Genesis 40:1-23

Joseph

The Cupbearer and the Baker have a Dream

 

40:1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.

 

2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

 

3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.

 

4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

 

After they had been in custody for some time,

 

5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

 

6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected.

 

7 So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?"

 

8 "We both had dreams," they answered, "but there is no one to interpret them."

 

Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."

 

9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, "In my dream I saw a vine in front of me,

 

10 and on the vine were three branches.

 

As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes.

 

11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand."

 

12 "This is what it means," Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days.

 

13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.

 

14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.

 

15 For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon."

 

16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, "I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.

 

17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head."

 

18 "This is what it means," Joseph said. "The three baskets are three days.

 

19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat away your flesh."

 

20 Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials.

 

He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials:

 

21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh's hand,

 

22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

 

23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

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This is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change the way that we think, and the way that we live.

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Commentary by Bob Pardue

Joseph and the baker and the cupbearer

How soon we forget!!

Joseph interpreted each of the men's dreams but did not hesitate to give the credit to God.

If Joseph had predicted these things on his own and they came true, it would have been a mere coincidence. But, with God involved, Joseph could interpret with the confidence that what he saw in the dreams was absolute.

Something just came to mind when I read this passage again. Interpreting the cupholder's dream was easy for Joseph because the cupholder would be restored to his high position in the king's court.

The risk

However, it was a bold move for Joseph to tell the baker the meaning of his dream. What if the baker were not executed and instead the king put him back into a position of power? There is a good chance that Joseph would have lost his life in that situation.

Faith

It took a deep faith for Joseph to make the decision to interpret the baker's dream just the way God explained it to him.

How about us?

Would we be willing to share and do what God told us to do even if it meant a possibility of losing our lives? Could we go into harm's way to tell about Christ?

Quest of the missionaries

Many people in the world today are doing just that. There are Christians in certain parts of the world such as China and Afghanistan who risk their lives to share the faith of Jesus Christ.

Now, back to us. Sometimes we're afraid even to mention Christ to a friend or someone we know needs His message of salvation and there is not a remote chance of our being hurt or abused by telling them. All we have to risk is a little rejection.

Let's pray that God will make us bolder in our commitment to share the word of Christ to those who need it.

The benefit

Wouldn't it be wonderful if some stranger (or even a friend or family member) came up to us in heaven and said; "It was that day you shared Jesus Christ with me that I made a decision to have my life changed."?

Love in Christ

- Bob

Genesis 33:1-16 - Jacob and Esau Meet