Do you remember your dreams? What if they actually came true? So far, Joseph’s dream-interpretations have come true. The cupbearer was restored, the baker executed. Seven years of plenty have been followed by years of famine. Joseph’s understanding and planning are saving the lives of those who might have starved. Then his brothers landed right in the palm of his hand.
Did Joseph expect his brothers to show up at some point? As they arrived, he recognized them, but they did not recognize him. Then he remembered his dreams about them bowing down to him. The brothers who had mistreated him now found themselves utterly dependent on him. He has his brenemies (brother-enemies) right where he wants them. What will he do? What would you do?
To Joseph’s brothers, he was “no more.” His dad would use the same expression to describe him. Is anyone so cut off from you that to you they are “no more”? But wait, there is more. Joseph is alive and he will give life to his brothers who had made his life bitter. Thankfully, forgiveness ran in Joseph’s family. Perhaps he saw the look on his dad’s face when Esau forgave him. A generation has passed. Like Esau before him, Joseph has been defrauded. His brothers’ worst nightmare is about to become a happy ending. Joseph’s dream of them bowing down to him actually happened.
God still speaks to us in our dreams. Sometimes we may get a preview of the future. But at no point do our dreams determine our reality. Today we decide how we will respond to those who have wronged us. We can do them harm, or we can feed them. Paul would later tell the Christians in Rome, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.”
