1800BC Joseph's dreams

This first of the Bible's dreams teaches us the following regarding the language of Bible Prophecy & History Fulfillment.

Observations:

  1. The Bible interprets the dreams figuratively rather than physically.
  2. The meaning of the dreams were immediately understood by those who first heard them.
  3. The message of the dreams applied directly to those who first heard them.
  4. "sheaves of grain" = Joseph & his brothers, the Patriarchs.
  5. "bowing down" = be subject to, reigned over.
  6. "sun" = father, Israel, (fatherland, Israel).
  7. "moon" = mother, (mother-city, Jerusalem).
  8. "stars" = Joseph's brothers, the Patriarchs, (the leading men of Israel).

PROPHECY (Promise)
Joseph was about 17-years old
HISTORY (Fulfillment)
Joseph was about 39-years old
Genesis 37:5-11
Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."
8 His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
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Genesis 42:6-9
Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked.
"From the land of Canaan," they replied, "to buy food."
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them
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Genesis 43:26-28
When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, "How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?"
28 They replied, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And they bowed low to pay him honor.
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Genesis 44:14-15
Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.
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Genesis 45:25-26
So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, "Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt."
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Genesis 50:15-18
When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.
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