Colorful Dreams: Genesis 37.2-36

 

The hungry caterpillar ate an apple.  He ate two pears and was still hungry so he ate some more until he was finally full.  He builds a cocoon and in two weeks emerges as a beautiful butterfly.  His dreams were fulfilled. 

Today we are in Genesis 37.  God gives us all kinds of dreams and today we call our attention to Joseph, the son of Jacob.  When Jacob was about to meet Esau Joseph was just a little boy.  Joseph was present.  Jacob prayed to God for the sake of the children. 

Everyone won’t like your dreams.

God gives Jacob a dream, but what happens when he shares that dream?  God speaks into our lives too.  We don’t always have the intended response we expect or want from others.  Not everyone will like your dreams.  Joseph’s brothers didn’t like his dream.  In fact, his brothers hated him.  Joseph was the favorite son of their father Jacob.  Joseph was like his dad.  Remember when Jacob was at the well with strangers and he started telling them how to things?  Joseph has a gift of leadership just like his dad but sometimes he rubbed people the wrong way.  His brothers hated him and their father Jacob made it worse by giving Joseph a multicolored coat.

 ¹⁹They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 

They’re dealing with their discontent and discontent can easily develop into something stronger.  They develop a mob mentality here.  They come to a place where they say, “Let’s kill him!”  This is premeditated murder.  Killing a person certainly destroys their dream.  At the end of verse 20 they hate him so much they’re ready to destroy him.  This is a caution for our own hearts.  When we’re in a group we can get caught up in what’s around us.  This is the darkest part of this passage.  We too can go down a similar path and commit a heinous crime.  Sometimes we lose a dream or we destroy other people’s dreams.  This is a God given dream and God will bring about His will.  The brothers devise a plan and then we see a bright spot in all of this.

Some people will believe in you.

Reuben is the oldest brother.  He feels a greater sense of responsibility in all of this but he also has the most to gain.  Joseph’s plan is that he’s ahead of all the brother’s in his dream.  Reuben demonstrated grace:

                    ²²And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; cast him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.

All the people in Genesis had a falling out with God and Reuben is no exception.  He’s had problems of his own, but here, Reuben stands up for the sanctity of human life. He tells them to shed no blood, for the shedding of blood brings consequences.  Four times in Genesis we’ve already seen we are to value human life.  Reuben tells his brothers they shouldn’t murder Joseph.  He suggests another plan and gives them time to settle down, a cooling off period.  They decide to put him in a pit.  Reuben plans on returning later to restore Joseph to his father.  There’s times in our lives when people are with us but we don’t even know it.  Joseph doesn’t know what Reuben has done.  Reuben is the voice of reason and alters the plan and saves Joseph’s life.  Joseph spends all those years without knowing Reuben stood up for him.  Sometimes we don’t know who’s standing up for us.  Sometimes we do get to experience something like this for example, here in church sometimes we have people come to us saying they want to sponsor someone on a mission trip, but they don’t want that person to know about it.  In dark moments like these we cannot even imagine someone is with us, standing up for us.  There is One that is with us: Jesus is with us in our darkest moments.  This passage has the deepest, darkest moments of humanity.  These brothers represent the 12 tribes of Israel!  They’re all mentioned in the book of Revelation.  They’re the heroes of scripture and look at the darkness in their hearts.  There’s a separation and a darkness in all of us.  You and I are separated from God by our own choices.    We have the same level of evil in us.  Left to our own devices we will destroy one another.  Jesus came in love.  Jesus believes in us even in our darkest moments. 

God will be with you in the detours.

Joseph is about to be sold as a slave for 20 shekels of silver.  Modern day human trafficking comes to mind; this goes all the way back to the book of Genesis!

                    ²⁸Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

Twenty shekels of silver was the standard price.  A shepherd made about 8 shekels a year.  When divided among themselves they each had about 3 months’ wages each.  They all engaged in this.  Joseph has to be wondering where God is in all of this.  There’s the loss of a dream and a brokenness that comes to light.  There are times when we go through great darkness.  Joseph was sold to the Midianites/Ishmaelites.  Who was Ishmael?  Abraham’s son, their great uncle!  They sold their brother to their cousins!  See how far they’ve gotten away from being God’s people?  They’re now human traffickers.  In a short period of time we can step away from God too.  These are God’s people.   We are God’s people.  We too are capable of great darkness, yet even in our darkest moments God does not abandon us.

                    ⁵Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more.

Joseph’s brothers already hate him and they hate him even more now.  What made them hate him more? He said one day they will bow down to him.  If people already don’t like me I probably shouldn’t share a dream like this one with them!  Now they have zero reason to try to get closer to him.  In the past few months there’s been a greater difficulty with making friends.  I saw one university put out a guide on how to make friends.  Telling people to bow down to you wasn’t a way to make friends!

Everyone won’t understand your dreams.

Joseph goes to share his dream with his father, Jacob.  How will his father respond to his dream?  His father was one of the closest people he could share with. 

                    ¹⁰But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”

When Joseph shares that in his dream his parents will bow down to him too.  His mother Rebekah passed away when Benjamin was born.  She is deceased.  Joseph’s father, Jacob, has difficulty with his dream as well.    The word, “rebuke” is a strong word here.  It means to be corrected by someone in authority. 

How would this happen?  If there’s anyone who should have understood Joseph’s dream it’s his father.  Remember his mother’s dream that Jacob would be over Esau?  Remember Jacob’s dream of the ladder to Heaven with angels?  His dreams had the normal order of things turning upside down.  Jacob should have understood Joseph’s dream but he didn’t.  Sometimes we all have a sense of spiritual amnesia.  We forget how God has been faithful, how we cried out to God and God answered.  Jacob doesn’t recall how God has walked with him in this moment.  Jacob has difficulty identifying. 

Some people will try to destroy your dreams.

Jacob’s brothers try to destroy him.    They’re out working like 50 miles away, moving their animals to greener pastures and Jacob is concerned about them.  He sends Joseph in his coat to check on them and here’s what they say when they see him coming.

Sermon Notes are taken, transcribed and posted by Jeni Martin Johnson.