Sketched X Day 9 Dreams & Designs: Digging deeper

Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
The Questions
1) Why is the timing in these verses recorded and how is it emphasized in the narrative? (verses 1-14)
2) What is the reader to learn about God and His revelations from this passage? (verses 15-27)
3) Why would the author record Joseph’s statement regarding the Lord’s determination of His plans? What does this reveal about Joseph’s faith? (verse 32)
Genesis 41:1-32
At the end of two years Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile, 2 when seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile. 4 The sickly, thin cows ate the healthy, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5 He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and good, came up on one stalk. 6 After them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, full ones. Then Pharaoh woke up, and it was only a dream.
8 When morning came, he was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
|9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. 10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guards. 11 He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. 12 Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. 13 It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”
14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.
16 “I am not able to,” Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
17 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows—weak, very sickly, and thin—came up. I’ve never seen such sickly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. 20 Then the thin, sickly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. 21 When they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. 22 In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stalk. 23 After them, seven heads of grain—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind—sprouted up. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing. 27 The seven thin, sickly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind are seven years of famine.
28 “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt. 30 After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe. 32 Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon.
Original Intent
1) Why is the timing in these verses recorded and how is it emphasized in the narrative? (verses 1-14)
Immediately before the introductory sentence of chapter 41, “At the end of two years […]”, we read the closing sentence of chapter 40 which provides significant context, “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” While imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners. Joseph pleaded with the Cupbearer to remember Joseph and his unjust treatment when he was returned to his previous royal position, but the Cupbearer forgot him, and so Joseph stayed in prison for two more years. The author (Moses) also included the small words “the end” to emphasize completion of a term. The Lord God is never in a rush. Though Joseph had surely pleaded with God for freedom from injustice many times in the 2+years he’d been imprisoned, the Lord would answer Joseph’s prayer at just the right time. The series of events, though certainly chaotic and without reason to Joseph, was carefully arranged and allowed by the Lord. The famine was coming, the good years were coming, and the Lord would use Joseph to position him at just the right time in order to save not only his family, but also allow for the flourishing of a new, budding nation of Israel. The Lord loved Joseph, and Israel, too much to allow Joseph’s shortsighted pleadings to short-circuit Joseph’s coming redemption and Israel’s growth. More markers of time passage are included in this passage to emphasize the preciseness of the Lord’s arrangement. “When morning came” (verse 8) speaking of Pharaoh’s passage of time and “today” (verse 9) speaking of the Cupbearer’s negligent forgetfulness and “then” (verse 14) speaking of Pharaoh’s conclusion to send for Joseph all underscore the reality that nothing in this narrative was happenstance. God used every single detail to bring about the next steps in His plan of redemption.
2) What is the reader to learn about God and His revelations from this passage? (verses 15-27)
God is not aloof, far-off, and neither has He posted a “Do Not Disturb” sign on His door. He wants to be known; He wants humanity to seek Him, follow His ways, and learn to trust Him. Though He, as sovereign Lord of the Universe, is absolutely not required to give dreams to people, He does, precisely because He wants to be known. The Lord is also a God of clarity, not mystique, deception, or confusion. God provided dreams to Pharaoh, a man who did not worship the Lord God in any fashion, in order to make Himself known to Pharaoh, but also to demonstrate to Pharaoh His character of orderliness and understanding. Pharaoh didn’t understand the meanings, but that didn’t negate that clear meanings were both intended and would be provided by the Lord. The Lord raised up the “dream expert” in His own time, and in His own way, after He had allowed Joseph time to wrestle with his faith for many years and land in a place of trust in the Almighty. Through the man of God’s own choosing, what had appeared confusing at first, was plainly revealed. In the same way, Jesus, to whom Joseph points us, would one day make very clear what seemed hidden to the Jews. He would shine clarifying light on the Old Testament and show how Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilled every promising hope hidden in its pages. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8) While the Lord provided a clear interpretation to the dreams, we mustn’t miss there was only one correct interpretation, and everyone knew it, even the pagans. The magicians and wise men in all of Egypt, on hearing the dreams, knew they couldn’t correctly interpret it, for the Lord was holding its meaning. (verse 8) Only the man the Lord had chosen to interpret would have the correct interpretation.
3) Why would the author record Joseph’s statement regarding the Lord’s determination of His plans? What does this reveal about Joseph’s faith? (verse 32)
Joseph was given dreams and their interpretation from the Lord since he was a youth, but now as he stood before Pharaoh, his faith had grown and deepened in ways he couldn’t have fathomed all those years ago when he’d received his first dream. Joseph’s first dreams promised a coming time when his own brothers would bow down to him, but the timing of this dream’s realization, and the picture of what its actualization looked like in real life were likely radically different from Joseph’s first thoughts. Would he be king? Would he move from his father’s house into the lap of luxury? Would his dream make him powerful enough to silence his brothers once and for all? Maybe the “dream expert” spent many hours wondering how his dream would play out and when. In his thoughts, how easily could he cast aside that it was Yahweh, the Lord of All, who had given the dreams and would bring them about in His time? Did Joseph fall for the deception that these dreams were his destiny and it was up to him to make it happen? Perhaps pride puffed him up for years before the Lord began to bring him low, and lovingly teach Joseph how the Lord’s dreams weren’t about Joseph, but about the Lord God. The provision would be the Lord’s, just as the dreams were. The interpretation belonged to the Lord, just as Joseph did. The timing was the Lord’s, not Joseph’s to control. The fulfillment of the dreams rested solely on the Lord. Joseph emphasized how determined the Lord was to bring about the fulfillment of Pharaoh’s dreams because it was a lesson he had well-learned in his time of training with the Lord.
Everyday Application
1) Why is the timing in these verses recorded and how is it emphasized in the narrative? (verses 1-14)
It’s interesting to study what people choose to put down on paper, to record, to keep, and be re-read at a later time. It reveals quite a bit about what was important to them and who they are as a person. Old journals are particularly interesting, especially after a person has passed away. We wonder, who were they really between themselves and the page? How much more curious ought we be when approaching Scripture?! This is God’s own Words revealed to us about His heart and purpose for His people. More so, it’s living and active and effective as it teaches us applicable truth for our everyday moments in the middle of our own century! (Hebrews 4:12) Whether you’re an avid journal-keeper or not, what might you choose to record about your life in this season? What are your views of the Lord and His timing? Do you believe you are commander of your own destiny or does the Lord have any rule in your life? How do the words recorded in Joseph’s narrative land inside you? Do they compel you to worship the Lord for His kind goodness and constant presence or do you sense yourself pressing against Him in your soul? Regardless of where you are in your faith journey, be comforted by the truth that even the fact that you’re reading this today, at this moment, isn’t random. The Lord has a purpose for you just as He did for Joseph. As we learn to trust Him more and more, we discover not only our purpose, but also the grand love of the Lord as He thoughtfully pursues us with goodness and mercy. (Psalm 23:6)
2) What is the reader to learn about God and His revelations from this passage? (verses 15-27)
In today’s culture of dreams and visions and “prophetic words”, it can be easy to miss the main reason the Lord has given revelation of Himself through dreams and visions. If we move so fast into interpretation, seek what it could mean, or draw out the course of our lives, or rush to determine a “promise” from a dream, we have missed the Lord’s emphasis. He wants us to know Him for who He is as the Lord of All; everything else flows from this. When it comes to interpreting dreams or Scripture itself, we must remember what the pagans knew so well. The Lord has one correct interpretation to the original intent. We would be wise to consider the warning the Lord gave to the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, “The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Is not my word like fire”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”—the Lord’s declaration—“who steal my words from each other. I am against the prophets”—the Lord’s declaration—“who use their own tongues to make a declaration. I am against those who prophesy false dreams”—the Lord’s declaration—“telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration.” (Jeremiah 23:28-32) Let’s exercise a holy awe and caution when reaching for interpreting dreams; let’s hold fast to the Word of the Lord as our foundation!
3) Why would the author record Joseph’s statement regarding the Lord’s determination of His plans? What does this reveal about Joseph’s faith? (verse 32)
The Lord never wastes suffering for those who have entrusted themselves wholly to Him. (1 Peter 5:10-11) He uses it to shape us into the image of Jesus, so we can more beautifully reflect Him to the world around us. (Romans 8:29) We cannot reflect a God of love if we have not learned to trust Him. Neither can we reflect His kind, humble goodness if we are trapped inside our own pride. Joseph began his faith journey with the Lord full of youthful arrogance and pride. Instead of causing us to look down on him, we ought to be so richly comforted! The Lord called Joseph and gave him the gift of dreams and interpretation. Over time and through hard suffering, the Lord would finish His work and place Joseph in just the right place to use His gift at just the right time that the Lord had pre-ordained. (James 1:2-4) The same is true for each of us. (Philippians 1:6) When we surrender ourselves to Jesus, His Spirit gives us gifts we are to use for the benefit of believers and for the strengthening of the Church. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) Our pride will puff us up when we look at our gift, but when we lean into the lessons the Lord teaches us about Himself in our suffering, we learn what it looks like to love like Jesus! (1 Corinthians 8:1)
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1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
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3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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