Genesis 41:46 - Meaning and Application

Here we can notice how Joseph’s family was built up through the birth of his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 41:50-52). In the names he gave them, Joseph was openly crediting God’s providence for the happy change in his life. Manasseh means forgetting, and Joseph said God had made him forget his trouble, as Job speaks of being made to forget misery (Job 11:16). We should bear our troubles when they come, knowing that God may later give comfort that makes the pain seem far away.

But Joseph did not mean he had become cold toward his father’s house. He likely meant that he had forgotten the wrong done to him by his brothers, or perhaps the wealth and honor he once expected there, including the birthright. The fine clothes he now wore made him forget the special coat he had worn in his father’s house. Ephraim means fruitful, and Joseph said God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering. Egypt was still a place of suffering in one sense, because it was not Canaan, the promised land, and he was still far from his father. Yet God can cause light to grow even in poor soil, and the troubles of God’s people often lead to greater fruitfulness.

Ephraim and Manasseh also go well together, because fruitfulness and forgetting often come together. When Jeshurun, a name for Israel, grew fat, he forgot God his Maker. That is a warning to us, because comfort can make the heart careless. But when God gives fruitfulness after affliction, it should lead us to remember his mercy, not to forget him.

Next, we see Joseph’s predictions fulfilled. Pharaoh had strong confidence in Joseph’s words, perhaps because he saw how closely they fit his own dreams, like a key fitting a lock. The events proved that Joseph had spoken truly. The seven years of plenty came, and in time they ended (Genesis 41:47, 53). We should remember that both our prosperity and our opportunities do not last forever.

For that reason, we should not grow secure in good times or lazy when we have a chance to do good. Years of plenty will end, so we must gather while it is gathering time. The morning comes, and so does the night, the time of abundance and then the time of need (Isaiah 21:12). The seven years of famine began to come, and this reminds us how quickly our condition can change in this world. That is why we should be joyful in prosperity, but in adversity we should stop and think (Ecclesiastes 7:14).

This famine was not only in Egypt, but in all the nearby lands. Even fruitful lands can quickly become barren because of the sin of those who live there (Psalm 107:34). Yet the text says there was bread in Egypt. That likely means not only the grain Joseph had stored for Pharaoh, but also what private people had wisely saved after hearing the warning and following common sense.

Finally, we see Joseph’s trust faithfully carried out. He acted like a good steward, a person trusted to manage another’s goods. While the plenty lasted, he was diligent in storing grain (Genesis 41:48-49). A wise son gathers in the harvest when he can. When the famine came, he was careful and fair in giving it out. He kept the market supplied at reasonable prices from the stores he had collected.

When the people in distress cried out to Pharaoh for help, he sent them to Joseph, saying, “Go to Joseph.” In this, God gives a picture of the gospel, where those who seek mercy and grace are directed to the Lord Jesus, in whom all fullness lives, and who says, “Do whatever he tells you.” Joseph no doubt set a just price for the grain he sold, so Pharaoh could gain a fair return and the people would not be crushed by their need. Those who hoard grain to make it dearer while people suffer bring down many curses on themselves, and that is no unfair curse. Blessing rests on the one who sells fairly (Proverbs 11:26). Let the price be guided by the golden rule of justice, do to others as we would want them to do to us.