Chief cup bearer and the chief baker!
Genesis 40:3”So he put them( the chief cup bearer and the chief baker) in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.”
It is midnight 1.20 am, August 15, 2020, Saturday, as I write this portion, sitting alone in my room, during my night prayer and Bible study, I had to put this revelation down:
Divine appointments: Listen to me, these guys who entered the prison of Joseph were not just ordinary people but they were ‘chief’ in their respective area of work, they were men of rank, trusted to oversee other staff, they had offended the king so they were thrown into the prison and special mention is made here that they were kept in the ‘same place’ where Joseph was imprisoned. Never for a moment think that God has forgotten you, in the darkest hour of your life, God is bringing people into your life that you may not recognize at that point of time. Amen.
When my husband and I arrived Hyderabad to first find out about the city, school admission for my son and also rent a house. We felt like kinder garden students lost in the city with very little money in our pockets, we were given the address of a school principal for school admission for my son in class 5. Our first visit was her office, as I sat there in her office, I shared my testimony of resigning my job and joining the Lord’s work as full-time servant, she was controlling her tears. She then not only arranged for my son’s school admission but she rented her beautiful house for us, our work was over within few hours and we left for the railway station with mission accomplished. Divine appointments will be organized by God!
Anointing on Joseph: Joseph was a man of vision, he was closely monitoring people around him, if not he would have missed the golden opportunity for his release. A man with focus would not carelessly walk around but would always be cautious to find out where he could be of any help. He was young, away from home, wrongly accused and imprisoned; yet, Joseph was shining, he had all the skills and wisdom for managerial positions, he had great interpersonal skills, leadership qualities, decisiveness, communication skills, confidence, responsibility, empathy and focus. No wonder he was put as ‘In-charge’ over all the prisoners! (Genesis 39:22) Where did he get them all? The answer is in verse 23: The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.” Wow! Give God a hand of praise! This is what you achieve when you be close to God! People would ask me, ‘where did your son learn keyboard lessons?’, people want it the worldly way but the answer is in your connection with God.
I would like to share my personal story for the glory of God and to help a mother or father who are worried about their kid. My son Joshua never opened his mouth to sing or clap hands during worship for first 12-13 years of his life, he would have his mouth tightly clipped; however, my husband and I would fast and pray for my children exclusively on Wednesdays. One day I heard his recorded voice in the mobile worshipping God and I wept my heart out in gratitude towards God. Today he is a young pastor, pursuing further studies - Masters in Divinity, singer, keyboard player and worship leader connected with a music band. All glory to Jesus! Let us do it God’s way and reap heaps of blessings! Put your children in the Sunday class, teach them the Bible at a young age, be patient with them, don’t judge them, don’t expect things speedily from them, hold the feet of God for your children. That’s it.
Overflow vessel: Genesis 40:8”Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please." I am too spellbound to speak on this, the world today needs more of Joseph. The world today needs someone to tell them,
• I have the answer for your solution through the God I serve, I will help you.
• Don’t be sad, come to me
• What is your problem, I will pray for you
• What is wrong with you?
• May I help you?
• That’s ok , God understands you (alas! many today are busy on mobiles and facebook)
We need more of Peters today to tell the world, “ I have no gold or silver but I have the name of Jesus” and lift the hands of hopeless people.
We need more of Apostle Pauls’ today to say, “ Imitate me!” When we say this, people would think you are boasting or being proud but the world today wants to see living proof of people serving Jesus and also would like to see the love, kindness and power of Jesus work through us. Anybody listening? I am just excited to preach this today! I saw a rag-picker carrying a baby on her back in the sweltering hot sun of Hyderabad and go about collecting garbage from homes. These people are addicted to toddy and they have very stern faces while doing their job and they don’t talk much, one day I stopped her and told her to leave her kids in my ‘Children Home’, she refused to talk to me. I kept talking to her again and again, one day I made tea and drank with her, she melted little bit. She said, ‘ I will leave my 3 children with you if you open your ‘Home” at 6.30 am in the morning. I said ok. This created a big problem in my home, they said,’who would be crazy to open at 6.30 am?’ I was firm, I cooked food for the children, carried it in my bag, took the keys and left to open the “Children Home” sharp 6.20 am. She was there much before time, after ten years I write this portion, she got saved, took water baptism and her three children are continuing their studies. The world needs a helping hand, listening ears and kind words to tell them,” Tell it to me please!”
Despite his desperate situation and condition, Joseph was oozing with anointing because he has not lost hope. We can do a victory dance right now!
God’s plan unfold in mysterious ways:
Genesis 40:21”He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh's hand;22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.”
People who were working very close with king Pharaoh were brought into connection with Joseph. Joseph made use of the opportunity and displayed his gift of interpretation of dream. The dreams came true, Chief cupbearer was released and promoted but the chief baker was hanged.
Watch out! High positions, plum jobs, high salaries, overseas assignment, top profile jobs, key positions, cushy jobs, all sound good but they are slippery! Caveat! All the people working out of their country though they were in cloud 9 earlier with lot of perks, benefits and fat salary; yet, now in the present pandemic situation their jobs are shaky, for that matter nothing is permanent anymore except God and His goodness. Are you hearing me?
Though they enjoyed respect, dignity that is attached to such jobs serving the king from close quarters; yet, their lives were like walking on tight rope since they were directly under the nose of the king; however, one day they were both thrown into the prison with Joseph and one of them the chief baker was executed. High positions in the world are brittle and fragile! Friend, just not that alone, the Bible tells us not to trust in chariots and horses: Isaiah 31:1 “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.” As swift as you go up, so swift would you come down!
I would like to share an experience that I encountered when I worked for a multinational bank, a group of smart men were taking care of security arrangements who were directly reporting to the HR department; however, a smart Vice President was appointed to take care of the security department alone. Now the previous group of securities who enjoyed great facilities did not much care to ‘salute’ the new boss, a few days later when I one day came in my scooter to the bank, I was shocked to see ‘new people with new uniform’! The previous securities were thrown out of the job in a jiffy, life is uncertain!
Also when you give bribe and get good jobs in reputed companies or Government positions, let me tell you here, there are curses attached to it. Exodus 23:8“You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just” Through this message, I would like to warn you that we need to get blessings from God, we should not manipulate to get to high positions through hanky-panky means. Giving bribes and gifts for promotions, transfers, increments are all abomination in the sight of God, remember just one thing, be faithful, loyal, true to God, committed, hard working, then God will surely bless you. High positions would arrive at your door step!
With burden I write this message because today there is too much hype given to positions, fame, popularity, followers, likes and so on. It doesn’t take much time for our young people who spend enormous amount of time on social media to get hooked on to ‘titles and fame’, even in the Christian circle, people have titles attached to their names like ‘Apostle, Prophets and so on..without investing their life with God, when it comes through proper channel then we need to live proper lives. I just had to little bit divert and share some points, let’s get back to the subject….
Grand finale:
The chief cup bearer story is not over, though Joseph felt that he was forgotten, but after two years, read: Genesis 41: 1”Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.” When you feel you are forgotten, remember God is working out things for you! Trust Him!
God would arrive at the right time! He gave disturbing dreams to king Pharaoh and thereby the palace was shaken, none were able to interpret the dream and then the noise and commotion was so loud in the palace that it reached the cup bearer that he ran to the palace to confess:
• 8 Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
• 9 Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I would make mention today of my own offenses.
Joseph was finally brought into the presence of the king:
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.
Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
I hope you were blessed with this sermon, God bless you!
