Dreams That Disturb...

During this fall at the church where I serve, we have been traveling on a journey with a man named Jacob and his family in a section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Genesis. This week, I would like for us to spend our time together by picking up where we left off last week. As we jump back into this section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis, we find Joseph 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. Joseph was the vehicle that God was using to reveal himself to the warden, even when doing the right thing did not result in the right result for Joseph. And it is in this context that we jump back into the book of Genesis, beginning in Genesis 40:1. Let’s look at it together:

Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.

Moses brings us into this section of the book of Genesis by explaining that 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. Now the word offend here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is the same word that is translated elsewhere as sin. This word conveys the sense of being blameworthy and violating ones trust.

To understand why this is so significant, we first need to understand what the cupbearer and baker did for Pharaoh. The cupbearer was a high level official in the Egyptian government who served Pharaoh the beverages that he drank and also ensured that those beverages were not poisoned by sampling the drink in Pharaoh’s presence. Similarly, the baker was another high level official who served Pharaoh the food that he ate and also ensured that the food was not poisoned by sampling the food in Pharaoh’s presence.

Now as you might imagine, these positions required unquestioned trust and allegiance to the Pharaoh. So while Moses does not tell us specifically what they did to end up in prison, the cupbearer and baker had sinned against the Pharaoh in a way that had violated that trust and allegiance. Pharaoh responded to their violation of trust and allegiance by placing them in the maximum security prison, where those who rebelled against or displeased Pharaoh were confined.

And this prison was under the jurisdiction of Potiphar, who was the head of the secret service of the nation of Egypt. Moses tells us that Potiphar commanded the prison warden to place Joseph, who was now the chief trustee, in charge of taking care of the cupbearer and baker, who most likely had some role within the secret service that Potiphar oversaw. Joseph was charged with the responsibility to serve and attend to their needs while they awaited trial before Pharaoh for the crimes that they had been accused of.

You see, Potiphar still trusted Joseph enough to entrust him with the care of these two very important government officials as they awaited trial. And as the cupbearer and baker awaited trial, they had an experience in prison that left them both very unsettled, as Moses records for us beginning in verse 5:

 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh's officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?" Then they said to him, "We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it." Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please."

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. This word dejected literally means to look wretched, pitiful, and disturbed. Joseph, who was responsible for their well being, responded to what he saw by immediately asking the men what the problem was. Joseph then 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.

To understand why the cupbearer and baker responded to these dreams the way that they did, we first need to understand how dreams were viewed in the culture of the day. In the culture of the day, dreams were viewed as a gift from the gods that unlocked what the future held for men. And because of that view, there were individuals who were viewed as experts that specialized in the interpretation of dreams. However, the cupbearer and baker were in prison. And because they were in prison, these officials did not have access to the experts, who they believed could interpret their dreams and unlock their futures.

You see, 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."

Joseph’s statement, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Hey guys, don’t be so disturbed. You don’t need those experts to interpret your dreams, because it is God that is the One that interprets dreams. And God is right 100% of the time. So why don’t you tell me your dreams and I will find out from God what your dreams mean. Then I will explain what they mean to you”. 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.

Tomorrow, we will see how these officials responded to Joseph’s offer…