The Prisoner of the LORD - Genesis 39:21-40:23
INTRODUCTION:
We have spent four weeks back in Genesis and we have seen Joseph go from prince in his father’s house, to captive of his brothers, to a slave first to Ishmaelite traders and then to Potiphar, then to a falsely accused criminal, and we left him last Sunday as a prisoner in the prison where the enemies of the Pharaoh were held, and all this time the LORD was with him.
We will learn this week that the prison is at the home of the captain of the bodyguard, and I mistakenly told you last Sunday that Potiphar was never mentioned again in Genesis. It is true that he is never mentioned by name again, but in chapter 40 and 41 he is mentioned by title. This morning we are going to look at the time that Joseph spent in prison, we do not know how long this was, it depends on when he was imprisoned. We know he was 17 years old when he came to Egypt and that he was 30 years old when he entered into the service of Pharaoh. So for 13 years he was in Egypt as a slave and a prisoner, we know for sure that he was in the prison for more than two years because chapter 41 takes place two years after the events of chapter 40. Let’s pray and then read our passage of Scripture for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 39:21 and we will be reading through the end of chapter 40, verse 23. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Genesis 39:21-40:23,
“But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, ‘Why are your faces so sad today?’ Then they said to him, ‘We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.’ Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.’ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, ‘In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.’ Then Joseph said to him, ‘This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.’ When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, ‘I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’ Then Joseph answered and said, ‘This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.’ Thus it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” (Genesis 39:21–40:23, NASB95)[1]
THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH IN PRISON (Genesis 39:21-23)
Last Sunday I gave you a sneak peek at verse 21 which states that the LORD was with Joseph in the jail. Not once did the LORD leave Joseph by himself. In Psalm 105 the psalmist is recounting the history of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. In verses 17-19 we read these words about Joseph: “He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.” (Psalm 105:17–19, NASB95)[2] When Joseph was first put in prison it says that they afflicted his feet with fetters and that he was laid in irons, but this must not have lasted too long, because God showed Joseph His lovingkindness and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. Though the prison was part of the house of his master Potiphar, the chief jailer was the one in charge of the prisoners. Because the LORD was with Joseph he soon distinguished himself to the chief jailer as being trustworthy and responsible and the chief jailer began to give Joseph more and more responsibility in the prison. Though Joseph was falsely confined in prison his faith in the LORD did not falter and he continued to show through his actions that the LORD was with him, and he lived in such a way to be pleasing to the LORD. The LORD was using this time to prepare and train Joseph to rely completely on Him so that when God elevated him into the position of leadership he would rely on God to guide him and give him the wisdom to carry out the task that God would give him. The chief jailer saw the potential that was in Joseph because the LORD was with him and gave to him more and more responsibility until Joseph was in charge of all the prisoners in the jail, and Joseph was responsible for whatever was done there. Joseph was so trustworthy and so faithful that the Jailer did not concern himself or even watch over anything under Joseph’s care because the LORD was with him and whatever Joseph did the LORD made it prosper.
Joseph is a unique individual, it truly makes me wonder how his father had taught him. Joseph took every opportunity in his life to make a difference and to be a blessing to those around him. As a slave he could have been very bitter that he had been reduced to a piece of someone’s property and done just the minimum to get by, but he didn’t instead he served Potiphar as if he was serving the LORD and he drew attention to the fact that he served the way did because of his faith in the LORD his God, and because of this God blessed the work of his hands. That outlook on life could have really changed when Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison, but it didn’t, again he saw this terrible situation as an opportunity to serve the LORD and bless others. Those verses from Psalm 105 said that the word of the LORD tested him, God put him in situations that had to make him wonder if God’s word would be fulfilled in his life, God’s covenant promises and God’s word that had come to him in his dreams. Joseph passed the test because he believed the Word of God and was faithful to God because of his belief that God would be faithful to him. How about you? Do you take the situations and the circumstances that God places you in as opportunities to serve the Lord and bless others? God may have placed you in those circumstances to see if you truly believe the promises in His Word and to see if you truly believe that He is faithful to keep His promises. James put it this way in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2–4, NASB95)[3] Joseph certainly understood this principle, but what about us, do we put this principle into practice?
THE LORD GAVE JOSEPH THE INTERPRETATION (Genesis 40:1-19)
While Joseph was in prison two officials of Pharaoh offended their king, the chief cupbearer of the Pharaoh and the chief baker of the Pharaoh and Pharaoh in his anger put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard. As I said earlier, the prison where Joseph was confined was a building on the property of Potiphar, possibly even connected to his house. It could have been underground or under Potiphar’s house. Verse 4 tells us that the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of these two men and Joseph took care of them. These two men were not just small time officials, these men had access to the presence of Pharaoh and had to be trusted not to give in to those who might be enemies of the king and might want to see him poisoned. Joseph cared for them and showed concern for them when one day they were both looking dejected. Joseph asked them why they were sad and they told him it was because both of them had dreams the same night, but they had no one to interpret them. Dreams were very important in ancient Egypt, they were believed to foretell the future, and sorcerers and magicians where employed to interpret dreams.
Joseph had been a recipient of dreams which needed no interpretation, his dreams were
understood by himself and his family. Joseph understood that dreams could come from God and that God could give the interpretation. He told these men to tell him the dreams and God would give the interpretation. Joseph was certainly being led by God in what he said to them or he would not have been so confident that God would give him the interpretations to the dreams. The cupbearer began and told Joseph his dream and Joseph told him that his dream meant that in three days Pharaoh would lift up his head, a phrase that means Pharaoh would review his case and the cupbearer would be restored to his position and would again bring the Pharaoh his cup.
Joseph used this good news about the cupbearer’s release to make a request knowing that the cupbearer would have access to Pharaoh, Joseph asked him to say a good word for him and get him out of this prison, this dungeon. This is the first faltering of faith seen in Joseph, he was putting his trust in what man could do instead of depending on what God could do. He was getting impatient instead of waiting for God’s perfect timing. Joseph in his plea to the cupbearer does not mention his brothers, but says he was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. His use of this term shows that he believes God’s covenant promise to give the land of Canaan to his family as their possession. Do we ever get impatient waiting for God’s perfect timing and trying to move that timing up? God still had work to do in Joseph, and when God does not seem to be moving in our life, and we are not getting to where we think we should be it may be that God still has some work to do in our lives before He moves us forward.
With a good interpretation for the cupbearer the baker wants to share his dream, but unfortunately his dream seals his doom. The Pharaoh in three days will lift up his head (that is to review his case), but the outcome will not be favorable, notice that Joseph says that Pharaoh will lift up your head from you, in other words he would be executed and his body hung on a tree for the birds to eat off the flesh. Two similar dreams, two opposite outcomes. God had given Joseph the interpretation to both dreams.
THE LORD TAUGHT JOSEPH TO WAIT UPON HIM ALONE (Genesis 40:20-23)
Three days later it was the Pharaoh’s birthday and he made a feast for all his servants. He called up the chief cupbearer and the chief baker to review their cases and God had given Joseph the correct interpretations of the dreams. The cupbearer was restored to his position of putting the cup into Pharaoh’s hand, but the chief baker was condemned to death and handed over to the captain of the bodyguard to be executed and his body hung on a tree.
The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph or the request that Joseph had made. He forgot him. This was in the providence of God, it was not time for Joseph to be released from prison, God was still testing his faith to produce that endurance that would have its perfect result and Joseph would not be lacking in anything that he would need to carry out the role that God had prepared for him. Joseph’s faith was being refined as he waited for God’s perfect timing. Joseph was learning to not trust in people, but to trust in the Lord. Like our Scripture reading this morning said, “Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever; Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.” (Psalm 146:3, 5–7, NASB95)[4] Joseph was learning the truth of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NASB95)[5]
CONCLUSION:
In closing this morning I want to draw our attention to a few more types that we see in the life of Joseph that point us toward the Savior Jesus Christ. Remember the type is not the important thing, but what it foreshadows or prefigures is the important thing. Throughout chapters 37-40 and even into 41 we see that Joseph suffered first at the hands of his brothers, then as a slave, and finally as one falsely accused and imprisoned when all along he was innocent. Jesus also suffered condemnation that finally led to his death, and He was innocent of the charges brought against Him. In John 8:46-48 He was accused of being a Samaritan or of having a demon which both charges were completely false. Secondly in chapter 40:2-4 we see Joseph identified with two condemned men, Jesus also was identified with two condemned men. Luke 23:32-33 records for us, “Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.” (Luke 23:32–33, NASB95)[6] Thirdly, Joseph promised one of the condemned men that he would be saved in Genesis 40:5-22. In the same way, Jesus promised one of the criminals that he would be saved. Luke records this exchange between the criminal and Jesus in Luke 23:42-43, “And he [the criminal] was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’ And He [Jesus] said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23:42–43, NASB95)[7] Three more events in the life of Joseph that point us to Jesus. Joseph’s promise that the cupbearer would be saved was only a temporal salvation that restored him to his former position, Jesus’ promise to the criminal that hung beside Him was the promise of eternal life. Jesus makes that same offer to each of us. Just before the exchange I read to you between Jesus and the criminal, the man admitted that he was a sinner and recognized that Jesus alone could save him from eternal separation from God. When we agree with God that we are sinners that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God, but we believe that Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sin and believe that He was buried and three days later rose from the dead then we have the promise of eternal life, of life spent in the presence of God because we are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ we are made acceptable to God, the penalty for our sin has been paid. Maybe you are here this morning and you have never come to that point of agreeing with God that you are a sinner and believing that Jesus is the only One who can make you acceptable to God. You can in the quietness of your own heart make that decision to believe in Jesus Christ death, burial, and resurrection so your sins are forgiven and you have the promise of eternal life, just like that condemned thief on the cross next to Jesus received.
Joseph continues to be an example for us to follow, this man shows us how we are to live in trying circumstances, always looking for the opportunity to serve the Lord with our whole heart and through that service allow God to bless others. Often that is difficult to do when we are in a difficult situation, but if Joseph could do it as a slave and a falsely accused prisoner, then we can also. Not to say that we might get discouraged at times, Joseph became impatient with the Lord’s timing and sought the help of man, but God’s timing is perfect. I remember when I began contemplating leaving Slovakia and returning to the North America at that time I did not know what God had in store for us, I did not know that God was moving us forward in His plan for us to be here in McCleary at this church. God knew and He had to take us through a difficult time in South Dakota to prepare us to this church so that we would be able to weather a few storms here, but to stick it out as I seek to serve Him with my whole heart and hope that some of you have been blessed in the process. My greatest joy in serving you is to see the tremendous spiritual growth that has taken place in so many of you. To God be the Glory for the Great things He has done!
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995