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Guest (Male): If you could remember, mention my name to Pharaoh. Tell him I'm innocent. Maybe he'll listen to you. You're the butler. You're his right-hand guy. You're with him all the time. Please mention it to Pharaoh. Me, just mention me.

Bob Davis: See how subtle these kinds of things can be. Joseph was trusting in the Lord, and then in a heartbeat, he puts his trust in the chief cupbearer instead.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the Word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply His word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse-by-verse through the Bible.

Our study of Genesis continues in chapter 40 as Joseph interprets a couple of important prisoners' dreams. Here is Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: We finished up in Genesis chapter 39. The way it ended is I'll read you a few verses. Joseph got sent to prison for life, to the dungeon. Verse 21 says, "But the Lord was with Joseph." Where? In prison now. God is in the dungeon with Joseph.

Verse 21 says, "And God showed Joseph mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. The prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison." Now Joseph, at 17 years old or right around there, is now in charge of the prison. What a lousy job.

He didn't ask for it. It's just that he is so faithful. You can't help it. Give the job to Joseph. So, he committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison. That entire prison, Joseph was taking care of everybody. Whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

If it was time to make sure they ate, he made sure they got their food. If it was time to calm everybody down because they're getting a little loud, sounding like a riot coming, it would be Joseph who comes and says, "Everybody, let's knock it off here."

In verse 23, the keeper of the prison did not look to anything that was under his hand. He just relaxed because the Lord was with Joseph. That which Joseph did, the Lord made it to prosper. Anything that Joseph did, God made it to prosper.

Do you realize that there's a promise for you in scripture? You'll find it throughout scripture: whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with all your might. God will bless what you're doing, as long as you're doing it His way and it's the right thing to be doing.

Everything Joseph touched seemed to turn to gold. Why? Because God was with him. God is with you. He will bless you. He is blessing you. Don't miss it because you're in pain. Don't miss it because you're afraid. Don't miss it because you're just wondering what's going to happen next. Don't miss the blessings that God is pouring out on you because He is.

Joseph did not wait for his circumstances to change. He has gone from bad to worse to even worse. Now he is in the dungeon, in prison for life. In his circumstances, and they're getting low, he glorified God. How did he do it? Serving everyone else in the prison.

It came to pass after these things—what things? Him getting in trouble, getting thrown in the prison, being put in charge of all the prisoners. The kid's only 17 years old approximately. It came to pass after these things that the butler of the King of Egypt and the baker of the King of Egypt offended their Lord, the King of Egypt.

The King would usually cut your head off. Normally, that's just what they'd do. But for some reason, he thought, "Let's just make them miserable." He threw them both in the dungeon for life. We're not told what they did to make him mad.

From reading through history and reading other parts of the Bible, you can see that it takes nothing to make those kinds of people mad. They're the boss, and no matter what you do, it's never right and it's never good. If you offend them, then off with their head, right? Well, that's what happened.

Pharaoh was angry against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers and against the chief of the bakers. He put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the dungeon, to the prison, the place where Joseph was also imprisoned.

The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them. "Okay, Joseph, these are some important prisoners. You keep an eye on them. You take care of them." Listen to it. Verse 4 says, "And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them. And they continued a season in the ward."

We're not given a timeline. We just know that they're there now, and they're in prison, and they're never coming out. Pharaoh got mad and threw them in the dungeon. Joseph is there. Joseph's kind of overseeing the dungeon.

So, two servants of Pharaoh are sent to prison. We don't know what they did, but the chances are great it wasn't much of a problem. It's just that you caught him on a bad day. Wrong day to make a mistake. Have you ever been around people like that? They're a dime a dozen.

But listen to this. The chief cupbearer, the head butler, was responsible for all the butlers and all the maids in the palace. He had a big responsibility. Somebody blew it, and he gets to pay for it. He's in prison for life now. Then the head baker. I don't know what he did, but he would have been in charge of the kitchen, the whole kitchen staff. It included all the servants that would serve the meals, help cook, help clean, etc.

The whole kitchen staff, and you can believe it was big. This is the palace. This is Pharaoh. When he has dinner, sometimes a thousand people show up. Because these two prisoners held such esteemed places of responsibility, they were considered very important. Joseph was specifically assigned to keep an eye on them, to take care of them. That would also mean protecting them from the other prisoners. "Whatever they need, make sure they have it." In other words, "We're going to take care of them. These were servants of the King himself."

Joseph came in the morning and he looked upon them and behold, they were sad. He asked Pharaoh's officers, "Why look you so sadly today? What's wrong?" They said to him, "We dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it." Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? You tell me the dream."

So here he is in the prison, and there are no such things as coincidences. The Lord God is in absolute control. Both of these men had a dream that night. Different dreams, but both of them had a dream. They remembered their dreams. When Joseph came to their cells in the morning, they were obviously bothered.

He asked them what was wrong. You could put a lot of different words in there. You look downhearted, or you look worried, or you look bothered. Something's wrong. Is there something I can do? What's the matter? They said, "Well, we each had a dream, and we have no idea what the dream means. There's no one down here that can interpret it for us."

They had the soothsayers, the Chaldeans, the astrologers, and all the things God says to stay away from in Deuteronomy 18. They had all those in Egypt. They would go to the astronomers, or they would go to the tea readers or the feet readers to get their fortune told. That's how they got their dreams interpreted.

They said, "We've both had a dream. It's really bugging me. He had a dream, I had a dream. It's bothering us, but there's no one here that can interpret for us." Joseph makes an amazing statement and an amazing confession about his God, God Almighty.

He asks a rhetorical question. "Do not interpretations belong to God? No one can interpret but God." He uses the word Elohim, the Lord God Almighty, the Lord God of all creation, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

They worship hundreds of gods, thousands of gods. In fact, we're told the Egyptians had millions of gods. He's telling them there's only one that can interpret, and that's the one true God, Elohim, the Lord God Almighty, the God of all creation. Now, these men are Egyptian. They don't know what he's talking about.

They believe in all kinds of gods and things. Joseph calls his God the Lord God Almighty, the only one. That's an odd concept to these guys. "Please, you tell me your dreams." You know what he's thinking? He remembers he had a couple of dreams. Remember, his brothers got mad at him and that's why they sold him into slavery.

Those dreams and then his dad helped him with an interpretation of one. Joseph hasn't ever interpreted a dream before, but he's had them and he's heard them interpreted. Now what he's doing is he's saying, "God will tell me. I think God will tell me the interpretation. Tell me the dreams and I'll ask the Lord."

What is he doing? The one true God can tell you what that dream means. "I can't, but the one true God can. So, tell me the dream. I'll ask Him." Verse 9 says the chief butler went first. He told his dream to Joseph. He said, "In my dream, behold, a vine, a grapevine, was before me. It was in front of me. In the vine were three branches, and it was as though it budded right before my eyes. Her blossoms shot forth, and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes right before my eyes. I'm standing there watching it and those three branches just filled up with fruit."

"And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup to Pharaoh. I handed it right into his hands. That's the dream." God tells Joseph and Joseph knows immediately what it means. Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of your dream. Those three branches, they represent three days."

"In three days shall Pharaoh lift up your head and restore you to your former position of being the chief butler, the head butler. You shall deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand after the former manner when you were his butler. In three days, you're going to be taken out of prison and you'll be put back into your position. Pharaoh's going to accept you back into your position, and you'll be giving the Pharaoh his cup and taking care of all that."

"But think about me when it shall be well with you." In other words, Joseph has just told him, "You are getting out of prison. I have no doubt. You are getting out. I have no doubt. So, when you do, think about me. Remember me. Show me kindness, I pray you. I'm begging you. I'm asking you. Make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. Please."

Chances are great I've been with me quite a few years now, and I could hear me saying the same thing. You know, I'm here and I'm innocent. I don't want to be here. It snows here. So, if you could remember, mention my name to Pharaoh. Please. Tell him I'm innocent. Maybe he'll listen to you. You're the butler. You're his right-hand guy. You're with him all the time. Please mention it to Pharaoh. Me, just mention me.

See how subtle these kinds of things can be. Joseph was trusting in the Lord, and then in a heartbeat, he puts his trust in the chief cupbearer instead, the chief butler. He doesn't mean to. It's naturally done. It's an emotion, practically here.

It's subtle. I'm sure that we're all guilty of it at times. So, we're not going to put down Joseph, but we have to recognize what he's doing. He needs to trust God, and he needs to wait upon the Lord. Now, the butler may have some authority. I doubt it, or he wouldn't be in prison. The baker? I doubt it. But who does have the authority, and who can get you out of there? Not your lawyer. No. Who? God. Now, He might use your lawyer. He might use the butler. But let Him do it.

First Peter 5:6-7 is for all of us who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you. He loves you, Joseph. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage. It's nice what you did for the butler, and it's good that God allowed you to do it, but don't start hoping that man can get me out. You're going to put your faith somewhere where it doesn't even belong.

Look at verse 16 now. The chief baker saw the interpretation was good. "Alright, good news. I've probably got some good news, too." He was glad to tell Joseph his story, his dream. He said to Joseph, "I also was in my dream and behold, I had three white baskets on my head, just sitting on my head. In the uppermost basket, there was all manner of baked goods for Pharaoh. The birds were eating them out of the baskets on my head."

He goes, "Boy, this is going to be cool." Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation. The three baskets are also three days. Yet within three days, Pharaoh's going to lift your head up too—from off of you. He's going to hang you on a tree, and the birds are going to eat the flesh off your body." Oh, bummer. That really wasn't a good dream.

The other dream was a pretty good dream. That was a nightmare right there. I notice something. He doesn't say to the baker, "And when they're right before they hang you, would you mention my name?" You notice he didn't say anything? I wouldn't either, would you? Don't even bring anything up here about the prison. But you, butler, you bring the thing up. You've got to help me here.

We're funny, aren't we? Looking for ways to make God's will happen. God says you're going to be here, so you try to make it happen so I'm here. Be careful. Joseph fully believes the interpretation of that butler's dream, and he fully believes the interpretation of the baker's dream. You're going to die. You're going to live. That's how he trusts the Lord.

Put yourself in his place right now. You're kind of in his place. You're not in a dungeon. You're just kind of locked in, locked down a little bit. They're going to turn you loose soon. It came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast unto all his servants.

He lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. He pulled them both out of prison. He restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hands, just exactly as the dream that Joseph interpreted had said.

But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph also had said. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph. Listen closely. He forgot Joseph. Do you believe for one moment that that was naturally just an oversight on his part? You're in a dungeon, you think you're there for life, you don't know what's going to happen to you, and you have this dream and it freaks you out. This young man comes and says the one true God will tell us what it means.

He told the man, "In three days, you're going to be back at your job. You're going to be serving Pharaoh in three days. Now, don't forget me." How could you forget something like that? I'll tell you. You can't. You'd be telling your children, and your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren, and they'd be passing it on. "You know what happened to my great-great-grandfather one time? He was in prison." That story would go on for centuries.

I think he was caused to forget it so that Joseph did not get out of prison until it was the right time. Could I read you the scripture again that I read earlier? First Peter 5:6-7: humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.

It's too early for Joseph. Joseph's going to wait years now. He's going to wait years. The man forgot him. How could you forget something like that? You can't. God has to make him forget it. Why? Because it's not time yet. Everything is about timing with God.

There's no time in heaven, but He's working everything out down here. If you're wondering what's going to happen in you and with you, all you've got to do is calm down and say, "The Lord has a plan for me, and obviously right now He wants me here. So, what I'll do here is the best I can with what I've got. Whatever God allows me to use, I'll use it, and I'll use it for His glory. Whatever happens, I'll just trust in Him, even if it's something I don't want to happen."

There are all kinds of things going on right now that a lot of us just don't want to happen. But they're happening anyway, aren't they? If God is in absolute control, which I believe He is, then we need to relax a little bit and wait and see. Because when God does something, it's always big, and it's always right, and it's always good. It's always a blessing in the long run. Hang on. Just hang on, and don't panic and jump ship. Because there's more water out there than you think.

Three days later, it was Pharaoh's birthday. He had a big celebration and he was feeling good. He called for his cupbearer, the butler and the baker. "Bring them out of the prison." He placed the cupbearer back into his position and he hanged the baker.

Joseph couldn't have known that. Those two men, the only reason they heard it is because Joseph said, "That's what God says the interpretation is. I believe God. I can't explain to you why. I don't know why you're in here. I don't know anything, but I can tell you that this is what the dream means."

Do you remember that we read a couple of times in chapter 39 and in chapter 40? Do you remember that we read that God was with Joseph at Potiphar's house? He was with him. They put him in charge of everything, and Potiphar didn't worry about anything except what he was going to eat. The rest, Joseph took care of. Remember all that?

In the prison, right there in prison, God was with Joseph. These two men, this butler and the baker, they are a part of God's plans for Joseph's future. They're not going to get him out of prison, but he's learning to listen to God. He'd never interpreted dreams before. His brothers interpreted one. His dad interpreted the other. This is the first time he's interpreted a dream, at least recorded here.

He just trusts God, and he knows God can do this. God is the only one who interprets dreams. Let's just ask Him. He was right on, spot on. God's with him there. Well, these two men are a part of God's plans for Joseph, and Joseph doesn't know that. He doesn't know it.

He has a plan. He has a plan for you. He has a plan for Joseph. He's got a plan for me. He's got a plan for all of us. You are not left out. If you are His, He has a plan for you. You say, "That plan must be to sit home and do nothing and worry." No, it's to serve. That's His plan. So, start that.

Genesis 40:23: "Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph. He completely forgot Joseph." I would say if somebody told me a dream like that and it really happened, I'd probably remember that the rest of my life. So would you.

But God has other plans. He knows when it's time for Joseph to get out. He knows when he's planning the famine. He knows how he's planning to move all of Abraham's children to Egypt. We're not putting our trust in people. We can't. Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. Where is your hope? Where's your heart? Where is it? I need to be looking to Jesus.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is a radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM.

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