Pastor Scott Jonas
7/15/18
Joseph Interprets Dreams
Genesis 40-41
Last
week, we heard the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. She wanted Joseph to be her “Lover boy” as
Tim said in the children’s sermon. He
refused because he refused to betray his master and his Lord. Potiphar did not execute him but put him into
prison.
Sometime
later, he’s talking to two prisoners who are troubled. They had disturbing dreams and don’t know
what they mean. In Ancient Egypt, dreams
were considered the realm of the gods.
There was truth in dreams but you needed a holy person to interpret
them. The first man was Pharaoh’s
cupbearer. He offended his master and
was thrown in here. In his dream, there
was a vine with three branches in front of him.
It budded and blossomed and shot forth and became grapes. The cupbearer had Pharaoh’s cup once again in
his hand. He crushed the grapes into the
cup and handed it to his master. Jacob
said to him, “The three branches are
three days. You will be taken from here
and back into the service of Pharaoh. Remember
me when this comes true.
The
second prisoner was the ex-baker of Pharaoh and he told his perplexing dream, “I
had three baskets on my head with all kinds of fresh baked goods for Pharaoh,
but birds were attacking the food.”
Joseph said, “The three baskets are three days. That is when you will be taken from this
prison and hanged. The birds will pick
at your flesh. You can imagine how they
reacted. The baker desperately wanted Joseph
to be wrong and the cupbearer wanted Joseph to be right with all his
heart. Three days later, Joseph’s
interpretations from the Lord happened.
The cupbearer was lifted up to his former position. The baker was lifted up onto a noose. But the cupbearer said nothing about Joseph.
People
are still drawn to dreams today. What do
they mean? Can they predict the
future? Are they God trying to tell us
something? Or are they just mental
debris exiting our consciousness?
God
does use dreams, more in the Old Testament than in the new. 88 times in the old dreams are mentioned; 8
in the new. Already in Genesis we have
heard about an Egyptian named Abimelech being warned that Abraham’s sister is
his really his wife. Joseph’s father,
Jacob, had a dream about angel’s ascending and descending on a ladder. Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law was warned in a
dream not to speak to him.
Coincidentally, another Joseph had dreams from God in Matthew. Jesus’ father was told about Mary’s pregnancy
and warned after the birth to go to Egypt.
That is the last example of dreams in the bible.
Dreams
were a necessary way for the creator to speak to his chosen people. He warned them, directed them, and made covenants
with them through these dreams. But then
the prophets wrote down all of God’s interactions his chosen people. We call that the Old Testament. Now God’s people had volumes of stories to
read and hear. These stories described
God’s heart, how he wanted to restore the world. These texts also described how a human being
should live. The basics were all there
for a life dedicated to God and one another.
It wasn’t as personalized as a dream but it was much more
comprehensive.
Then
the heavenly Father sent his son, Jesus.
He was God in the flesh. He was a
dream made real. We hoped that one day
we would die and see God. Citizens of
earth got to see God before they died.
They asked him questions, hugged him, and were healed by him. It was like a dream because these things
aren’t supposed to happen in real life.
But they did. His friends wrote
down his words and actions. They
witnessed him die on a cross and rise from the dead. They had to pinch themselves to see if this
was reality. They talked to each other
to confirm this is not a mass hallucination.
Jesus really did live and die and rise from the dead. No dream.
So
now you and I don’t need dreams to hear God.
We have the Bible. It is even
more comprehensive than just the Old Testament.
Everything a person needs to know God is in here. Everything we need to live a good life is in
here. We should share our interpretation
of the bible the same way Joseph did.
There
is good news in here and bad news. We
are called to proclaim both. There are
people who are headed for restoration and there are people who are going to
experience judgment. We are not rooting
for judgment. We wanted everyone to be
saved. We want everyone to serve the
king. But we have to speak the truth in
love. If we only speak good news then we
are no better than flatterers.
Flatterers only say what people want to hear. They only bring good news. This is because they know that sometimes the
bearer of bad news is hated. A flatterer
tells the truth but they are half-truths.
Flatterers love being the messenger of good news. But they might not be around when things go
south.
The
opposite of a flatterer is an offender.
Offenders revel in sharing bad news.
They love the power that comes with telling blunt truth. They will complain about just about
anything. They see the sin in the world
clearly but little else. Offenders might
say that they are just being the devil’s advocate but they love their
role. They want judgement for the world
and they are the one to bring it. So
they tell half-truths. They share bad
news but none of the good. We are not to
be offenders.
You
and I are called to bring the truth of scripture to people but with love. A loving person is thrilled to bring good
news but is willing to share bad news because people have a right to know. At Glendale Lutheran we love the Gospel. Jesus loves us and all creation and wants a
relationship. Tell everyone you
know. But also be willing to tell people
who are headed towards death and destruction that they need to turn
around. Jesus was perfect at this. He told us that without him we are lost and
headed towards a dark place. Bad
news. But then he also told us that he
is the light of the world. Good News.
Joseph
was neither a flatterer nor an offender, maybe that is why he was so
respected. At least two years after the
incident with the cupbearer and the baker, Pharaoh has a crazy dream. The cupbearer, who should have spoken up for
Joseph finally does so. He tells Pharaoh
about his ability to interpret dreams. Pharaoh
calls for Joseph to be cleaned up and brought before him. Joseph stands there and hears this
dream. Pharaoh saw 7 fat cows come out of
the Nile river. Then 7 skinny cows
emerge right behind them. The 7
emaciated cows eat the 7 plump cows like boa constrictors. That was the first part of the dream. Then in the second part, 7 ears of fat
beautiful wheat sprung up into one big stalk. After this 7 ears of dry dead wheat sprung up
into one big stalk. The dead stalk ate
the beautiful stalk. Pharaoh asked the
magicians to interpret but they failed.
By
the way, I imagine that the magicians were flatterers. Always trying to guess what Pharaoh wanted to
hear. Maybe they said that there were 7
years of plenty. But they never told bad
news. Joseph told it like it is with
love. The next 7 years would be fruitful
for crops along the Nile. That would be
followed by 7 years of failed crops and famine.
Pharaoh needs to store up 20% of the countries crops during the next 7
years so that it can survive over the next 14 years.
Pharaoh
is so impressed that he appoints Joseph to oversee this initiative. Every city was required to store up grain. There was so much gathered that it could not
be measured. Joseph married during this
time. He had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh means God made me forget my
misery. Ephraim means God made me
fruitful. One focuses on the bad news
and one the good news.
When
famine struck all of Egypt went to pharaoh for food. People sold their land, then their animals,
then themselves to fill their belly. Pharaoh
became the most powerful man on earth.
All because Joseph cared enough to tell him the whole truth. May that be said of us as well. They cared enough to tell the whole truth of
God.