Genesis 42: Dreams Do Come True

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You'll find more and see more than I can ever articulate. Welcome to Chapter by Chapter and today's Chapter is Genesis 42. Dreams do come true. Take note of the moments when the Bible gives ages and timelines. There may be some clarity for your life and for my life in those specified times. We know that Joseph was 17 years old when he had a dream. This is what he saw on Genesis 37 verses 5 through 8. Then Joseph had a dream and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I've had. For behold, we're binding sheaves in the field and low my sheath rose up and also stood erect and behold your sheaths gathered around and bowed down to my sheath." Verse 8 says, "Then his brother said to him, 'Are you actually going to reign over us?' Or, 'Are you really going to rule over us?' This teenager's dream got him in trouble. His brothers resented him. His father couldn't understand him but God was preparing him. God would take every painful moment this man's life as preparation for this seemingly impossible dream. And in Genesis 42 you're going to realize dreams do come true. For Joseph this dream came true 13 years later. The Holy Spirit specifically points out that Joseph was 30 years old when he went from convict to prime minister in Genesis 41-26. And now in Genesis 42 you read these three blockbuster words, listen to it. Now Joseph was the ruler of the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land and Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. Brothers bowing down. That's it. The dream did come true. But God had much more to do than just getting brothers to bow down like wheat in the field. There was a nation that needed to be saved and brought into Egypt. Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to get food just as Joseph told Pharaoh that this would happen. They came minus Benjamin, their youngest brother. Joseph recognizes his brothers but they don't recognize him. He starts to see a guilt and conviction come upon them as they recall amongst themselves the fate of their younger brother Joseph. It says in Genesis 42-21, "Then they set to one another truly were guilty of conserving our brother but we saw the distress of a soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us." Hearing those words made Joseph weak. He wants to see his brother Benjamin and his father Jacob. The prime minister Joseph concocted a plan to hold Simeon so they would have to come back and get him. He sent his brothers home with food and the money they paid for the food. They are perplexed to what's going on. In fact, they are so out of touch with spiritual things right now. They define these happenings in verse 28. Like this, "Then he set to his brothers. My money has been returned and behold it's even in my sack and their hearts sank. They turned trembling to one another saying, 'What is this that God has done to us?' They say, 'God is doing this to them. They can't even see God's hand anywhere in the story.' And neither does Jacob see God working when the sons return without Simeon. Jacob even says in verse 36, 'You bereave me of my children. Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin. All these things are against me.' Jacob just gets the news that Simeon is being held hostage by Joseph. Joseph wants to see Benjamin. There's a famine. And Jacob thinks Joseph is dead. All he could say to his sons is all these things are against me. And he doesn't even realize everything is working according to plan. Joseph is working on a master plan to bring the family together. So it seems to be working against him. It's really working for him. All these things are against me. Not at all. Jacob thought the man on the throne was working to his demise. With an actuality, he was working on his behalf. It was his relative that was on the throne. We must always remember that our man on the throne Jesus is our elder brother. He's working on our behalf always. Even though at times it may seem like all these things are against us, you need to remember they're working in our favor. For Joseph, his dream did come true. Much more was going to happen. Joseph was working not to have brothers simply bow before him, but to be reconciled to them. Joseph did not rule over them. He wanted them to all live together. The dreams he had sleeping would come true and the dreams he is having with his eyes open are going to come true. God is working everything out. It started like so many evenings. Mom and dad at home and Jimmy playing after dinner. Mom and dad were absorbed with jobs and did not notice the time. It was a full moon and some of the lights seeped through the windows. Then mom glanced at the clock. Jimmy, it's time to go to bed. Go up now and I'll come and settle you later. Unlike usual Jimmy when straight upstairs to his room, an hour or so later his mother came up to check if all was well and to her astonishment found that her son was staring quietly out of his window at the moonlit scenery. What are you doing Jimmy? I'm looking at the moon, mommy. Well, it's time to go to bed now. As one reluctant boy settled down, he said, "Mommy, you know one day I'm going to walk on the moon. Who could have known that that boy in whom the dream was planted that night would survive a near fatal motorbike crash which broke almost every bone in his body and would bring to fruition this dream 32 years later when James Irwin stepped on the moon's surface, just one of the twelve representatives of the human race to have done so. Jimmy was just a young boy when he had this dream. Joseph was a teenager when he had a dream. One would go to the moon, the other would lead a nation through its most prosperous and darkest season. For both of these men they had a dream before their dreams would come true. We need dreamers today. Thank you for joining chapter by chapter. Every chapter from the greatest book, the Bible, the Word of God. We'll see you tomorrow.