“Joseph had a dream, He said to his brothers, “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 HATED HIM all the more because of his dream and what he had said.” (Genesis 37:5-8) Another problem these 11 brothers had, “Israel (Jacob) 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.” (Genesis 37:3) Joseph was 17 years old when God revealed to him that one day he would rule over his brothers. His dream seemed to keep him going, giving him strength. It is quite a thought: he was in a pit, frightened, alone, in a strange land without family or friends, in prison with an unearned criminal record then when there was a wee bit of hope that someone would learn about him he was forgotten. He, in spite of circumstances, remained strong in his conviction that his dream was REALLY FROM GOD. As one writer said, “with enough emotional baggage to derail a freight train – -sibling resentment, abandonment and compound losses…he must constantly control his focus.” Fixating on his problems would have produced disillusionment but maintaining his DREAM-FOCUS would be his salvation. After a series of God led events for thirteen years of various trials, we read frequently that GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH. When he was thirty years, “Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby PUT YOU IN CHARGE of the whole land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:41)
God showed Joseph that there would seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine, so Joseph wisely stored up grain and was prepared for the great famine. “Jacob heard about the available grain so he sent 10 of his sons. “Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived…THEY BOWED DOWN TO HIM WITH THEIR FACES TO THE GROUND…” (Genesis 42:6) Just like God showed him when he was 17…
-Bill Stockham