Important Christmas Dreams in the Bible

God spoke to Joseph through dreams.  Joseph acted immediately on those dreams; therefore, we have the Biblical account of the Christmas story that we know and love.  His dreams were among the most important dreams in the Bible.

Remembering Dreams

I have a hard time remembering dreams.  As soon as I wake up, my brain goes into high gear with things I need to do, thoughts of other people, and prayers for God’s guidance and work in me throughout the day.

But Joseph must have developed a practice of contemplating as he woke up.  Perhaps he awoke, listening for God’s voice and specifically remembering any dream that God had sent him in the night.  If he hadn’t remembered his dreams accurately and acted upon them quickly, the Christmas story would be very different.

Being Led by Dreams

I wonder if Joseph experienced being led by God through dreams earlier in his life.  In chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew, it is obvious that he clearly knew that certain dreams revealed God’s direction.  It seems to me that a person hearing from God through dreams would grow attuned to hearing Him through experiences over time.

Joseph didn’t waste time with inner debates about whether his dreams of an angel of the Lord speaking to him were really from God.  He immediately obeyed the instructions given to him.  Perhaps the dreams were so vivid, with a sense of God’s holy presence, that he had no question about their validity.

Go Marry Mary!

Joseph was betrothed to Mary.  This was sort of like an engagement, because the wedding ceremony had not taken place yet.  But in their culture, betrothal was a serious matter.  To break this type of engagement, a couple would have to go through a divorce.

When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, he was likely shocked by her story of how an angel had told her that she was miraculously conceiving a child through the Holy Spirit.  This child would be the Son of God.

He really couldn’t believe this story and was considering how to end the betrothal in a quiet way that would not bring public shame to Mary.  In those days, a woman could be stoned to death for becoming pregnant when she was not yet married.  Joseph knew that if he went through with the marriage, people would blame him for what they believed was an illegitimate pregnancy.  I’m sure he was struggling over the decision of what to do.

Then he had a dream in which an angel of the Lord came to him.  The angel confirmed to him that the child truly was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that this child would save people from their sins.  The account in Matthew quotes the prophecy given hundreds of years before this by Isaiah, that a virgin would bear a son who would be Immanuel, “God with us.”   I don’t know if the angel quoted this prophecy to Joseph or not.  But upon awakening, Joseph did what the angel had commanded him to do.  He went and married Mary.

If he had not done this, I wonder how Mary would have coped with being the single parent of Jesus, the Son of God.  In that culture, she would have been ostracized or even stoned to death.  I’m not sure how she would have survived.  But I know God is faithful and would have made a way for her and her son.

The Trip to Bethlehem

Due to the decree of Caesar Agustus, each family had to go to their ancestors’ hometown for a census that would be used to determine taxes.  (Yes, this is confirmed by historical accounts.)  The prophecy given in Micah, so many years before, was about to be fulfilled:  the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Joseph and Mary had to travel 90 miles, up and down hills, to the town of Bethlehem in Judea.  I can hardly imagine the difficulty of this trip since Mary was due to have her baby soon.  Walking or riding a donkey or a cart must have been terribly uncomfortable for her.  The trip would have taken over a week.

Evidently, Joseph and Mary decided to stay in Bethlehem for a while.  Perhaps it was too difficult a trip to make traveling home with a newborn.  Or maybe waiting would help remove the stigma of a child conceived outside of marriage, since the folks at home wouldn’t know when the baby was born.  They must have rented a house.  Joseph, being a carpenter, could have found work in Bethlehem to support them.

The Star Followers

Despite beautiful nativity scenes that include the wise men worshipping the infant Jesus at the stable, Matthew records their arrival at “the place where the young child was” in Bethlehem.  They had visited King Heros first, inquiring where they could find the one who was born King of the Jews.  Herod inquired of the Jewish priests and scribes as to where such a child would be born.  They said that Micah’s prophecy indicated it would be Bethlehem.

Wanting to get rid of a child who would grow up to become a king, Herod tried to deceive them by telling them to come back to tell him once the child was found, so that he could worship him.

The wise men headed toward Bethlehem, being led by the star they had seen from their homeland.  The star led them to the house where Jesus, who may have been a toddler by that time, was.  Once they presented their gifts and worshipped, they were warned in a dream to escape Herod’s notice by returning home by another route.  It’s interesting to see that they too responded to God’s direction given in a dream.  The Bible doesn’t say whether one of them or all of them received the dream.

The Escape Plan Dream

Soon afterward, Joseph had another dream in which he saw and heard an angel of the Lord.  “Arise and flee to Egypt,” was the urgent message.  I can picture Joseph leaping off his sleeping mat, awakening Mary to get ready to leave, and quickly packing whatever possessions they could take with them.  I think that the wise men’s gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were what sustained them financially during the years that they hid away in Egypt.

If Joseph had not responded immediately to the direction from Heaven, Jesus would have been killed.  When Herod discovered that the wise men had tricked him by not returning, he was furious.  He sent out soldiers to Bethlehem and its surrounding areas to kill all babies up through age two.  The wise men had told him when they had first seen the star.  Perhaps it appeared on the night Jesus was born.  It likely had taken the wise men months to prepare for their journey and then to travel to find the new king.  So Herod probably figured that by killing all male children up through age two, he could be sure to get rid of the child.  But unknown to Herod, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had escaped.

Go Home

Joseph had one last dream that is recorded for us in Matthew.  Once again the angel of the Lord appeared.  I wonder if it was the same angel each time.  This time the message was, “It’s safe to go back to Israel now.”  King Herod had died.  Once again, Joseph took Mary and the child Jesus on a journey.  They ended up returning to their homeland in Galilee, settling in the town of Nazareth.

What Happened to the Dreamer?

We don’t hear much more about Joseph in the Scriptures.  We know he was alive when Jesus was twelve, for their family went to Jerusalem to worship.  That is when they temporarily lost Jesus – but that’s another story.  We also know that Jesus was known in Nazareth as “the carpenter’s son.”  It was common for boys to be trained by their fathers in whatever trade or business the father worked in.   During Jesus’ ministry years, we hear nothing about Joseph.  So we assume that he passed away before that time.  We also know from Scripture that Jesus had siblings.  So Joseph lived long enough to father and raise children.

I look at Joseph as a hero.  He was tuned in to God.  He knew when it was God speaking to him through his dreams, and he was quick to respond.  He saved the day for Mary and Jesus.  That’s why I think his dreams were the most important dreams in the Bible.  As we ponder the Christmas story, let’s pray that we will become as sensitive to God’s leading as Joseph was.

by Karen S. Roberts