“Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”
Genesis 37:9–11 ESV
Today we have a lesson about submitting to the Lord when He leads us in a way that hurts our pride.
Joseph is given a dream so amazing that, not boasting, but astonished, he rushes to tell those closest to him. Some commentators have suggested that Joseph may have been rubbing his brothers’ noses in it. The princely robe, then the dreams. But we should be careful not to go past the Scripture. Stay in our lane, right?
We suppose that he was just plain inexperienced. And inexperience isn’t foolishness so much as it’s innocence. Such a dream would excite the soul of anyone, especially of one so young, and he was probably eager to share such an intense experience. Who among us hasn’t shared far less dramatic a dream than this one? Well, his older brothers and father all grasped the meaning. Jacob hears it and it’s hard to believe. Of course it is. It’s downright nuts. Bow to your son as if he’s royalty! Who could imagine such a thing? It’s always that way with God. We see our circumstances as the final arbiter of possibility rather than His sovereignty. Secularists call it “normalcy bias.” The Bible calls it the mind that’s set on the flesh. Only the man of God, walking by the Spirit, not in conformity to this world’s categories of thought, sees reality aright…as His, not our own.
Something to consider is that Jacob and his family, unlike us, can’t pull out their trusty family Bible and search the Scriptures. In our day, this side of the cross and the closed canon, we test everything according to the revealed will of God. Well, at least that’s what we’re supposed to do anyway. Few of us bother to truly do that when confronted with a decision. And this is the mark of the mature Christian: he/she knows that any decision worth a second thought is a moral one and any moral principle has its definition in Scripture. How often we go to church, pray elbow to elbow with the saints, sing the hymns, take notes on the sermon, and then fumble on a Wednesday or Thursday by considering an event by our own standard rather than God’s?
Worse still were Joseph’s brothers. Whereas Jacob offered no guidance, he proved that the father who leaves a vacuum finds that it’s often filled by sin. There’s no such thing as a neutral heart. A father who leaves his children to develop their own worldview rather than be busy with their hearts and minds, often finds himself the parent of a worldly child. In Jacob’s case, instead of a call to prayer and supplication, of seeking God’s will and glory, he wonders silently. Like many of us, his fatherhood skill is lacking and it’s always lacking if we don’t lead our children to the Lord in times like these.
The awe-inspiring nature of the dream was a call to repentance for the family. Today we have the Word and faithful preaching. How did He communicate with our forefathers?
“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
Genesis 15:1–6 ESV
This was a significant thing to communicate, wasn’t it? And consider Jacob’s own dream:
“Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.””
Genesis 28:14–17 ESV
Note how Jacob is told that his offspring will be directly involved in this blessing of the earth. And also note Jacob’s response. So Joseph’s dream isn’t something he can just write off, is it? There’s a pattern within the patriarchal line of the Lord speaking through dreams and this must have occurred to Jacob. More than that, his sons would have heard the stories of the dreams and the promises they contained. Mark this well! Jacob, Joseph and the others would have all recognized the pattern. They didn’t know all that it meant, for the mysteries of the gospel remained until after Christ had ascended (Ephesians 3:3). But if Jacob was filled with awe over his revelation in Genesis 28, what’s the difference now?
The issue at hand is that God reveals the goal and sometimes the means but never the particulars. We know that our lives will “work out” in accordance to His plan for us…to bring us safely to Himself. What we don’t know is the exact means of this process. To know that would fill us with pride…and we already have too much of that as it is. We must learn the art of trusting His promises of our salvation and ultimate destiny while simultaneously remembering the “division of labor” in the process. Living in and by faith isn’t legalism nor is it antinomianism. The desire for control and guarantees can often mean that we’re trying to wrest the crown from God’s head. It’s not mere chance that Jacob wrestled with the Lord…it’s a pattern of his life and now it comes with a roar in his home. God’s promises and our ambitions (goals) must never compete. How often we confuse the two!
“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.” Romans 8:28 AMP
Note that Scripture doesn’t say that God causes all things to be immediately comfortable. He is all-wise and we’re recovering rebels who are yet taking baby-steps in the process of becoming epistemologically self-aware. The goal of Christian living is faithfulness inspired by gratitude and love to the Lord who saved us. Not knowing His plans in immediacy and yet trusting them in light of His promises is the way to understand Romans 8:28. Faithfulness during life’s confusion and frustration is the mark of the maturing Christian. Delighting ourselves in the Lord is to be our overriding goal in life, not material success (Psalm 37:4). How much conflict and worry we cause because we insist in our hearts that our comfort and goals must be first in priority!
Thus, by default, the world and the flesh regard control as its summum-bonum. The flesh seeks security by demanding guarantees of the future; faith, though, knows that the promise of God is the guarantee against disaster. Our old sinful nature reacts with fear – indeed, with rancorousness and malice – when tomorrow’s circumstance is in doubt. This is why fear, resentment, covetousness, and grumbling and complaining are such hard sins to defeat. They’re the just as much a mark of the flesh as sexual sin is.
In all, we know that God is both sovereign and good. We trust Him with our daily bread and our eternal welfare. To let this saturate our whole heart, again and again, drenching our minds so much that it drips out of every thought, every movement of life, is the art of sanctification.
What Jacob and Joseph’s brothers do, however, is grow arrogant. They know the promises. They know they are His covenant people and yet this doesn’t inspire humility but arrogance. God doesn’t ask for our advice and we often confuse the privilege of our covenant relationship in grace as meaning He owes us comfort. How often that we’re shocked when the Lord puts us in some pickle or another. We react like Jacob did: with exasperation. Surely, this is a mistake, we think. Has the Lord forgotten that I’m His guy? We can get so bent out of shape by shabby treatment by others or by circumstances that we forget to humble ourselves before Him and seek His glory and will. Joseph’s brothers had heard of the patriarchal blessing and apparently this made them – not humble and grateful – but entitled and arrogant.
They would not bow down to their little brother. They confused their interpretation of God’s promises, revealed already to Abraham and Jacob in dreams, with His actual plan. How often do we resent the status of one we believe to be inferior to us whom God has granted authority! This is how to see the drama that follows.
God must and will humble us. An “entitled” Christian is a contradiction in terms. Pride is our great enemy.
His grace should humble us. His tender mercies should…all the day’s countless blessings certainly should. But if we won’t submit to His plans, especially when they surprise us, He will discipline those that He loves (Hebrews 12:6). Thus starts the lesson for Jacob and his family. They will all bow to Joseph because it’s His will.
What circumstance has the Lord brought to you to teach you humility? In what area are you fighting rather than trusting Him? Humble yourself and you will be lifted to the heavens by the power and mercy of God (2 Chronicles 7:14; Matthew 23:12).
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