Being The King's Cupbearer

Thank you Rev. Trey Precht

Being The King's Cupbearer

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. But 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:

(Gen 40:12-14)

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

(Neh 1:11)

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

(Neh 2:1-4)

From our scriptures we read of two cupbearers, one called the chief butler of Pharaoh and the other the prophet Nehemiah. These two men that had nothing in common other than their role to their respective king and that they both played a pivotal role in the history of the Nation of Israel. For a few moments this morning I would like to teach on the importance of being the Kings cupbearer.

[prayer]

I have to confess something this morning before we get any further, I have an addiction. I have learned to be addicted to educating myself in the scriptures and the history of the book we call the Bible. I used to be dyslexic and couldnt read a book much larger that 20 pages without getting very frustrated and upset at the time it took to read just a single page. But you know the wonderful thing about the Lord is that even though we come to Him with limitations He somehow makes it to where that former limitation is a testimony of how He can deliver. It used to be that it would take me a year to read a book larger than 80 pages, now it seems as though I read one or two of those a week. God truly can change things. Amen! I would encourage you to try picking up reading as well. I have learned that the more you read about the Bible and its history, the more you understand it, and the more you understand the easier it is to communicate it to others. The reason I said all that was to mention a new book that I have. It is a book about the culture of the days of the bible. It is sometimes important to understand the culture of those that are speaking to truly understand what they are saying. Even the bible has some slang to it. This book explains some of the slang and customs in the Bible to help us understand whats really going on in the book. * continue with book*

Now for a little history about the cupbearer. The office of royal cupbearer was a place if great honor in the Persian court. A person must be regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold this position, as they would be constantly around the king and at any moment would have opportunity to betray the crown and assassinate the king. In many cases, due to his closeness to the king, the cupbearer would be an unofficial advisor and confidant. The cupbearer was daily in the presence of the king, and saw the king in all of his daily life routines. He saw him victorious, and saw him grieved, he saw him at his happiest, and he saw him during his anger and wrath. The cupbearer has many opportunities to charm his way into the goodwill of the king through service, and thus could obtain many favors that others were denied. Among the Medes and the Persians the cupbearer would taste the wine before serving it to the king to tell whether or not it had been poisoned without running any personal risk to the king. To do so, the cupbearer would pour the wine from its container to a cup and then from the cup into his hand where he would taste of it.