Gen 39:21-40:23

Timeline:

1916	Birth of Joseph	Gen 30:23
1899	Selling of Joseph (17 yrs old)	Gen 37:2
1886	Joseph (30 yrs old - out of prison) -- 13 years gone	Gen 41:46
1879	Beginning of famine (37 yrs old) -- 20 years gone	Gen 41:54
1878	Brothers’ first visit to Egypt (38 yrs old)	Gen 42:1-2
1877	Brothers’ second visit to Egypt (39 yrs old)	Gen 43:1; 45:6, 11
1876	Jacob's descent to Egypt	Gen 46:6; cf. 47:9
1845	Israel is enslaved
1446	Israel leaves Egypt after 400 years of bondage	Gen 15:13,16;Acts 7:6
1395	Conquest of Caanan complete (essentially)	Acts 13:19,20



Gen 39:21-23 (ESV) 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.



• We talked about this last week.  Previous to the imprisonment, what might have been Joseph's motivation?
• Freedom from slavery
• Now? Freedom from imprisonment to slavery
• Joseph had a choice in his attitude and actions.  What were his choices?
• Bitter, angry at God, people, everything, LIFE
• Not to be bitter, do his best. How do we know he was not bitter? Response of the warden
• What was God doing?
• Showing kindness (although apparently only in little things--not the real problem from the prisoner's perspective)
• Granting him favor in the eyes of others (this is why I don't believe he was bitter, rarely do bitter people find favor in the eyes of others)
• Teaching him different management and leadership skills in another context (learning how to deal with political personas for example)
• APPLICATION: We have a choice in how we respond to life's circumstances


Gen 40:1-8 (ESV) 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.

5 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."



• How long has Joseph been in prison?
• The scripture doesn't say.  Long enough to be noticed by the warden and to rise to a position of responsibility in the prison
• Verse 1 says "Some time after this" meaning the incident with Potiphar's wife
• Verse 4 says "they continued for some time in custody"
• [note: we also know by reading ahead that he will be in prison two more years after the dreams]
• What does the captain of the guard assigning the two officials to Joseph suggest?
• He had regained favor with the captain (the wife has shown her true colors by now) or he never really lost (the wife's behavior was already suspected by the captain) or the captain has overlooked the issue due to Joseph's hard work
• The warden and the captain communicated (otherwise, how would the captain know to assign the two prisoners to Joseph)
• Why do you think these two people were in prison; what might be the charges?
• Someone had tried to poison Pharaoh, but Pharaoh was not sure who. Both are involved in some aspect of food handling
• And then again, maybe Pharaoh just got sick on some of the foood
• What is unusual about the dreams?
• The dreams occur on the same night
• What does the incident reveal about Joseph?
1. He was observant (key characteristic of a servant) - he notices something about them
2. He was sympathetic to other's problems (he could have been mired in his own problem -- also argues against Joseph being bitter)
3. He has strong faith in God (still)
• He could also be bitter about dreams (and dream interpretation) at this point, after all, his own two dreams probably mocked him at this stage in his life
• APPLICATION:  Do circumstances determine our faith, or does our faith determine our circumstances?


Gen 40:9-15 (ESV) 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."



• Joseph interprets the chief cupbearer's dream.  What does he request?
• To use his influence with the Pharaoh to get him out of jail
• How does Joseph describe his situation?
• An innocent man (how many persons in jail call themselves innocent?? A lot.)
• APPLICATION:
• The interesting thing is this is the way most of us would have tried to deal with the situation -- use influence to get to a higher person who had the authority to grant his wish
• Joseph's attempt is a very natural human action -- nothing wrong with being prudent -- but it doesn't work


Gen 40:16-23 (ESV) 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."

20 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.



• What do scriptures say is the reason the chief baker asks for an interpretation?
• Because he saw the first one was favorable
• Why didn't the chief baker share his first?
• Scripture doesn't say, but maybe he had a guilty conscience
• Why doesn't the chief cupbearer follow through?
• Scripture only says that he "did not remember him" and that "he forgot him"
• He probably didn't want to bother the Pharaoh with a seemingly minor issue; or maybe he didn't believe Joseph's story; or maybe he was just selfish; or maybe he just got his job back and doesn't want to risk it for another "political" prisoner
• From the time of the dreams, to the fulfillment, how long did this take?
• Three days
• How might Joseph have viewed these events?
• "Ah, here is a chance for God to get me out of jail.  I.e., I can see a plausible path.  If God does this and that … then I will get what I desire."
• Scripture doesn't say what Joseph was thinking, but we all think like this.  Then, when God doesn't answer, we lash out at God or wonder if He really is in control since here was a perfect opportunity to answer our prayer.  Real faith is not evaluating the circumstances for a place for God to answer, but evaluating the nature and promises of God to believe that God will answer (but in the time of His choosing)
• I'm sure Joseph was very disappointed a week or two or more after the events.  But he kept his faith and still did not shrink into bitterness
• Disappointment is okay, even good
• Bitterness is dangerous both for yourself and for others
• APPLICATION:  How do we base our faith--on the person and character of God, or on how God responds to our circumstances?