GENESIS 40 - Beneath Notice

Introduction

The story of Joseph-ben Jacob is one of the most well-known Old Testament accounts that we have. It has all the elements that make a fantastic epic tale—honor, betrayal, intrigue, dungeons, kings, princes and a twist at the end worthy of an O. Henry short story. As we have made our way through this account, we have been careful to ground our study not so much in the “rags-to-riches” aspects of Joseph’s path (though it is remarkable), but in the way that God is always working out His purposes at every step of the way. Whether it is his brothers’ murderous jealousy or Potiphar’s wife’s vindictive slander or his father’s egregious favoritism, all of it—every last turn of the tale—falls perfectly into the plan that YHWH is fulfilling to make all of the covenant promises to Abraham’s seed come true. God is orchestrating the preservation of His covenant people with perfect precision with no remainder.

I once overheard a fellow student at PCB a long time ago as he was talking with a friend in the student lounge one afternoon—I don’t remember the context of the conversation or anything that was said before or after, but I remember the guy said to his friend, “You know, there is no wasted motion with God...” I really like that—I’ve shamelessly stolen it from him for the past 35 years!

There is nothing that happens to you, Christian—(and I mean nothing) that is not being used by God to accomplish His perfect purposes for you, for your family, for your church, for your town, for your country, for your world—for all eternity! When the Scripture says that He works ALL things together for the good of those who love Him, HE. MEANS. ALL. THINGS.

Think of what Joseph has been through to this point—betrayed and hated by his brothers, sold into slavery and ripped away from his home, falsely accused of terrible crimes and thrown into jail without a chance to defend himself. Far too often, people who have lived through those kinds of things are so beaten down, so cynical and hardened, so angry at the world, that they are full of nothing but bitterness and hatred and grudges against everyone for putting them in this mess. (I’ve talked to a lot of people like that; I know you have too.)

But when we look at Joseph in these chapters, we don’t see any of that. We see peace, we see integrity, we see kindness, we see contentment in the midst of terrible circumstances. And I want to submit to you that the reason that Joseph lived the way he did in the middle of the most unfair, unjust, demeaning and de-humanizing circumstances was because he knew that God was still in control.

Here’s the way I want to summarize the message of Genesis 40 this morning:

You can walk FREE when you can trust God’s PURPOSES that you cannot SEE

As we work our way through this chapter this morning, I want to show you how resting in God’s unseen purposes bore fruit in Joseph’s life. He is stuck in prison here in this chapter, but he is more free in this prison than anyone who was walking around outside it.

First of all, notice here that

I. Joseph was not HESITANT to SHARE his GIFTS (Genesis 40:1-19)

How easy would it have been for Joseph to respond to his unjust imprisonment by simply withdrawing from everything—just get by with the least amount of involvement or interaction with anyone. But when we look at the end of Chapter 39, we see that Joseph is doing the same thing for the jailer that he did for Potiphar—the same thing he did for his own father Jacob: Putting his skills to work to manage and oversee and care for the people around him!

Genesis 39:22–23 LSB

So the chief jailer gave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s hand because Yahweh was with him; and whatever he did, Yahweh made to succeed.

Joseph knew that YHWH was with him; he knew that God’s purposes were not going to fail—and so Joseph was free to share his gifts

No matter WHERE he was (cp. Gen. 39:22-23)

It didn’t matter that he was in a prison hundreds of miles from home; it didn’t matter that he was falsely accused of assault; it didn’t matter that the people around him were not his people, Joseph was free to serve others because he knew that God’s purposes would not fail him. If God had put him there, there must be a good reason, and so he may as well put himself to good use while he was there!

Joseph’s resting in God’s promises meant that he was free to share his gifts no matter where he was, and

No matter WHO it was for (vv. 1-8)

The day came when two of Pharoah’s high officials found themselves on his bad side, and wound up in prison alongside Joseph:

Genesis 40:1–3 LSB

Now it happened that after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. And 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 cupbearer and baker were both highly trusted positions in Pharoah’s court—not only were they personally responsible for Pharoah’s food and drink (which meant they had to be completely trustworthy), but they would have had significant religious responsibilities as well, handling the sacred bread and wine that was part of different rituals for the Egyptian god Horus.

When these two noblemen arrived in the prison, they were put under Joseph’s supervision—the most trustworthy man in the jail! After some time, Joseph noticed that there was something bothering them:

Genesis 40:6–8 LSB

Now Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, and behold, they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, saying, “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.”

Well, if there is one thing that Joseph knows a thing or two about, it is dreams, right?

Genesis 40:6–8 LSB

Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Recount it to me, please.”

Isn’t it fascinating how dreams keep cropping up in the story of Joseph? He gets it honestly; his father Jacob had some famous dreams as well—the ladder from heaven in Genesis 28, for instance. Then we have Laban’s dream where YHWH warned him not to mistreat Jacob in Genesis 31, and Joseph’s dreams of sheaves and stars in Genesis 37, and now Pharoah’s noblemen have dreams here in Genesis 40 (Pharoah will have his own dreams in Genesis 41!) In each case, these dreams represented YHWH’s intervention in the course of events to initiate a change of course or advance the progression of events for the sake of keeping His covenant to Abraham’s family.

Joseph was well-familiar with how God spoke to his family through dreams, and he was willing to share that gift with anyone—even if they were members of the nobility of the nation that was holding him captive! Consider his kindness to the cupbearer, relieving him of his anxiety over his dream:

Genesis 40:13 LSB

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.

And he was also courageous in his willingness to deliver bad news to Pharoah’s baker:

Genesis 40:19 LSB

within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head off of you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off of you.”

Joseph wasn’t hesitant to share the gifts God had given him—no matter where he was or who it was with. He was not vindictive or petty in his relationships with the Egyptians; he was willing to be gracious and courageous in his dealings; unjustly imprisoned hundreds of miles from home, Joseph was not hesitant to share his gifts with others because he could trust God’s purposes for him even when he couldn’t see them.

Resting in the unseen purposes of God had another effect on his life—consider that

II. Joseph was not CONSUMED with SELF-PITY (v. 7)

How easy it would have been for Joseph to simply sink into despair and self-pity over his situation! To become one of those people who can only think about their own terrible circumstances, who become obsessed with their own plight to the point where they can’t see anyone else but themselves.

But Joseph was not consumed with self-pity, was he? There in Verse 7 we see that

He was DRAWN to the SADNESS of others (v. 7)

Even though he had every right to wallow in “Woe is me, imprisoned for a crime I did not commit!”, see how Joseph was drawn to the dejected hopelessness of the Egyptian noblemen:

Genesis 40:7 LSB

...“Why are your faces so sad today?”

Because he wasn’t a slave to his own self-pity, Joseph was free to take note of (and act compassionately toward) these two men. Normally they would go to the court soothsayer or magician for an interpretation of their dreams; but here in prison they had no one to help them. Joseph could have sulked in his pain, saying “Oh no—the last time I talked about dreams, my brothers tried to murder me! Deal me out—you’re on your own!”

But because Joseph was content to rest in God’s purposes (even when he couldn’t see them), his heart could go out to them, and he could offer them the help they were looking for. He was drawn to the sadness of others, and notice in Verse 15 that

He did not DWELL on the CRIMES against him (vv. 14-15)

After he assured the cupbearer that he would be getting out of prison in three days, Joseph asked a favor of him—look in Verses 14-15:

Genesis 40:14–15 LSB

“Only remember me when it goes well with you, and please show me lovingkindness by remembering me to Pharaoh and getting me out of this house. “For I was in fact stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the pit.”

Even as he is recounting all the ways that he has been sinned against, there is not a hint of spitefulness or bitterness in any of it, is there? If this were me, I’d be a lot more specific about who did these things to me! “My rotten brothers Reuben and Judah threw me into a dry well, lied to my poor Papa and told him I was dead, then sold me as a slave!!! And then I get here, and my master’s wife lied about me and said I attacked her—but I swear I didn’t! All these people have it out for me, and they all deserve to be stuck in here, not me!!”

But Joseph doesn’t say any of that—because he knew that YHWH had a plan for him, even if he couldn’t see it. So he trusted God to know what He was doing by placing him there in prison. He could rest in God’s perfect justice and righteousness to vindicate him when the time was right.

See here in these verses the freedom that exists for God’s children when they rest in the knowledge that God is at work even when they cannot see it—Joseph was not hesitant to share his gifts, he was not consumed by self-pity, and he could walk free in the middle of his circumstances because

III. Joseph was not DEPENDENT on HUMAN deliverance (40:23)

Starting in Verse 20, everything came about as God had revealed to Joseph through the noblemen’s dreams—the cupbearer went back to his position at Pharoah’s right hand three days later, and the baker was executed and hung out for the birds to consume. But then, the chapter ends with one more gut-punch for Joseph:

Genesis 40:23 LSB

Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

All Joseph asked was that the cupbearer—to whom Joseph had shown such compassion and kindness to—that the cupbearer represent his plight to Pharoah, but

His KINDNESS was FORGOTTEN

When the cupbearer was sunk in hopelessness and despair in Pharoah’s dungeon, Joseph gave him hope. The three days that he spent in that prison were bearable because Joseph showed him compassion by interpreting his dream. Imagine how Joseph must have felt when he watched the cupbearer walk out of custody, a free man once again. You can imagine him going to sleep that night thinking, “This is it—I’m getting out of here, I will finally have the chance to explain my innocence! YHWH has been so good to me, to give me this chance to have my case reviewed! Pharoah is sure to release me now!”

But then his release didn’t come the next day… or the next… or the next… Every day that went by, his hopes dimmed further and further. Once again—we know how the story comes out. We know that “at the end of two full years that Pharoah had a dream...” (41:1), but Joseph had no idea that there was any end in sight. All he knew—the only thing he could cling to was his hope that even though his kindness was forgotten

His GOD still REMEMBERED

His father Jacob believed he was dead. His brothers believed that he was gone forever out of their lives. Potiphar’s wife had already forgotten the worthless Hebrew slave that slighted her. The cupbearer had clean forgotten the man who had given him so much hope in those three dark days when he believed his career and his life were over. For Joseph, this had to be the lowest moment of his life—looking back on that day when he said goodbye to his dad, expecting to be home a few days later, now seems like a lifetime ago. Hated by his brothers, sold as a slave, slandered by his master’s wife, pining away in a pagan prison hundreds of miles from home. And now, he was completely and utterly beneath notice, with his last earthly hope of rescue fading away as the days stretched into weeks and then months and then years.

Do you know what that feels like? You have been hoping and hoping for some kind of change to your circumstances; some kind of lightening of your load. Whether it is your financial circumstances, or your health, or your employment; maybe it’s your loneliness or the burden of broken or unhealthy relationships. There are all kinds of ways that this fallen and failing world can make us feel imprisoned by our circumstances, shackled by our weakness, forgotten by everyone.

But see here that God does not forget His children! No matter how low you sink,

You are never too LOW to escape God’s NOTICE (Ps. 139:7-10)

Joseph understood this—he knew that even if he could not see God’s hand at work around him, God always had His eye on Joseph! And even when he was completely beneath the notice of the rest of the world; even when he was forgotten and cast aside, Joseph knew that God’s purposes were still at work.

Centuries later, Joseph’s great-grandnephew would write a song that Joseph would have understood well:

Psalm 139:7–10 LSB

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I lift up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

No matter how low His children go, there is no way to sink beneath God’s notice. He sees you, and He knows you, and you are there for a reason! There is no wasted effort with God; every motion that He makes serves a purpose for His glory and your eternal joy.

So take heart, beloved, that

You are never too WEAK to serve God’s PURPOSES (1 Cor. 1:27-29)

Joseph was nobody in Egypt; a piece of property that his master could dispose of as he pleased. When he landed in prison, he fell even further out of the fabric of Egyptian society. He had no liberty, no agency, no voice, no worth in the eyes of anyone—but he was still mightily used of God!

Centuries later, Joseph’s little brother Benjamin’s great-grandson would write a letter to believers in Corinth that Joseph would have heartily endorsed:

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 LSB

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before God.

Don’t fall for the trap that says that God will only use you for His glory if you are respected enough and visible enough and popular enough. There are Christians out there bending over backwards to “build a platform” for themselves and their ministry: cultivating “likes” on social media, collecting subscribers, pushing out content and networking with other “Christian influencers” so that they can finally get to a place where “God can use them for His Kingdom.”

But you know what? God doesn’t need your platform. He is not interested in the Twitter-glory you’ve covered yourself in. When He is glorified in this world, your little tinsel-and-glitter version of click-bait “glory” will be nowhere to be seen! God delights to use the unseen and unknown to work His purposes in this world, because those people have no illusions about where the power came from!

What is God’s Word showing you about yourself this morning? Look at Joseph’s freedom in the middle of his prison—with no hope of release, forsaken by his brothers, mourned by his father, cast aside by his master, slandered and falsely accused by his mistress. But in the midst of all of that, Joseph was a free man! He was free from bitterness, free from despair, free from anger and frustration at his circumstances.

What do the trials and hardships you are facing show you about where your confidence lies? Are you walking free, able to serve others without hesitation, no matter where you are or who you’re with? Or are you holding grudges and keeping scores, turning away from others so that you can wallow in the injustice of your circumstances?

Are you so consumed with self-pity that you have no compassion for anyone else, or does your heart go out to others for the pain they are in, regardless of what you’re going through? Do you dwell on all the wrongs that have ever been done to you and reel them off to anyone who will listen to you, or are you free to let them go, knowing that God has a purpose for all of it?

Where is your hope this morning? As you navigate all of the difficulties and disappointments that are imprisoning you, are you trusting in the mind of man to remember you and help you in your afflictions? Are you constantly disappointed that you are forgotten by others, or that your needs are not their highest priority? It is so easy to become resentful of people who you expect help from, people who know your situation and yet it seems as though they don’t prioritize helping you as much as you think they should.

But beloved, see here in God’s inspired Word that, if your hope rests in God’s attention to your needs, you are free from that resentment and anxiety over others who might forget you! When you are resting and trusting in God’s purposes for your life—even when you can’t see them—you walk free in this life, no matter the darkness and pain and brokenness that surrounds you!

Do you have that hope in you this morning? Are you resting in the unshakeable conviction that YHWH is with you? That He is for you, and delights in you, and will never fail to work all things together for your good? The only way that you can have that assurance is if you belong by faith to Jesus Christ—the Greater Son of Jacob that left His Father’s dwelling in glory and came down into our prison of sin and shame where we had no hope of rescue; helpless in our wretched condition, full of our own pride and self-righteousness, shackled by our lusts and our passions and anger and rebellion.

If you realize in the light of God’s Word this morning that you are still trapped in that prison of your sin and shame, see the Savior that descended into your sin and shame, took it on Himself, and suffered in your place so that you could be set free from all of it. He comes to you in your dejection and offers to turn your nightmares into hope; to release you from the prison of your weakness and trauma and shame and lift up your head in a new birth strength and blessing and purity. You can walk free. The Scripture promises you this morning that

Romans 10:9 LSB

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Romans 10:11 LSB

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes upon Him will not be put to shame.”

Don’t turn away from this offer this morning; don’t spend another day languishing in your regrets, fears, shame and guilt—He stands ready to set you free today. So come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Hebrews 13:20–21 LSB

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

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