This week, we are looking at a section of the very first
letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis.
Yesterday, we looked on as Joseph found himself in jail, isolated separated
from the relationships that he had developed. However, Joseph was not alone,
because the Lord was active and at work in his life. And as the prison warden
watched the Lord’s activity in Joseph’s life, he responded by promoting Joseph
to the position of chief trustee. Joseph became the warden’s right hand man and
was placed in charge of all of the prisoners.
After being promoted to the position of chief trustee by
the prison warden, Joseph was joined in prison by the cupbearer and baker of
the king of Egypt, who was also known as Pharaoh. Moses tells us that these men offended
Pharaoh. Moses tells us that as Joseph went to serve and attend to the needs of
the cupbearer and baker one morning, he noticed that they were dejected. Joseph
discovered that the reason why these men were wretched and disturbed revolved
around a dream that they both had the previous evening. And while their dreams
were different, their response to the dreams was the same.
The cupbearer and baker were not wretched and disturbed as a result of having a dream. The cupbearer and baker were wretched and disturbed because there was no one there who could explain what the dream meant. These men felt like the answer to what their futures held was right before them, but just out of their grasp. Upon discovering the reason for their wretched and disturbed state, Joseph makes a simple statement that reveals a great deal about his character: "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please."
You see, Joseph, recognized that the Lord was present and
actively at work in his life. And because Joseph knew that the Lord was present
and active in his life, he felt comfortable and confident to ask to hear the
dreams, because he trusted that the Lord would provide him the ability to
explain these dreams. Today, we see how these officials responded to Joseph’s
offer in verse 9:
So the chief
cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold,
there was a vine in front of
me; and on the vine were three
branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. "Now Pharaoh's cup
was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and
I put the cup into Pharaoh's hand." Then Joseph said to him, "This is
the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more
days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you
will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand according to your former custom when you
were his cupbearer. "Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and
please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this
house. "For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even
here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon."
The cupbearer, feeling like he had nothing to lose,
shares his dream to Joseph. And without hesitation, Joseph responds by
explaining the dream in incredible detail. Joseph’s interpretation, if
communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded
like this: “Within three days Pharaoh will summon you into his presence and
forgive you. Pharaoh will then give you your job back and will place his
confident trust in you just as he had previously.”
After providing the interpretation, Joseph then asks
“only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness
by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.” Joseph is basically
asking “please remember what I did for you when you get out of here and stand
before Pharaoh. Please do me a favor and mention what I did for you to Pharaoh
and help get me out of this prison, because I am innocent and should not be
here”. Joseph is simply asking the cupbearer to respond to the favor that he
had done for him by returning the favor. Moses then reveals for us how the
baker responded to what he saw and heard in verse 16:
When the chief baker saw that he had
interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, "I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the
top basket there were some of
all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the
basket on my head." Then Joseph answered and said, "This is its
interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days
Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the
birds will eat your flesh off you."
As the baker heard Joseph provide the cupbearer a
positive explanation of his dream, he also decided to share his dream with
Joseph. The baker was hoping that he would receive a similar response. And just
as it was with the cupbearer, Joseph, without hesitation, responds by
explaining the dream in incredible detail.
Joseph’s interpretation, if communicated in the language
we use in our culture today, would have sounded like this: “Within three days
Pharaoh will summon you into his presence and will pass judgment upon you.
Pharaoh will order that you be impaled upon a tree and left there to hang and
be exposed to the elements so that birds of the air can feast on your decaying
and dead carcass.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I imagine that was not what
the baker wanted to hear.
Now imagine yourself as the
cupbearer and baker. Place yourselves in their shoes. How would you respond to
Joseph’s explanation of your dream? What would you be thinking? What would you
be feeling? Would you trust that Joseph’s explanation was true? As the
cupbearer would you be excited? As the baker, would you be worried? After all,
Joseph is just some foreigner who is in prison for attempting to rape your
boss’s wife. How could he possibly know what was going to happen?
Friday, we will see whether or
not Joseph was right…
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