Some 3,700 years ago, two men were locked away in a prison in Egypt. Each received an intriguing dream. Having no access to the wise men of the land, they expressed their perplexity to a fellow inmate, Joseph exclaiming: "We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for us." That servant of God encourage them to relate their dreams to him, saying: "Do not interpretations belong to God?" (Genesis 40:8) Only Jehovah has the ability to unravel propheciers, just as an experienced sailor can untie complicated knots. After all, it was God who made or tied up those prophecies in the first place. Logically, we must look to him for the lossenign of their meaning. Yes, Joseph was right in giving the credit to God.
In what sense, then, do "interpretations belong to God?" There are a number of ways that this proves the case. Some Bible prophecies are recorded along with their fulfillment. These, then, are relatively simple to untie, as are some knots that the sailor freely explains how to undo. - GENESIS 18:14; 21:2.
Other propheces can be explained and unraveled by an examination of the content. The prophet Daniel had a prophetic vision of 'a ram with two horns." being decisively struck down by a"hairy he-goat" that had "a conspicious horn between its eyes." The context shows that the ram with the two horns represented "the kings of Media and Persia" and the goat, "the king of Greece." (Daniel 8:3-8, 20-22) More than 200 years later, "the great horn" -Alexander the Great-began his conquest of Persia. The Jewish historian Josephus claimed that during Alexander's military campaignin the vicinity of Jerusalem, he was shown this very prophecy and believed that it referred to him.
Next time: Who Can Interpret Prohecy? - "Interpretations Belong to God"
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