After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
Genesis 41 opens with a date, not an event: two whole years have passed since the cupbearer walked free and left Joseph in prison. Then, in one night, the king of Egypt dreams — and God begins to move a forgotten prisoner toward a throne.
The two years no one counted but God
The verse marks a stretch of silence. Joseph had asked the cupbearer to remember him. The cupbearer forgot, and nothing in Joseph's life changed.
William KellyBut he lay in irons a little longer. The word of the Lord tried him. God would work in His own way. If the chief butler forgot Joseph in his prosperity, God did not.
Kelly is quoting Psalm 105:19; the ESV reads, "the word of the LORD tested him." Another writer looks at those two years from Joseph's own side.
A. J. PollockTwo full years rolled by, and still Joseph lay in prison. It was a big test. It seemed as if he were forgotten, and might end his days there. He might have been tempted to say, "And is this the answer to my dreams? — hated by my brothers, sold as a slave, thrown into prison, and the one chance of being mentioned to Pharaoh has died out."
Waiting: the harder lesson
Joseph had already stood firm in Potiphar's house. The prison set a different test. Writers call it the harder one.
Hamilton SmithIn the house of Potiphar he has borne a bright witness for God, he has overcome temptation, and endured persecution. In the prison of Pharaoh he must learn not only to witness for God, but to wait for God. This, as we well know, is one of the hardest lessons for the saint to learn. It is one thing to witness for God in the busy world; it is a very different thing to wait for God in the lonely prison. In fact it is impossible to nature.
Joseph had asked the cupbearer to speak for him to Pharaoh. That help never came.
Hamilton SmithJoseph must not only learn that the help of man is vain, but that God is his only resource... God has His time as well as His way to bring His purposes to pass.
God's time, God's instruments, God's way
Notice who dreams. Not the prisoner — the king. The chain of people God has used through Joseph's story reaches its last link here.
Hamilton SmithJoseph had probably hoped for release as soon as the butler returned to his post in Pharaoh's household. But two full years must pass before God's time is reached... Already God had used the king's captain, the king's jailer, and the king's butler; now He will use the king himself. Moreover, it must be in God's way. It will be "a dream, a vision of the night," by which He will trouble the spirit of Pharaoh and awaken the sleeping memory of Pharaoh's butler.
Why the dream stands by the river
The dream puts Pharaoh at the river. Egypt's whole life depended on it, and only one man in the country could tell the king what God meant.
G. C. WillisEgypt's palaces were very grand. Everything was the best. But why did such a mighty king need a prisoner, Joseph? Because God wanted to speak to Pharaoh. Only Joseph knew the true God, so he alone in all Egypt could help Pharaoh. In Pharaoh's dream he stood on the bank of the River Nile. In Egypt there is no rain. Without the Nile all Egypt would be dry like the desert... So the Egyptians did not worship the true God in heaven. They worshipped the River Nile.
A hidden man, then a sudden throne
Writers see a larger pattern in this gap: a delay between suffering and glory.
F. B. HoleMay we not see a forecast here? The sufferings of the Christ are to be followed by His glory in public display. But a time passes in between, in which He is hidden from the eyes of men... It was so in a small way with Joseph. He remained hidden and forgotten in the prison, and the affairs of Egypt moved on without him.
And when the delay ends, it ends fast.
F. B. HoleJoseph's advancement and glory seemed to tarry long. All seemed failure and gloom, "Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him" (Ps. 105:19) — then at one mighty bound he leapt from the prison to the throne.
Summary
- Forgotten, not lost — the cupbearer forgot Joseph in his prosperity; God did not.
- Tried by the word — the word of the Lord tested Joseph, and the long wait was the test.
- Waiting, not just witnessing — standing firm in the busy world is one thing. Waiting for God in a lonely prison is harder, and impossible to nature.
- God's time and way — captain, jailer, butler, then the king himself. God stirred Pharaoh's sleep on His own schedule, not the butler's.
- Then, at a bound — one night's dream carried Joseph from the prison to the throne. So the hidden Christ waits for His public glory.