Joseph: The Baker, the Butler, and the Dream Maker

• Review:
  • Joseph is a betrayed man
  • Joseph has been betrayed by his
  • Joseph has been betrayed by his employer’s
  • Joseph has been betrayed by his
  • Do you think Joseph may have had a reason to think that has betrayed him?
  • Now, Joseph is in prison…probably thinking for the rest of his life
• The Lord was with Joseph…still:
• Over and over, the Scripture gives us insight into this undeniable truth:

2“The Lord was with Joseph…” – Genesis 39:2

3“The Lord was with Joseph…” – Genesis 39:21

• The blessing of God was upon Joseph. In every situation, God rewarded him with rising to a level of Genesis 39:21-23
  • We must be aware that a certain amount of has passed
  • “The exact chronology of Joseph’s stay in prison cannot be determined. He may have been in prison for ten years prior to meeting Pharaoh’s officers.”

4- Smith, The Pentateuch

5Joseph Wins Friends and Influences People

• The first person that Joseph runs into was the cupbearer Gen.40:1
  • Calvin interprets this as a “ ”
  • The Authorized Version indicates a “butler’s” job
  • “The Butler—Not only the cup-bearer, but overseer of the royal vineyards, as well as the cellars; having, probably, some hundreds of people under him.”

6Jamieson, Fausset,&.Brown

• (Comm., critical and explanatory, OT&NT)
• Some commentators suggest that this person probably had a similar position as
• Either way, this person was probably more than just a cupbearer – he may have had some political pull with the king (Notice Gen.40:11)
• The second person that Joseph runs into was the baker (Gen.40:1) – Perhaps: “ of bakers”?

• Joseph is appointed to be over these 2 men (Gen.40:4) by the head of the guards – Could this be Potiphar?

• The cupbearer and the baker have dreams that they share with Joseph
• The servants share their dreams with Joseph because he noticed that they looked sickly Gen.40:5-9
  • Their dreams particularly concerned them because of their present condition – they were in prison
  • Maybe these dreams held promise for their ?

  • Maybe these dreams would direct them on how to act so they could get out of this current position?

• Egyptians believed that dreams were able to connect them to the world of the and even the place where the – so they put a lot of emphasis on dreams v.8

7The Dreams Interpreted

• The cupbearer’s dream Genesis 40:9-11
  • Dominated by “three’s”
  • 3 of
  • 3 by the cupbearer
• Joseph’s explanation: In three days, the cupbearer would get his back Gen.40:12-13
  • What was Joseph’s request for payment? “ ”

  • Joseph described his predicament as being “kidnapped” – is this a valid assessment of how he ended up in Egypt?

  • Note Joseph’s use of the “land of the Hebrews” – is this strange?

• The baker’s dream Gen.40:16-17
  • Egyptians were thought to have possibly been gourmets at this time
  • They had a variety of breads
  • This dream had the white bread on top – this could mean that this was made with white flour or that it was the crme de la crme
• There is another emphasis on three – only this time, the baker probably wishes that there was more than 3 days involved Gen.40:18-19
  • We might understand that this meant Pharaoh would take the head of the baker (it may mean something worse…)
  • But…the baker would not only be executed, he would be impaled
  • This practice was to keep the soul from entering the
  • Why was there the mention of the birds?

  • Do we really want to know the future?

  • Can you imagine the remaining 3 days for this guy?

8The Dreams Fulfilled…but The Promise Forgotten

• Pharaoh has a birthday party and at these parties, he would often hand out pardons
• Two men were chosen who needed pardons: the baker and the cupbearer
• Joseph’s dream is carried out to the exact detail Gen.40:20-22
  • The cupbearer is to his position
  • The baker is
• Joseph is quickly forgotten by the cupbearer Gen.40:23
  • Joseph may have even allowed himself to get his hopes up
  • In the end, Joseph is right back where he started. He seems to be no better off…betrayed again!
  • And he stays that way for more years
  • Now, it could be upwards of years since he was first betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery
  • Notice the last phrase of this part of the Joseph narrative: “The chief butler did not remember Joseph…
  • But forgot him.”
  • (Gen.40:23 NKJV)

  • Question: What might Joseph find encouragement in from this story?

  • His are still coming true
  • God is still giving him power to
  • Maybe, even though he is still in the prison, he might find solace that God is still
  • “Thus, when he (God) might have delivered the holy man directly from prison, he chose to lead him around by circuitous paths, the better to prove his patience, and to manifest, by the mode of his deliverance, that he has wonderful methods of working, hidden from our view. He does this that we may learn not to measure, by our own sense, the salvation which he has promised us; but that we may suffer ourselves to be turned hither or thither by his hand, until he shall have performed his work.”
• -Calvin, Comm. On Genesis Chapt.40