Slices
Prepare
Have you ever been waiting for something, even praying for it, only to discover that a key person has forgotten to help you or do what they said they would? Thank God that he does not forget us.
Bible passage
The cupbearer and the baker
40 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.
After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men – the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison – had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, ‘Why do you look so sad today?’
8 ‘We both had dreams,’ they answered, ‘but there is no one to interpret them.’
Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.’
9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, ‘In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.’
12 ‘This is what it means,’ Joseph said to him. ‘The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.’
16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favourable interpretation, he said to Joseph, ‘I too had a dream: on my head were three baskets of bread. 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’
18 ‘This is what it means,’ Joseph said. ‘The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.’
20 Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 he restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand – 22 but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.
23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
Explore
Joseph had suffered injustice at the hands of his brothers and the accusation of Potiphar’s wife (chs 37,39). So surely things could not get any worse. Maybe now was the moment when things would start to turn around. Not quite. In this chapter, Joseph put his skill with dreams to good use and effectively had the man in Pharaoh’s ear ready to speak up for him. But then he forgot (v 23)!
Things seemed to be changing, as two close servants of Pharaoh upset the big man and were thrown into prison (v 3). Some time later, both had a dream the same night, and Joseph was ready to help. He pointed out that interpretation belongs to God – very humble. And then he made sense of both dreams (vs 5–22). For the cup-bearer, there was hope and a restoration to Pharaoh’s side (v 21). For the baker, sad to say, his days were
numbered and he was executed as Joseph had said he would be (v 22).
Joseph hoped to hear of a pardon from the palace. He waited and waited.
Respond
If the cup-bearer had remembered Joseph, he might have been given a get-out-of-jail-free card. God had better plans. The delay meant a far better release story for Joseph. Can we trust God when his timing seems to be off in our lives, too?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 12,13; Matthew 5
Pray for Scripture Union
At the end of the month, we’re running a conference for those who lead SU events. Pray that attendees will be refreshed and equipped in their role, that they’ll enjoy a sense of community and may hear from God together for the events they will be running and the young people who will come on them.
