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“His brothers said to him, ‘Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?’ And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.” (Genesis 37:8)

Before we get into this passage, let me first explain what we mean by the series title, ‘Liminal Lent’. ‘Liminal’ means ‘threshold’ – the space in-between two different places or seasons, with the past very much behind and the ‘new’ not yet clear. Lent is a liminal space and of course we find ourselves in a liminal season now. But we will discover in the example of Joseph that he too experienced a significant liminal season, between dreams much later fulfilled. Two dreams in Genesis 37 concern the reign of this loved and yet hated young man, specifically over his immediate family as “the prince among his brothers” (Deuteronomy 33:16). Perhaps understandably, the reaction to these dreams was pretty strong. Joseph had already experienced favouritism from his father Jacob and loved more than any of his other brothers but these dreams further elated Joseph and hate to rise in his brothers. They planned to kill Joseph but eventually stripped him and threw him into an empty cistern before being sold. With his life sustained however, his dreams were kept alive. You may have dreams yet fulfilled, perhaps due to this recent pandemic and liminal season. But as we remember the example of Joseph, keep on dreaming for God will work His purposes out.