GENESIS 37:5-11
The Scriptures record that there was a twofold response to Joseph’s dreams: His brothers “envied him; but his father observed the saying” (Gen. 37:11). His brothers were jealous of him, but his father pondered and heeded what Joseph said. He began to reflect on how all this might fit into God’s program, although at first he had rebuked Joseph.
These prophetic dreams were God-given, and we are not told what Joseph’s attitude was as he told his father and brothers about them. Whether it was wise or unwise for Joseph to have told them, God permitted him to do so and even used the brothers’ reaction as a means toward fulfilling the prophetic aspect revealed in the dreams.
Many times in the years to follow, Joseph must have wondered about his dreams and their fulfillment. The next 13 years of his life were filled with many tests and trials. Humanly speaking, they all seemed to stem from the time when he incited his brothers’ hatred by sharing his dreams with them.
Had Joseph been looking at only the circumstances, he would have despaired of all hope, but his trust was in God. God’s ways are mysterious; they are beyond man’s comprehension. As God sovereignly works, man is often unable to understand why he is being led down a certain path.
Man’s goings are of the Lord, how can a man then understand his own way? (Prov. 20:24).
Theodore Epp www.backtothebible.in sms/wp:9492440070