Life-Changing Dreams

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream” (Jeremiah 23:28).

— Matt Kerry

Some events in our lives change us permanently. Pleasant events may be so joyous that we never forget the peace and gratitude that welled up. On the other hand, memories of unpleasant experiences often bring back emotional or physical pain and injury that give us pause.

There is a third type of experience that only God’s people share: spiritual revelations. For those who have an understanding of God, the future, His plan, and His intentions, we are forever changed. Our life course, values, and the lens through which we interpret the world are forever recalibrated and directed toward our walk in the “narrow way.” Joseph experienced all three of these types of experiences.

Although his dreams were much different than how God speaks to those who follow Jesus’s footsteps and seek to obtain a heavenly home, Joseph was given a vision of his future in God’s service through dreams. The fulfillment of those dreams changed how he lived, what he hoped for, and how others viewed him.

Let us consider Joseph’s dreams, their impact on his life, and how God used them to alter his life and the lives of everyone he met.

Six dreams changed Joseph’s life. The first two were his dreams, the second two were dreams of fellow prisoners, and the last two were Pharaoh’s. Each of these six dreams played a significant role in his life. All of them were prophetic of events to come.

Joseph’s First Dream

The first dream was of sheaves of grain or likely stalks of “wheat” or barley, which comes up earlier in the year; it typifies Jesus. They were bundled together with many stalks per sheaf. Joseph dreamed of him and his brothers binding wheat together in the field. Joseph’s sheaf suddenly stood upright, and the other sheaves stood around his sheaf and showed “obeisance.” This word in the KJV means to show reverence, to “prostrate,” crouch, stoop, etc.; they showed subservience to his sheaf.

It was likely unwise for Joseph to discuss this detail with his brothers, whose sheaves were bowing down to his. As we may imagine, his brothers were irritated by his dream and presumed superiority. After all, they were the ones in the field doing the work; they were the older sons with authority. They would not tolerate their father treating Joseph with more love and favor, but now, to make matters worse, his dream indicated that he would rule over them. Perhaps they were afraid of Jacob’s affection for Joseph and the possibility that Jacob would place Joseph in charge of the flocks and increase his portion of their inheritance.

At their future encounter in Egypt, his brothers “bowed down to him” (Genesis 42:6 NAS). This fulfilled the dream, but it was merely a hint of its larger prophetic fulfillment. After revealing his identity, Joseph said to his brothers, “do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5, NAS). It was no coincidence that, as a youth, Joseph dreamed of sheaves of grain and wheat. It was also no coincidence that Pharaoh’s later dream was of another two types of food, for it was through the provision of food that Joseph preserved the land of Egypt during the famine. But even this would not be the most significant fulfillment of Joseph’s dream.

If you were in Joseph’s position, what would you think after having the dream of the sheaves? How would your feelings and interpretations of the dream change through an ensuing struggle like Joseph’s? Would you be filled with vanity after your dream and consider yourself “above” your family? Joseph may have had those thoughts or hints of them. But if so, they were surely quickly swept away when his brothers placed him into the pit and left him to “the distress of his soul” (Genesis 42:21 NAS).

Life-Changing Dreams

At this moment, Joseph’s only possession was his faith in God. This incredible faith and sense of obedience led him to become the overseer of Potiphar’s house and then the overseer of all the prisoners. It was undoubtedly due to his sublime obedience to God and work ethic. Joseph’s ascendency to Pharaoh’s right hand would be the highest honor he could have ever hoped for. What gave Joseph that refreshing obedience, trustworthiness, and work ethic? Undoubtedly, it was the hope generated by the dreams God gave him. They changed his life.

After receiving his dreams from God, Joseph was more than just Jacob’s favorite son; he became God’s chosen vessel. He had faith in those visions throughout all his experiences in Egypt. He knew that God must have a plan to fulfill those dreams in His own time. Each sign of favor reminded Joseph that God was the author of those plans for him. How else could Joseph continue to prosper in such foreign and dire circumstances?

When we find ourselves in dire circumstances, we may become narrowly focused on what keeps us sane and positive. We seek to identify our value and worth to reassure ourselves that everything will be good. In our service to the LORD, our spiritual identities are hidden in the “new name” that we hope to receive in the “first resurrection” (Revelation 2:17, 20:6).

In Joseph’s case, he undoubtedly reminded himself, ‘God has things planned for me.’ It was no coincidence that those who purchased him and brought him to Egypt were “Ishmaelites.” (Genesis 37:28, NAS). We suggest that a conversation may have occurred about their related grandparents. A discussion about how Abraham sent Ishmael away and how God promised that Ishmael would become a great nation (Genesis 16:10, 21:12-21). This realization would be both eye-opening and a “wink” from the LORD to Joseph. Had that conversation occurred, it would have significantly comforted Joseph to see even greater evidence of God’s promises at work in the history of his family, and it would have reassured him of the prophetic nature of his dreams and increased his faith.

His Second Dream

In the second dream, the sun, moon, and eleven stars made obeisance to Joseph. Jacob himself rebuked him for it. Their interpretation indicated that Joseph would be greater than all of them, including his parents, and that they would serve him. They would one day see Joseph’s rise in Egypt as fulfilling this dream. His forgiveness and good heart saved them from a terrible famine. But it would also be a much greater prophecy of God’s plan that exceeded their understanding.

The prophet Jeremiah makes a profound statement that connects us more closely to Joseph’s second dream. “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully” (Jeremiah 23:28).

Many of the dreams and visions of God’s people in the Old Testament were prophetic: Jacob’s dream of the angels ascending and descending from heaven, Joseph’s two dreams of the sheaves and the sun, moon, and stars, and Daniel’s vision in which he was told to “shut up the words … to the time of the end.” These dreams were not understood throughout past ages but have now been revealed.

Interpreting Dreams

Though these faithful servants of God told us their dreams, fulfilling the first portion of Jeremiah 23:28, they did not understand the holy scriptures as we do today. We can now carry out the second portion of Jeremiah 23:28, to speak the word of God. Although God no longer gives us dreams with prophetic messages, God gives us knowledge of the scriptures through the spirit of holiness. The Apostle Peter described this knowledge on the Day of Pentecost: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come” (Acts 2:16-20).

The Apostle Peter’s prophecy has been gradually fulfilled during the Gospel Age since the Day of Pentecost. As God’s people, we have seen visions and dreamed dreams, not in our sleep, but in the interpretation of the true word of God made manifest to the saints, growing more and more until the perfect day. And like Joseph, these visions, these understandings of God’s plan, have changed us forever. No longer can any of us in good conscience succumb to the false promises and flatteries of the world or stray from the embrace of our Father in heaven, knowing how majestic, loving, faithful, and wonderful He is.

We cannot live without the constant reminder of Jesus, who walked this earth confidently in our Father’s service, never straying from the path of perfection to provide the ransom that saves us and the entire world of mankind.

Lessons for Us

Knowing that as prospective members of the church, this mystery hid from ages, this small group called to walk in the likeness of Christ, our choices affect not only ourselves but, like Joseph, we too are being tested in prophetic Egypt. Like Joseph, we have been called to a higher purpose in which we will help solve the greatest famine in the history of the world, a famine for God’s word in the hearts of mankind.
With this tremendous responsibility in mind and the example of Joseph’s faithfulness, how can we do anything else but devote ourselves to this great assignment?

Joseph was given severe experiences, in many ways more severe than most of us will encounter. But, like Joseph, we find ourselves in a world where we are not understood, in a foreign land that is not our true home. Our well-being is left up to God in all our distress and uncertainty. But we, having “dreams” like Joseph — “visions” from the scriptures and God’s spirit of holiness — find peace in our hearts through confidence in God’s plan for us and the entire world of mankind.