Joseph, Part 7
In part 7 of our series on Joseph, we see how Joseph contiues to make the best of difficult circumstances. Click here for the recording of this 8/11 Service, and you can fast-forward to 21:03 to get to the start of the sermon.
Our text comes from Genesis Chapter 40
1 Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
3 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. 4 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.
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.
6 When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. 7 He asked Pharaoh's officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?" 8 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."
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. 10 And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11 "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."
12 Then Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; 13 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.
14 "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. 15 "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."
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; 17 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."
18 Then Joseph answered and said, "This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19 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."
20 Thus it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday *, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh's hand; 22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Introduction…
Our text is the entirety of chapter 40.
Again, through no fault of his own, Joseph finds himself in negative circumstances.
He makes the best of a bad situation.
He again finds himself in leadership.
He interprets dreams, under the direction of the Lord.
One of those interpretations is positive, and the other, negative.
What is happening in Chapter 40?
V1-3- Joseph finds himself in prison with the King’s butler and baker.
V4- Joseph again found himself in charge, this time of these and possibly other men; he ”took care” (sharat- to minister, serve) for “some time” (yom- day, a period of time).
V5-7- each of these men have a dream, but do not know the interpretation of these dreams- God often used dreams in the Bible to convey information to His people; He uses them today.
Caution- sometimes, a dream is just a dream, and nothing more.
V8- Joseph volunteers to interpret the dream, saying that “interpretations belong to God”.
V9-13- 3 grapevine branches=3 days; you will be restored to office as cupbearer.
V14- just remember me; mention me to Pharaoh, and get me out of prison; I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and have done nothing to deserve prison.
How many prisoners do you suppose said something similar?
V16-19- 3 baskets of bread=3 days; Pharaoh will take your head and birds will pick your flesh from a hanging post.
Note- Joseph was not responsible for the content of the message; his job was to deliver the message.
V20-23- Pharaoh holds a birthday feast; the cupbearer is restored, and the baker is hanged; Joseph is forgotten.
What do we learn from Chapter 40?
Again, it is possible to do good work in bad places; your only control is in your response.
It is unwise to read too much/too little into dreams; take them for what they are.
No matter how bad things get, never lose sight of what you know to be true; Joseph didn’t get his identity in his surroundings, but in what he knew to be true.
Sometimes, God’s messenger has to deliver bad news; this often is not well received .
*The ministry of the prophet is hard, thankless work.
Don’t expect to be remembered in your time of need; people will often forget you.
God knows where you are - Joseph’s story is not over, and yours isn’t either.
