Dear Hope family,
Thought for the Week
Prophetic Dreams
“Joseph had a dream.” Genesis 37v5
Is a dream I had prophetic? What should I do with it?
In today’s Bible reading chat we are introduced to Joseph at the age of 17. In Genesis 37, he has two dreams. In the first, he and his brothers had sheaves of wheat and theirs bowed down to his. In the second, the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. The most obvious meaning of each of the dreams was that his brothers and even his father and mother would bow down to him.
When Joseph shared the dreams with his father and brothers, his father responded with scepticism, and his brothers responded with jealous hatred. This led to Joseph’s mistreatment and being sold into slavery.
What can we learn from Joseph with regards to prophetic dreams?
- Joseph unwisely shared it with his family. Be careful who you share your dreams with – especially if it involves them in any way.
- It may be that Joseph shared his dream because of pride. Be careful not to act out of pride or fear.
- Joseph’s dreams were not a call to action. Rather they were a call to keep hope through very difficult times of injustice, slavery, prison and being forgotten. God works things out in God’s own way. By contrast, almost 2000 years later, a New Testament Joseph had dreams that very explicitly called for action (Matthew 1v20-21 and 2v13). Be discerning.
- The only ultimate test of a dream’s validity is its fulfilment (Deuteronomy 18v21-22). So prophetic dreams often help us to see God’s hand in it all after the event.
May God give you the revelation that you need to keep persevering with God in the difficult times.
With love and blessing,
Roland
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