Genesis 41:1

Genesis 41:1 says, And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.  Two years after the chief butler was restored to his position, Pharaoh had a dream.  Joseph may have given up on his dream of being heard by this time.  Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by a river.  Then verse two adds, And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.  So far, this would seem to be a good dream and nothing to be concerned about.  Verse three continues, And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.  The dream now might be considered a little more omnibus, but still nothing really disturbing.  Then verse four concludes, And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.  The ill favored and weak cattle ate the well favored and fat cattle, and then Pharaoh awoke.  The dream bothered Pharaoh enough to wake him up.  Pharaoh believed that the dream meant something, and it bothered him.  If our dreams wake us up and disturb us, that does not mean that God is trying to tell us something, nor does it mean that He isn't.  I personally don't believe that God has ever spoken to me through a dream, but that doesn't mean that He hasn't to someone else.  Verse five says, And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.  When Pharaoh was asleep again, he had another dream.  This time, there were seven good ears of corn on one stalk.  Verse six adds,  And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.  As with the cattle, after what started as a good dream now turned a little worse.  Verse seven concludes, And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.  Once more, the bad devoured the good, and the dream awoke Pharaoh.  Verse eight declares, And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.  The dreams disturbed Pharaoh enough that the next morning he called all the magicians and wise men of Egypt and told them his dreams.  They could not tell Pharaoh what these dreams meant.  He was looking in the wrong place for answers.  If God is speaking to us through dreams today, we cannot expect people of the world those who do not know God, to tell us what the dreams mean.  Today, some people who call themselves followers of Christ still look to horoscopes and fortune tellers to tell them the future, but they never will.  If we have concerns about the future, we need to look to God for answers.  Verse nine states, Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:  The chief butler now remembered Joseph, and at least acknowledged his fault in not speaking to Pharaoh earlier on Joseph's behalf.  Too often if we help others, once they have what they want they will forget us and any promise they may have made to us.  Unfortunately, people are sometimes the same way with God, promising obedience and then forgetting all about God when they get what they want.  Verse ten adds, Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker:  Verse eleven continues, And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.  Verse twelve goes on, And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.  Then verse thirteen concludes, And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.  The chief butler told Pharaoh about the dreams that the chief baker and he had, and that Joseph had interpreted them correctly.  Hopefully, if we have shared the gospel with someone they will eventually realize the truth of the gospel, even if it is at a much later date.  I know it was not the gospel that Joseph had shared, but he had given God the credit for his being able to interpret the dreams, and if we help someone today we must point them to God as the reason that we are willing and able to help them.  Verse fourteen declares, Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.  Joseph was finally brought out of the dungeon by Pharaoh's order, and was allowed to clean up before he went to Pharaoh.  This may have been more for Pharaoh's benefit than for Joseph's.  God is much more powerful than Pharaoh was, and if we go into God's presence, we should clean ourselves up spiritually.  Since the Holy Spirit is with us always, this means that we should always attempt to be clean spiritually.