The Dreamer
Monologues
Let Me Tell You ...
People Of Faith Speak To Their Times And Ours
My name is Joseph, "Overseer of the Granaries of Upper and Lower Egypt, Royal Seal-Bearer, by reason of wisdom, Father of the King of Egypt, Great Steward of the Lord of the Two Lands, Foremost of Courtiers, Chief of the Entire Land." Such are my titles and such people now call me when they seek my attention. Yet, such noble-sounding titles have not always been my lot, for I was not born noble, neither was I born Egyptian. In fact, it is in humility that I now bear these titles, for I understand that they were conferred by Almighty God.
I do not for one minute think that you are interested in hearing my success story because of who I am. But perhaps you would find it helpful to hear how God could surmount, even use, the evil circumstances in one life, and bring great good out of them. Perhaps your life is similarly plagued. If so, I do not know what God has in store for you, but if you are faithful, God may bring good out of your circumstances, too.
The greatest obstacle God had to overcome in my early years was pride. You see, I had been raised under the doting care of my father, Jacob. Sometimes he is also called Israel. He was a sheik -- a wandering shepherd chieftain in the land of Canaan. He had four wives, but my mother, Rachel, was the love of his life. In all, my father had twelve children, but only two by Rachel. I was the first one born to Rachel, so I was his favorite. My father never tried to hide his favoritism, and so I naturally assumed that somehow I was superior to my brothers. I got easier work, and I stayed around the tent when my brothers went out to pasture their sheep. I'm afraid I did not have the good sense to be humble about these blessings, and I tried to lord it over my brothers. To make matters worse, my father gave me a coat of many colors -- a sign of authority -- a badge of special preference -- and I wore it for all it was worth.
Beyond that, I had premonitions of a great destiny. And like a fool, I never let my family forget it. You see, I periodically had dreams which spoke for themselves. I dreamed once that we were binding stacks of grain in the field, when suddenly my stack stood erect and each of my brothers' stacks bowed before it. In my usually arrogant manner, I told my brothers the dream and they said, "Do you really expect to reign over us?" I had another dream in which the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed before me. When I told that, even my father couldn't take it. He said, "Shall your brothers and even your father and mother bow before you? Come, come now, Joseph." My father dismissed it, but my brothers were consumed with jealousy.
As is so often the case with those who are blessed, I was completely oblivious to my brothers' feelings. That brought me to my first disaster. When I was seventeen years old, my brothers happened to be pasturing the sheep several days journey from our home. My father wanted to know how things were going with my ten older brothers, so he sent me to find out. When I was still some distance from their camp, my brothers saw me and conspired to kill me. Reuben, my oldest brother, was not sold on the idea, however, and he persuaded the rest to throw me into a dry well to die of thirst. I learned years later that he had intended to come and get me out. Judah, another brother, didn't want my blood on his hands either, so when a caravan of Midianite traders passed by, he suggested that I be sold to them as a slave. They all agreed to that, and I was carried off to Egypt. I learned years later that my brothers dipped my coat of many colors in goat's blood and brought it to my father to convince him that I had been killed by a wild beast. I could only see the dark prospect of slavery before me at the time, but I now have sufficient insight to ask, "Was it just fate that a caravan happened to come by, and thus save my life?"
The second phase of my life takes place in Egypt. I was sold to Potiphar, a captain of Pharaoh's guard. At first I did menial tasks, but Potiphar took a liking to me, and put me in charge of his whole household. My authority was next to his own. It was not like being at home, but it was better than a slave could have expected. My misfortunes had taught me humility; my new position taught me responsibility, and I was grateful to Potiphar.
There was a fly in the ointment, however. Potiphar, being a soldier, was away a good deal, and his attractive wife became bored. For want of anything better to do, she began to make advances toward me, at first in jest, but then in dead earnest. I could not bring myself to violate Potiphar's trust in me, however, and I resisted her every appeal. Her advances became more and more overt, until one day she grabbed my coat and I couldn't think of anything else to save us from our passions, so I ran out. She felt rebuffed, perhaps ashamed, and determined to get back at me, so she called in the servants and showed them my coat, saying that I had tried to assault her. I know what you're thinking. I see that knowing look in everybody's eyes when I tell them that part of the story. They think that either I did try to assault her and failed, or that if I'm telling the truth, I shouldn't have been as pure as all that. You know, people are always talking about virtue and integrity, but when they meet someone who has resisted temptation, when it would have been easier to yield, they don't really believe it could happen.
Well, of course she told Potiphar, and he had me thrown in prison. Since he was an officer in the palace guard he had me placed in the royal prison, where I was confined with the king's own prisoners -- there to await my fate. What more could happen to me -- alone, a slave, imprisoned in a foreign country, awaiting death? That prison was my home for years. Perhaps Potiphar forgot about me, or perhaps he had suspicions about his wife and chose to proceed no farther. I, in any case, was left to rot.
While I was in prison, however, the warden took notice of me and made me a trustee. In fact, he put me in charge of all the prisoners. This wasn't like being in Potiphar's house, but if one had to be in prison, this was the best way. While I was there, the king became angry with his chief butler and chief baker and had them thrown into prison. I came to know them well. One night, each of them had a dream, and they were troubled because they could not understand their dreams. When I heard the dreams, God gave me the power to interpret them. I told the baker that in three days he would be executed, and the butler that in three days he would be restored to the king's service. Each was dealt with as I had said. I asked the butler to remember me before the king when he was restored, but he did not. Yet, in the light of what subsequently happened, I must ask: Was it just fate that I was accused falsely by Potiphar's wife? Was it just fate that I was thrown into the king's own prison, that I met his servants, heard their dreams, interpreted them rightly? I am convinced it was more than fate.
The third part of my story deals with how I became Prime Minister of all Egypt. Two years after the butler's release, Pharaoh had two dreams. In one he saw seven skinny cows eat seven fat ones and get no larger. In the other he saw seven empty ears of grain eat seven full ears of grain. He sought for interpretation and could find none. Then it was that the butler remembered his experience and told Pharaoh of me. Pharaoh sent for me and demanded interpretation. I told him that if the interpretation came, it would be from God alone. As Pharaoh told me his dreams, their meaning became obvious to me. The good grain and cattle stood for seven years of plenty. The poor grain and cattle stood for seven years of famine that would devour what was stored in the good years. I made the interpretation known and advised Pharaoh to appoint a minister of agriculture to gather surplus grain for the lean years ahead. Of all persons, Pharaoh appointed me! He gave me unlimited authority to gather grain, and bestowed upon me the titles I mentioned earlier.
Little did I realize that my greatest test was still before me. When the famine came, it struck all of the Middle East. People came from near and far to buy grain. And among them all, one day, stood my ten brothers. After twenty years, they had fallen into my hands. They did not recognize me, but bowed down, begging permission to buy grain. I did not know what I would do with them. I thought I would test them to see if they had changed any. Through my interpreter I accused them of being spies. They insisted that they were ten brothers, that one was dead and that another younger one was at home. I said the only way I would believe them was if they could produce the other brother who was still at home. They could buy grain, I said, but one would have to remain as hostage until the rest returned with the younger brother. I wanted to see Benjamin again, for he was the only other one born to my mother. They bemoaned their fate, and I heard them say that this had befallen them because of their treatment of me years before. I gave them further cause for alarm by having their money put back in their grain sacks.
In time they returned to me with our youngest brother, Benjamin, and I released Simeon, whom I had detained. They said their father would die if anything happened to Benjamin. I wanted to see if they would be more noble toward Benjamin than they had been toward me, so I had my own silver cup put in Benjamin's sack of grain. When they had left, I sent soldiers after them to apprehend the one who had taken my cup. They all returned, and Judah pleaded with me to punish him and let Benjamin go. I could no longer contain myself, and in tears of joy I revealed who I was. They were seized with guilt and fully expected I would kill them all in revenge. Instead, I pleaded with them to bring my father and all their families to live with me in Egypt. They did just that.
We were happy together for years, and my father died happy at a good old age. Then my brothers began to fear again that perhaps I had only spared them for my father's sake and that I would now take revenge. It was then that I told them what I had learned about the hand of God: "Fear not, for while you meant evil against me, God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive."
Perhaps you have been wondering why I am telling you all this. I simply want to point out that things may look bad while they are happening, as indeed they did for me when I was thrown into a pit, when I was sold into slavery, when Potiphar's wife got me undeserved disgrace, and when I lay in Pharaoh's prison. But try to view things from the other end, too. Who brought the caravan by at the right time? Why was I placed in a royal prison? What brought me to the attention of Pharaoh's servant, and consequently to Pharaoh? Good people could not have made these things happen, nor could bad people have prevented them. God was at work in all of this. I don't believe that God brings bad situations on us -- but God can use them. I don't say God always brings good out of evil, but I do think that if we continue to trust God, we will be able to look back and see that God really has been with us, even when we did not know it.
I do not for one minute think that you are interested in hearing my success story because of who I am. But perhaps you would find it helpful to hear how God could surmount, even use, the evil circumstances in one life, and bring great good out of them. Perhaps your life is similarly plagued. If so, I do not know what God has in store for you, but if you are faithful, God may bring good out of your circumstances, too.
The greatest obstacle God had to overcome in my early years was pride. You see, I had been raised under the doting care of my father, Jacob. Sometimes he is also called Israel. He was a sheik -- a wandering shepherd chieftain in the land of Canaan. He had four wives, but my mother, Rachel, was the love of his life. In all, my father had twelve children, but only two by Rachel. I was the first one born to Rachel, so I was his favorite. My father never tried to hide his favoritism, and so I naturally assumed that somehow I was superior to my brothers. I got easier work, and I stayed around the tent when my brothers went out to pasture their sheep. I'm afraid I did not have the good sense to be humble about these blessings, and I tried to lord it over my brothers. To make matters worse, my father gave me a coat of many colors -- a sign of authority -- a badge of special preference -- and I wore it for all it was worth.
Beyond that, I had premonitions of a great destiny. And like a fool, I never let my family forget it. You see, I periodically had dreams which spoke for themselves. I dreamed once that we were binding stacks of grain in the field, when suddenly my stack stood erect and each of my brothers' stacks bowed before it. In my usually arrogant manner, I told my brothers the dream and they said, "Do you really expect to reign over us?" I had another dream in which the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed before me. When I told that, even my father couldn't take it. He said, "Shall your brothers and even your father and mother bow before you? Come, come now, Joseph." My father dismissed it, but my brothers were consumed with jealousy.
As is so often the case with those who are blessed, I was completely oblivious to my brothers' feelings. That brought me to my first disaster. When I was seventeen years old, my brothers happened to be pasturing the sheep several days journey from our home. My father wanted to know how things were going with my ten older brothers, so he sent me to find out. When I was still some distance from their camp, my brothers saw me and conspired to kill me. Reuben, my oldest brother, was not sold on the idea, however, and he persuaded the rest to throw me into a dry well to die of thirst. I learned years later that he had intended to come and get me out. Judah, another brother, didn't want my blood on his hands either, so when a caravan of Midianite traders passed by, he suggested that I be sold to them as a slave. They all agreed to that, and I was carried off to Egypt. I learned years later that my brothers dipped my coat of many colors in goat's blood and brought it to my father to convince him that I had been killed by a wild beast. I could only see the dark prospect of slavery before me at the time, but I now have sufficient insight to ask, "Was it just fate that a caravan happened to come by, and thus save my life?"
The second phase of my life takes place in Egypt. I was sold to Potiphar, a captain of Pharaoh's guard. At first I did menial tasks, but Potiphar took a liking to me, and put me in charge of his whole household. My authority was next to his own. It was not like being at home, but it was better than a slave could have expected. My misfortunes had taught me humility; my new position taught me responsibility, and I was grateful to Potiphar.
There was a fly in the ointment, however. Potiphar, being a soldier, was away a good deal, and his attractive wife became bored. For want of anything better to do, she began to make advances toward me, at first in jest, but then in dead earnest. I could not bring myself to violate Potiphar's trust in me, however, and I resisted her every appeal. Her advances became more and more overt, until one day she grabbed my coat and I couldn't think of anything else to save us from our passions, so I ran out. She felt rebuffed, perhaps ashamed, and determined to get back at me, so she called in the servants and showed them my coat, saying that I had tried to assault her. I know what you're thinking. I see that knowing look in everybody's eyes when I tell them that part of the story. They think that either I did try to assault her and failed, or that if I'm telling the truth, I shouldn't have been as pure as all that. You know, people are always talking about virtue and integrity, but when they meet someone who has resisted temptation, when it would have been easier to yield, they don't really believe it could happen.
Well, of course she told Potiphar, and he had me thrown in prison. Since he was an officer in the palace guard he had me placed in the royal prison, where I was confined with the king's own prisoners -- there to await my fate. What more could happen to me -- alone, a slave, imprisoned in a foreign country, awaiting death? That prison was my home for years. Perhaps Potiphar forgot about me, or perhaps he had suspicions about his wife and chose to proceed no farther. I, in any case, was left to rot.
While I was in prison, however, the warden took notice of me and made me a trustee. In fact, he put me in charge of all the prisoners. This wasn't like being in Potiphar's house, but if one had to be in prison, this was the best way. While I was there, the king became angry with his chief butler and chief baker and had them thrown into prison. I came to know them well. One night, each of them had a dream, and they were troubled because they could not understand their dreams. When I heard the dreams, God gave me the power to interpret them. I told the baker that in three days he would be executed, and the butler that in three days he would be restored to the king's service. Each was dealt with as I had said. I asked the butler to remember me before the king when he was restored, but he did not. Yet, in the light of what subsequently happened, I must ask: Was it just fate that I was accused falsely by Potiphar's wife? Was it just fate that I was thrown into the king's own prison, that I met his servants, heard their dreams, interpreted them rightly? I am convinced it was more than fate.
The third part of my story deals with how I became Prime Minister of all Egypt. Two years after the butler's release, Pharaoh had two dreams. In one he saw seven skinny cows eat seven fat ones and get no larger. In the other he saw seven empty ears of grain eat seven full ears of grain. He sought for interpretation and could find none. Then it was that the butler remembered his experience and told Pharaoh of me. Pharaoh sent for me and demanded interpretation. I told him that if the interpretation came, it would be from God alone. As Pharaoh told me his dreams, their meaning became obvious to me. The good grain and cattle stood for seven years of plenty. The poor grain and cattle stood for seven years of famine that would devour what was stored in the good years. I made the interpretation known and advised Pharaoh to appoint a minister of agriculture to gather surplus grain for the lean years ahead. Of all persons, Pharaoh appointed me! He gave me unlimited authority to gather grain, and bestowed upon me the titles I mentioned earlier.
Little did I realize that my greatest test was still before me. When the famine came, it struck all of the Middle East. People came from near and far to buy grain. And among them all, one day, stood my ten brothers. After twenty years, they had fallen into my hands. They did not recognize me, but bowed down, begging permission to buy grain. I did not know what I would do with them. I thought I would test them to see if they had changed any. Through my interpreter I accused them of being spies. They insisted that they were ten brothers, that one was dead and that another younger one was at home. I said the only way I would believe them was if they could produce the other brother who was still at home. They could buy grain, I said, but one would have to remain as hostage until the rest returned with the younger brother. I wanted to see Benjamin again, for he was the only other one born to my mother. They bemoaned their fate, and I heard them say that this had befallen them because of their treatment of me years before. I gave them further cause for alarm by having their money put back in their grain sacks.
In time they returned to me with our youngest brother, Benjamin, and I released Simeon, whom I had detained. They said their father would die if anything happened to Benjamin. I wanted to see if they would be more noble toward Benjamin than they had been toward me, so I had my own silver cup put in Benjamin's sack of grain. When they had left, I sent soldiers after them to apprehend the one who had taken my cup. They all returned, and Judah pleaded with me to punish him and let Benjamin go. I could no longer contain myself, and in tears of joy I revealed who I was. They were seized with guilt and fully expected I would kill them all in revenge. Instead, I pleaded with them to bring my father and all their families to live with me in Egypt. They did just that.
We were happy together for years, and my father died happy at a good old age. Then my brothers began to fear again that perhaps I had only spared them for my father's sake and that I would now take revenge. It was then that I told them what I had learned about the hand of God: "Fear not, for while you meant evil against me, God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive."
Perhaps you have been wondering why I am telling you all this. I simply want to point out that things may look bad while they are happening, as indeed they did for me when I was thrown into a pit, when I was sold into slavery, when Potiphar's wife got me undeserved disgrace, and when I lay in Pharaoh's prison. But try to view things from the other end, too. Who brought the caravan by at the right time? Why was I placed in a royal prison? What brought me to the attention of Pharaoh's servant, and consequently to Pharaoh? Good people could not have made these things happen, nor could bad people have prevented them. God was at work in all of this. I don't believe that God brings bad situations on us -- but God can use them. I don't say God always brings good out of evil, but I do think that if we continue to trust God, we will be able to look back and see that God really has been with us, even when we did not know it.
