THROUGH THE BIBLE - Genesis..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. That's Genesis chapter 40. Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord, the king of Egypt.

And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them and he attended them, then continued for some time in custody. And one night they both dreamed, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, each his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.

So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, why are your faces downcast today? They said to him, we have had dreams and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me. So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, in my dream, there was a vine before me.

And on the vine, there was three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth and the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. And then Joseph said to him, this is its interpretation. The three branches are three days.

In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly when you were his cup bearer. Only remember me when it is well with you. And please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh. And so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews.

And here also I have done nothing that should put me into the pits. When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, I also had a dream. There were three cake baskets on my head, and in the utmost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head. And Joseph answered and said, this is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days.

In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and hang you on a tree and the birds will eat the flesh from you. On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cup-bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cup-bearer to his position and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But he hung the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

This is the word of our Lord. As we can see the text this evening still following through the life of Joseph, And in the sequence of events that we've all together as a church have seen that have been transpired from chapter 37 till now, chapter 40, it seems that this young man had nothing but misfortune and calamity in his life. If we were to examine all the events at surface level, these heartbreaking events, speaking as the world would speak, we would have to conclude that Joseph was indeed unlucky. In contemporary secular vernacular, it's bad luck that has followed this poor young Hebrew boy. But of course, we don't speak as the world speaks.

And brothers and sisters, we know that there's no such thing as luck. For there is no place for luck or happenstance or coincidences in the vocabulary of those who believe that our world is governed by the sovereign providential hand of God. But this is easy for us to say. We have the luxury of being able to read this text and the soul-wrenching chapters of chapters 37 through 40, and we know what comes next. But Joseph, Joseph didn't.

For him, the years away from his father's home had dragged on and on, and at times where the sun seemed to break through on his circumstances, all too soon he found himself once again under the clouds of hardship. But the Lord was with Joseph. We were told that four times in the previous chapter. And Joseph knew that the Lord was with him. Even in the worst of moments.

Think about it for a moment. His wicked brothers wanted to kill him, yet his life was spared. What about Potiphar? He had the complete right and authority to execute justice in the way of execution towards Joseph. But the Lord spared his life once again.

Joseph's life was spared on two occasions when he could have easily been killed. See, chapter 40 begins by telling us that a period of time had passed for Joseph in the prison. So we don't know exactly how long that is. The only time frames that we have to work with are that at age 17, Joseph was sold by his brothers and then enlisted as a slave in Potiphar's home. Then at age 30, we're told in chapter 41, we're not there yet, but we're told Joseph is enlisted in the service of Pharaoh.

We know that for sure that his stay in prison was at least two years and therefore Joseph must be at least 28 years of age. So 11 years, 11 long years have lapsed since this young man has seen his father. How many of those years he spent in prison, we cannot be sure. But what we do know is that God was preserving this young man's life. Even in prison, the Lord caused Joseph to find favor with the authorities.

And so, when Pharaoh's two valued loyal officers, his cupbearer and his chief baker, commit an offense against their king, they're thrown in the same prison that Joseph is in. Furthermore, Joseph is appointed to attend these men, by whom? By Potiphar himself. You see, Potiphar is the captain of the guard, verse three. In light of these facts, and without too much speculation, it's quite possible that Potiphar had resolved in his heart that Joseph was indeed innocent.

He may have known the character of his wife, at least now he may have found out what his wife's character is, and this can also explain the fact that he did not enforce the capital punishment upon Joseph. But Joseph would still have to remain in prison for the sake of Potiphar and his wife's reputation. But either way, whether he knew or he did not know, from what we can read, we can resolve that Joseph was not resentful or embittered, but trusted the Lord. He trusted the Lord in all his circumstances. So when Joseph notices the two royal officers downcast, because of their dreams, his godly character becomes evident.

His godly character becomes deeds. And in compassion, he's compelled to ask them, why? Why are your faces downcast? You see, the Egyptians were a superstitious people. They believed vivid dreams were communications from either one of the many gods they believed in, and they believed that the content of those dreams were very important because they were concerned in telling them something about their own future.

So if someone had a dream in those days in Egypt, a dream interpreter would be consulted to give its meaning. But how were the cup bearers and the baker going to find one of those interpreters in prison? This is why they were downcast. They've had an important dream which they believe is pertaining to their own future but would have to wait in anxiety for it to be fulfilled in real time before they would know its meaning. Little did they know that their dreams were orchestrated by the only true God as part of his master plan to find its purpose or find their purpose for them in particular in three days time.

For they will know the effects, their dreams will be affected in three days time. But for Joseph also, their dreams will impact this young man, but he won't see the impact for another two years. But what I love about Joseph is what he says in response to these men's dreams. When he finds out that they've had these dreams, listen to what he says in verse eight. Do not interpretations belong to God?

Please tell me. Joseph, in the middle of an Egyptian prison and among these superstitious Egyptian men, declares that the God he serves, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of his father Jacob, is the only sovereign God who knows all things, including their minds and their dreams. Joseph was but a boy when he left his father's home, but what he was taught by his father Jacob in only the few years that he was with him, he learned so much about the covenant keeping God and what he taught him was planted deep into his soul. and his life was evidence that all he was taught about this God was indeed true. Because God was with Joseph and Joseph knew that God was with him.

So to these disturbed men, the cup bearer and the chief baker, basically what Joseph is saying is all the interpreters in the land of Egypt, well they're counterfeits. But this God who knows all things, the God that I serve, He alone knows all things and He knows your future. So the cupbearer tells him his dream and the baker also, after seeing a favorable interpretation for the cupbearer, You know, it's interesting to me, when you see how Joseph begins to give the interpretations for both these men on their different dreams, that he does indeed use the exact same words. He uses the words, Pharaoh will lift up. your head.

Pharaoh will lift up your head. For the cupbearer, the lifting of the head is metaphorical in the sense that he will find favor in Pharaoh's eyes and be honored once again in being restored to the king's service in three days time. This is a joyful relief, no doubt, that came over a very anxious man and this was very good news. But for the chief baker, the news was not good. In fact, it was as bad as it gets.

The lifting of his head was not metaphorical at all, but literal. In three days, he will be condemned and punished and his head would be lifted by way of hanging on a tree and the birds will eat of his flesh. Brothers and sisters, we need to look beyond this and recognize the display of Joseph's incredible conviction and trust in the Lord when he speaks these words. You see, in three days' time, either his interpretations would come to fruition, or they won't. And if they don't, he'll be proven to be a counterfeit, and no better than all the fake magicians in the land.

But beyond this, it's not Joseph's reputation only on the line, but the God of Joseph. For this young Hebrew has declared his God alone is the interpreter of dreams. So Joseph speaks on behalf of God. But you know what? Joseph was unmoved because the Lord was with Joseph.

And Joseph knew that the Lord was with him. and his God will be glorified. Because of this conviction, Joseph had resolved to be truthful in his interpretations. For the cupbearer, that was easy, you know, that's good news. It's always enjoyable to give good news.

But how difficult would it have been for Joseph to look the baker in the eyes and say to him that his end will come in three days and it will be a shameful end because he'll be hung on a tree. You know, he could have easily showed, as we would say, compassion and told a white lie. I mean, what happens in three days is inevitable. God has spoken, but Joseph could have said a small lie and removed the baker's anxiety at least for the next three days. And it would have made a lot more bearable for the baker.

His end would come, but he wouldn't be fretting over those days. Isn't that the loving thing to do? Of course not. Beloved, a child of God is compelled to imitate his God. And God is not a liar.

God speaks truth, and we ought to also speak truth. No matter how difficult the truth is, the most loving and godly thing to do is to tell it as it is, even if the consequences are painful. Reminds me of the gospel. How many in our day remove the devastating consequence of sin and hell and gloss over the abiding wrath of God on all unrighteousness, thinking that somehow softening the blow of God's judgment will be more loving towards the people? This is not the case.

True love tells it as it is. But you tell it with grace and compassion, because God is truth. But from the cupbearer, Joseph asks but one thing. that he is remembered before Pharaoh when he is restored to the king's service. This was right and good.

You see, Joseph did not have a fatalistic view of the sovereignty of God. Yes, God is sovereign, but he works through means. For Joseph to desire his own release and take necessary steps before the Lord in moral steps and to do this wisely according to his understanding is not against true faith. That's wisdom. But ultimately, in his heart, he is to know, despite all his actions, despite all the things that he thinks are right and wrong, that he is to trust God and know that God will act in his own time according to his own pleasure and according to his own glory.

But beloved, this is the beautiful news. When God does act that way, and he always does, it's always, and it always works out for the good of his people, Joseph will come to learn this valuable lesson firsthand, but I suspect he knows it already. You see, in three days' time, Joseph's interpretations do come true, and they come to fruition exactly as he said. For the chief baker, he's hung, and the chief cupbearer is restored to the king's service. But the reality of the last verse in our text is really soul-crushing for Joseph.

See, we're told there, yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but he forgot him. The cupbearer, his only hope, it seemed, to be released from this prison, to give the good word to Pharaoh, has forgotten all about Joseph. But the Lord was with Joseph. Now his only hope is not Capernaum, but the Lord alone. Beloved, we'll come to see that his hope, and indeed our hope, in our good and gracious Lord is well placed, because our God never forgets his own.

In his own words, our Lord Jesus Christ says in Luke 12, are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? and not one of them is forgotten before the Lord. Why even the hairs on your head are all numbered. And then he goes to say these words, fear not, you are more value, of more value than many sparrows. Beloved, God's people are infinitely valuable to him.

And we will do well to trust in him alone. Amen.