Dreams. We have many of these, don’t we? But sometimes, we have those dreams that wake us up sweating and leave us feeling disturbed. This is what happens in our reading today. Two men, each have dreams which leave them bothered, and dejected.
In the previous lesson, Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house in Egypt. Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of trying to rape her and he was put into prison. Our story picks up in chapter 40, read verses 1-4, with two men being thrown into prison with Joseph by the Pharoah. The first one is the chief of the butlers (KJV)/chief cupbearer (NIV) and the second one is the chief baker. The Bible does not tell us why they were put into prison… only that they had offended Pharoah (Prov 16:14). Since both of their positions were ones that impacted what Pharoah ate and drank, many believe that it might have had to do with poisoning. Rulers, at that time, were very concerned with the danger of poisoning so these were positions of great trust. These two men were in the custody of the captain of the guard (Potiphar) who put Joseph in charge of them both. It is generally assumed by most that Potiphar, once again putting Joseph in a position of responsibility, probably did not believe the accusations of rape that his wife had made against Joseph.
In verses 5-8, we see that, after these men were in custody for a while, they each had dreams on the same night. Verse 5 even tells us that these dreams had different meanings. The next morning, Joseph saw them looking sad and asked what was wrong. The men are sad because they have had dreams and there is no one there to interpret them for them.
We see a lot in the Bible about the interpretation of dreams. God often used dreams to reveal things to people. In both ancient Egypt and ancient Babylon, dreams were considered to be very important and a whole science was dedicated to writing ‘dream books’. These books documented dreams and their interpretations and were later analyzed to see how the dreams came true. There were no ‘dream experts’ available in the prison to interpret these men’s dreams. Joseph, however, tells them that dream interpretation belongs to God, and asks to hear their dreams (Dan 2:22, 27-28, 47).
Read verses 9-11. The chief cupbearer responds right away and tells Joseph his dream. What was it? Bible scholars believe that this man was probably innocent of what he was being accused. He was very forthcoming about his dream and seemed to have nothing to hide. What interpretation did Joseph give him of his dream (verses 12-13)? This was very good news to the chief cupbearer.
Because of his kindness to the cupbearer in interpreting his dream, and because the meaning of the dream was favorable (the cupbearer would be restored to his position), in verses 14-15, Joseph asked the cupbearer for a favor. He knew the cupbearer would be before Pharoah, once again, and in a position to put in a few good words for him. He wanted help to get out of the prison, a punishment which he did not deserve.
Read verses 16-17. Because the chief cupbearer’s dream turned out to have a favorable interpretation, the chief baker now decides to tell Joseph his dream. Because he is more reluctant to share his dream, only doing so when he sees how it turns out for the chief cupbearer, Bible scholars believe that the baker was indeed guilty of whatever he was put into prison for. What is the chief baker’s dream? What interpretation did Joseph give him of his dream (verses 18-19)? This was NOT good news for the chief baker. And Joseph did not ask the chief baker to mention him when he is once again before Pharoah.
Notice that both dreams are to be fulfilled in 3 days’ time. This is not their only similarity. In both verse 13 and 19, the KJV, says that Pharoah will ‘lift up’ your head. However, in the NIV, verse 13 says ‘lift up’ while verse 19 says ‘lift off’. I need you to understand that, in the original Hebrew text, both verses have the exact same phrase. There is no difference. In the NIV, the difference in the way this phrase is translated between the two verses is simply due to contextual interpretation by the translators. In both verses, I believe the meaning is that Pharoah will bring them up out of the prison and deal with their matters, once again, face to face.
Something was going to happen in 3 days’ time; it was Pharoah’s birthday. Read verses 20-22. Pharoah has thrown a feast in honor of his birthday and invited all his officials. He called the chief cupbearer and chief baker out of the prison to appear before him and all his officials at this feast. What happened? The dreams were fulfilled exactly according to the interpretation that God had given to Joseph.
Verse 23 tells us something very sad and disappointing. The chief cupbearer, once he was out of the prison, does not remember Joseph. Now that he is in good with Pharoah, once again, it would have been a simple matter to mention Joseph’s plight. He simply forgot about Joseph. The chief cupbearer’s situation was resolved and he did not worry about what happened to Joseph. Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever done this to someone else? This can be such a discouraging thing and can leave us feeling rejected and angry. It’s worse than being wronged… this simply not being important enough to have been thought about. These are the moments when we truly need God (Isa 49:14-16).
Responding to God: Praise God that He is always there for us in our times of need and hurt. Thank Him for His love and gentle kindness. Ask for help in remembering to always show gratitude to those who have helped you and for help in always remembering your promises. Pray that God will give you the courage to help others, even when there is nothing in it for you. Make it a point to turn to God when others have hurt you or forgotten you and ask God to help you to avoid hurting others by forgetting them.
Further Research: On the internet, search for ‘dream book Egypt’.
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