On the Way to the Palace 14- "the dreamer cometh"

¹⁷ The man said, “They left here. I heard them saying, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ They saw Joseph in the distance before he got close to them, and they plotted to kill him. ¹⁹ The brothers said to each other, “Here comes the big dreamer. ²⁰ Come on now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we’ll say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams!” Genesis 37:17-20

  There is a certain joy that comes when we accomplish goals we have set out(2 Timothy 4:7). Sometimes we may not meet these goals according to our time schedules and although they may be well behind time, the joy of accomplishment is usually better than the bitter gall taste of having not tried at all.

Joseph  must have experienced this joy when he  eventually found ­­­his brothers, although this meant  travelling further  northwards. He accomplished the task he set out to do because the man on the way to the Palace  is a finisher and one who  can be trusted with responsibility.

But although Joseph took great pains to find his brothers, his extra mile effort was not appreciated. The man on the way to the Palace is one that recognizes that not all his extra efforts  will be appreciated.

Imagine Joseph bursting with joy to meet his brothers after a long search.Instead of a hug, a  rather unexpected  unpleasant welcome was what he received.His brothers  saw him  from afar and began to contort a murder plan.

How did these brothers who probably played with each other and carried baby Joseph at one point reach the state where they start a murderous plot. 

We are given a clue by the writer of Genesis in an  earlier recount. Several verses prior to this, we are told the brothers of Joseph hated him and were jealous of him. Although there was hardly any physical manifestation of Joseph’s  grandiose dreams, they believed in them strongly enough to plan to kill their brother .The brothers of Joseph did not deal with their jealousy and this eventually led to murder.They got to the point when they could not stand their brother any more. Somehow I wonder if they spent time on the fields talking to each other about Joseph or will I say gossiping about Joseph, talking about what their father did, his latest display of love in a mocking manner. 

Their words on seeing him enlighten us as to what the real issue was . With three little words,they state the problem as Joseph a “the dreamer cometh.”The translation above says the big dreamer cometh. The man on the way to the Palace is recognized by his dreams. These dreams shape his life, decisions and actions and bring restrictions to him. The dreams of the man on the way to the Palace  both  identify and limit him.

The brothers believed so much in his dreams and did not want the position they saw themselves in the dream. Rather than recognizing that God in his sovereign wisdom had chosen Joseph, they acted like they are more in competition.The man on the way to the Palace should realize that not everyone including relatives would applaud him.He will acquire enemies even within his household where many would prefer to compete rather than complement him.

The man on the way to the Palace must be emotionally mature so as not to be dissuaded by the mocking of others as they recognize his dreams. The size of a dream does not isolate it from mockery.  No dream however will be accomplished without an effort by the dreamer(Ephesians 3:20).He must be wholly devoted to his dreams till people can recognize him from afar off because of them, as they did Joseph, a man who eventually got to the Palace.

Yours in His Service,

Grace Tom-Lawyer.