Genesis 37:5-115And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. (Genesis 37:5‑11)
“And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.” v. 5. Those were days when God often spoke through dreams and people treated them seriously. Joseph’s older brothers had no difficulty in understanding that what he had seen foretold a time when they would show him reverence; but they did not wish to hear these prophecies and Joseph’s words angered them all the more. Yet in reality they were resisting God, for the message came from Him and was not the mere imagination of their younger brother’s mind. These disclosures offended their pride; thus they rejected them and became like those who say unto God, “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” Job 21:1414Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. (Job 21:14).
There was a great deal of similarity in Joseph’s two dreams, which further established the prophecy. In the first he appeared as a sheaf in a field standing upright, while the other sheaves made obeisance. In the second he saw the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. The foreshowing of events in his life reminds us of the many prophecies throughout Scripture that tell of the coming glory of the Lord Jesus, when every knee shall bow to Him, when He shall be owned as King of kings and Lord of lords. Just as Joseph was hated when he told his brethren of his future exaltation, so the Lord was hated by His brethren, His people Israel, when He spoke to them of His coming glory. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” John 1:1111He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11). “But Me it (the world) hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” John 7:77The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. (John 7:7). “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause.” John 15:2525But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. (John 15:25).
What is your heart’s response, dear reader, as you read of that One who became poor that you, through faith in Him, might be rich. Soon will He come to receive unto Himself all those who love Him, soon will He be the Judge of those who refuse Him? Have you made that important decision to own Him as your Lord and Saviour now “while it is yet called today?”
Although Joseph’s brethren despised his dream and hated him, they were, approximately twenty years later, to vividly remember what he had said unto them and to find themselves literally bowing in his presence. And are you, dear reader, glad to know that it is also written: “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God”? Rom. 14: 11,12.
In the epistle to the Galatians we read that the works of the flesh are all contrary to God. There we find hatred, rivalry, wrath and envy all listed in association with each other. Joseph’s brethren not only hated him, but they also envied him (v. 11). This hatred and envy soon manifested itself, as we shall see.
ML 01/29/1967