Pharaoh's Dreams

One night two years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River, when suddenly, seven sleek, fat cows came up out of the river and began grazing in the grass. Then seven other cows came up from the river, but they were very skinny and all their ribs stood out. They went over and stood beside the fat cows. Then the skinny cows ate the fat ones! At which point, Pharaoh woke up!

Soon he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain on one stalk, with every kernel well formed and plump. Then, suddenly, seven more heads appeared on the stalk, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind. And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was all a dream. Next morning, as he thought about it, he became very concerned as to what the dreams might mean; he called for all the magicians and sages of Egypt and told them about it, but not one of them could suggest what his dreams meant. Then the king's wine taster spoke up.

"Today I remember my sin!" he said. "Some time ago when you were angry with a couple of us and put me and the chief baker in jail in the castle of the captain of the guard, the chief baker and I each had a dream one night. We told the dreams to a young Hebrew fellow there who was a slave of the captain of the guard, and he told us what our dreams meant.

"And everything happened just as he said: I was restored to my position of wine taster, and the chief baker was executed, and impaled on a pole."

Pharaoh sent at once for Joseph. He was brought hastily from the dungeon, and after a quick shave and change of clothes, came in before Pharaoh.

"I had a dream last night," Pharaoh told him, "and none of these men can tell me what it means. But I have heard that you can interpret dreams, and that is why I have called for you."

"I can't do it by myself," Joseph replied, "but God will tell you what it means!"

So Pharaoh told him the dream. "I was standing upon the bank of the Nile River," he said, "when suddenly, seven fat, healthy-looking cows came up out of the river and began grazing along the river bank. But then seven other cows came up from the river, very skinny and bony--in fact, I've never seen such poor-looking specimens in all the land of Egypt. And these skinny cattle ate up the seven fat ones that had come out first, and afterwards they were still as skinny as before! Then I woke up.

"A little later I had another dream. This time there were seven heads of grain on one stalk, and all seven heads were plump and full. Then, out of the same stalk, came seven withered, thin heads. And the thin heads swallowed up the fat ones!

"I told all this to my magicians, but not one of them could tell me the meaning."

"Both dreams mean the same thing," Joseph told Pharaoh. "God was telling you what he is going to do here in the land of Egypt. The seven fat cows (and also the seven fat, well-formed heads of grain) mean that there are seven years of prosperity ahead. The seven skinny cows (and also the seven thin and withered heads of grain) indicate that there will be seven years of famine following the seven years of prosperity.

"So God has showed you what he is about to do: The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout all the land of Egypt; but afterwards there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out; famine will consume the land.

"The famine will be so terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. The double dream gives double impact, showing that what I have told you is certainly going to happen, for God has decreed it, and it is going to happen soon. My suggestion is that you find the wisest man in Egypt and put him in charge of administering a nation-wide farm program. Let Pharaoh divide Egypt into five administrative districts, and let the officials of these districts gather into the royal storehouses all the excess crops of the next seven years, so that there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. Otherwise, disaster will surely strike."

Joseph's suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his assistants. As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, "Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the Spirit of God." Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said to him, "Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the country! I am hereby appointing you to be in charge of this entire project. What you say goes, throughout all the land of Egypt. I alone will outrank you."

Joseph in Charge of Egypt »

TEXT SOURCE: (Genesis 41:1-40) The Children's Living Bible, ©1970 Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187
TITLE SOURCE: The New Student Bible, ©1992 Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids Michigan 49530