Joseph: Prophetic Messenger
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How does God communicate his message to a people do not know him? How does he break through in a culture that worships other gods and may not even be aware of the One true God?
While his common practice is to send messengers - men and women who will bear witness - God can use any method He desires, and it appears that there are times when he will use a means that is already widely accepted by the culture as a way of receiving divine revelation. For instance, among Muslims, there exist an openness, both culturally and religiously, to receiving messages through dreams and visions. Since they are open to the significance of dreams, God will use that to draw people to the Truth. Reportedly, out of every 600 Muslim converts to Christianity, at least 25% experienced a dream that resulted in their conversion.
I read one such story in an article by Darren Carlson titled “When Muslims Dream of Jesus” that was representative of so many other stories I have heard.
Carlson writes, “A friend of mine tells of a Persian migrant who arrived at a refugee center at 6 a.m., visibly upset. He told his story to a Persian pastor: During the night he saw someone dressed in white raise his hand and say, “Stand up and follow me.” The Persian man said, “Who are you?” The man in white replied, “I am the Alpha and the Omega. I’m the way to heaven. No one can go to the Father, except through me.”
He began to ask the Persian pastor: “Who is he? What am I going to do? Why did he ask me to follow him? How shall I go? Tell me.”
In response, the pastor held out his Bible and asked, “Have you seen this before?”
“No,” he replied.
“Do you know what it is?”
“No.”
The pastor then opened to the Book of Revelation: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” The man started crying and said, “How can I accept him? How can I follow him?” So the pastor led him in prayer and peace came over him. The pastor then gave the man a Bible and told him to hide it, since the Muslims in the camps could cause him trouble.
But the man replied, “The Jesus that I met today, he’s more powerful than the Muslims in the camp.” He left and an hour later returned with 10 more Persians and told the pastor, “These people want a Bible.”
This phenomena, of God speaking to people outside of the Jewish or Christian faith through dreams, is found is several instances in the Bible as well. There was Abimelek the king of ShechemIn, there was King Nebuchadneezer of Babylonia, both received messages from God in dreams. The story of Joseph is based In Ancient Egypt, and historians know that there were priests at that time whose role was to interpret dreams - they were called oracles. And as we heard in our scripture reading a few moments ago, two Egyptian men had significant dreams that needed interpretation.
Both of these men had worked in service to Pharaoh. One was the chief baker and one was the chief cupbearer - meaning that one brought the king food and one served him wine. Now if the Pharaoh got sick and it was suspected that he may have been poisoned, who would be the first to be blamed? The baker and the cupbearer. That may very well be why they both find themselves in the king’s prison in today’s passage. How long would they languish is prison cut off from the world? Would the Pharaoh release them or would they be forgotten?
In prison, these men would not have access to an oracle to interpret their dreams and yet they both knew that their vivid dreams held some kind of meaning. They shared their frustration with fellow prisoner Joseph and he replies “do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”
Joseph knew where to turn to for answers because he knew the giver of dreams. You could say “the dreamer knew the dream maker.”
The baker and the cupbearer share their dreams with Joseph. To be a biblical prophet is to be willing to tell the truth - no matter how painful it will be for the listener to hear. The cupbearer’s dream was a message with a positive outcome. He would soon be set free to serve the Pharaoh once again. The baker’s dream was a message with a bad outcome. He would soon be executed, left for the birds. And sure enough, three days later, the cupbearer was restored, the baker was put to death.
The sure sign that one is a prophet is when what they declare does indeed come to pass.
Sadly, Joseph’s one request - for the cupbearer to remember him when he is released, put in a good word and get Joseph out of jail, is forgotten and Joseph suffers for two more years.
God revealed to Joseph the meaning of the dreams and what he says comes to pass just as he declared. What an exciting ministry moment! To know that the God of the Universe, whom you serve, used you to bring good news to someone else. I’m sure Joseph was like “things are turning around! God is certainly going to fulfill my dream now and get me out of prison.” And yet, the return for being obedient is two more long years of suffering.
Joseph did not have the Psalms to draw strength from. If he did, he could have held onto Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Yet as the story unfolds, Joseph’s faith does not diminish and the dreams he once had showing his rise to a position of power as his family bows before him, is still to be fulfilled.
Pharaoh has a set of dreams that deeply bother him.
After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
I know what you are thinking, The meaning is obvious. Seven real all beef patties make a better burger than seven soybean based veggie burgers. Surprisingly, that is not the right answer.
By the grace of God, the chief cupbearer suddenly remembers - oh yeah, that guy Joseph is really good at interpreting dreams. He tells Pharaoh and Joseph is brought before him.
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, but no one could interpret it. Then I heard that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.” Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It’s not me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable response.”
Joseph’s faith in God is strong as ever. He is attuned to what the Lord has to say - which tells us that his relationship with God is strong and his prayer life must be deep. In these dream interpretation stories, Joseph is taking on a prophetic role. He listens to the dream, listens to the Lord, and then shares a divinely inspired message. God is the source of the message - Joseph is simply the messenger.
No oracle, or soothsayer, or any other man can read or see the future - only God can do that.
The prophet Isaiah, relaying God’s Word, said in…
Remember this and take courage; take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the prior things— from long ago; I am God, and there’s no other. I am God! There’s none like me, who tells the end at the beginning, from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My plan will stand; all that I decide I will do,”
This is one of the reasons the Bible is so compelling to so many people around the world. God communicates with people and He demonstrates His power and His authority by revealing things that no human could possibly know - He sees what we are unable to see. It is because He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End - therefore He knows what will happen before we experience it.
And so God reveals the meaning of the dreams to Joseph, his prophetic messenger.
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh has actually had one dream. God has announced to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven healthy cows are seven years, and the seven healthy ears of grain are seven years. It’s actually one dream. The seven thin and frail cows, climbing up after them, are seven years. The seven thin ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, are seven years of famine. It’s just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are now coming throughout the entire land of Egypt. After them, seven years of famine will appear, and all of the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land. No one will remember the abundance in the land because the famine that follows will be so very severe. The dream occurred to Pharaoh twice because God has determined to do it, and God will make it happen soon.
God is doing something remarkable. Only God could take a slave, a prisoner, and place him before the most powerful man in the land. Only God could reveal to this slave turned prisoner what the Pharaoh has dreamed. The prophetic messenger accurately predicts what is to come and, as we will see next week, he will be exalted to a position of power.
As I’ve pointed out the last couple of weeks, through the life of Joseph, God in His infinite wisdom, prepared His people for the arrival of Jesus. Joseph, in many different ways, serves as a foreshadowing Christ figure.
Jesus was a prophetic messenger who suffered greatly. Jesus was clear that his words were not his own.
So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.
As a prophet, he served as a spokesperson for God the Father. He also foretold what was to occur in the future, thus demonstrating His authority and power. Matthew 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Jesus also predicted that upon His ascension to heaven, that the Holy Spirit would come and fill his disciples with His power and presence. Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
So let’s recap:
We have examined how Joseph was a favored son rejected by his brothers, a blameless servant, and a prophetic messenger. Next week, we will close this series with Exalted Ruler. In each of these facets of Joseph’s life, we see a reflection of who God’s Son, Jesus would one day be. Isn’t it incredible how this compilation of books, the Holy Bible, written over the course of thousands of years by about 40 different authors, every book points to Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
I’m reminded of the two disciples walking toward Emmaus, confused and dejected because the One they had been following was supposedly dead. And the risen Christ walks up alongside them, masking his identity, and upon hearing their reason for being downcast, responds…
…“You foolish people! Your dull minds keep you from believing all that the prophets talked about. Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then he interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets.
Don’t get so caught up in the individual stories that you fail to see the BIG story. Jesus is who He says He is. He is the Son of God who lived among us blamelessly, he shared God’s truth with us, He took our sin upon himself and served as our sacrifice. After dying, he conquered death, rose from grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father in a position of power and authority. Believe in Him and you become a child of God - the gift of eternal salvation is yours from your loving Father in Heaven. And one day, King Jesus will return to judge the quick and the dead - He will bring an end to the age of suffering and pain, ushering in a new age of God’s peace and favor.
Amen.
