Genesis 41.25-32-Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams

Thursday January 11, 2007

Genesis: Genesis 41:25-32-Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

Lesson # 263

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 41:1.

This evening we will continue with our studies of Genesis 41, which records Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams and making a recommendation to him in light of these dreams, which results in Pharaoh promoting him to prime minister, second only to Pharaoh in Egypt.

By way of review, we have noted the following in this chapter:

In Genesis 41:1-7, we read where Pharaoh of Egypt had two dreams and in Genesis 41:8, we read the account of Pharaoh summoning the priests who were skilled in the occult sciences in order to interpret his dreams but there were none that could.

Then we saw that Pharaoh’s cupbearer whose dream Joseph interpreted two years before made Pharaoh aware of Joseph and his ability to interpret dreams and this is recorded in Genesis 41:9-13.

This was followed by the Lord delivering Joseph from prison by causing Pharaoh to summon Joseph from prison to interpret his dream, which is recorded in Genesis 41:14.

In Genesis 41:15-16, we read where in response to Pharaoh’s flattery, Joseph ascribes to God his ability to interpret dreams, which demonstrates his great humility.

Last evening we read where Pharaoh recounts his dreams to Joseph, which is recorded in Genesis 41:17-24.

This evening we will read of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, which is recorded in Genesis 41:25-32.

Joseph’s conversation with Pharaoh is divided into two parts: (1) Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 41:25-32). (2) Joseph’s recommendation to Pharaoh in light of his interpretation (Genesis 41:33-36).

Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams makes four points: (1) In Genesis 41:25-26, Joseph declares that both of Pharaoh’s dreams announce the same thing and have the same meaning. (2) In Genesis 41:26-27, Joseph informs Pharaoh that the seven cows and seven ears represent seven years. (3) In Genesis 41:29-31, Joseph tells Pharaoh that the seven years of famine will follow the seven years of prosperity. (4) In Genesis 41:32, Joseph reveals to Pharaoh that the duplication of the dream indicates that the seven years of prosperity followed by the seven years of famine will certainly come to pass.

Genesis 41:1, “Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.”

Genesis 41:2, “And lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass.”

Genesis 41:3, “Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.”

Genesis 41:4, “The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.”

Genesis 41:5, “He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.”

Genesis 41:6, “Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.”

Genesis 41:7, “The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.”

Genesis 41:8, “Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.”

Genesis 41:9, “Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, ‘I would make mention today of my own offenses.’”

Genesis 41:10, “Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker.”

Genesis 41:11, “We had a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.”

Genesis 41:12, “Now a Hebrew youth was with us there, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related them to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his own dream.”

Genesis 41:13, “And just as he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my office, but he hanged him.”

Genesis 41:14, “Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.”

Genesis 41:15, “Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.’”

Genesis 41:16, “Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, ‘It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.’”

Genesis 41:17-18, “So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, ‘In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.’”

Genesis 41:19-20, “Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.”

Genesis 41:21, “Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke.”

Genesis 41:22-24, “I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

Genesis 41:25, “Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.’”

Joseph’s statement “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same” reveals to Pharaoh what he believed to be true in the first place, namely, that both dreams have the same meaning.

In fact, in Genesis 41:17, when recounting his dreams to Joseph, Pharaoh uses the singular form of the noun chalom (<w)lj&) (khal-ome), “dream” instead of the plural even though Pharaoh had two dreams indicating that Pharaoh himself viewed the dreams as identical in meaning.

Pharaoh’s dreams were a revelation from God and were prophetic in nature, revealing to Pharaoh the economic life of Egypt for the next fourteen years.

“Told” is the verb naghadh (dg^n*) (naw-gad), which is in the hiphil form and means, “to inform” and refers to revealing previously unknown information to someone.

Joseph’s statement “God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do” brings glory to God in that he is acknowledging that God is the source of Pharaoh’s dreams.

This is the second time that Joseph has made Pharaoh aware that Pharaoh’s dreams originated with God since Genesis 41:16 records Joseph informing Pharaoh that the interpretation of dreams is apart from him but rather originates with God who gave him the ability to interpret dreams.

To glorify God is also to reveal some aspect of God’s character to someone whether through words or one’s conduct and so Joseph is glorifying God in the sense that he is acknowledging to Pharaoh God’s sovereignty and omnipotence.

His statement “God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do” reveals to Pharaoh that his dreams were revelation from God who is sovereign over the nations including Egypt.

Isaiah 40:15, “Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.”

Isaiah 40:17, “All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.”

Joseph does not use the covenant name of God, which is Yahweh, “Lord” but rather uses Elohim, “God” since Pharaoh is an unbelieving Gentile.

“God” is the noun Elohim, which emphasizes the sovereignty of God over the nations including Egypt and expresses that God is omnipotent or all-powerful and is able to bring to pass that which He has determined to take place, which was revealed in the two dreams.

Joseph’s statement “God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do” would reveal to Pharaoh that his dreams were revelation of God’s sovereign will, which He will exercise absolutely and that Pharaoh is under His authority.

The Egyptians regarded Pharaoh as a divine manifestation in human form and so by accepting Joseph's interpretation of his dreams Pharaoh chose to place himself under Joseph's God, which God rewarded by preserving the land of Egypt in the coming famine.

Pharaoh’s two prophetic dreams and the seven years of prosperity and famine demonstrate God’s sovereign control over the nations and the lives of individuals like Joseph and God’s sovereign care and protection over the nation of Israel, which would be preserved because of Joseph.

Genesis 41:26, “The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.”

Joseph’s statement reveals what Pharaoh believed all along that the seven good cows and good ears both represented seven years and that the meaning of both dreams was the same.

The cows and ears of grain were used by God in Pharaoh’s dream since both appealed to Pharaoh’s human frame of reference and were essential to Egypt’s economic power.

The seven good cows represented seven years of prosperity since fat cows are the direct result of abundant pastureland and the seven good ears of grain also represented seven years of prosperity since plump ears of corn are the direct result of excellent weather conditions.

Genesis 41:27, “The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.”

The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after the seven good cows and the seven thin ears that were scorched by the east wind represented seven years of famine and reveals that the seven years of prosperity will immediately be followed by seven years of famine.

The ugly and thin cows represented famine since thin and ugly cows are the direct result of a lack of abundant pastureland.

The thin ears of grain also represented famine since thin ears of grains are the direct result of extremely bad weather conditions.

Genesis 41:28, “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.”

Joseph’s statement to Pharaoh “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh” means that his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams is certain to come to pass since both the dream and his interpretation originate with God.

His statement “God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do” is the third time when speaking to Pharaoh that Joseph informs Pharaoh that his dreams and his interpretation originate with God and not with him.

This statement not only reveals that Joseph’s interpretation of his dreams originates with God and that God is sovereign over his nation but it also reveals the mercy and compassion of God, which originate with His attribute of love (See Ephesians 2:4-6; James 5:11).

Mercy is an expression of God’s love and means that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them (Luke 6:35-36; Eph. 2:1-7) whereas God’s love is “compassionate” meaning that God intensely desires and will act to alleviate the pain and suffering of another or remove its cause (1 John 3:16-17).

The fact God would warn Pharaoh of an approaching economic disaster indicates concern for Pharaoh and his nation as well as all the nations since if God did not care, He would not have warned Pharaoh.

It was therefore an attempt by God to evangelize not only Pharaoh and Egypt but also the entire world since God desires that all men be saved (See John 3:16-18; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).

God warned Pharaoh through Joseph and the dreams so that he might take appropriate measures to prepare for the seven years of prosperity and famine.

Another reason why God warned Pharaoh was to facilitate Joseph’s promotion to prime minister so that he could administrate the nation of Egypt during this economic crisis so as to deliver Joseph’s family, which lived in Canaan and to relocate the nation of Israel to protect it from the Canaanite influence.

Genesis 41:29-30, “Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.”

Genesis 41:31, “So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.”

Joseph’s statements in Genesis 41:30 and 31 interpret Pharaoh’s statement in Genesis 41:21, “Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before.”

His statements reveal to Pharaoh that the seven ugly and gaunt cows devouring the seven good cows and the seven thin ears of grain swallowing up the seven good ears of grain represent that the seven years of famine would be so severe in intensity that the seven previous years of prosperity would be forgotten.

“Behold” is also the interjection hinneh (hN@h!), which prepares Pharaoh for something significant and important for him to understand as the leader of the nation of Egypt and makes him aware that the interpretation is divine in origin.

Joseph’s interpretation is prophetic revealing to Pharaoh the future of his nation for the next fourteen years, thus Joseph is functioning as a prophet.

Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.”

Joseph’s interpretation emphasizes the future severe famine that is about to come upon the nation of Egypt since just one sentence describes the years of prosperity (See Genesis 41:29) whereas five clauses describe the years of famine (See Genesis 41:30-31).

This agrees with Pharaoh’s own awareness that his dreams were a warning of impending disaster since the symbols of his nation’s economic power were destroyed in the dreams.

“Abundance” is the noun sava (ubc) (saw-vaw), which denotes that the harvests for the next seven years in Egypt will be abundant resulting in a more than sufficient food supply.

“Great” is the adjective gadhol (lw)dG*) (gaw-dole), which describes that the harvests for the next seven years in Egypt will be greater than usual.

“Ravage” is the noun kalah (hlK) (kaw-law), which is in the piel (intensive) stem and means that the seven years of famine will “consume” the land of Egypt and as a result “destroy” it in that nothing will be able to grow.

Genesis 41:32, “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.”

Joseph’s statement reveals that the next seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of severe famine upon the land of Egypt were a part of God’s plan and sovereign will from eternity past, which is called in theology, “the divine decree.”

The “divine decree” is the eternal plan by which God has rendered certain all the events of the universe, including both angelic and human history-past, present and future (Psa. 2:7; 148:6; Dan. 9:24) and so God rendered certain to take place the seven years of prosperity and famine and it was thus a part of God’s plan.

The divine decree took place in eternity past before anything was ever created and is God’s eternal and immutable will and so these seven years of famine and prosperity was part of God’s plan from eternity past.

God used the famine as the means to have Pharaoh promote Joseph to prime minister and to relocate Joseph’s family from Canaan to Egypt in order to protect them from the corrupting Canaanite influence.

The decree of God is the chosen and adopted plan of all God’s works and so the seven years of prosperity and famine was part of God’s chosen and adopted plan.

The decree of God is His eternal purpose according to the counsels of His own will, whereby for His own glory He has foreordained whatever comes to pass and so the seven years of famine and prosperity was part of God’s eternal purpose according to the counsels of His own will for His own glory.

The omniscience of God comprehended at once in eternity past these seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of severe famine and God also comprehended at once in eternity past the course that these events would take and their conditions and relations and determined that these events would take place.

It was God’s eternal and immutable will that these seven years of prosperity and famine would take place and God decreed that these events would take place in time and the precise order of events leading up to these events and the manner in which these events would transpire.

God from His sovereignty decided in eternity past that the seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of severe famine would take place in the exact time that they did.

The Lord knows perfectly, eternally and simultaneously all that is knowable, both the actual and the possible and thus has all knowledge of every event in human and angelic history and so therefore, the Lord looked down the corridors of time and decreed to take place the seven years of prosperity and seven years of famine.

Isaiah 46:9-11, “Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.”

The seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of severe famine in Egypt would be the means God would use to fulfill the prophecy He gave to Joseph that he would rule over his family, which is recorded in Genesis 37:5-11.

The prediction of the famine by Joseph and his recommendation in light of this famine would lead to Pharaoh promoting Joseph as prime minister of Egypt who would administrate the nation during the seven years of prosperity and famine.

The famine would cause Joseph’s family to go down to Egypt to buy food and this would result in Joseph’s brothers bowing down to him in fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in Genesis 37:5-11.

Therefore, these events would be a manifestation of the spiritual principle taught in Jeremiah 1:12, that the Lord watches over His Word to perform it.

Jeremiah 1:12, “Then the LORD said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.’”