Joseph had a lot of dreams.
I am listening to the New Testament of the Bible right now. The Word of Promise from Thomas Nelson is quite a production. As I listened to Matthew 1, 2, and 3, I was blown away by Joseph’s sleep apnea problems.
The day was turning out to be one of the worst in his life. His beloved Mary was expecting a baby. And it wasn’t his. Mary’s pregnancy was a personal insult. Plus, the news disrupted his trust in faithful followers of Jehovah. Then he fell asleep.
But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Some commentators imagine Joseph waking up after the dream and walking on air. Others see him run to Mary with the news. My guess is, Joseph woke up and stared at the ceiling for a while shaking his head. The news was good news, but it was also scary news
Throughout the rest of the pregnancy, I wonder if Joseph dreaded going to sleep. After an exhausting night of helping Mary give birth, I bet he didn’t have any trouble nodding off. Then a few days (or as some postulate, many months) later, another dream invades his shut eye.
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Great! Another life-disrupting nightmare. He can’t go home? He has to go to another country? They speak a strange language and worship strange gods. Plus, didn’t his people have to escape Egypt?
He probably didn’t sleep too well in Egypt. He was a new dad. I haven’t met a new dad yet who slept well for the first few months of life. He had to earn a living (unless the gold from the wise men lasted a while). But without a reputation, it must have been slow going for a foreigner. He was away from his synagogue and community. He must have felt alone and strange.
Then he has another dream.
Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
If I were Joseph, I would have gotten up in the middle of the night and packed for home. Finally, a good dream! But God didn’t let the feeling last.
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.
Another strange city, but a little closer to home.
Did these dreams help Joseph feel closer to the God of all creation? Or did Joseph feel like God had it in for him?
I wish we knew more of the story of Joseph. He fades into the background and, some commentators believe, dies before Jesus’s ministry begins.
As scary as I think Joseph’s dreams were, I wish I had a few right now. I could use some direction that I knew was straight from the Lord, even if the news scared me to death.
I’m praying for direction this year. I bet you are, too. May our steps be guided.
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