Dreams & Joseph, Husband of Mary

 Dreams & Joseph, Husband of Mary

Of Abimelech,, concerning Sarah Ge 20:3

.Of Jacob, concerning the ladder Ge 28:12

.The ring-straked cattle Ge 31:10-13

.Concerning his going down into Egypt Ge 46:2

.Of Laban, concerning Jacob Ge 31:24

.Of Joseph, concerning the sheaves Ge 37:5-10

.Of Midianite concerning the cake of barley Jud 7:13

.Of Solomon, concerning his choice of wisdom 1Ki 3:3-15

.Of Eliphaz, of a spirit speaking to him Job 4:12-21

.Of Daniel, concerning the four beasts Da 7

.Of Joseph, concerning Mary’s innocence Mt 1:20,21

.Concerning the flight into Egypt Mt 2:13

.Concerning the return into Palestine Mt 2:19-22

.Of Pilate’s wife, concerning Jesus Mt 27:19

.Cornelius vision, concerning Peter Ac 10:3-6

.Peter’s vision of the ceremonially unclean creatures Ac 10:10-16

.Paul’s vision of the man in Macedonia, crying, “Come over into Macedonia,” Ac 16:9

.Relating to his going to Rome Ac 23:11

.Concerning the shipwreck, and the safety of all on board Ac 28:23,24

.Revelations by Nu 12:6; Jer 23:28; Joe 2:28; Ac 2:17

.The dreams of the butler and baker Ge 40:8-23

.Pharaoh Ge 41:1-36

.Interpreted by Joseph Ge 40:12,13,18,19; 41:25-32

.Daniel Da 2:16-23,28-30; 4

.Delusive Isa 29:7,8

.False prophets pretended to receive revelations through De 13:1-5; Jer 23:25-32; 27:9; 29:8;

Zec 10:2

 

 

Dreams are prevalent throughout both the old and new testaments.

·        We can look at Joseph, Daniel, Apostle John, Apostle Peter, Cornelius, Mary the mother of Jesus and many others.

·        Dreams from God are not just for days gone by but still happen.

·        Joe 2:28  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions

·        Act 2:17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

·        Heb. 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

·        Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

·        Ecc. 3:15 -15  I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

·        The great men and women of the Bible acted on the dreams God sent to them.

 

 

The Bible is by and large quiet about Joseph therefore we know very little about the man.

 

Nine important points about Joseph, the father of Jesus. 

 

·        we know that he found favor with God.

o   (As Mary was highly favored to be the mother of the Messiah, so it stands to reason that Joseph was also highly favored to be entrusted with the care and upbringing of this very special child.)

·        He was listed in the linage of Jesus.

·        He was forever noted in the Word of God.

·        He has the unique privilege of having been the Messiah’s step-father.

·        He saw the Son of God born; he helped raise the child.

·        He was visited by an angel.

·        Wise men, great men visited his house in order to see the special child.

·        He was Mary’s husband.

·        He acted on the dreams God gave him.

Joseph was blessed!

 

2.       He was a good man.

Matthew 1:19 tells us that “Joseph her husband was a righteous man…”

Other translations describe him as being: Just, Noble, and Godly.

Can you possibly imagine God giving the care of His holy Son over to the care of a reprobate? No. The very fact that God chose Joseph says much about the kind of man Joseph was.

Joseph was considerate and kind to Mary – in spite of some very difficult circumstances.

 

He provided a home for Jesus, even though the child was not his.

In fact, he raised Him as his own.

After Jesus spoke as a prophet for the first time in the temple of Nazareth, the people took offence at him. They did not believe him.

As a way of putting him down, they said: “Where did this man get his wisdom and his mighty words? Is this not the carpenter's son?”

The people saw him as belonging to Joseph.

 

Joseph was a step-father; Jesus was a step-son. Theirs was a very contemporary home some two-thousand years ago!

 

3.       He loved Mary.

 

Let me share with you a passage of Scripture that honestly doesn’t make any sense to us in America. In fact, it looks as if the Bible contradicts itself. It doesn’t; I’ll explain. Matthew 1:18-20 states: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”  Notice ___ the angel did not tell the neighbors. Many would have considered Jesus to have been born out of wedlock.

 

Judging from Joseph’s actions, I have to conclude that he too loved his lady.

·        You see, he knew that she was pregnant.

·        He knew that he wasn’t the father.

·        He had every right to believe that she had been unfaithful to him and to their betrothal.

·        Then there was her story of how she had become pregnant. “God did this to me.” Yeah, right! How many of you would have believed that story?

·        Joseph had every reason in the world to think that she had not only cheated on him, but that she was also lying to cover up her sin.

·        An angel had to visit him and confirm her story before he would believe Mary.

·        In spite of his early doubts, he still did not want to hurt her.

·        He was going to divorce her privately so as to save her from public shame.

·        Joseph loved Mary.

 

4.       Joseph came from the linage of David.

He was a true Jew. Matthew chapter 1 lists the genealogy of Jesus. It goes all of the way back to Abraham, the father of the Hebrews. In that linage we find such notables as Isaac, Jacob, Ruth, David, Solomon as well as “Joseph (who was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ the Messiah.”) Matthew 1:16

 

Joseph was a part of the royal linage of Israel. In fact, when the angel saluted Joseph, he did so by calling him “Joseph son of David.” Joseph was of noble blood, his pedigree could be traced back to Abraham.

 

 

6.       joseph was a carpenter

Joseph was a carpenter; Jesus was a carpenter. Back then, the fathers were responsible to teach their sons a trade. If the dad was a fisherman, it was expected that the sons were to be fishermen. If the dad was a farmer, then again the sons were to be farmers. If the father was a potter, the sons were to be potters. Joseph was a carpenter so Jesus naturally became a carpenter. A carpenter was a very skilled man.

 

Joseph introduced Jesus to his trade at a very early age. Without a doubt, the lessons which Jesus learned at his father's knee influenced the whole of His life and teaching. For instance,

 

He noticed these things for they were a part of who and what He was for a good number of years. In fact, He spent six times as much of His life in the shop as He spent in public ministry. Or to put it another way, He was a worker with wood for maybe eighteen years while He was a rabbi/teacher but for three brief years.

 Isn’t it interesting that the One who created the world in but six short days, learned carpentry from his earthly father? Wow!

 

7.       joseph was the spiritual leader in his home

According to custom, it was the father’s job to teach his children the scripture, and tell them the many stories of Israel's past.

 

 Why isn’t Joseph given greater place both in Scripture and in history?

1.       the Bible emphasizes the fact that Jesus was fathered by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph was chosen to again serve as a step-father. The Savior was both the Son of God – having God as His Father, and the Son of Man – having Mary as His mother. Thus both His divinity and humanity are reflected in His parentage.

While Joseph was important; God was all-important!

 

2.       history has been largely silent about Joseph due to the place the Catholic church has given to Mary.

Over a period of several hundred years, the church fathers became committed to the view that Mary was not only a virgin at the time of Christ's birth, but that she remained a virgin throughout her life. Her marriage with Joseph was never consummated. This notion was officially recognized as the doctrine of the perpetual virginity. Unfortunately, having adopted this view, the church found itself with the embarrassing problem of Joseph's other children, named in the gospels as the brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Mark 6:2 states: “Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Jesus Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here  with   us?”

 

In order to resolve this dilemma, the church taught that Joseph was an old man at the time of his betrothal to Mary. They said that his children were the offspring of a previous marriage. One authority puts his age at 93 on his wedding day. When you imagine a bridegroom 93 years of age, the doctrine of the virgin birth, and the further doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity, become more plausible, to say the least. So the doctrine of the perpetual virginity is defended, but as a result Joseph is effectively ushered off stage.

 

Legend holds that he died at the age of 111 when Jesus was only 18 years old.

 How sad. How silly. How wrong!

 In truth, Joseph was probably not much older than was Mary. He most likely died sometime between the Lord’s twelfth birthday, when he was presented at the temple in Jerusalem, and the beginning of his public ministry following His baptism in the Jordan River.

 Joseph’s quiet life serves as a powerful example to us men today. He was a good father as well as an effective father.

 In an amazing way, Jesus’ life gives honor to both His heavenly and earthly fathers. Both taught Him well. Both serve as examples for us too.