Story 63 Joseph before the Pharaoh
Joseph worked away as a faithful servant in the prison of the Egyptian king. At one point, he even interpreted the dreams of the Pharaoh’s cupbearer and chief baker. His interpretations came true with stunning accuracy! The cupbearer promised to do whatever he could to make sure Joseph was set free. But once he was out of prison, he completely forgot about Joseph’s kindness. Then something happened to change that. Two years later he was reminded of his forgetfulness. For you see, the Pharaoh himself had a troubling dream.
In it, the king was standing out by the mighty Nile River. Now, this river was very important to the people of Egypt. Egypt was the most powerful nation in the world at the time. One main reason for its power was that their farms always had plenty of water from the River. Other nations would struggle under the scourge of famine and starvation when the rains didn’t come. Whole generations of children and animals could be lost during a bad year. Meanwhile, Egypt would continue to grow and prosper because the Nile River was always there, pouring out a wealth of precious, clear liquid for drinking and washing and watering the crops. The Nile was so important to the Egyptian people that they worshipped it as a god! But God was Lord over the Nile and the Pharaoh. He would use his servant Joseph to tell the story of his sovereign plan to the ruler of Egypt.
In the Pharaoh’s dream he stood by the Nile and watched as seven well fed cows came out of the water and began to eat the grasses that grew along the edge. Right after them, seven more cows came. These were very different. They were scraggly and skinny, and they looked like they were about to starve to death. The Pharoah had never seen such hideous creatures! It scared him. In the dream, they went over to the seven fat, happy cows and ate them! After Pharaoh dreamt this, he woke up. The images bothered him terribly. They had a dark feeling about them. What did it mean?
When the Pharaoh went back to sleep, he had another dream. This time, there was a stalk of grain growing with seven golden, healthy heads of grain on it. Then seven more heads of grain came, but these were dried out and thin as if they had been ruined in a hot, scorching wind. The scraggly heads of grain ate up the healthy grain. Once again, after seeing this, the Pharaoh woke up, sensing that this dream was terribly important and wondering what it was all about.
The next morning, the Pharaoh was so troubled that he gathered the wise men and the magicians of his realm. He explained his dreams, but nobody understood their meaning. What was the Pharoah going to do? The dreams seemed to be about the nation’s cattle and grain. Was something going to threaten the food supply of Egypt? The burden of responsibility weighed heavily on the king as he wrestled with what might happen to his people.
As the chief cupbearer listened in, he realized he knew someone who could help. Joseph could interpret these dreams! But when the cupbearer remembered how Joseph had helped him, he also remembered his promise to help Joseph. That was two years ago, and he had allowed Joseph to sit in prison that whole time. How careless he had been towards him! He was very ashamed when he spoke to the Pharaoh. He said, “‘Today I am reminded of my shortcomings,’” Then he told the king how Joseph had interpreted his dream and the baker’s, and how perfectly Joseph’s interpretations came true.
When the Pharaoh heard this, he sent a servant rushing over to have Joseph brought up from the prison. Joseph shaved his beard and changed his clothes so that he would be presentable for the audience of the king. Then he was brought before the Pharaoh’s court. The king explained that he needed help. He said, “‘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.’”
Before the most powerful men of Egypt, Joseph boldly declared, “‘I cannot do it…but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.’” Wow. Joseph was confident that the Lord would give him the answer. He had many years of practice putting his faith in his God through slavery and in dungeons and places of humility. Now he understood that he was called by God to be a prophet to the most powerful man in the world. Yet he was careful to make sure that all the glory went to the Lord.
Pharaoh explained the dream to Joseph. This was the interpretation God gave Joseph to tell the Pharaoh;
“‘The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 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.
“‘It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown the Pharaoh what he is about to do. 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. The abundance of the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows will be so severe. 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.’”
Genesis 41:23-32
The power and sovereign might of Abraham’s God was declared in the court of Egypt, showing the greatest men of the land who truly ruled over their fate. The Pharaoh willingly listened, humbled by his weakness in the face of his frightening dreams. Already, the Lord was using the family of Abraham to bless the nations of the world!
Then Joseph gave the Pharaoh a plan for how to help his nation survive the difficult times to come. He told him to choose a wise man and give him charge over his kingdom to store up on fifth of the grain that would come during the seven years of abundance. This man would oversee a group of men who would gather up the extra into storehouses throughout the land of Egypt. They would hold the grain until the seven years of terrible famine. Then, when the people began to grow hungry, they could pass the food out to the Egyptian people. It would save their lives.
As Pharaoh listened to Joseph’s plans, he saw that they were brilliant. This Pharaoh was a very good king. How relieved he must have been to hear the exact right thing to do to protect the people of his nation. He looked at his officials and said, “‘Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?’”
Even the pagan Pharaoh could see that Joseph’s wisdom was the very wisdom of God. The Spirit of the Lord had empowered his answer. The Pharaoh also realized that nobody else in his kingdom would be able to carry out the directions of God as well as Joseph. He turned to Joseph and said, “‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 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.’”
Wow. Think of it! In one day, Joseph went from being a servant in the palace dungeon to being the most powerful man in Egypt, with the exception of the king himself! Truly God was at work, preparing the way for his humble servant to give him honor beyond his wildest imagination!