Pharaoh’s Dream

Genesis 41:1–13
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Truly God’s schools are not like our schools. To prepare a man for the position he had for Joseph, we would have sent him to Princeton; God sent Joseph to prison. We find that two years had gone by and Joseph was still in prison (v. 1). Then one day Pharaoh had two dreams that caused him great distress (vv. 2-7). He dreamed that he was standing by the Nile River and he saw seven fat healthy cows coming up out of the water (vv. 1-2). They ate grass in a field. Then he saw seven more cows coming up out of the river. They were very thin and sickly looking, but they ate up the seven fat cows (vv. 3-4). When this happened, the king woke up.

After a while he went to sleep and had another dream. This time he saw a stalk of corn on which there were seven good ears, full of grain (v. 5). Then he saw another stalk on which there were seven very thin, poor ears (v. 6). The thin ears of corn ate up the good ones (v. 7) Again the king woke up. Pharaoh called  all the wise men and magicians of the kingdom and told them the dream but none of them could tell him what it meant (v. 8).

The chief butler then suddenly remembered Joseph and what he had forgotten to do (v. 9). He told the king how he and the baker had been put in prison together because the king was angry at them (v. 10). Then, one night, they  had dreams that troubled them and a young Hebrew, by the name of Joseph, who was in jail with them told them the meaning of their dreams and it happened just like he said (vv. 11-12). The time came for Joseph’s release from Pharaoh’s prison as God moved providentially. The butler forgot him. He was forgotten by his brothers, forgotten by the evil woman who had lied about him, forgotten by Potiphar who owed him so much, forgotten by the butler, forgotten by all except God. What an exhibit we have here of the perfect timing of God.

Application

Think of people today who depend on the magicians and astrologers to give them answers to their problems instead of relying on the Lord. Even former president Regan’s wife Nancy admitted that she did this. I need to get my advice from God’s word and not someone that claims psychic powers.