§22. Joseph's Interpretation of the Dreams (Gen. 40)

A. JOSEPH AND THE STATE PRISONERS

And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he ministered unto them: and they continued a season in prison.

And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and saw them, and, behold, they were sad. And he asked them, saying, "Wherefore look ye so sadly to-day?"

And they said unto him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it."

And Joseph said unto them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? tell it me, I pray you."

B. THE CHIEF BUTLER'S DREAM

And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; and in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and its blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand."

And Joseph said unto him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thine office: and thou shalt give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler. But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon."

C. THE CHIEF BAKER'S DREAM

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head: and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of baked food for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat it out of the basket upon my head."

And Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation thereof: the three baskets are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee."

D. THE INTERPRETATION COMES TRUE

And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand: but he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.

§23. Joseph's Interpretation of Pharaoh's Dreams (Gen. 41:1-16, 25-36)

A. THE KING'S DREAM

And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, well favored and fatfleshed; and they fed in the reed-grass. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favored and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. And the ill favored and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed a second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up on one stalk, rank and good. And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream: but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

B. THE BUTLER'S RECOMMENDATION OF JOSEPH

Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, "I do remember my faults this day: Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was with us there a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guards; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; I was restored unto mine office, and he was hanged."

C. JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAM

Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it."

And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."

And Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams.

And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one: what God is about to do he hath declared unto Pharaoh. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven lean and ill favored kine that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they shall be seven years of famine. That is the thing which I spake unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he hath showed unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. And the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine."

§24. Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt (Gen. 41:37-45, 47-57)

A. JOSEPH HONORED BY PHARAOH

And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is?" And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou: thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou." And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt."

And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, "Bow the knee," and he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."

And he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

B. JOSEPH'S PROSPERITY

And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house." And the name of the second called he Ephraim: "For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, "Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do."

And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain; because the famine was sore in all the earth.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

61. Recall rapidly the story of Joseph as far as we have studied it. Read §21 and consider the situation of the young prisoner.

62 (§22A). Who were these two great men that were sent to prison? It was a high office to be cupbearer to the king. The butler's speech later shows that it was his duty to squeeze the grapes into a goblet of water, making the refreshing drink for his royal master. The officer who had charge of the kitchen in a great palace would also be an important man. In our time a French "chef" sometimes has a salary of $25,000. Why were these men in prison? What did Joseph have to do with them?

63 (§22A). This was three days before the king's birthday and on that day it was customary to decide the fate of state prisoners. How would the two men feel as the day drew near? Would they be likely to dream about their former occupations? Tell the conversation that took place between them and Joseph in the morning.

64 (§22B). Tell the story. Note how natural it was for the butler to dream that he was again preparing the king's grape juice. What do you think of Joseph's request? Was it a reasonable request?

65 (§22C, D). Tell the story of the baker's dream and the interpretation. What happened on the king's birthday? How was it that the chief butler was so ungrateful?

66 (§23A). Pharaoh was the title given to all the kings of Egypt, as Czar is given to the Russian emperors, Sultan to the rulers of Turkey, and President to our own chief executive. The most important thing in Egypt is its famous river. (What is its name?) It was natural for the king to dream of it. Tell the story of his dream.

67 (§23B). We have already noted how much significance was attached to dreams. A king would have a company of learned men who were supposed to be able to interpret his dreams. How was it in this case? What did the chief butler do? How long had he forgotten Joseph?

68 (§23C). How did they get Joseph ready to appear before the king? If you look at Egyptian pictures you will see that the great men never wore beards. The Egyptians were also very cleanly and particular about white garments. What did Pharaoh say to Joseph? Note Joseph's modesty.

69 (§23C). Tell Joseph's interpretation of the dreams. Of course we naturally ask how Joseph could know these things. But we can only say that it is part of the story, and our interest is in finding just what these beautiful old tales of the heroes have to say to us. What advice did Joseph give to the king? Famines were rare in Egypt, because the country is not dependent upon rainfall but upon the overflow of the Nile. Occasionally, though very seldom, the water does not come from the upper river in sufficient quantity; then there is no inundation and the crops fail.

70 (§24A). What did Pharaoh think of Joseph's interpretation? What did he think of his advice? What did he decide to do with him. Note the six distinctions he gave him and explain what they meant? In England one of the highest officers is the Keeper of the Great Seal. And there the aldermen wear gold chains round their necks. It was a notable honor to be married to the daughter of the high priest, who was a great dignitary.

71 (§24B). What did Joseph do during the seven prosperous years? How many sons were born to him? What did he do when the famine came?

72. When Joseph was in the pit in slavery, and in the prison, whom did he trust? Did he ever think the happy dreams of youth were hopeless? What is the best way to meet bad fortune? Now note how he meets good fortune. Read Rom. 8:28.

WRITTEN REVIEW

Like Joseph, you doubtless have some tasks put upon you that are unpleasant. Note one of those tasks this week. Do it as Joseph would have done. You will feel after you have done your best that it was worth while. Then think again how Joseph behaved. Write out in your notebook why Joseph always did his duty.