Remsen Bible Fellowship Sermons

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Sermons from Remsen Bible Fellowship in Remsen, Iowa remsenbible.substack.com

  1. 10h ago

    Patriarchal Blessing

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  2. Oct 26

    Blessing by Faith

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  3. Oct 19

    God’s Blessing Through God’s People

    God’s Blessing Through God’s People Genesis 46:28-47:28, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 07/05/2026 Introduction ‏ Many of us have heard of the importance of setting aside a daily time for the Lord. Some people call this a “quiet time” or a “devotional time” or “private worship” or “daily prayer.” Well, my whole adult life I’ve called it “that thing I know I should do and don’t.” I’ve struggled to establish a consistent pattern of Bible reading and prayer. I struggle to maintain any consistent habits, and that in particular has been difficult for me. Having said all of that, the past month and a half or so has probably been the richest time of private prayer I’ve had in many many years. And so let me briefly commend to you, if you have also struggled to start this sort of habit, or have never tried before, what I’ve been doing: I sit down in the morning with my coffee (which I set, the night before, to start brewing before I come down stairs), and I have three books—a Bible, a prayer book, and a journal. I read a portion of Scripture—it doesn’t need to be long, just enough to contemplate, then I open the prayer book and read one or two prayers aloud, and then I record in the journal what I read, the page number of the prayer I prayed, and then I hand write one verse that caught my attention in the reading. Beneath that verse I then reflect for just a few sentences on why it caught my attention, or what further thoughts spring from it, and often this becomes a form of prayer. Then, if I have time, I continue into further prayer, though that doesn’t happen every day. I say this, not because I’m some great model—obviously, it’d be nice if the pastor had figured this out before he’d been a pastor for seven years—but as someone who is also stumbling along the way to growth in Christ, I want to encourage you to keep plugging away and find method of regular bible intake and prayer that you can make a consistent part of your life. In those morning times with the Lord, I just finished reading the book of Isaiah. And tucked away in chapter 19 of Isaiah, at the end of a long section concerning judgement against the nation of Egypt, there comes what must have seemed, to Isaiah’s original audience, like a very strange promise: Isaiah 19:24-25, “In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed by Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’” Why would the Lord bless a pagan people? Why—how—would he make them his people, a blessing in the midst of the earth? That question surely perplexed the Judaian recipients of Isaiah’s prophecy. While an answer for that question lay in the future, the seeds of it could be found in the past. So let’s visit Egypt’s past, by turning to our text this morning, Genesis 46:28-47:28. Genesis 46:28ff, He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” 47:1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.” 7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents. 13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statut… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com

  4. Oct 12

    God Preserves His People

    God Preserves His People Genesis 45:16-47:27, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 06/28/2026 ‏Introduction God will not abandon his children. This has been one of our recurring themes as we’ve examined the life of Joseph. When Joseph prospered in his father’s house, God was with him. When he was thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery by his brothers, God was with him. When he was falsely accused and imprisoned for years on end, God was with him. When he ascended to a position next to the throne in Egypt, God was with him. God had not abandoned Joseph. Through hell and high water, in good times and in bad, the Almighty never forsook him. Joseph recognized this fact. And, in time, he even was able to see why God had taken him on such a tortuous journey. Last week, as we considered a great unveiling—Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers—you may remember that they were not at first excited to see Joseph. And for good reason. All of them except Benjamin had been involved in selling him into slavery more than two decades earlier, and now he is functionally the most powerful man alive. Not exactly the person you want holding a grudge against you. But Joseph wasn’t holding a grudge. Instead, we read these words in Genesis 45:5, “And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” Though the actions of the brothers had been wicked and sinful, God was sovereign over their actions, and was at work to ensure the salvation of his people. And that reality, a reality Joseph recognized, is the theme of our text today. God preserves his people. And in order to consider how he does this, I want to turn momentarily to the 16th century and borrow some language from the protestant reformers of that era. The reformers, including men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, and John Knox, were referred to as protestants because they were protesting what they saw—rightly—as abuses and errors in the medieval Catholic church. And while there were many issues at play, there came to be five rallying cries that crystalized the core of that reformation, often called the five solas: * Sola scriptura (Scripture alone) is the final and highest authority for all matters of faith and practice—tradition is helpful, but it does not stand on the same level as God’s word * Sola Christus (Christ alone) is the one who accomplishes and gives salvation—we do not contribute anything to our salvation, Christ is the only mediator between God and man * Sola fide (faith alone) is the means by which we receive Christ and his benefits—not through a series of works or religious rituals, but faith alone is means by which God imputes the righteousness of Christ to our account * Sola gratia (grace alone) is the ground on which God performs his saving action both for us and in us—he didn’t look for those who were worthy, but graciously chose from a world of unworthy creatures, those whom he would save anyway * Soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory) for so rich and extravagant a salvation—in salvation we do not receive wages, we receive God’s glorious mercy, and so all the praise belongs to him. Now, as we look at our text today, I believe those final three, faith alone, grace alone, and God’s glory alone, provide a helpful frame for processing this part of the story. Salvation by Grace Alone Genesis 45:16-28 16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” 21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” In our passage last week we saw that Joseph instructed his brothers to go and get his father, and bring him to Egypt. And it seems he anticipates the response of Pharaoh that we see in v15-20, as he commands Joseph to send he brothers back well provisioned. But while Joseph perhaps saw that generosity coming, consider how overwhelming this would have been for the brothers. They had re-approached this land with great trepidation, and then that feeling of dread would have been multiplied when they saw the brother whom they had wronged now seated in power—what whiplash it must have been, then, for him to richly receive them and return them to Cannan in what amounts to a royal caravan. We see in this text that God is preserving his people. But not because they deserve it. His preservation and salvation is coming as a result of his grace alone. Jacob, the last of the patriarchs, is the inheritor of the promises of God for land, seed, and blessing. In Genesis 35:10, God had spoken to him, “be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” What did Jacob and his family do to earn that promise from God? Nothing. It was God’s kindness that led him to give such promises to Jacob, and to Isaac and Abraham before him. Now, 11 chapters later, Jacob is in a pretty sorry state. The last several times we’ve heard words from Jacob they have been primarily words of self-pity and resignation. There’s not much here to commend him to God as a worthy candidate for blessing. Jacob thought, 22 years earlier, that God had taken away his favorite and most trustworthy son. He thought the Lord had abandoned his own gray head to the grave, and the state of his faith in God’s promise to preserve and prosper his progeny seems pretty uncertain. All that God had said about a nation and nations and kings, that seems far away to Jacob. But then he looks to the horizon—his sons are returning! And they don’t merely return with a grain to last a few more months. They return dressed in fine Egyptian clothing. They return with Pharaoh’s own wagons, sent to provide transportation for Jacob and his clan. They return with donkeys bearing burdens of food for the journey. And most of all, they come bearing news that Joseph is alive. In response to this, Jacob goes numb. He can’t believe it. But eventually his eyes override his doubt. Friends, if the salvation of Jacob and his family was ultimately dependent upon his leadership and wisdom, where would they be? He’d have kept Benjamin home forever, and they would have starved to death. Reaching further back, of course he would never have planned for Joseph to be sold into Egypt, and nations would have starved to death. But God was graciously a… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com

  5. Oct 5

    A Time of Testing

    A Time of Testing Genesis 43:1-45:15, Remsen Bible Fellowship; 06/21/2026 Introduction Can people change? We want to believe the answer is yes, at least for ourselves. But we really need to know for others, too. We are often hurt by others, wronged by others — too often by those who are closest to us. Last week we looked at Genesis 42, which records Joseph’s first encounter with his brothers in over two decades. About 22 years passed between the day when Judah and his brothers sold Joseph into slavery, and the events of chapters 42 where they bowed before his feet to beg for the opportunity to buy grain. How did Joseph respond? Ryan emphasized last week the place of forgiveness in this story. And that’s a proper emphasis. But Joseph’s forgiveness looked a little different than what we might expect when we hear that word. Did Joseph welcome them in with open arms, shout “let bygones be bygones”, and welcome them into his princely court? No. When someone has deeply wronged you — like beating you up, throwing you in a pit, and selling you into slavery, for instance — to welcome them back into the relationship without any evidence of remorse or change would not be biblical forgiveness. The technical term would be really foolish. To be sure, we do see signs of Joseph forgiving his brothers — he doesn’t kill them, and he doesn’t leave (most) of them in prison for long (only three days). But he is far from warm and welcoming. He “spoke roughly to them” in v7, and accused them of being spies in v9. He does not reveal who he is, but instead keeps a translator between them. And what we see from these interactions is that there is a world of difference between forgiveness and trust. The distinctions Ryan made last week were helpful — forgiveness is a one way street, we are commanded to forgive. Past forgiveness, you can be reconciled in a limited sense. Maybe they have apologized or in some way acknowledged their wrongdoing, and so you have a continued relationship, though you trust them a lot less than before. Or you can be fully reconciled, restored to full fellowship. Many people think that forgiveness implies both reconciliation and restoration. But it just ain’t so. Those things are a two way street. Our part when wronged is to forgive. But you can’t unilaterally fix relationships. Imagine, if you will, being lied to by a friend. And then, to compound that betrayal, they not only are lying to you, but about you to people you love and care for. And then, the next time you see them, they want you to just pretend everything is normal and none of that ever happened. You can forgive that person (difficult though it may be), and refuse to hold onto bitterness. You can move on with your life. But you cannot move on with your life as if the betrayal never took place. You can forgive them whether they ever change or not. You cannot — nor should you feel obliged to — trust them, without first seeing evidence of change. So Joseph, faced with this conundrum — can I trust the brothers I have forgiven? — decided to put them to the test. He would hold one prisoner, and send the rest back. When they returned, they were to bring their youngest brother (Benjamin) with them. But he furthered the test by sending their money back in the top of their bags. They were being given an opportunity to treat Simeon, the imprisoned brother, just like they had treated Joseph. Would they say “hey, we got some money out of him, let’s leave him in Egypt”, or would they return — bringing Benjamin with them, and rescuing Simeon? Last week’s text ended with the brothers having returned to Egypt, telling their father Jacob the commands of the Egyptian prince, and hearing Jacob lament his life and swearing that he would never send Benjamin down to that land. It’s really a pitiful and pathetic scene, and is only made more so when Reuben says, “hey, trust me, I’ll Benjamin down and bring him back—if I don’t, you can kill my sons!” Because nothing says, “I value the life of your son” like obviously not valuing my own. This family is a wreck, and we have no resolution. At this point, it seems that Joseph’s brothers are failing the test. Let’s re-enter the story, by reading verses 1-10 of chapter 43. ‏ Genesis 43:1-10, 1 Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” 6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” The food which the brothers had originally brought up from Egypt has run out, and so Jacob tells his sons to return and buy some more—but apparently he has forgotten or simply chosen not to think about the command of Joseph. But Judah reminds him—we aren’t going without Benjamin. Jacob then indulges in some self-pitying and ridiculous lament “why is everyone out to get me” sort of nonsense; but instead of resigning himself to being a victim of their father’s feckless self-centeredness, one brother steps forward: Judah. And Judah offers himself as a pledge of Benjamin’s safety. This stands in stark contrast to the offer of Reuben to sacrifice his sons. Judah offers to take the blame on himself. He does this recognizing the urgency of the situation. Had they simply left when they needed to, they could have made the 500 mile round-trip twice over. But instead, they are completely out of food, and times are desperate. And his argument carries the day. But Jacob won’t let them go empty handed. When, earlier in life, he had returned to his older brother Esau, Jacob had sent large gifts ahead in hopes of appeasing his brother’s anger. And now he does the same with this powerful Egyptian prince. Jacob’s idea seems to be that he is more likely to receive his sons home if the Egyptians can be appeased with the fineries of Cannan. He’s praying for God’s mercy, but he’s also priming the pump. Genesis 43:11-34, 11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” 15 So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com

  6. Sep 28

    Our Glory, Joy, and Crown

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com

  7. Sep 21

    Forgiveness and Testing

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  8. Sep 14

    Remember Who Remembered You

    Remember Who Remembered You Genesis 41; Remsen Bible Fellowship; 06/07/2026 ‏Intro: God will remember you. But friends, will you remember God? That’s a crucial question in the Bible broadly, in our text specifically, and in your life today. We’ve come to a crucial juncture in the Joseph story. We’ve wondered for weeks now if God will remember Joseph, if Joseph will see any reward for his faithfulness, if the injustices in his life will ever stop piling up. Genesis 41 starts to answer those questions, and therefore marks a major shift in the story. Verses 1-13 1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. 3 And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. 5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6 And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. 7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. 9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. 10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, 11 we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 13 And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.” Here we see that God does remember Joseph. Though Joseph is not named in these first thirteen verses, his identity — the young dream-interpreting Hebrew — is remembered (finally!) by the chief cupbearer. And the circumstances of his remembering are striking — now, for the third time in the Joseph story, we encounter a pair of dreams. But this time the recipient of the dreams is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And his dreams are pretty disturbing, especially the first one. He dreams that he is standing by the Nile. And in his first dream, seven fat cattle are feeding in the rich reed grass along the Nile river. Then seven more cows — so anemic that Pharaoh says in v19 that he’s never seen the like in Egypt — come out and swallow the healthy cows. This causes him to wake up — but then he falls asleep and dreams again. This time he saw a single stalk of grain with seven plump and healthy heads of grain — seven heads on a single stalk might strike our ears as strange, given that most grains produce a single head. And it may have been strange to Pharaoh as well, though there is a type of Poulard Wheat that produces as many as seven heads and was known in the Ancient Mediterranean region. In any case, this is an obviously healthy stalk of wheat—until seven heads, shriveled and dried up by the east wind, came and consumed those healthy heads. And then he woke up. Not exactly what he was hoping for out of that night of sleep. And here we find the beginnings of some parallel with a later Old Testament story, the story of Daniel. In Daniel chapter two a later king, king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, also had a terrifying dream. And here in Genesis 41:8 Pharaoh calls for his magicians and wise men, as later Nebuchadnezzar would call for his magicians and wise men to help with his dreams. But, in both cases, the pagan wise men fail. And so, as in Daniel, here in Genesis — it falls to a Hebrew captive. The difference being, in Babylon Daniel was already considered one of the wise men. Here, our Hebrew captive is still in prison. But the cupbearer, whom Joseph had helped two years earlier by interpreting his disturbing dream, “remembers his offenses” — namely, that he had forgotten about Joseph. But behind the frowning Providence of a forgetful cupbearer is the smiling face of God’s providential timing. Suppose he had remembered Joseph earlier, and he had told Pharaoh the predicament Joseph was in, and Joseph had been freed. Well, this would be a very different story, perhaps tragically so, for all involved. Though the cupbearer had forgotten Joseph, God had not forgotten him. God had him in that pit, holding him there until the time was right to raise him up. God Raised Joseph: verses 14-45 14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” 17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. 18 Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 19 Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, 21 but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. 22 I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. 23 Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 24 and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.” 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. 28 It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30 but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 31 and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. 32 And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. 33 Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.” 37 This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com

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