Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time, 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. When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?" "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." So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, "In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 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." "This is what it means," Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days. 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. But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 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." 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. 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." "This is what it means," Joseph said. "The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat away your flesh." 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: He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh's hand, but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation. The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him." Genesis 40:1-23
Genesis, Chapter 40, begins with two of Pharoah’s servants falling out of favor. The baker’s responsibilities are pretty self-explanatory but let me explain the responsibility of the cupbearer because they played an important role for the ruler. Because there was always constant danger that the ruler could be the target of assassination, especially through poisoning, the cupbearer would drink from the ruler’s cup before him. If the cupbearer was not harmed by the drink, the ruler would know it was safe to drink from the cup. Of course if the cupbearer died, then the ruler would consider himself saved and look for another cupbearer.
We don’t know what the baker and cupbearer did to anger Pharoah but we do know it merited their imprisonment, possibly while an investigation was made to see if any punishment was merited. Both were "assigned to…Joseph" who "attended them." As we will see, this was all part of God’s plan because Joseph had a special gift that was about to be revealed: the interpretation of dreams.
While in prison, the beaker and cupbearer each have dreams…both were different and left the men haunted. You see, the Egyptians saw dreams as coming from the gods and the lack of understanding about their respective dreams left the men "dejected" because they were in prison and away from any of the Egyptian mystics who claimed the ability to interpret dreams. We read where Joseph noticed the saddened mindset of his newest and inquired about asking, ""Why are your faces so sad today?" His question had to catch the Egyptian servants off guard for they weren’t accustomed to a leader that showed concern for them as people. But Joseph wasn’t any ordinary man and his God wasn’t any ordinary god.
The baker and cupbearer tell Joseph the reason for their despair. They each had dreams that needed interpretation. Joseph responds with powerful words that we all need to keep in mind, especially as we go forth to minister to others. He said, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."
As we go forth ever more boldly to carry our the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching what He commanded, we are going to be asked about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and all matters of faith connected to them. Maybe even to interpret dreams or other events going on in another’s life. Before we advise, It’s so important to first make sure we are advising properly and we can only do this is we are certain that what we say is truth. We can go back to Joseph and see where he first gave credit to God for the interpretations he was about to give. We need to do likewise.
As a side note, this won’t be the last time that a servant of the Most High God interprets dreams and gives credit to God. Daniel will follow Joseph to do when confronted by King Nebuchadnezzar during the Babylonian captivity. But that’s another devotional lesson on a different day.
Joseph, after giving credit to God for what he is about to say, interprets the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker. For the cupbearer, the interpretation bears good news for he will be reinstated to his position by Pharaoh. No harm will come to him. The baker didn’t get such good news from Joseph who tells him Pharoah will "lift off (his) head and hang you on a tree…and the birds will eat away (his) flesh." We can only assume the baker was found guilty of whatever Pharoah suspected him of. Scripture tells us that after three days, the Pharoah acted and the results were just as Joseph had predicted. The cupbearer was restored to his position while the baker was hung. All seemed to go well in accordance with God’s plan with the exception of one thing. The cupbearer failed to show gratitude in the midst of his blessing.
You see…there’s one additional matter in this scripture. For after giving the cupbearer his good news interpretation, Joseph requested a favor from him. He said, "When all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 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." Joseph’s request was simple enough and fair enough. He had dispelled the cup bearer’s worry and fear with his interpretation, he knew it would come true and he only wished for the cup bearer to report to Pharoah concerning what he had done so he could be released from his wrongful imprisonment. But at the end of the passage, we find that the cup bearer "did not remember Joseph; he forgot him." All was well for the cupbearer. He got what he wanted and that was all that mattered to him. Joseph wasn’t even an afterthought…he was forgotten by the cupbearer. But one thing is certain…he wasn’t forgotten by God.
Question: Have you ever done something wonderful for someone only to have them fail to show gratitude toward you? It’s been said that the most powerful words in the english language after "I love you" are "thank you." It only takes a moment to say it but the rewards and blessings it brings to others and their hearts prolongs. Have you told someone how much they’re appreciated today? How about being thankful for what others have done for you? Are you like the cupbearer?
Last question: Do you say "thank you" enough to God, the giver of every good and perfect thing from above? How often do you show Him your appreciation for His goodness, mercy and grace? Woe be it to us if God can say about us, "they did not remember Me; they forgot Me." Don’t be the one who lacks an attitude of gratitude to God or others.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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