Daily Devotions
Genesis
"I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of you…" Daniel 2:23
Text: Genesis 41:1-57
THE PHARAOHS OF EGYPT
Two full years went by. Joseph continued to remain in prison. The chief butler had forgotten all about the man who interpreted his dream.
The pharaoh of Egypt was revered as the son of the gods. He was not just an ordinary human ruler, as far as the Egyptians were concerned. Pharaoh’s were supposed to have special links with the Egyptian panoply of gods.
Pharaoh suddenly had two dreams. One dream came after the other. In normal circumstances, the Pharaoh would consult with his priests. The hierarchy of priests was well established. These learned men were regularly consulted by the pharaoh.
SPECIAL DREAMS THAT DEFY EASY INTERPRETATION
The priests of Egypt could not interpret the strange dreams that the Pharaoh shared with them. His dreams sounded so weird that nobody had a clue as to how they may be interpreted.
1.The first dream had seven thin cows eating seven fat cows. Genesis 41:1-4
2.The second dream had seven blighted stalks of grain eating seven plump stalks. Genesis 41:5-7
CONSULTATION WITH ALL THE WISE MEN OF EGYPT
The dreams so troubled Pharaoh that he consulted many more people than his usual priests.
“Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled,
and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all
its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was
no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.”
GENESIS 41:8
It is interesting to note that two categories of people were noted and distinguished. There were the “magicians” and there were the “wise men”. The former appeared to have focused on receiving knowledge through occultic practices. The latter were the learned scribes who devoted their lives to the study of ancient texts. Combined together, they would have been an invaluable source of wisdom for Pharaoh.
Magicians would use any and every means they knew to probe into the occult realm. But try as they might, they could not fathom the meaning of the dreams that Pharaoh had. They too sensed that these dreams were important, but they could not come up with an interpretation that sounded plausible!
The wise men must have consulted the many thousands of texts available to them. Was there some knowledge hidden in dusty libraries somewhere that could be consulted and light given to interpret these dreams? But for all their efforts, they failed miserably. They could not enlighten the Pharaoh at all. The failure of both the magicians and the wise men added to the frustration of Pharaoh! Revelation from God was needed!