Verse 9 gives us another way that the heavily symbolic
dreams of type 2 and 3 can be understood – hindsight. When Joseph saw his brothers bow before him
in his role as viceroy of Egypt “he remembered the dreams which he dreamed of
them.” The light begins to dawn, the
meaning of the dream begins to become clear.
Through further pondering, and doubtless personal revelation, Joseph
sees that the dreams are telling him that the whole sequence of events that
brought them here was meant. God’s
purposes were being carried out by his slavery and imprisonment. With that “wisdom and discretion” that comes
from the Spirit of God he sees that not only was he blessed personally but as
he explains to his brethren in chapter 45, “be not grieved nor angry with
yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve
life….And God sent me before you to preserve you posterity in the earth, and to
save your lives by a great deliverance.”
The inspired insight from the dream, understood in
hindsight, helps Joseph avoid the natural temptation to resent and to take
revenge on his brothers. Part of the
dream’s purpose is to help him see that God foresaw and worked through events
that might have appeared disastrous. It
surely helped to enable him to be in a position to bless his family where he
might have otherwise taken vengeance upon them –
“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant
it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people
alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you and your little ones.”
(Genesis 50:20-1)
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