Genesis 40

Genesis 40

English Standard Version (ESV)

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners' Dreams

Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³  and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.⁵ And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. ⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” ⁸ They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them,“Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰ and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” ¹² Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. ¹³ In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, ¹⁷ and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. ¹⁹  In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and 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 position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. ²² But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

If you're familiar with the story of Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors, you'll probably recognize this passage. This is the same Joseph, after he was sold to Egypt, gained favor with Potiphar, and was thrown in the dungeon for "attempting to sleep with  Potiphar's wife." (He didn't actually do that, by the way.)

So while in the dungeon, Joseph runs across these two former-employees of Pharoah's court. He's instructed by the guard to take care of them for a while. I'd like to stop here and note: Isn't it funny how God brings people into our lives? God knew that the cupbearer and baker were going to need someone they could trust later, to interpret their dreams. And Joseph was probably the last person they expected! Think about it--it couldn't have just been those three in the dungeon--there were probably lots of other prisoners. Yet God brought the amazingly blessed Joseph into their path. Cool, huh?

Anyway, the two guys had dreams that freaked them out. They got to talking with Joseph, who asked them to tell him their dreams because interpretation is the Lord's. Now, the way this verse (verse 8) is worded, someone might go "Aha! Joseph is saying he is God!" He's not. What I understand him to be saying is "It's up to God to interpret these, and I trust Him to do so. Can I know your dreams?" He's not trying to be all awesome here--he's being a friend. He was concerned for them because, the passage says, they were troubled.

So they guys told Joseph their dreams and Joseph told them what they meant: The cupbearer is going to get restored--cool, huh? But Joseph makes a request in verse 14: " Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house." We don't know from the passage if the cupbearer said "yeah sure" or not. That wasn't included. Since the cupbearer's dream was good, the baker wanted to know his. But his dream was interpreted as his execution. Ouch.

So Pharoah brought the two guys out of the dungeon and restored the cupbearer and killed the baker, exactly as Joseph had interpreted. Now, here's the point I really want to make with this. Take a look at the last verse:

²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

After all the good Joseph did for this guy while he was in prison, the guy didn't even remember him! That's an important point. Why?

Joseph didn't get mad that he wasn't remembered. He didn't get upset. He was probably a little disappointed because he really wanted to get out of there, but he didn't pitch a fit. What did he do?

He continued doing good anyway.

This reminds me of a very popular quote, the actual source unknown but that many people say came from Mother Teresa:

"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

THE GOOD YOU DO TODAY, WILL OFTEN BE FORGOTTEN. DO GOOD ANYWAY.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

To me this quote looks a lot like Joseph's story. Does it to you? I could go line by line and explain why I think it applies, but what I really want to focus on is the bolded part. That is what Joseph did: He did good and his good was forgotten. But he chose to do good anyway.

My prayer today is that you keep this in mind today, striving to be like Joseph in your choices to do good, even when you may be forgotten and even when the outcome doesn't look so positive. I pray you give the best you have, even if it feels like it is never enough. Because it's between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

In Christ and Love,

Gabrielle