Joseph: His God-given Dreams

This is part of a series of studies we are doing on the life of Joseph. Joseph indeed is a challenge both to the young and the old today. He is a model to servants and those who are going through difficult times in their lives. We hope that it is going to be a blessing to you. Remember you are free to comment and/or write us.

Gen 37:19-20 “And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” (KJV) If you can, try and read the whole of that chapter in Genesis here. The brothers of Joseph hated him because of envy. Firstly, their father loved and favoured him. Secondly, he had dreams about his life which suggested that he would be greater than all of them sometime in the future. In fact, their hatred increased because of his dreams. Look at the list: “…they hated him…” (Gen.37: 4) “…they hated him all the more…” (vs 5) “…and they hated him all the more because of his dream…” (vs 8) “His brothers were jealous of him…” (vs 11) The result of all these dreams was that in the course of doing his job and obeying his father, the brothers took him and would have killed him, but for the intervention of Reuben. They decided to sell him. Joseph was sold from one hand to another until he landed in the house of Potiphar in Egypt. If you examine carefully, it seems to me as if Joseph was sold naked or semi naked. This is because, Vs 31-33 says that they took his robe and dipped it in blood and took to their father so as to deceive him that a wild animal killed him. Joseph was mourned by his father and forgotten. Let’s take of these: Joseph lost the affection of his father, he lost the affection of his moderate brothers, he lost the company of all the people he was familiar with, he lost his freedom forever because he was sold as a slave. In Egypt, because of his fear of God, he ended up in prison and was disappointed and abandoned by pharaoh’s chief cupbearer. He had traumatic experiences. However, in spite of all these, there is one thing that Joseph did not lose – his relationship with God. A lot of people lose their relationship with God in the face of adversities. You may have lost ‘all’ in your adversities – relationships, material things, loved one, tragedies and you are like forgotten and abandoned in life by those who used to celebrate you. You may actually have forgotten all the dreams God gave you about your life and all you care about now is just how to have a relief. Please, do not lose your relationship with God. That is what is going to bring to pass your God-given dreams. The way Joseph took was the only way God had designed for his dreams to come to pass. He suffered but he was faithful in his relationship with God and in his service. At last, his God-given dreams came true. Your God-given dreams will eventually come true! Only continue in your love relationship with God and in your faithfulness.