Genesis 40 – April 3

More than any of the other patriarchs, Joseph’s life parallels the life of Christ. Today and tomorrow we will focus in on the similarities in terms of humiliation and exaltation, and see how it relates to our salvation. For chapter 40, our focus will be on the process of humiliation suffered by Joseph.

There is a big difference between being brought low because you deserve it, and being unjustly and unfairly abased. We are not certain how long Joseph remained in prison, but it was enough time for him to gain the favor of the captain of the guard. As we have seen on every stage so far, Joseph has proven himself to be a capable leader who was worthy to be set over others. Even in the lowly prison, it was evident that he was worthy of being given a place of leadership. The guard was not being foolish when he placed the cupbearer and the baker to be under Joseph’s charge. 

Before moving forward, it is worth making note of these two servants of Pharaoh. These two positions were places of high honor. The cupbearer served as a kind of right-hand man to the king. He was a trusted advisor, and his main responsibility was to ensure that the king didn’t get poisoned. And the baker would have been the primary chef of the most powerful man in the world. He was responsible for every single morsel that was consumed by the Pharaoh. We don’t know exactly why Pharaoh was angry with these men, but it has been suggested by many that the thing that unites these two figures is the threat of poisoning, which was a very common threat that royalty regularly faced. Maybe there was an attempted assassination, or maybe he just had indigestion, but it resulted in an extended stay vacation in prison for both servants.  

The Lord was with Joseph and gave him the wisdom to interpret the dreams of both men. He gave the baker the bad news that he was going to be killed in a matter of three days. The text explains that he would be hanged on a tree, which probably means that he would be impaled as was a common form of execution in those days. And, to the cupbearer, he informed him that in three days he would be restored. 

Joseph knew that this was his chance to be heard. This was his chance to get the ear of the one man who could free him. So he says to the cupbearer in verses 14-15, “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. 15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

Just as Joseph had said, the baker was executed and the cupbearer was restored as a part of Pharaoh’s birthday celebration three days later. But we read in verse 23, “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” Two more years go by, and Joseph continued in the prison. He had been sold into slavery, then falsely accused and sentenced to prison, then even those whom he served and helped abandoned him so that he was totally and utterly alone.

As we are talking now about humiliation and exaltation, remember that we are not the ones who elevate ourselves. 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you”

The greatest display of this kind of humiliation in all of human history is made manifest in the life of Jesus the Messiah. However, his humiliation was voluntary. He knew what was coming and gladly bore the pain and grief for His people. Philippians 2:5-8 says it like this. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Tomorrow we will see how the Lord did exalt Joseph and Jesus in due time.