Joseph The Dreamer

Genesis 37:1–11 NIV

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line. 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. 3 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 an ornate robe for him. 4 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. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 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.” 8 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. 9 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.” 10 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?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Introduction -

I remember when I was a kid I would have dreams about a toy that I wanted and then I would wake up and want to play with it and be sad.

Dreams that are common and their meanings

Dreams of falling - a symbol of fear, maybe of failing at work or in other areas of life. "Falling often expresses a need to let yourself go more and enjoy life more."

Dreams about loosing teeth - “It might mean that you are worried about your attractiveness or appearance, for instance. It may also indicate that you are concerned about your ability to communicate, or that you are concerned that you might have said something embarrassing.”

Dreams about taking a test - “Studies have also found that dreams of test-taking are common.6 According to Craig Hamilton-Parker, author of "The Hidden Meaning of Dreams," taking an exam in your dream might reveal an underlying fear of failure.”

Dreams in ancient times were seen as very important so we see in this passage why Joseph’s family would have taken this seriously

But these dreams that Joseph had wouldn’t have been thought of as irreversible

Body -

God Reveals Mysteriously

We see here in this passage that these dreams are not completely clear.

Joseph has these dreams of grain and the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him.

But what does this really mean. God did not make it clear to him what these dreams meant

Joseph did not know what this truly meant

He did not know what was to come.

God does the same things for us.

God has plans for our lives but he can reveal these plans in mysterious ways.

Weather God is revealing things through dreams, visions, passions that God has given us, or any other means. He can reveal them mysteriously

Example -

Revelation

The Parables

How do you think you would have felt if you were Joseph when he had these dreams?

Why do you think God reveals things in mysterious ways?

Is there an example of a time where God has revealed something to you mysteriously?

God Reveals Repetitively

We see here in this story that God reveals the first dream and then he reveals the second one

God speak to Joseph repentantly not just once

I feel that it is the same with us

We are stubborn

God tends to not reveal things just once he keeps revealing them to us

Example -

Have you ever been trying to see where God is leading you and just asked God to show you and then all of a sudden the answer that you were looking for is everywhere. I feel like God tends to do this.

The Disciples

Have you ever had God reveal something to you over and over again? Why do you think he does this?

God Reveals Progressively

Here we see that in the first dream it did not have all of the same details that the second had.

In the first dream it just had Joseph’s brothers bowing down.

But in the second dream it had Joseph’s brothers and his father/mother

So the Lord revealed this future to him progressively

He didn’t get all the steps that would have lead to where he was going

The same can happen to us. God might give you the end game of where he wants you to be but not the in between get there.

A lot of times this is how this happens

Examples -

Moses

Abraham

I was called to ministry but didn’t know where or what

Have there been any times where God revealed something to you progressively?

Conclusion -

God Reveals Mysteriously

God Reveals Repentantly

God Reveals Progressively