Later, when Herod died, God’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: “Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead.”
Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother, and reentered Israel. When he heard, though, that Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, as king in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But then Joseph was directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee. On arrival, he settled in the village of Nazareth. This move was a fulfillment of the prophetic words, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
I dream most nights and i have had dreams with angels – do you think he knew straight away that the dream was from God and he had to follow it, or, did he pray about it and mull it over with others?
How do we know for sure when we dream if it’s from God or just the ramblings of a busy mind?
Good question Sharon,
I reckon in this case it would have pretty unambiguous – they don’t seem to have had a ‘hearing God’s voice subtly’ sort of spirituality, so I think it’s a different kind of question about how we might decide whether one of our dreams is inspired by God. A question I’ll let others comment on first!
Sharon,
I don’t tend to have dreams…rather, God seems to wake me up if he’s got something to say. I think it must be the only time my mind is still enough for him to get through to me!!
In this passage I wonder if the writer is in someway paraphrasing what happened.
If I ever think I God has ’spoken’ to me…(either by waking me up, or through pictures, or a word from other people) I have always learned to test it out first (coz I know that at times it is simply my mind or imagination working overtime!)…..testing it out by talking it through with others or asking God for confirmation. I can never remember a time in my where God has lead me blindly into something, not that he has never called me to take risks, but rather that testing has confirmed he will be with me in the risks he’s asked me to take.
I might be wrong, but I suspect Joseph may have clarified with others around that Herod was in fact dead. In fact, in the passage it says that after the dream Joseph had found out that Archelaus was now king….that to me would indicate that Joseph had been asking a few questions and testing things out.
If I was to put my self in his situation, a refugee in a foreign land, I think I would have a tendency to dream about getting back to my homeland…..I suspect Joseph (& Mary) may have had that tendency too! But in this case where God seemed to be involved in the dream and there was a direct order to go (but there was a threat of certain death if I did go), I would want to make sure that I was ‘listening to God’ and not the desires or longings of my own heart.
I don’t thaink that to think of Joseph testing things through it in this way in any way lessens his faith…after all he still took the risk of taking his family back to an unstable country, with the possible risk of death, but in the scary times that he would have to face there he would have the absolute assurance that God had told him to go.