Genesis 40
Joseph assigned Pharaoh’s butler and baker in prisonverses 1-4
And it came to pass after these things
that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended
their lord the king of Egypt
And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers
against the chief of the butlers
against the chief of the bakers
And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard
into the PRISON – the PLACE where Joseph was bound
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them
and he served them – and they continued a season in ward
Butler and baker have dreamverses 5-8
And they dreamed a dream both of them
each man his dream in one night
each man according to the interpretation of his dream
the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt
which were bound in the PRISON
And Joseph came in to them in the morning
and looked on them – and BEHOLD they were SAD
And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of
his lord’s house – saying
Wherefore look you so sadly today?
And they said to him
We have dreamed a dream – and there is no
INTERPRETER of it
And Joseph said to them
Do not INTERPRETATIONS belong to God?
tell me them – I pray you
Butler tells his dream to Josephverses 9-11
And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph – and said to him
In my dream – BEHOLD – a vine was before me
and in the vine were three branches
and it was as though it budded
and her blossoms shot forth
and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes
and Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand
and I took the grapes
and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup
and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand
Joseph tells interpretation of dream & asks a favorverses 12-15
And Joseph said to him – This is the interpretation of it
The three branches are three days
yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up your head
and RESTORE you to your place
and you shall deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand
after the former manner when
you were his butler
BUT think of ME when it shall be well with you – and show KINDNESS
I pray you – to ME – and make MENTION of ME unto Pharaoh
And BRING ME out of this house
for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews
and here also have I done NOTHING that they
should put ME into the DUNGEON
Baker tells his dream to Josephverses 16-17
When the chief butler saw that the INTERPRETATION was good
he said to Joseph – I also was in my dream – BEHOLD
I had three white baskets on my head
and in the uppermost basket there was of
all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh
and the birds did eat them out of the basket
on my head
Joseph tells interpretation of baker’s dreamverses 18-19
And Joseph answered and said
This is the INTERPRETATION thereof
The three baskets are three days
yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up your head from off you
and shall HANG thee on a tree
and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off you
Pharaoh has birthday and bring both out of jailverses 20-22
And it came to pass the THIRD day – which was Pharaoh’s birthday
that he made a feast unto all his servants
and he lifted up the head of the chief butler
and of the chief baker among his servants
And he RESTORED the chief butler to his butlership again
and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand
BUT he HANGED the chief baker
as Joseph had INTERPRETED to them
Butler forgets Joseph [for a time]verse 23
YET did not the chief butler REMEMBER Joseph
BUT FORGOT HIM
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 8 And they said unto him We have dreamed a dream and there is no INTERPRETER of it and Joseph said to them Do not INTERPRETATIONS belong to God? tell me them – I pray you (6623 “interpretations” [pithrown] means explanation, result of giving the meaning words or signs, or meaning)
DEVOTION: Joseph was in prison falsely accused but still there while he should have been free. The LORD had him there for a reason. We begin to understand the reason for him being in jail with the arrival of two servants of the king or Pharaoh.
Each had lost favor with the king and was to spend time in prison. Joseph was assigned to take care of them while they were in prison. He came in to give them assistance in the morning and found them very sad.
He asked why they were sad. They told him that they had had a dream in the night and needed someone to help them understand what the dream meant.
Joseph makes that statement that only God can interpret dreams. He then does something else. He asked them to tell him their dreams. Remember that he had dreams that got him in trouble with his parents and siblings. They didn’t like the meanings of his dreams.
Now he told them that only God can give the meaning of the dreams and by inference he told them when he asked that he had a close relationship with God and he would give them the meaning of their dreams.
He had one request of the butler. It was for him to remember him to the Pharaoh. He gave the meaning and three days later it came true.
We know that even today there are people who are believers who claim to have dreams that come from the LORD. I have read of some in books regarding Christians in other lands that say they have seen an angel or heard someone tell them what was going to happen next. God can use dreams as HE did throughout history but we have to make sure that they are from HIM.
Peter had a dream while he was waiting for a meal. The dream was unique and its meaning was hard for Peter to take but he understood that it came from God and obeyed.
Joseph’s words are correct only God can give dreams and bring their meaning to pass. We are to test the spirits to see if they are from God.
CHALLENGE: Remember that all that happens in the Bible is not for everyone to put into practice. Don’t put dreams before the plain teachings of the Word of God.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 14 But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house (4994 “pray” [na’] means entreaty, beseech, go to, or please)
DEVOTION: Joseph is in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. He had been there a while. Along come two of Pharaoh’s servants. One was the chief butler. The other was the chief baker. They are both assigned to Joseph to care for while they were in jail.
These two men have a dream. They present the dream to Joseph who gives God all the credit for interpreting dreams. He tells them the interpretation. One is good and the other is bad.
However, he asks the chief butler to remember him to Pharaoh. This word translated “pray” is like us saying please to someone. We ask people to please pray for me. We ask people to give us something.
Here Joseph wants the butler to remember him when he returns to Pharaoh. Pharaoh has the power to get him out of prison. Joseph doesn’t seem to like prison. Joseph knows that he did nothing wrong but be falsely accused.
He thought that as long as he was innocent God would protect him from all lies. God had some lessons to teach him in prison. God gave Joseph a wonderful gift, interpretation of dreams, but God had to teach him how to be humble in the use of his gift.
God is teaching us all of our lives to be humble and use the gift or gifts that HE has given us for HIS glory and service. Joseph learned his lesson years later.
However, Joseph had a teachable spirit. He could have gotten bitter. He chose to get better. When we are down and someone encourages us, we need to remember to help others that are down. Sometimes or most of the time when someone is down and others encourage them, they forget who helped them and just move on without saying “thank you.”
Are we individuals who have been down and are now lifted up and forget to help others that are down? Joseph was forgotten for two years. Would this discourage you? Would this discourage me? It could but we need to remember that God’s timing and our timing are always different.
CHALLENGE: Are we willing to serve when we know that sometimes we are not going to receive the blessing for a long time?
: 20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast to all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. (3205 “birthday” [yalad] means to be born, the commencement of life outside the womb, to give birth, bring forth, have a child, have a baby, or day of birth)
DEVOTION: Birthdays have been celebrated since the beginning of time. Here we have the leader of a great nation celebrating his birthday. He called his two servants from the jail and gave one back his job and killed the other.
It seems that birthdays were times when celebration could get out of hand. We know that Herod made a promise to someone that cost the head of John the Baptist. So when we celebrate we need to be sure that we are doing it in a correct manner and not lose our standard that God has set for our life.
Many people who claim to be believers seem to get carried away when it comes to a birthday. Little children expect great things on their birthdays but when the parent can’t afford it they sometimes get mad. This even happens to adults.
Our spiritual birthday is more important than our physical birthday. Our spiritual birthday starts the day we make a genuine commitment to the LORD. This begins a whole new life.
Each year we should check to see if we are growing older in the LORD or staying in the same spiritual state as we were a year ago. Our hearts tell us what is happening between us and the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Are you growing older in the LORD or staying the same age. What gift would we like the LORD to give us on our next birthday? Would it honor HIM or ourselves?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
:21 And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. (7725 “restored” [shuwb] means 1 to return, turn back. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to turn back, return. 1a1a to turn back. 1a1b to return, come or go back. 1a1c to return unto, go back, come back. 1a1d of dying. 1a1e of human relations (fig). of spiritual relations (fig). 1a1f1 to turn back (from God), apostatize. 1a1f2 to turn away (of God). 1a1f3 to turn back (to God), repent. 1a1f4 turn back (from evil). 1a1g of inanimate things. 1a1h in repetition. 1b (Polel). 1b1 to bring back. 1b2 to restore, refresh, repair (fig). 1b3 to lead away (enticingly). 1b4 to show turning, apostatize. 1c (Pual) restored (participle). 1d (Hiphil) to cause to return, bring back. 1d1 to bring back, allow to return, put back, draw back, give back, restore, relinquish, give in payment. 1d2 to bring back, refresh, restore. 1d3 to bring back, report to, answer. 1d4 to bring back, make requital, pay (as recompense). 1d5 to turn back or backward, repel, defeat, repulse, hinder, reject, refuse. 1d6 to turn away (face), turn toward. 1d7 to turn against. 1d8 to bring back to mind. 1d9 to show a turning away. 1d10 to reverse, revoke. 1e (Hophal) to be returned, be restored, be brought back. 1f (Pulal) brought back. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])
DEVOTION: The chief cupbearer (or butler) was a close associate of the king. He was the confidant of the king. His job included tasting the food and drink of the king before the king ate it so as to deter any potential assassins of the ability to poison the king. The other chief cupbearer that we know about from the Bible was Nehemiah. We are not told what exactly happened in the case of the chief cupbearer, but evidently the king suspected some form of conspiracy that involved the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, so they were both thrown into the same prison as Joseph. As it turns out, the chief baker is convicted of his conspiracy and hanged, while the chief cupbearer is exonerated and restored to his prior position.
Jesus takes this metaphor of the chief cupbearer, and applies it at the Last Supper by drinking from the third cup of the Passover, and then passing it to His disciples. He is saying that He is the one who is to be their closest confidant and friend, and He would protect them from the attacks of the world. Their willingness (and ours) to follow suit is witness that we trust in His death to provide the atonement for our sins.
Just as God restored both the chief cupbearer and Joseph from prison, He can restore those of us who have fallen from grace. It is Jesus Christ’s willingness to die for us that is the power of God to salvation. He has provided our restoration in a way that only He can do.
CHALLENGE: Thank God today for the fact that He has restored us by His substitutionary death!
: 23 Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him. (7911 “forgot” [shakach] means to dismiss from the mind, stop remembering, to cease to care, or forgetting to mention)
DEVOTION: Have you ever done something good for someone and asked them to help you in the future and they have not helped you? Should we expect others to help us if we have helped them?
The Bible seems to say that we are to do a good work to others and if they don’t reciprocate we should not be concerned. Our attitude should be that we are to be givers and not takers. We are to be available to help others at all times and the LORD will honor us for our service.
Here we have Joseph in jail and he wants out. He gives the interpretation of the dreams to both the butler and baker. Both interpretations come true. The butler stayed alive and should have remembered Joseph but the Bible tells us that he did not remember.
What would your feelings have been if this happened to you? Maybe it has happened to you. This was a test from the LORD. Our service to the LORD should be with no strings attached.
In one of the books I read a few years ago the author states that God could send us to prison for a crime we didn’t commit for the rest of our life and still be fair. In our minds it doesn’t seem fair until we realize that we deserve the lake of fire for eternity and yet with our repentance we have heaven for eternity.
We have to ask ourselves if we have forgotten to thank those who have helped us throughout our life.
CHALLENGE: Are we a thankful person or do we just expect others to help us with no gratitude shown them for their actions?
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God (Elohim)verse 8
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Butlerverses 1-25
Chief of the butlers
Put in prison with Joseph
Dreamed a dream
Sad
Told dream to Joseph
Interpretation of restoration
Asked him to remember Joseph
Did NOT remember Joseph to Pharaoh
King of Egypt (Pharaoh)verses 1-21
Put butler and baker in jail
Took them out of jail on his birthday
Bakerverses 1-22
Chief of the bakers
Put in prison with Joseph
Dreamed a dream
Sad
Told dream to Joseph
Joseph said in three days he was going to die
Captain of the guardverse 4
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Offendverse 1
Wrothverse 2
Forget those who have helped usverse 23
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Gift of interpretation of dreamsverse 8
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Josephverses 3-25
Give charge of Butler and Baker
Asked why they were sad
Interpretations belong to God
Gave meaning of dream
Stated his case to the butler
Hebrewsverse 15
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
Joseph, then, represents the kind of leadership that the readers of the Pentateuch would be called on to follow. He is a leader like Daniel, who needed to “discern” (cf. Dan 9:2) the visions of the prophets to find the course of God’s future dealings with his people, rather than to wait on new prophecies to come. Joseph, like Solomon, is a picture of a truly wise leader who understands and sees the will of God in the affairs of those around him. In this sense Joseph stands as a prototype of all the later wisemen of Israel. All future leaders must stand the test of measurement against him. It is hardly surprising then that one sees foreshadowed in the picture of Joseph elements that later resemble David, Solomon, and, ultimately, the Messiah himself. (Sailhamer, J. H. (1990). Genesis. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 237). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
40:20–23. The interpretations proved to be true, for in three days Pharaoh on his birthday … restored the … cupbearer but executed the baker. Joseph, however, was forgotten in prison.
Yet the significant fact for Joseph was that he was correctly interpreting dreams. He did not misunderstand God’s revelations to him by dreams. He might not have understood his imprisonment, but he was encouraged in his faith. The cupbearer … forgot him, but God did not. In this hope Joseph had a persistent faith. His faith was not destroyed by his circumstances. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Genesis. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 91). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Learning to trust (vv. 14–15, 23). As far as the Genesis record is concerned, there are only two instances of Joseph displaying unbelief; and this is the first one. (The second is in 48:8–20 when Joseph tried to tell Jacob how to bless the two grandsons.) Knowing that the cupbearer would be released and have access to Pharaoh, Joseph asked him to speak a good word for him and get him out of the prison. Joseph was putting his trust in what a man could do instead of depending on what God could do. He was getting impatient instead of waiting for God’s time.
Joseph didn’t mention his brothers or accuse them of evil. He only said he was “stolen” (kidnapped) from home and therefore was not a slave but a free man who deserved better treatment. His use of the word “dungeon” in 40:15 (see also 41:14) doesn’t necessarily mean that he and the other prisoners were in a terribly wretched place. They were confined in the jail for the king’s prisoners (39:20), which is called “the house of the captain of the guard” (40:3); so it was certainly not a dungeon. It may well have been “house arrest.” Joseph was speaking just as you and I would speak when we want people to sympathize with our plight: “This place is the pits!”
After his release and restoration, the cupbearer not only said nothing to Pharaoh about Joseph, but also he forgot Joseph completely! So much for turning to people for help instead of waiting on the Lord. “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.… Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the Lord, who remains faithful forever” (Ps. 146:3, 5–6). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1997). Be authentic (pp. 99–100). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.)
Ver. 23. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, &c.] To speak of him to Pharaoh, neither on that day in which he was restored, nor for a long time after, even for the space of two years, as seems from the following chapter: but forgot him; never more thought of him, of the favour he had done him in interpreting his dream; of the request he made to him, and of the promise which he had probably given him; which was an instance of great ingratitude, and is frequently the case and character of courtiers, who being in high places themselves, neglect others, their petitions to them, and their own promises to do all they can for them. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 257). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,” says God. The chief butler forgot Joseph. A few days went by, swift as a flash, Joseph expecting every moment to hear that Pharaoh had commanded his release. The days lengthened into weeks, and still no word. Undoubtedly the butler was busy and had much to do, but surely he would not forget. The weeks became months and the months became a year, then another and another and another. Joseph learned to hope no longer in man. All human help was now gone. Joseph’s thoughts, however, did not creep down slimy stairways to grovel in base thoughts of suicide; instead they borrowed Jacob’s ladder and lifted Joseph up to heaven’s halls. Long, long centuries before ever the psalmist penned the words, Joseph had entered into their wondrous truth. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.… Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Psalm 42:1–5). (Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Genesis: An Expository Commentary (Ge 39:21–40:23). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.)
23. Yet did not the chief butler remember. This was the most severe trial of Joseph’s patience, as we have before intimated. For since he had obtained an advocate who, without trouble, was able to extricate him from prison, especially as the opportunity of doing so had been granted to him by God, he felt a certain assurance of deliverance, and earnestly waited for it every hour. But when he had remained to the end of the second year in suspense, not only did this hope vanish, but greater despair than ever rested upon his mind. Therefore, we are all taught, in his person, that nothing is more improper, than to prescribe the time in which God shall help us; since he purposely, for a long season, keeps his own people in anxious suspense, that, by this very experiment, they may truly know what it is to trust in Him. Besides, in this manner he designed openly to claim for himself the glory of Joseph’s liberation. For, if liberty had been granted to him through the entreaty of the butler, it would have been generally believed that this benefit was from man and not from God. Moreover, when Moses says, that the butler was forgetful of Joseph, let it be so understood, that he did not dare to make any mention of him, lest he should be subjected to reproach, or should be troublesome to the king himself. For it is common with courtiers perfidiously to betray the innocent, and to deliver them to be slain, rather than to offend those of whom they themselves are afraid. (Calvin, J., & King, J. (2010). Commentary on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis (Vol. 2, pp. 312–313). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
Esther 7
Haman’s plot is revealed, and he is hanged.
INSIGHT
The final irony falls. Haman hangs on the gallows which he had constructed for Mordecai. Pride has come full circle; sin has self-destructed. Satan is called the deceiver and the destroyer; he deceives in order to destroy. He gets us to commit ourselves to a course of action which we think will achieve our aims, and, in the end, it destroys us. If you are on any course of action which you feel will achieve your aims–but the course of action is wrong–give it up. Unchecked, you will eventually be destroyed by it.
(Quiet Walk)
SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR
Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. Mark 12:34
If people are not sure whether they are Christians or not, then I take leave to suggest that they are not. The Christian, according to the New Testament, is someone who can say something like this: “I was–I am.” That is how the apostle described the Corinthians, was it not–He said, “And such were some of you!” They had been drunkards, adulterers, fornicators, etc. “But,” he says, “you are not like that now–“But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God'” (1 Corinthians 6:11). The apostle Peter used exactly the same terminology: “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:10). That is it!
There are variations in people’s relative positions with respect to this kingdom. Our Lord said about one of the scribes who came to him, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” He did not say that about everybody, but He did say it about him. So outside the kingdom people can be in one of many, many positions.
There are people who have never given it a thought, who have never read the Bible and are not interested in it–they do not know its barest elements. They are not interested in God, in the Lord Jesus Christ, or in the soul, and they live the kind of life that we can see all around us.
Although there are different positions occupied by men and women outside the kingdom of God, in the last analysis they do not matter at all. There is no advantage in being “not far from the kingdom.” “But,” you reply, “do you mean to say that the person who is at the very door has no advantage over the one who is, as it were, at the other end of the world?” Precisely! And that is where the devil deludes so many.
A Thought to Ponder: There is no advantage in being “not far from the kingdom.”
(From The Kingdom of God, pp. 176-178, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The Prince of Glory
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3)
One of the most precious hymns of the Christian faith is “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” written by Isaac Watts. Let us use its rich rehearsal of truth in poetry to guide our Bible study these next four days.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
The great King of all creation laid aside aspects of His immortal attributes and became a mortal man so He could die for us. Simultaneously man and God, He endured death for condemned sinners, then He re-entered His lifeless body. The hymn writer called Him the “Prince of glory,” a fitting affirmation on the eternal Son of the Father.
Having once again retaken His created life, the Creator offered us eternal life—a free gift to undeserving sinners. Having paid the sufficient price for all our sin, thereby removing all penalties levied against sinful man, He offered us eternal life also. “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14)
Nothing we do in this life gains us eternity; works are worthless. “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Working for rewards can avail nothing, but rather we look to the cross of our wondrous Christ .(JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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