"And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.
And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?"
And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
Genesis 40:5-8
This is a little side story in the overall story of Joseph in Egypt. Two imprisoned servants of Pharoah have dreams about what will happen to them, and Joseph interprets the dreams for them (through the inspiration of God), and he is correct. Later, when Pharoah has a dream that needs interpreting, this is remembered and results in Joseph's freedom and promotion to a high position.
What I like about this is the idea that God blesses us with dreams to help us. There are a lot of instances of dreams being mentioned in the scriptures... God warns people to flee, calls them as prophets, shows them things to come, blesses them with inspiration, and teaches them the truth. God doesn't do all of these things *only* through dreams, but it seems to be a fairly common medium. The ones that required an interpreter all seem to be God getting someone to listen to a prophet, so that might be more of a plot device than an actual requirement. For instance, Lehi's dream was clear to Lehi, and Nephi was able to obtain the interpretation by asking God.
In my life it isn't usually dreams, but more flashes of insight about something, or a scene that seems weird and that I rarely actually think will happen, but then, often years later, I'll be in that scene, and have a flashback to when I saw it the first time... reminders from God that he knows *way* better than I do what is in store, and sometimes promises that I will get through this challenge, by showing me a scene from after. :)
I think the point is that God is trying to help and prepare us all for the future, through the things that we learn and that we go through, and sometimes through other things like flashes of insight, or dreams, or random conversations or interactions with other people. I mean... I decided to go to graduate school through a conversation I had with a gentleman working in the garden center at a large store, and I know that God inspired that man to talk to me that day, and leads me forward in other ways as well. I believe that he does this for everyone... not necessarily in the same way, but in a way that we can learn to recognize if we take the time and work on our communication with God. Today, let's work on that, trusting in God that he knows the way forward and wants to help us get there. Let's pay attention and have faith, and God will lead us along.
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