How would Yossef's story turn different if he was truly prophesying?

Question

Following my last question "why-did-brothers-take-yossefs-dreams-seriously".

How would the development of events be different if instead of simply dreaming, Yossef was having G-d's prophecy of the same content, just like his father saw the ladder?

In other words, after seeing the sheaves G-d appears to Yosef and says "your father and mother and brothers will bow to you." And Yosef awakes.

Could he prove it was a prophecy? Would his brothers and Yaakov believe him if he said: "G-d was speaking to me" and treat him differently? Could he ask his grandfather Itzhak or his father Yaakov what to do with the prophecy?

Answer 1

Gen 37:10 "And he told [it] to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will we come I, your mother, and your brothers to prostrate ourselves to you to the ground?"

Rashi: "Will we come: Isn’t your mother (Rachel) already dead? But he (Jacob) did not know that the matters referred to Bilhah, who had raised him (Joseph) as [if she were] his mother (Gen. Rabbah 84:11). Our Rabbis, however, derived from here that there is no dream without meaningless components (Talmud Berachos 55a/b). Jacob, however, intended to make his sons forget the whole matter, so that they would not envy him (Joseph). Therefore, he said,“Will we come, etc.” Just as it is impossible for your mother, so is the rest meaningless."

The difference between a mere dream (which can have a level of prophetic content (see Talmud Berachos and the dream section 55a etc.), and a full prophecy, is that a dream can contain elements of nonesense. Prophecy is a clear message from Hashem.

Zechariah 10:2 "...dreams speak falsely..."

Devarim 18: 21-22:

"Now if you say to yourself, "How will we know the word that the L-rd did not speak?" If the prophet speaks in the name of the L-rd, and the thing does not occur and does not come about, that is the thing the Lord did not speak. The prophet has spoken it wantonly; you shall not be afraid of him."

However, a prophecy must come to pass in order for it to be true.

So the way we prove prophecy is simply by seeing if it happens.

Rambam Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah: 9:1-2

" Any prophet who arises and tells us that G-d has sent him does not have to [prove himself by] performing wonders like those performed by Moses, our teacher, or like the wonders of Elijah or Elisha, which altered the natural order.

Rather, the sign of [the truth of his prophecy] will be the fulfillment of his prediction of future events, as [implied by Deuteronomy 18:21]: "How shall we recognize that a prophecy was not spoken by G-d?..."

Therefore, if a person whose [progress] in the service of G-d makes him worthy of prophecy arises [and claims to be a prophet] - if he does not intend to add [to] or diminish [the Torah], but rather to serve G-d through the mitzvot of the Torah - we do not tell him: "Split the sea for us, revive the dead, or the like, and then we will believe in you." Instead, we tell him, "If you are a prophet, tell us what will happen in the future." He makes his statements, and we wait to see whether [his "prophecy"] comes to fruition or not.

Should even a minute particular of his "prophecy" not materialize, he is surely a false prophet. If his entire prophecy materializes, we should consider him a true [prophet].

We should test him many times. If all of his statements prove true, he should be considered to be a true prophet, as [I Samuel 3:20] states concerning Samuel, "And all of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel had been proven to be a prophet unto G-d."

Answer 2

Yosef could prove that his dream was just a dream for 2 reasons. Both of these reasons are given as an explanation of a verse in Yirmiyahu 23:29 describing prophecy: Behold, My word is like fire — declares GOD — and like a hammer that shatters rock!

1. The prophetic experience draws a person in like fire. Rashi on this verse explains: Is not My word so like fire? They (the false prophets) should not have erred to compare their dreams to say that they are prophecy, for the prophetic word, when it comes to a prophet, it comes into him with force like a burning fire, as the matter is stated (supra 20:9): “And it was in my heart like a burning fire,” and (Ezekiel 3:14): “And the hand of the Lord became strong upon me.”

2. A prophetic statement has several interpretations as explained in Gemara Sanhedrin 34a. The Gemara discusses the ruling of Rabbi Yoḥanan: From where is this matter derived? Abaye says: As the verse states: “God has spoken once, twice I have heard this; that strength belongs to God” (Psalms 62:12). Abaye explains: One verse is stated by God and from it emerge several explanations, but one explanation does not emerge from several verses. Alternatively, the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught that the verse states: “Is not My word like as fire? says the Lord; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29). Just as this hammer breaks a stone into several fragments, so too, one verse is stated by God and from it emerge several explanations. (Just note the number of different commentaries we have on our Scripture!)

Yosef did not describe his experience when seeing the dream as drawing fire. He believed that his dream also had only one interpretation. Yosef could certainly ask his father and grandfather regarding prophecy, since Rashi on Bereshis 37.3 explains that Yaakov taught Yosef everything that he learned in Yeshiva of Shem and Ever. The brothers could accept words of prophecy as well. However, here's a monkey wrench. Gemara Shabbos 89b implies that, had not Yosef been sold into slavery, Jewish people would be taken to Egypt in iron chains.