How Did Joseph's Dreams Really Get Fulfilled in Genesis 41?

   What was going on with Joseph’s dreams?  First off, would you have told your brothers that you had just dreamed that they were all going to bow down to you someday?  Didn’t he know that saying that would make them all hate him? 

On a sky train at River Front Park

     Fast forward to the scene in Genesis  37:18-28 where the brothers all see Joseph coming to check up on them and then conspire to get rid of him.  But when someone spies a caravan of traders in the distance, they change their minds and decide  to sell Joseph instead because after all he is their brother.  I’m totally thinking who are these people? You can almost see them clapping saying something like Let's see what happens to his dreams now!   It’s hard to believe they were actually the sons of a biblical patriarch.

      And as far as the dreams went, things didn’t look very good at all.  Especially when Joseph's working at Potiphar’s and his wife tells a big fat lie that throws him into prison.  And not just for one or two years either.  I did the math one time and it looks like he was there over 10 years!  I wonder if Joseph ever wondered how does working in this prison have anything to do with my dreams?

     When Joseph had been in prison about ten years, the Bible says the chief cupbearer and baker got imprisoned.  They had some really strange dreams, but Joseph explained them, and they come out exactly as he said. His parting words were like hey let Pharaoh know I was thrown in here unjustly.  But we know from Scripture that the cupbearer forgot.

     Have you ever thought about how Joseph’s dreams were actually fulfilled?  I learned in chapter 114 of the Life-Study of Genesis that it came from interpreting the dreams of others when his own hadn’t even been fulfilled.  Here’s some inspiring excerpts from pages 1471-1475 of that chapter:

.Joseph dreamed that he was a sheaf rising up and that his brothers were bowing down to him.  Ten years went by, and still this dream had not been fulfilled.  If this had happened to us, we would have been disappointed to the uttermost and said, ‘Forget about this dream. I’m through with being a dreamer and with hearing about dreams.’  If Joseph had done this, he probably

With my grandkids on the sky train.

would never have been released from prison. He was released from the dungeon by his speaking….Concerning the dream, the vision, it matters a great deal whether we say yes or no; for either our yes or our no will come true. Joseph’s speaking not only released him from prison, but also ushered him to the throne.  Joseph spoke himself to the throne. He was given authority directly through his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams (41:25-44)….Do not say that you are not qualified to speak, for the more you say that you are not qualified, and that you are in a dungeon, the longer you will remain in the dungeon….Learn to speak yourself out of your dungeon….A victorious and overcoming Christian will always be a dreamer….Day by day, let us all speak according to our vision, according to our dreams (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Genesis.  Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry 1978, Print).

      At the end of this chapter Witness Lee says that if Joseph would have gone into Pharaoh with an uncertain attitude about his ability to interpret his dreams, he would have been sent back to prison. In spite of Joseph’s own dreams not being fulfilled, he spoke boldly to Pharaoh. This is the point that touches my heart the most in this chapter--Joseph actually spoke his dreams into being!!

You can  also listen to live excerpts from these messages on  Genesis on Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.  

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Genesis:

From the Life-Study of Genesis - What is the Focus of the Bible?
What Happened Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?
Why Did God Create Man in Genesis 1:26?
Why Did God Create Man With 3 Parts in Genesis 2:7?
Why Did God Put Man in Front of the Two Trees in Genesis 2?
Seeing God's Purpose of Life & Building in the Book of Genesis
What is the Story Behind the Story of Cain & Abel?
What Did Enosh Learn to Do in Genesis 4:26?
How Did Enoch Escape Death in Genesis 5:24?
Why Did Noah Need to Find Grace in Genesis 6:8?
What Does the Rainbow Symbolize in Genesis 9:13?
How Did God Call Abraham in Genesis 12:1?
How Did God Fulfill the Birth of Isaac in Genesis 12:7?
What Does the Marriage of Isaac & Rebekah Show in Genesis 24?
How Does the Story of Jacob Show God's Selection in Genesis 25?
Why Did Jacob Dream About a Ladder in Genesis 28:12?
Seeing Our Spiritual Journey in the Lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, & Joseph
Why Did Jacob Call the Two Altars in Genesis 33 & 35 By Different Names?
How Do the Stories of Jacob & Joseph Mirror God's Purpose in Genesis 1:26?