2. YEARS OF ABUNDANCE 46-52 a. The seven years of plenty. Just as God had said, the land of Egypt experienced seven years of abundance. It is normal to have years where the crops do well and years where the crops fail. There are a lot of different factors for this. But the seven years of abundance are superabundant. Joseph takes all of the extra food and stores it in all the cities of Egypt. The amount that Joseph collects is said to be like the sand of the sea. At first, he was measuring how much they were taking in. But the amount of grain was in such excess that he stopped measuring it. God had truly blessed the land and had created enough for what lay ahead. b. Joseph is fruitful and multiplies. Joseph is married to Asenath the daughter of the priest of On and before the famine hits, they have two sons. The firstborn is name Manasseh because God had made Joseph forget all his hardship and his father’s house. What Joseph is saying is that all that he has received by the hand of God outweighs the mistreatment of his brothers and whatever gains he would have received from being in his father’s house. God has blessed Joseph far beyond what he could have hoped for. His second son is Ephraim because, as Joseph says, God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction. Egypt was not his home and is the place where he experienced many trials, slavery, and false imprisonment. But it is in this same land where he experienced these trials that God has made him fruitful. God will often do this for his obedient children. In the same place, they face their greatest trials they will experience their greatest triumphs.