Part One: Joseph the Dreamer

WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ

Finding Hope and Redemption in the Story of Joseph: Part One

It’s uncanny how some Biblical stories can capture so much of the human condition. From jealousy, to betrayal, to redemption, the Joseph narrative covers just about every base of human relations. In part one of this series, we will explore Joseph’s early life, his relationship with his father Israel (Jacob), and his dreams.

Who is Joseph?

In Genesis 37, we are introduced to Joseph. Joseph was one of twelve sons of Jacob. These twelve sons of Jacob would be the patriarchs of what would come to be known as the twelve tribes of Israel. Though Jacob was one of the youngest, we are told that “Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age” (Gen 37:3). This may also have been because Joseph was the product of Jacob and his favorite wife, Rachel. In fact, it seems Joseph held such a special place in the heart of his father that Jacob gave him a special robe of “many colors” that was not given to his other sons. While the Hebrew text is a bit vague on the description, we can conclude that this was a specially adorned article of clothing made especially for Joseph.

Jealousy Provoked

Needless to say, this favoritism toward Joseph put strain on the relational dynamics of the family. Tensions began to arise between Joseph and his brothers. Perhaps understandably, we are told that his brothers became so vexed and scandalized by this favoritism that “they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him” (Gen 37:4).

Like his father, Joseph also seemed to be prone to dreams. However, these dreams did next to nothing to alleviate the tension between him and his brothers. If anything, they added more fuel to the jealous fire:

“Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, ‘Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.’ His brothers said to him, ‘Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?’ So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.”

Gen 37:5-8

One could imagine the disbelief among his brothers at hearing Joseph describe his dream. It seemed to only exacerbate their fears of being rejected by their father in favor of Joseph. Nevertheless, the dream describes each brother as being represented by a sheaf. Each of his brothers’ sheaves went and bowed before Joseph’s. In a bit of disbelief, his brothers ask an obvious question: “What are you saying, Joseph? Are you saying that you are going to rule over all of us?!”

Now, in the context of sibling rivalry, there really isn’t much more of a horrifying prospect than the idea of being subject to one of our siblings. This seemed to really get under their skin, as the scriptures tell us that they hated him even more for this.

As if this wasn’t enough, Joseph has yet another dream. This time, the stakes are even higher as they implicate his mother and father as well as his brothers:

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” (Gen 37:9)

It has been pointed out by scholars that the sun and moon in this dream refer to Jacob and Rachel, and it seems even his father Jacob raised an eyebrow at the thought of bowing before Joseph:

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 (Gen 37:10-11).

Implications

Those of us who grow up in large families understand how sensitive the notion of favoritism can be. Because we are all born into sin, it works itself out in damage to relationships. Sin makes us all insecure, and when our security is warped, it drives us to do outlandish things such as favoring one child over another. It is sometimes said that the worst thing a parent can say to a child is “I wish you had never been born.” Yet, it is often not understood that showing favoritism can have a similar type of impact on other siblings when they begin to compare themselves to one another. Jacob’s favoritism may not have been telling his other sons that he prefer they’d never been born, but it does say that “I wish you were all more like your brother.”  Though it may seem insignificant to parents, the impact of favoritism is going to have lingering and deep effects upon a child’s psyche.

Both the favored child and the neglected child will both express this favoritism in different ways. For Joseph, it seems his favored status was something he liked to boast about, and seemed to have no problem letting his brothers know just where he stood with his father. This could be because he was a bit braggadocious, or perhaps he was even oblivious to the way he came across to his brothers.  For his brothers, it’s likely that this continued to provoke resentment toward Joseph, a resentment which will override familial love and drive them to betrayal. And although the situation seems to be building in a negative way, we will see that God is at work among all of the bitterness and heartache, and we will see this story foreshadow the life of our savior in a profound way.