Dreams
This post is part of my series on Joseph.
In my previous post, we finished Genesis 39 and Joseph was thrown in prison after resisting the advances of Potiphar’s wife and being falsely accused (rough, I know, read my post here)
We pick up the story in Genesis 40. Joseph is in prison. God has been with him and he is in charge of the prison and two new prisoners arrive.
The Butler and the Baker
It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. 3 So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. 4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.
- Genesis 40:1-4 NKJV (bold mine)
The king of Egypt was angry with his chief baker and chief butler and sent them to prison, the prison where Joseph was. It is worth noting that the text is very clear that Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, whereas the biblical text is vague when it describes Potiphar’s anger (Genesis 39:19).
Pharaoh placed the baker and cupbearer in the custody of the captain of the guard. This also is interesting because we met the captain of the guard back in Genesis 39:1.
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.
- Genesis 39:1. NKJV (bold mine)
In other words, the cupbearer (butler) and the baker of Pharaoh offended him, and he was angry with them and put them in custody, in Potiphar’s house, in the prison where Joseph was confined. And Potiphar charged Joseph with with them. This is interesting because Genesis 39 ends by describing how God was with Joseph and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.
- Genesis 39:21-23 NKJV
Joseph was a prisoner, but he was in charge of all the prisoners. This is so obvious that Potiphar does not interact with the keeper of the prison but deals directly with Joseph. I wonder how that interaction went, or how often that happened, that Potiphar met with Joseph as he brought new prisoners to the prison.
Imagine Potiphar seeing Joseph,
“Hey Joseph, I see the keeper of the prison put you in charge of the place. Well, I can’t say that I am surprised…”
You could argue that Joseph experienced the most freedom of all the prisoners, just like he had previously experienced the most freedom of all of Potiphar’s servants/slaves (Genesis 39, But the LORD was with Him). I am not sure how you feel about this. Though Joseph has it better than those around him it bothers me that he is still a slave or still a prisoner. Sure, it could be worse, but why is his life so difficult, for so long? He has done nothing wrong, and sure God has blessed him as a servant and as a prisoner, but why does God not set him free? Why leave Joseph in prison, even if he is in charge of everyone else?
Does it bother you that Joseph’s superiors (Potiphar, the jailer,) all benefit from Joseph’s hard work and God’s blessings? Yes, Joseph benefits, but it seems like his benefits are a fraction of the benefits his masters receive from God blessing Joseph.
Two main perspectives come to my mind, and they’re not mutually exclusive. One way of interpreting this is as a partial fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 (see my post Called by God). God does not only bless us, he also makes us a blessing in the lives of those around us. As God blesses us, we should be a blessing to not only our superiors but also our subordinates (organizationally speaking). We should be a blessing in the lives of our colleagues, of our family members, of our neighbors… you get the idea. Our blessings are not meant to be hoarded or only enjoyed by us, but by everyone we come into contact with.
Another way of interpreting Joseph’s bosses/superiors as experiencing blessings from having Joseph work for them is that this is not Joseph’s final destination. They get to enjoy the blessings of having Joseph work for them, but that is a temporary blessing. Joseph will be blessed by God in all that he does, the blessings follow him as he follows the will of God. Regardless of his current struggles, Joseph can count on being blessed by God, because God is faithful.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
- Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV
Joseph is only temporarily Potiphar’s servant/slave. Joseph is in prison now, but that is not his final destination. Likewise, we might find ourselves working hard under challenging circumstances, but it is important to remind ourselves that not only is this temporary, but ultimately we are children of God and live for His honor and glory. Ultimately we have eternal life to look forward to. But even before that, work well done means a strong reference, which can lead to promotions and/or new work opportunities. Do not dismiss what you can do at your current stage in life, God could be preparing you for your next life opportunity.
Joseph’s age
This is not very important but I find it helpful when it comes to relating to Joseph’s experiences (at least to a degree)
We know that Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him as a slave. (Genesis 37:2) In Genesis 41:46 (the next chapter) we will discover that Joseph is 30 years old. Genesis 41:1 also tells us that its events took place two years after the events described in Genesis 40 (the chapter we are currently studying). This means that Joseph is 28 years old in Genesis 40, but I do not know how many years he worked under Potiphar and how many years he was imprisoned.
I wonder if when Joseph had the dreams as a child and told his brothers (Genesis 37:5-10) that he imagined he would be 38 and locked away in an Egyptian prison. Ok, let’s be fair, at least he was in charge of all the prisoners.
Served them?
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.
- Genesis 40:4 NKJV (bold mine)
The word served caught my eye. Joseph was the one running the prison. The chief butler (cupbearer) and the chief baker were prisoners. At best, they were on equal grounds with Joseph as fellow prisoners, but I would guess Joseph was above them in rank since the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph all the prisoners who were in the prison (Genesis 39:22). Here Joseph had the opportunity to make the life of the other prisoners miserable. Joseph could use his position of power over the other prisoners to cause them to suffer as he had been made to suffer. Yet, the text describes Joseph serving the prisoners.
Joseph used his status and position of power to serve those who were under his influence. Joseph saw power not as an opportunity to exploit others but rather as an opportunity to bless and serve. In a terrible situation, Joseph still exemplifies godly standards of living. Joseph honors God and serves those around him even though he is in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
Though Joseph has been a slave and is currently a prisoner he refuses to behave as such. Joseph always behaves as a free man, as a child of God, as salt and light here on earth. Joseph is the hands and feet of Jesus even though the world has not yet met Jesus. Joseph is revealing God to those around him even as someone betrayed by those closest to him, sold as a slave, and falsely accused and imprisoned. At each step of the way, Joseph chooses to behave generously, with dignity and honesty. Everyone trusts Joseph and no one minds having him in charge. Everyone benefits from having Joseph around.
What keeps us from living like Joseph?
Are you letting others decide how you behave? Or do you decide how you’re going to live your life?
Stop blaming others for how you choose to handle life’s challenges.
We are in charge of how we show up. We decide whether or not we will be honest and kind.
This is not easy, and I do not always succeed in this. I often need help. But I refuse to blame those around me for my poor behavior. When I fall short, when I am rude, mean, or less than honest, it is all on me. Joseph is a great reminder that I can choose to live as a child of God regardless of how others around me behave. This is not easy, it is actually impossible to do on our own. But God is interested in giving us this success.
Joseph displays and lives out the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
We can’t help but bear fruit when we abide (remain) in Christ
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
- John 15:4-5 NKJV
Also, you need the Spirit in order to have the fruit of the Spirit. Then let us as God for the Holy Spirit.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
- Luke 11:13 NKJV
Dreams and interpretations
5 Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. 6 And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8 And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”
So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”
- Genesis 40:5-8 NKJV
Joseph really cared about the prisoners. He even took the time to notice they were sad. Even though God may seem distant or even absent we see His hand guiding events. First God brings these two high officials into the presence of Joseph. We don’t know how long they were there but now they have an issue, they had a dream but have no one to interpret the dream. This is a perfect opportunity for Joseph to witness to them. Instead of telling the men that he is really good at interpreting dreams, Joseph shares that the interpretations of dreams belong to God.
In ancient thinking, dreams were the prime vehicle of divine revelations. Joseph acknowledges this but departs from the common viewpoint that professional magicians were required to interpret the officials’ dreams: “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (v. 8). God, who gave the revelation, could provide the interpretation to whomever he chose. Dreams were not the privilege of humans but the domain of God. That Joseph requested to hear the dreams (“Tell me your dreams,” v. 8) implied that he could interpret them, if God so chose to reveal their meaning to him. The recurring observation “The Lord was with Joseph,” (39:2, 23) by the narrator in the previous chapter has conditioned the reader to assume that Joseph, too, knew that God was favoring him in everything he attempted. Why not also in the matter of their dreams?
- K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, vol. 1B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 747.
The Butler’s Dream
9 Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, 10 and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. 11 Then 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.”
- Genesis 40:9-11 NKJV
The dream does not seem too complex, but it is vague enough as to the interpretation to be a mystery. Joseph is able to provide the interpretation right away.
12 And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 13 Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. 14 But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. 15 For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”
- Genesis 40:12-15 NKJV
Joseph not only interprets the dream, but he also takes this opportunity to make a special request for the cupbearer to put in a good word for him with the Pharaoh. It should have been obvious to all in the prison that Joseph was a man of character and worthy of trust.
The Baker’s Dream
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head. 17 In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”
- Genesis 40:16-17 NKJV
The baker is encouraged by the interpretation and decides to tell Joseph his dream. This reveals another way that God is at work here. Not only did God give the baker and butler their dreams, God also guided them so that the butler told his dream to Joseph first and the positive interpretation motivated the baker to also want his dream interpreted.
18 So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”
- Genesis 40:18-19 NKJV
Both dreams are similar with a theme of 3’s and of lifting heads. In three days both the chief baker and the cupbearer or chief butler will experience a major change in their lives. In three days Pharaoh will lift up the head of the cupbearer and restore him to his place. In three days Pharaoh will lift off the head of the baker and hang him on a tree and the birds will eat his flesh.
I wonder if the baker had told Joseph his dream first if the cupbearer would have changed his mind about wanting to know the interpretation of his dream.
The two dreams have similarities but are also very different. This shows that Joseph is not only making up positive interpretations in order to earn favor with the prisoners and ask for favors in return. Joseph is actually interpreting the dream according to their meaning. But only time will reveal if the interpretations are true and faithful.
Three days later
20 Now it came to pass 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 butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, 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 butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
- Genesis 40:20-23 NKJV
Three days later we find out if Joseph’s interpretation was indeed true. We read about how Pharaoh lifted up the head of the chief butler and chief baker among his servants. We hold our breath as we read what happens next, and we find out that yes, indeed the chief butler is restored to his butlership again but the chief baker is hanged. Joseph’s interpretation was accurate and faithful. Though the final outcome is sad for the baker our hearts fill with hope as we see the opportunity for Jospeh to finally be set free. Now the butler can tell Pharaoh about Joseph and how he is innocent and deserves to be set free so he can go back home to his family.
But, to our great disappointment, the chief butler did not remember Joseph but forgot him.
Forgotten?
Is all hope lost?
The chief butler forgot all about Joseph, he did not tell Pharaoh about Joseph. What will happen now? Was God not moving in this? Everything had been so perfect, the dreams, the interpretation, everything happened as Joseph said it would. His interpretation was spot on. As Joseph himself said it, the interpretation comes from God. God must have been with him. Then why did God allow the chief butler to forget about Joseph? It had been a perfect plan, why did it not work?
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
- Isaiah 40:31 NKJV
You have probably heard about waiting on the LORD. It is easier said than done. Waiting can be extremely difficult. Many of the patriarchs struggled with it, Abraham struggled to wait for his son to be born of Sarah and had Ishmael with Hagar (Genesis 16 Waiting Upon the LORD sermon audio here). Jacob struggled to wait to receive the blessing from God and decided to get it through deception (Genesis 27 Thy will be done?). And now Joseph is having to wait in prison. I know it is important to wait upon the LORD. But I understand it is incredibly challenging to do so, it takes a certain level of faith, a complete trust in God, His power, and character.
Joseph must have known and we must never forget that though everyone else may forget us, God never will. The chief butler forgot all about Joseph once he was reinstated to his position of honor, but God never forgets His precious children.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.
- Isaiah 49:15 NKJV
We serve a faithful, powerful, loving God.
Everything will be okay in the end, if it’s not okay yet, it is because it is not yet the end.
