Six Dreams In The Life Of Joseph
There were only six dreams in the life of Joseph. These dreams
were significant as God communicated and revealed what was to happen in the
future to Joseph. God opened up a window to see what was ahead,
bringing hope and direction to a young man.
But these six dreams were not all dreamed by Joseph. Joseph himself
had only two dreams. But he could not interpret his own two dreams till they were
finally fulfilled many years later.
Genesis 37:5-11
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his
brothers; and they hated him even more.
6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf
arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all
around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or
shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more
for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it
to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And
this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to
me.”
10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father
rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have
dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to
bow down to the earth before you?”
11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept
the matter in mind.
The two dreams of Joseph caused him great trouble and pain. Those
two dreams immediately became nightmares! He
was nearly killed by his own brothers. But his life was spared, and
he was eventually sold to Egypt as a slave.
The other four dreams were dreamed by others, one by the butler,
one by the baker and two by Pharaoh.
The third and fourth dreams of dreams occurred during one of the
lowest and depressing periods in the life of Joseph. He was in the
prison. His wrongful imprisonment was because he refused the
seductive advances of Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39.
He did not dream those two dreams. He just interpreted them.
Joseph’s interpretations of these two dreams opened not just the
exit door of the prison but also the entrance door to the palace.
Genesis 40:5-8
5 Then the butler and the baker of the king of
Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of
them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its
own interpretation.
6 And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and
saw that they were sad.
7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of
his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8 And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no
interpreter of it.”
So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to
God? Tell them to me, please.”
The fifth and sixth dreams were dreamed by Pharaoh. These two
dreams of Pharaoh really troubled him badly. He sent for his experts
to tell him the meaning of the dreams, but they could not. The
butler suddenly remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about Joseph.
Genesis 41:1-15
Pharaoh’s Dreams
1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that
Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river.
2 Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking
and fat; and they fed in the meadow.
3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river,
ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the
river.
4 And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat
cows. So Pharaoh awoke.
5 He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly
seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good.
6 Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang
up after them.
7 And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads.
So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream.
8 Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled,
and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its
wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who
could interpret them for Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my
faults this day.
10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody
in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief
baker,
11 we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed
according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12 Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the
captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams
for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
13 And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it
happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they
brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his
clothing, and came to Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and
there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of
you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”
After Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh, he was promoted
to become the second most powerful man in Egypt after Pharaoh.
Genesis 40:39-44
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God
has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as
you.
40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be
ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be
greater than you.”
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the
land of Egypt.”
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on
Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put
a gold chain around his neck.
43 And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they
cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the
land of Egypt.
44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your
consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
Joseph only dreamed two dreams but he did not interpret his own
dreams. He did not know what they meant till they happened finally
many years later.
The other four dreams of others were interpreted by Joseph as God
gave him the interpretations.
Joseph was not trained in dreaming dreams and interpreting them. He
did not go to a school that taught him how to dream and interpret
the dreams. He
was not a prophet or a diviner skillfully trained in the art of
interpreting messages from the unknown realms, like the magicians
and wise men of Egypt.
Jude 8
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority,
and speak evil of dignitaries.
Today, we have a lot of dreamers claiming to be prophets in the
churches. They are guided by their dreams and their own
interpretations. They have indulged themselves with all kinds of
sins. They reject God’s authority. And they claim to have authority
over angels and other beings in the spiritual realm. They also command
them, and say
evil things about them. They claim to have gone up and down heaven
many times as if it is their home. And their descriptions of heaven
are made up and greatly exaggerated! And they have more than six dreams. They have more dreams than they can
ever remember.
And they interpret their own dreams, and prophesy to others their
dreams and interpretations. They are definitely not the prophets of
God.
2 Chronicles 20:20
So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness
of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear
me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD
your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets,
and you shall prosper.”
We need to first believe in the LORD our God, and we shall be
established. We then have to believe His prophets, and we shall
prosper.
But who are His prophets? Today, there are many false prophets and
apostles abounding and spreading false prophesies, dreams and
interpretations. They are not His prophets!
Many people do not believe in God. They are not founded and
established in His Word. But they will believe these false prophets
as their secret hearts lust after prosperity and wealth.
Jesus shared a revealing truth about true prophets.
Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and
stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to
gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, but you were not willing!
The true prophets of God were stoned to death by the people whom
they were sent to share the messages of God. Jesus Himself was
crucified by His own people.
Not coincidentally, Joseph was nearly killed by his own brothers for
his two dreams which he did not interpret.
Deuteronomy 18:13-14
13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.
14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to
soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God
has not appointed such for you.
Many soothsayers and diviners are pagan, doing fortune telling
and interpreting their own dreams and visions, and practicing magic
and witchcraft. But our God has not appointed them, and He does not allow us to do such things.
We need to stay away from these people. And we need to be blameless
before God.
Written on 8 January 2025