The Book of Genesis
Part 80
Speaking the Truth in Love
Chapter 40:1-23
In our last study we considered the injustice that cast Joseph into prison. From several Scriptures we learned that in the life of a believer such suffering frequently results in present spiritual compensations.
Joseph had not been in prison long until he was appointed to serve two officers from Pharoah’s court, imprisoned there, so it is assumed, for a conspiracy to poison their monarch. These two men apparently were awaiting trial, and during that period Joseph’s intercourse with them, in a measure, would educate him to stand before Pharoah, and to behave properly in the royal court.
At home Joseph had been his father’s favourite, and might, therefore, like many another such son, have been spared from any burdensome and menial tasks. Nothwithstanding, whether accustomed to constant labour or otherwise, he served faithfully and graciously the butler and the baker. The butler was Pharoah’s chief cup-bearer, a position of considerable honour; the baker was the head of the royal confectioners. Joseph must have proved himself very trustworthy to the captain of the guard, otherwise he would not have assigned him the service of these gentlemen of rank; furthermore, one does not need to draw upon his imagination to believe that this Hebrew servant would be most considerate toward his charges.
Every circumstance seems to reveal some new facet of the character of Joseph. Here are fresh evidences of his fidelity, industry, and sympathetic understanding.
A close scrutiny of his behaviour in prison reminds one of Paul’s exhortation, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh: not with eyeservice, as menpleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col. 3:22-23).
The next episode in this exemplary life manifested the large place God had in the heart of Joseph; suffering, cruelty, and injustice had not decreased his faith in God. One particular morning he encouraged the two officers of the court to tell their dreams of the night before, saying, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” He himself had dreamed, and although his dreams had not yet come true, he believed that God, in those days of incomplete revelation, used such means to manifest His will to men. Job wrote, in all probability long before Joseph’s day, “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men …, and sealeth their instruction. That He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man” (Job. 33:14-17). It pleased the Lord then to use frequently a human interpreter to make known His mind, even as today He uses a human expositor of His word to clarify its meaning.
God may have imparted to Joseph the conviction that through him He would give the interpretation of these respective dreams, and so he requested that the men tell the details. There is nothing that strengthens a believer as the consciousness of God’s presence with him. It was this that strengthened David to meet the challenge of Goliath. In reply to the defiance of the Philistine, he said, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied” (1 Sam. 17:45).
The writer of Psalm 46, whether Hezekiah or Isaiah, at the triumph over the forces of Sennacherib, is not important, boldly asserted, “The Lord of Hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psa. 46:11). They had seen real demonstrations of the power of God in the victory over their enemies. Many a time did Joseph in his eventful life prove the strength and deliverance of the Divine Presence.
God gave Joseph the occasion of his service to these two officers as a means of displaying the truth. What he said in the interpretation of their dreams most certainly came to pass, his yea was yea, and his nay was nay. His words were of salvation and elevation to the one, and of execution to the other. It is assumed that at their trial, the one was exonerated and the other condemned; and that consequently, Pharoah released the butler and executed the guilty baker.
What Joseph was to those two men with whom he was incarcerated, the Lord Jesus was to the malefactors with whom He was numbered. The servant is not greater than his Lord, and in this respect, “As He is, so are we in this world.” The Apostle Paul wrote, “We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life” (2 Cor. 2:15-16). The Gospel in a believer’s life and ministry divides humanity into the two groups, the saved and the lost.
Men have criticized Joseph for his appeal to the chief butler, “Think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: 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.” Some imagine in this declaration of his innocence and his appeal for human aid that he departed from his silence and absolute dependence upon the Lord, An understanding of all the contributing circumstances will produce only sympathy for Joseph. That he may have taken his eyes off the Lord is possible, for although an extraordinary person, he was human. How blessed to realize that in all conditions of life “Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame: He remembereth that we are dust” (Psa. 103:13-14).