Joseph remained in prison for two more years, and then Pharaoh had two dreams that troubled him. He sent for all of the magicians and wise men of Egypt, but none of them could interpret the dreams for him.
At this point the cupbearer remembered that Joseph had accurately interpreted his dream and the dream of the baker while they were in prison. When he told Pharaoh about Joseph, the king sent for Joseph, “and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon” (Genesis 41:14). After Joseph shaved and changed clothes he was brought before Pharaoh. Joseph told Pharaoh that he could not interpret the dreams, but that God would give Pharaoh the interpretation.
Pharaoh told Joseph his two dreams. Joseph then gave the interpretation, saying that the two dreams were one and the same. He then said that through these dreams, God had revealed to Pharaoh what He was about to do.
Joseph said the dreams meant that there would be seven years of abundance throughout Egypt, followed by seven years of famine. The seven years of famine would be so severe that they would ravage the land to the extent that the years of abundance would be forgotten. Joseph then told Pharaoh that the reason the dream was given to him in two forms was that God had decided to bring about these events soon.
In view of the God’s impending action in the matter, Joseph advised Pharaoh as recorded in Genesis 41:33-43. He said that Pharaoh should find a wise and discerning man and put him in charge of managing the affairs of all Egypt. He then advised Pharaoh to appoint authorities to collect a fifth of the crops harvested during the seven years of abundance, and to store the grain under Pharaoh’s authority in various cities. These stores were to be kept for food during the seven years of famine.
Pharaoh and his officials approved of Joseph’s plan. When they considered Joseph’s wisdom in interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams and in devising this plan to save the country from ruin during the famine that was to come, they decided there would be no one better than Joseph to manage this effort. Pharaoh then put Joseph in charge of his palace and the whole land of Egypt, saying that all of the people of Egypt were to submit to his orders and direction. Joseph was made second in command over all of Egypt, subject only to Pharaoh himself.
In Genesis 37:2 we read that Joseph was seventeen years old when his troubles began, and in Genesis 41:46 we read that he was thirty years old when he was made second in command over all of Egypt. In God’s time, the suffering and hardship that He allowed to affect Joseph’s life had accomplished the purpose He intended. After thirteen years of undeserved suffering in slavery and in prison, within the space of a few hours, Joseph was delivered out of the dungeon and put in charge of the entire land of Egypt.
As Joseph was first put in charge of Potiphar’s household, and then in charge of the affairs of the prison and all that went on there, so now he was
put in charge of the entire land of Egypt to manage the resources of the land and prepare them for the famine that was to come. Joseph, according to the plan and purpose of his sovereign God, suffered the loss of the best years of his young manhood and strength, thirteen years from age seventeen to age thirty, first to slavery that came about by the treachery of his brothers, and then to imprisonment that came about by the false accusation of Potiphar’s wife, though he had done nothing to deserve either slavery or imprisonment.
Joseph stored up food in storehouses throughout Egypt during the seven years of abundance that followed, as God had given him the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams. And then came the years of famine, as Joseph had also foretold.
God’s purpose in bringing Joseph to this position of power in Egypt was to save the entire family of Jacob and his sons (Joseph’s brothers, who had sold him into slavery years earlier) from the famine that was to spread also to the land of Canaan where they were all living. The events that transpired whereby Jacob, his sons, and their families were brought to Egypt to be preserved through the famine are recorded in Genesis 42-47.