And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.
Pharaoh has already woken once, shaken by cattle rising out of the Nile. Now he sleeps again, and a second picture comes: seven full ears of grain growing on one stalk. The repeat is the point. God says one thing twice to a king who does not know who is speaking to him.
A dream sent twice in one night
The second dream is the same message in new pictures. Both came in one night, and both used what Egypt lived on.
F. B. HoleAgain dreams enter into the story, this time connected with Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh's dream came in duplicate. The general drift of both dreams was the same, and the fact that both happened in one night was very impressive. Sheep were not popular in Egypt; cattle provided their meat, and grain gave them their bread. The river Nile was the basis of the prosperity of both.
Imagery drawn from Egypt's own god
Cattle, grain and Egypt's whole food supply hung on one river. That dependence shaped what Egypt worshipped.
G. C. WillisIn Egypt there is no rain. Without the Nile all Egypt would be dry like the desert. The Nile has a great flood every year, which waters the land on both sides. The Egyptians always plant their crops where the flood water has been, and so get good crops. That is why the Egyptians did not worship the true God in heaven, but worshipped the River Nile.
Seven, and why the number matters
The verse counts the ears before it describes them. The number itself carries meaning.
Samuel RidoutSeven is the familiar number which speaks of completeness and perfection. Seven days make a complete week. The seven fat and lean cattle of Pharaoh's dream, and the many sets of sevens in the book of Revelation, are examples of the same thing.
A message no expert could unlock
Pharaoh called in Egypt's best minds and got nothing back. The problem was not a shortage of intelligence.
Hamilton SmithFirst God reveals what He is about to do; but even so man cannot profit by the revelation. God speaks in a vision to Pharaoh. He writes on the wall in Belshazzar's day. He speaks with great plainness in our day. Yet now, as in past days, the wise men of this world are at a total loss when they try to interpret the Word of God. So Pharaoh appeals to the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. He finds that no one can interpret his dreams. Man's natural pride of intellect blinds him to a simple truth: only God can interpret what God has spoken.
Full ears first, then empty ones
The full ears come first, and the empty ones follow. One writer sees God at work in both halves.
William KellyIn a world of sin and suffering, of death and moral ruin and misery, He works both by extraordinary generosity and by the hard pinch of want. For the good of souls He works more by the pain than by the prosperity. In his distress a man's heart may then ask why such trouble came from such a God. The two dreams were puzzling in form, but identical in aim: abundance to the full, followed by a devouring like nothing in nature.
The years of plenty as a picture
The seven full ears stand for seven years of plenty. One writer sees them as a picture of our own day, and is careful about how far to press it.
C. KnappThese seven years of great abundance picture, if they do not typify, the present age of grace, and we are glad to live in it. "Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). And it will last until the coming of the Lord.
Another writer turns the same picture into a warning about how people treat this present supply.
Hamilton SmithIn this day of grace the world is passing through its seven years of plenty, when the grace of God is handing out blessings by the handful. The people of the world may take no notice at all of the blessings grace brings to their door. They go on their way with no thought for the future.
Summary
- Doubled — the same message came twice in one night, first in cattle, then in grain. Pharaoh could not brush it off as a stray dream.
- Borrowed — God used Egypt's own pictures: the Nile, the herds, the harvest. These were the things Egypt trusted and worshipped.
- Locked — every expert in Egypt failed. Only God can explain what God has said.
- Ordered — plenty first, then want. God works through both, and does more good to souls through the pain.
- Now — the full ears picture a present season of grace. People can live in it and still ignore it, and it will not last forever.