5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 6 “Listen to this dream,” he said. 7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”
8 His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.
Genesis 37:5-8 (NLT)
Hate intensifies
His brothers already hate Joseph. He ratted on them yesterday to their dad, Jacob, who has blatantly shown preference for Joseph. When he starts telling them his dreams (yes, there is another coming), their hatred intensifies.
Dreams
One of the first questions to ask when there’s a remarkable, memorable dream is, “Is it from God”? Certainly not all are. I believe most are just natural, not spiritual…since just about everyone (Christian or not) has dreams. Based on this dream, it seems hard to say. Could it be that his subconscious is desirous of “getting even” which led to the dream?
Another question to ask is, “Do I tell anyone else”? In this case, was it wise for Joseph to tell his brothers? He knew it would incite their anger. “Joseph regarded his dreams as important, however, and therefore did not hesitate to make them known to his family.” (planobiblechapel.org) As we’ll see later, it was all part of God’s plan; the dreams were revelations to Joseph.
Transition of revelation
I found this quite interesting. Maybe you do as well. “This is the first dream in the Bible in which God does not speak (cf. 20:3; 28:12-15; 31:11, 24). It forms a transition in the dominant means of God’s revelation from theophany in Genesis 1—11, to dreams and visions in Genesis 12—35, and now to providence in Genesis 36—50.” (planobiblechapel.org quoting Waltke)
RЯeflection
I agree with David Guzik’s position on dreams. “The Bible tells us that God may speak through dreams, but it doesn’t give us a guidebook for dream interpretation. Most of all, know the Bible to know the voice of God. We should expect that God speaks to us in the Bible, and if He were to speak in a dream, it would be unexpected.” (enduringword.com) We especially need to know Him by reading and studying His Word.
