47 DREAMS

Joseph was a dreamer. Early in life these dreams caused him trouble, but later his dreams encouraged him to maintain his integrity and holiness, helping him through trouble. He eventually even interpreted dreams for others. Joseph knew the power of a dream. In his youth Joseph became proud. He allowed his dreams to make him believe he was better than his brothers. Joseph’s father questioned his favorite son, because Joseph seemed to believe he was superior even to his parents. 

The Hebrew form of the word translated “told” in verse 5 is an accentuated form of the verb. In the Hebrew language, a grammatical addition to a verb changes the nuance to a stronger form with the same meaning. For example, that same grammatical addition makes the verb kill become “slaughter.” In Joseph’s case, told becomes “told with emphasis” or “bragged.” In other words, young Joseph did not just tell his brothers about his dreams, he told them with apparent boasting. This paints a different picture than if Joseph had humbly related his dreams in a neutral manner. Joseph had not yet learned God’s purpose for dreams.

Dreams give hope, focus, and direction for our energies. Energy without a dream is frantic and meaningless activity. Dreams hold us on target, inspire us to action. Dreams give us healthy ambition and motivate us. Dreams are not given to us by God to inflate our egos, but to encourage us to accomplish things for Him. Dreams are often from God, as were these two of Joseph’s. But dreams are not always from God; sometimes they are the product of human imagination. It is far better to adopt a “wait and see” attitude toward dreams than to become puffed up and proud because of them. Let’s learn from Joseph’s error. Even if our dreams are from God, humility is the wiser attitude as we wait to see if the dream is from God or not.

Give God your dreams, and if He gives them back to you, they are yours; if He does not, they never were. When dreams get in our spirit, they can do us good and lead us forward, but when they go to our heads, they can become big problems for others and for ourselves.

In this series we have skipped Genesis chapter 36 because it focussed on the story of Edom, not the Patriarchs. So we now turn our attention to Jacob’s family, “Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan” Jacob and Esau buried Isaac at the end of chapter 35 so we may assume that Jacob was now where his father had lived. Jacob’s is not a bare barren genealogy as that of Esau in the chapter we skipped, but a memorable useful history. Jacob was back home, but still not home yet. We will never be at home, until we come to heaven.

The story lines moves quickly on to Joseph of whom several important things are stated in verse 2: “This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.” Though he was his father’s darling, yet he was not brought up in idleness or delicacy. Those do not truly love their children who do not introduce them to responsibilities and labour. The fondling of children is with good reason commonly called the spoiling of them. Those that are trained up to do nothing are likely to be good for nothing. Joseph was particularly loved by his father, partly for his dear mother’s sake that was dead, and partly for his own sake, because of his good character which will become more and more apparent as we proceed with the story of his difficulties and eventual victories. It is possible that of all Jacob’s sons Joseph was the greatest comfort in Jacob’s old age, may have waited on him, and was more attentive to his needs. Joseph’s character, as demonstrated later in his story, would seem to support this position. It was probably not without reason that Jacob gave him his coat of many colors. Jacob evidently unashamedly showed his affection to Joseph by dressing him finer than the rest of his children. “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him” (3). The verb form used is past progressive, suggesting that it happened again and again just as when Hannah annually brought a new robe to young Samuel who served at the tabernacle. Joseph’s special coats may have been just one of many special favors Jacob would have shown to him had Joseph remained in Canaan with the family.

There is a serious lesson to be learned from Jacob’s favoritism. Though those children seem happy that receive evidence of their parents’ particular love, yet it is prudent for parents not to make a difference between one child and another, unless there be a great or obvious reason given for it. If we want to teach something by rewarding good behavior, for example, if one child does something particularly worthy of being rewarded, as a means to encourage similar behavior in his or her siblings we might give the earned reward. Lacking such a reason for his favor, however, Joseph was hated by his brethren. Two reasons for this hatred are mentioned. Firstly, because his father loved him more than he loved them. When parents show favoritism, the other children soon take notice of it, and it often produces jealousy and quarrels in families. Secondly, they hated Joseph because “he brought their father a bad report about them” (2). Jacob’s sons evidently did some things when they were out of Jacob’s sight that they would not have done if Jacob could have seen them. Joseph took it upon himself to inform his father and this did not make him popular among his brothers. We do not know if Joseph told Jacob these things because he was a loving brother who wanted to help his brothers or because he felt superior in some way. It is common for even friendly “informers” to be looked on as enemies. Those who hate to be reformed hate those who want to reform them. Proverbs 9:8 says, “Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.” It is normal for those who are beloved of God to be hated by the world; whom Heaven blesses, hell curses. To those to whom God speaks comfortably wicked men will not speak peaceably. Some of the rivalry between Jacob’s wives may have carried over to their children so that just because Joseph was the son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachael, the sons of the unfavored wives disliked him. This is not excusable, but it is understandable. The other brothers may have wanted to make Joseph their slave of sorts.

The problem between the other sons of Jacob and Joseph is further exacerbated by another development. Joseph not only has dreams that place himself in a favorable light, he seems to have enjoyed telling about those dreams more than was prudent. Verses 6 & 7 tell of the first dream: “He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.’” And verses 9 & 10 tell us of the second dream: “Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. ‘Listen,' he said, ‘I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.’ When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, ‘What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?’” We know the end of the story so we know even now that there truly was a spiritual meaning to the dreams and that God truly was speaking. What can we learn about dreams from this?

Though he was now very young (about seventeen years old), yet he was evidently godly, devout and well-intended. This qualified him for God’s gracious revelations of Himself to him. Joseph would face a great deal of trouble, and therefore God gave him in advance this indication of his eventual success, to support and comfort him under the long and grievous troubles he was to experience. Nevertheless, Joseph did not handle himself humbly and some of his problems he brought on himself.

We can compare Joseph’s anticipation of his future with those of Jesus who had a joy set before Him, and ourselves too since God has ways of preparing His people beforehand for the trials which they cannot foresee, but which He keeps in mind in the encouragements with which He supports them. Joseph’s dreams indicated that his brethren’s sheaves all bowed to his, suggesting that some day they should be brought to bow to him, namely, in seeking him for corn; their empty sheaves should bow to his full sheaf. Furthermore, that the sun, and moon, and eleven stars, bowed to him, “Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me’”(9) and this seemed to further extend the scope of Josephs high position. Think about the difference between a politician and a prophet. A politician seeks favor from people and is careful about what he reveals and how he speaks, but a prophet cares nothing about delicacies, he or she simply tell the bold truth. Joseph was more of a prophet than a politician, or he would have kept this revelation to himself. He surely knew that his brothers already hated him and that this revelation would surely exasperate them all the more. He evidently did not simply tell it but bragged, yet God directed it for the humbling of his brethren. Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Many of us, like Joseph, when we are setting out in the world, think of nothing but our success and a bright future, and never dream of the trouble we may have getting there.

His brothers are more and more enraged against him. They accurately interpreted his dream that he should reign over them. Those become the interpreters of his dream who were opposed to the fulfillment of it, as in Gideon’s story. Do you remember what Gideon heard as he listed outside one of the tents of the Midianites? Judges 3:13 & 14 tells of it. “Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. ‘I had a dream,’ he was saying. ‘A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.’” The fulfillment of Joseph’s dream corresponded exactly to his brother’s interpretation. In Genesis 42:6 it says, “Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.” Joseph’s brothers in Canaan scornfully resented Joseph’s dream, yet the day would come when the fulfillment of that dream saved all of their lives. How scornfully they resented it: “Will you, who are but one, reign over us, who are many? You, who are the youngest, over us who are older?” The reign and dominion of Jesus Christ, our Joseph, has been and is despised and striven against by a resentful and unbelieving world, who cannot endure to think that this man, Jesus, should reign over them. Yet King Jesus and His dominion offers to them living water, the bread of life and eternal life forever.

Joseph’s father gives him a gentle rebuke for telling of his dream. Possibly he checked him for it, to reduce the offense which his brethren would be apt to take from it; yet Jacob took notice of it more than he seemed to do: he insinuated that it was but an idle dream, because his mother was brought in, who had been dead some time; whereas the sun, moon, and eleven stars, signify no more than that the whole family that would depend on him would be glad to be obligated to him. The faith of God’s people in God’s promises is often sorely shaken by their misunderstanding His promises and the improbabilities of their fulfillment; but God is doing His own work, and will do it, whether we understand Him or not. Remember Mary, who according to Luke 2:51, kept the contents of the conversations at Jerusalem in her heart too, and no doubt remembered them long afterwards, when those prophecies were fulfilled. “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”