"And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
"And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
"And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Genesis 41: 50-52)
Beloved Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, endured one privation and trial after another, it seemed. From jealous brothers who sold him into slavery, to a lecherous wife who betrayed him with false accusations, to a restored butler who had forgotten Joseph's kindness for interpreting his dreams, Joseph never seemed to get a break.
Yet he was never bitter, because the Lord was with him (Genesis 39: 2), and certainly he believed in the Lord and His promises to the young man, in which he foresaw that his parents and his brothers would bow down to him one day (Genesis 37: 5-8)
When in the fullness of time, when Pharaoh summoned Joseph upon the sudden remembrance of the restored butler, the well-favored son of Jacob interpreted the troubled Egypt ruler's dreams and was promoted within the hour from his prison to to the palace.
During the seven years of plenty, he had two sons, both serving as types and shadows of Christ's Finished Work at the Cross.
First, God causes us to forget all our sin, pain, and hardship through the blood of His, which speaks better things than the blood of bulls, goats, and Abel, the first murder victim (Hebrews 10: 4; 12: 24)
Then God grants us His Holy Spirit (Luke 12: 32; Acts 2: 33), through whom we receive sonship in Christ (1 John 3: 1), and therefore we can ask for whatever we need in His name (John 14: 13; 16: 26).
In Christ, we receive remission of all our sins -- past, present, future (Acts 2: 38); then He causes us to be fruitful in Him (John 15: 4-5).
Let God cleanse you of all past sorrows and sins, and let Him live in you and be fruitful!
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