-
†. Gen 41:25a . .Then Joseph said to Pharaoh:
Note Joseph's quick response time. He didn't even go off and pray about it
and wait for an answer from God-- no: right to it. Since Genesis doesn't say
that God spoke inside Joseph's head, or by an audible dictation that only his
own ears could hear; then I have to assume he figured out the meanings of
those dreams by intuition.
That's not an unreasonable assumption. Even in the secular world, there are
people who have the Midas touch; good investments just seem to come
second nature to them. And how about "gifted" musicians, painters, and
sculptors? I once watched spell bound as a young man drew pencil drawings
of super heroes. He made no erasures, and the heroes came out in perfect
physical proportion; in any posture he chose for them; and viewed from any
angle.
I asked him how he did it. He said he didn't know; they just came out. Well;
Joseph's gift wasn't music, or charcoal, or pencil, or mathematics, or paints,
or sculpture, or architecture, or engineering. His gift was dreams; and he
was really good at it too. But if you were to ask him how he did it; he'd not
answer "I don't know; they just come out". Instead; he would no doubt
answer it was a gift from the gods; especially one god in particular.
†. Gen 41:25b-32 . . Both dreams mean the same thing. God was
telling you what he is about to do. The seven fat cows and the seven
plump heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The
seven thin, ugly cows and the seven withered heads of grain
represent seven years of famine. This will happen just as I have
described it, for God has shown you 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 and
wiped out. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so
terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As
for having the dream twice, it means that the matter has been
decreed by God and that he will make these events happen soon.
The "twice" method was first seen in Gen 37:5-11. Peter's vision (Acts 10:9
17) was the same one three times over, while Joseph's and Pharaoh's two
dreams apiece were redundant, indicating that God meant business and
wasn't going to change His mind regarding this matter. You know though,
with some people, no matter how many times, or in how many ways, you try
to tell them something, they refuse to listen; like when a girl keeps saying
NO to a boy's advances and he just keeps coming on anyway because for
some strange reason the boy thinks she doesn't mean it; and he's somehow
convinced that her protests aren't serious.
Everybody accepted Joseph's interpretation without question-- Pharaoh and
all the magicians and wise men (Gen 41:37) --and that is pretty amazing in
itself.
Suppose you were President Obama in San Diego for a one-night campaign
fund raiser and a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the President said
he heard that the Border Patrol had an illegal immigrant from Sinaloa in
custody for rape down in San Ysidro who says he knows exactly how to
balance the Federal budget, stop processed food from poisoning Americans,
eradicate genetically engineered crops, solve all your problems with Iran and
North Korea, and get America out of Afghanistan. Would you be interested? I
don't think so; you'd have to be pretty desperate.
I believe that while Pharaoh and his corps of geniuses were listening to
Joseph's interpretation, God was doing a number on their minds so that they
would accept what Joseph was telling them; and by the time he finished,
they were amazed that they hadn't thought of the interpretation themselves
because it seemed not only quite simple, and obviously true; but also the
only possible explanation.
God wasn't bringing all these things to pass for the purpose of embarrassing
or of dethroning the king of Egypt (not this one anyway). As a matter of
fact, Pharaoh's control over the country would be strengthened by these
events. The underlying purpose of it all had to do rather with God's plans
and purposes for the people of Israel. Therefore, not only did God give
Pharaoh the dreams, and give Joseph the true interpretation of the dreams,
but also provided an effective action plan for Egypt's survival.
People often complain that they can't respect a hell-fire God because He only
uses the threat of eternal suffering as coercion to get people in line. But the
Bible's talk of hell and eternal suffering isn't meant to intimidate people. No,
it's just like Pharaoh's dreams: talk of hell and eternal suffering is meant as
an early warning of things to come-- inevitable things.
A danger foreseen is half-avoided. - - Cheyenne proverb
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 41:25a . .Then Joseph said to Pharaoh:
Note Joseph's quick response time. He didn't even go off and pray about it
and wait for an answer from God-- no: right to it. Since Genesis doesn't say
that God spoke inside Joseph's head, or by an audible dictation that only his
own ears could hear; then I have to assume he figured out the meanings of
those dreams by intuition.
That's not an unreasonable assumption. Even in the secular world, there are
people who have the Midas touch; good investments just seem to come
second nature to them. And how about "gifted" musicians, painters, and
sculptors? I once watched spell bound as a young man drew pencil drawings
of super heroes. He made no erasures, and the heroes came out in perfect
physical proportion; in any posture he chose for them; and viewed from any
angle.
I asked him how he did it. He said he didn't know; they just came out. Well;
Joseph's gift wasn't music, or charcoal, or pencil, or mathematics, or paints,
or sculpture, or architecture, or engineering. His gift was dreams; and he
was really good at it too. But if you were to ask him how he did it; he'd not
answer "I don't know; they just come out". Instead; he would no doubt
answer it was a gift from the gods; especially one god in particular.
†. Gen 41:25b-32 . . Both dreams mean the same thing. God was
telling you what he is about to do. The seven fat cows and the seven
plump heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The
seven thin, ugly cows and the seven withered heads of grain
represent seven years of famine. This will happen just as I have
described it, for God has shown you 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 and
wiped out. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so
terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As
for having the dream twice, it means that the matter has been
decreed by God and that he will make these events happen soon.
The "twice" method was first seen in Gen 37:5-11. Peter's vision (Acts 10:9
17) was the same one three times over, while Joseph's and Pharaoh's two
dreams apiece were redundant, indicating that God meant business and
wasn't going to change His mind regarding this matter. You know though,
with some people, no matter how many times, or in how many ways, you try
to tell them something, they refuse to listen; like when a girl keeps saying
NO to a boy's advances and he just keeps coming on anyway because for
some strange reason the boy thinks she doesn't mean it; and he's somehow
convinced that her protests aren't serious.
Everybody accepted Joseph's interpretation without question-- Pharaoh and
all the magicians and wise men (Gen 41:37) --and that is pretty amazing in
itself.
Suppose you were President Obama in San Diego for a one-night campaign
fund raiser and a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the President said
he heard that the Border Patrol had an illegal immigrant from Sinaloa in
custody for rape down in San Ysidro who says he knows exactly how to
balance the Federal budget, stop processed food from poisoning Americans,
eradicate genetically engineered crops, solve all your problems with Iran and
North Korea, and get America out of Afghanistan. Would you be interested? I
don't think so; you'd have to be pretty desperate.
I believe that while Pharaoh and his corps of geniuses were listening to
Joseph's interpretation, God was doing a number on their minds so that they
would accept what Joseph was telling them; and by the time he finished,
they were amazed that they hadn't thought of the interpretation themselves
because it seemed not only quite simple, and obviously true; but also the
only possible explanation.
God wasn't bringing all these things to pass for the purpose of embarrassing
or of dethroning the king of Egypt (not this one anyway). As a matter of
fact, Pharaoh's control over the country would be strengthened by these
events. The underlying purpose of it all had to do rather with God's plans
and purposes for the people of Israel. Therefore, not only did God give
Pharaoh the dreams, and give Joseph the true interpretation of the dreams,
but also provided an effective action plan for Egypt's survival.
People often complain that they can't respect a hell-fire God because He only
uses the threat of eternal suffering as coercion to get people in line. But the
Bible's talk of hell and eternal suffering isn't meant to intimidate people. No,
it's just like Pharaoh's dreams: talk of hell and eternal suffering is meant as
an early warning of things to come-- inevitable things.
A danger foreseen is half-avoided. - - Cheyenne proverb
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=