Pharaoh has a Dream

Pharaoh dreamed he was standing by the Nile River, when out of the river there came up seven fat cows. And after them, seven skinny cows came up out of the river and stood beside those on the riverbank. And the skinny cows ate up the seven fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven healthy heads of grain were growing on a single stalk. Then seven thin heads of grain sprouted—and the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy heads of grain. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.

The next morning he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt and told them his dreams, but no one could tell him what the dreams meant.
Then the chief cupbearer told Pharaoh how Joseph had told him and the baker what their dreams meant when they were in jail, and that he had been correct. So Pharaoh sent for Joseph from the jail. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one can tell me what it means. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." Joseph told Pharaoh that he could not do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires. So Pharaoh told Joseph about the dreams.
Then Joseph told Pharaoh, "Both of your dreams are the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows and the seven good heads of grain are seven good years. The seven skinny cows and the seven thin heads of grain are seven years of famine. 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 good years in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ruin the land.”
Joseph told Pharaoh to look for a wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. He said they should collect all the food from these good years that are coming and store up the grain to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.

The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to obey to your orders. Only I will be greater than you."
So Joseph was put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in fine linen robes and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command. So Joseph was put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

During the seven good years the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven good years 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; it was so much that he stopped keeping records.
The seven good years in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you."
When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, because the famine was so bad all through Egypt. And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was so bad.

Next time we will find out what happened to Joseph’s family during the famine.

We have color pages of Joseph overseeing the storage of the grain during the good years.
Pictures of grain and cows can be brought to help illustrate the dreams. If you have access to real grain, you might bring some to show those who have never seen grain before.

You could have cookies or cakes and tell how they are made from wheat flour.

During prayer time you can thank God for watching over us during good times and bad times.

Joseph Goes to Jail

After Joseph was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites, he was taken to Egypt where he was put in charge of the house of Potiphar, who was one of Pharaoh's officials. Potiphar trusted Joseph.
But one day Potiphar’s wife told a lie about Joseph. Does this sound familiar? Remember Joseph’s brothers told a lie about him also.
Joseph was put in jail. But while Joseph was in jail, the Lord was with him and he was favored by the warden. The warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
Sometime later the Pharaoh became angry with his cupbearer and his baker and they were both put in the same jail where Joseph was being held.
One night the cupbearer had a dream and the baker also had a dream. Joseph saw that they were sad and asked them what was wrong. They told Joseph that they had both had dreams and there was no one to tell them what the dreams meant. Joseph asked them “Does not the telling of the meanings of the dreams belong to God?” Then he asked them to tell him their dreams.
So the cupbearer told Joseph his dream and Joseph told him the meaning of the dream. Then he asked him to remember him when the dream was shown to be true, and to mention him to Pharaoh so he would be released from the jail. When the baker saw the favorable meaning of the cupbearer’s dream, he asked for the meaning of his dream to be told to him also. Joseph told him, but his dream did not have a good meaning.
The dream of the cupbearer came true and he was put in the position he held before he was sent to jail, but he did not tell the Pharaoh about Joseph. The baker’s dream also came true and he was killed, just as in his dream.

We learned that several times people told lies about Joseph, and through it all Joseph is faithful to God. He does not understand why the things are happening to him.
We have people that we know that tell lies about people and sometimes it seems like God does not even notice, but God always knows what is happening to his children. And what the people who tell the lies don’t understand is that God takes these bad times and uses them in His own special way for good.
I know about people who had people tell lies about them, and even though we may think that God has forgotten about us, He has special things in mind. He knows all about our situation and he has plans for us. We just need to stay faithful to God and wait for Him to work things out in His own time. And we must also remember that His time is not always our timing, but He will work things out.

For activities we had pages to color of the story. We sang songs and had snacks. I always send the color sheets home with the children and they can tell the story to their parents.

Suggestions for snacks: Someone could be the “Cupbearer” and pass out cups of juice or Kool-aid. Someone else could be the “Baker” and serve cookies or cupcakes.

Other suggestions: Have the children play the parts of the characters and act out the story.
Talk about dreams and have the children tell about dreams that they have had.