Listen to this dream I had (Gen 37)

Listen to this dream I had

Gen 37:1-36

Key Verse 37:6. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had:

Today’s passage is about God’s chosen family. God planned to save them and bless them to be used as the source of blessing.  But in this family was full of ungodliness. Here comes a question, how can God bless this family and make them the source of blessing? Today’s passage is God’s way of salvation of God’s chosen people. It is through one man. This one man is so important for the welling of the entire family.

How and why is this so? When I came to Christ first, no one in my family knew of Christ.  But God blessed me to know him and to love him. Eventually God blessed all members of my family, including my father, the most obstinate in his own understanding.  One man is important not because he does something remarkable for the family but because in the one man God reveals his will and purpose.  I like you think about this one man with one question, who might it be and how do I relate with the person?

1.    A Family of God born in sin

Jacob’s family: Jacob was a deceiver and took birth right from his older brother Esau. Facing a murderous threat of his brother, he ran away to his uncle Laban in Haran. There he married with his sweet heart, Rachel. But Laban his father in law and uncle deceived him and let him marry his first daughter, Leah, as well. Jacob lived with his two wives and their intense jealousy. Leah was jealous of Rachel because Jacob loved Rachel. Rachel was jealous of Leah because Leah bore many children but Rachel had none.

Once Rachel said this: "Give me children, or I'll die!" (Gen 30:1 NIV)

"Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her." (Gen 30:3 NIV)

Genesis 30:8 Then Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won." So she named him Naphtali. (Gen 30:8 NIV)

Genesis 30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. (Gen 30:9 NIV)

In this way jealousy and competition ran through the house of Jacob. What can we conclude about this family? The ten children were born in human passion, pride and jealousy. There were intense competition for love of Jacob, and power among the wives.

As the result they bore him 10 children, six from Leah, two from her maid and two from the maid of Rachel.  In this way 10 boys were born by these wives. In addition, Leah bore another child, a girl Dinah. Over all we may ask how these children can be godly and became worthy to be called children of God.  This question and theme continues throughout the rest of Joseph’s story.

Joseph’s birth was quite different: But so far the most loved wife Rachel was barren and did not have a single child. She did try many things but she was not successful. Simply she felt hopeless. In this situation God remembered Rachel:

Genesis 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace."  

Once, Rachel was burning with jealousy and competition against her sister Leah. But over the years, it became apparent that she could not keep up with her sister Leah.  She bore 6 children. But Rachel hand none. Over more than 15 years (I am guessing based on the number of children born) she had to live a lonely life without any children of her own.  Rachel gave up everything to bear a child. In such hopelessness, and unworthiness, God remembered her and gave her a child, Joseph. So, Joseph was purely of God’s mercy and grace.

What was it like to have a child after such long years? When Sarah, her great grandmother-in-law, was 90 years old, God visited her and said that the next time this year Sarah would bear a child. But she could not believe it and she laughed at what the angel said.

Genesis 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

In her old age, the impossible became possible. It was purely God’s grace and mercy. Likewise, for Rachel bearing a child was an impossible dream. It became possible because of God’s mercy and grace.

What I am saying is this; Joseph is a son by God’s grace. The ten children were born out of a passion and competition in human abilities; in order to get love or attention from their husbands or pride of themselves as a rightful mother and wife. But Joseph was not one of these children born in human passion and jealousy and competition.

Jacob knew of significance of Joseph’s birth after such a long time of waiting.

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 an ornate robe for him.

It is said that Jacob loved Joseph because Joseph was born in his old age. What does it allude to? When Abraham was old 100 years and his wife Sarah was 90 years old, when they gave up of having a child of their own, God blessed them and gave then a child, Isaac, his father. Isaac his father and Rebekah his mother prayed for more than 20 years before Jacob was born.

So, the fact that Joseph was born in such old age was a reminder of what God did to Abraham and Sarah. It was a reminder of what God did to Isaac and Rebekah.  It was by faith and by God’s grace that Joseph was born, to Jacob. In this regard, among many children Joseph was unique and different.  Joseph was of God! So Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his children.

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 an ornate robe for him.

How did Jacob express such particular understanding of Joseph’s life?

There were 10 children. But Jacob loved Joseph more than any of them. His love was particular and unique. Some thought that Jacob loved Joseph so much because he was the son of his beloved wife Rachel. Possible! Or because he was the youngest. Possible! But his love was particular and beyond ordinary father would to do to one of his children.  His love for Joseph was unordinary and unique. In such love Jacob made an ornate robe for Joseph. It was a robe for prince. The ornate robe captures the mind of Jacob toward his son Joseph. Simply Joseph had particular meaning or special value to his father Jacob among all of his children.  It was not simply a preferential treatment because of his human affection!

What about Joseph’s life?

Bad report about them: Joseph went out with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. The majority of the brothers (6) are the children of Leah. They went out together. The rest are the children of these two concubines and Joseph, a son of deceased mother. They were grouped together. It is more likely that these two concubines were inhabitants of the Canaan. So their children might have picked up bad things and Joseph reported to his father. 

If a youngest boy reports bad things of his big brothers, it is likely that the boy will be bullied by his big step-brothers. Because of fear of retaliation, little boy would not dare to report bad things of his brothers. So in general, to mingle with his brothers, the little boy would have common secrete with his brothers and he would not share anything bad with his father.   Brotherly bond is more necessary for a little boy.

Then, why did Joseph report bad things of his big brothers to his father? We can read this as a challenge to the power of his big brothers using his father’s love.   Also we may read this as a hate to these big brothers power and authority.

Yet Joseph was different; But he did this not because of his hunger for control or power or jealousy or competition. What was it then?

We will come to know that Joseph did this simply out of his concern for ungodliness of their lives which could not be accepted by God. In other word Joseph had something that none of other brothers had; morality that comes from godly fear.  

What does this lead us to think? From young age he had genuine respect and fear of God.  This becomes clear when we see what he was told to go and see how his brothers were doing in Shechem, which we will discuss later.

After all, in Joseph’s life was something unique and different from any of his 10 brothers. His life was a symbol or model of godliness among all ungodly brothers. I do not mean that he was perfect. Simply saying that in his life godliness and fear of God was visible, that is distinctively different from the rest of his brothers.

2.    God vested his will in the life of Joseph.

6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 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."

One day Joseph had a dream. In this dream, there were eleven sheaves of grain belong to the eleven brothers bowing down to the sheaf belonging to Joseph. Joseph told this dream to his brothers. The meaning of this dream seemed to be clear. 

·         Joseph would be the leader and the rest had to be the subjects of Joseph’s headship. But was this all that this dream try to convey?

·         Here in this dream, the entire brother are unified around Joseph. There is a unity and oneness in this picture.

·         Also there is an abundance of grain; each had his own sheaves and Joseph’s one may be the biggest.

Not long after this, Joseph got another dream.

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."

At this time 11 stars as well as Sun and moon bow down to him. The meaning is again obvious;

Here again three things that we can note

·         Joseph will be a great man with whom the entire family members are united together. Joseph would be the authority and all would be his subjects.

·         Joseph would be even greater than his parents that they would bow down to Joseph.

·         This family was pictured as the heavenly beings; stars and Sun, and Moon.

In these two dreams, the message is unambiguously clear. Joseph would become the authority for the family and the rest of the family would be his subjects. They had to bow down to him. What are these dreams? Where did it come from? Were they real?

God made this also clear that these dreams were from God.

We can answer this question by asking question. How can these two dreams that convey a message that is so clear and unambiguous? Can any men have such dream twice by his will or desire?

At the same time, the second dream was a little different from the previous one; the basic plot of previous dream was in the field of grain. This is what they saw and possible work on. This is within the realms of daily human affairs in real life. So it is possible or even probable that this setting or plot is within the sphere of Joseph’s mind or idea.

But the second one is totally in a different realm; it is about stars and Sun and moon. They are far detached from daily human affairs and nobody even thinks of doing such things. It is not the realm that ordinary men and women think of. In addition, would Joseph dare to envision that his parents would bow down to him? Highly unlikely!

What do all these tell Joseph and to his brothers and even their father? The dreams were not created by Joseph’s desire but were of God and by God.  In this way, God let the entire family know that God vested his plan in Joseph’s life.  

Simply speaking, God was with Joseph; his brothers had to know and accept this. Also, his father had to know and accept this. Where were they heading to? Ultimate direction of this family was about sheaves of grain and about something related to celestial bodies. What would those mean? God did not reveal explicitly. But they were to think and reason, and to hope and expect in this hope.

In this way God made it clear that God vested his plan and blessing in and through the life of Joseph. In this foreknowledge they had to understand the life and character of Joseph.

How did the family take this dream? One thing we know that these two dreams are coded language or symbolic message of God, not only to Joseph but also all of his family. Since it is coded message, only those who believe God and have fear of God can and will know and understand this.

3.    Brothers rejected Joseph and God’s blessing through the life of Joseph

One day his father told him to go and see how his brothers and their flocks were doing. So, he answered in this way:

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

In this answer ‘very well’ there was no hint of any hesitation or fear. He was all out yes to look for his brothers. Simply he did not have any animosity or hatred to his brothers.  He did not have any thought that his brothers would possibly harm him in any way even though by this time, it was all too obvious for him that his brothers hated him so much.

14 So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me."

He went to look for his brothers with joyful mind. He left Hebron and went to Shechem. There, he looked for them here and there. But nowhere in Shechem were his brothers.  He was literally wandering around. He had to find his brothers. He had to see the wellbeing of his brothers. So he searched and searched. In this way he spent much time. At this time one man found him and told him that they went to Dothan, (15 miles north of Shechem).  It was clear that Joseph made all our effort to find his brothers. It was his care and concern and lover for them.

But as soon as Joseph appeared in sight, the brothers said this:

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 first word that came out of their mouth was ‘that dreamer’.  They could not think of Joseph apart from his dream. So his nick name became a dreamer. In this dream, as they understood, Joseph tried to rule over them.  This they hated; they hated his good behavior his godliness and they were not willing to arraign their lives under such ‘godliness’ of mere younger brother.  This is their rejection of God and what God vested in the life of Joseph. This was a crisis for Joseph. It was a crisis for the entire family. In the midst of this crisis, two sons tried to solve the crisis.

·         Rueben:

" 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 wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him."

Reuben was the first son. He said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. It was an excellent suggestion to escape immediate threat of murder. As he suggested they put Joseph in a dry cistern.  In his secret plan, he wanted to save him after they left the cistern.

What does this tell us about Reuben and his brothers? There was an overwhelming spirit running in the minds of these brothers. That spirit was something of hate and murder. It was so strong that even the first son Reuben could not overcome it. He knew that his brothers were wrong and Joseph must not be killed. But he did not have power to change them or to rebuke them.  He had to plan this secretly and personally.

So Joseph was put in a dry cistern. It is almost certain that if no one comes to the rescue, he would die there.

·         Judah’s response

Judah, the fourth son by Leah, could not let the nagging fear go away, the fear that Joseph might die in the cistern. He said to his brothers this:

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

Judah also did not agree with the rest that Joseph should be killed. But he also could not overcome the evil overwhelming among his brothers. There were merchants passing by and he wanted to sell his brother to them. They all agreed.  He barely rescued Joseph being killed in a cistern. In this way Joseph was sold to Egypt for 20 shekels of silver.

What does this tell us? There was overwhelming force of evil among the brothers. It was spirit of jealousy and hate. This hate and jealousy was tipped over to murderous threat because of his dream. They would not accept any notion that little Joseph would be their boss and they had to be subject to him and bow down to him. The jealousy and hate would not entertain the godliness in the life of Joseph. It is a rejection of the godliness in Joseph as well as it is a rejection of God himself who vested his will in Joseph.

In these dreams were few more important elements of revelations as I mentioned before. It was unity in family. It is about abundance of grain. It was about the family being celestial bodies. This hope and vision was ignored or not seen by them because they were caught in their own pride and their evil desire, hate and jealousy.

When Reuben came to the cistern to rescue Joseph, there was no Joseph.

He was shocked and He felt a duty to keep his brother safe. But now, he did not know what to do.  

31 Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."

He devised the plan in order to save life but that plan actually killed him. He was responsible for Joseph’s life and he must give an account of this.

What did he do?

He took the ornate robe and stained it with animal blood and gave it to his father.

"We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."

It was total deception, a ruse!  What does this tell us? Reuben with the best of his effort he could not thwart the evil plan of his brothers and he could not escape from his responsibility. He eventually deceived his father.

After all what can we say about these brothers or the family of God?

There was a spirit of hate, jealousy and murder in the family that God had chosen for blessing. But as they were, God’s blessing may be unlikely or may not mean much. Sin overwhelmed the life of these brothers and the entire family failed to know God’s plan for blessing. It was revealed in their rejection of their brother Joseph, the one in whom God vested his plan for blessing.

What do all these teaches us? We can answer this by asking ourselves on these questions: We should fail like these brothers? How can one not fail to see God’s plan or blessing designed for his people? It is to see the one whom God used as the agent of His blessing and plan.

1.    God knew the sinfulness of all these brothers and as they were they could not be accepted as children of God. So God vested his plan in Joseph, a son of faith and filled with godliness and faith. It is God’s grace and mercy. This is made clear in the two dreams if one is willing to believe and accept God’s sovereignty.

2.    How can we find such man in whom God vested his plan of salvation? The most prominent stumbling block is one’s pride and desire to follow suit of their sinfulness. They did not want to submit to God’s goodness and righteousness.  Such desire blind our eyes to see and ears to hear. 

3.    When one failed to see the person on whom God vest his plan, he failed to see God and God’s blessing. Such person is driven by his own pride and unable to submit to God and his laws!

4.    In whom the godliness is so clearly revealed? In whom God vested his plan of salvation? There might one among our friends and relatives. It might be you.

When I was early in college, I had few good friends. I enjoyed very much the friendship with them. One of them had all that I envied to have. I was always unhappy, unsatisfied with what I was able to do, was full of bitterness and hatred.  But this friend was always cheerful, encouraging others, had good character that none of us had, he loved God and feared him in his life. His respect to God was visible in his word and acts. In jealousy, I could take offense at him or I could have followed him. In some sense he was to me a Joseph, a model of godliness and the model of faith, an agent of God’s blessing. His influence was remarkable among all of us. Find one among you in whom godliness is seen and God’s blessing is vested on. Keep an eye on him and see how God works in and through that person’s life.

5.    Who is the one that God vested his plan of salvation? In whom is such godliness and vision of God’s blessing so clear and rich?  It is Jesus. No one ever come close to the godliness of Jesus. His pure love, his truth and his willingness to submit to God, all tells us with clarity and certainty of the truth;  In this regard Joseph was the prototype of coming savior Jesus. Even now God speaks to us through Jesus’ works. Also he sends one like Joseph in whom God vested his plan of salvation. It is not a grandeurs scale but in the vicinity of our lives. When we humble ourselves and see and heart such revelation, we can be part of God’s blessing.

Hebrews 12:1-2a Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  2a fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

What is the dream that Jesus offers us? It is the dream to be abundance in life like sheaves of grain. It is the dream to be a family of celestial realm, the kingdom of God.

No men ever had such dream. No men ever gave to human being such dream. But Jesus the Son of God showed us the richness of his blessing. In resurrection, He went up to heaven and offered us the dream to be heavenly being, becoming heavenly family.

 Joseph’s dream is a glimpse of the dream that God would offer through His Son Jesus for all of us. When we accept Jesus, Jesus is the model for our godliness, the source of hope and vision in heavenly glory and abundance in life. That dream can be ours.