In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of Joseph and his advice to Pharaoh during a time of plenty and famine. Joseph advises Pharaoh to appoint a wise and discreet man to oversee the land of Egypt and to store up food during the years of plenty. Pharaoh recognizes Joseph's wisdom and appoints him as second in command over all of Egypt. The preacher emphasizes the importance of foresight and preparation in leadership, contrasting it with the lack of such qualities in past governments.

Now, here is the advice of Joseph to Pharaoh. Now, therefore, let Pharaoh look out a man, discreet and wise. Set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. Let them gather all the food of those good years that come. Lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. In other words, Pharaoh is going to get all the surplus now, it'll be seven years of plenty, and all of that is to be stored. That is, at least, the advice of Joseph. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through the famine. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one, as this is a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. Now, notice this and the significance of it. To begin with, this boy had been in the back of the prison, forgotten. Forsaken, forlorn. Now he's brought out at the psychological moment because nobody can interpret the dream of Pharaoh. He does. And not only does he interpret it, Joseph, probably in his enthusiasm, and he was a man of ability, he makes the suggestion of what he's to do. And I think God was leading him in all of this, that in the seven years of plenty, all of the foodstuff is to be collected. The surplus is to be stored away. The grain is to be put away so that when the famine comes, they'll be prepared for it. Now, it was a worldwide famine and severe because it even affected the land of Egypt. Now Egypt is irrigated. The upper Nile, the Blue Nile, comes down from Central Africa. Frankly, it's what Egypt depends on. They get just about an inch of rainfall a year and a good year. Well, boy, it's famine all the time as far as rainfall is concerned. But you see the irrigation overflows the land, still does it, and it brings down not only water to water the land, but it also brings down a sediment that fertilizes the land. It does a two-fold job. And now even Egypt was to be affected so that there would be seven years of famine in which the land of Egypt would be affected in a very definite way. Now as Pharaoh listens to this, it makes sense. It's too bad that sometimes in the past we haven't had men in our government that had some sense of the future, of what was coming, and no preparation for different things that have come. Our foreign policy ever since before World War II, even from the days when Hitler arose, has been more or less of just a stopgap program. It's a first aid program. It's just something rushed in and it's an emergency. No foresight, no looking to the future. Someone asked Gladstone one time, what's the measure of a great statesman? What's the making of a great statesman? He says, well, it's one that knows the direction God is going for the next 50 years. Well, Pharaoh's given 14 years here and he knows what's going to happen. Now who could take over better than Joseph? And Pharaoh recognizes he's a man of ability. Now don't you see God had been training him in the home of Potiphar? You wonder, well, why in the world did God permit him to go into that home? Well, he had quite a bit of training in the home of Potiphar, having charge of everything there. Now he's going to have charge of everything in the land of Egypt. This is a tremendous thing that's taking place, you see, in his life. Here he is next to Pharaoh, all the way from the back of the jail to the throne next to Pharaoh.