Joseph’s Seven Years

Genesis 41:14-32

Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. (KJV)

            It is important to understand how time is used in prophecy.  Instead of manipulating prophetic time to fit a particular understanding of the scriptures, we can use scripture to help us understand scripture. Pharaoh’s dream can be one example of how to think about time when it is used in scriptures.  We can use this dream and apply the principles we learn from this dream to the vision Daniel received regarding the seventy weeks that was determined on the people of God.

            Pharaoh had a dream that came from God.  It was a dream neither Pharaoh or his magicians could understand.   It took the man of God to hear the dream and give it an interpretation. There is a similarity here between Joseph and Daniel in the sense that both men had to appear before foreign rulers and explain what God planned to do.

            As Pharaoh’s dream relates to prophetic time, cows and corn was used to represent years.  There were seven ears of corn and seven cows.  Joseph understood the dream to give the same message.  Each fat cow represented one year.  Each full ear of corn represented one year.  The years represented by the fat cows and the full ears of corn covers the same time span.  Therefore, seven fat cows and seven full ears of corn represented seven years.  On the flip side of the dream was seven starving cows and seven stalks of withered corn.  This was another seven years.  The total time that would elapse for this dream was fourteen years.  

            Joseph understood that God gave Pharoah the dream to reveal what was about to come to pass.  For this interpretation to mean anything to Joseph or Pharoah, the years given had to be exact.  If they were not exact as Joseph explained to Pharoah, it would have been useless and proved Joseph to be a false prophet.  Joseph made it clear the timeline of fourteen years had been ordained by God, and the fourteen years will start soon.  Because of his understanding of the dream, Joseph was able to advise the king how to respond to what was about to come to pass.

            What we learn from this story regarding Pharoah’s dream, we can apply to the seventy weeks in Daniel (Daniel 9:24).  First, we must note Daniel’s dream was given in terms of weeks of years.  Therefore, every day in the week is equivalent to one year.  Seventy weeks of years come to a total of 490 years.  It does not matter how the weeks of years are broken down or divided into groups of years.  God had decreed that he would complete the prophecy in seventy weeks of years.  If the prophecy was not completed in the timeline as revealed by Daniel, it would be proof the vision did not come from God.  

If the Bible student approached the prophecy with the understanding the seventy weeks of years of years are uninterrupted years, then the prophecy becomes one of the many prophecies that point to the coming of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom.  Such an understanding would put Daniel’s vision in line with the other themes and prophecies God revealed to Daniel while serving ungodly kings in the lands of his captivity.

            We will be wise to understand Daniel’s dream in the same manner that Joseph understood Pharoah’s dream.  As the fourteen years were continuous without interruption, the seventy weeks of years were continuous without interruption.  As God gave a definite timeline to Joseph about the upcoming years of plenty and famine, God gave Daniel a definite timeline to let the people of God know when to expect the long-awaited Messiah.  This is how we use scripture to understand scripture.