The Power of Dreams
“Joseph’s Dream,” illustration in the Holman Bible, 1890, public domain
Sermon Series “Through the Bible,” № 8, Genesis 37:5-11
“He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream that I dreamed.’” –Genesis 37:6
The history of science proves the power of dreams. You’ve probably heard the story about James Watson, the co-discoverer of DNA, who conceived its double-helix design after having a dream about two intertwining snakes. The chemist Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz dreamed of a serpent swallowing its tail, and woke up to discover the closed carbon-ring structure of the benzene molecule. It is said that Albert Einstein’s entire career was inspired by a dream he had as a teenager of riding a sled down a steep, snowy slope, and as he approached the speed of light, the colors all blended into one.
The power of dreams is highlighted in a narrative found in the 37th chapter of Genesis. This part of Genesis tells us about Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph. Joseph’s story exceeds in length the longest stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It begins by describing the chain of events that brought Joseph into Egypt.
When we look at the passage in the Revised Common Lectionary’s schedule of readings, it’s intriguing to see what the lectionary editors cut out: today’s account of Joseph’s dreams. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann words gives an explanation as good as any, when he writes, “We children of the Enlightenment do not regularly linger over such elusive experiences as dreams. We seek to ‘enlighten’ what is before us and to overcome the inscrutable and the eerie to make the world a better, more manageable place.”[1]
When his Joseph’s family heard about his dreams, they recognized that they implied a reversal of fortune in which this second youngest of twelve sons comes out on top. Standing outside of the completed story, we know that this is exactly what happened. After some amazing adventures in Egypt, Joseph rises to a position of authority second only to the Pharaoh, and builds up the food reserves of the nation. When a long drought strikes the region, Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to buy food, and bow down before him. In a final dramatic episode, Joseph’s identity is revealed, the brothers are reconciled, and their father and his entire household come to settle in an Egypt ruled by Joseph. The dream foreshadowed reality.
If you pick up a good concordance of the Bible, and look up the word “dream,” you will find many references to dreams in scripture. In the 28th chapter of Genesis we read about Joseph’s father Jacob, who dreamed about a ladder reaching to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending. In the 41st chapter of Genesis we read about Pharaoh’s dreams of cows and grain, the interpretation of which wins Joseph his freedom and high position. In the third chapter of 1 Samuel, God speaks as a voice in a dream to call Samuel to ministry as a prophet. Every Christmas season we read the account in Matthew 2 about the Magi, or “wise men,” who presented gifts to Jesus, and were “warned in a dream not to return to Herod”; and the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him to take his family and flee. Major portions of the books of Ezekiel and Revelation are records of dreams. In the New Testament reading I’ve chosen from Acts 16, the apostle Paul dreams of a man of Macedonia, who changes the direction of Paul’s journey, leading Paul to Lydia, the first convert in Europe.
The dreams of scripture have something to do with revealing God’s purposes for the world. One day, history seems to moving in one particular direction. Then, during the night, God breaks through to announce a course correction.
Those who know me well know that I am more of a “thinker” than a “feeler.” I tend to be skeptical about many mystical practices, which often appear to be less about connecting with God, and more about escape from the responsibilities of life. But occasionally someone will tell me about a dream that is not so easy to dismiss, a dream that seems to reveal an important spiritual truth, or suggest a direction their life has taken.
Is it merely coincidence that their dream seemed to find expression in later events? Was the dream assimilating bits of psychic residue from everyday life, unconsciously telling them what they should have known already? Were they taking later events and projecting them backward onto their dream? Or was their dream more like a dream in the Bible?
We should be very careful about the interpretation of dreams. We all have heard stories about mentally ill people who acted on dreams or voices that told them to commit murder. I’ve heard people interpret dreams as God’s call to divorce a spouse to be with another person. Sometimes a dream may be more demonic than angelic, and we should be skeptical about dreams that in the night call us to do something that in the daytime we know is immoral. Church history offers plenty of examples of individuals whose “big dreams” were more about self-promotion than faithfulness to God.
But, sometimes, dreams may be good and valuable. There are also healthy examples of people who dreamed dreams to build up the church, improve life for those with pressing needs, and so bring glory to God. We need not name national figures, but only look around our community to remember the people who dreamed of feeding hungry people who formed the Glen-Ed Pantry or serving needy children who created Uni-Pres Kindercottage, and dozens of other examples we might name, if we had the time.
Yes, dreams may be good and valuable. Perhaps a dream is your conscience challenging an action you have taken. Perhaps a dream is God trying to break through your resistance, and call you to some action you have neglected.
Listen carefully to your dreams. You might even consider talking to a Christian friend or your pastor about them. In your dreams, perhaps you will discern the voice of the Holy Spirit calling you to change direction, adopt a new course, and, like Joseph, be part of God’s plan to save the world.
NOTES
[1] Walter Brueggemann, “Holy intrusion: The power of dreams in the Bible,” Christian Century, 28 June 2005, p. 28.
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