FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 41: Dreams, Interpretations & Implementation
v.1-4
Pharaoh's First Dream
v.5-8
Pharaoh's Second Dream
v.9-13
The Chief Cupbearer recounts what had happened in prison
v.14-16
Pharaoh sends for Joseph
v.17-24
Pharaoh tells Joseph of his dreams
v.25-32
Joseph gives the Interpretation of the Dreams
v.33-37
Joseph gives wise counsel as to what to do
v.38-40
Joseph is Appointed to carry it out
v.41-45
Joseph in Charge of Egypt
v.46-49
Joseph puts the Plan into Operation
v.50-52
Manasseh & Ephraim born to Joseph
v.53-57
Joseph feeds the world
v.1-4
Pharaoh's First Dream
v.1,2
When
two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing
by the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek
and fat, and they grazed among the reeds.
v.3
After
them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile
and stood beside those on the riverbank.
v.4
And
the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat
cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
[Notes:
Time
passes slowly no doubt for Joseph in prison but after two years,
the Lord starts giving the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, dreams. First
of all he sees cows, not the sort of thing you would expect a
king to dream about. He comes to with this very vivid dream on
his mind.]
v.5-8
Pharaoh's Second Dream
v.5
He
fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain,
healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk.
v.6
After
them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by
the east wind.
v.7
The
thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads.
Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
v.8
In
the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians
and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one
could interpret them for him.
[Notes:
He
goes back to sleep but now starts dreaming about crops. Again,
not the sort of thing you would expect a king to be dreaming about.
When he wakes in the morning these two dreams are still with him
and they feel disturbing. He shares them with those in his court
who might know these things but no one comes up with an answer.]
v.9-13
The Chief Cupbearer recounts what had happened in prison
v.9
Then
the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my
shortcomings.
v.10
Pharaoh
was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the
chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.
v.11
Each
of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning
of its own.
v.12
Now
a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of
the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for
us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.
v.13
And
things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was
restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”
[Notes:
At
this point, from an unexpected source, some hope is brought. The
chief cupbearer who hears him sharing these dreams dares to share
that when he was in prison there was a Hebrew there who seemed
to be able to interpret dreams.]
v.14-16
Pharaoh sends for Joseph
v.14
So
Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.
When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
v.15
Pharaoh
said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But
I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can
interpret it.”
v.16
“I
cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh
the answer he desires.”
[Notes:
Joseph
is sent for and when spoken to by the king, declares it will only
be God who will give the interpretation.]
v.17-24
Pharaoh tells Joseph of his dreams
v.17,18
Then
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank
of the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat
and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.
v.19
After
them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean.
I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt.
v.20
The
lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first.
v.21
But
even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done
so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.
v.22
“In
my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on
a single stalk.
v.23
After
them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched
by the east wind.
v.24
The
thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told
this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
[Notes:
Pharaoh
recounts the two dreams.]
v.25-32
Joseph gives the Interpretation of the Dreams
v.25
Then
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the
same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
v.26
The
seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain
are seven years; it is one and the same dream.
v.27
The
seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years,
and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the
east wind: They are seven years of famine.
v.28
“It
is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what
he is about to do.
v.29,30
Seven
years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,
but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance
in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.
v.31
The
abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine
that follows it will be so severe.
v.32
The
reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the
matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do
it soon .
[Notes:
Joseph
interprets the dreams as warninsg from God of seven good years
of crops followed by seven years of famine, that are coming soon.]
v.33-37
Joseph gives wise counsel as to what to do
v.33
“And
now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him
in charge of the land of Egypt.
v.34
Let
Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of
the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.
v.35
They
should collect all the food of these good years that are coming
and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept
in the cities for food.
v.36
This
food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during
the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the
country may not be ruined by the famine.”
v.37
The
plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials.
[Notes:
Joseph
then, in full flow, goes on to suggest what Pharaoh needs to do.]
v.38-40
Joseph is Appointed to carry it out
v.38
So
Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in
whom is the spirit of God?”
v.39
Then
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to
you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
v.40
You
shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit
to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater
than you.”
[Notes:
As
Joseph has had the revelation and the wisdom, he is the obvious
one to put it into practice. He is appointed to do just that.]
v.41-45
Joseph in Charge of Egypt
v.41
So
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole
land of Egypt.”
v.42
Then
Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's
finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain
around his neck.
v.43
He
had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people
shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the
whole land of Egypt.
v.44
Then
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no
one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”
v.45
Pharaoh
gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter
of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout
the land of Egypt.
[Notes:
Thus
Joseph is made second in authority only to Pharaoh himself. He
is also given a wife.]
v.46-49
Joseph puts the Plan into Operation
v.46
Joseph
was thirty years old
when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph
went out from Pharaoh's presence and travelled throughout Egypt.
v.47
During
the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully.
v.48
Joseph
collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance
in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the
food grown in the fields surrounding it.
v.49
Joseph
stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea;
it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was
beyond measure.
[Notes:
Thirteen
years have passed since Joseph had his two prophecies [37:3 –
when he was seventeen.] It has taken all that time for those words
to start being fulfilled. Now he sets to work storing grain in
the seven good years.]
v.50-52
Manasseh & Ephraim born to Joseph
v.50
Before
the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath
daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
v.51
Joseph
named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is
because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's
household.” [Manasseh sounds like
and may be derived from the Hebrew for forget.]
v.52
The
second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is
because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
[Ephraim
sounds like the Hebrew for twice fruitful].
[Notes:
During
this time, his new wife bears him two sons.]
v.53-57
Joseph feeds the world
v.53,54
The
seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven
years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine
in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was
food.
v.55
When
all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh
for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and
do what he tells you.”
v.56
When
the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all
the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine
was severe throughout Egypt.
v.57
And
all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because
the famine was severe everywhere.
[Notes:
The
years of famine start, just has he had said, and Joseph starts
selling food to the Egyptians and when the rest of the starving
world hears, also to those who come.]