dreams | DaveTrenholm.com

Published July 1, 2019

True Identity

Last week was a total game-changer for Joseph. If you’ve been with us for these past few weeks, you’ll recall that up until this point, it just seemed that no matter what Joseph did, something bad always happened to him. Even when things were going good, they quickly turned bad.

Because so far he’s been nearly killed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit, thrown into prison, and then completely forgotten about. And this was all before he was 30 years old. It has been a rough life for Joseph. But then, in just one day, everything changed.

Last week we read about how Pharaoh had a dream – well, two dreams really, and he didn’t know what they meant. These dreams obviously had some significance, but neither Pharaoh or any of his wisemen could figure out the meaning of these two dreams.

Now as it happened, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer had been in prison with Joseph some time earlier and Joseph had accurately interpreted a dream that he had had – and so the cupbearer told Pharaoh about this Joseph guy that he had met in prison who could interpret dreams.

Well, with that information, Pharaoh called up Joseph out of prison and asked Joseph if he could interpret his dreams. And this is how Joseph responded:

16 “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” Genesis 41:16

Joseph knew that he didn’t have the ability to interpret dreams, but God certainly did. As we mentioned last week, Joseph had God-confidence – not self-confidence.

Well, to make a long story short, Joseph goes on to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, which in essence, were a warning from God that after 7 years of great prosperity in Egypt, there would be 7 years of terrible famine.

And this is where everything changed for Joseph. Because Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, Pharaoh determined that no one in Egypt was as wise as Joseph and so he gave Joseph full authority over all of Egypt – so that Joseph could make the necessary preparations for this upcoming famine. No one would be greater than Joseph in all of Egypt except for Pharaoh himself.

In one day, everything changed for Joseph. He went from being a slave in prison, to the second-in-command over all of Egypt. Pharaoh even gave him him a new Egyptian name and an Egyptian wife. What a total life change!

And it’s right at that moment of life-change that we pick it up today – with Joseph now the second-in-command over all of Egypt. The story of Joseph is far from over, so we’re going to find out what happened next. We continue reading in Genesis 41, verse 45.

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The Day That Changed Everything

Most of our days are filled with the routine, ordinary, and rather mundane events of life. Things like brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, driving to work, doing the laundry, mowing the lawn, watching tv…. Just regular run-of-the-mill stuff.

And most of our days are like that. Just another day – doing pretty much the same thing as you’ve done hundreds of times before.

But every once in a while, we have a different kind of day… A day that changes everything.

Coleson and Dana had one of those days yesterday. They may not have even fully realized it, but for them, yesterday changed everything! As they stood before friends and family and said their marriage vows to one another, their lives headed down a brand new path and things will be forever different in their lives.

John & Wendy had one of those days about 45 years ago! They celebrated 45 years of marriage a week ago Saturday and I’m sure they would testify that when they said “I do” 45 years ago – that was a day that changed everything!

And it’s not just wedding days that change everything. Sometimes its the day of the car accident that changes everything. Or the day your little one was born. Or the day you started that new job. Or whatever it is… Everyone once in a while, we have those days – those days that change everything!

Well, Joseph was about to have one of those days.

When we last left Joseph, he was in the prison in the palace of the guard in Egypt.

Some time before this he had been sold as a slave (by his brothers) and had been bought by a man named Potiphar. But Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph and he was thrown into prison for a crime that he never committed. But through it all, we were reminded last week that the Lord was with Joseph – even in the prison – and God caused everything Joseph did to succeed, causing him to quickly gain the trust of the prison keeper who then put him in charge of all the other prisoners.

As it happened, Pharaoh had thrown his cup-bearer and his baker into that same prison and so one day as Joseph cared for these two men, Joseph noticed that they seemed to be upset about something. They went on to tell Joseph that they had each had a dream that clearly had some important meaning, but didn’t know what that meaning was.

Well to make a long story short, God revealed to Joseph what the dreams meant and so Joseph was able to tell these two men the meaning of their dreams. He told them that in three days, the baker unfortunately would be executed by Pharaoh and the cup-bearer would be freed from prison and would get his job back. And then, as Joseph is explaining all this, Joseph also says this to the cup-bearer: (In Genesis chapter 40, verse 14…)

14 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.” Genesis 40:14-15

It was probably a long-shot to hope for Pharaoh’s help, but that was probably Joseph’s only hope that he would ever get out of that prison.

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Joseph in Prison

Today we continue looking at the story of Joseph. For those who may not have been with us for these past few weeks, Joseph was a young man, who, although the favourite of his father, was hated by his brothers. I won’t rehash the backstory of why that was, but they hated him so much that they were willing to kill him! In fact, one day they grabbed him and threw him in a pit and left him to die. But then, through the providence of God, a roving band of slave traders came by and so rather than leaving him to die, they decided to sell Joseph as a slave to these slave traders instead.

To make a long story short, Jospeh’s new owners took him down to Egypt where he was sold to a man named Potiphar – who happened to be the captain of the the guard for Pharaoh.

And as Mike shared with us two week ago, the Lord was with Joseph – even in slavery – and Joseph quickly rose in the ranks among the slaves in Potiphar’s house – eventually becoming the head of the household – with no one having more authority than he did (except of course for Potiphar himself).

Mike also noted that the Bible described Joseph as being very handsome and well-built. Potiphar’s wife made note of that as well and she tried relentlessly to convince Joseph to sleep with her. But Joseph wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t sin against his master Potiphar and he would not sin against God.

This didn’t sit well with Mrs. Potiphar and so one day, after her advances were once again rejected by Joseph, she falsely accused Joseph of trying to sleep with her. She painted him as the bad guy and Joseph ended up being thrown into prison.

And so that’s where we last left Joseph a couple weeks ago. And you’ve really got to appreciate the roller coaster ride that Joseph life has been so far. It’s just a series of highs and then lows, highs and then lows – over and over again.

He was the favourite of his father – but all his brothers hated him.
His dad honored him with a beautiful coat of many colours – then his brother’s threw him in a pit and left him to die.
He was was rescued from that pit – only to be sold as a slave.
He rose to be the head of Potiphar’s house – but then falsely accused and thrown in prison.

It’s just one thing after another after another….

But throughout the story we get this cool little reminder – there’s a phrase that keeps popping up: (I think it comes up 4 times in Genesis 39…) And it’s that phrase that I want to start with today. I think I’m overlapping a little bit with where Mike left off, but I want to start in Genesis chapter 39, starting at verse 21.

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Tag: dreams

True Identity

The Day That Changed Everything

Joseph in Prison