Last 5 Days
Dreaming God’s Dream
1 Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Jacob continued to live in Canaan, and God continued to bless him and his descendants. This was a promise God made with Abraham in His covenant. From here, the author, Moses went straight in to provide us the information about Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, without giving a full list of his twelve sons. Joseph was seventeen years old at the time; and we were given an insight into why the brothers did not like Joseph.
The first was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, the wives (concubines) of Jacob. They were maids (slaves) of Jacob with whom he had four sons: Naphtali, Dan, Asher, and Gad. Joseph had reported something bad about them to their father. So, there was “bad blood” between them even before Joseph told to his brothers his dreams. Added to it, Jacob (Israel) loved Joseph more than his other sons. This was expressed by him making a colorful robe for Joseph and not for any of the other sons. It was the main cause for his brothers’ jealousy and hatred of Joseph. So, they spoke to him roughly as verse 4 tells us.
Then to add salt to the wound, Joseph told his brothers about his dreams that implied he would be greater than them. Thus, they hated him even more after that. In the first dream, he told them that he saw what was represented by his dream, the sheaf rising and standing straight up while his brothers’ sheaves surrounding his sheaf were bowing to it. This angered them very much because of the implication that they would bow to him as their ruler and they questioned him.
Joseph’s second dream that he told his brother was regarding the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowing to him. His father and his brothers after hearing it were upset. His father scolded him and asked whether he was saying that he and his wives, and his brothers, would bow down to him like he was their king. Joseph’s brothers in their jealousy and anger plotted to harm him and eventually sold him off as a slave. But Jacob, his father, remembered the dream when Joseph told them.
Should we tell people about our “dreams”? Especially, if they lift us but put down others? If we were to tell them, they might become envious of us. They might even harm us. Martin Luther King told America, “I have a dream” and he was assassinated for it. Joseph told his brothers about his dream, and they plotted to kill him. But fortunately, he was sold as a slave instead and merely lost his place as his father’s favorite son.
No, I am not saying that we cannot tell people about our dreams. Rather, when you tell people your dream, do not make it just your dream, but make sure that it is God’s dream too. We do not want to be a dreamer per se, but we want to dream God’s dream. No one would ever expect Joseph’s dream to bring him misfortune before he became a blessing to his family. Joseph was eventually to become the number two man of Pharaoh in Egypt and God will use him to protect his family when a famine struck his family in that region.
Man can hate us for our dreams, but God can use us to fulfill His dreams in this world. The key is it must be God’s dream and not our dreams. In other words, provided our dreams are consistent with God’s dream. We can dream big but make sure it is God’s dream and not our selfish dreams of our own. Many of our dreams for the church can be our selfish dreams. Many of the things we do for the Lord are done to fulfill our dreams and not God’s dreams. We need to wake up from our selfish dreams and let God’s Spirit and Word guide us to “dream” God’s dreams so we can build His Church and His kingdom. God’s dream is bigger than our human dreams!
