March 7, 2009

Lean Times

Dreams come true - From the account of Joseph, YHWH demonstrates his great love for His people Israel by Raising up Joseph from a life of slavery to an adviser to Pharaoh.
 
The account of Joseph begins in Genesis 37.  From the beginning of the story of Joseph, we see Jacob/Israel, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel or in this case twelve sons show favoritism toward his younger son Joseph.  Joseph is clothed in a robe with long sleeves.  In Genesis 37:3, the Bible says, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.”  This beginning shows the dysfunction of the family of Joseph.  First, Israel loves Joseph more than his other sons.  Second, he gives Joseph a robe that is a constant reminder to his other sons of how Israel loves Joseph more than them.  Thus it would seem that the robe Joseph wore could very well have had the significance the Bible attributes to it-namely, that it marked the wearer as a favorite.   This is a big problem from the start as to how out of touch Israel is within his own family unit. 

Joseph being the favorite of Israel does not help his cause when he brings bad reports about his brother’s to his father.  Joseph also tells his brothers and father about two dreams he had where they were bowing before him.  Joseph was telling his entire family that one day he was going to rule over them.  This gets Joseph the nickname ‘dreamer.’  Joseph had a gift from YHWH that would get him before Pharaoh but this is a long way from that day, in this context, the brothers use the term to mock him and they take it as an insult to them.  We can be quite sure that the older brothers had no idea of flattering Joseph when they used this expression, but what could better describe the peculiar talent that was to bring Joseph both fame and power that to call him the “master of dreams”?   Genesis 37:18-19, the Bible says, “They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.  They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer.  Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’”  This is all a result of the blatant favoritism of Israel toward Joseph over his brother’s and this leads to them wanting to kill him but instead they decide to sell him into slavery in Genesis 37:28.  Joseph was sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver (Gn 37:28), and that was also the average price of a slave in ancient Babylon.  It was the same as the price of an ox. 

This is a little introduction into the beginning of Joseph’s story but if we go back to the date of his birth an exact date is not known.  Joseph was born three generations after Abraham but before the small family of Jacob entered Egypt.   Translating this into the frame of secular history, archaeological evidence puts the age of Abraham in the Middle Bronze Age, somewhere in the first half of the second millennium, and the entry into Egypt during the second “intermediate” period, which covers a period of over two hundred years.  Our only hope for dating Joseph more exactly lies within the realm of archaeology-i.e., the possibility of establishing a convincing synchronism for Gen.14, or the recovery of more Hyksos documents.  

Joseph went down to Egypt during the Hyksos period.  In the latter half of the eighteenth century, the Middle Kingdom declined under rival dynasties.  With the country weakened, foreign peoples from Canaan (later called Palestine) and southern Syria infiltrated and eventually seized power.  Named Hyksos, an Egyptian term meaning “foreign chiefs,” their exact identity is still much debated.  The majority were certainly West Semites (Canaanites or Amorites).  They placed their capital at Avaris in the north-eastern Delta region.  For about a century, (ca. 1650-1540), during the second intermediate period, they ruled Egypt and parts of Canaan.  It is not unlikely that during this time Joseph and his brothers came down into Egypt.

There is a recurring theme of being favored then hated or being forgotten in the life of Joseph from Genesis 37 through Genesis 41.  Joseph is favored by his father but hated by his brother’s in Genesis 37.  In Genesis 39, Joseph is favored by Potiphar, the captain of the guard in Egypt when he is put in charge of his house but he is hated by Potiphar’s wife when she lies about him trying to seduce her when in fact she was trying to seduce him.  As a result, Joseph was thrown into prison for this offence.  In Genesis 40, Joseph is favored by the prison warden and put in charge of the prison then he met the chief baker and cupbearer of Pharaoh and interpreted dreams they had by giving them the meaning of each dream but when he asked the cupbearer to remember him and mention him to Pharaoh and ask Pharaoh to get him out of prison because he was an innocent man, the cupbearer forgot him. 

This all leads up to Joseph being in a position to use his gift of interpreting dreams before the most powerful man on earth, Pharaoh King of Egypt.  The Bible says in Genesis 41:1-5, “After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass.  Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows.  And Pharaoh awoke.”  The interesting thing about Pharaoh’s dream is the reference to the Nile River.  The Nile, as is well known, is the condition on which Egypt’s fruitfulness depends.  Its overflowing fertilizes the soil, and when it does not occur, the crops fail.   YHWH gives Pharaoh a dream where he is standing on the Nile, the very strength of all of the land of Egypt.  The LORD is showing how he deals with the rulers of the earth and in this instance He gives Pharaoh a dream where the Nile is producing death in that the ugly cows come up out of the Nile and eat the sleek and fat cows.  I believe God is showing that Nile only produces life because He wills it but in this instance, it will be an agent of death because something horrific is about to take place. 

Another interesting thing about these first few verses of Genesis 41 is the reference to the term “after two whole years.”  Joseph had asked the cupbearer to remember him before Pharaoh at the end of Genesis 40 but instead he was forgotten by him.  Two years is a long time and Joseph had to be disappointed but had to move on with life and accept the fact that he would never get out of the dungeon. 

Genesis 41:1-16 is all about two dreams that Pharaoh had that troubled him deep within his spirit.  In verses 5-9, Pharaoh has a second dream but this time he sees seven healthy ears of corn get swallowed up by seven thin blighted ears of corn.  Again YHWH gets the attention of Pharaoh with a dream that shakes him up at his very core.  The first dream had seven healthy and seven ugly cows and the second dream has seven healthy ears and seven thin blighted ears of corn.  The number seven is of significance to the dreams of Pharaoh but who could tell him what they mean?  In verse 8 it says, “In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.”

Now the gift that God placed in Joseph as the dream interpreter is going to get him from the dungeons of Egypt to the palace of Pharaoh.  The gift of God will not only deliver Joseph from an unjust prison term but it will deliver the entire known world from a severe famine and save many lives.  God used a dream to shake the foundation of the Egyptian Kingdom.  Dreams seem to play an important part in the Egyptian culture.  God conducts every nation by its special characteristic, by its religious forms, according to the measure of piety that is in them. Thus He ruled the Egyptians through the night-life and the world of dreams.

The Egyptian symbolism in the dreams of Pharaoh.  “These and similar thoughts, no doubt, occurred also to the Egyptian scribes, but Joseph’s divinely-sealed glance was necessary in assuming the responsibility of the fourteen years, as well as in the interpretation of the dreams, which afterwards appear very simple and obvious.”

Joseph has been preparing for this from age 17 in Genesis 37 when he has the dreams he tells his brothers and father about ruling over them to age 30 in Genesis 41 when he is going to be called upon to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh.  God was with him all along, through the ups and down’s and now YHWH is going to call upon him to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, King of Egypt.  Joseph has a gift of interpreting dreams and from those first two dreams he has in chapter 37, God is setting the stage for Joseph not only to rule over his family but give a dream interpretation that will affect the entire world during Joseph’s time. 

The verb pasar occurs in rabbinic literature with the meaning “be lukewarm,” probably a homophone, then “dissolve, solve, be loosed, undone,” though also “interpret dreams” (e.g., Bab. Yoma 28b; Ber. 56a).   Pasar is the Hebrew word for interpret.  Pasar can refer to interpreting words or dreams.  The word is used in Genesis 41:8, 12, 13, and 15.  Joseph had the gift of Pasar and God squeezed the Egyptians, got the attention of their ruler, and gave Joseph an audience with him so God could use Joseph to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh when all of the wise men in all of the land of Egypt couldn’t.  Joseph is quick to remind Pharaoh that God is the one who will give Pharaoh an answer to the dreams.  Joseph was only an agent of God and could do nothing apart from YHWH. 

Genesis 41:15-16 says, “And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.’  Joseph answered Pharaoh, ‘It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favourable answer.’  This is the climax of Genesis 41:1-16 because now the Pasar, master of dream interpretation is before Pharaoh who just had a disturbing dream and he is in need of a Pasar and its no accident that God has Joseph in a dungeon in the land of Egypt when two year later, the cupbearer of Pharaoh remembers his shortcomings and remembers a young Hebrew who just happens to specialize in dream interpretations because God was with Joseph and raised him up for such a time as that.  Joseph was born to interpret dreams and rule with wisdom and discernment and during those perilous times, Pharaoh had a Pasar in Joseph who had the Spirit of God directing his every move.

Just as God raised up Joseph to dream and lead in lean times, He is raising up dreamers to lead a generation in whom the Spirit of God leads.  The world is asking for hope and these dreamers preach under the direction of the God of Hope.  The world is asking for answers and these dreamers have the Answer because they are led by Jesus Christ, the Lord in whom are all the answers. 

When the world asks for a Pasar to interpret the times because lean times are coming and in fact are already here, God will send the dreamers of these times to give direction and vision for the terrible times that lie ahead and they will be His mouth piece, giving direction to the great of this world because they will see God moving through the dreamers of this age. 

Do we have any dreamers in whom is the Spirit of God?  If that is you, serve Him Faithfully and when the time comes, the Pharaoh's of our time will come calling, asking for your advice as to how to deal with things during these lean times.  That is when God will shine through you like the noon day sun, giving wisdom and discernment in the leanest of times.

Challenge -  Prepare for lean, lean times because in those days will God get the attention of the movers and shakers and raise up dream interpreter's who will speak to the lean times and make them surrender to the will of God. 

Serve Him faithfully in the little things becasue the big things are coming and the fate of the world will require you to be in tune with Him so you will interpret the times and speak forth His hope in the days to come.

When the Pharaoh's of our time come calling for a Pasar/Dream interpreter, stand boldly with a a humble heart, and speak forth His vision because you are His instrument put on the scene for the saving of many lives.


Be Blessed,

Joey