Are you a visionary, a dreamer? Have your brothers in the Lord hated you or conspired against you? Have you ever been 'cast out', rejected by your brethren, or 'cast aside'.
Have you ever found yourself in a pit seemingly without a way out only to find yourself in prison, 'the dark day of the soul'? Has your wilderness seemed without end? Do you wonder if you ever really heard the Lord? Do
you feel your dream has passed you by and the assurance that you once had in the beginning seems distant or perhaps non-existant? TAKE HEART JOSEPH! THE TIME OF YOUR ARISING IS AT HAND! There is much being
said in this hour concerning "The Joseph's", but who are the Joseph's of our day? As we look at the life of Joseph, we can clearly understand just who they really are in type and character. As we look at Joseph, we
see that His life was a type and shadow of Jesus who was to come. And when we look at the body of Christ, we can see the same pattern today. There are those to whom the Father has imparted HIS vision and direction that
have experienced or are experiencing the wrath of the religious hierarchy. Paul prayed for those that were called to be the children of God that they be conformed to the image of Christ. It is through rejection and
seemed destruction that the conformation to the image of Christ takes place within.
"Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they only hated him the more. He said
to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed: behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and bowed down to my sheaf." His
brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to REIGN over us? Or are you indeed to have DOMINION over us?" So they HATED him yet more for his DREAMS and for his WORDS. Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his
brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and
said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?" And his brothers were JEALOUS of him, but his father kept the
saying in mind." Gen. 37:5-11
1. Joseph was loved of his father and hated by his brothers. Although their father loved and cared for them also, jealousy was
the earmark of his brother's lives (ministry). Their hatred of him increased because of his dreams and the words which he spoke. They felt that as long as Joseph was in the picture, they would not be able to compete nor
see the purpose of their lives come to fruit and so they sought to rid themselves of him. In their hearts they perceived that this was the only way to come into the place they desired and shine before their father!
" And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
And they said one to another, Behold, this DREAMER COMETH. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty,
there was no water in it." Genesis 37:17b-24
When one has a vision of their place in the kingdom of God, many obstacles lie before them. Oftentimes we look for others to
rejoice as we share with them our dreams, what the Lord has spoken with us. Most will say "That is wonderful!" "How exciting!", but in their hearts they resent the direction that has been set before
you, especially if they perceive that you vision places theirs in a lesser stature. It is most unusual for one not to be mocked or hated in relationship to their 'dream'. Before we go further, let me briefly say that no
one's vision or purpose is greater than another's. Greatness comes in our 'obedience' to where and what we are called to regardless of how great or small we perceive it to be.
Jesus was the greatest visionary who ever lived. He had a destiny set before Him and through obedience He was victorious in His mission. The cross was the ultimate suffering of Christ to
bring about the 'will of God'. His beatings, humiliation, and finally his death on the cross was excruciatingly painful but He endured it all for the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). Rejection and mockery by the
religious leaders and many of the people followed Him all the days of His life. Even His own family declared that He was beside Himself. Not only did they mock and jeer Him, they declared He was of the devil. They hated
Him for He claimed to be the Son of God and one with the Father. But this was a carpenter's son! How could He claim that the Father talked with Him, for it was they that God had set into the ministry and if God were to talk to
anyone, it would be them!.
"Now if we are children, the we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we SHARE in His sufferings in order that we ALSO SHARE in His glory".
(Romans 8:17).
"In bringing MANY sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation PERFECT through
SUFFERING'." (Hebrews 2:10).
2. As we look at Joseph, we see that he was unaware of what was in his brother's hearts toward him. He was sent by his father to look for them, but as they saw him coming, they began
to devise a plan to get rid of him. They wanted Joseph to be forever removed from before their face never to hear nor see him again. At first they had sought to kill him, but decided that was too extreme, so they cast him
into a pit and left him to his own demise. Many in the body of Christ are doing the same in this hour. In their hearts they are saying,
"if we can just get rid of them, cast them away from our presence, then we can shine!"
Many are experiencing rejection today and the prevelant mindset is that if one is not accepted by 'those in the know',
then something is seriously wrong. Often times that rejection comes through jealousy and blind judgment. Usually from people who have never heard the voice of the Lord. These are the most critical and
judgmental. Their voices ring in the ears of others: "they are seeking their own glory, they have hidden sin, and are deceived. After all, if they were hearing God, I would know it"!
"When he summoned a famine on the land, and broke every staff of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar
of iron; until what he had said came to pass the word of the LORD tested him. The king sent and released him, the ruler of the peoples set him free; he made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, to instruct
his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom." Psalm 105:16-22
At a young age, vision was imparted to him and but probably had little understanding
as to it's meaning, yet purpose was placed deep within his heart for a time that was yet before him. Joseph's soul was to be tried in irons. It was in prison that his character was forged in the fires of adversity and
shaped for his ultimate fulfillment of destiny and production of God's nature within us. This is the place in which we truly come to the end of our self and say, "Not my will, but thy will be done."
"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abides alone, but if it die it brings forth much fruit" (John 12:24). Our suffering is designed to produce growth as sure as the sun
produces light. We must die to ourselves and it is in that death that we become alive unto Him. It is then that the dream becomes a reality that finds expression in the kingdom of God.
"Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have
dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an
answer of peace". Genesis 41:14-16
Joseph had come to the end of himself and was now prepared for the vision that God had given. He declared to Pharoah that He did
not know, that it is only God who can give the answer. God revealed the interpretation of the dream and Joseph in turn revealed it to Pharoah. He instructed Pharoah that he would need to find a man who was discreet and
able to rule wisely of what needed to be done. And Pharoah recognized Joseph was the one empowered by God to save Egypt. Pharoah told Joseph,
"Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; Genesis 41:40-42
The famine came as Joseph predicted and because of the wisdom given him by God, Egypt prospered. But in the homeland of Joseph it was a different story. Famine had struck the
land and times were exceptionally difficult. Jacob had heard that Egypt had plenty of corn and so he sent his sons to buy corn. They went there more than once, but it wasn't until Benjamin was brought back with them
after finding the kings cup in his sack, that Joseph revealed himself to them. Joseph had come to the place of ultimate breaking and forgiveness. He embraced his brothers and declared:
"And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come
near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to
preserve life. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh,
and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." Genesis 45:3-8
Little did Joseph know that his dream would come to pass in the land of Egypt. The
complete fulfillment of Joseph's dream was NOT in his rulership over Egypt. The fulfillment of the dream was the reconciling of himself with his family. It was in their famine that they came and it was in the provision
which Joseph gave them that ultimate restoration took place. We must realize that the dreams, the words, the visions which God has given to us may not necessarily come to pass where we are. God may be generating
circumstances to take us to another place for it's fulfillment. As famine comes upon the people of God, it will be the Joseph's who have been faithful to God that will be raised up and release the 'spiritual grain' to the
house of the Lord. Much like Jacob, the church today does not know that there is a famine on the horizon and they have not received the direction of the Lord for deliverance. Consequently they have not prepared themselves for
what is quickly coming. When it comes, there will be a massive cry for deliverance and their 'Father' will hear and send them to the place of provision.
It has been in the 'pit' and in
the 'prisons' that the Joseph's of today have been learning and going through a preparation process. They have been born for such a time as this and the mandate which God has placed within them is about to be
manifested. The whole lesson has been to walk in wisdom and grace and to manifest the 'ministry of reconciliation'. To come to a place of total restoration and forgiveness regardless of the wrongs which have been
done. The Joseph's do not have a martyr or self complex, rather they understand that it is only by the grace of God that they do walk. And it is only by His grace that they have something from the throne to give.
Their dream has not died, but their self life has surrendered in total abandonment to the Christ who is within. The love that has been shed abroad in their hearts can now be totally released without condition or merit.
Mercy is their is their pathway and grace their sword. Now we shall visit the verse quoted above for one brief moment:
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed IN us. For the
earnest expectation of the creature WAITETH for the MANIFESTATION of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Romans 8:17-22.
It is interesting that Paul said the glory to be revealed would be IN us not TO us! Let he that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying! To the Joseph's of our day - The
timing of the Lord is now upon you and His creation. ARISE - FOR THE DREAM LIVES! GOD IS ABOUT TO BRING YOU OUT! YOU SHALL ARISE NOT BY THE HAND OF MAN BUT THE HAND OF GOD! An old friend once said to
me, "Before EVERY possession of a promise, there IS a wilderness experience.
Lucinda Evans
