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See also: Covenants 44–47 ■ Esau and Jacob 54–55 ■ Jacob Wrestles with God 56–57 ■ The Wisdom of Solomon 120–23 ■
Daniel in Babylon 164–65brothers see Joseph’s narration of
his dreams as boastful. In his first
dream, Joseph sees himself and his
brothers binding sheaves of wheat
in the fields. While his sheaf stands
upright, the sheaves of his brothers
bow down before his sheaf. The
unwelcome message of Joseph’s
dream—at least to his brothers—is
that Joseph is destined to rule overthem. Their unease is reinforced
when Joseph dreams that the
sun and moon, representing his
father and mother, and 11 stars
(his brothers) pay homage to him.
Even Jacob is bemused by this and
scolds Joseph: “What is this dream
you had? Will your mother and I and
your brothers actually come and
bow down to the ground before
you?” (Genesis 37:10).Plot against Joseph
In Genesis 37:13, when Joseph’s
older brothers are out grazing their
flocks, Jacob sends Joseph to checkGENESIS
A composite illustration from a
13th-century illuminated manuscript
shows Joseph being lowered into a
cistern, being traded for 20 shekels
of silver, and traveling to Egypt.on them. The brothers decide to
take advantage of Joseph’s visit to
the remote location to murder him
and thus prevent his dreams from
coming true. However, Reuben,
Jacob’s firstborn, opposes this
proposal and argues against killing
Joseph outright. He recommends
that they strip Joseph of his ornate
coat, which is a gift from their
father, and throw him into a cistern
to die naturally. (Reuben secretly
plans to rescue Joseph when his
brothers’ backs are turned.)
However, another brother, Judah,
also troubled by the idea of killing ❯❯Prophetic dreams
in the BibleGod employs dreams and
visions throughout the Bible
as a way of revealing and
furthering his divine plan.
These dreams act as a bridge
between God and man. In
Genesis 15:1, as Abraham falls
into a deep sleep, God uses a
vision to restate His covenant
with Abraham. Later on in
the Old Testament, Samuel,
Solomon, and Daniel are all
noted dreamers. Samuel has
his first vision as a young
boy in 1 Samuel: 3, when
“the Word of the Lord was
rare; there were not many
visions,” and in 1 Kings: 3:5,
Solomon dreams that God
invites him to choose a gift
(Solomon asks for a discerning
heart to help him “distinguish
between right and wrong.”) In
Daniel 7, Daniel is terrified by
a vision of four great beasts
that represent four future
kingdoms, which will only
give way to the Son of Man.US_058-061_Joseph_the_Dreamer.indd 59 21/09/17 11:26 am