Joseph left the prison and came straight to Pharaoh at his palace. Pharaoh narrated his dreams to Joseph and with the help of the Holy Spirit of God Joseph gave the correct interpretations and also proffered correct solutions to the dreams, Genesis 41: 17-36. Pharaoh and all his servants were satisfied with all the interpretations and solutions he proffered, Genesis 41: 37. Joseph advised Pharaoh to look for a wise and discreet man to execute the solutions given.

PHARAOH MADE JOSEPH A RULER vs 40-45
Pharaoh said to Joseph..." forasmuch as God hath shown thee all this, there is none as discreet and wise as thou art; Thou shall be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou....I have set you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand and arrayed him in vesture of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah: and he gave him a wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of on, and Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt", Genesis 41: 39-45
Now, let us analyze the implications of all Pharaoh did for Joseph.
1) "Thou shall be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou." [/i]This implied Pharaoh's royal household members including His queens, princes, princess, other relatives and palace chiefs and servants are all under Joseph, Psalm 105:20-22.
2) [i]"And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand." The giving of Pharaoh's personal ring which had his name and seal implied he had empowered Joseph to do business on his behalf and in the name of the king.
3) "And arrayed him in vesture of fine linen," [/i]Vesture of linen belonged to the royal and those in the high class. This implied a change of class and dressing - from a prisoner's to a royalty and from the garment of ordinary cheap prison material he wore to the royal expensive garment of expensive materials of silk and fine linen.
4) [i]"And put a gold chain about his neck;" Gold chairs are worn by the royals, the wealthy and are usually given as gifts to those Pharaoh was pleased with. Joseph who before now had prison fetters of iron on now has a gold chain about his neck. Psalm 105:18.
5) "And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee." It implied he had become Pharaoh's second in command and master over all the warlords and other servants in the palace with immediate effect. This included all the magicians, the wise men, and Potiphar the captain of the guard. They all paid obeisance to him.
6) "And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." [/i]With this statement, Pharaoh gave Joseph absolute authority over the land of Egypt and everyone in Egypt
7) [i]"And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah:" Him being given a name by Pharaoh implied he has been fully integrated as a full-fledged son of Pharaoh and an Egyptian. He was no longer the "Hebrew servant" as he was previously referred to by Potiphar's wife, Genesis 39:17.
7) "And he gave him a wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On." [/i]With the gift of a wife, Pharaoh addressed one important need and area he had suffered greatly before now which was loneliness and being single. With the gift of a wife, he now has a companion. And since he was of marriageable age, an important need for a choice of wife which he might have difficulty in choosing had been met. He had become a husband and therefore a family man. God indeed set the solitary in families, Psalm 68:6
And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt, Genesis 41: 40-45. This implied Joseph accepted his new position and responsibilities and assumed work immediately. All these within a day!
This is an amazing exaltation and transformation; from prison to the palace! What an amazing upturn in change of life; in a day, Joseph woke up as an ordinary, unknown slave, prisoner and bachelor and a nobody in his prison garments but before the close of that same day he was already a free man, a ruler over the land of Egypt and all her people and a husband. Not only that, he had become a master over Potiphar, his former slave master and jailer. This was a total turnaround of life for Joseph. It was a brand new life!

IT IS THE LORD'S DOING
Certainly, Joseph never had the faintest idea that he would be so honored the way it had happened. It was not part of the dreams God had revealed to him. All that would probably be in his mind as he was being taken from the prisons to Pharaoh palace and even after he finished with the dream interpretation would probably be to be permitted to have an audience with Pharaoh so as to be able to plead his unjust imprisonment case and be released from the prisons. However, the great and wonder-working God who can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us had a better plan and a bigger surprise for him, Ephesians 3:20.

It is also very certain that all Pharaoh did for Joseph was not premeditated and was way far beyond being the rewards for the dreams he interpreted and the solution he proffered. Pharaoh's decisions for Joseph would have come as a big surprise to those present in the palace at that time who would have expected that one of them would be given that position as Joseph had suggested. What Pharaoh did could only have been made possible by God, the King of kings, in whose hands are the hearts of kings and He directs them wherever He wants like a river, Proverbs 21:1. The wonder-working God to whom promotion belongs had risen on Joseph's behalf, Psalm 75:6. God the lifter up of our heads had lifted him above all his problems, situations, and enemies! In fact, God had prepared a table before him in the presence of his enemies, anointed his head with oil; and his cup overflowed, Psalm 23:5. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes, Psalm 118:23.
[i]"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with the princes, even with the princes of his people," Psalm 113:7-8
"The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifted up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be in silence in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail," 1Samuel 2:7-9.
God is indeed God, the unchangeable changer, Daniel 2:20-21. God alone has the power to make great and also change times and seasons of life "Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength to all." 1 Chronicles 29:12.
What a wonderful God we serve!

What a great, unexplainable joy and gratitude that would have filled Joseph's heart to the God that had made all these to be, "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad, Psalm 126: 1-3.

DARE TO BE LIKE JOSEPH
What could have made God so honor Joseph the way He did? The answer to this question is simply that God was pleased with him. God rewards individuals as it pleases Him and does this handsomely too, "I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power, and by my outstretched arm, and I have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me," Jeremiah 27:5.

Joseph pleased God in all his ways as all our previous discussions have revealed! In addition to all previously mentioned qualities of his which included his obedience, love, consecrated life of purity and holiness, total submission to the will of God, kindness, discipline, and integrity are his humility, fearlessness, and selflessness as could be seen in his encounter with Pharaoh.

Joseph was a humble man. We could see Joseph's humility in his encounter with Pharaoh. If Joseph were to be a proud individual, he would have accepted the acknowledgment as a dream interpreter Pharaoh acknowledged him in his statement in the presence of all the magicians and wise men and servants present, "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph ... and I have heard say of you thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. However, Joseph immediately rejected it and acknowledged God instead saying, "And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, it is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace," Genesis 41: 16-16. He did the same thing in Genesis 40:8. This is humility - acknowledging and the recognition of God as the One behind all we are or all we have or all we are able to do and achieve. The supernatural gifts of true visions, dream dreams, interpret dreams correctly and several others exhibited by men belong to God alone, and were given by Him, Daniels 2:28; Joel 2:28. Therefore no man should take this glory for himself but give to God whom it is due. God does not share His glory with anyone else. God honors those who honored him, "...for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." 1 Samuel 2:30. Therefore to please God as Joseph did we must learn to always acknowledge God in all our ways.

Joseph had great faith in God and love for God. Joseph's great faith and love for God could be seen when he without fear of being killed acknowledged the Almighty God that he served before Pharaoh, who was considered a god himself and his magicians. Great faith and love for God propels one to fearlessly and boldly witness about God and His powers before men who have the power to kill the body of flesh without fear for one's life as the three Hebrew boys also did in Daniel 3: 16-18. Faith and love for God denied in the presence of others is no faith or love at all. Whosoever confesses his faith and love for God without fear or shame will God love and also manifest Himself greatly for and in their lives too, Daniels 3: 20—30; 6:16-28; John 14:2; Luke 12:8-9. God rewards greatly all labours of love for Him. It is a good thing to acknowledge and proclaim the greatness and power of God to the heathens without fear or shame in all places as we are told to do in Matthew 28:18-19.
Nothing stopped Joseph from suggesting to Pharaoh to make him the one to implement his suggestions instead he suggested that Pharoah should look for a man to be put in charge. This reveals he was a contended and selfless individual. He did what he did without expecting any reward from Pharaoh since he knew that no one can have anything except being given from above and that God's blessings alone make one rich. In the long run, Pharaoh himself chose him because he saw that no other man in the land of Egypt deserved to be put in charge safe the man God revealed the meaning to, Genesis 41:38-39. Indeed, godliness with contentment is great gain, Timothy 6:6.

The reason why Pharaoh gave Joseph that exalted position was revealed in his statement 41:38-39. Joseph radiates the light of the Holy Spirit of the Living God in active operation in his life all over his body, words, and actions for all to see. The Holy Spirit is the supernatural power of God indwelling God's children to strength, teach, comfort, and several others, John 16: 13-14; 1 Corinthians 2:10. Pharaoh a pagan priest could recognize that Joseph carried the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God in him was his enabler and was what distinguished him from others. Potiphar saw this in him as well and made him the overseer of his house. Even the keeper of the prison also saw this and made him the overseer too, Genesis 39: 4, 21-22. As God's children, we are all carriers of His Holy Spirit; we must live a life whereby the beauty of the Holy Spirit of Jesus be made manifest in our lives for the world to see and glorify God, Matthew 5:14-16.

JOSEPH'S UPTURN CHANGE OF LIFE
In an earlier part of these series, precisely in Part 9, we discussed how Joseph's experienced a downturn change of life from being the favorite of his wealthy polygamous father to becoming a slave and a prisoner in Egypt. Interestingly, here in this part 14, we've seen how he now had an upturn change of life from being a slave and prisoner to becoming the prime minister of Egypt, thirteen years after. Such is life!
This has to buttress this remark I previously made, 'Life has a way of surprising us with sudden changes that throws one off balance. Life changes unpredictably, one moment it is bright and sunny and at another moment it is dark and gloomy; one moment one is at the mountain top and another moment one is down in the valley; one moment one is at the zenith point the next moment down to zero point; one moment one is rejoicing, next moment one is mourning; one moment one has a house full of everything and at another moment one has lost everything like in the case of Job in Job 1: 1-19. Life is like a spinning wheel drive that when it spins, those at the top go down/under while those under can go up one moment and the next moment those under go down and it keeps spinning like that. What is most intriguing about life changes is that unlike the spinning wheel that is controlled by man; no man has control over life's sudden changes; no man can predict when it would happen, no man can prevent it from happening and no man knows for how long one remains before another change happens."

In truth, no condition in life is permanent. A change of any life's condition to another is possible within the twinkling of the eye.
It is worth mentioning here that had Joseph not accepted his downturn change and persevered in all that he passed through, he may not have possibly had an upturn change of life. Joseph was in a downturn change of life for thirteen years of unimaginable and imaginable hardship and sufferings but he persevered. Then suddenly, God made things change for the better for him. This is why you should never give up on life no matter what you are facing because God can cause a good turnaround in your life within the twinkling of the eye that will erase all you have suffered or lost in your downturn change of life and make you gain more than hundred folds of what you might have lost or missed, Isaiah 61:7.
When you are down and everything seems grounded or gone, know that it is not yet over; God can change your condition from a deplorable state to a better one, so don't lose hope. When things look pretty bad, know that your breakthrough is just a few steps away, therefore keep hope alive. Even when it seems God is silent, know for sure that He is working on your behalf at the backstage.

In your upturn change of life, don't look down or maltreat those under you as Potiphar and his wife did to Joseph. Can you imagine how Potiphar and his wife would have felt when Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt; a ruler over them? Such is life too.

The story of Joseph and all his challenges and exaltation affirmed the fact that God is Sovereign and intervenes in the affairs of men. God does not forget any of His children. His plans for each of us are indeed good, Jeremiah 29:11. God alone has the power to turn the evil plans of the enemies for the good of his children and also change one's condition for the better, therefore put all your trust in him and wait patiently for him as Job said, Job 14:14. While tomorrow may seem uncertain, you can trust the unchanging and unfailing God who holds tomorrow in His hands. God loves and cares so much for you. He will help you and you will have reasons to glorify His holy name because with Him, "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5).

Good loves you and so do I.

See continuation and similar posts on www.lovelashblog.com