Read with Me
Genesis 40:5-8 (HCSB)
The Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
“We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
Listen with Me
At this point in time, God was not yet prepared to move his plan forward – there were still a few pieces that needed to be put into place first. But He began to put a few of those pieces into place here. There would come a time in just two years when God would use a pair of Pharaoh’s dreams to warn him of the coming times of plenty and of famine. And so, He set things up now that would cause Pharaoh to turn to Joseph when that time came.
Both the chief cup bearer and the chief baker had significant dreams on the same night, each of which seemed to be saying something important about the future. There was a class of soothsayer in Egypt who specialized in the interpretation of dreams of this sort. They were well-studied in the papyrus documents that contained dream symbols and their meanings. But none of them would be willing to come to the jail to provide their services to two former servants of Pharaoh, especially when those servants were under suspicion.
Joseph noticed the change in the demeanor of the two men and asked them what the matter was. That prompted them to share the fact that they had each had a dream, but that there was no one who could provide the necessary interpretation services.
Joseph’s answer reveals some important things about his character. First, he was not a conceited man. He did not claim personal wisdom or ability to interpret dreams. Instead, he pointed them beyond himself to the God whom he served and in whose hands lay the fate and fortunes of all people everywhere.
Pray with Me
Father, many of us have grown up with a picture of Joseph being snobbish and self-centered. But that seems not to have been so for two reasons. First, Joseph was genuinely liked and appreciated by all those he met, and snobbish, self-centered people rarely are. And second, Joseph instinctually gives credit to You for his abilities to interpret dreams. And that is definitely the way all Your people should be. Lord, help me to live my life like Joseph, humble and willing to walk with You through all the circumstances in this life, continually pointing beyond myself to You, not just by my words, but by my character and my actions. Amen.