Genesis 41:37-46

“Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled…” (Genesis 41:40)

Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh to be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Then Joseph instructed Pharaoh how to store up for the famine. The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.

Pharaoh chose Joseph to be lifted up and to be made next to the Pharaoh in ruling Egypt. The reason Pharaoh chose Joseph was because Joseph was the answer to Pharaoh’s question in Genesis 41:38b, “… Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”

“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.” (Genesis 41:39)

Joseph was lifted from the king’s prison to the king’s palace, all in one day. This action issued from Joseph’s diligence and from his yielding to be used of God as an interpreter of dreams. (Genesis 41:16) “…It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

Here we have the keys to our Coronation in the Court of King Jesus:

• Diligence
• Submission to be used of God
• Obedience

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Wherever Joseph was, either in Potiphar’s house or in the king’s prison, he was made an overseer (Genesis 39: 2-6, 21-22); because he was a diligent man that God prospered, and God placed favor upon him. He also was submitted to the authority over him, (Genesis 39:4b) “… and he served him…” Joseph was a diligent man, and he was not slack to be used of God to interpret dreams. He had been a dreamer from the beginning, and it was partly his dreams of the rulership over his family that landed him in prison.

But Joseph did not stop interpreting dreams, as with the Butler’s dream and the Baker’s dream. This same submission to God to interpret dreams finally led him to his coronation as Prime Minister of Egypt, none higher than he but Pharaoh.

You may be asking, “How can I be raised from the dunghill; to be raised to rule with Christ?”

In 1 Samuel 2:8 in Hannah’s prayer, she said, “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory…” (See Romans 9:23; John 17:21-26.)

First it is God’s Plan and Purpose, and by His Power. But also in Romans 8:17c, “… heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him…” Paul is not speaking of suffering to be saved, but suffering with Christ (for the sake of Christ; for His Cause) as proof that we are “heirs” of the Riches of His Glory. (See 2 Corinthians 4:8-18; 2 Timothy 3:12; 2:12; 1 Peter 4:13; Philippians 3:7-10.)

There is no shortcut to Coronation Day with Christ. You will suffer if you reign with Him. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:7:

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

In the fires of persecutions, trials, and tribulations is a refining, a purifying agent that makes us fit for the fellowship of Christ and to be ready to receive His Glory. That our faith be found unto praise and honor and glory at His appearing; and for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7, 13). Peter then closes his first book (1 Peter 5:10):

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

Joseph came to his Coronation Day through operating within his circumstances in diligence, and by submitting to the office of interpreter of dreams by the Power of God. His flesh suffered, but he never yielded to complaining, murmuring, and self-pity. He never stopped performing for God in his God-given office of interpreter of dreams.

This is our lesson: if we expect to be lifted up from the Valley of Baca, we must follow Joseph’s example of diligence and submission. We must be diligent to bear the fruit of the Spirit and not the works of the flesh in our given circumstances. Also, we must use the gifts that God has given us to His Honor and Glory first, and then to our good – no matter the cost. It is in the fires of suffering that our faith is manifested in praise, honor, and glory; it is in the fires of suffering that we are perfected, established, strengthened, and settled in the Glory of God. It is then, and then only, that we will be made a ruler with Christ. Hallelujah! To the Lamb of God!

Paul said (Philippians 3:14), “I press (in diligence and submission and performance) toward the mark for the prize (Coronation Day) of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Amen!

You cannot be a slacker; not a hearer only; but also a doer of God’s Word (James 1:21-25).  You must be a performer; one who is firmly persuaded that God is able to exalt you, to raise you from the dunghill and to set you “among the princes,” and to make you inherit the “Throne of Glory,” a place of rulership in the perfection of Christ.