Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers at the age of 17. Joseph entered the service of Pharaoh at the age of 30 and in Joseph’s 37th year the famine began. Joseph began to save Egypt twenty years after having been sold into Egypt. It was before the seven years of famine began (age 37-44) that Joseph had two sons. (Jacob had also spent twenty years in Padan Aram; Abram had spent around twenty years waiting for the promised son.)

The name of the first son still echoes Joseph’s painful past. But, the name Manasseh seems to be Joseph’s way of saying that the bitterness, betrayal and disappointment of the 13 years of bondage (age 17-30 years) had begun to make sense. There was a purpose that began to reach fulfillment during those early years of Joseph’s service to Pharaoh as vizier of Egypt. By definition, the Egyptian vizier position that Joseph filled was that of a civil officer with vice regal powers who acted as chancellor.

Six Worldviews common in the Western World:

1. Secular Humanism - the concept that God does not exist. The scientific method determines truth through logic, reason and proof through our five senses. The goal is for humans, the highest form of life, to live good, satisfied lives.

2. Existentialism - life has no objective meaning, so we live a life of misery that ends in death while we seek to create something meaningful. The universe is chaotic and meaningless. There is no God, which means there are no absolutes. We are guided by our own personal preferences.

3. Nihilism - nothing is real and everything is random and imagined. There is no purpose, so, ife is empty and pointless. Since life has no value, everything is permissible, yet we will find nothing fulfilling.

4. Postmodernism - there is no overreaching purpose that ties everything together. All we have is our own experiences and feelings which cannot be judged right or wrong by anyone else. Nor do we have any basis for judging someone else's actions or decisions. Whatever a person feels is right for them. The only goals are to survive life comfortably while we express ourselves.

5. Eastern Mysticism - "deity" is not the Western concept of a holy being with personality. The essence of "god" is a universal condition. Each one of us has this "god" or the ability to attain this universal condition. Facts, history, reality and morality are not real and do not matter. We will have a future in another life form, but there is no ultimate judgment and no end of the universe because matter is eternal. The goal is to achieve a condition of unity with this everlasting physical universe.

6. Christian Theism - based on the concept of a living God who is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and holy. God has created the universe with order and created man to live in this physical world. God, a spiritual being, seeks to secure a relationship with man through Jesus Christ who removed the barrier of man's sin and rebellion that separates man from God. There are absolutes revealed in natural law and in the written Word of God. Man is created with the purpose of using, developing and enjoying the material and order God established while living in obedience to God's holiness. Each man will be judged, and those who have accepted God's offer of Jesus will be spared eternal damnation.