Posted on 01/06/2016 8:59:21 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.(Genesis 39:2-5)
Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, had been sold into slavery by his brothers, the other children of Israel. He was purchased in Egypt by a man named Potiphar, and being under the blessing of Abraham, Joseph soon rose up in Potiphar’s esteem and Potiphar’s house was blessed for it.
But Joseph’s ordeal had only begun, for Potiphar’s wife began to lust after the young Hebrew slave.
And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?(Genesis 39:7-9)
Notice Joseph’s response to her attempted seduction, “How can I sin this way against my God and my master?â€. Eventually Joseph was left one day alone with her, and she made another attempt to seduce him. He literally fled her advances, and the scorned woman then accused him of rape.
And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.(Genesis 39:19-20)
Humanly speaking, Potiphar had the power of life and death over the Hebrew slave, therefore had he believed that Joseph had raped his wife, I believe he would have had him executed. Instead he put him in prison, where once again the blessing of Abraham elevated Joseph, who became a top trustee.
Eventually the Royal Baker and Pharoah’s Cupbearer were both put into prison, under Joseph’s care. Each of the two royal servants were troubled by dreams they had in prison, so they told Joseph.
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.(Genesis 40:9-11)
As the Cupbearer related the dream to Joseph, the spirit of God came upon him with the interpretation.
And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.(Genesis 40:12-13)
Now it was the King’s baker’s turn, and he took courage by the favorable interpretation Joseph gave the Royal Cupbearer.
When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, 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 upon my head. And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.(Genesis 40:16-19)
Within three days the dreams came to pass, the CupBearer was restored to the Pharoah’s service, but the Baker was executed.
All Joseph requested of the cup bearer on the way out of the prison, was that he put in a good word for him, as he had been falsely accused. Upon release, the cupbearer promptly forgot Joseph.
Joseph would languish in that prison for two more years.
As we stated earlier, Joseph is a major type of Israel’s Messiah, the seed of the Woman…Like Joseph,
*Israel’s Messiah would be falsely accused and imprisoned.
*There would be two other malefactors with Him.
*One of them would speak to Messiah and be saved,
*The other would die in his sins.
In the presence of Pharaoh, the butler held three vines in his hand. He watched them bud, blossom, and fruit, then squeezed the juice directly into Pharaoh's cup. Open and honest. Nothing was hidden here. The butler was doing a fine job.
The baker had three baskets on his head. Only the top basket had baked goods for Pharoah. What were in the other two? The baker doesn't say, and the contents are hidden. Skimming 2/3rds off for himself/friends/family? Or he had a side business? Whatever it was, the contents weren't destined for Pharaoh.
And the goods that *were* for Pharaoh? The birds were eating them. Now how does that happen? The baker must have been outside, standing still. IOW, he was IDLE. Not going anywhere. He never even made it over to Pharaoh for the delivery.
The baker was a slacker... no work ethic and had an entitlement attitude. Stereotypical union worker.
The Pharaoh's birthday party was in three days. He needed all his workers. He sees their performance. He "sums them up".
The wine kept flowing.
But what about the quality of the birthday cake?
By their fruits ye shall know them.
Joseph really didn't have to interpret a thing. Interpretations are from God.
Helpful and inspired teaching, thanks for posting.
Agree. Daniel had things explained to him. Scriptures are sealed in plain sight. When it's time, these too will be revealed. Some among us will be given understanding.
"Joseph really didn't have to interpret a thing. Interpretations are from God."
As the Cupbearer related the dream to Joseph, the Spirit of God came upon him with the interpretation.
As Joseph was a *godly* man, able & willing to be useful to God.
What a high calling.
In backing up a few verses, we see that
Chapter 39
21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison:
22. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was the doer of it:
23. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper:
Continued in Chapter 40
1 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:
2. And Pharaoh was angry against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers:
3. And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined:
4. And the captain of the guard charged [paqad, numbered, mustered] Joseph with them, and he served them; and they continued a season in custody [mishmar, the place of shamar, the place of being guarded i.e. watched]:
5. 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, who were confined in the prison:
The plain text says that Joseph was in a position to observe the butler and the baker for some days. He was able to sum them up for some time, before the dreams occurred. The Jewish commentaries say that this was for a year.
If so, it could very well have been that the offenses [that landed them in the prison] occurred one year before; i.e. at Pharaoh's last birthday party. Considering that the party is in the narrative when Pharaoh "sums them up", that's a good possibility. It was two full years later that the butler finally recalled the incident. Yet another birthday party?
What happens when the king is evil, and instead of using proper judgment, he falls back on the letter of the law?
The righteous lose their heads.
Matthew 14:6-7 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
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