-
†. Gen 41:1a . .Two years later
Poor Joseph. He's now at the very threshold of his fourth decade of life and
still hasn't slept with a girl, nor does he even really have a life of his own. He
was under his dad's thumb for seventeen years as a kid, and now he's been
a slave in a foreign country for thirteen; and has nothing to show for it
whatsoever. Everybody would like their lives to count for something; but it
looks like Joseph's is slipping away like water through a leaky bucket.
The very young often don't think far enough ahead. It's not till they hit their
thirties that the aging process begins to work wonders on their perspective.
I'm 68 as of this writing, and every time I see someone in their seventies, it
only serves to make me sad as I realize that it's my own near-future I'm
looking at. One day I'll look back at 68 and be amazed how young that was
in comparison. But right now; I feel very old.
†. Gen 41:1b-7a . . Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was
standing by the Nile. And lo, from the Nile there came up seven
heifers, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass. Then
behold, seven other heifers came up after them from the Nile,
ragged and bony, and they stood by the other heifers on the bank of
the Nile. And the ragged and bony heifers ate the seven sleek and fat
ones. Then Pharaoh awoke.
. . . And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven
ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. Then
behold, seven ears, shriveled and dehydrated by the east wind,
sprouted up after them. And the shriveled ears devoured the seven
plump and full ears.
Pharaoh's dreams are all the more disturbing because they contain incidents
that are contrary to nature. Cows, as a rule, aren't carnivorous; and ears of
grain derive their nourishment from the stems of their own parent plant, not
dining upon each other.
The scenes in both dreams are extremely violent with the cows and the ears
not just sitting down to dinner, but literally attacking their neighbors with
desperate savagery, like ravenous caribes: eating everything-- flesh, hide,
hooves, bones, grains, chaff, and all --raw and uncooked.
†. Gen 41:7b . .Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
The first dream was disturbing enough to wake Pharaoh from his sleep. But
the second was so vivid and so real that when he awoke, he was actually
surprised it was just a dream. And with that last dream, I'd not be surprised
he was very relieved to discover it wasn't a reality.
†. Gen 41:8a . .The next morning, as he thought about it, Pharaoh
became agitated as to what the dreams might mean. So he called for
all the magicians and wise men of Egypt and told them about his
dreams,
Magicians in those days were not the same as the sleight-of-hand
entertainers of our own day. Those occultists were scary; they used dark
arts that actually worked, and they were really and truly in touch with
paranormal powers. The magicians who opposed Moses (Ex 7:11) were able
to duplicate several of God's miracles; so ancient magicians were
legitimately powerful sorcerers and to be seriously reckoned with.
I think it was mentioned previously that "wise men" were highly educated
men of extraordinary intelligence; sort of like ancient college professors and
wiz kids. Although Moses himself isn't stated to have been a wise man; he is
stated to have been educated in all that Egypt had to offer. (Acts 7:22)
Incidentally, although Genesis never mentions God directly in Joseph's life,
Stephen confirms that it was God's providence that made the young man so
successful, and protected him from mortal harm. (Acts 7:9-10)
†. Gen 41:8b . . but not one of them could suggest what they meant.
No doubt the magicians and wise men would normally have guessed the
meaning of Pharaoh's dreams in an instant via their connections with the
dark world. But this time the dark world wasn't responsible for those two
dreams, and apparently God held the spirits in check and prevented them
from making any contact whatsoever with Pharaoh's counselors.
That had to be a very tense moment for the think tank. Potentates have
been known to execute brain trusts for failure to produce. (Dan 2:1-12)
One might ask how the dark beings can interpret dreams to foretell future
events. Well . . there's a lot of activity going on in the unseen world; and
quite a bit of it is being done by good angels. All that the dark angels have
to do is spy on the good angels and they can pretty much figure out what's
coming up.
Whenever you see men digging a huge, deep, square hole in a city lot, then
logic and experience tells you that a new building is going up. Well . . the
dark world has had thousands of years of experience; so factor that in and
it's not too difficult to understand how they come to know so much about the
future. And then too, you have to expect that the dark world is digging their
own holes at the same time; and they'd quite naturally be experts on the
outcomes of those.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 41:1a . .Two years later
Poor Joseph. He's now at the very threshold of his fourth decade of life and
still hasn't slept with a girl, nor does he even really have a life of his own. He
was under his dad's thumb for seventeen years as a kid, and now he's been
a slave in a foreign country for thirteen; and has nothing to show for it
whatsoever. Everybody would like their lives to count for something; but it
looks like Joseph's is slipping away like water through a leaky bucket.
The very young often don't think far enough ahead. It's not till they hit their
thirties that the aging process begins to work wonders on their perspective.
I'm 68 as of this writing, and every time I see someone in their seventies, it
only serves to make me sad as I realize that it's my own near-future I'm
looking at. One day I'll look back at 68 and be amazed how young that was
in comparison. But right now; I feel very old.
†. Gen 41:1b-7a . . Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was
standing by the Nile. And lo, from the Nile there came up seven
heifers, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass. Then
behold, seven other heifers came up after them from the Nile,
ragged and bony, and they stood by the other heifers on the bank of
the Nile. And the ragged and bony heifers ate the seven sleek and fat
ones. Then Pharaoh awoke.
. . . And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven
ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. Then
behold, seven ears, shriveled and dehydrated by the east wind,
sprouted up after them. And the shriveled ears devoured the seven
plump and full ears.
Pharaoh's dreams are all the more disturbing because they contain incidents
that are contrary to nature. Cows, as a rule, aren't carnivorous; and ears of
grain derive their nourishment from the stems of their own parent plant, not
dining upon each other.
The scenes in both dreams are extremely violent with the cows and the ears
not just sitting down to dinner, but literally attacking their neighbors with
desperate savagery, like ravenous caribes: eating everything-- flesh, hide,
hooves, bones, grains, chaff, and all --raw and uncooked.
†. Gen 41:7b . .Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
The first dream was disturbing enough to wake Pharaoh from his sleep. But
the second was so vivid and so real that when he awoke, he was actually
surprised it was just a dream. And with that last dream, I'd not be surprised
he was very relieved to discover it wasn't a reality.
†. Gen 41:8a . .The next morning, as he thought about it, Pharaoh
became agitated as to what the dreams might mean. So he called for
all the magicians and wise men of Egypt and told them about his
dreams,
Magicians in those days were not the same as the sleight-of-hand
entertainers of our own day. Those occultists were scary; they used dark
arts that actually worked, and they were really and truly in touch with
paranormal powers. The magicians who opposed Moses (Ex 7:11) were able
to duplicate several of God's miracles; so ancient magicians were
legitimately powerful sorcerers and to be seriously reckoned with.
I think it was mentioned previously that "wise men" were highly educated
men of extraordinary intelligence; sort of like ancient college professors and
wiz kids. Although Moses himself isn't stated to have been a wise man; he is
stated to have been educated in all that Egypt had to offer. (Acts 7:22)
Incidentally, although Genesis never mentions God directly in Joseph's life,
Stephen confirms that it was God's providence that made the young man so
successful, and protected him from mortal harm. (Acts 7:9-10)
†. Gen 41:8b . . but not one of them could suggest what they meant.
No doubt the magicians and wise men would normally have guessed the
meaning of Pharaoh's dreams in an instant via their connections with the
dark world. But this time the dark world wasn't responsible for those two
dreams, and apparently God held the spirits in check and prevented them
from making any contact whatsoever with Pharaoh's counselors.
That had to be a very tense moment for the think tank. Potentates have
been known to execute brain trusts for failure to produce. (Dan 2:1-12)
One might ask how the dark beings can interpret dreams to foretell future
events. Well . . there's a lot of activity going on in the unseen world; and
quite a bit of it is being done by good angels. All that the dark angels have
to do is spy on the good angels and they can pretty much figure out what's
coming up.
Whenever you see men digging a huge, deep, square hole in a city lot, then
logic and experience tells you that a new building is going up. Well . . the
dark world has had thousands of years of experience; so factor that in and
it's not too difficult to understand how they come to know so much about the
future. And then too, you have to expect that the dark world is digging their
own holes at the same time; and they'd quite naturally be experts on the
outcomes of those.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=