Genesis 40
Joseph was seventeen years old when taken into Egypt and there sold to the captain of the king’s guards to work in his house. Joseph did his work so well that after awhile his master gave him charge of all he had in his house and fields. Joseph believed that God could see him and was honest and right in all, while his master was away.
But one day an evil story which was not true, was told of Joseph to the captain, and because of this he put him in prison, bound with chains, “whose feet they hurt with fetters” (Psalm 105:1818Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: (Psalm 105:18)).
God knew the wrong done to Joseph and caused the prison keeper to favor him. He must have unbound him, as we read that he trusted all the other prisoners to Joseph.
After this the king became angry with two of his head servants and sent them to the prison. One night these men each had a dream which they spoke of to Joseph and he told them God could give the meaning of them.
One, who had served wine to the king, called a butler, dreamed he saw a vine, having three branches with clusters of ripe grapes, which he dreamed he pressed into a cup and gave to the king. Joseph told him the dream meant that in three days he should again serve the king, and asked him to think of him then and speak to the king to free him also from the prison.
The other man, the king’s baker, said he dreamed he was carrying three baskets on his head, and in the top basket were cakes for the king which birds came and ate. His dream, Joseph said, meant that in three days he would be punished.
Just three days after this, the king sent for the butler to come serve him again in the palace, but the baker he had hanged. So you see God had given Joseph to understand the right meaning of the dreams, and we would expect the butler would be happy to ask the king to free Joseph.
“Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.”
ML 10/25/1936