(Prophecy)
This prophecy actually came from two dreams/nightmares of a pharaoh of Egypt:
Genesis 41:1-8
“When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.”
The pharaoh was disturbed by these troubling nightmares so in the morning he called all his wise men (magicians sorcerers etc.) to tell him the meaning of his nightmares:
Genesis 41:8
“In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt.”
But none of his wise men could interpret what these dreams meant:
Genesis 41:8
“Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.”
This is when pharaoh's cup bearer remembers the prophet Joseph in the prison, he was in that accurately interpreted what both he and his cellmate the former baker had dreamed, and it accurately happened just exactly as he interpreted their dreams:
Genesis 41:9-13
“Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, ‘Today I am reminded of my shortcomings (Forgetfulness). Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us…' ”
So once pharaoh heard about the gift Joseph had of interpreting dreams and his accuracy, he knew he needed him to interpret his dreams, so he immediately got him out of jail to interpret his dream:
Genesis 41:14-24
“So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon…”
Once in the presents of pharaoh, pharaoh told him why he was there and told him his dream:
Genesis 41:17-24
“In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up. In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. ”
God immediately gave Joseph the meaning of the dreams: and it turned out to be a symbolic prophecy warning the pharaoh of what God was about to do in the near future:
Genesis 41:25
“Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘[in] The dreams of Pharaoh…God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.”
So Joseph reveals not only are these dreams a warning from God about what he is about to do in the near future (a prophetic dream) but the two dreams he had are referring to the same events in the future:
Genesis 41:
“The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same (they mean the same thing).”
So, these two dreams are just two different symbolic ways of putting what will happen in the near future: So, Joseph then begins to decode the symbolic dreams according to what God revealed to him. He revealed each of the ‘objects’ pharaoh saw in his dreams (that is the cows and grains) are representing a year each in the future: so, since pharaoh saw originally seven cows and seven wheat grains in his dream this is referring to seven years:
Genesis 41:26
“The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream (they both are referring to seven years in the future).”
But so are the seven lean cows and seven thin grains also representing seven years: but they are representing another seven years ahead of the first: but the difference between the two symbolic sets of seven years is symbolized in the way they look: the seven fat and healthy cows and grains represent seven years of constant good produce/harvest in Egypt (notice how the symbols in his dream: the cows and grains, have to do with food! These are food products Egyptians ate; so, this is a perfect symbol God used to represent seven years of a good harvest!):
Genesis 41:26
“The seven good cows…and the seven good heads of grain are seven years…of great abundance (very good harvests)…”
But then what about the seven years of thin and sticky cows and wheat heads? Well, those represent seven years of the exact opposite after the first seven years of good harvests: they are seven years of famine!
Genesis 41:27
“The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.”
So, Joseph concludes the message God is trying to send to pharaoh in this symbolic dream: he is warning him about seven years of constant future harvest that will bless his nation (Egypt) then after that seven years of horrible famine will destroy his nation until Egypt will completely be destroyed to never exists again:
Genesis 41:28-30
“God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land., because the famine that follows it will be so severe.”
And Joseph even gives the reason God gave the message in the form of two symbolic dreams instead of one: because this was to symbolize this was absolutely going to happen and God was not going to change his mind on letting a great seven years of harvest and horrible seven years of famine!
Genesis 41:32
“...The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God…”
So according to dream interpreter prophet Joseph: pharaoh's dream of the seven fat cows and seven sleek cows and seven healthy grains and seven thin grains was a symbolic prophetic warning straight from God to warn pharaoh (and thus his whole nation) about seven years of massive future harvest but then seven more years of massive famine and starvation that would completely ruin Egypt forever!
Did this happen?
Fulfillment in the continuation of the Bible (and in history)
This prophecy was directly fulfilled in the Bible (and history) just by continuing to read the Bible (the rest of the book of Genesis) we can see how this prophecy comes true in the same book of Genesis (just a very short time after Joseph interpreted the dream in history):
The seven years of good harvest/produce (the seven good cows and grains)
Just like Joseph prophesied, the following seven years in Egypt were very productive and the harvest was very good:
Genesis 41:47
“During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully.”
The seven years of famine/starvation (the seven bad cows and grains)
However right after the seven years of plenty, then a year of famine came just like Joseph said the dream said:
Genesis 41:53-54
“The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said.”
It affected Egypt horribly with hunger and The Egyptians began to beg the pharaoh for food:
Genesis 41:55
“...all [of] Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food.”
But this seven-year famine was far worse than just horribly affecting only Egypt and threatening only Egypt’s survival: this famine was so widespread that it was affecting the whole world! (That is the known world at this time: specifically, most of the Middle East) and began affecting and then threatening many countries in the Middle East with starvation:
Genesis 41: 54-57
“There was famine in all the other lands,…the famine was severe everywhere.”
But 7 years earlier (when Joseph told pharaoh the meaning of his dreams) Pharaoh listened to Joseph’s suggestion to prepare for the horrible years of famine by saving up as much food as they could during the seven years of great harvest to feed the country during the seven years of famine:
Genesis 41:33-36
“And now let Pharaoh…take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined(destroyed) by the famine.”
Genesis 41:48-49
“Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain,…”
Egypt was able to survive the horrible famine:
Genesis 41:53-57
“...When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians,…”
Along with God’s holy people Israel (Jacob) and his children/descendants: the Israelites, and along with many other nations in the Middle East who were (most likely) able to survive because of Egypt’s help in sharing their food storages through payment:
Genesis 41:57
“...all the world(the whole Middle East) came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.”