Genesis 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
The Bible tells us that God may speak through dreams, but it doesn’t give us a guidebook for dream interpretation. Most of all, know the Bible to know the voice of God. We should expect that God speaks to us in the Bible, and if He were to speak in a dream, it would be unexpected. Though Joseph was wrong to tell these dreams, they certainly did come true. One may receive a wonderful message from God that He does not intend them to publish to others. Joseph showed a lack of wisdom here, perhaps rooted in pride. At this point, even Jacob was a bit offended. He couldn’t understand how Joseph could be exalted higher than his own father and mother. (Guzik)
Observe, Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many young people, when setting out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble. His brethren rightly interpreted the dream, though they abhorred the interpretation of it. While they committed crimes in order to defeat it, they were themselves the instruments of accomplishing it. (Henry)
The meaning of this dream was offensive enough, and his telling of it rendered it even more disagreeable. The second dream only aggravated the hatred of his brothers; but his father, while rebuking him for his speeches, yet marked the saying. The rebuke seems to imply that the dream, or the telling of it, appears to his father to indicate the lurking of a self-sufficient or ambitious spirit within the breast of the youthful Joseph. (Barnes)
Joseph’s brothers easily enough interpreted the dreams. Imagine their ill-will towards him. They know he is favored by Jacob their father and now his spoken dreams enforce ill-will more. Envy and jealousy will cloud the minds of those given into them. They will consume the heart and mind to the point of anger and hatred. The world is full of people in both high and low positions seeking that which God has not determined for their lives. Envy and jealousy leave no room for God’s will, purpose, and plans. Happy is the heart and mind that finds its peace and rest in the comfort of know God and being know by God. Their hearts and minds are content in every circumstance because they wait with reliant and expectant hope in God alone.
