Genesis 41:16

Joseph needed great courage to say this. The inhabitants of Egypt believed in many false gods. They also believed that *Pharaoh was a god. Joseph had learnt about the one God from his father Jacob. He knew that God had been with him. He had the courage to tell *Pharaoh about God. And he trusted God to help him now.

Joseph knew God well. He could tell *Pharaoh what God would do. His father Jacob also knew God well. But Jacob and Joseph learned to know God in different ways.

• Jacob did not know God until he was adult. Jacob’s father, Isaac, had told Jacob about God. But Jacob himself did not know God. Then God appeared to him in a dream. (See Genesis 28:12 17.) Many people nowadays are like that. And they remember the first occasion when they met God.

• Joseph learned about God from his father Jacob. And the Bible does not tell us that God appeared to Joseph. Instead, God guided Joseph and he taught Joseph by his experiences. Many people nowadays are like that. They knew about God when they were young. And they have learnt to know him better during their lives.

Joseph explains the dreams

v17 Then *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I saw in my dream that I stood near to the river Nile. v18 And 7 cows came up out of the river Nile. They were fat and healthy. They fed among the plants that were by the river. v19 And 7 other cows came up after them. Those cows were poor and ugly and thin. I have never seen cows anywhere in Egypt that were like those. v20 And the thin, ugly cows ate the first 7 fat cows. v21 But when they had eaten them, they were not fatter. Nobody would have known that they had eaten them. They were still as ugly as they were at the beginning. Then I awoke.

v22 I also saw in my dream 7 grains that grew on one stem of corn. The grains were fat and good. v23 And 7 other grains grew after them. Those grains were poor and thin. They seemed as if a cold wind had blown on them from the east. v24 And the thin grains swallowed the 7 good grains. I told these dreams to the people who know magic. But there was nobody who could explain the meaning to me.’

v25 Then Joseph said to *Pharaoh, ‘*Pharaoh’s two dreams are one. God has shown to *Pharaoh what he will do. v26 The 7 good cows are 7 years. And the 7 good grains are 7 years. The two dreams are one. v27 The 7 thin, ugly cows that came up after them are 7 years. And the 7 empty grains that the wind from the east blew are also 7 years. They are 7 years when there will be no food. v28 What I said to *Pharaoh is true. God has shown to *Pharaoh what he will do. v29 There will be 7 years when food will be plentiful in all Egypt. v30 But after those years, there will be 7 years when there will be no food. The inhabitants of Egypt will forget the plenty. The *famine will ruin the land. v31 People will not remember the plenty because of the *famine that will follow. The *famine will be very bad. v32 And *Pharaoh’s dream was double. That means that God has decided this thing. God will soon make it happen. ‘