Genesis 40.20-23-Cupbearer is Restored, Baker is Executed and Joseph is Forgotten
Sunday December 17, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 40:20-23-Cupbearer is Restored, Baker is Executed and Joseph is Forgotten
Lesson # 256
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 40:1.
This morning we will complete our study of Genesis 40, which contains the story of Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker who were imprisoned with Joseph because they offended Pharaoh.
Genesis 40:1-4 records Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker being incarcerated in the same prison as Joseph.
Then, on Wednesday evening we saw Joseph interpreting the dream of Pharaoh’s cupbearer, which is recorded in Genesis 40:5-15.
On Thursday we studied Joseph’s interpretation of the baker’s dream, which is recorded in Genesis 40:16-19.
This morning we will study Genesis 40:20-23, which records for us the fulfillment of Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker in that the former is restored by Pharaoh but the latter is executed and Joseph is forgotten in prison.
Genesis 40:1, “Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.”
Genesis 40:2, “Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.”
Genesis 40:3, “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.”
Genesis 40:4, “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.”
Genesis 40:5, “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.”
Genesis 40:6, “When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected.”
Genesis 40:7, “He asked Pharaoh's officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house, ‘Why are your faces so sad today?’”
Genesis 40:8, “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.’”
Genesis 40:9-10, “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.’”
Genesis 40:11, “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.”
Genesis 40:12-13, “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.’”
Genesis 40:14, “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.”
Genesis 40:15, “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.”
Genesis 40:16-17, “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.”
Genesis 40:18-19, “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.’”
Genesis 40:20, “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.”
Pharaoh’s birthday took place three days after Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker and to commemorate the event Pharaoh has a party for all his servants.
Ancient Egyptian texts mention great banquets being given and amnesty being granted to prisoners on the birthday of Pharaoh, which is the case in Genesis 40:20.
Then while holding a feast for all his servants, Pharaoh summons from prison, his cupbearer and baker, which is indicated by the statement “he (Pharaoh) lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker.”
The expression “lift up your head” refers to summoning a person into the presence of a king and so the statement “he (Pharaoh) lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker” means that Pharaoh summoned both men into his presence.
Our text says that Pharaoh summoned his chief cupbearer and baker from prison while the banquet was taking place and in the presence of all his servants and this indicated by the phrase “among his servants.”
Genesis 40:21-22, “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.”
The statement “He (Pharaoh) restored the chief cupbearer to his office and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand but he hanged the chief baker” echoes Joseph’s prediction to both men.
The statement “just as Joseph had interpreted to them” demonstrates that Joseph’s interpretations of the dreams of the cupbearer and baker were inspired by God and was another demonstration that “the Lord was with Joseph” (See Genesis 39:21).
“Hanged” is the verb talah (hlT) (taw-law), which means, “to impale” since the baker was decapitated as indicated by Joseph’s prediction in Genesis 40:19, “Pharaoh will lift up your head from you” thus making it impossible for him to be hanged.
Genesis 40:23, “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”
The chief cupbearer fails to fulfill Joseph’s request to intercede on his behalf to Pharaoh.
“Did not remember” is composed of the negative particle lo’ (aO) and the verb zakhar (rk^z*) (zaw-kar), which does “not” refer to the act of remembering or reflecting but rather it refers to an act of recognition, the formal acknowledgement of someone entitled to consideration and the right to be heard or given attention.
Therefore, after Pharaoh’s cupbearer was restored he did not recognize Joseph before Pharaoh in the sense that he did not formally acknowledge Joseph to Pharaoh even though Joseph was entitled to consideration and the right to be heard and given attention since Joseph had compassion for him a the time of great need.
“Forgot” is the verb shakhach (jk^v*) (shaw-kakh), which denotes “a willful choice to ignore something that a person knows he is to do” and so the cupbearer willfully chose to ignore fulfilling Joseph’s request.
Therefore, we can see the from the original Hebrew text that this was not a mental lapse on the part of Pharaoh’s cupbearer but rather a “moral” lapse, which manifested his self-centeredness as a result of being a slave to the sin nature.
The cupbearer’s deliberate refusal to present Joseph’s case to Pharaoh expresses the cupbearer’s ingratitude to Joseph.
Joseph remained in prison for another two years since Genesis 41:1 says that Pharaoh had a dream two years after the cupbearer was restored by Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:1, “Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.”
Even though the moral lapse by Pharaoh’s cupbearer was evil, God meant it for good since it was a part of the providence of God since God did not want Joseph to leave prison and Egypt.
Genesis 50:20, “As for you (Joseph’s brothers), you meant evil against me (Joseph), but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
Suppose that after he was restored, the cupbearer told Pharaoh about Joseph and then released Joseph so that he could return to his father in Canaan.
This would have been bad since Pharaoh needed Joseph around when he had his dreams regarding the seven years of plenty and seven years of worldwide famine.
If Joseph didn’t remain in Egypt, then he would have never been there to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and if he doesn’t interpret Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph doesn’t get promoted by Pharaoh to prime minister of Egypt.
If Joseph never gets promoted to the prime minister of Egypt by Pharaoh, then there will be no one capable in Pharaoh’s administration to follow God directions to store up enough grain during the seven years of prosperity so as to be prepared for the seven years of world-wide famine.
If Joseph is not in place to administrate the Egyptian government under Pharaoh during the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, then Joseph’s family dies of starvation in Canaan since Israel sends his sons to Egypt to get food to deal with the famine in Canaan (See Genesis 42).
If Joseph’s family dies of starvation, then the nation of Israel dies in its infancy and if so, then the Savior cannot come into the world and then there would be no salvation for man and no fulfillment of the four unconditional covenants to Israel (Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New) and thus making God unfaithful.
The next two years would further train Joseph for the great position that he would be promoted to by Pharaoh as a result of interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams.
From the human perspective, such circumstances are unfair and lead to discouragement.
However, from the divine perspective, one can see that God causes all circumstances to work together for God for those who love Him.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
If Joseph looked at the cupbearer willfully forgetting his request from the human perspective, he would be greatly discouraged.
However, if he looked at this situation from the divine perspective, he would walk by faith and not sight meaning he would trust God who has his best interests in mind and refuse to let his imprisonment get him discouraged.
From the human perspective, this injustice against Joseph would be a cause for great discouragement.
However, from the divine perspective, Joseph’s imprisonment for another two years would continue to further to develop Christ-like character in him and prepare for the great work that would be his in just two short years.
The fact that the Scriptures do “not” record Joseph getting depressed and discouraged implies that he chose to walk by faith and not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7, “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”
During the fourteen years that Joseph was in slavery and during the years of his imprisonment, he possessed and maintained a dynamic mental attitude with love, joy, peace and no bitterness and resentment because he trusted that God would fulfill His Word to him in the form of the two prophetic dreams that are recorded in Genesis 37:5-11.
Joseph’s two prophetic dreams, which were revelation from God about the future of Joseph and his family served as a great encouragement to Joseph while he was enslaved for fourteen years in Egypt and while he was incarcerated.
In our day and age, the Scriptures, which are revelation from God concerning our future (See 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21), serve as encouragement to us when we go through adversity and underserved suffering in our lives.
Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
The revelation from God that Joseph received in his two dreams constituted the “Word of God” for him whereas here in the church age, the Word of God appears in the original languages of Scripture.
Since Joseph trusted the Word of God, he was able to transcend his tremendous adversity and injustice directed towards him.
Therefore, he would agree with what Paul said in Philippians 4:12-13.
Philippians 4:12, “I have experienced not only poverty but also I have experienced prosperity. By means of every circumstance and by means of all kinds of situations I am intimately acquainted with not only satiation, but also starvation, not only prosperity, but also destitution.”
Philippians 4:13, “I possess the power to overcome all kinds of situations by means of the one whose word empowers me.”
Like Paul, the Word of God, which is alive and powerful, gave Joseph the power or capacity to be able to persevere and endure and not fall victim to self-pity and bitterness and disillusionment.
Perseverance is being steadfast and faithful in applying the Word of God despite the many obstacles and cares of life in the cosmic system of Satan.
1 Timothy 6:11, “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”
Luke 8:15, “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”
Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
Endurance is the power of bearing anything such as hardship or trial.
1 Peter 2:20, “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”
2 Timothy 2:12, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.”
2 Timothy 2:10, “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”
Like Paul, Joseph was not intimidated by adverse circumstances.
Like Paul, the application of the Word of God enabled the Holy Spirit to provide Joseph with divine viewpoint and the divine perspective which would protect his heart and thoughts from being intimidated by adversity.
Like Paul, Joseph equated adversity with prosperity, he equated poverty and prosperity, satiation and starvation, prosperity and destitution because he sees the Lord’s hand in each extreme circumstance since He controls human history as Sovereign Ruler of the cosmos and thus circumstances.
Trusting the Word of God produces a dynamic mental attitude toward life in that it gives us the capacity to transcend our adverse circumstances so as not be a slave to them and preventing them from dictating our happiness.