Last Sunday in our Dust to Life series we saw how Joseph’s fear of the Lord and godly convictions brought him through Potiphar’s wife's seductive siege. However, when she didn’t get her way with him and instead accused him of the wrongdoing, Potiphar had him thrown in jail. We don’t know exactly how long Joseph was in Potiphar's house or in prison, but we know that it has been at least 11 difficult years since he had seen or heard anything about his family.
As a young man in his 20s he was imprisoned in the most powerful kingdom on earth, wearing their clothes, eating their food, speaking their language, and as far as we know, Joseph was the only believer in the only true and living God. Joseph probably would not have guessed that prison would be the very place where God would forge his faith for the future.
Please turn with me to Genesis 40:1-23. Berne will come up to read the passage (SL 2)
Genesis 40:1-23
1 Then it came about after these things, that the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. 3 So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the prison, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. 4 And the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. 5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, behold, they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?” 8 And they said to him, “We have had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do interpretations not belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, saying to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; 10 and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; 13within three more days Pharaoh will [j]lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as in your former practice when you were his cupbearer. 14Only [k]keep me in mind when it goes well for you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
16 When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; 17 and in the top basket there were some of all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a wooden post, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”
20 So it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he held a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 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. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
We can see a few things in this passage:
1. God’s Providence in Prison
2. Dreams and Destiny
3. Forgotten but not Forsaken
Let’s look at God’s providence in Joseph’s imprisonment
1. God’s providence in Prison
The passage starts out with the phrase, “And it came about after these things…” which means that after Joseph was imprisoned, another period of time had passed. Joseph, who is now 28-years old, was placed in prison but under God’s providence.
Now two very important prisoners were added to the list of prisoners - Pharaoh's chief baker and his chief cupbearer. These men had a position of great responsibility because they held the life of Pharaoh in their hands. Both were also in a position to hear about all the drama happening in the palace. They were present not in Pharaoh’s official meetings, but in Pharaoh’s down time—when he ate and drank and leisured. They both had incredible access to his personal life. They’d be the ones to hear Pharaoh gripe about all his issues, problems, and… dreams.
Obviously the baker and cupbearer had done something to anger Pharaoh, but the text doesn’t say what it was. Perhaps Pharaoh suspected them of plotting his demise, or maybe he became ill after a meal and suspected that one or both of them were to blame. Whatever the reason, God providentially orchestrated their confinement in that specific prison, at that specific time and the captain of the guard appointed Joseph to take care of them.
We see in v. 5 that both men had a dream in the same night and were quite dejected the next morning. Dreams were believed to be the prime vehicle for divine revelation but since they were cut off from Pharoah’s court, there were no soothsayers to interpret them. The word “dejected” actually means distraught - the Hebrew describes their emotions as “a raging sea”. They were distraught because they couldn’t make sense of their dreams and Joseph had empathy for them.
In v. 8 he said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Joseph did not draw attention to himself. He had learned after 11 years of hardship and humbling that true wisdom and insight comes only from God. Joseph’s dependence on the Lord had deepened. He had experienced God’s favor in his life, learned to trust Him and to serve Him faithfully, and to give Him the glory. Joseph understood dreams and was waiting on God’s timing to bring his own to pass. But what we see next is the baker’s and cupbearer’s:
2. Dreams and Destiny
Joseph asked them to tell him their dreams and the cupbearer went first. His dream was filled with life: budding vines, ripened grapes, and wine pressed into Pharaoh’s cup. Joseph interpreted it confidently: within three days, Pharaoh would lift up his head speaking of summoning him into his presence and restore him to his position (vv. 12-13).
Joseph was so confident that his interpretation would come to pass he asked the cupbearer (who would have Pharaoh's ear) to remember him and be merciful to him by mentioning him to Pharaoh. “Tell him that I was kidnapped - forcefully carried off from Canaan, was moved from one dungeon to the next and sold against my will. Tell him I have done nothing to deserve prison because I had been falsely accused.” He said what he needed to say and then he let it go - he didn’t try to manipulate or intimidate the cupbearer to do his bidding.
When the baker heard the positive interpretation of the cupbearer's dream he volunteered to tell Joseph his dream. In some ways they were similar: three of something having to do with their profession. In his case it was three baskets, and all types of bread, but the difference was that the birds were eating the bread out of the basket, meaning the baker failed to protect what was meant for Pharaoh - pointing to his impending doom. What was the interpretation? Joseph said in three days his head will be lifted up from him, he will be hung upon a stake, and the birds of prey will eat his body.
Three days later, Pharoah was celebrating his ascension to the throne as the divine son of Ra (birthday party). On that day it was the custom to release prisoners and the baker and cupbearer's destinies came to pass just as the Lord had revealed to Joseph.
I can only imagine that Joseph was very hopeful and expectant of his release because now the cupbearer had personal access to Pharaoh. “Surely, today, Pharaoh will send for me.” But days became weeks, then months turned into years and there was silence. The cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph - he completely forgot about him. Should we be shocked? We can tend to forget the bad times when we enter the good ones. We can be so self-absorbed that we forget about the suffering of others when everything is going well for us.
Joseph must have been deeply disappointed, yet we don’t see him cursing God or turning his back on His faith. Joseph continued to trust and serve God because he knew that he had been:
3. Forgotten but not Forsaken
Though Joseph was forgotten by the cupbearer, God remembered him in prison. Have you ever been there? Feel you have been forgotten, overlooked, misunderstood? Have you ever wondered if God had misplaced your file in heaven’s archives? (SLOWLY) God’s silence does not mean God’s absence.
“Lord, why all this waiting? Can’t we just get to the end of the story?” “Is this really how my life is supposed to be going?” As part of the cancel culture in our day and age, will we simply cancel God and church because of our disappointments? (treat God like TV)
Pearl and I were at the annual BEG meeting this weekend (the association we are members of) and talking with a lot of the different church leaders who serve throughout Austria. It was an encouraging time, but also sobering because as we know, ministry is not easy. One husband and wife shared about their church plant and how it just kind of collapsed. They had a missionary on their team who just couldn’t understand how this could happen as they felt God gave them this vision. SLOWLY This missionary told the leader, I quit, I don’t believe in God anymore. She cancelled God because He didn’t do what she expected Him to do.
Joseph’s disappointments in life were a test of his faith. Disappointment was God’s divine classroom where he learned to trust that God had the best in store for him because he knew His character and nature. Joseph didn’t equate God’s promises with others who make promises. He knew that even when people forgot or abandoned him, God would never abandon him and would keep His promises.
As Christians, God tests our faith. He puts us in the Refiner’s fire be
fore He entrusts us to areas of greater authority, greater responsibility. Those who are convinced that God desires to use their lives for His kingdom should know that they will face challenges that will test their faith to prove that it is genuine and in the right object. James wrote:
Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).
Paul said:
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame (Rom 5:3-5a).
This is an active, faith-filled, Spirit-empowered perseverance that remains in the trial until God’s purposes are fulfilled (James 1:2-4). It’s a faith that enables us to wait for God’s timing even when we are very discouraged by circumstances. As we will see in the coming chapters, God was shaping and honing Joseph’s life in order to prepare him to become an instrument of salvation for the nation of Israel and the whole world.
Out of the dust of disappointment, despair, and delay, God was working endurance into Joseph’s character so He could accomplish His good & perfect plan through his life.
What is the life of Joseph teaching us today?
1. Be faithful where you are, not where you wish you were.
Joseph served diligently in a prison cell — not waiting for a promotion or recognition before he started serving others.
Oswald Chambers said: Obey God in the thing that He shows you, and instantly the next thing will open.
2. Remember: God’s silence does not mean God’s absence.
Even in the darkness of the dungeon, God was with Joseph.
Don’t confuse stillness with abandonment.
3. Waiting well can be a witness.
Faith that waits for God’s timing isn’t passive—it’s an active trust. It keeps working, serving, forgiving, and hoping, even when nothing seems to be happening. People notice how you handle pressure, delay and disappointment — your patience preaches to others.
4. God’s delays are by design to develop godly character and deepen our dependence on Him. God is actively and purposely working in your life, not randomly but with a specific, benevolent plan that reflects His perfect will. When we humble ourselves in the plan, and wait on Him, God gives us the desire and the ability to fulfill His purpose (Phil 2:13).
Phil 2:13 For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure (Amp).
5. We don’t have to face life alone
God is always with us and He has placed us in a local church designed to equip and support us.
