There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt,
Joseph has just told Pharaoh that his two dreams are one dream, and now he explains them: seven years of abundance are coming to Egypt. The verse raises two questions: why God announces plenty in advance, and what people do with it while they have it.
An announcement, not a forecast
Joseph does not present the coming years as a clever reading of signs. One commentator sets that beside the way the world's leaders plan their own future.
Hamilton SmithJoseph gives the king a threefold message from God. First he twice repeats that God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. The wise men of Egypt no doubt had their theories about the future of Egypt. They shaped their policies and made their plans to fit their own ideas. It is the same today. The leaders of this world — political, religious, intellectual, capitalist, or labour — have their various theories about the future government of the world... all the theories of men leave God out of God's world.
A plan already settled
Behind the seven years stands a plan God has already settled. One commentator follows that plan far past Egypt's grain supply.
Hamilton SmithGod has a revealed plan. God has established His plan, and what God has planned and established, God will bring to pass. Men dream of bringing in a millennium by their own thoughts and their own efforts — through education, civilization, disarmament, leagues and alliances. It will all be in vain.
Not plenty only, but great plenty
Joseph does not promise enough; he promises great plenty. One writer holds on to that one word and moves from Egypt's harvest to our own day.
C KnappThere were seven years, not just of plenty, but of "great plenty." During those years, we read, "the earth brought forth by handfuls." It was a time of extraordinary abundance. And there never was a day like the one in which we live. Never before the present age has God sent His messengers out into all the world. They proclaim to every sinner a free and full salvation through faith in the name of His own exalted Son.
("By handfuls" comes from an older translation of Genesis 41:47. The ESV says the earth "produced abundantly.")
Plenty with a limit
The plenty is counted out: seven years, and then it ends. One commentator notes how blessing itself can leave people careless about what comes next.
L. M. GrantOften when people are richly blessed they do not think wisely about what the future may hold. They waste the large amount the Lord has given them. Then the lean years arrive without warning, and they are not ready.
Who does the gathering
The plenty covered the whole land, yet only one man went through it gathering. One commentator makes that detail the picture of Christ today.
Hamilton SmithThe men of the world may completely ignore the blessings that grace brings to their door, and go on their way with no thought for the future. It seems the men of Egypt took no advantage of the years of plenty to lay up for the years of famine. We do not read that they gathered up any food. It was Joseph who went through the land and gathered up grain. And so today it is the exalted Christ who is reaping a harvest of souls during the day of grace. He is going through the world gathering His people out of the world. But when the days of grace have run their course, He will deal with the men of the world.
The lesson pressed home
One writer draws a personal lesson from Joseph, and will not let it stay a lesson about grain.
W. T. P. WolstonYoung man, prepare for the future. That is the lesson I get from Joseph. Have you provided for the future? I do not mean for the things of this life... Most men that one sees are very busy and earnest in their desire to get on in this world: I wish they were as earnest about eternal things. They are so taken up with this life that they neglect eternity completely.
Summary
- Announced. Egypt's wise men had their own theories; this plenty comes as God's own message, in a world whose plans "leave God out of God's world."
- Established. God has a settled plan, and what God has planned, He brings to pass — no human scheme can produce it.
- Great. Not plenty but great plenty — one writer sees in it the full salvation God now offers to every sinner.
- Limited. Seven years, and then they end. Plenty tempts people to waste it and to meet the lean years unready.
- Gathered. Only Joseph gathers in the record, and today the exalted Christ reaps His harvest — so the one fitting response is to prepare now, while the plenty lasts.