him. Of course, this dream didn’t go over well with his siblings,
and they quickly found a way to sell him as a slave to traders
traveling far away to Egypt.
Thinking they had rid themselves of their “dreamer” brother
forever, their lives went on without him. Joseph, however,
through a series of both prominent positions and unjust
imprisonment in his new country, never lost his penchant for
dreams. In fact, Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams was the
impetus for freeing him from prison and elevating him to
leadership in the government of this foreign country (Genesis
41). Joseph’s new position eventually resulted in the rescue of
his entire family—a doting father and jealous brothers and all
their wives and children— from a life-threatening famine.
Remarkable!
In the New Testament book of Acts, Cornelius, a captain of
the Italian Regiment, received a vision in which he was directed
to send a few of his men to summon Peter in another town. He
was even given the name of the man with whom Peter was
staying. A devout and God-fearing man, though not a believer
in Jesus, Cornelius complied with the instructions given in the
vision and sent men to find Peter staying at a random home.
They arrived immediately after Peter himself had fallen into and
out of a trance. He too had been given a compelling vision that
would define the Christian faith, differentiating it from other
faiths. Within the same trance, he was also told that three men
would come looking for him and he must go with them (Acts
10:1–23). So as all the circumstances converged—two visions
connecting two strangers—Peter complied and went with men
he’d never before met to meet a soldier he didn’t know.
Very often in the Bible, God talks loudly and clearly through