SteemChurch:The Story Of Joseph The King Of Dreams (Part I).

Let us consider together the story of Joseph the king of dreams; and in doing so, we will often see prefigured Him who was cast into the pit of death, but who is now seated at the right hand of Power, as a Prince and a Savior. Seventeen years before the beginning of our story, Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife, gave birth to a little boy. Jacob was then administrator of his uncle Laban in the ancient pastures of the Koran, located in the valley between. Euphrates and the Tigris, from where Abraham his grandfather had been called by God.

The child was received joyfully by his parents, and from the beginning he gave great hope. He was like one of those children, who sometimes we find in the great families, who make a marked contrast with the others; and that it grows like some beautiful sajoncito, in the middle of the native morenos of a store of Hungarians who have robbed it.

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The children of Joseph the King of dreams

When it was very his mother took him hastily, and held him in his arms on a light camel, urged at his highest speed, in flight across the desert that stretched, with a single oasis, between the banks of the Euphrates and the green plains of Gilead. He could barely remember the panic that spread through the camp when the news came that Esau, the dreaded uncle, had been marching with four hundred men.

Nor could he ever forget the afternoon of preparation, the night of solemn waiting and the morning when his father limped into the camp, his body was broken, but with the look of a prince on his face.

More recently he could still remember the hurried flight of the bitter idolaters of Shechem; and those solemn hours at Bethel where probably his father had taught him the same place where he had rested at the end of the mystical staircase, and where the whole family formally entered into a new covenant with God. It may be that this was the starting point of his life.

Such events make a deep impression on the hearts of young people. By standing together in that sacred place, and hearing again the story many times repeated, they joined hands in a solemn pact; it may be that Jacob's other sons were little moved spectators, but a deep impression was made on the young man's susceptible heart, that he might feel: "This God will be my God for ever; it will be my guide, even to death. " If this was so, these impressions soon deepened by three deaths. When they arrived at the family colony, they found that Débora, the former wet nurse, was dying.

She was the last link that united the present with those happy days when Rebekah, her young mistress, crossed the desert to be Isaac's wife; and they buried her with many tears under an ancient but splendid oak. And he could never forget the next one.

The arrival to the old Villa Belén
The long caravan moved slowly along the narrow hill where the old town of Bethlehem stood: suddenly a stop was ordered; the beloved could not go even one step forward; there at sunset, between scenes where later Ruth found Boaz, and David took care of his sheep, and good Joseph walked beside the patient donkey with his precious cargo, there Rachel, Joseph's mother, died.

This was the greatest loss I had ever had. A little later, the young man stopped with his father and his brothers in front of the venerated sepulcher of Macpela, to bury Isaac where Abraham, Sara and Rebecca, each on a narrow shelf, awaited him; and where, after an interval of twenty-seven years, he was to place the remains of his father Jacob.

These things made Joseph what he was. And the little sympathy he received from his family did nothing more than separate and compel him to live "near the source" (Gen. 49:22), and to put his roots more deeply into the things of God.

What aroused envy in the brothers of Joseph the King of dreams?

The Rabbis describe him as a wise son, endowed with knowledge superior to his years. It was this, combined with the sweetness of his character, and the memory of his mother, that attracted him to the peculiar love of his father: "Israel loved Joseph more than all his children."

And this love provided him with the tunic of different colors. We have been accustomed to thinking of this tunic as a kind of patchwork quilt, and we have admired that there were men who were moved to such passion when they saw their young brother flaunting the colors of the peacock.

But more exact knowledge will correct these thoughts. The Hebrew word simply means a tunic that reached to the extremities, and describes a dress commonly worn in Egypt and the adjacent lands. Imagine a white linen talar dress, which extended to the ankles and wrists, and with a narrow embroidery of color around the hem and sleeves, and you will have a pretty clear concept of this famous tunic. Now we can understand the envy of his brothers.

Meaning of the tunic worn by the opulent

This kind of tunic was used only by the opulent and noble; for the children of kings, for those who did not need to work to live. All those who had to earn their bread through work wore short, colored clothing that did not show the stains, or impede the free movement of the limbs.

Such was the lot of Jacob's sons, and such were the clothes they wore. They had to go through moguls, climb hills, carry lost sheep on their shoulders, fight with robbers and beasts of prey; and for such work the cut clothing would not have been in any suitable way. But when Jacob gave such a dress to Joseph the king of dreams, he declared in effect that from such work and labors his favorite son was to be exempt. Well, in those days the will of the father was the law.

When, therefore, they saw Joseph adorned with his gala dress, the brothers guessed that he had to have the rich inheritance, while they would have to follow a life of work: "And seeing his brothers that his father loved him more than all his brothers hated him, and could not speak to him peacefully "(vs. 4). The case was aggravated by his frankness: "And Joseph brought the bad reputation of them to his father."

Start of José's experience with dreams
Joseph the King of dreams and being in youth began to have experience with dreams. On one occasion he dreamed that he was to become the center of family life. All young people dream. Unless our luck has been especially hard and fatal, all of us, in the golden days of youth, put on Joseph's tunic and dream ...

How big and happy we must be! How noble and heroic! How much good we have to receive and give! The heavens will rain down sweetly blessings! The earth will give flowers for our feet and fruits for our palate! We will outstrip all those who have gone before us! We will sit on the throne of supremacy, while detractors and enemies make us revere! Alas, our clothes are soon dripping with blood, and we are stuck in the well, or sold into captivity.

It also happened that Joseph's dreams predicted not only his own exaltation, but the humiliation of his brothers. If he was the central sheaf, the sheaves of them should bow to him, falling to the ground around him. If he was on the throne, the sun, the moon and the stars had to pay him homage.

This was more than the proud spirits of his brothers could bear, and "added to hate him more." But the root of their enmity was even deeper. In Eden, addressing the serpent, God said: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed."

This is one of the deepest sayings in the Bible. It is the key to the Scripture. Everything that comes after does nothing but prove the virulence and universality of the conflict between the children of God and the children of the devil. He showed himself between Cain and Abel. It has embittered the whole family. He has divided every home.

Someday it has to shake the whole universe

This was the secret of the conflict that broke up around Joseph. I grant that the home was badly organized; that all the evils inherent in polygamy were there, that Jacob was incompetent to lead, but, nevertheless, I see there an example of that conflict that Christ spoke of: "I have come to set man at variance against his father, and daughter against her mother ... And the enemies of man will be those of his house ".

Do you know from sad experience what Joseph felt under those Syriac skies? Do they assault you? Are you lonely and sad, and soon to faint? Cheer up! Look at the stepped grass and the cut twigs; others have gone through this path before you. Christ your Lord was treated just like that by his people.

Keep doing well, do not be intimidated by your adversaries. Be compassionate and meek; forgive and have patience. Take special care not to try to avenge yourself; do not demand redress in imperious and vengeful tones. If they are servants, do not respond. Give their bodies to the smiters, and their cheeks to those who pluck their hair.

Do not avenge yourselves, but rather put your feet in the footsteps of your Savior, who left an example for us to follow. Thus, Christ did not commit sin nor was deceit found in his mouth; and yet, when he was unjustly cursed, he did not curse again, when he suffered under slander and reproach, he did not even remember the perpetrators of the righteous judgment of God, but was mute as a lamb, and did not threaten, but was entrusted To He who judges righteously.

Result of José's dreams

And what was the result? Joseph the King of Egypt was held against the hatred and opposition of his enemies and his dreams were literally fulfilled in the golden days of prosperity, which finally came. Just as Christ sat at the right hand of God, as Prince and Savior. And your time will come at last, brother that you suffer, when God will vindicate your character, and avenge your sorrows: "Keep silence before Jehovah, and wait on Him.

Do not fret because of the one who prospers in his way, because of the man who does evil things ... For the evil ones will be destroyed, but those who wait for Jehovah, they will inherit the earth "(Psalm 37: 7, 9).

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Joseph the king of dreams and his rising from the well

the story of the damage suffered by Joseph the king of dreams, and his rise from the well to almost real power, is simply interesting as it must always be a history of the old world, for its archaic simplicity and the knowledge it gives us From the past. But for the man in whose heart the cross is engraved by the loving memory, there is a much deeper interest, it is the Calvary in miniature.

It is the outline of the artist's complete work. It is an essay of the greatest drama that has been represented among men. We can not do anything better than studying it line by line, and notice the fulfillment of the shadow in the glorious reality. "And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father made his pilgrimage."

When he had buried his aged father he continued to live in the Valley of Hebron, where Isaac had dwelt for nearly two hundred years, and where Abraham lived before him. This was the center of his vast camp. But although the pastures of Hebron were fertile, they were not enough to support all the cattle and herds.

Crossing of José through the land

The children had to lead them in slow journeys to distant parts of the earth; and they were even forced, by the hard necessity, to drag the wrath of the people of Shechem, whom they had grievously harmed, and who had sworn to avenge themselves on them for their iniquitous conduct. It was this that gave meaning to Jacob's words: "Your brothers tend the sheep in Shechem." I had heard them talk about going there to look for pastures; It had been a few weeks since he had received news about his well-being, and the memory of the past made him fear for them.

And that request became so great that it forced him to do what he would never otherwise have entered into his thoughts. He was alone in Hebron, with Joseph and Benjamin; they were his most beloved children; her heart loved them with something of the intense devotion she had felt towards the mother. Benjamin was a boy; but Joseph the king of dreams was seventeen years old.

The old man kept them with him, not wanting to lose sight of them. Hebron means "association", and it was a suitable residence for hearts as intimately united as theirs were. Yet, on the other hand, the old man felt an anxious love for his absent children; and finally, after many struggles and vacillations, he suddenly said to his beloved Joseph: "Come and send you to them; go now, look how your brothers are and bring me the answer. "

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On the part of Joseph the king of dreams there was not a moment of hesitation. Like a lightning bolt, the dangers of the mission were presented to him: dangers of waters, dangers of robbers, dangers of beasts, dangers in lonely nights, dangers among false brothers, who hated him bitterly. But he paid no attention to any of these things, nor did he have his life for something precious to himself.

After he knew the will of his father, he replied: "Here I am". "And Jacob sent him, and came to Shechem." But Joseph the king of dreams did not go in search of his brothers simply because his father sent him. If this had been the case, he would have returned home when he found that they had left with the health of the feared Shechem. Instead he looked for them because he loved them, and he went after them until he found them.

Does not all this overflow with a more sublime theme? Our Lord never tired of being called the Father's Apostle. There is hardly a page in the Gospel of John in which he does not say more than once: "I did not come by Myself, but my Father sent me".

He liked to find an analogy with his mission, in the stream that flowed near the oracle of God, and that is called Siloe (which being interpreted means "sent." Thus it became a constant expression that can be read in the writers of the New Testament: "God sent his Son." "The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."

The separation of Jacob and Joseph
No doubt it was difficult for Jacob to separate from the beloved Joseph: and this can be appreciated by those who have lost loved ones. But who can estimate how much it cost the infinite God to send his only begotten Son, who had dwelt in his bosom, and who was his companion from eternity? We must not think that God is as impassive as the Sphinx, who, with a face without expression, and with eyes of stone, stares, without meaning, through the desert.

If his love is like ours (and we know it has to be), he has to suffer for the same causes that tear our hearts apart, with the only difference that he has to suffer in proportion to the strength and infinity of his nature. How much must God have loved us so that he has had the will to send his Son! Truly God loved the world in such a way! But who can plumb the depths of this little expression?

Nor did the Savior come only because he was sent; He came because he loved his mission. He came to seek and to save what was lost. And especially he came in search of his brothers, of his own, the children of the Hebrew race. If you could have asked him, while crossing those same fields, "What are you looking for?", He would have answered in the same words of José the king of dreams: "I am looking for my brothers". He was not content to search for the lost; He followed them until he found them: "Then Joseph the king of dreams went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan."

Although the parable of the Prodigal Son is beautiful, for me there is no less exquisite beauty in the parables of the sheep and the lost coin, in which each mentioned person looked for what he could not bear to lose, and did not stop searching until he had found what was lost It may be that the Lord Jesus is looking for you: for many tired days he has been looking for you, with bleeding feet or with burning candle.

It may be that you never have the desire or the courage to seek Him; However, do not be discouraged, since you will never rest until I have found you. "They saw him from afar, before he came near them, and they thought against him, to kill him." And no doubt he would have been killed without mercy, and his corpse thrown into some well away from the men's room, had it not been for the compassionate entreaties of Reuben, the elder brother: "And it was that as Joseph came to his brothers, they made Joseph undress his clothes, the colored clothes that he had on himself, and they took him and threw him into the cistern. "

Our mother Earth has seen many black crimes committed on its surface, by her children; but he has never seen one blacker than this one. It was a miserable, cowardly, wicked fact that nine men attacked a timid and helpless young man. The historian's quiet prose does not stop at the passion of the brothers, nor at the anguish of that young heart, which found it so difficult to die, so difficult to say goodbye to the beautiful land; so hard to descend into that dark cistern, whose slanted sides removed all hope of being able to climb up to his mouth.

But the confession that those cruel men made to each other after twenty-five years, helps us to complete the painting of this horrible crime. Years later they said to each other: "Truly we have sinned against our brother, who saw the anguish of his soul, when he begged us, and we did not hear."....