EXCLAMATIONS OF PRAISE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt."

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt." Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife.

And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt.

During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."

Genesis 41:41-52

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Joseph emerged from Pharaoh’s prison, successfully interpreted the Egyptian ruler’s dream, and was then appointed second in command of a mighty nation. Verses 41 through 45 in our passage today describe all that Joseph gained during the initial stages of his ascendancy. The abundance predicted for Egypt was in full swing and so was the abundance of blessings heaped on Joseph, God’s special servant. Pharaoh’s presentation of the signet ring, robes of fine linen, gold chain, and chariot were given to make sure everyone knew that Joseph now held special and distinct authority over all of Egypt.

Now, any ordinary man may have allowed all this power to go to his head but Joseph was no ordinary man for we see where he remained firmly grounded in God and his faith, even in the midst of such extravagance. We can be confident in feeling this way because of his actions after each of his two sons were born. For the scripture tells us that after Pharaoh gave Joseph the gift of a wife, Asenath, their marriage produced two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim, and it is from the names Joseph gives each of them that we catch a glimpse of his gratitude and thanksgiving toward God.

In other words, the names of his sons actually are personal exclamations of praise.

Let’s first look at Manasseh. The scriptures tell us that Joseph selects the name “because God” had made him “forget all” his “trouble and all” his “father's household." Indeed, Joseph had come a long way from facing the hatred and jealousy of his brothers, his near death experience at the cisterns, his slavery experience, the false accusations of Potiphar’s wife, and then his lengthy prison stay. He had persevered through many trials and probably was at a point somewhere along the line where he wondered if his troubles would ever cease. But over and over again, God was with him, delivering him from every hardship and eventually from prison to power. Now after assigning such a special name, his son, Manasseh, would always remind him of that.

Well, after Manasseh’s birth, we read where Ephraim was born and we’re told Joseph gave him that name "because God has made” him “fruitful in the land of” his “suffering." We know that while things seemed to get better for Joseph when he was first purchased by Potiphar, they quickly went downhill due after his master’s wife lied and wrongly accused him of sexual assault. It led to Potiphar imprisoning Joseph where he would languish before God delivered him, elevating him to be Egypt’s second in command. Because of this, all of Joseph’s afflictions were in his past and his son, Ephraim, would be the symbol that better times had come, times of blessing and prosperity which were provided by a faithful, loving God.

Through Joseph’s actions, we are reminded of how we should respond to God when He delivers us from our own trials and tribulations in life. For the only proper way for us to show the Lord our appreciation is through our own exclamations of praise.

Joseph used the naming of his sons as one way to express his thanks.

How will we express ours?

Will it be through a testimony? A praise report during a prayer gathering? Maybe a social medial post?

No matter how we choose to let the Lord know we are grateful, one thing is for sure. We need to do it daily, not only because the Lord has a way of delivering us from hardship and blessing us in a way that helps us move on ahead but also because He makes us fruitful in the land of our suffering, the land where we live. There is no better example of this than the matter of salvation and how God so loved us that He willingly chose to surrender and sacrifice His one and only Son, Jesus, so that no one who would believe in Him would perish from their sin but rather gain the promise and assurance of eternal life (John 3:16).

Friends, we can begin there every day, exclaiming our praise for the gift of Heaven through Christ Jesus for indeed, our God is good, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), and His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.