Genesis 40

Thank you to those (few) who responded. At least some do read sometimes. Thanks.

In Genesis 40 Joseph is in jail. He interprets two dreams correctly. I wonder if this changes his perspective of dreams. If you are going to say that a dream predicts the future you can see that these dreams are fairly easy to interpret. But I would never be so bold as to tell someone their dream predicts the future, would you?

This the second set of two dreams that involve Joseph. Perhaps two dreams makes the idea of prediction more reasonable. The first pair are his own. He implies when he tells them to his family that they predict the future. He doesn't exactly say so when he tells his family. But their reaction shows that they do understand that he is telling them what he thinks will happen. He uses the dreams to make his point. Joseph is telling them what will happen or better what might happen.

These dreams are what got him into trouble. His brothers sold him into slavery. He is now in jail, a man without a country. He has no rights, no family. He is all alone. Yet God has been immensely involved in his life.

Now that he has successfully interpreted two important dreams, foretelling the future, not as some soothsayer, but as one who listens to God and gives God the glory, does he take his own dreams more seriously? At the time when he was telling the dreams to his family I wonder if he really believed that it would come true. He was really just a child when he had the dreams. I suspect he had little idea of what the dream really meant and how the family would react to it. But now he might be more encouraged that God would really arrange to have his first two dreams to come true as well. He may be more secure in God's vindication of his life.

Even though the cup-bearer forgot all about him he is more secure in God's role. God will use all his trials and finally bless him mightily.

As we have trials and set backs let us pray that we will be like Joseph. We pray that our setbacks will turn out to finally work out in our favor. We must be positive and patient and let our setbacks be excuses to enter into sin.