Posted by Chester Morton / Saturday, 23 April 2016 / No comments
Joseph's dreams and how they manifested in his life
Joseph was seventeen years when
he was helping his father with the children of his step-mothers, Bilhah and
Zilpah, but he brought evil reports about his brothers to his father.
Joseph dreamed that he and his
brothers were binding sheaves on the field one day. Then suddenly, his sheaf
stood upright and those of his brothers gathered about his and bowed down to
his sheaf. The brothers hated him for this dream. They question whether indeed,
one day they will bow down to him or that he would have dominion over them.
Joseph had another dream and he
narrated it to his father and brothers. He told them that he dreamed that the
Sun, the Moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. The father rebuked him for the dream he had
had. The father asked Joseph whether he is trying to say that one day he, the
father, the mother would indeed, one day bow down to him. His brothers hated
him even more. However, the father kept on observing him.
HOW JOSEPH’S DREAMS ROLE OUT IN
THE COURSE OF TIME
The first realization of Joseph’s
dreams were when he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams and Pharaoh made him the second
in command in the land of the Egyptians.
There was a famine in the region
at a point and Jacob sent his children to Egypt to buy grains. Joseph was the
man in charge of the selling of the grains in Egypt. When his brothers got to
Egypt, it was he that they had to see. They bowed down before him. Not knowing
he was Joseph.
Joseph detained Simeon so that
the other brothers shall and collect Benjamin, his younger brother. This was
also another way of having dominion over his brothers.
When Joseph’s brother went to
Egypt the second time, they stood before Joseph as he questioned them about the
family back in Canaan. Then they bowed down and paid homage to him as the ruler
of Egypt.
On this same second journey to
Egypt, Joseph ordered that they should be sent to his house for he wanted to
dine with them. When Joseph came home that day, they gave him the present they
had brought for him from Canaan and they bowed down to him again.
Joseph asked of their welfare, they
answered that their father was in good health and still alive. As they answered
him, they bowed down again.
After Jacob’s son had bought the
grains and left, unknown to them, Joseph’s cup had been hidden in Benjamin’s
sack. Joseph ordered his men to chase them and retrieve the cup together with
who had it. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. When this happened, only
Benjamin should have been brought back to Egypt but and instead of just
allowing that, all the brothers came back with Benjamin. When they got to
Joseph, they bowed down before him again.
When the brothers got back to
Canaan this time, they told their father how Joseph had become the governor over
all of Egypt. This was to confirm Joseph’s dream that the Sun, Moon and eleven
stars were bowing down to him.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DREAMS
The Israelis believe that God
reveals his intentions and plans to man through dreams. On many occasions in
the Bible, this has been the trend.
Dreams are significant because it
is able to reveal something that is going to happen in the future. Joseph’s
dreams were revealing something that was going to happen in the distant future
and his brothers saw it and tried to stop it.
Dreams are significant because it
is able to warn people of an impending occurrence.
Dreams are also important in the
sense that it confirms things that occur in the life of the person who
dreamed.
IN WHICH THREE WAYS ARE DREAMS
USEFUL TO THE PRESENT DAY CHRISTIAN?
1. It reveals the direction God
wants the church to follow.
2. It is considered as a vision
and Christians use it to prevent or avoid a catastrophe.
3. A dream warns Christians about
happenings in their lives.
4. It confirms what Christian
have been believing God for.
SAMPLE QUESTION(S)
1. a. Narrate Joseph's dreams.
b. Indicate the ways in which his dreams came to pass in the course of time.
2. a. Narrate Joseph's dreams and how it was manifested in his and his brothers' lives.
b. In which three ways are dreams significant?
3. a. Highlight six ways in which Joseph's dreams came to pass in the course of history.
b. In which three ways are dreams important in the lives of present-day Christians?
