What is your dream?

“Without a dream the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). Jesus himself was motivated by “the joy that was set before Him” which enabled Him to endure the cross (Heb 12:2). Abraham saw his descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky. In this meditation we will look at the dreams of Joseph to see how these shaped his life and ended up with him ruling the richest country in the world.

Genesis 37 (abridged):
3 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 a richly ornamented robe for him.  4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
    

It wasn’t Joseph’s fault that his brothers hated him, but rather that of his father, who gave him more than his fair share. We must be careful not to show favouritism as it can cause trouble as others can envy the one who is favoured.

5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of corn out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered round mine and bowed down to it.  8 His brothers said to him, Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us? And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
    

This was Joseph’s worst mistake – to make himself look greater than his brothers. The Bible clearly teaches us to “prefer one another in honour” (Rom 12:2). As a seventeen year old it was probably done mainly in innocence and just as God used this mistake for His purposes, so he can use our mistakes too. It’s good if we can leave our dreams between us and God and develop the ability to think about others and their dreams before our own.

    9 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. 10 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?    11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
    

To rub it in, this second dream included his father and mother bowing down to him! His father rightly rebuked him; we should never make ourselves look better than others, especially those who are much older than us and responsible for us. His brothers were now really provoked to jealousy. Jealousy is one of the greatest motivators to do evil, evidenced from Cain killing Abel to the Pharisees killing Jesus.

12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them. Very well, he replied. 14 So he said to him, Go ........So Joseph went after his brothers and found them.
    

Joseph didn’t think twice but obeyed his father, though he may well have suspected that his brothers wouldn’t treat him well. Jesus shows us the way by being willing to be betrayed and having His friends deserting Him.

18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.  19 Here comes that dreamer! they said to each other.    20 Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams.
    

The root of jealousy, like that of the Pharisees towards Jesus, had become a tree of bitterness and resentment, and borne fruit in murderous intent.

    21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. Let's not take his life, he said.    22 Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him. Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe - the richly ornamented robe he was wearing- 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
    

Not all the brothers were unanimous in their hatred, though perhaps Ruben’s greatest motivation was his fear of his father’s grief. There is a great tendency to follow the crowd and the godly man says “no” to evil despite the opinion of others.

25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?    27 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood. His brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
    

Bitterness and resentment were causing a great veil of blindness over the eyes of the brothers, but there was still some realisation of the awful deed they were about to commit. Joseph probably thought that he and his dreams were dead, but it was God’s plan to take him into Egypt. If we know that God has spoken. However impossible it may seem, His purposes for us will be fulfilled.

29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?  31Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe.  33 He recognised it and said, It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.  34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. No, he said, in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son. So his father wept for him.
    

Ruben wasn’t in on the act, but did join them in the plan to deceive their father. The brothers had sown a lie and had to live with the deceit for many years. The roots of this deceptive nature came from their father Jacob. If we have any deceit in our hearts, any cover up, we can never live in honest reality and will surely be found out in the end. Dishonesty corrupts the heart and prevents us living with a clear mind. We will also cause distress, especially to those closest to us. We must continually confess to God and to others and be cleansed if we want to be a blessing and sanity to rule our lives.

36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.
    

It was God’s plan to sell Joseph into slavery. Our dreams may seem to take us into hardship, but that’s part of God’s plan to mould our character, humble us and create in us the spirit of servanthood.

Genesis 45   1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, Make everyone leave my presence! So there was no-one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it. 3Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph! Is my father still living? But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.  4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come close to me. When they had done so, he said, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be ploughing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
    

For the purposes of this study we’ve skipped many chapters in this remarkable story and now listen in on Joseph’s brothers in audience with him. Imagine the surprise at the statement “I am Joseph!” At first they were mortified, but Joseph showed no desire for revenge or “I told you so” but instead only love and forgiveness. What’s more, he didn’t apportion blame to them but said: “it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you...so it was not you who sent me here but God.” He has only love for them, and is not interested in paying them back for the wrong they have done. Jesus holds out the same love for us. Because of our sin He had to be nailed to the cross, but even to those who were there crucifying them He said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” God wants to work this character in us, that we will only see ourselves as servants and having no rights for our own comfort.
                        

THE ULTIMATE DREAM:

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”
Psalm 27:4

God may give us dreams or visions like Joseph, but David who wrote this psalm was already at the top of the ladder, so there was no personal dream to aspire to; his goal was to gaze on the beauty of the Lord. Whatever drives us forward, the ultimate dream to seek after is to “gaze on the beauty of the Lord”. Let’s pursue our calling, but let’s all aspire to loving God more and more each day!