And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
Pharaoh is dreaming. Seven fat cows have already come up out of the Nile. Now seven more climb out of the same river — gaunt and ugly — and stand right beside them on the bank. Why would God disturb an Egyptian king with cattle and a river? And why is the plenty shadowed by something so poor?
The River Egypt Trusted
Both herds come up out of the same river. Egypt's whole life ran on the Nile, and one writer sees in that a picture of the world supplying itself and feeling no need of God.
Frederick William GrantEgypt had to be dependent too, but not so directly. Its river was its boast, and the sources of that supply were too far away to notice easily. Egypt is a vivid picture of the world in its self-sufficiency and independence of God. They still send scientific expeditions to explore the sources of their unfailing river, and for all their searching they have still not found God.
A Dream Shaped for an Egyptian
The river, the marsh grass, the cattle — the whole scene comes from Egyptian life. Yet the dream twists what it borrows.
William KellyThe word for "river" points without question to the Nile. So does the marsh-grass on its bank, where cattle loved to browse. Dreams often confuse person or object, time and place. Here that confusion goes to the limit. First the ill-looking, lean cattle eat up the fine-looking, fat ones. Then the thin, scorched ears of wheat swallow the fat and good ears that grew on one stalk.
A dream like that demands an explanation.
Why God Sends Lean Years
The same writer explains why God sends both plenty and want. The lean years, he says, do a soul more good than the fat ones.
William KellyIn a world of sin and suffering, of death and moral ruin and misery, He works both by extraordinary bounty and by the hard pinch of want. And He works for the good of souls more by the pain than by the prosperity. He does this so that in his distress a man's heart might consider why such trouble came from such a God.
Men Who Could See but Not Read
Pharaoh saw the cows. Reading them was the problem.
Hamilton SmithFirst God reveals what He is about to do; but even so man cannot profit by the revelation. God will speak in a vision to Pharaoh, by writing on the wall in King Belshazzar's day, and by great plainness of speech in our day. But as in days gone by, so now, the wise men of this world are completely at a loss when they try to interpret the Word of God. So Pharaoh appeals to the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men, only to find "there was none to interpret" his dreams. Man's natural pride of intellect blinds him to a simple fact: only God can interpret what God communicates.
The King as God's Last Instrument
Joseph had been forgotten in prison. These cows came at God's chosen hour, not a day early.
Hamilton SmithGod carries out His plans in His own time, by His own instruments, and in His own way. Joseph had probably expected to go free as soon as Pharaoh restored the butler to his post in the royal household. But two full years must pass before God's time arrives. The right moment has now come. The last instrument in God's hand is ready to complete the work that leads to Joseph's exaltation. God had already used the king's captain, the king's jailer, and the king's butler; now He will use the king himself.
The Famine Still Ahead
One writer reads the dream as a prophecy the world has not yet lived through. The lean years, he says, are still ahead.
Frederick W GrantSeven years of plenty, then seven years of famine that swallow them up — such is the prophecy of Pharaoh's dream. Even now the world is enjoying its plentiful years, and it hardly believes its own plainly predicted future. Yet the time of famine is not far off. It will display the resources of the One who will then be seen as the only One able to meet its terrible demands.
Summary
- Same river, two herds. Both come out of the Nile. The river Egypt boasted in carries the famine as well as the plenty.
- Same river, strange picture. The dream uses Egypt's own scenery, then breaks nature's rules. No one could call it an ordinary night's sleep.
- Same river, no interpreter. Egypt's wisest men could see the picture but not read it. Only God can explain what God says.
- Same river, God's timing. Pharaoh, not the cattle, is the last instrument in God's hand — used to lift a forgotten prisoner out of prison at the hour God chose.
- Same river, coming famine. Plenty followed by want is God's pattern still. The lean years will prove that only One has resources enough for them.