Genesis 37:9
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
God gave Joseph in his youth a second dream that repeated his sheaf dream in more striking form, in which the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowing to him meant that his father and mother and his eleven brothers would bow to the earth before him in his future dominion and elevation over his family. Joseph innocently told it to his father and brothers, and Jacob at once understood and believed the Lord was revealing the future, kept the saying in mind and centered his hopes in Joseph, rebuking him with only apparent severity to hide his feelings while the brothers' hatred, envy and desire for revenge deepened. The brothers understood the dreams to mean Joseph would become greater than they, and to prevent fulfillment they first purposed to kill him and then sold him as a slave into Egypt where fulfillment seemed impossible. The Lord overruled their cruel course and turned it to bring the dreams to pass, so by their own actions they helped make Joseph their ruler and saviour, fulfilled years later when his brothers came for corn in famine and repeatedly bowed with faces to the earth before him and he remembered the dreams. When Joseph revealed himself their past cruelty and contempt for the dreams came painfully before them to their condemnation, foreshadowing how the chief priests and elders put Jesus to death to keep Him from becoming king, yet by that act God made Him the Redeemer and Saviour and ruler over the whole world.
Meaning and Family Response
The second dream was given by God to Joseph in his youth, revealing the future through him as a youthful prophet chosen in his youth for a special work for His people. It repeated the meaning of his sheaf dream in more striking form. The sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowing to him meant his father and mother and his eleven brothers would bow down to the earth before him. This pointed to his dominion over them and to his future authority and elevation over his family.
Joseph innocently told the dream to his father and his brothers, and its meaning was at once understood. Jacob believed the Lord was revealing through Joseph what would come and kept the saying in mind. He joined the dream to the promise to Abraham and to Isaac and to himself. With his heart grieved and disappointed in his older sons, he centered his hopes in Joseph as the eldest son of his beloved Rachel that God would wonderfully bless him.
Jacob rebuked Joseph with only apparent severity, reproving him to hide his true feelings from the envious brothers, while his voice of tremulous affection betrayed him. Telling the dream deepened the brothers' hatred and envy and jealousy and desire for revenge toward him. Jacob's unconcealed favor, shown by the gorgeous colored coat he gave Joseph, gave the elder sons what they thought was sufficient reason for that jealousy, hatred and revenge over the dream. Their hatred grew because Joseph was innocent and righteous and gentle and faithful and truthful, as Cain hated his innocent and righteous brother Abel.
Fulfillment Despite Opposition
The brothers understood the dreams to mean that Joseph would become greater than they and have dominion over them, and they were troubled by them and despised them. To prevent the dreams from coming true they first purposed to kill him and then were content to sell him as a slave into Egypt, thinking this would place him where fulfillment was impossible. Their hope in selling him was that his elevation over the family would thus be hindered.
The Lord controlled events and overruled the very cruel course taken to stop the dreams and turned it to bring them to pass. By their own actions the brothers helped bring about the very outcome they sought to hinder and prevent. In this way Joseph became ruler over them and saviour to his father's family.
The prediction was fulfilled years later in Egypt when his ten brothers came to buy corn in the famine and repeatedly bowed with their faces to the earth before Joseph as ruler of Egypt, standing before him in submission exactly as foretold. Joseph recognized them though they did not recognize him, and seeing their obeisance caused him to remember the dreams he had dreamed about them. That remembrance embraced the dreams that foretold his brothers bowing before him and also included his father.
When Joseph revealed himself as their brother, all their past cruelty and contempt for the dreams they had once despised and tried to prevent came painfully before them, leaving them condemned and amazed. The dominion they sought to prevent had been brought about by God through the course they took to stop it, so that Joseph stood as ruler and saviour over them. This foreshadows how the chief priests and elders refused Jesus as king and put him to death to keep him from becoming king of the Jews, yet by that murder God made him the Redeemer and Saviour of the fallen race and ruler over the whole world.