Genesis 41:1-
READING
Two years later Pharaoh had a dream: He was
standing beside the Nile, 2 when seven healthy-looking,
well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. 3 After
them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside
those cows along the bank of the Nile. 4 The sickly, thin cows ate the
healthy, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5 He fell asleep and
dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one
stalk. 6 After
them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up. 7 The
thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh woke
up, and it was only a dream.
8 When morning came, he was troubled, so he
summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his
dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today
I remember my faults. 10 Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and he
put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard. 11 He
and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. 12 Now a
young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told
him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own
interpretation. 13 It turned out just the way he interpreted them to
us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”
14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly
brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to
Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and
no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a
dream and interpret it.”
16 “I am not able to,” Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It
is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”[a]
17 So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was
standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when seven well-fed,
healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. 19 After
them, seven other cows—ugly, very sickly, and thin—came up. I’ve never seen
such ugly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. 20 Then
the thin, ugly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. 21 When
they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their
appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. 22 In my
dream I had also seen seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, coming up on one
stalk. 23 After
them, seven heads of grain—withered, thin, and scorched by the east
wind—sprouted up. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump
ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams
mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do. 26 The
seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads are seven years. The
dreams mean the same thing. 27 The seven thin, ugly cows
that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless, scorched
heads of grain are seven years of famine.
28 “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown
Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 Seven[b] years of great abundance are
coming throughout the land of Egypt. 30 After them, seven years of
famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be
forgotten. The famine will devastate the land. 31 The
abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows
it, for the famine will be very severe. 32 Since
the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been
determined by God, and He will carry it out soon.
33 “So now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and
wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let
Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of
the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 Let
them gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. Under
Pharaoh’s authority, store the grain in the cities, so they may preserve it as
food. 36 The
food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will
take place in the land of Egypt. Then the country will not be wiped out by the
famine.”
BOARD –
Control
Concern
Certainty
Credit
Consideration
Counsel
Control – 1
· What timing is indicated in this verse?
· How long had it been for Joseph to be down there?
· When is the right time for God to act in your life?
Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season
for every activity under heaven:
Concern – 2-8
· Transparent dreams – two of them.
Dan 2:4-12 –
These
were the same type of ‘fortune tellers’ that couldn’t repeat and then couldn’t
interpret the dreams
When Jesus was asked why he
chose to use parables?
Matthew
13:10-13 - The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you
speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets
of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever
has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This
is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though
hearing, they do not hear or understand.
Certainty – 9-13
·
Redirected to Joseph and the fact that his interpretations (God’s) had
proved correct to the letter.
·
God’s word is always right and He works at his timing even to jog the
memory of the cup-bearer –
Question:
"Is there proof for the inspiration of the Bible?"
Answer:
Here are some evidences
that the Bible is inspired (God-breathed) by God, as declared in 2 Timothy 3:16.
1) Fulfilled prophecy. God spoke to men telling them of
things He would bring about in the future. Some of them have already occurred.
Others have not. For example, there were more than 300 prophecies concerning
Jesus Christ's first coming 2,000 years ago. There is no doubt that these are
prophecies from God because of manuscripts and scrolls dated before the birth
of Christ. These were not written after the fact. They were written beforehand.
Scientific dating proves this.
2) The unity of Scripture. The Bible was written by approximately
40 human authors over a period of approximately 1,600 years. These men were
quite diverse. Moses, a political leader; Joshua, a military leader; David, a
shepherd; Solomon, a king; Amos, a herdsman and fruit picker; Daniel, a prime
minister; Matthew, a tax collector; Luke, a medical doctor; Paul, a rabbi; and
Peter, a fisherman; among others. The Bible was also written under a variety of
circumstances. It was written on 3 different continents, Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Yet, the great themes of Scripture are maintained in all the writings.
The Bible does not contradict itself. There is no way, apart from God the Holy
Spirit supervising the writing of the Bible, that this could have been
accomplished.
Contrast
this with the Islamic Koran. It was compiled by one individual, Zaid bin
Thabit, under the guidance of Mohammed's father-in-law, Abu-Bekr. Then in A.D.
650, a group of Arab scholars produced a unified version and destroyed all
variant copies to preserve the unity of the Koran. The Bible was unified from
the time of its writing. The Koran had to be unified through the editing of
men.
3) The
Bible presents its heroes truthfully with all of their faults and weaknesses. It does not glorify men as
other religions do
about their heroes. When you read the Bible, you realize that the people it
describes have problems and do wrong just as we do. What made them great was
that they trusted in God. One example is David. David is described as “a man
after God's own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). Yet, David committed adultery (2 Samuel 11:1-5) and murder (2 Samuel 11:14-26). This could have been left out of
Scripture to hide these details of David's life. But God included these things.
4) Archaeological findings support the history recorded in
Scripture. Though many unbelieving people throughout history have tried to find
archaeological evidence to disprove what is recorded in the Bible, they have
failed. It is easy to say that Scripture is untrue. Proving it to be untrue is
a different story. It has not been done. In fact, in the past the Bible
contradicted the current “scientific” theories, only to be proven later to be
in fact true. A good example is Isaiah 40:22, which declared that God “sits on the circle of the
earth” long before scientists claimed the earth was flat.
The
Bible’s claims of being from God should not be understood as arguing in a
circle or by circular reasoning. The testimony of reliable witnesses -
particularly of Jesus, but also of others such as Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel,
and Nehemiah in the Old Testament, and John and Paul in the New Testament -
affirm the authority and verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Consider
the following passages: Exodus 14:1; 20:1; Leviticus 4:1; Numbers 4:1; Deuteronomy 4:2; 32:48; Isaiah 1:10, 24; Jeremiah 1:11; Jeremiah 11:1–3; Ezekiel 1:3; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:16–21; 1 John 4:6.
Also of
interest are the writings of Josephus, an historian who recorded much of the
history of Israel during the first century. In this he records some events
which coincide with Scripture. Beware though, his writings are rather lengthy. Considering
the evidence given, we have no choice but to accept the Bible as being from God
(2 Timothy 3:16).
Credit – 14-16
14 - We are to get ready even
for earthly leaders? Or the situation?
15 – The question of can you
tell me truth?
16 – Giving credit to God to reveal
truth not us
· Do we get ready for who we are to meet?
· Are we ever in spiritual conversations?
· Who do we give credit to when there is a need for
truth? Where to do we go for it?
Consideration - 17-32
· Note the repeat that his magicians could not help him
out
· Why would the writer have his repeat this over again?
· Do you see any differences in this verses the first
time it is told?
· Is there anything about the ugliness or good or bad
that stands out?
·
Just remind them of the ‘two dreams’ scenario again (from Jacob’s two
dreams)
·
We are told again and again so we get it.
What have YOU been told over and over – what should you be doing?
Counsel - 33-36
Specific
advice here on what should be done – Wise advice –
1)
What was the authority to do?
Take care of the population
2)
What help did the Pharoah need?
Wise man and commissioners
Notice what happed here –
