The Lord of the Dreams

​Photo by Cody Fitzgerald on Unsplash
What is God doing? It’s a question we ask from time to time, and what we are really asking is how do we find out? How does God speak today?

Joseph’s life is about to take a radical turn. God is about to reveal the reason why everything has gone the way that it has and give another generation deep confidence in his ability to work through all circumstances, including through some rare means. 

Central to this passage are these two dreams of Pharaoh and Joseph’s ability, with God’s help, to reveal the interpretations of them. We will see this pop up again in the Old Testament when we get to the prophet Daniel of Lion’s Den fame. These are the only two occasions where we will see a Hebrew practice dream interpretation, so this is a rare moment in Scripture (Matthews). Both times are strange visions with no real obvious interpretation. We know that God can speak very clearly, even with pagan rulers, through dreams. We have even seen that in Genesis when God warns Abimelech in a dream not to touch Sarah, Abraham’s wife: Genesis 20:3 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” No ambiguity there, huh? God was able to protect Sarah even when Abraham wasn’t. 

So why not just do that here with Joseph? Couldn’t God have intervened on Joseph’s behalf through a very clear dream like that to Pharaoh? Couldn’t he have just spoken to Pharaoh plainly about a famine coming and, oh by the way, you need to use Joseph as your administrator? He could have. So why? Let’s explore that as we tackle our main point today: God’s control is comprehensive, and God’s control is good

God’s Control is Comprehensive 

We open with Pharaoh dreaming a dream about cows and grain and the Nile river. For us today, if we were to have a dream like this, we would assume that it was nonsense and doesn’t have any real bearing on our lives, but that is not Pharaoh’s position on it. For the Egyptians, dreams were messages from the gods, so they took those very seriously—and in this case, he happens to be right. 
The subjects in these dreams are not random either. While we might not think much about cows, grain, and rivers, to the Egyptians, those were everything. They worshipped the Nile river, and when you hear about the importance of the river to the nation’s economy, you can understand where they are coming from. The Nile was the reason why there was usually grain in Egypt. You didn’t have to depend on the rains, because you could (usually) count on the river (Ross). If you could have a river, you can have grain, which means you can have livestock. Seeing diseased and thin everything isn’t just an economic crisis, but a crisis of faith as well because of their faith in the Nile. This would be like an American dreaming about a 1930s style crash of the stock market. It has downstream effects on every aspect of life. 

So Pharaoh wakes up and all the information he has is terrible things to come but no real understanding of when, why, or how to potentially set it right. He calls in his professional class of dream interpreters, his panel of experts, and, as usual with a panel of experts, they aren’t helpful. I remember seeing a cartoon of a man dragging himself through the desert, and upon seeing a table with people sitting behind it exclaims, “Oh, thank God, a panel of experts!” 

We are very quick to run to a panel of experts when we have a problem. Experts are great because at the end of the day, you just consult them, you don’t actually have to do what they say. They are there to give counsel, not commands. Turns out doctors know a lot until they tell us something that we don’t actually want to do. Suddenly that doctor doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’m all about listening to the Public Health people when they told me not to eat salad because of an E. Coli outbreak a number of years ago, but laughed at them when they said I couldn’t eat raw cookie dough because of eggs. They’ve got their expertise, but it’s my life. 

Expert advice isn’t divine revelation. And it turns out divine revelation not only correctly diagnosis my problem, but also commands I take His solution. I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “It isn’t the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that bother me but the parts I do understand.” 

It turns out that what Pharaoh needs isn’t expertise but revelation. Thankfully, there is one forgetful cupbearer, who suddenly remembers he knows a guy who has actually done this before. Suddenly, Joseph’s life is about to change very suddenly again. The two year wait is suddenly over, and he is hauled out of the pit, shaved, and given a new set of clothes (there’s that clothing theme again).

Pharaoh starts the exchange by going over Joseph’s resume. He asks that Joseph confirm that he can, in fact, interpret dreams. Now what Joseph does next is absolutely everything you shouldn’t do in a job interview. The very first word out of his mouth is a single word translated here, ‘It is not in me.” In other words, “I can’t interpret dreams.” Yikes! Joseph! Here’s your shot! You thought getting the ear of the cupbearer would help you out, and now you’re standing in front of the king and the first thing you do is undermine confidence in yourself! What’s worse is that you then say that God is the one who will give the answer to revelation! This is a religious slap! Pharaoh is also supposed to be divine, a god among men. And here Joseph is reminding Pharaoh that his supposed divinity isn’t doing anything but that there is another God, the God of the Hebrews, the God of this until-five-minutes-ago prisoner is the one who holds the answer. Not only holds the answer, but is the one in charge of the food, the Nile, and Pharaoh can’t really do anything to stop it. Instant rejection on the job search website.

But this is exactly how a worshiper of God can and should talk. Why? Because they serve a God fully in control. Joseph doesn’t have to cow tow to Pharaoh’s religious sensibilities. He doesn’t have to lie to exalt himself to get ahead. He knows that God has decided that he shall rule, and if God has confirmed that, nothing will stop it. One commentator put it this way talking about Joseph’s using the word “God” here: “He goes from the prison to the throne of the king and this is his first word. This speech is as pious as it is frank. He who is aware of God is humble and fearless at the same time.” (Benno Jacob, quoted by Ross, 641, emphasis mine). 

Pharaoh lays out his dream to Joseph as before and closes with the line, “And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.” I almost imagine Pharaoh gesturing to his panel of experts with disappointment. Joseph picks up and says, “God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.” Interestingly, the words “explain” and “reveal” are the same word but in slightly different forms here in these verses. It is almost to say, “Yes, the experts tried to reveal, but God is the one who is going to reveal.” Sure enough, Joseph lays out exactly what God is going to do. He is going to cause seven good years of harvest (read: the Nile is His instrument), and then He is going to cause seven years of severe famine. Not only is He going to do this, it is set, fixed, absolutely going to happen, which is why He said it twice. 

The Good News is, He is letting you know this so that you can prepare for it. Thankfully, Joseph, also has the step by step solution to weathering this famine. What a God! 

God’s Control is Good

Now, did you notice that there is one glaring question that Joseph doesn’t give any elaboration on, and for whatever reason Pharaoh doesn’t ask? No one says why this is happening! And do you know what the answer is? To exalt Joseph to his high position, thus fulfilling the dream promise to him, bring his family back together to survive, thus keeping the promises to Abraham, which gives the Amorites time to repent of their sins before the Israelites come out of Egypt and take over their land (Genesis 15:6). 

God working, isn’t he? That’s some comprehensive sovereignty. Now, I know, we presbyterians just love talking about God’s sovereignty, as we should, but God being in control actually isn’t the comforting thing. It’s the fact that God is in control AND good. He is in control and keeps His promises. That He will fulfill His Word made to this seemingly random family in the middle East such that He will trigger a world-wide famine to ensure His purposes for them are fulfilled. That’s Who’s looking after you! 

And do you know what’s even better than that? He does this not for the powerful and noble, but the lowly sinner. Israel wasn’t an impressive nation. God, from our perspective should have invested in Egypt. But instead His eye was on its lone Hebrew prisoner. Just as He promised, He exalts Joseph over all of Egypt! 

Now, what does this mean for us? Well, we often want to consult panels of experts, too, don’t we? We want to find an interpretation of our lives that we like. Often the most consulted panel is a panel of one, ourselves. We can’t run our lives on the interpretation of anyone but God. All of us are just too small on our own. 

You’ve heard of that story of five blind men trying to describe an elephant, right? There is one who is at the trunk who says than an elephant is long and skinny, there’s another at the tail saying it is short and furry, while another is at the leg saying it is tall and thick. People use that illustration to say that no one has the whole truth, so just make it up as you go. Ironically, they think that they see. They say, “Oh, God is so full, so complex, that no one could possibly see it in all His mystery, so we won’t even try.” They’re correct in that we can’t understand Him without help, but unlike an elephant, God has spoken! He has spoken clearly here in His Word! We don’t have the excuse that God is too complicated to obey! He has revealed Himself right here. He gave Pharaoh a confusing dream and then sent someone to explain. 

God has done so again. He has spoken in the Old Testament, and then He sent Someone to fulfill it. Jesus Himself, THE Word of God, came and lived on this Earth. He didn’t just say more words, but demonstrated what love looks like. He left us with an example so high we could never reach it, which is why He died on the cross for your sin and mine. He isn’t just revelation; He is salvation! 

This is the reality you have to keep in mind when we say God is in control. The God who pays the penalty for sin Himself on the cross is the God who is bringing everything into your life good and bad. He doesn’t always explain why. He didn’t here with Pharaoh. But a God who doesn’t forget His promises, Who personally sacrifices for your salvation is up to something. We’ve got to trust Him. 

Kids, you get the best practice with this. Your parents love you more than you can know, and when they give you a “no,” it is for your good. You need to learn to trust that they are working for your good. That will teach you how to trust God’s good purposes for you. So parents, model that well. 

For the rest of us, don’t seek to interpret your life through the eyes of experts, or family, or culture. Interpret your life through the eyes of God. Your life isn’t just a set of data that you supply meaning to. God gives you the data and then tells you what it means in His Word. You don’t have to go around looking for other sources of knowledge. Don’t wait for dreams. God already wrote it down for you. And if you aren’t obedient enough to read, much less follow, a clearly written, often footnoted Bible with study notes, why do you think God should believe that you are going to listen to a dream? It’s right here. Am I saying you can’t ask for help from other godly people? Of course not. The Proverbs say that in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom, but that wisdom has to come from God’s Word. No, the Bible can’t tell you where to invest for retirement, but it will tell you how to view your money which will absolutely guide those decisions. 

Even the way you react to your life needs to be viewed and interpreted by God. We don’t react to our lives through complaint, as if a God who sacrificed His Son for me did not exist.