long ago lived Joseph the dreamer
who lived a very interesting life filled with twists and turns
early on in joseph's life,
he realized he had the ability to read the meaning of dreams
and this helped him understand god's plan
and allowed him to help his people
Jacob and Rachel had 11 boys and one girl in total
although Jacob loved all of his children
it was clear that Joseph was his favorite
as Jacob was already pretty old when Joseph was born to him
Joseph was 17 when his father gave him his famous coat
a beautiful cloak that's shown with every color of the rainbow
the love and affection Joseph received from their father caused great jealousy in Joseph's brothers
and so when Joseph was just a young boy he was tricked and sold into slavery by his brothers
he was taken to the land of Egypt
and led a life filled with interesting adventures
after many years joseph rose to power
and became an important figure in Egypt and for the Israelites
but he could not have led this incredible life
without his ability to read and interpret the meaning of dreams
throughout his life, joseph interpreted both his own dreams and the dreams of those around him
revealing their true meaning and sharing wisdom that got him out of some sticky situations
throughout his life, there were six important dreams that joseph listened to
and revealed the true meaning of to those around him
let's take a look at these six dreams and what we can learn from joseph's readings
the first two of joseph's six important dreams occurred when he was still but a young boy
working as a shepherd on his father's farm
one day as joseph and his family, all gathered for dinner
joseph decided to tell his family of the two strange dreams he had had
listen family I have something to tell you
I had two very strange dreams I would like to tell you all about them
oh great here we go again
joseph thinks he's so great that we should all have to listen to everything he has to say
yeah keep it to yourself joseph we don't want to hear it
now boys settle down
joseph let us hear about these dreams of yours
thank you, father!
well in this dream we were all out in the field
gathering bunches of wheat for the harvest
then all the bundles came together in the middle of the field
only my bundle stood up perfectly straight
all of your bundles gathered around it and bowed down to my bundle standing up straight
isn't that interesting?
his brothers laughed at this dream and mocked joseph for it
they were annoyed by the thought of bowing down to joseph
are you serious joseph? you think we should bow to you?
what on earth are you saying joseph
do you think your dream means that we are all going to be your servants? you're crazy!
okay my brothers okay never mind
I shall tell you another story the story of my second dream
we don't want to hear it father please make him be quiet
hush now let your brother speak
go on joseph
thank you, father
in the second of my dreams, I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars
and they all stopped and bowed down to me
the second dream annoyed joseph's brothers even more
and now they grew angry with him
they appealed to their father to tell Joseph he was being ridiculous
father, listen to this madness
Joseph thinks he's better than all of us
and now he tells us of these dreams where we all bow to him
he should be punished for saying such things
but Jacob listened to his dear son joseph and quietened his other son's anger
no, my boys, this is not madness
and joseph will not be punished
these dreams have been revealed to him by god
now enough arguing everyone finish their food and then we must get back to work
joseph's brothers did not forget their anger as they worked the fields
in fact, it was these two dreams that
pushed joseph's brothers to hatch a plan to rid themselves of Joseph once and for all
it was because joseph shared these dreams
in which he saw that his brothers would eventually bow to him
that he was sold to traitors taken to Egypt and all of his troubles began
when he first arrived in Egypt
Joseph's hard work and good nature earned him the trust and respect of his master
Potiphar but this good fortune did not last long
Potiphar's wife had fallen in love with joseph and offered herself to him
when he rejected her she was upset and lied to Potiphar saying that Joseph had tried to betray him
Potiphar had no choice but to punish joseph for the sin he did not actually commit and sent him to jail
it was while in prison that joseph interpreted the next pair of important dreams
see in his cell joseph was joined by two employees of the pharaoh
the pharaoh's cupbearer and the chief baker of the palace
as they sat in prison together the cupbearer mentioned that he had had a strange dream
indeed I had a very strange dream last night and I can't at all figure out what it might mean
actually, I have the ability to interpret dreams
it's true if you tell me your dream I can tell you what it meant
is that so? well,
what happened was i saw three vine branches they immediately blossomed and grapes appeared
the pharaoh's cup was in my hand
and I was able to squeeze the grapes into his cup and hand it to the pharaoh myself
what do you think the dream means
aha the three branches mean three days
and the grapes in the cup mean you will return to your position
in three days' time, the pharaoh will show you mercy and restore you to your position as cupbearer
when this happens please remember that I told you the meaning of this dream
and help me get out of prison the cupbearer was impressed and agreed to help joseph
seeing that joseph really could read dreams the baker spoke about his own dream and asked him to help
in my dream, I saw three baskets of bread stacked on top of my head
the baskets were full of bread meant for the pharaoh but instead birds were eating the bread
what does it mean?
I'm sorry the three baskets also mean three days' time
the birds eating the bread means that in three days' time the pharaoh will decide to execute you and remove your head
leaving the rest of you for the birds
amazingly after three days both of joseph's predictions came true
the baker was executed and the cupbearer was returned to his position
unfortunately, he forgot about his promise to help joseph
two whole years passed and Joseph remained a prisoner
however, one day when the pharaoh complained that he was experiencing problems with his dreams
the cupbearer told him of joseph the man who could read dreams
the pharaoh was intrigued and asked for joseph to be brought before him
it was then that joseph would read the final two of the six important dreams
I hear you joseph are able to interpret dreams
I have two dreams that I need to understand
in the first stream, I see seven fat and healthy cows come out of the river
but then seven thin and sick looking cows came out and ate them
Joseph listened carefully and asked about the second dream
in the second dream, I see seven healthy grains of wheat
and then seven dying grains of wheat
can you tell me what these dreams mean?
joseph listened and explained the dream's meaning to the pharaoh
these two dreams mean the same thing
the seven fat cows and seven healthy grains mean that there will be seven years when Egypt is able to farm a lot
and then the seven thin cows and dying grains mean seven years where nothing will grow and there will be a famine
we must prepare now and make sure to save up extra food during the seven good years
so that we have enough to last us during the bad years god has sent you these dreams as a warning
the pharaoh listened to joseph and believed in his wisdom
he ordered all of Egypt to follow joseph's plan sure enough joseph's prediction came true
Egypt had seven years of good harvest and seven years of the harvest failing luckily
thanks to Joseph's wisdom there was enough food saved up and the people of Egypt did not starve
joseph you were right your wisdom has saved us from these terrible times
I want to make you governor of Egypt so you may sit by my side and help me rule
and so joseph the dreamer who had arrived in Egypt as a slave had shared god's wisdom
and went on to rule over all of Egypt alongside the pharaoh
many years later joseph's family arrived in Egypt in need of help
when they came to learn that the boy they had sold and tried to rid themselves of years before
had risen to become ruler of a kingdom they were shocked
learning of his power they all bowed to their brother in respect
finally making sense of joseph's stream all those years ago
in which the wheat and stars had bowed to him and so by reading the six mysterious dreams
joseph changed god's wisdom and changed history forever becoming famous as joseph the dreamer