Sabbath: Joseph, Master of Dreams
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 37:1-36; Matthew 20:26-27; Acts 7:9; Genesis 38:1-30; Genesis 39:1-23; Genesis 40:1-41:36.
Memory Text: “Then they said to one another, ‘Look, this dreamer is coming!’” (Genesis 37:19, NKJV).
The story of Joseph (Genesis chapters 37-50) covers the last section of the book of Genesis, from his first dreams in Canaan (Genesis 37:1-11) to his death in Egypt (Genesis 50:26). In fact, Joseph occupies more space in the book of Genesis than does any other patriarch. Although Joseph is just one of Jacob’s sons, he is presented in Genesis as a great patriarch, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As we will see, too, the life of Joseph highlights two important theological truths: first, God fulfills His promises; second, God can turn evil into good.
In this week’s study, we will focus on the early life of Joseph. He is Jacob’s favorite son, who is ironically nicknamed ba‘al hakhalomot, the “dreamer” (Genesis 37:19), which means literally “master of dreams,” implying that he is an expert of dreams. This title fits him very well, because he not only receives, understands, and interprets prophetic dreams, but he also fulfills them in his life as well.
In these chapters, we will see, again, that God’s providence is affirmed, even despite the evil and wickedness of the human heart.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, June 11.
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It is said that the Bible account does not record any sins against Joseph. However, I am not so sure that telling his brothers about his dreams was actually such a good idea.
When I was a kid at primary school, I was different from the other kids. I read a lot. And it wasn't comic books about war aces and fairy tales. I read about factual books and biographies of real people. The problem with this was that I made myself unpopular because I knew so much and let people know it. I corrected them. After a few fights and name-calling, I learned that knowing a lot and telling people did not put you on the road to popularity. I learned belatedly to keep my mouth shut.
Perhaps Joseph was a bit naive to think that his brothers would accept that his dreams were a bit more meaningful than youthful self-promotion. I think that it is interesting that for the rest of his life, Joseph let his actions do the talking.
And, maybe there is a lesson for us: Our preaching of the Gospel can sometimes be regarded as boasting that our understanding, our visions, and our worldview are bigger and better than everyone else. We can speak volumes for the Gospel when we let our actions speak for us. God can work though us.
Thank you for expressing that so well, I say Amen and Amen! It was not wrong for him to tell his dreams, but for him to flaunt them to his brothers gave then the impression that he thought himself better than they were, which was fueled by their father making a huge difference in him compared to his other sons, ouch that hurts! " Lord please set a watch upon my mouth, and keep the doors of my lips [Ps 141:3], that the words that I speak may be like apples of gold in pitchers of silver" [Prov. 25:11].
Maurice, you're right by the way I'd the same experience when I was at my high school. During that time I could boast about my passing of subject whenever the results are out at the bulletin board not knowing the consequences that comes as results of boasting for nothing.
Thanks for sharing with us Sir I'm bless with your experience too it 'd just reminded me of how boastful I was at school.
I beg to differ. God gave Joseph dreams to be told to his dysfunctional family. If Joseph did not tell of his dream, God's will for him would not be carried out in a timely fashion. Though he was young and unexperienced God had a message for Joseph to tell his brothers and family.
Your message is very great lesson to us.
Another thought, if he did not tell his dreams, we would have had a whole different story. We will see in the near future how telling his dreams will cause the story to unfold.
You could well be right John. I think God uses a lot of ways to communicate with us. Some of them surprise us.
Great insight John !
It also shows that deep down inside their/our flawed dysfunctional/sinful nature, there was/is a desire to be loved and favored and blessed by God.
It proves that those who were jealous of Joseph and his blessings from God, they wanted the same thing, like Cain to be loved by God.
God told Cain that he could overcome his jealousy, since he also wanted God's blessing/approval. If Cain and Joseph's family did not care what God thinks of them, their would be no issue !
So, one way we can overcome jealousy of those seemingly favored by God, is to see God's love for mankind by the message, and NOT the messenger, we don't hate or love the mail man who delivers messages !
The fall of Satan was his jealousy of Jesus and his soon to be, immortal brothers and sisters ruling creation !
In Christ my friend ...great point !
I also beg to differ. The Bible really doesn’t say that it was right or wrong for Joseph to share his dreams. So why do we think it was immature or unwise for Joseph to share them? Because of the results? Just because his brothers didn’t like it?
When we preach do we tell people the truth or do we tell them what they want to hear? Jesus was definitely not immature or unwise and yet they sought to kill Him for speaking the truth. (John 8:40). And what about Jeremiah and other prophets and apostles?
It was necessary for Joseph to share his dreams at that time so that when it came to pass the brothers would believe. (John 14:29)
Sometimes we get dreams for others hence making us messengers for God's. This is awesome.
The old testiment of types, ALL point to Jesus as the anti-type aka the reality in the New Tesriment and in the indwelling Spirit. There is no need for dreams now, as all people should know by now that Jesus is the only Way, Truth and Life eternal.
John 5:37-40 (CSB)
37 “The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.
38 “You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent.
39 “You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.
40 “But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
In Christ dear one ! Point people to Him !
Actually, Acts 2:17 says this:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Very interesting.Why was Joseph chosen as the dreamer and not any of the other brothers which caused so much jealousy?
Maybe Joseph was favored because from a child he demonstrated the quiet and trusting relationship which resulted from his father' spiritual maturity, that was not available to Jacob with the older boys. It was not so much Joseph's fault as it was His father's demonstrated favoritism for Joseph. We can see that same attitude with Benjamin the youngest son.
The story of Joseph reminds me of the experience of another 20th Century man who spent years enduring the most trying circumstances and wrote about his struggles and trials.
"Bless you prison, bless you for being in my life. For there, lying upon the rotting prison straw, I came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity as we are made to believe, but the maturity of the soul."
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
Today's lesson proposes that, in the story of Joseph, "God’s providence is affirmed, even despite the evil and wickedness of the human heart." But what is the basis upon which God's providence is affirmed despite the efforts of evil and wickedness to do otherwise? Is it because nothing is more powerful than God and therefore God uses His power to 'put down' evil?
I have previously mentioned the concepts of authoritarian compared with authoritative sovereignty. Authoritarian sovereignty uses, or more accurately, imposes its power to put down all opposition. The basis of this kind of sovereignty is power. By contrast, authoritative sovereignty, though also powerful, is based on something else - truth. Not just theoretical truth, but the truth that is reality - the truth of how reality actually is and functions.
All evidence appears to point to one conclusion - there is, in actuality, only one viable "Way, Truth and Life" (John 14:6). In effect, the truth/reality is that there is only one viable way of Life - the Way of the Kingdom of God. No other way can possibly work. Therefore, because of this, the kingdom of darkness is (despite how it might seem to appear at times), inherently "fallen" - terminal (Revelation 14:8; 18:2; Psalm 73). Knowing all of this, God does not need to exercise authoritarian power to bring down evil - for evil is inherently fallen and therefore is inherently falling. Knowing this, God 'orchestrates' this inherent fallenness in a way that 'works all things together for good' (Romans 8:28) without over-riding freedom. It is its base of truth, rather than power, that makes authoritative power/sovereignty infinitely more powerful that authoritarian power/sovereignty*.
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* Please note that I am in no way suggesting that authoritative power is something that is separate from God. I am merely aiming to begin to unpack consideration of how and why authoritative power is infinitely superior to authoritarian power. Jesus was recognised as reflecting authoritative rather than authoritarian power (Matthew 7:29).
As the author of the bible study points out, ba‘al hakhalomot (Genesis 37:19) means dream master. However, at this stage in Joseph’s maturity, “dream master” fits Joseph very poorly, except as a term of his brothers’ derision.
Because of his spiritual immaturity, Joseph does not speak “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16) and this results in further deterioration in family relationships, increased dysfunction and consequential heartache—and it nearly costs him his life (Genesis 37:18-20). It is only through God’s gracious intervention that Joseph’s misuse of his prophetic gift “works together for good.” (Romans 8:26-30.)
When Joseph finally understood his brothers’ bowing in the context of saving the family and God’s purpose of preserving the Seed of Abraham in the family line, the true import of these two initial dreams were realized. (Genesis 50:19-21.) Just as Jesus was perfected through the humility of service (Hebrews 5:8-10; Philippians 2:5-8), so too was Joseph. The ones who serve the lowest as does Christ, God exalts the highest. (Philippians 2:9-11.)
Applying prophecy in the context of God’s amazing grace and love calls for endurance of the saints—those who are keeping the commandments of God and holding fast to the faithfulness of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12.) The perfection of Joseph’s character is an object lesson and encouragement for us all.
Israel's (Jacob's) family dysfunctions, jealousy, and problems were there long before Joseph was even born. Here's an excerpt of what I've writing for this Sabbath's school lesson:
So many families, now, in the past, and throughout every generation, has had the problems of dealing with favoritism among the children in the family. Some of the children say, "It's so unfair that mommy or daddy has a favorite child. Why am I not the favorite?" Then they are jealous and disgruntle with the child or children that are the parent's favorite.
But it is my opinion only, that the favorite children don’t just become the favorite child by accident. Oftentimes, the favorite child are usually the child or children that genuinely want to be around their parents; they would rather spend more time with their parents than with their friends. While their brothers and sisters are out playing with friends, they are at home with the parents, learning from the parents, listening to the parents; many times, even though, the parents tell them to go play. Do you see what I’m trying to say? The favorite child is usually the child that has a special relationship with one or both of the parents because that child want to be there with the parents, or want to invest more time voluntarily with that parent. Does that make sense?
Think back on your family and your siblings. Which of them spent most of their time with the parents? Was that child the parent's favorite child? There's a reason for this; when you are spending time with anyone, it helps to build and grow that particular relationship.
Also, this is how we, as Christians, children of God, God's chosen people, are suppose to grow and develop in our relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus, by spending more purposeful, meaningful time with Him. The majority of us only spend time with God at Wednesday prayer meetings and divine worship service on Sabbath, or Sunday. What about the rest of the time? And I'm not criticizing anyone, because it is possible that I would be doing the same as that group of people, not spending adequate time with the Lord, if I was not a Sabbath School Teacher, which means I have to study a little more than the regular member.
But what I’m saying is that perhaps Joseph spend more than with his father than his other brothers did. I don’t believe that any "good" parent would intentionally single out one child over the others, for no good reason, to show favoritism to that one child. And actually, the family favoritism or family knowledge and legacy is supposed to naturally go to the eldest son, which in Jacob's family, it would have been Reuben. Most parents want to favor the eldest child, because they feel that the eldest may become the leader of the family one day; but many times, the eldest child falls short of the parent's expectations. This was also the case in Jacob's family. Do you guys see the pattern or lesson in this story for us?
There was already a lot of family problems between Jacob and Reuben, which went all the way back to how Jacob treated Rueben’s mother, Leah. This is also why parents should not put children in the middle of their personal problems. My mother use to tell me, "Stay out of grown folks' business. Be a child and go play." The specifics of Jacob's family episode is not told in the Bible, but we do get a few brief moments into the family dysfunction. Poor Reuben probably spent most of his childhood, and some of his teen years, watching his mother cries and sadness because the competition between his mother and his aunt Rachel, who were constantly battling for Jacob’s affection. There’s a story in the Bible, during Jacob’s early faith journey, about how Reuben to found some mandrakes and give them to his mother, Leah, perhaps so that she could to serve them to his father, Jacob, so that he would want to be with her, Genesis 30:14-16. Also, some Bible scholars feel that Reuben went with Bilhah, one of Rachel’s handmaiden, in order to bring shame to his father, a form of revenge or retaliation, for not loving his mother, Leah, as much as he did Rachel, even after Rachel's death.
He, Reuben, had no right to interfere or judge his father, Jacob, when it came to the matters of the heart. Just like many of us, we may not like the people that your children and other family members decide to be with; but you have no right to scheme and mettle in their affairs. If they don't want to listen to wise counsels, then let them do as they wish and learn from their own mistakes, or suffer the consequences, but I hope not too much.
Also, Jacob never forgot Reuben for what he did with Bilhah. As Jacob was giving out his last blessings to all of his sons, plus the two sons of Joseph that he adopted, he reminded Reuben of this deed. It’s very hard to hear, or revisit, your sins of the past.
God already had a purpose for Joseph, as He had for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were not perfect men, but God had a perfect plan for them and their families, and to bless the entire world through them.
God is, or can, still use us to fulfill His Perfect Plan, in our lives, at our jobs, and in our communities, if we only willing to be used by God.
Sorry for the long article. I don't write here that often, and I'm a natural story-teller. Sorry. PS. I need to start a blog or something like that.
God's blessing to you all.
You have the point Toni, its interesting and nice to tackle. Thank you. God bless.
What Toni illustrates is, yet again, the problem of drawing conclusions based on outward appearances (1 Samuel 16:7). Furthermore, we are really only seeing our perception of outward appearances which is our inherent interpretation of outward appearances based on our own frame-of-reference. And that frame-of-reference typically reflects our own issues. Perhaps you can start to see how potentially flawed our 'judgments' of others behaviours can be.
I have two children (now adults). They are each very different to the other and therefore when raising them I needed to respond to them very differently. If you had observed my behaviour you might have (wrongly) concluded that I favoured one over the other. But if you could have seen my underpinning heart towards each of them, you would have seen that I loved them both the same - I just needed to 'treat' each of them differently.
Our tendency to draw conclusions based on outward appearances is largely a subconscious process and therefore we are typically unaware we are doing so. Practicing keeping 1 Samuel 16:7 principle in mind will, with repetition over time, gradually develop our awareness that we are doing this. This is not something we do apart from the Holy Spirit - it is something we can do in conjunction with the Holy Spirit (as per Psalm 119:11).