Now I have a heavy burden to share something very meaningful with you. If you had been Joseph, would you have considered your brothers heavenly and full of life and light? In 37:2 we are told that Joseph brought to his father an evil report regarding his brothers. Furthermore, according to chapter thirty-seven, Joseph's brothers were full of hatred and anger, and according to chapter thirty-eight, they were full of lust. In chapter thirty-seven we see the hatred and anger of Joseph's brothers, and in chapter thirty-eight we see Judah's lust. Joseph saw the evil of his brothers and reported it to his father. But Joseph had two dreams (37:5-9). In the first dream Joseph saw sheaves in the field. This dream reveals that, at the most, Joseph was just a sheaf and that, at the worst, his brothers also were sheaves. God gave Joseph this dream, and in it he had God's view of his brothers. Joseph might have said to his father, "Daddy, my brothers are so poor. How I have suffered from their evil! Oh, they are full of anger and lust!" But God came to give Joseph a dream, and He seemed to say, "Joseph, in My eyes you are the same as your brothers, and they are just as good as you are. You are a sheaf, and they also are sheaves. The only difference between you and them is that I have chosen you to reign. But this does not mean that you are better than they are."
If we do not have experience, we shall not be able to understand the word in the Bible regarding Joseph's dream of the sheaves. When you first come into the church life, you may say, "How wonderful the church life is! The brothers and sisters are all marvelous! How I love the church!" However, the more you love the church and care for the saints, the more "gophers," "turtles," and "scorpions" you will see. Then you will say, "Lord, what is this? Lord, the situation in the church is pitiful. Not even the elders are any good. And look at all the sisters! I don't want to sit near them in the meetings." At such a time you need a heavenly dream. When the dream comes, the Lord will tell you, "You are not any better, and the others are not worse than you. You are all sheaves of life in Me. There are no 'gophers,' 'scorpions,' or 'turtles' among My people. All are sheaves full of life." If I had not seen such a heavenly dream, I would have quit long ago. But I have seen the dream. I have seen that I am a sheaf and that all those who in my eyes are "gophers" are sheaves also. In the eyes of God, they are sheaves.
Years ago, I prayed many accusing prayers to the Lord; I reported to Him the evils I had seen. In my prayers I said, "Lord, I have given up my job and consecrated my life and my future for this work. But, Lord, look at this people!" Eventually, however, the dream came, and the Lord said to me, "You are not better than they. At the most, you are just a sheaf, and, at the worst, they also are sheaves." At the beginning I was troubled and argued with the Lord, saying, "Lord, You are not thorough. You are superficial. Don't You see their heart?" But the Lord said, "I don't look at them from your view. I see them from My view. In the New Jerusalem there are no 'gophers' and 'scorpions.'"
One day I received great help by reading Balaam's prophecy in Numbers 23. According to the book of Numbers, the children of Israel had done many evil things. Balaam was hired by a heathen king to curse Israel and to expose the evil in Israel. But God spoke through Balaam, and Balaam said, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel" (Num. 23:21). God seemed to be saying, "I have not beheld any iniquity in My people. I do not see any perverseness in them."
Elijah complained against Israel saying, "The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away" (1 Kings 19:10). Elijah was accusing Israel before God. Being displeased with this, the Lord replied, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him" (1 Kings 19:18). Do not go to the Lord in the way of accusing others before Him. Instead, you should say to Him, "Lord, since You see no iniquity, I do not choose to see any either. All the 'gophers' and 'scorpions' are sheaves, and I love them."
However, this is not easy to do. You may even think that I am teaching you to lie, for you may say, "Brother So-and-so is pitiful. I could never say that he is a sheaf." But who is right—God or you? And what about the dream? If you have seen the heavenly dream, then you have seen that in God's view all His people are sheaves full of life to produce food for the meal offering to satisfy God and man.