1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. 3 And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.4 And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke.5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6 And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. 7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. 10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, 11 we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 13 And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” 17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. 18 Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 19 Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, 21 but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. 22 I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. 23 Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 24 and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.27 The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. 28 It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30 but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 31 and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. 32 And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.33 Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”
37 This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are.40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.”
Dreamers, dreams and their interpretation. I am a firm believer of dreams. I believe that everyone of us, young and old have dreams, be they the dreams that we remember long after we have them, or just passing dreams that we have forgotten when we awoke from our sleep.
In the first seven verses, we could derive from the context that even though it was not specifically mentioned, God was the One who gave the two dreams to Pharaoh of Egypt. When Pharaoh was troubled by these dreams, as his usual practice, he would seek the counsel and advice of his magicians. (v. 8) However, they were unable to give him the interpretation because there was a higher power at work.
So when Pharaoh found out that there was a young Hebrew lad who could interpret dreams, he called for him immediately. Joseph’s answer must have surprised him. He attributed his ability to his God. This speaks of his humility and close walk with God.
Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favourable answer.” (v. 16)
Pharaoh was still able to remember his two dreams vividly and described them to Joseph.
After patiently listened to the dreams, he replied that Pharaoh’s dreams referred to the same thing, they are one. (vv. 25, 26) The repetition was to ensure that Pharaoh would not miss it. And Joseph ascertained that God had revealed to Pharaoh “what he is about to do.” (vv. 25, 28) The God who is sovereign over the heavens and the earth could give dreams to whomever he chooses, including a non-Israelite king of Egypt to know his plans and prepare for it.
Joseph explained in no uncertain terms why did God give two dreams of the same meaning: And the doublingof Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. (v. 32)
Basically, the dreams meant that there would be seven years of great harvest, followed by another seven years of great famine in the land.
Joseph helped Pharaoh not only to interpret his dreams, but he also gave him precious counsel. In view of what God was about to do, Joseph advised Pharaoh to gather and store up the produce as reserves during the seven years of good harvest, so that they could take them out during the seven years of famine. The obvious reason was so that the land, especially its people would not perish during the famine. The end goal in this passage of Pharaoh’s dreams was for the preservation of the nation of Egypt from starvation.
Pharoah recognized that Joseph was a God-sent, that he had the Spirit of God and discernment and wisdom, and even though he was a foreigner, he decided to raise him to the second place in his kingdom. This promotion was God’s doing.
Because in the bigger picture of God’s plan, the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine would lead to fulfilling His plan to reconcile Joseph’s family to him in Egypt and to fulfill Joseph’s youthful dream that his parents and brothers would bow to him as the second-in-command (or Prime Minister) of Egypt.
The New Testament in Acts 2 quoted the Old Testament Prophet Joel saying,
“… your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2;17; Joel 2:28) And this was after God had poured out his Spirit on all people. The coming of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost was seen by the Apostle Peter as the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy. I think the intended end goal of those dreams and visions that Joel prophesied, and Peter verified, is the salvation of all who would come to God through Jesus Christ. that, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21)
What are some purposes of a dream, any dream that God has given or would give to us today? Well, I believe they are to draw us near to God, to believe and trust in Him. A dream is also one of the ways that God reveals His plans to us. It could be a premonition to warn us against an impending danger or event, so that we might heed and prepare for it, like that of Pharaoh’s dreams.
I have had many dreams, but I cannot remember them except one that is vividly implanted in my mind. Many years ago, even before my children were born, I dreamed that I had a 2-year-old daughter, and while she was playing in the house, I called out to her, “Geraldine.” When I awoke, I felt strange, but I did not hesitate to tell my wife. Then, not long after, Evelyn conceived. We didn’t know whether it’s going to be a girl or boy, but somehow in my heart, there was an assurance that the baby would be a girl in fulfilment of the dream.
True enough, she was born a lovely baby girl. We knew full well what name to give her, Geraldine. She was God’s precious gift to us, a firstborn. And her name means, “strong.” Spiritually, we hope and pray that she would be “strong in the Lord.” Thank God that more than 30 years have passed, and our little girl has become an adult, and we praise God that she continues to walk with the Lord and be strong in Him.
Dear God, you are the all-knowing God. You are the God whom we could trust, because before anything happens, you already know it all. Thank you for this assurance of your complete knowledge and love for us, and we could run to you for refuge and experience peace and safety. Please lead and guide my all the days of my life. In Christ’s name, Amen!
