Why a Dream, when we have the Holy Spirit?

As I was reading the Christmas Story from Matthew again this year, I couldn’t help but realize how much God spoke to Joseph through dreams. The first one is found in Matthew 1:20, 21, where in the context, Joseph was considering to divorce Mary because of thinking she might have been unfaithful to her, having Mary being pregnant, and Joseph knowing that hadn’t slept together. The scripture says, “But after he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” This dream revealed to Joseph that Mary’s child would be the Messiah – God’s anointed One. It was a glorious revelation of truth that would be helpful for Joseph to make a right decision, that was very important for his life. The second dream, or vision that Joseph received from God is found in Matthew 2:13. It says in the setting of the Wise men having just visited Mary, Joseph and Jesus, and left them, “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said. “Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Wonderful warning. Isn’t it marvelous that God wants to provide protection for His people and give them guidance. Even though Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ real father, he was Jesus’ legal Father and God gave him the responsibility then for his protection and well-being. Divine guidance comes only to prepared hearts. Joseph remained perceptive to God’s divine guidance. The third dream or vision came to Joseph while in Egypt where again, “an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” Kind of makes you think twice about not having God on your side, doesn’t it? God doesn’t take kindly to people trying to sabotage His divine plans. The dreams weren’t over: (see verse 22) They returned to Israel, but needed to land in the right place God provided: the town of Nazareth. But did you notice v. 22, where it says, having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” (Just a trivia side-bar: The church of the Nazarene took it’s name from this fact. It’s really the Church of ‘The Nazarene.’) The point of this last dream is that God even had a specific place back in Israel for Joseph, Mary and Jesus to reside. Amazing that in the Christmas story, you see God’s hand at work in the everyday affairs of people who were willing to listen to Him, so they could literally be ledby God, protected by God, experience victory by His leadership, and find a safe place to live. What God was doing then in Joseph’s life, pre-dated the gift of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, given to all men for counsel, guidance, protection from Satan’s attempts to destroy us, and the like. How BLESSED WE ARE in having such a caring God who desires to reveal Himself, and His plans for us to each one of us as we follow the Holy Spirit’s lead in our life.