Joseph was unjustly sent to prison, due to a false
accusation from his master’s wife (Gen. 39:11-20). He did what was right, but
he was unjustly punished. Joseph could have let this make him bitter, but he
didn’t. He knew how to keep a good attitude, despite the circumstances.
Joseph was such a good leader that, no matter where he went,
everyone trusted him because everything he did, he did in excellence. His
father Jacob trusted him as a leader (Gen. 37:13-14), and so did Potiphar (Gen.
39:6). Even in prison, Joseph stood out.
(Gen. 39:21-23) But
the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him
favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (22) And the keeper of the
prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison.
Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. (23) The keeper of the
prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because
the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made
it succeed.
Even though he was in prison, the Lord was with Joseph. God
was with Joseph in the good times and in the bad times. God was good with him; he
didn’t keep Joseph from going through trials, but he let Joseph go through
whatever was needed to make him a better person. All things work together for
good (Rom. 8:28), and Joseph came out of prison having a much better position
than the one he used to have.
Further down the story we will see that the very king of
Egypt would fully trust in Joseph, just as everyone else had done (Gen. 41:40-44),
and would put him in a position of leading the nation. But, how did Joseph get
to receive such a great position if he was in prison? Let’s have a look…
Being in prison, Joseph met some people who had been serving
the king.
(Gen. 40:1-4) 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.
Instead of getting bitter over the injustice made against
him, Joseph set himself to do the best he could out of the circumstances that
were before him. He did not ponder on getting revenge, but he began to be
useful and to serve. A service-oriented attitude is one of the main
characteristics of a good leader.
The captain of the guard put Joseph in charge of Pharaoh’s
servants, the cupbearer and the baker, both of whom had been put to prison
because of suspected treason.
(Gen. 40:5-8) 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.”
Since they were both under his care, Joseph was concerned
for the cupbearer and the baker. That is why he asked them what was wrong when
he saw them troubled. If he would not have been concerned for them, they would
not have told him their dreams, and he would not have had the opportunity of interpreting
their dreams, which is going to change Joseph’s destiny…
THE CUPBEARER’S AND
THE BAKER’S DREAMS
Up next, the Bible narrates the dreams of the cupbearer and
the baker:
* Cupbearer’s Dream
(Gen. 40:9-15) 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.”
Here we see that Joseph was conscious that his brothers had
not sold him, but that it was the Midianites who had kidnapped him and sold
him. And he also declared himself innocent of the crime for which he was being
accused.
Just as Joseph was innocent, so was the king’s cupbearer.
The dream was prophetic, and it revealed that he would be released from prison
and placed back in his position as a cupbearer.
Encouraged by the positive meaning of the cupbearer’s dream,
the baker decided to tell Joseph about his dream so that he might also
interpret it…
* Baker’s Dream
(Gen. 40:16-19) 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.”
The baker’s dream was not a positive one, like the
cupbearer’s. But, despite how negative the message was, Joseph spoke with the
truth.
It happened just as Joseph had said…
(Gen. 40:20-23)
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.
The cupbearer did not respond in Joseph’s favor, and the
bible emphasizes this by saying it twice: (1) “did not remember Joseph”; (2)
“forgot him”.
Even though it seems as the cupbearer was being ungrateful,
we must not forget that God is in control of everything and he allowed this.
Maybe if Joseph would have been set free in that moment, he would have returned
to Canaan, instead of staying in Egypt to fulfill the purpose for which he had
been there. Or perhaps Joseph still had something to learn. Or maybe it just
wasn’t the right time.
God’s timing for Joseph would be two years later. The
cupbearer would remember Joseph because of another dream, and that will be the
subject for the next chapter…
As we will see, God had bigger plans for Joseph than to
simply make him a free man.
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