Joseph:
A Man with A Dream (120e)
Genesis 37:23-28
James R. Davis
There are various kinds of dreams. There are dreams of the daytime and
there are dreams of the night. Both can turn into nightmares. We are told
that our daydreams are important in that they direct, focus and motivate
our lives.
The poorest person is not one without a nickel in their pocket, but
it is the person without a dream. A person without a dream believes only
in what is seen, only what is immediate, only what one can put their hands
on. This person may be a student, a truck driver, a banker, a college president,
a clerk or a junk dealer - - their occupation doesn't matter. One of life's
greatest tragedies is a person with a 10-by-12 capacity and a two-by-four
soul. (Dr. Kenneth Hildebrand) It is like a prisoner in prison that has
confined self to a 6-by-8 cell when he/she could be living on earth with
no bars attached.
Do you have a dream for your life? More importantly, is that dream a
God-given dream? There is great difference in man made dream and God-given
dreams. Man-made dreams will not stand the test of time and difficulties.
A person without a God-given dream lacks depth and vision. Too many
have planned all their lives to retire and failed to live that long. Only
God can give you a worthwhile vision for your life. Through a study of
God's Word you can develop a worthwhile vision for your life. A person
without a God-given dream is like a great ship made for the mighty ocean
but trying to navigate in a millpond. This person has no far port to reach,
no lifting horizon, no precious cargo to carry. Her/his hours are absorbed
in routine and petty tyrannies. It is a small wonder if this person gets
dissatisfied, quarrelsome and 'fed up.'
There is a warning we must receive about our dreams. When you have a
God-given vision, don't expect everyone to buy into it. Especially those
who have rejected God's dream for their own lives. A God-given dream is
very personal, and even those who do accept it will only understand it
when it comes to fruition. In the meantime you are left to work out the
details with little help from others.
Joseph's God-Given Dream
The amazing thing about our Patriarchal Fathers is that each of them
had a God-given dream. Their dreams were bigger than life. We are going
to study an Old Testament character this morning. His name is Joseph. As
we look at Joseph's life think how Joseph's dream given by God gave him
direction.
Genesis 37:2-11
This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was
tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of
Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about
them. 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. 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. Joseph
had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the
more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 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." 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.
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." 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?" His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the
matter in mind.
God comes to Joseph in this dream and reveals his plan for Joseph's
life. Joseph doesn't really know at this point exactly what this dream
entails. Initially, when we have a dream and goals for our lives, we could
never dream in a million years what we will have to go through to see the
fulfillment of those aspirations. Joseph didn't know where this dream would
lead him or how it would be developed by the circumstances of his life,
but through thick and thin Joseph trusted God's plan. We know that God
has a plan for our lives, but it is hard to tell where it will end. Joseph
started out literally in the pits. He ends up the assistant to Pharaoh
of Egypt and probably the 2nd most powerful man in the world.
Joseph was a very bold dreamer, he proclaimed to his brothers that he
had a dream. They didn't like the way he phrased it so they sold him into
slavery. I think the reason that they were jealous was largely because
they had failed to accept God's vision for their own lives.
God-Given Dreams Keep Us Focused
I would like to think that when I accept God's vision for my life that
from that time forward life will be lived on a plateau free from troubles.
But this was hardly the case for Joseph.
Genesis 37:12-14Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks
near Shechem, 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. 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." Then
he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.
Genesis 37:18-28
But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they
plotted to kill him."Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other.
"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." When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their
hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. "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.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe-- the
richly ornamented robe he was wearing--and they took him and threw him
into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
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. Judah
said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover
up his blood? 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. 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.
When I look at Joseph's life, I began to realize that here is a life
driven by a God-given dream. He didn't understand the difficulties of the
moment but he held to his God-given dream. This dream kept Joseph going
in the midst of his troubles. He had a vision of the blessings of a life
lived for God. His dream inspired and energized him. That dream made him
say yes to his responsibilities in spite of all his problems and he had
plenty of them too.
First of all he has got family problems. What can be more depressing
than family problems? His family totally turns their backs on him and he
has to relocate. Now, I don't mean that North American Van Lines came and
moved him. Slave traders pulled him out of the pit. If you have ever been
uprooted and had to start all over, you know how depressing that can be.
But Joseph kept his eyes on God. Later, just before the famine hit Egypt
Joseph had a son and he named him Manasseh which means "God has made me
forget my sorrow and my father's house." Joseph had another son he named
Ephriam which means "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
When the great famine came and threatened to eliminate many of God's
people in the land of his father Jacob, the dream was kept alive and salvation
came to all of Joseph's family because he never let God's dream die. In
the end, when Joseph's brothers realized the trauma they had caused for
their brother, they feared that he would have them killed, they went to
Joseph and tried to con him for their very life. Joseph said, "You intended
to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being
done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20) Dream on Joseph!!!
It was his dream that kept him focused.
God-Given Dreams Make Us Responsible
His dream enabled him to see his responsibilities. As he clung to this
God given dream he received guidance for his life.
Genesis 39:1-5 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an
Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard,
bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The LORD was with
Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him
success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became
his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted
to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of
his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household
of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything
Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. One thing that is forcefully
taught in this passage is that Joseph never lost a sense of God's presence.
The passage says that "the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered and he
lived in the house of his Egyptian master."
We need to ask Joseph a question, "How do you say no to despair? Why
didn't Joseph sink in despair? A dream gives guidance. Joseph knew no matter
what happened, he couldn't let his environment overwhelm him. So Joseph's
dream made him responsible and this affected his lifestyle and set him
up as a model to the Egyptians. Notice that wherever you put Joseph, in
a foreign country, Potiphar's house, in a prison . . . wherever you put
him, he walks in and says, "What needs to be done here?" That attitude
always kept Joseph from despair and it kept him from sinking. If you are
trying to pull yourself out of despair, you don't do it by getting everything
you want, but by realizing what you already have. If it is nothing but
God's plan for your life that is all you need.
Potiphar saw that the hand of the Lord was with Joseph. God gave Joseph
success in everything he did. There is nothing in this passage that indicates
that Joseph believed God had deserted him in his difficulties. On the contrary,
Joseph must have been telling these people about his God. Joseph in the
midst of his difficulties was facing his responsibilities and giving God
the credit for his success. Otherwise how would Potiphar have known about
his God? I really believe from the word go, when Joseph was sold into slavery,
he knew that all he had was God, and he knew that God was all he needed.
It is amazing how Joseph could look past the present difficulties and continue
to see the hand of God in his life. I don't see Joseph looking around feeling
sorry for himself, asking, "Where is God when I need him the most?" He
was a man who knew that God was with him regardless of his difficulties.
He was seeking to be responsible wherever he was led.
God-Given Dreams Help in Times of Temptation
Joseph's dream inspired him in times of temptation. God was richly blessing
Joseph's life. He had worked a few years with Potiphar's servants. His
master took notice and turned everything he owned over to Joseph's care.
And the passage says that the Lord blessed this Egyptian for his kindness
to Joseph. God blessed everything in his house and in his fields. It was
then that everyone began to take notice of Joseph. Until now he had been
a lowly servant, but now that he has gained status, eyes begin to focus
on him, especially the eyes of Potiphar's wife.
Gen 39:6b-20
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's
wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he refused.
"With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with
anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.
No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing
from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such
a wicked thing and sin against God?" And though she spoke to Joseph day
after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day
he went into the house to attend to his duties and none of the household
servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed
with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. When
she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house,
she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew
has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with
me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak
beside me and ran out of the house."
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told
him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport
of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me
and ran out of the house." When his master heard the story his wife told
him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger.
Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's
prisoners were confined.
Joseph is in a no win position. He couldn't tell Potiphar what his wife
was doing. No doubt other servants knew, but they dared not say anything.
So Joseph relied upon God. Joseph said, "With me in charge," he told her,
"my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything
he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than
I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are
his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
It is amazing how this young man who was sold into slavery at 17 and is
now probably 23 years old kept his eye on God. "How can I sin against God?"
We must understand that there is a greater purpose behind our difficult
circumstances. Obstacles are things you see when you take your eye off
the goal. We have a heavenly Father and yet when tragedy comes, this Father
seems to be silent. Sometimes we think that a response from God would be
helpful in getting people to believe or maybe it would comfort us in a
crisis. Would our faith be stronger if only God would do that for us? If
every time we faced some difficulty that caused us to question God's purpose
or plan, if we could just ask God and He would talk to us personally, would
that strengthen our faith? Yet in those times God doesn't speak to us audibly.
He, in a very real sense, remains very silent. You may have some decisions
to make and God is silent. You may begin to wonder if God is at work in
your life. You may think that perhaps that for some reason God is not interested
in you enough to work in your life as he has in the lives of others. Two
basic questions arise when this happens: What is God up to by not answering
us when we so desperately need Him to talk to us? What are we to do?
It is in times like these that we need a God-given dream bigger than
life. You see it is hard to lose sight of a dream that is bigger than life.
Someone said, "The person who cannot see the ultimate becomes a slave to
the immediate." Joseph never lost sight of the ultimate. His God-given
dream sustained him in the moment. He was able to say, "Whatever comes
I cannot sin against God." When you realize that God is all you have, you
dare not turn your back on him when temptation comes.
But life didn't get any better for Joseph at least at the moment. But
he continued to experience the blessings of God. It is only when you latch
onto that God-given dream that God will bless you in spite of your circumstances.
Some people are thermostats and other's are thermometers. A thermometer
reflects the temperature of the environment. The thermostat controls the
temperature of the environment. Joseph was a thermostat.
Without A God-Given Dream We Live A Life of Regret
When we fail to accept God's plan for our lives we live lives of regret.
Joseph's brothers lived a life of regret for what they had selfishly done
to their brother. They had spent many sleepless nights. When Joseph tested
them to see if they had changed, notice that they believed that they were
being punished for what they had done to their brother over 20 years before.
Gen 42:21-22 They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished
because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with
us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has
come upon us." Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the
boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood."
Gen 45:4-8 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! 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. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the
next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me
ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives
by a great deliverance. "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."
A valuable dream starts with the needs of people. A dream for this church
begins with the needs of the people that walk through those doors.
Even later, when Jacob died, their previous treatment of Joseph still
haunted them. They were sure that they were going to get what was coming
to them. Their father is dead and now Joseph can punish them without any
repercussions.
Gen 50:15-18 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead,
they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for
all the wrongs we did to him?" So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your
father left these instructions before he died: `This is what you are to
say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs
they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of
the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him,
Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him.
"We are your slaves," they said.
Joseph reminded them that God intended it for good, even though their
motives were evil. But they continued to be haunted even after being forgiven.
How many have regrets of their past failures, and although forgiven, they
are still carrying the burden of regret.
Gen 50:20-21 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't
be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured
them and spoke kindly to them.
The Fulfillment of Joseph's Dream
Joseph interpreted Pharoah's dream about seven fat cows and seven lean
and his dream about seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single
stalk and after them seven other heads sprouted ---withered and thin scorched
by the east wind. And Joseph told the Pharaoh that there was to be seven
years of plenty and seven years of famine. Then Joseph said:
Gen 41:33-44
"And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him
in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over
the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years
of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that
are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be
kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the
country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon
Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine. "The plan seemed
good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we
find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?" Then Pharaoh
said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no
one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace,
and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the
throne will I be greater than you." So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby
put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." Then Pharaoh took his signet
ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes
of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in
a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!"
Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said
to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or
foot in all Egypt."
It was at this very moment that the sun, moon and stars bowed to Joseph.
He was thirty years old. He was sold into slavery when he was 17 and spent
the last seven years in prison. He was now thirty years old.
Judah came to his brother Joseph later and said, " . . . you are equal
to Pharaoh himself." At the time he spoke these words little did he know
that it was Joseph to whom he was speaking. Joseph had not yet revealed
himself to his brothers. Yet we see them bowing to Joseph according to
Joseph's God-given dream.
I heard someone interview a popular pop singer saying you seem to make
a hit overnight. The pop singer said that it had been a long ten-year-night.
Joseph's dream came true but it was long and tortuous in coming. But it
was worthwhile.
Conclusion:
A valuable dream challenges and attracts people. In the 1960s when JFK
dreamed about putting a man on the moon, it was technologically and physically
impossible at the time he voiced his dream. But that dream gave this nation
direction and an energy to accomplish the dream. "Only he who sees the
invisible can do the impossible."
A sociological study in which fifty people over the age of ninety-five
were asked one question: "If you could live your life over again, what
would you do differently?" it was an open-ended question, and a multiplicity
of answers came from these eldest of senior citizens. However, three answers
constantly re-emerged and dominated the results of the study. These three
answers were:
1. If I had it to do over again, I would reflect more.
2. If I had it to do over again, I would risk more.
3. If I had it to do over again, I would do more things that would
live on after I am dead.
