1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river. 2 And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fine-looking and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the reed-grass. 3 And behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, bad-looking and lean-fleshed, and stood by the kine on the bank of the river. 4 And the kine that were bad-looking and lean-fleshed ate up the seven kine that were fine-looking and fat. And Pharaoh awoke. 5 And he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of corn grew up on one stalk, fat and good. 6 And behold, seven ears, thin and parched with the east wind, sprung up after them. 7 And the thin ears devoured the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke; and behold, it was a dream. vv.1-7 It is noted in v.1 that Pharaoh dreamed “at the end of two full years”. How long those years would have seemed to Joseph, who had begged the butler to mention him to Pharaoh. Any hope Joseph had in the butler was surely lost. He had to wait two more years. God’s timetable is not our timetable. But perhaps these two years taught Joseph some valuable lessons, including full dependence on God. God gave Pharaoh two dreams that had the effect of troubling him. It is amazing that something as simple as a dream could be used to deliver Joseph from prison. In Pharaoh’s dreams, he stood by the river, which is of course the Nile River; the great source of Egypt’s fertility, wealth, and independence. In the first dream, he saw seven fat and well-nourished cattle coming up out of the water (a strange detail), which they were accustomed to drink. The seven fat cattle fed on the rich “reed-grass” that grows in the marshes of the Nile. These cattle were followed by seven thin and malnourished cattle, who came also out of the river, and ate the fat cattle! This detail, of cattle eating cattle, was very extraordinary. Pharaoh awoke, then slept again, and dreamed again. This time there was seven fat ears of corn devoured by seven skinny ears. The dreams were different in the objects employed, but otherwise very similar in pattern. 

 

8 And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the scribes of Egypt, and all the sages who were therein, and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none to interpret them to Pharaoh. v.8 The dreams were troubling to Pharaoh’s spirit, and he used all of his resources to ascertain the meaning of the dream. God saw fit that the dreams would be obscure enough that the scribes and sages were unable to make anything of them. This would result in Joseph being taken from prison! It is notable that the dreams in Joseph’s life became successively harder to interpret apart from God’s giving the interpretation. The dreams of the sheaves and stars needed no interpretation. The those of the butler and baker did, although still not too obscure. But the dreams of Pharaoh were totally obscure.

 

9 Then spoke the chief of the cup-bearers to Pharaoh, saying, I remember mine offences this day. 10 Pharaoh was wroth with his bondmen, and put me in custody into the captain of the life-guard’s house, me and the chief of the bakers. 11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each according to the interpretation of his dream. 12 And there was there with us a Hebrew youth, a bondman of the captain of the life-guard, to whom we told them, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each he interpreted according to his dream. 13 And it came to pass, just as he interpreted to us, so it came about: me has he restored to my office, and him he hanged. vv.9-13 Sadly, turning to God is the last resource of the world, when all magicians and wise men have failed to deliver them. It is nice to see that the butler was brought to repentance. He didn’t just say “I know a guy…”, but rather, he confessed his faults, telling the whole story first. The butler does not hide the memory of Pharaoh’s anger, nor does he refuse to risk Pharaoh’s anger again. 

 

Joseph Gives the Interpretation (41:14-36)

Joseph Elevated to Power (41:37-57)

 

46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh, and passed through the whole land of Egypt. 47 And in the seven years of plenty the land brought forth by handfuls. 48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years that was in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities; the food of the fields of the city, which were round about it, he laid up in it. 49 And Joseph laid up corn as sand of the sea exceeding much, until they left off numbering; for it was without number. 50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On bore to him. 51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh — For God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house. 52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim — For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. vv.46-52 It is noted that Joseph was thirty years old when he was brought before Pharaoh and elevated to power. We know he was seventeen when he was sold into slavery (Gen. 37:2), which means he was a slave for thirteen years. He lived to one-hundred and ten years (Gen. 50:26), which means he lived a full seventy years in liberty. It is noted that Joseph gathered the excess food of Egypt, and we can compare this to Christ as Lord of the harvest. Joseph named his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, and the meaning of their names is given as marking snapshots of Joseph’s state of soul during this period. By the time the first son was born, the experience was such that he had forgotten not only his suffering as a slave, but also the insults of his father’s house. By the time the second son is born, the expression is not merely non-negative, but positive; “God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction”. There is a typical significance of these names. The forgetting comes first, then the fruitfulness. In a sense, the Lord forgot Israel after they ultimately rejected Him. His natural relationship with Israel (“my father’s house”) was set aside. But then, the Lord received an abundance of fruit in the very land of His affliction, which is a type of the Church brought into blessing during the time of Israel’s being set aside. As an application of this, there is a certain sense in which the satisfaction brought to the Lord in seeing “the fruit of the travail of his soul” (Isa. 53:11) will cause the memory of the cross to dim by reason of the joy before His soul. Just as the seven years which Jacob served for Rachel seemed to him but a few days for the love that he had for her (Gen. 29:20), at the marriage supper of the Lamb, it is the Church that will cause Christ to “forget all his toil”. What a day that will be! But we should never forget it, and thus He has asked us, “This do in remembrance of me”.

 

53 And the seven years of plenty that were in the land of Egypt were ended; 54 and the seven years of the dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said. And there was dearth in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 And all the land of Egypt suffered from the dearth. And the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph: what he says to you, that do. 56 And the famine was on all the earth. And Joseph opened every place in which there was provision, and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was grievous in the land of Egypt. 57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was grievous on the whole earth. vv.53-57 We find next that Joseph becomes not only the provider for Egypt, but also the provider for “the whole earth”. The words “Go to Joseph” show that he alone was the sustainer of life during those years. So too, the earth will one day learn that God’s man, the glorified Son of man, is the sustainer of life for the whole world, pictured by the river of life in Ezekiel 47. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).