Joseph the Dreamer

Genesis first introduces Joseph as a seventeen-year-old young man who gives a bad report to his father, Jacob, about his other brothers. Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons, and these twelve sons would later become known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Joseph was Jacob’s eleventh son, and Joseph became Israel’s favorite son, whom Israel loved more than all of his other sons. At an early age, Joseph flaunted his father’s favoritism. Favoritism and rivalry have a sad history in the book of Genesis, leading to family jealousy, anger, and resentment, as Isaac favored Esau, Rebekah favored Jacob, and Jacob favored his wife, Rachel, over Leah. Israel made his son Joseph a colorful robe (coat of many colors or ornate robe), revealing Joseph’s privileged status within the family, and Joseph’s brothers became angry and jealous of Joseph’s colorful robe and their father’s favoritism toward Joseph. One night, Joseph had a divine dream of his future, which only made his brothers hate him all the more. In the Holy Bible, dreams and visions were a frequent method of divine revelation from God. Joseph informed his brothers of his dream, in which they were bundling grain (sheaves) from the field, and all the bundles of grain (sheaves) bowed down to his bundle of grain (sheaf). Joseph’s dream angered his other brothers, and they developed a jealous hatred of Joseph because his dream showed him reigning over them with dominion and authority. Then, Joseph had another dream from God about his future. In this second divine dream, Joseph informed his brothers and his father, Israel (also known as Jacob), that this time, even the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to him. Upon hearing the divine dream, Israel rebuked Joseph, asking him if his dream meant that he would reign and his family would bow down to him. Joseph’s brother became even more angry, bitter, and envious towards Joseph, but Israel kept the matter in mind. Joseph revealing his dreams to his brothers when he was seventeen was partly a matter of faith but also partly a result of youthful foolishness and pride, but Joseph would later grow into a wise and prudent leader. 

Sometime later, Israel’s other sons went to Shechem to tend and feed their sheep, and Israel sent Joseph to find his brothers in Shechem and later into Dothan. When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they hard-heartedly devised an evil plan and plot to kill their own brother Joseph out of envy and then lie to their father about Joseph’s death at the hands of a ferocious animal. However, the oldest brother, Reuben, heard of the plan, and he tried to save and rescue Joseph from his brothers’ evil scheme. Eventually, Joseph’s brothers took Joseph's coat of many colors and threw Joseph into a deep, dry well (cistern) despite Joseph’s plea not to be thrown into the cistern. Later, Judah and the other brothers sold Joseph to Ishmaelite and Midianite traders heading to Egypt for twenty shekels, and these traders sold Joseph into Egyptian slavery away from the Promised Land of God (Canaan). After selling Joseph into slavery, Joseph’s brother devised another evil scheme, and they lied to their father, Israel, saying that a wild animal had killed Joseph. 

Despite Joseph’s betrayal and slavery in Egypt, the Sovereign LORD God continued to be with Joseph with His divine mercy and favor (grace), and He blessed Joseph with His providential care, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Sovereign LORD God allowed Joseph’s sale into slavery and later imprisonment to test and build Joseph’s character - patience, faith, and perseverance, and God always brings good out of evil. Joseph’s visionary dreams would come true when he was appointed governor over Egypt by Pharaoh and was responsible for the grain of Egypt, causing his brothers to bow down to him. Additionally, Joseph would become the prince and crown among his brothers, and Joseph received the rights of the firstborn, as Jacob had adopted Joseph’s two children,