2 years after the cupbearer forgot about Joseph interpreting his dream in prison, Pharaoh dreamed a dream. Pharaoh’s Dream Part 1 ~ 14 Cows By the Nile River: (1) He dreamed that there were 7 cows healthy and plump eating reed grass. (2) He, later in the same dream, then saw 7 cows, ugly and thin which he had never seen in all Egypt, coming after the healthy cows. (3) The 7 ugly/thin cows ate the 7 attractive/healthy/plump cows, and they remained thin and ugly afterward. (4) After this dream he woke up. Pharaoh’s Dream Part 2 ~ 14 Ears of Grain: (1) He dreamed that there were 7 ears of grain, plump and good, on one stalk. (2) He, later in the same dream, then saw 7 ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. (3) The 7 thin ears swallowed up the 7 plump/full ears. (4) After this dream he woke up.
The cupbearer remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh. Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they cleaned Joseph up before he came before Pharaoh, and he asked him if he could interpret the dream. Joseph answered, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer,” or “Without God it is not possible to give Pharaoh an answer about his welfare.” Pharaoh told him his dreams. Joseph said they are the same dream, and, “God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.” The 7 good cows and good ears of grain are 7 years, and the 7 ugly cows and blighted ears of grain by the east wind are 7 years of famine. Then again Joseph said, “God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.” 7 years of plenty in Egypt are coming, but then 7 years of famine will come in Egypt, “And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.” Joseph told Pharaoh to choose a wise man to lead in storing food in preparation for the coming famine. Pharaoh chose Joseph, named him Zaphenath-paneah and gave Asenath to him as a wife. Everything happened as God had revealed and Joseph had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. People from all over the earth came to Pharaoh to buy grain.
God is merciful and gracious here to show what He is about to do. God has fixed what Pharaoh’s dreams reveal will come to pass, and He will make it happen. Man is responsible too though. God is in control over time, events, and people, but the people make decisions and are active agents in doing the things that God brings about. He has fixed these things, and He not only fixes events and then passively lets someone or something else enact them to come to pass. No, He does it and brings it to pass Himself. (41:25, 28, 32) He’s actively doing this while the people are active too. The world is the stage for this display of God’s grace and mercy to the point that even an unbeliever, Pharaoh, is crediting God to have shown the interpretation to Joseph. God is continuing to preserve His people in order to bring about the promised Messiah from Eve’s lineage as it is further seen in His sovereign choosing of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 3:15; 15). Now, here in Joseph’s temporal redemption from the literal pit, we see a little more of a glimpse about the circumstances that surround His steadfast love expressed in His preservation of the people of His covenant, and in how ultimately in Jesus Christ He will redeem a people from their sin.