God of A Million Dreams
Scripture: Genesis 37
We are introduced to Joseph as a youth of seventeen. He is the favorite son of his father Jacob (who, from his own history, should know the danger of playing favorites). The first son of Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, Joseph is “the son of his old age” (37:3). To show his love for Joseph, Jacob gives him a special robe. Traditionally translated, “coat of many colors,” the Hebrew term here probably refers to a coat with long sleeves or to an ornamented coat. (The only other place in the Bible such a garment is mentioned is in 2 Samuel 13:18, where it is the royal garment of King David’s daughter, Tamar.)
Joseph himself is portrayed as a young man somewhat lacking in common sense, or perhaps simply a bit self-absorbed. He has two different dreams with the same message: He will become preeminent in his family. His brothers (and even his parents) will bow down to him! Seemingly unaware of his brothers’ feelings for him, he eagerly shares these dreams with them. They hate him both because of the dreams and because he insists on talking about them (37:8). Even his doting father rebukes him for his words (37:10).
These are the obvious reasons for the great suffering he went through. But today I want to title my sermon:
“GOD OF A MILLION DREAMS”
- Man with Dreams
- God of Dreams
- The Struggle Over Dreams
- The Ultimate Dream Maker
Life of Sofronio Vasquez:
Sofronio Parojinog Vasquez III (born November 9, 1992) is a Filipino singer based in the United States.
He previously competed on the second season of Tawag ng Tanghalan in 2017, a segment of ABS-CBN noontime show finishing as 7th place and later competed in the All-Star Grand Resbak spin-off of the program and finished in third place.
After the death of his father in June 2018, he was inspired to pursue a singing career, working as a singer for the Carnival Cruise Line and entering singing competitions. In 2022, Vasquez moved to Utica, New York, where he worked as a dental assistant to provide for his family.
In 2024, Vasquez auditioned for the 26th season of The Voice USA. All four coaches (Michael Bublé, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, and Snoop Dogg) expressed interest in working with him. Vasquez ultimately chose to be a part of Team Bublé. He progressed to the live finale held on December 10, 2024, where he won, becoming the first male Asian winner in the show’s run, as well as the first Filipino to win, “The Voice” USA.
This song was among the songs in the movie “The Greatest Showman.” It is a story of P.T. Barnum growing up in the early 1800s. He displays a natural talent for publicity and promotion, selling lottery tickets by age 12. After trying his hands at various jobs, P.T. turns to show business to indulge his limitless imagination, rising from nothing to create the Barnum & Bailey circus.
It is about the rise of a rags-to-riches visionary who makes it to the top through the power of dreaming big and never giving up.
I. MAN WITH A DREAM
Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more: At best, Joseph showed a great lack of tact. Surely he knew how much his brothers hated to hear this dream, which set him above his brothers.
The Bible tells us that God may speak through dreams, but it doesn’t give us a guidebook for dream interpretation. Most of all, know the Bible to know the voice of God. We should expect that God speaks to us in the Bible, and if He were to speak in a dream, it would be unexpected.
Eg. A lazy bible school student said, “God can speak through dreams.”
Though Joseph was now very young (about seventeen years old), yet he was pious and devout, and well-inclined, and this fitted him for God’s gracious discoveries of himself to him. Joseph had a great deal of trouble before him, and therefore God gave him betimes this prospect of his advancement, to support and comfort him under the long and grievous troubles with which he was to be exercised.
The faith of God’s people in God’s promises is often sorely shaken by their misunderstanding the promises and then suggesting the improbabilities that attend the performance; but God is doing his own work, and will do it, whether we understand him aright or no.
Eg. I have a dream of jumping then leaping and flying. I don’t know what my dream means. I live that to God.
Man has dreams but will always be shaken by circumstances and people. He needs determination to reach his dreams despite of all the challenges he may have to face. (He cannot be lazy and sing, “Que sera sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see, Que sera sera, what will be will be.
II. THE GOD OF DREAMS.
Joseph is often referred to as the dreamer, as if he came up with his own dreams. However, his dreams were God-given dreams. God communicated with Joseph concerning his future through dreams. When you look back through the book of Genesis, you see God communicating with people in a number of ways. God communicated with Abraham through a vision. God appeared to Abraham’s son, Isaac and spoke to him. God appeared to Isaac’s son Jacob in a dream.
- God may use dreams to reveal His plan for his people.
The plans that God had for His people were always for a purpose greater than their own personal fulfillment. Whenever God led people down a certain path or calling, it was always for a purpose that impacted others outside of themselves.
Steven Furtick says, in a short message on YouTube that the key to the dream that God has given me is found in the dream that God has given others. Furthermore, God has never put a dream inside of a person that would require them to sin or fall outside of His standards to achieve His purpose. Every time He gives us a dream, it will bring us closer to Him, and to the person that God has created us to be.
“God’s dreams” are considered a way for God to communicate with people, often serving as a means to deliver important messages, warnings, guidance, or revelations about the future, sometimes used to encourage or correct someone’s actions.
The Bible although not directly but certainly indirectly indicates that God’s desire for His people is for us to be growing, advancing, moving from one level of grace to the next level of grace; from one level of victory to the next level of victory and from one level of abundant living to the next level of abundant living, from dreaming to achieving that dream. There is nothing static, stale or stationary about our God and thus there should be nothing static, stale or stationary about your Christian journey. We are to grow from glory to glory and from faith to faith.
- Put Your Expectation in God.
When God gives you a dream, it’s like becoming pregnant: you conceive (think or imagine) a vision or idea of the “new thing” He’s planned for you. Then, after conception, you go through a season of “pregnancy”—a time of growth and preparation for your dream to become reality.
When a woman is pregnant, we say she’s “expecting.” In the same way, if we want to reach full-term and not give up on the dream God put in us, we must maintain expectation that it will come to pass.
We have to be determined to keep our focus, be aggressive and talk to God about it, preferably every day. If we don’t, then our enemy, the devil, is more likely to kill, steal and destroy the plans God has for us.
It’s easy to fall into a passive attitude that says, “Well, we’ll just see what happens…” But we must resist becoming a “wait and see” kind of person. Instead, we need to be focused on God and determined to expect from Him.
Eg. Song “King of Dreams” by Chris Christian.
Waiting on God is not a static, passive place where you’re doing nothing. It’s a time in your life when you aren’t taking matters into your own hands, trying to do what only God can do. You are waiting physically, but you are active spiritually, seeking His face and putting your trust in Him.
However many believers are frustrated to some degree or another by the fact that as they look back over their lives, they realize that they have made very little, if any progress…that their God-given dream has never been realized or had taken place. You may have been busy but made no progress. You may have been moving but there has been not advancement. You have given effort but there has been no improvement. You have been diligent but there is still no development. You may have received that dream but have not achieved it!
III. THE STRUGGLE OVER DREAMS.
They all scorned him and said, “Behold, this dreamer cometh” (verse 19). The word dreamer here is better translated as “master of dreams.” But it was said out of scorn and contempt, his brothers meant it as an insult —not as praise.
Joseph was hated by his brethren.
- Because his father loved him. When parents make a difference, children soon take notice of it, and it often brings feuds and quarrels in families.
- Because he brought to his father their evil report. Joseph gave his father an account of their bad carriage that he might reprove and restrain them; not as a malicious tale-bearer, to sow discord, but as a faithful brother, who, when he dared not admonish them himself, represented their faults to one that had authority to admonish them.
Joseph’s struggles and suffering.
- Stripped of his tunic/coat.
As an outward display of Jacob’s favor, he gave Joseph a tunic of many colors. This signified a position of favor, princely standing, and birthright. It was a dramatic way of saying he was the son to receive the birthright.
According to Boice, the real idea behind the ancient Hebrew phrase for tunic of many colors is that it was a tunic extending all the way down to the wrists and ankles, as opposed to a shorter one. This was not what a workingman wore. It was a garment of privilege and status. The man who wore a tunic of many colors watched others as they did hard physical labor.
- Thrown into a pit.
They went about to starve him, throwing him into a dark dry pit, to perish there with hunger and cold while they enjoy their meal. (I can’t bear to imagine the fear, hunger and thirst he had to go through while begging for their mercy) Eg. Everytime we eat and I see that my son’s plate has no more viand, I will give him my portion.
Where envy reigns pity is banished, and humanity itself is forgotten.(Prov. 27 4)
It is common for friendly monitors to be looked upon as enemies. Those that hate to be reformed hate those that would reform them(Prov. 9 8.) It is common for those that are beloved of God to be hated by the world.Whom Heaven blesses, hell curses. To those to whom God speaks comfortably wicked men will not speak peaceably.
- Sold to merchants.
Judah proposed it in compassion to Joseph (v. 26): “What profit is it if we slay our brother? it will be less guilt, and more gain, to sell him.” They agreed in it, because they thought that if he were sold for a slave he would never be a lord, if sold into Egypt he would never be their lord.
If Joseph was hopeful as he was pulled out of the pit, all hope vanished when he saw the Ishmaelites and the exchange of money. He was sold for 20 shekels of silver – the value of a young slave at that time. But he was not a slave, he was the favorite son.
(20 shekels or pieces of silver would be worth P12,000 today. Therefore his brothers degraded him.)
- Became a Slave.
Spurgeon: “This delicate child of an indulgent father, who had been clothed with a princely garment of many colors, must now wear the garb, of a slave, and march in the hot sun across the burning sand.
- Imprisoned.
Because he was falsely accused, he was jailed. He had no advocate (lawyer) to defend him.
People are so privileged today because atleast we have free lawyers provided by the government and above it we have families and friends who could testify for us. For Joseph, no one. He was a stranger in Egypt and some more, a slave.
- Joseph never dreamed of being a slave.
- Joseph never dreamed of being falsely accused of rape.
- Joseph never dreamed of being forgotten in prison.
Like Joseph, this is how many you lost your dreams: stolen from, demoted, thrown down, enslaved and bound in this prison of life.
But as I look at it closely, there is one ultimate reason why we lose our dreams. By being away from the Father.
Joseph was away from the protection of his father. He was supposed to go to Shechem (which was closer) but he wandered and was led to Dothan, the place where his brethren conspired against him and sold him into Egypt. (16- 24km west of Shechem)
Dothan, (Heb.) means two wells; double cisterns; edicts; decrees; laws; customs; double feasts. Two wells, double cisterns, double feasts, denote the double standardof thought that man holds regarding his life and substance.
Application:When we are always wandering, we will be brought to a place where we will be tempted to live a double standard life. When we are not anchored in the Word, we will always look for other alternatives to pacify us when we are restless and down. And at first our alternatives may bring happiness but they are only temporary. Ultimately we will be sold into slavery, like what happened to Joseph in Dothan.
IV. THE ULTIMATE DREAM-MAKER
They all scorned him and said, “Behold, this dreamer cometh” (verse 19). The word dreamer here is better translated as “master of dreams.” But it was said out of scorn and contempt, his brothers meant it as an insult — not as praise.
In God’s eyes, the most impressive thing about Egypt was that Joseph was now there. “Though stripped of his coat, he had not been stripped of his character.” (Meyer)
Even in the midst of this horror, God did not depart from Joseph. In some ways the story will get worse, and when it does, God will still be with Joseph.
We can thank God for His great plan.
- If Joseph’s family wasn’t messed up and weird, his brothers would never have sold him as a slave.
- If Joseph’s brothers never sold him as a slave, then Joseph would never have gone to Egypt.
- If Joseph never went to Egypt, he would never have been sold to Potiphar.
- If Joseph was never sold to Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife would never have falsely accused him of rape.
- If Potiphar’s wife never falsely accused Joseph of rape, then Joseph would never have been put in prison.
- If Joseph was never put in prison, he would have never met the baker and butler of Pharaoh.
- If Joseph never met the baker and butler of Pharaoh, he would have never interpreted their dreams.
- If Joseph never interpreted their dreams, he would have never interpreted Pharaoh’s dream.
- If Joseph never interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, he never would have become prime minister, second in Egypt only to Pharaoh.
We picture this scene and think of how Jesus was stripped of everything.
Joseph was stripped of his coat – Jesus was stripped of his garment.
Joseph was thrown into the pit –Jesus went up to the cross.
Joseph was sold for 20 pcs of silver –Jesus was sold for 30 pcs of silver.
Joseph became a slave –Jesus took the form of a servant by carrying the cross.
Joseph was falsely accused –Jesus was falsely accused and condemned to die.
Joseph was jailed –Jesus was crucified and laid in a tomb.
Joseph the dreamer made it in the end because God did not leave him. God was with him until his final days. He started in darkness but ended in light. Jesus on the other hand God was absent during his last breath. He ended in darkness – death and tomb. Joseph went away from his father but later reconciled with him in Egypt. Jesus was always with the Father but on the cross, He forsook Him.
Jesus was forsaken by the Father so that you and I who are in Christ will continue to live in the presence of the Father. As Jesus promised, “I will be with you always even up to the end of the age.”
Jesus is the ultimate Dream-Maker because his dream was not for himself. It was for us. He went through much suffering until death on the cross so that he could bear and mend all our shattered lives, hearts and dreams. His brokenness for our broken dreams. His garment was taken so we could have the favor, princely standing and birthright. He did not disobey his Father but he was left alone on the cross so that we will not be alone when we are in the pit. He took the form of a servant so that we don’t have to be a slave. He was falsely accused for our sakes so that he could redeem us from the accusations of the enemies. He was laid in the tomb for 3 days so that we don’t have to be prisoners… Last of all, He went back to the Father, implying that through him we are always beside our Father, we will not wander. And that the Father will never leave us nor forsake us.
CONCLUSION:
The enemy is always looking for opportunities to keep us away and waiting for us to be far from our Father(God), thru our wrong choices, so that he can:
- Remove your coat.
- Throw you into a pit.
- Take advantage of you
- Enslave you.
- Bind you in prison.
The devil was slowly taking advantage of his immaturity and attempting to use God-given dream to get Joseph out of God’s plan. Like what he did to Adam and Eve in Eden. He used what God created to get them out from God’s presence. So God allowed pain to keep Joseph’s heart from pride and arrogance.
Sometimes we allow pride to creep in as we slowly reach our dreams. So God steps in by allowing circumstances and pain to humble us, not humiliate us(work of the enemy.) Since pride is the mother of sins, it gives birth to many other sins and the end is destruction. God allows sufferings to keep us from the destruction of sin.
And those sufferings are not meant to destroy you and remove your dreams. Because Jesus went through all those sufferings for you. And He is mending your hearts.
