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4-22-2018 Weekly Message
Meditations on this week: Psalm 105:1-23
Text: Genesis 37:1-11
Message: Life and reward for the Christian with dream as Joseph

God gave Joseph, the son of Jacob, whom he loved, a dream to live in the hope of fulfilling his dream. He did not only think of the dream he had received from God, but told  his brothers and his father:
” And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. “(Genesis 37: 6, 7, 9).

The brothers who heard Joseph’s dream  noticed what his dream meant, but did not like Joseph’s words or prayed for him, but rather hated him more. But his father, Jacob, did not ignore Joseph’s dream unlike his brothers.

Until the word of God was recorded, it was the time when God delivered his will through dreams and revelations. But now, given the Scripture in which the Word of God is written, it is now giving a dream and revelation through his Word. As in those days, Christians who believe in a dream given through the Word of God are not to only believe but to confess with their mouths. It was a dream that Joseph shall be a king in the days to come and rule over Israel, but his brothers were not realistic at all, but they envied Joseph. It was a dream that could just be mocked with laugh, but because of their conscience, Joseph received jealousy from his brothers.. But Jacob, who feared God, kept his dream in mind.

Likewise, God gave the born-again Christians in the Church of God the same dream given to Joseph through the Word of God. But the carnal Christian who does not believe or care about the dream, is to envy and persecute spiritual Christians who firmly believe in the word of this hope. It is because they are thought to be crazy people, and on the other hand, they are jealous of those who believe and confess God’s dream. There are Christians like Joseph, and Christians like his brothers.
When God speaks through dreams or words, it is not to accomplish the will of any individual, but to do God’s own will. It is possible for us to know through God’s Word  of  His plan in the mind of God until he gives Joseph a dream.

When God called Abraham and gave him a covenant, he said that in the future they would inherit the land of Canaan and spoke beforehand about what would happen to the Israelites who would become his descendants before entering the land:
”  Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.(Genesis 15: 13-14)

God had planned for four hundred years to test the humility to fear God before the children of Israel would go into the land of Canaan where milk and honey flowed. Nevertheless, only two of the millions of people who came out of the land of Egypt entered into Canaan, Joshua and Caleb. And only them that were born in the wilderness entered into Canaan through holiness with circumcision.

God chose Joseph to lead the Israelites to the land of Egypt and gave him a dream that Jacob and his brothers, through God’s way, would go into the land of Egypt. When Joseph visited his brothers in the field with his father’s errands, his brothers tried to kill him, but God used Judas to sell him to the  merchants going  to Egypt, Finally, God allowed Joseph to be sold as a slave to the house of Pharaoh’s guard Captain Potiphar. .Joseph, who firmly believed in God’s dream, always worked with gratitude, and everywhere he went,  blessing came upon him. He became a steward overseeing all the possessions of the house even in the position of slave. Likewise, spiritual Christians who firmly believe in the same dream as Joseph are also grateful in any circumstance and endure as doing the light’s role in the world through rejoicing.

To fulfill the scenario of all this God’s plan ,by the false witness that Potiphar’s wife said, he  was unjustly imprisoned in Pharaoh’s prison, sentenced him as a felony with chains on his feet,

 With thanksgiving, he was graced by the jailer and entrusted all the prisoners in prison to Joseph. In prison, he shone as God’s chosen people.

One day he interpreted the  dream of  a chief of butler of Pharaoh and he was reinstated as Joseph told him that he would soon be reinstated again. After that, he forgot to ask Pharaoh to help him out of prison over the years, but Joseph still lived a thankful life awaiting God’s time.

When the time finally came to fulfill God’s plan for Joseph, God caused Pharaoh to dream a terrible dream to make Joseph the second ruler of Egypt. None of the magicians and wise men could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. At that time, God reminded  the ruler of butler of Joseph, that Joseph received a call from Pharaoh and was brought out of prison. By interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, he became wise man  before Pharaoh and became the ruler next to Pharaoh .

Finally, by raising famine in the land of Canaan where they dwell, to fulfill the message that God will make the Israelites servant in Egypt for four hundred years, Joseph’s brothers and his father Jacob, and seventy others, . God blessed Joseph in the thirty years of their  life to settle down in Egypt, but after Joseph died , the new Pharaoh who not knew Joseph did  evil unto them  , and persecuted them for four hundred years. After four hundred years God  heard their voice of crying and God finally called  Moses to make them out of the land of Egypt.

God, who gave his dream to Joseph, who was only a child, had no choice but to fulfill his will by disciplining Joseph. The psalmist testified about this:
” He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:  18Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 19Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.

20The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.  21He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

22To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.  23Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

25He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants. “(Psalm 105 : 17-25)

Joseph became a model of Jesus to bear witness that he would be the king in the future  born as a Jew in the house of a poor carpenter. At that time, the carnal Jewish brothers were envious of Jesus as they had done to Joseph in the old days, and were eventually killed by them. But by His resurrection He will be the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, in the kingdom of God in heaven and on earth, He took away the sin of the world  through his resurrection and those who believe in Him, Jew and Gentile, will live forever. He will finally fulfill his dream received from the Father God.

In addition, he gave the same dream as Joseph unto his bride, that is his church that  is redeemed by his blood and received the Holy Spirit   Apostle Paul testified about the dreams of the children of God:
” For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.“(Romans 8: 15-18).

The message given by Apostle Paul is a message given to the Christians who had been persecuted in Rome, but like Joseph, who hold firmly to the dream that God has given them from Jesus Christ and who were receiving all the suffering. It is also a message to all Christians who shall gather together when the Lord Jesus Christ appears in the air and hold firmly to the dream of reigning with him as the joint- heir of Christ in his kingdom, and to endure all sufferings with thanksgiving.

God, who has accomplished all things making goodness in order to fulfill the dreams that have been given to Joseph, witnesses the  dream Christian as the joint- heir with Christ, and makes all their  sufferings pass through in all the persecuted lives to be ended with the dream come true. Apostle Paul testified to Pastor Timothy::
” If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:” (2 Timothy 2:12).

Amen! Hallelujah!