Forgotten by Man but Prepared by God

do not interpretations belong to God?

It's a gentle correction. He's saying don't think that some magician or wise man is needed to interpret them. God will give the interpretation. But then Joseph immediately follows that with,

please tell them to me.

Now obviously Joseph's not contradicting himself, what he just said about God giving the interpretation. So he doesn't mean tell me because I'm so wise and clever I can figure them out. He's actually presenting himself here as a prophet. He's saying God will give you an interpretation through me. So the butler goes first and he tells Joseph his dream. And then Joseph immediately interprets it. And then when the baker sees that the interpretation is good, he also tells Joseph his dream, and Joseph immediately interprets it. And when we look at the two dreams at first blush, they may sound pretty similar. Both have to do with the men's respective occupations. Both feature the number three, but there's a critical difference. The butler's dream concludes with him taking the grapes, pressing them into Pharaoh's cup, and placing the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But the baker's dream concludes with what would have to be every baker's nightmare. As he's taking his three baskets of baked goods to Pharaoh, birds swoop down and begin eating the food out of the baskets on his head. And Joseph interprets these dreams to mean that in three days, Pharaoh will restore the butler, and he will resume placing the cup in Pharaoh's hand, but Pharaoh will execute the baker. And as his body's hung on a tree, the birds will eat his flesh. Now, we're told nothing of either man's reaction to this news, but we are told that Joseph made a very significant request. In verse 14, he asked the butler

Only remember me when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.

And that brings us to the resolution of the story in verses 20 through 23. Everything unfolds exactly as Joseph predicted. The third day happens to be Pharaoh's birthday, a day when amnesties were customarily granted. And on this day, Pharaoh restores the chief butler, but hangs the baker, just as Joseph interpreted. And yet, verse 23 says,

the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

And I think that's intentionally redundant. As if to emphasize the point that after all Joseph had done for him, to care for him, to sympathize with him, to support him in his darkest hour, once things brighten up for the butler, he doesn't remember Joseph, but forgets him. And perhaps this means that it just slipped his mind, but I tend to agree with John Calvin that it probably had more to do with him fearing Pharaoh. See, the cupbearer was finally back in the good graces of the Pharaoh. Why risk it by putting in a good word for some prisoner? Who knows how the Pharaoh might react to that? So rather than remembering Joseph's plight, remembering what it was like in prison, remembering what Joseph had done for him, he just conveniently forgets him and moves on. He watches his own back. He saves his own skin. And what a devastating blow that must have been for Joseph. I can imagine him standing at the gate of the prison day by day, waiting for a message, looking for a visitor, and just gradually realizing it wasn't going to come. That he had been forgotten and was stuck there in the prison with no prospect of escape. So I ask again, what was God doing through this? But what was he teaching Joseph? What's he teaching us? And as I said, I see four ways that God was preparing Joseph for future usefulness. And the first is this, God was preparing Joseph by positioning him right where he needed to be. So number one, position. And this really only makes sense in light of the next chapter. Because apart from that, it seems like Joseph's in the very worst place. He's in the very last place that his own dreams of ruling over his brothers would ever be fulfilled. It's almost as if God takes delight in irony. It turns out that Joseph gets remembered at just the right time. by just the right person, who knows just the right things about him, for just the right situation, so that in an instant, Joseph winds up getting promoted from a prisoner to the ruler of all Egypt. And so there's a beautiful irony to the way that God is actually positioning Joseph here to be right where he needed to be and know just who he needed to know. You see, this story's intended to show us that unbeknownst to Joseph, Unbeknownst to the baker, unbeknownst to the butler, unbeknownst to Potiphar, unbeknownst to Pharaoh, there was an invisible hand guiding it all. That God is there superintending things so that Joseph would meet this butler. And so that the butler would come to know that Joseph could interpret dreams. And so that the butler would then forget Joseph until just the right time. And so that Joseph would be kept there in the prison right where he could be found for that moment. And this should be a great encouragement to us, because God is every bit as sovereign in our lives. We have that same invisible hand ordering our steps, controlling our circumstances, and positioning us right where we need to be. This is why Jesus assures us,

not a bird falls to the ground apart from your Father's will, and the hairs of your heads are all numbered.

This is why Proverbs 16.9 says,

a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

So Ephesians 1.11 says,

we are predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

Friend, God has you where you are purposefully. And perhaps especially in those seasons of life when we feel stuck, when we feel forgotten, when we find ourselves asking why? Well, maybe, just as it was with Joseph, God is positioning you where you are to prepare you for what's yet to come. You never know who you might meet. You never know what skill you might learn, what connection you might make. You never know who you might share the gospel with and how God might use them. You never know how God might use you in the most surprising of ways. As we saw in our New Testament reading, Paul's been thrown into prison and he says,

but I want you to know that the things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

And so the point is we can trust God to position us where we need to be. This doesn't mean that it's wrong for us to change our circumstances when we have the opportunity. Just as Joseph wasn't wrong to ask the butler to get him out of prison. But it means we don't have to worry or fear when there's circumstances that are outside our control. As if those external things could somehow prevent us from being where we need to be. This is God positioned Joseph in prison. He positions us in whatever station of life we find ourselves. And we can trust him. Consider how this guides Paul's counsel to believers in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. There he's talking about marriage and singleness and he says,

only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision, for neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. For he who is called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise, he who is free when called is a bondservant of Christ.

Then he says,

so brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

Paul's point is that the key to faithfulness is not changing your station in life. There are times when we have opportunities to make changes and we can take advantage of them. But when we don't have those opportunities, we can simply trust God and strive to be faithful where we are. And remember, think about how ironic it was that here's Joseph who was able to reveal the future of others. But God didn't fully reveal to him his own. He simply had to trust God in the prison. Not knowing why, but God was positioning him right where he needed to be to prepare him for the future. So that's the first way God was preparing Joseph. Now secondly, God prepared him by providing him with a prophetic gift. So number two, prophetic gift. And as I explained briefly when we walked through the passage, Joseph interpreting the dreams was a prophetic ministry. To prophesy is to speak on behalf of God and deliver some sort of new revelation. So Joseph interpreting these dreams was different than me preaching and interpreting this passage right now, because it went beyond his own wisdom and study. Joseph said, God will provide the interpretation. And even if there are parts of the dreams where, in retrospect, we might think, well, you know, maybe I could have figured that out. There are other parts, there's just no way. I mean, how could you know that three branches and three cake baskets represented units of time? or that the units were days rather than weeks or months or years. See, clearly Joseph was given special insight and revelation here. And under the broader umbrella of prophetic ministry, this gift of interpreting dreams is rather unique. Actually, Daniel is the only other person we know of who had it. There's many other cases of God communicating through dreams, but usually it's either he or an angel who provides the interpretation. But it's Daniel and Joseph, two men called to stand before foreign kings who are given this special gift of interpretation. Now, how and when did Joseph receive this gift? Possibly it was earlier in life when he had his own dreams, but those dreams hardly needed a special gift for interpretation, and no interpretation by Joseph is recorded. So I think it's more likely that it's actually here, when Joseph receives this gift, and God somehow gave him the awareness that he had it. That's why Joseph can so clearly, directly say, God will give the interpretation, tell your dreams to me. He's confident that he can interpret it, even while at the same time giving all the credit to God. And by providing Joseph with this gift, of course, God was preparing him for that day when Pharaoh would call him and say,

I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can give the interpretation.

And Joseph will say,

it's not in me to interpret dreams, but God will give you a favorable answer.

Once again, confident that an answer will come through him and yet giving God the credit. God was preparing him with this gift for that moment. And the first way this applies to us is that it reminds us that God equips us with gifts as well. That every believer is given at least one gift from the Holy Spirit. And so whether that's teaching, or serving, or giving, or encouragement, or helping, or leading, or exhorting, or showing mercy, or hospitality. You and I have been prepared by God to be able to serve and help build up his church. And so just as Joseph used this gift here and before Pharaoh, we need to think about how we can use the gifts God has given us for the common good and the edification of the body. But there's a second aspect to this. Because notice that God not only gave Joseph this gift, It actually tested him through his first exercise of it. Look again at verse 16. And note that it says,

when the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, I also have had a dream.

This is a man who shares his dream with Joseph, hoping for. expecting a favorable interpretation. And Joseph has to look this man in the face, a powerful man, a man Joseph genuinely cared for, and tell him in three days, Pharaoh's gonna cut off your head and hang your body up for the birds to eat. It's not an easy message to deliver. This situation tested whether Joseph's administration of his gift was going to be guided by a fear of man or faithfulness to God. And this has immediate application for us because whether or not we have a prophetic gift like Joseph, we're all called to exercise an analogous sort of ministry. You see, Joseph served as the interpreter of God's revelation for the butler and the baker. And we're called to be interpreters of God's revelation for the world. See, the Bible says that all around us, God's glory is displayed.

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork.

It says that

God's invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

So everyone can look around and know there's a God. They can know that He's glorious. They can know that He's powerful. They can know that they have sinned against Him. But like the butler in the baker's dreams, what they cannot know is why God is so patiently forestalling His judgment. or what they could possibly do to be saved. And as we saw Paul doing last week in Acts chapter 17, we get to interpret that for them. Explaining what God is doing in Christ for the world. We get to be like Philip. When the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 and Philip asked him,

do you understand what you're reading?

And the eunuch replies,

how can I unless someone guides me?

We get to sit down and help explain the meaning of God's word so that others can understand and be saved. What a gift God has given us to know and be able to share the gospel. But just like Joseph, exercising this responsibility requires having the courage and the love to look people in the face and tell them what they do not want to hear. To look at people looking to us for a favorable interpretation and say, you have sinned against a holy God and your sins will condemn you to hell. You are far more sinful and even evil than you think. And all the good deeds that you're trusting in to save you, they are like filthy rags in the sight of God. It's not an easy thing to say, especially when people have itching ears. They're hoping that you as their buddy, their friend, are gonna tell them what they want to hear. But of course the reality is, the most loving thing that you can tell someone is the truth. Because if that means that the baker only has three days to live, it means he has three days to get right with God. And no matter how offensive the gospel may be, the gospel is a message of hope. Because if we will only admit our sin, and cast ourselves at the feet of Christ, he will lovingly forgive us. Friend, if you're here today and you have not trusted in Christ, you've not truly become a Christian, will you only repent and believe and come to Christ for salvation? And for the rest of us, may Joseph's example encourage us to be bold and faithful communicators of the message that God has entrusted to us because we've been prepared with it to speak for the glory of God. We've seen that God prepared Joseph by positioning him and by giving him a prophetic gift. Now thirdly, God prepared Joseph by teaching him or really forcing him to learn patience. So number three, patience. The fact that Joseph had to exercise patience is demonstrated by the combination of two things. First, verse 14 makes very clear, as we would expect, that Joseph desperately wanted out of this prison. As I said before, this is a young, smart, capable, probably ambitious man in the prime of his life just trapped in prison. But secondly, the fact that Joseph was entrusted with the care of all the other prisoners that we see him being attentive to the needs of the baker and butler, that he noticed when they were sad, that he cared for them. It shows us that Joseph was being faithful to his duties and maintaining a loving concern for others, even while in prison. And when you combine faithfulness with remaining in a position you don't want to be in, that equals patience. You see, biblical patience isn't achieving some zen-like state where you just feel pure contentment and are just happy and at peace with all of your circumstances. No, biblical patience is a word sometimes translated long-suffering. It means to endure suffering or pain for a long time and yet remain faithful under it. And so instead of lashing out, or abdicating responsibility, the patient person remains faithful. They remain obedient in the midst of ongoing difficulty or suffering. And you see, the first thing many of us do when we face a trial is turn in on ourselves. We become focused on protecting ourselves, helping ourselves, escaping the trial. And we stop being faithful to God's command to love our neighbor as ourselves and to work in all things as unto the Lord. But a clear sign of Joseph's patience in prison is that he's faithfully doing the duties assigned to him. He's taking notice of others, asking how they're doing, being attentive to their needs. And I think we see the fruit of that borne out later in Joseph's life. He becomes a very patient man. This is a man who successfully plans and then manages a country through seven years of preparing for a famine, and then seven years of living through the famine itself. This is also a man who implements a very drawn-out plan to test his own brothers when they eventually come back, even seeing them go back home for an extended period, all while desperately yearning to see his father, not knowing how many years his father had left. I think Joseph knew from his dream that he would see his father again. And through all of his waiting, all of his patient endurance, he had been assured time and time again that God is always faithful, that he could trust God and that all he needed to do was be faithful in the situation he was in as long as God had him there. And what this means for us is that one of the ways God is often preparing us, especially when things are difficult, is by teaching us patience. This is why James says,

count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness,

or that could also be translated patient endurance.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

In other words, patience or steadfastness is one of the greatest treasures we could ever have. Because James says, when it has its full effect, we will be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. That's why it's a treasure worth rejoicing to obtain, even if you have to go through a trial or wait in prison to get it. And just one example of why patience is so precious. Consider how patience is an antidote to temptation. Because so often temptations are fundamentally shortcuts. It's committing sexual immorality instead of waiting for marriage. Being lazy and procrastinating so you can have fun now instead of getting your work done. It's harboring bitterness and seeking revenge instead of leaving vengeance to the Lord. It's making compromises to find a spouse or get a promotion instead of trusting the Lord to provide in his time. It's storing up treasures for ourselves here on earth instead of laying up treasures in heaven. These are all the result of not being steadfast. not being patient, not remaining faithful when things are difficult, but demanding relief or gratification now. But friends, if like Joseph, who learned to be faithful while in the prison, and then endured two years of being forgotten there, if we can learn patience and steadfastness through the trials we face, then like a weightlifter, You know, who gradually grow stronger through all the sets and the reps and the training? Well, by trial after trial, we too will grow strong. We will grow closer and closer to being perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. And so friend, how might God be seeking to prepare you right now? By teaching you patience. What would faithfulness in the midst of your current situation look like? Well, we've seen God prepares Joseph by placing him in just the right position, by giving him a prophetic gift, and by teaching him patience. Now, fourth and finally, God prepares Joseph by giving him perspective. Number four, perspective. And understand what I'm getting at here. Think for a moment about the position Joseph's soon to be in. Exalted to the ruler of Egypt, riding in a chariot, being bowed down to everywhere he goes, having the world at his command. You know, how easy it would be for him to become proud. How easy it would be for him to feel like he was finally secure and in control. How tempting it might be for him to compromise, to please Pharaoh and maintain his position. But then think for a moment about the kind of impression that the events recorded here in chapter 40 must have left on Joseph. He sees two of the highest officials from Pharaoh's court just thrown down into prison like that. He sees their lives hanging in the balance as he himself is the one to reveal their futures. And three days later is the baker is dead. And then Joseph experiences being forgotten by the butler, a man he'd hoped was his friend, a man he had done good for. What kind of impression do you think that would have left on Joseph? What kind of perspective did he gain through this? Well, I think it would have warned him against thinking there was any real security at the top. Joseph saw how quickly even high officials could be cast down. Matthew Henry said,

high places, high positions are slippery places.

And I have to think it warned Joseph against trusting in man because he experienced how quickly he was forgotten, how quickly he was pushed aside, how fickle people are. And what a vivid picture it must have given Joseph of the reality that the life of all men constantly hangs in the balance before God. that God alone decrees the future, that God alone rules over the inhabitants of the earth, and that God alone is to be feared and trusted. You see, it's sometimes from the very lowest position that we can see the way things really are the most clearly. It's hard to look up to God when you're looking down on those beneath you. Or, as Marie Antoinette was rumored to have said prior to the French Revolution, when she was told that the people had no bread,

let them eat cake.

And, you know, whether true or not, the phrase captures the sense of lacking perspective that the nobility were perceived to have with respect to the plight of the poor. Because only someone who doesn't know what it's like to have nothing would say such a thing. And for instance, spiritual terms. And how easy it is for us to be similarly out of touch when everything's rainbows and roses in our Christian lives. And to lose sight of who God really is, who we are before him. To put our trust in men and begin living for the things of this world. And therefore, one of the greatest gifts God can give us are circumstances which bring us low and give us new perspective on spiritual things. The perspective to say

all flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

The perspective when enemies rise up against us to say,

the Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do to me?

and the perspective when tempted to say,

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. One day in your courts is better than a thousand.

You see, sometimes when we feel the most stuck, the most forgotten, the most alone, we're actually right where we need to be to draw the nearest to God, to be the strongest spiritually, because we have the perspective to see what really counts. And as hard as it must have been for Joseph to be forgotten, how sweet it must have been for him to know that he was remembered by God. And of course, the great assurance that we can find is that God remembers us. You know, there's an interesting parallel here. Because Joseph was a righteous man who found himself beside these two prisoners. One saved, the others condemned. And Jesus would similarly be crucified between two criminals. One would be saved, the other lost. But the twist is, Joseph is the one who asked the other prisoner to remember him. And he's forgotten. But on the cross, it's the thief who asked Jesus,

Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom.

And Jesus said to him

today, you will be with me in paradise.

And brothers and sisters, the fact that others forget us is a painful reality of life. We would do well to remember how all too often we forget them as well. Like the butler, we're so prone to just saving our own necks. But Jesus is the one who remembers us. The one who came for us. The one who died for us. The one who rose for us. The one who ever lives to make intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And God says to his people,

can a woman forget her nursing child? That she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Well, even these may forget. Yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.

And brothers and sisters, the great comfort we have this morning is that God remembers us, just like Joseph in the prison. He's ever with us, ever guiding us, ever equipping us, ever controlling all the circumstances around us. And that means He's ever preparing us. Preparing us perhaps not to be princes of Egypt, but preparing us for whatever he has in store for our lives. And more than that, he's preparing us for his everlasting kingdom and eternity in his presence. Preparing us to be holy and blameless before him. Preparing us to be fully conformed to the image of Christ. That's the perspective we need to see this morning. That's what we need patience to live for. As we use the gifts God has given us and we proclaim the gospel that he's entrusted to us in the midst of whatever positions God may place us in. And I pray that as you leave here today, having meditated on this chapter in Joseph's life, you would leave more convinced that no matter how stuck or forgotten you feel, God is ever preparing his servants for future usefulness. So praise God. Amen. Let's pray. Father, what a joy and a comfort it is to be able to look up from whatever trials we face, whatever circumstances we're in, to look up and know that you are the God whose eye is always upon us, whose hand is always guiding our way, the God who loves us, the God who has rescued us even from sin, and a God who is always faithful to lead us and guide us and prepare us for all that you have in store for us and how we rejoice that you promise us. That in the end, what you have in store for us is eternity in your presence. Eternity in a new heavens and a new earth. And so God, may we live faithfully now, looking forward to that and considering how we can glorify you because you are worthy. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.