Genesis 40:1-23

Daily Reading for Wednesday, Week 4

Genesis 40 (English Standard Version)

Genesis 40

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams

¹Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. ²And 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. ⁴The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

⁵And 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. ⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. ⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, "Why are your faces downcast today?" ⁸They 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."

⁹So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, "In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh’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." ¹²Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. ¹³In 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. ¹⁴Only 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. ¹⁵For 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."

¹⁶When 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, ¹⁷and 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." ¹⁸And 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."

²⁰On 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. ²²But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Pastor’s Commentary:

Joseph had risen to an important position, even as a prisoner. The head of the prison recognized Joseph’s abilities and put him in charge of prisoners who were new. In Genesis 40, Joseph runs into two new prisoners. Both are from Pharaoh’s household. They had somehow offended Pharaoh, however, and were thrown in prison because of it.

Both of these men had dreams one night. Not the kind of dream you have when you feel like you’re falling, or the kind of dream you have when you are half awake and half asleep, where you can control aspects of the dream. But these dreams came from God. God gave them to the men so that God’s power could be displayed in Joseph’s interpretation.

Joseph doesn’t say, “Hey, I’ve got your answer, guys… I’m a really good interpreter of dreams, tell them to me, and I’ll give you the right answer.” But Joseph says, “Interpretation of dreams comes from God. Please tell your dreams to me.” This means that Joseph wasn’t going to make something up on the spot. The interpretation wasn’t going to come from Joseph, but Joseph would be the mouthpiece for the interpretation.

We talk about Holy Scripture in the same way. No prophet came up with his own interpretation as he was writing Holy Scripture. But holy men of old wrote and prophesied under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you can be sure of the Bible’s authenticity and author. It comes from God.

Joseph readily interprets the dreams. In three days (there’s something about three days in the Bible, isn’t there?) the cupbearer would be restored to his position, but in three days the baker would be hanged. Joseph tells the cupbearer to remember him, for he was unjustly put in prison. But the cupbearer forgets for a time!

Sometimes it may seem that God has forgotten us in our pain and misery. But He hasn’t. God was working to bring Joseph out of the prison, even as the cupbearer forgot about Joseph for a time. All would be addressed at just the right time. So, we too go through trials and temptations. But God has not forsaken us. Jesus has redeemed us by His blood. We have forgiveness and life everlasting in Him.