the same fidelity he had shown as a tenderly cherished child, as a slave and confidant in Potiphar's house, and as a prisoner of state condemned unjustly without hope of vindication or prospect of release, bearing alike the test of adversity and prosperity in the palace as in the cell.

He was one of the few who could withstand temptation, keeping an eye single to the glory of God and showing the same lofty regard for God's will and the same purity and faithfulness in the palace as in prison. He carried his religion with him wherever he went and in whatever situation he was placed, proving that true religion has an all-pervading power that gives tone to everything a person does. His life displayed precious fruits of character that were fragrant and beautiful, in contrast with the Jewish nation's failure to show the fruits of God's Spirit. His presence and service in authority are a model for how Seventh-day Adventist institutions are to represent their faith to the world.