Genesis 41:1-43: Joseph and Pharaoh
Bible Essentials: Set 3, Lesson 28
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Opening
Individuals: Take time to think back about your past week. Where have you seen God work in your life or answer prayer? Write down any prayer requests you have.
Group: Open the study by sharing life updates, reviewing highs and lows of your past week, or sharing prayer requests and praises.
Icebreaker: Do you remember a year that was wet and lush and green? What about a year that was super dry and brown?
All: Begin the study with a word of prayer, asking God to open your heart for today’s study. You can also pray for any prayer requests now, or save that for the end.
Study
Read today’s passage: Genesis 41:1-43.
41 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”
14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.
22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.
28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
What is the context for this passage?
When we left Joseph in the previous lesson, he had been forgotten by the cupbearer. Joseph had interpreted dreams for the cupbearer and baker, and the dreams happened just as Joseph had said. Joseph asked the cupbearer to speak to Pharaoh and get him out of prison, but the cupbearer forgot him once he was restored to his position. So Joseph sat in prison and waited and trusted God.
Read the passage again.
Explore a different version if you have one available. If you are online, here is Genesis 41 in NIV through Bible Gateway. You can change the version by using the dropdown menu at the top right of the page.
Try to summarize the passage in your own words.
Answer these three questions about the passage:
1. What does the passage say about God?
God gives people dreams that have meaning. The life of Joseph has been filled with dreams. First, Joseph himself had dreams. Then the cupbearer and baker had dreams. Now, Pharaoh had dreams. God gave these dreams specifically to these people to give them warnings about the future.
God gives his selected people the ability to interpret dreams. Joseph had a record of following and trusting God, and God used him to interpret dreams for people. In this case, God used Joseph to not only interpret Pharaoh’s dreams but to save the land of Egypt from the effects of famine.
God sometimes reveals what will happen in the future. As the only one who clearly knows the future, God sometimes reveals that future to select people.
God is in charge of the weather and crops. The only reason that God could give dreams that predict the future about weather (famine) and crops (good years and lean years) is because God is in control of all of nature, including weather patterns and plant growth.
When God decides something, it will happen. Joseph told Pharaoh that he could be sure that his dreams would come true because God had already decided it would happen, and it would happen soon. When God decides something, there’s no going back. He will act on his decision.
God gives wisdom and discernment. Pharaoh recognized something different in Joseph—a wisdom and discernment that was unlike anything he had seen in others. Pharaoh recognized where this wisdom and discernment came from—God.
2. What does the passage say about people?
People have dreams that can sometimes be troubling. Just like the cupbearer and baker, Pharaoh’s dreams were troubling to him, and he wanted to know what they meant. Even dreams that don’t have a deeper meaning or that don’t predict the future can be troubling.
People do not have the ability to interpret dreams on their own. As much as they tried, the magicians and wise men of Egypt could not interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. They were missing one key requirement: God’s wisdom.
People can have memories triggered by certain events. When the cupbearer heard that Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret, he finally remembered Joseph. He knew that Joseph could interpret dreams, so he told Pharaoh.
People who are troubled look for any answer they can find. I don’t know if Pharaoh thought sending after Joseph was a long shot, but he was looking for any answer at this point after all his magicians and wise men had failed him. So he took the cupbearer’s suggestion and sent for Joseph to see if Joseph could interpret his dream.
People clean up their appearance before going before people in high authority. Joseph had been in prison for several years, so his appearance was likely pretty rough. Before he went before Pharaoh, he cleaned up his appearance, just like we would do if we were going before a judge or president or other person in high authority.
People who trust God are humble and give him the glory. Pharaoh tried to give Joseph the credit for interpreting dreams, but Joseph turned all of that praise to God. Joseph knew that it was not his ability that allowed him to interpret dreams. It was God’s power working through him.
People listen to wise counsel. When Pharaoh heard the interpretation of his dreams, Joseph gave him advice on what to do. Pharaoh recognized Joseph’s advice as being very wise, and he set plans in place to follow through on Joseph’s plan.
3. What does the passage say about God’s plan?
God’s plan was to give Joseph a place of honor with Pharaoh. Finally, God’s plan for Joseph’s life seems more evident. Joseph is no longer a slave or a prisoner. Instead, God has given him a place of honor on Pharaoh’s staff and in all the land of Egypt.
God’s plan was to give Joseph the responsibility to help save his people. Along with Joseph’s place of honor came responsibility. Joseph was put in charge of collecting all the land’s abundance in the years of plenty and distributing food in the years of famine.
God’s plan was to bring abundance and then famine in Egypt and beyond. Just as foretold by Pharaoh’s dreams, God planned to bring 7 years of abundance to Egypt and then 7 years of famine. But this plan wasn’t only for Egypt. All the land around Egypt also experienced this same pattern of abundance then famine.
How does the passage fit into the overarching story of the Bible?
Sometimes it’s easier to understand a passage if you have a little outside knowledge from other passages in the Bible. This section will help provide that outside perspective.
This week’s passage is where we start to see the fulfillment of God’s plan for Joseph’s life. Now, being sold into Egypt and ending up in prison start to make sense. These are the steps God used to get Joseph in front of Pharaoh so he could be put in charge for when the time of famine came. Joseph’s plan for storing up crops and then distributing crops is what would save the people in and around Egypt when the famine arrived.
But just saving people from famine is not the main point. The main point is that God used the famine to reunite Joseph with his family and bring them down to Egypt to live. Egypt is where the Israelites would grow to be a great nation—so great, in fact, that a later Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph would enslave them because he was afraid of their power. Then, God would free his people and bring them out of Egypt into the Promised Land, just has he promised Abraham.
Why did God need the Israelites to be in Egypt? Because later, God would fulfill a prophecy by calling Jesus out of Egypt, in a parallel to calling the Israelites out of Egypt. Jesus and his family had fled to Egypt to escape the plan of Herod to kill all the boys under 2 years old in an effort to eliminate the “king of the Jews” who had been born. By fleeing to Egypt, Jesus’ family prevented his death so that he could continue on to his ministry and his ultimate purpose for coming to earth—to die on the cross for our sins.
Discussion
Individual: Answer the following questions thoughtfully for yourself.
Group: Pose these questions for discussion.
All: If you are willing to share, I’d love to hear your thoughts to these questions. Feel free to use the comment section to start a discussion about this passage.
What else strikes you about this passage?
How does the passage affect how you view God? How you view yourself?
How does this passage affect how you will live your life?
Additional Study
For additional study related to this topic, read Genesis 41:44-57.
Premium Resources
For Bible Essential studies, you can use my thoughts as your devotional, or you can download and use the journaling sheet to work through the passage on your own. If desired, you can then compare your thoughts to mine. Journal sheets can be downloaded and used now or later. They can be printed and filled in by hand or saved and filled out electronically. Journal sheets are available for individual or group use.
If you plan to lead a group study, a PowerPoint presentation is also available.
You can access these resources by clicking here: Genesis 41 Resources
Or you can download the journal sheets here*:
*Substack doesn’t support PowerPoint file downloads yet, so if you want to access the PowerPoint file for group study, you will need to download it from the resource page linked above.