Page 186 - Foundations

types and shadows. I have written volumes on the parable contained in the seven days of creation that
is set forth in the first chapter of the Bible. This is where commentaries prove themselves deficient,
for they see only the surface message, and do not look to the parables contained within them.

When God wanted to speak to Joseph, the son of Jacob, He showed this young man images in dreams
by night.

Genesis 37:5-11
Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. And he said
to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the
field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and
bowed down to my sheaf. " Then his brothers said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us?
Or are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his
words. Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still
another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." And
he related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this
dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves
down before you to the ground?" And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying
in mind.

Joseph’s Dreams

The images shown to Joseph are very similar to images one might encounter in the constellations.
They are simple graphics used to convey specific truth. Joseph’s brothers and father understood these
images to be conveying very precise information. There was no ambiguity. The communication was
readily comprehensible. I must reject Dr. Faulkner’s contention that non-verbal communication is
incapable of conveying specific and precise information.

Where Dr. Faulkner has done a commendable job is in his explication of the names of constellations
and stars. In this area he has done his research, and he documents it very well. A lack of source
documentation is one of the chief complaints he had about the writing of Frances Rolleston, though
he graciously acknowledges that she died before completing her work which could partially explain
the absence of clear accreditation of source material in her book.

I found Dr. Faulkner’s arguments about the names and meanings assigned to stars to be well reasoned.