9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

10 This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Genesis 37:9-11 (NLT)

Another Dream

This is now the second dream that Joseph has had. The first was his brother’s grain bundles gathering around and bowing down in front of his. As we saw yesterday, this infuriated the brothers. This second dream is very similar in content and nature. It expands to include Jacob and his wife. (Note that it can’t be Joseph’s mom, Rachel, since she already passed away). 

Responses

This time, Joseph tells his brothers, but also his dad. His dad scolds him saying it’s impossible, how could something like that ever occur? The brothers, of course, grew in jealousy, and probably in anger. But we see that his father (Israel) actually wondered what the dream meant. The ESV says he, “kept the saying in mind. (v11)” This seems to reveal that he was at least willing to consider if it was from God and what significance it had. It won’t be until many, many years later he finds out.

Dreams

A few more thoughts about dreams today. Outside of the US, it seems that dreams and other acts of God are more common – sometimes to a point of abuse. There are many accounts of Muslims in closed countries where Christianity is outlawed coming to faith through dreams. There are individuals who report having dreams that prophecy future events. In fact, in some places with a more charismatic bent, it is quite common. Are they true?

We need to be careful, very careful. First, we know that the Bible is the only authoritative Word of God. “…[W]e must keep in mind that the Bible is complete, having revealed everything we need to know from now until eternity.” (gotquestions.org)  Any word that someone claims is from God must at least line up with the Bible. If not, don’t trust it or follow it – even if it comes true. Why? The Devil is the great deceiver, the Father of Lies. His demons can use crafty ways to deceive – even the elect of God.

RЯeflection

• If you are in an area with no Christian influence, it is likely others around you, or even you, experience dreams which seem to be revelations from God. As noted above, be careful. Read the links provided above for more direction.
• On the other hand, we want to be sensitive to how God is working – especially in areas that are difficult to penetrate with the gospel. We would be over-cautious to dismiss every dream.