Feeling Forgotten

V.13. When the baker hears this he thinks “Great. This dream interpretation stuff is easy. I can’t wait to hear what mine means.” (I heard Allistar Begg say that this is often how we think. We expect that if something good happens to our neighbor, it will happen to us as well. If they prosper, we will prosper. If they were blessed, we should be blessed. We are so intent on comparing ourselves to others, and expecting life to be fair. When we think like, we don’t handle it well when that’s not how God works. Like the church-going couple who aren’t able to have a baby of their own. They see others with a child and God hasn’t answered their prayer, so their faith is shaken. In fact, the husband has given up believing in God.) That comes from the mistaken notion that God works the same way with everyone. No. God can do what he likes. The good word for your neighbor might be a bad word for you. Such was the case with the baker. Unlike the cupbearer, his dream was all bad news. And Joseph delivered it:

V.19 That’s a hard message to deliver. It would be tempting not to give that hard word. What harm would it do? At least let him feel good for the next 3 days. But Joseph faithfully delivers the truth. (I was thinking of all the times I’m tempted to not speak God’s truth. For example, when a good friend told me why he was leaving his wife and had taken up with another woman. He listed all his wife’s failures, many of which were true, and said: “I deserve to be happy.” It would have been easy to agree. Instead I had to say, No. You don’t deserve to be happy, if you disobey God in the process.) Joseph didn’t pull punches. He gave the interpretation that the baker would be executed in 3 days. His body left for the birds to eat. The Egyptians did this to prevent the spirit from resting in the afterlife. I’ve been studying this chapter for years, and never before realized what a gift the baker was given. He had 72 hours to prepare to die. That is a gift few of us have. What would you do if you knew the day of your death? Would you for the first time take seriously the good news about Jesus? Have you made peace with God, through his son Jesus? By his bloody sacrifice on the cross, Christ opened up the way to the Father. By faith we receive grace and forgiveness and righteousness and life eternal. In whatever time you have on this earth, are you prepared to die? We aren’t told what the baker did.

Three days later it all comes to pass. Pharaoh returned the cupbearer to his original position, and executed the baker. The interpretation was exact. Despite Joseph’s remarkable success as an interpreter, the scene ends with a downer, v.23. Joseph is forgotten. The cupbearer goes on his merry way, giving no thought to Joseph. This could have been reason to despair. God uses Joseph to predict the release of others, but he remains in prison. It was as if he was abandoned by God. Have you been in that position? Things are bad. You pray. God is silent. Years go by. Nothing happens. You feel forgotten.