1. How long did God wait to give Pharaoh another dream? How was Joseph\'s attitu

Question

1. How long did God wait to give Pharaoh another dream? How was Joseph's attitude different?

2. What were the 4 stages and trials in Joseph's life? What are the 4 major trials in Joseph's life?

3. What did God have to develop in Joseph so that he could use the two gifts: interpretation of dreams and management?

4. What was God's plan overall? Does His method support or counter "the ends justify the means"?

41 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of the river there came up severn cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted-thin and scorched by the east wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream. 8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him 9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and

Explanation / Answer

1. Pharaoh’s second dream did not take much time and it came when he fell asleep again. Joseph’s attitude was that since Pharaoh had the dreams twice with the same meaning, it means that the God has taken firm decision on the matter. The dreams mean that Egypt will see abundance in 7 years and it will be followed by seven years of famine. Hence Pharaoh should make the arrangements in the period of abundance to face the famine.

2. The four stages in Joseph’s life include his childhood with his family, the stage when he served under the captain of the guard, the stage when Pharaoh put him in the charge of Egypt and Joseph married the daughter of priest of On and the fourth stage is when he became father of Manasseh and Ephraim and faced the famine in Egypt successfully.

The trials in his life includes the period when Joseph left his father’s household since he had to find a living, when Joseph worked as the servant in Captain of the guard’s house as it is a risky job to take care of the prisoners, when Joseph was asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dream as he would be punished if Pharaoh is not satisfied with the result and when he was given the chance to overcome the famine that was going to affect Egypt.

3. God had to develop wisdom, problem solving skill, decision making skills, leadership skill and communication and interpersonal skill to ensure that Joseph could use interpretation and management skill. Wisdom, communication and interpersonal skills helped Joseph to interpret the dream effectively. Problem solving skills, decision making skills and leadership skills helped Joseph in management along with other skills.

4. God’s overall plan was to save Egypt from famine and that is the reason Pharaoh had the two dreams consecutively with the same meaning. God wanted Pharaoh to take action based on his dream and ensure not to leave thinking as just had bad dream. In the end God’s motive was successful and Egypt managed to overcome famine under Joseph; hence we can say the God’s method supported ‘the ends justify the means’.

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