Book of Genesis Chapter 40 Commentary by Pastor
Ron Beckham
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 40:1-13
Verses 1-3. "Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. 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."
God is not limited like we are. In humanity we can typically deal with one situation, one person at a time, and many, perhaps all of us in some way or another, have incorrectly assumed that God is limited like we are. Such an assumption couldn't be further from the truth. There are presently seven billion people in the world and He is intimately aware of the thoughts and actions of us all. Even more, He is dealing with each of us individually and with groups, weaving us into the tapestry of history, so minutely and yet so grandly that what happens to you and me is perfectly interrelated with what is intended for everyone else. He truly is God.
This "cupbearer and the baker" were two very real historical men who lived lives that are mostly unreported to us, but everything about them was and is known to God. Both of them did something that "offended their lord, the king of Egypt," one of the men who were referred to as "Pharaoh" of all the land. He was so angry with the men that he locked them up in the same federal prison that held Joseph, son of Israel. As leaders can become, the pharaoh was a petulant man given to excessive responses but this was no accident and it did not happen because of the will of a man. The lives of Joseph, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker were intended by God to coincide at this moment for purposes higher than any of them could know.
Verses 4-5. "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. 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."
Joseph was placed in charge of the cupbearer and the baker by the "captain of the bodyguard," but reaching through the captain's action was the Hand of God, who was orchestrating the historical events of these verses. Notice that God was not in any hurry, for they were all "in confinement for some time," which could have been months, even years. And then as God would have it, "the cupbearer and the baker for the king (Pharaoh) of Egypt, who were (still) confined in jail both had a dream the same night."
And this was no coincidence. It was God's moment for the two, for Joseph, for Egypt, and for Joseph's family who were still in Canaan and remained completely unaware of all these events. Each of the men had his own distinct dream, given to him by the Lord and each dream would have its own interpretation. Has it ever occurred to you that God, who speaks to us through His Word, the Bible, can also speak to us in an infinite variety of ways? Dreams sometimes are vivid parables but they might also come from an upset stomach. You might pray after a particularly interesting dream, and God may well help you understand what it's all about.
Verses 6-8. "When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, 'Why are your faces so sad today?' 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.'"
The cupbearer and the baker had held visible and honorable positions within the government of Egypt, serving the Pharaoh himself. At his whim, both of them had been stripped of everything and placed in a maximum security prison. Now time had passed since that moment and it might have seemed to them that all was lost, but they knew that the Pharaoh could change his mind in a moment and there was still a glimmer of hope within them. And on this day each of the men awoke from vivid dreams that they did not understand.
Both of them believed that the dreams might have important meaning and they were depressed because no one could tell them what the dreams meant. It was at that time Joseph walked by and asked, "Why are your faces so sad today?" The men told him they had dreams and blurted out their concern that nobody in the jail could understand. Joseph's life was seemingly ended by enslavement and imprisonment but as it should be for all of us, his faith in the Lord was intact. He said, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please."
Verses 9-11. "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. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 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."
Every once in awhile we have had a dream that was so vivid, so tantalizing that we just had to tell somebody what the dream was all about. The former "chief cupbearer" of the "Pharaoh" of Egypt had such a dream and when Joseph asked the man in Verse 8 to "tell it to me please," the man couldn't wait to respond. And so he began to speak: "... there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches..." Often dreams are forgotten when we awake but this one was not. Every detail was recalled as the chief cupbearer breathlessly continued speaking.
In the Egypt of the time as it was in other places in the world, dreams were more highly regarded than they are today. Most in the modern world don't believe that a Great Flood was once sent by God to destroy almost everything, but these men were just a few generations from that time and if they didn't believe in God as we know Him, they at least believed there was more to life than what we ordinarily see and hear. The cupbearer believed that God caused dreams to MEAN something and he continued: "As it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 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." As he excitedly finished those words, he looked at Joseph expectantly, hoping for some kind of understanding.
Verses 12-13. "Then Joseph said to him, 'This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; 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."
There was no hesitation at all. The God so many have not believed in understands every nuance of each of your dreams, He knows all the hopes you have ever had, and He longs for you to ask so that He may answer. Understanding was given to Joseph instantly by God for multiple purposes. The "cupbearer" would have thought the interpretation was for him, and it was, except it was also for Joseph, so that Pharaoh would hear of this incident and 1) release Joseph and 2) promote him to a position of authority within the Egyptian government. It was also for the future, so that we might see that God knows and understands everything, including your thoughts and mine.
The cupbearer listened with great intensity as Joseph related the meaning of the dream to him, and his mouth must have dropped open for he knew that Joseph's words truly revealed what it was all about. "The three branches are three days," Joseph said, and he continued that "Pharaoh will lift up your head," which meant in this instance that the cupbearer would be released from prison. The depression and regret the man felt would be no more. God would, through Pharaoh, restore the man to his office as cupbearer, a man considered trustworthy enough to place a cup of liquid into his leader's hand, but not put poison into the cup along with the liquid.
Father, help us to recognize that You are with us and are continually revealing Yourself to us. Enable us to see that You know our thoughts and that You know us better than we do ourselves. Increase our faith, our trust in You. We need You so. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 40:14-23
Verses 14-15. "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. 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."
Joseph continued to have faith in the Lord, even though he had been betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, wrongly accused by his master's wife and then dumped into prison. He did not only look at the difficulty of his circumstances, but also looked at the blessings God had bountifully given to him. Yes he was in prison but he had also been promoted in whatever place he found himself and he had never forgotten his own dreams from God that got him into trouble with his brothers in the first place.
The former cupbearer of the Pharaoh of all Egypt had blurted his dream out to Joseph, who in response told him the interpretation of the dream. It was favorable to the man and Joseph gave all the credit for the interpretation to the Lord. He now breathlessly asked just one thing in return - that the cupbearer would mention Joseph and what he had done to Pharaoh. He then quickly added that he was innocent of the charges that had brought him into prison. Or as Joseph referred to it - "the dungeon." It was a bad place indeed, and like the cupbearer, Joseph wanted out!
Verses 16-17. "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; 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.'"
The "chief baker" who had also been thrown into prison by Pharaoh, must have been standing right next to Joseph and the cupbearer, listening intently to every word spoken by them. It excited the man that the cupbearer's very similar dream to his own had been "interpreted favorably" by Joseph. He was thinking quickly that if the cupbearer's dream meant that he was to be restored to his high position in Pharaoh's court, the baker's similar dream must mean the same thing.
And so he excitedly told his own dream to Joseph and then was quiet, waiting for a favorable response. But the dream was not the same and the baker was about to be shocked into silence. In his dream he saw "three baskets of (freshly baked) white bread" in a multi-layered basket balanced on his head, with the "top basket" containing "all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh." But now the two dreams differed. Instead of giving the baked goods to Pharaoh which would have been like the cupbearer's dream, the birds were eating out of the basket balanced on his head.
Verses 18-19. "Then Joseph answered and said, 'This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 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.'"
Once again, Joseph was immediately given the interpretation of the dream by the Lord. He didn't sugar-coat the dream, but simply and bravely told it like it was. That's a characteristic of Joseph, isn't it? He was like that when he was younger, and as it is for all of us, something of our deep personality characteristics will never change, though we may hide them even from ourselves. We can see Joseph in Genesis 37 openly telling his father what his older brothers had done wrong and sharing dreams he probably should have kept quiet about, and even though much had happened since that time, he was still Joseph - If he thought it, he tended to say it.
Joseph was speaking to the man who had been the chief baker of the Pharaoh of all Egypt at the moment and the man was listening to him intently as Joseph revealed the interpretation. The office of "chief baker" was a high one and he hoped to get back into Pharaoh's good graces once more. The man had been encouraged by Joseph's interpretation of the cupbearer's dream. The cupbearer was to be released from prison and restored to his office, but now the baker's jaw must have dropped as he listened to Joseph's words. Denial would have set in immediately for no one wants to hear that they are about to be killed by beheading or hanging, but that's exactly what Joseph had said.
Verses 20-22. "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. He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them."
It was "Pharaoh's birthday." What do you want for your birthday? Hopefully not what Pharaoh wanted. A feast was prepared in his honor, and when it says "he made a feast for all his servants," it does not mean he did the cooking. It just meant that the feast was prepared at his command and by his authority. The idea of a "feast" is OK, but it is disturbing that he used the opportunity of his birthday celebration to have his former "chief baker" hanged. That's what it means in this case that he lifted up "the head of the chief baker."
The other man, the "chief cupbearer" was also released from prison and as it says, Pharaoh lifted up his head as well, but with a difference. The cupbearer was restored to what was actually a high office in the land because he had the high honor of serving the Pharaoh directly. This leader of Egypt had this "feast for all his servants" as it says in these verses, and by his choice of birthday presents, he sent a message to them all. He was strongly telling them that he had the power of life and death over them. They had better do a good job of serving him or they would die.
Verse 23. "Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him."
Note in the preceding verse that events happened just as Joseph had said to the two men while all three were still in prison. The one man was restored to his office and the other was killed. As written, he lifted up the heads of both of them, the one to life and the other to death. And Joseph was now excited about this turn of events. God had given him the interpretation of the dreams of both men and in each case, what he said came true. Joseph was beginning to hope that he would soon have his freedom. The Lord had given him the interpretation and Pharaoh would soon hear of it.
Joseph was to be released. But he then waited and then waited some more for word that the cupbearer had told the Pharaoh the words that would set Joseph free. He had said to the man, "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" (Verse 14). Yet we see what happened in this verse - "The chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." Do you know something about somebody that would help them? Are you in a position to assist another person? Don't forget them like this cupbearer did - extend a hand of friendship and it's likely you will find a helping hand reaching back to you when you need it most.
Father, help us to be remembered in our need, and cause us to recall the needs of others and reach out in THEIR need as well. One thing is so wonderful, dear God - You will never forget us, leave us or forsake us. We trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and because of Him we will never be forgotten. Thank You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
