Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 76
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
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dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything
happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-
bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.”
Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the
prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood
before Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night,
and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you
hear about a dream you can interpret it.”
“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you
what it means and set you at ease.”
So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up
out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. But then I saw seven
sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen
such s orry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. These thin, scrawny
cows ate the seven fat cows. But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for
they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.
“In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these
were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind. And the shriveled
heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.”
Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing.
God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The seven
healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven
years of prosperity. The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and
the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven
years of famine.
“This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to
Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The next seven years will be
a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. But afterward
there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be
forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so
severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As for having
two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God,
and he will soon make them happen.
“Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put
him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh should appoint
supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops
during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in
the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses.
Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. That way there
