Thru the Bible

Host: No one in the Bible has as many parallels in his life to that of the Lord Jesus, and no one is as much like the Lord as Joseph. Welcome to Thru the Bible. That's what our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee tells us in this leg of our journey through the Old Testament book of Genesis. I'm Steve Schwetz, your host, and like me, I'm sure that you're learning a great lesson from Joseph too. The bottom line, God's plan and purpose for our lives isn't always what we choose, but He is always faithful.

Host: But before we get to that, let's celebrate God's faithfulness as we read this letter from Alexis in Kansas. She wrote, "Today marks the beginning of my sixth trip on the Bible bus. It's hard to believe that I am one of the old-timers now. I feel that the more I learn, the less I know. Someone once asked me why I keep listening over and over again. I told them that I hear something different each time because I'm someone different each time. The young, newlywed with small children heard much different things than this old married lady with almost flown young adults.

Host: It also amazes me how accurate Dr. McGee is when he is discussing the current times. Sometimes I say to myself, if he could only see what has happened since then. My husband and I have supported the ministry over the years. When my oldest asked about a donation the other day, my husband just repeated our mantra, you can't out give God. When we give generously to you, he gives even more generously to us. I pray with the World Prayer Team. It has blessed me so much to read the stories and pray for people around the world and for the ministry. I'm looking forward to several more trips, so please keep the bus rolling."

Host: Well, like Alexis, have you been riding the Bible bus maybe for a while? What would you share with someone just climbing aboard today? And if you're new, what brought you here and how's God working in your life as we study His word together? Well, you know we'd love to hear your story. Send us a note, won't you? Through our app or email us at biblebus@tbb.org or write to us at Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario N6C 6B1.

Host: Let's pray and open God's word together. Heavenly Father, thank you for your promise that all things work together for good for those who love God. Like Joseph, Lord, help us to surrender our lives to you today in Jesus name. Amen. Here's our study of Genesis 40 on Thru the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now here in the 40th chapter, we have a section here that frankly it doesn't seem to advance the story of Joseph. Rather, it seems to slow it down to absolutely no movement at all. We see Joseph now in prison, and he's delayed and circumscribed by the ingratitude of the chief butler of Pharaoh. Here he is in prison. The question arises, well, what about him? Well, may I say to you, all of this is accomplishing God's plan and purpose in his life as we're going to see now as we get into this chapter.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: We said at the beginning that no person in the Bible has so many parallels in his life to that of the Lord Jesus, and there's no one so much like the Lord as Joseph is. And let me pick up. I made that contrast the other day or rather comparison the other day. Now let's look at some more. We mentioned the other day that Joseph was sent to his brethren. The Lord Jesus was sent to his brethren. He said, "I have been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And Joseph was hated by his brethren without a cause. The Lord Jesus was hated by his brethren without a cause.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And Joseph was sold by his brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ was sold by one of his brethren. And Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver. The Lord Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver. And the brethren plotted to kill him. His own brethren plotted to kill Joseph. And the brethren of the Lord Jesus plotted to kill him, came unto his own, his own received him not. He was put in the pit. That was to be a place of death, you'll recall for him. The Lord Jesus was crucified. Joseph was raised up out of that pit. The Lord Jesus was raised up the third day.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Joseph obeyed his father and the Lord Jesus obeyed his father. I do always the things that please him, the Lord said. And Joseph, his father sent him to seek his brethren, and the Lord Jesus Christ, we're told that He came to do the will of God and He came to seek His brethren. And Joseph was mocked by his brethren, "Behold, this dreamer cometh." The Lord Jesus was mocked by his brethren, "If he be the Christ, let him come down now from the cross." And the brethren refused to receive Joseph, and the brethren of the Lord Jesus refused to receive him.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And Joseph, they took counsel to kill him, and the Lord Jesus, they plotted his death. And in Joseph's life, his coat was returned to his father dripping with blood, and they took the coat of the Lord Jesus and gambled for it. And Joseph after being sold into Egypt, he was lost sight of for many years. Christ ascended up into heaven, and he says, "You'll see me no more." And he was tempted. Joseph was by the world, the flesh, and the devil, and he resisted. The Lord Jesus was tempted by the world, flesh, and the devil, and he won.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And Joseph, he became the savior of the world during this period. Physically of course, and Christ is the savior of the world today. The parallels there, I think are indeed striking, and we need to note them, of course. Now let's get into this 40th chapter and we'll notice something here. Last time, I think I ended with a question. How could it be the will of God for him to be put in prison now? And you'll recall that he was put in prison. Actually this fellow Potiphar, someone's raised the question with me.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I don't think that he believed his wife at all. Certainly it wasn't a happy home. She called him, "he," you know, that wasn't very complimentary. And Potiphar actually had no confidence in his wife. If he had, he would have put Joseph to death immediately. There'd been no ifs, ands, or buts about it. What he did was just put him in the prison and forget about him. This man I think recognized the kind of wife he had, but he's sure to be pitied to be married to her. But all of this is working to the advantage of Joseph.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Somebody says, "Well, wait a minute, how can it do that? Here he is now sold into slavery and unjustly accused, and now he's put in prison and forgotten. How do you interpret that?" Well, I interpret that the word of God is certainly being fulfilled and the will of God is accomplished in his life. The thing is that this man Joseph is kept in prison for definite purpose, God's purpose. Suppose that when he's going to interpret the dream of the butler, and suppose the butler when he got out, did as he promised he'd do. He went into Pharaoh on behalf of Joseph and said, "This young fella is in there and he's accused falsely, and you ought to let him out of prison."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, the night he had his dream and needed someone to interpret it and someone to become Prime Minister of Egypt. Well, Joseph at that time would have been halfway back to the promised land. He would have been long gone from the land of Egypt. But you see, he's here and being kept here, detained for a purpose. You see the hand of God working in this man's life all the way through. Joseph hated by his brethren without a cause, delivered him to the Gentiles. He couldn't defend himself, though he's unjustly accused.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: The Lord Jesus was delivered by his own to the religious rulers, who in turn delivered him to the Gentiles, and he was innocent. And Pilate like Potiphar didn't believe the accusation against Jesus, found him innocent and scourged him. You see Joseph had to suffer because this man Potiphar had to put up a front there at the court of Pharaoh. And Joseph found favor inside of the jailer here. And we find that the Roman Centurion said, "Truly, this is the son of God."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And Joseph was numbered with the transgressors, and he was a blessing to the butler, and he was a judgment for the baker. And you remember the Lord Jesus was crucified between two thieves. One was judged and the other was blessed. And you'll notice as we go through now chapter 40, Joseph gives all the glory to God. Now with all of that in mind, it's very important now to look at the wording of this chapter here which seems again as if it's not advancing the action here at all.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And it came to pass after these things that the butler of the king of Egypt, and his baker, had offended their Lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers, and he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard under the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And friends, that wasn't any accident, you see. But what does this reveal? Well, it reveals first of all, the arbitrary and dictatorial position and policy that Pharaoh of Egypt had.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I do not know what the baker did. Maybe burnt the biscuits for breakfast, I don't know. But for some little whim on the part of Pharaoh, he puts him in prison. Now what did the butler do? Well, it may be that he was bringing up a glass of wine to hand to Pharaoh, and he stumped his toe and spilled it on the Persian rug that was there. I don't know, but he did something. And it must have been rather minor. And because of that, why here these two, the butler and the baker, are in prison. And they're put right in there where Joseph is.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now Joseph occupies a good position there in the prison even. Everywhere the man went, his ability certainly was recognized. And the scripture says a man's gift makes room for him. And certainly that was true for Joseph, though he was a slave and now a prisoner. Poor fella you say. Well, God's moving in his life with a definite purpose. Now we find that though he's put next to these men, they're put there for three days. Actually that's very temporary. Any other person that had gone through what Joseph had gone through and had been put in that prison, they'd give up. But he didn't give up, friends.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: That's not the way that he did things. We're going to see that now in just a few moments. Now will you notice, "And the captain of the guard." I'm reading verse 4, chapter 40 of Genesis. "And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them. And he served them, and they continued a season in the ward." Now Joseph got acquainted with them, you see, because he had charge of them. And it was his business to take care of them while they were in prison. Now verse 5, "And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night. Each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: "And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, looked upon them and behold they were sad." Joseph came in, he was an optimistic type individual himself, always very bright and sharp. And he goes in and these two fellas who occupy a position with Pharaoh, sitting there very doleful with a very dark look upon their faces and a dark brown taste in their mouths. And so they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his Lord's house, saying, "Wherefore look ye so sadly today?" And they said unto him, "We've dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: "And Joseph said unto them, 'Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me them, I pray you.'" Now Joseph gives God all the glory in all of this. And later on, we'll find another young Hebrew in a foreign court will do the same thing, give God the glory. And I wish today that I could get over to Christians the thought that anything that you do for the Lord, make sure that God gets the glory for it. One of the reasons that many of us are not blessed as much as the Lord would like to bless us is because when we do receive some wonderful thing, we take it for granted and we do not give God the glory for it.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And we ought to do that. We need to give God the glory. And so here, why he should give God the glory and he does. "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me them, I pray you." "And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph and said to him, 'In my dream, behold, a vine was before me. And in the vine were three branches, and it was as though it budded, and a blossom shot forth, and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in his hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup unto Pharaoh's hand.'"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: "And Joseph said unto him, 'This is the interpretation of it. The three branches are three days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head and restore thee unto thy place, and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand after the former manner when thou wast his butler.'" You see, it's interesting that in these dreams that in the Old Testament, you don't have God moving that way after you have the canon of scripture after the New Testament is concluded. We don't need that today. But God did speak in this day through dreams.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And He spoke in the language that these people could understand. A butler would understand about serving wine, because that's what he did to Pharaoh, that he served him. And that was be something he could understand. Also, you remember later on that old King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of an image. He was certainly acquainted with images, with idols. Now we find here that this is the interpretation. Joseph here interprets the dream. He says that you're going to be restored in three days.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: He said, "Now when you are, verse 14, but think on me when it shall be well with thee and show kindness, I pray thee unto me and make mention of me unto Pharaoh and bring me out of this house." And poor Joseph said, "Look, they put me way back here in the prison. I'm so far back in the prison that they just have to pump water to me. I'm just forgotten. And I will stay here and rot unless somebody moves in my behalf. Now you're going to be out of here in three days. I've interpreted your dream, don't forget me." And he promised he wouldn't.

Dr. Vernon McGee: Verse 15, Joseph is still speaking. "For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews. And here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon." "When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, 'I also was in my dream and behold, I had three white baskets on my head. And in the uttermost basket, there was of all manner of baked meats for Pharaoh. And the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.'"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: "And Joseph answered and said, 'This is the interpretation thereof. The three baskets are three days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, shall hang thee on a tree, the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.'" Now that's the interpretation for the baker. And he speaks to him in the language he understands. He sees these baskets that are filled with these little cookies, sweet meats, baked meats. This is the language the man would understand. Now Joseph interprets it for them.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And he tells him that, but it's not going to be good for you. In three days he'll take you out and hang you, and the birds are going to eat your flesh. Now verse 20. "It came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants. And he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. And he restored the butler unto his butlership again, and he gave the cup unto Pharaoh's hand. But he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now the poor boy is really in a predicament. Here he is, not only a slave, but one that's been falsely accused, but that doesn't mean that the bars on the prison are not just as hard as they are as if he were guilty. And the lock is just as difficult to get through. And the poor boy is here, and it was the purpose of Potiphar just to forget him. That's the way he covered up the scandal that was in his own home. In fact, his wife was unfaithful. And this is the way he covered up and poor Joseph had to pay for it.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: His one glimmer of light was that the butler would remember him to Pharaoh, and this seemed to be such a marvelous way of getting the ear of Pharaoh and getting him out of prison. But that butler, the minute he got out, he's so elated with that, goes back to his job and forgets all about poor Joseph. Well, Joseph is not discouraged, but he did not know the details. But you see, God wants to leave him there, friends, for a purpose. Suppose that the butler had gone into Pharaoh enthusiastically and said, "Say, I tell you there's a prisoner down there who ought not to be there."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: "He's innocent. He's been falsely accused, and he interpreted my dream for me. I'd sure appreciate it, Pharaoh, if you'd just let him out." Suppose Pharaoh let him out. Don't you see what would have happened, friends? He'd have been back in the home of his father Jacob by the time that Pharaoh needed him to interpret his dream. So God's just going to keep him around, and it's a good place to keep him. You'll know where to find him if you leave him there in that prison. That's what he does. And yet Joseph believed that God was moving in his life.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Have you ever stopped even at this point to want to put down those things that are discouraging experiences? And yet there were certain fruits to the faith of this man Joseph. He had a real faith through it all. Well, let me give you a list here. First of all, Joseph was faithful in every relationship. Have you ever noticed that? In every relationship of life, he was faithful. We find that he was faithful to Potiphar. He was faithful to him. And we find out that when he's in prison that he was faithful there to the keeper of the prison.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: We find that he was faithful to God. He always gave God the glory. And he's faithful to the keeper of the prison, which we've mentioned. Now we'll also going to see that he's faithful to Pharaoh a little later on. And he's also faithful to his own brethren. And it made him faithful. I believe that if you're genuinely a believer, you're going to be faithful. Now we're living in a day when I think one of the most tragic things is happening is the fact there are so few Christians you can depend on today.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I have a friend, he's head of a large Christian organization. He and I had an occasion to be sitting together alone in a foreign city, just he and I. And he was telling me something of his problems that he had. And he has a tremendous organization. And he went on to say how few men he could really trust in his organization. And it's a Christian organization. How many men are in that position today? There are so few that are faithful. And there are so few Christians that are faithful today. And we thank God for those that are faithful.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And I've always thanked the Lord that he at least put around me everywhere I've ever been a few faithful ones that, I tell you they are the dear ones that are great encouragement. Joseph was that kind of a man. And we find that his faith did something else. He was possessed with an optimistic outlook on life under all the trials and temptations. Down in the pit, in Potiphar's house and now in prison. And then Joseph had a sympathetic and kindly attitude toward everyone. His faith did that.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: You notice how kind he was actually to the butler and to the baker. And later on we'll see to his brethren. And then another thing that his faith did for him, made him a very humble man. He gave God the glory in all the relationships and situations of this life. What a wonderful person that he is. What did it? Well, he believed God, just as his father Abraham had. And this is the fruit that worked out in his own life. So that now this man is in the back of the prison, down in the dungeon, and he's forgotten it would seem.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: But someone hadn't forgotten. God hadn't forgotten him, and God was working in his life. Now friends, that has a message for you and me, and let me just suggested here in closing. And that is, I do not know what your circumstances are right now. But I do know, judging from the letters we get, there are some of you in a hard place. As one man said to me, "I'm between a rock and a hard place." And things look dark. You don't see the way out. And you really wonder whether God cares. Well, the reason God's given us this story of Joseph is, He wants you to know that He cares.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And that He's moving in your life. And if you're His child, and He's not judging you for some particular sin you committed, He's permitting this to happen to you for your good. And even if He's judging you, it's going to be for your good. You can't miss. How wonderful our God is. And so, until next time, may the Lord richly bless you, my beloved.

Host: To find out more about how much God loves you, click on How Can I Know God in our app or at ttb.org. You can also call 1-800-65-BIBLE and we'll send you a few free resources. I'm Steve Schwetz, and I'll meet you back here next time as our grand adventure through God's word unfolds.