PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

This was also true of the second dream, the dream of the sun, the moon, and twelve stars. Suppose you had a dream in which you were the star that was worshipped by the other stars. Would you not as a result esteem yourself highly? Would you not say, "My, I am a star! I am not a scorpion or something low and dark. I am a bright star shining in the heavens." If you had been the one to see such a vision, would it not control you? If it did not control you for the rest of your life, it would at least govern you for a period of time. You would begin to behave like a shining star and say, "Last night I saw that I was the star worshipped by all the other stars. From now on, I must act like such a bright star. In the past I have been dark, but I must not be like this any longer. Instead, I must be bright and shining."

Joseph behaved so excellently and marvelously because he was directed by the vision he saw in his dreams. Children are influenced by what they see on television. I have observed my own grandchildren act out what they saw on a certain program. If even the little ones are influenced by what they see, then how much more was the young man Joseph influenced by the heavenly vision, the vision that he was a sheaf rising up full of life and that he was a star worshipped by all the other stars! Do you not believe that Joseph was influenced and impressed by this vision? I definitely believe that he was. The point I am making is that Joseph's excellent and marvelous behavior was due to the vision he received. The vision of his two dreams controlled his life and directed his behavior. He behaved as the sheaf standing up and full of life, and he conducted himself like a heavenly star shining in the darkness. With this viewpoint, you are able to understand the significance of these three chapters.

A. His Brothers Giving Vent to Their Anger

In these chapters two gross sins are recorded. In chapter thirty-seven there is the sin of anger (37:18-28). Joseph's brothers seized the opportunity to give full vent to their anger. This was not an insignificant case of anger. The one Joseph's brothers were plotting to kill was not a thief, but their own brother in the flesh, the dear son of their own father. If they had had any human affection at all, they would never have considered doing such a thing. Reuben, however, did think of how it would affect their father; and Judah suggested that they not kill him, but sell him, which was far superior to shedding his blood. Nevertheless, in chapter thirty-seven we see the anger of Joseph's brothers. In the next chapter, chapter thirty-eight, we have Judah's indulgence in lust, even in incest (38:15-18). After the fall of man, the first issue to come forth was the killing of a brother in the flesh. And the sin that brought in the flood as God's judgment upon the fallen race was the indulgence in lust. These two sins, the sins of murdering a brother in the flesh and of indulging in lust, are repeated here.

B. Joseph Emerging from Anger, Surviving in a Death Situation

The anger of his brothers afforded Joseph the opportunity to live as a sheaf of life. While all his brothers were drowning in the water of anger, Joseph, the reigning aspect of the mature life, lived as a sheaf of life, emerging from the death water of human anger. The record, under God's inspiration, uses fallen anger as the background to demonstrate how much life was in the sheaf. This sheaf was filled with life. When all the rest had sunk into the death water of human anger, this sheaf emerged and survived in that situation of death.

Is this not also the record of our life? Day after day, we are surrounded by the death water of human anger. But instead of drowning, we emerge out of the death water and survive. If this is a portrait of your daily life, then you are the reigning aspect of the victorious life. Although, humanly speaking, we are prone to lose our temper, we nonetheless have the constitution of Christ that emerges out of the situation of anger. Thus, we are today's Josephs, sheaves of life rising up and standing up.

Witness Lee, The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man, pp. 7-14.

APPLICATION

1. Explain the difference between God's created race and God's called race. Why did God change from the one to the other?

2. What was the dream that caused Joseph to realize where God had put him and what God wanted him to be?

3. How did Joseph's dreams influence him to overcome the two gross sins recorded in Genesis chapters 37-39?