I want to stop here to make sure we don't miss something. Joseph's circumstances are bad, but his circumstances do not mean that the Lord is not with him. Sometimes when our lives take a downturn we make the mistake of assuming the Lord is angry with us and that He has allowed bad things to happen because we've done something wrong. But quite often a downturn in our circumstances has nothing to do with anything we've brought on ourselves. We can be living smack dab within God's will for our lives and still experience tough times. Joseph ended up in prison through no fault of his own. He was going about his daily work in an honest, godly manner. He ended up in prison not because he did something wrong but because he did something right. If he'd given in to Potiphar's wife and slept with her, he'd still be living a cushy life as the manager of Potiphar's estate. But because he refused to sin against the Lord, Potiphar's wife tried to soothe her wounded pride by having him punished for something he didn't do. Whenever we find ourselves in difficult circumstances through no fault of our own, it's because the Lord intends to use those circumstances to accomplish something in our lives. That's what He's doing in Joseph's life right now.
"Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them." (Genesis 40:1-4a) In Joseph's day the government didn't build huge facilities for housing prisoners. He wasn't placed into a modern three-story brick prison surrounded by tall walls and barbed wire. Prisoners were housed in basements (dungeons, if you will) that were dug out underneath the homes of government officials. Joseph is being housed in a dungeon underneath the home of the captain of the guard. Since we were told earlier in Genesis that Potiphar's job was as a captain of the guard, I believe Joseph is living under Potiphar's house in the dungeon. This is going to become even more clear to us when we get to verse 7.
In yesterday's passage the Bible told us that the Lord gave Joseph favor in the eyes of those who were in charge of him, so much so that he has been made into what we would call a "trustee" in modern times. He is allowed to oversee the care of other prisoners. When Pharaoh becomes angry with two of his employees, he has them thrown into the same dungeon where Joseph is housed, and the guards in charged of this dungeon place the two men under Joseph's care. All of this has been carefully set up by the Lord. Although Potiphar's wife sinned grievously against Joseph, the Lord is using Joseph's circumstances as part of His plan for Joseph's life. I believe Potiphar's wife had to answer to the Lord for her sins. She isn't given a free pass simply because the Lord used her wrongdoing as a part of his plan for Joseph. But the Lord used that woman's wickedness to put Joseph exactly where he needs to be so that later on he comes to the attention of Pharoah himself. The Lord knew that Pharoah would become angry with his servants and have them put in prison. The Lord made certain they ended up in the same prison with Joseph.
"After they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men---the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison---had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, 'Why do you look so sad today?'" (Genesis 40:4b-7) We see here that Joseph is in custody under "his master's house", which means he has been moved from his white-collar job upstairs to watching over fellow prisoners in the dungeon underneath Potiphar's house. Many prison trustees wouldn't notice or care if some of their charges were feeling down in the dumps, but Joseph is a compassionate man. He notices that these guys look sad. Perhaps they don't feel like eating when he brings their breakfast trays to them. He's concerned about what's wrong with them and takes the time to find out.
"'We both had dreams,' they answered, 'but there is no one to interpret them.' Then Joseph said to them, 'Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.'" (Genesis 40:8) Joseph has an intense interest in dreams and their meaning. His brothers formerly gave him the scornful nickname of "the dreamer" because he told them of two dreams he had which he felt were prophetic. In both those dreams he was in a position of power and his family was bowing down before him in an attitude of supplication. Joseph wasn't certain what to make of his dreams or what circumstances could possibly bring about such an event, but he believed his dreams were sent to him by God. Now these former officials of Pharaoh have had dreams which they feel are prophetic. They are very downcast because they can't interpret the dreams and they don't know anyone who can. When Joseph is told the reason for their sadness, he says, "It's no surprise that you can't interpret the meaning of these dreams. No one can interpret dreams but God. But since I serve the God who sends dreams and who knows their meaning, if you tell me your dreams I can pray to God on your behalf, and perhaps He will provide me with the interpretation."
Both these men will tell him their dreams and the Lord will grant Joseph the ability to interpret them. The interpretation will be good news for one of the men and bad news for the other. One of these men---the one who receives good news---will promise to put in a good word for Joseph with Pharaoh but will completely forget about him until the time is right for God to make Joseph's own prophetic dreams come true.
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