As we live our lives there are times when nothing of significance seems to happen. Time passes but we see little progress or little change in our circumstances. When all is quiet and peaceful this lack of change doesn't bother us all that much and we are happy to chug along but when we're in difficulty it can be a very different matter. For the believer who longs for some change some improvement in his situation the wait can seem interminable. The cry of the Psalmist finds a ready echo in his own heart :"How long, O LORD?"

Such experience is common and the cry is frequently in the Book OF Psalms:

Ps 13:1 "How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?"

Ps 35:17 "How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!"

Ps 79:5 "How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?"

Ps 89:46 "How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?"

At such times the believer can be tempted to imagine that God has given up on him, that He has forgotten Him, that He has abandoned Him. At such times the believer in his endeavours to find God again may make serious efforts to understand what God is doing by trying to read and understand God's providences.

But reading God's providences is not always an easy thing to do.

This 40^th chapter of the Book of Genesis deals with Joseph I just such trying circumstances. Time was passing. As the chapter opens Joseph is in prison and after all the events of this chapter have been recorded Joseph is still there.

The Prison Setting

As the chapter opens we know that Joseph is in prison – how he got there was the subject of the previous chapter. He was in prison because of his steadfast refusal to "do this great wickedness (sleeping with his master's wife) and sin against God." 39:9.

Moses seems to go out of his way to emphasise the passage of time in Joseph's life and experience. Joseph's trial and tribulations were not the matter of a moment quickly relieved but dragged on and on.

Now ch.40 opens with two more men being consigned to prison. These men were not slaves like Joseph but two of the highest ranking men in Egypt – the King's chief cupbearer and the King's chief baker.

These men held important rank as they were responsible for what the King ate and drank – the King was effectively placing his life in their hands and he would only place his life in the hands of men he trusted.

But they have fallen from favour. We're told that they had "committed an offense" against their lord the king of Egypt. And so the king in his anger has them confined. He places them in the custody of his captain of the guard (who was in all likelihood the Potiphar of the previous chapter.)

Thus we have two men in prison because they had "sinned" against Pharaoh and they are placed under the care and supervision of Joseph who is in prison precisely because he refused to "sin" against the LORD God. (The expressions are the same in Hebrew.)

And once more we're told of the passage of time v.4 "They continued for some time in custody."

Joseph's Behaviour

We've already seen that Joseph knew the LORD's presence with him in prison and that he was given a position of responsibility by the gaoler. It is clear that Joseph was not wallowing in morbid self-pity turning in upon himself and endlessly lamenting his misfortune and the sadness of his plight.

He might no longer be able to rule over all of Potiphar's household but he could fulfil the new responsibilities he had. So Joseph served in the prison and the LORD blessed him.

It really was a case of Joseph being faithful in the small things.

Doubtless it was because of this good behaviour coupled with Potiphar's memory of his previous good record that led Potiphar now to direct Joseph to attend to these new high ranking prisoners.

And Joseph did attend to them with careful attention. Had he been wrapped up with the injustices of his own situation and obsessed with how unfair it all was it's unlikely that he would have even noticed the sad look on those prisoners' faces one day as he met them in the morning much less be interested in that fact!

But Joseph does notice and he is concerned. He may not be able to live the kind of life that he would like to and he may not be able to exert the kind of influence he feels called to but he can try to help two men fallen on hard times.

Joseph is once again proving himself to be faithful in small things!

Do you remember the parable that Jesus was to tell later about the talents? Do you remember the words of the Master to his servant?

Mt.25:21 "His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’"

Joseph, though he may not have realised it at the time, was in the phase of being "faithful over a little" – at the right moment the Master will indeed "set him over much" as His plans are brought to fruition.

Surely the application is clear for us. If we find ourselves in less than propitious circumstances we too can and must remain faithful. There is no value in endlessly complaining that things aren't different we have our duty to perform even in those restricted and depressing situations. We too are called to be faithful in the "small things".

It's all about dreams

Dreams have a very prominent role to play in this chapter and we should not forget that Joseph too has had his dreams. Indeed Joseph's dreams and his recounting of them are major factors in his being in prison in Egypt at all.

In the Ancient ME dreams were considered a means of divine revelation concerning the future and Egypt was no exception. Egypt had its "wise men" and its "magicians" who were deemed experts in the field of dream interpretation (we will hear something of them in the following chapter).

The problem for these two high profile prisoners, the chief cupbearer and the chief-baker, was that they were cut-off from those experts confined as they were in the house of the captain of the guard. Their dreams had troubled them but there was no-one, they thought, to tell them what they meant!

Joseph had found them sad that morning and asked what the matter was and they told him.

Joseph's response is immediate and impressive and we should not fail to appreciate this declaration of faith in God.

40:8b "And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”"

Here is no abstract theological affirmation it is the declaration of personal faith and trust. We are not to interpret his asking for a description of their dreams as mere curiosity – he believes God will make known to him what these dreams mean! But this was no proud boast of his own abilities based upon his personal experience it was faith in God despite all the appearances.

Now we might be tempted to think that this was an easy and natural thing for him to do but we mustn't forget his own current experience!

Joseph too has had dreams. The dreams that he had had were straightforward and their interpretations were clear – so clear that his entire family understood what those dreams were saying. Joseph was to be a great ruler before whom his family would bow down! But years later where did Joseph find himself? Where was the accomplishment of his dreams? He was lost to his family and separated from them by a great distance in a foreign land where he was being held prisoner although innocent of any crime.

The cupbearer explains his dream. It clearly deals with matters that are related to his former responsibilities. The details of his dream are grouped in sets of three which gently underline the significance of the three branches which Joseph will single out as referring to three days.

The vine – 1. Budded 2. Blossomed 3. Ripened

The Cupbearer – 1. Took grapes 2. Pressed them 3. Put them in Pharaoh's hand

And simply Joseph explains its significance again emphasising the importance of three.

The three branches refer to a period of three days:

1. Pharoah will lift up you head 2. You will be restored to office 3. You'll place the cup in Pharaoh's hand again.

As Joseph interpreted the cupbearer's dream for him he clearly saw the cupbearer's release. But Joseph was not given a dream that showed him his own release. He had had his dream, his word from the LORD so many years ago now and he just had to live on and on in difficult trying circumstances that seemed to make the accomplishment of God's word to him so unlikely. He was not granted the luxury of a new dream or a new word from the LORD but was called simply to maintain his trust in what God had made plain.

Perhaps because Joseph saw nothing about his own situation and his own eventual release he concluded his explanation with a plea that the cupbearer put in a word for him with Pharaoh when the cupbearer was restored to office. I find Joseph's confidence that the cupbearer would indeed be restored particularly impressive given his own situation where he had known no fulfilment of his own dreams to date!

Joseph's request is understandable and laudable. God works out His sovereign purposes in human history through the responsible acts of human individuals. No quick release was to follow though for Joseph!

The baker has his turn. Encouraged by the interpretation the cupbearer has received the baker now recounts his dream.

Joseph's interpretation again focuses on threes. The three baskets refer to three days – the time of Pharaoh's birthday when amnesties were frequently granted – the outcome however for the baker is totally different from that of the cupbearer.

1. His head too will be lifted up – and taken from him 2. He will be hung on a tree

3. Birds will come and eat his flesh.

It is pleasant to convey good news but not so appealing to bring bad. Yet Joseph must tell the baker what his dream means – after all the interpretation is from God and not from Joseph. If the news is bad news it is not Joseph's fault!

The Outcome of it all

Three days later, Pharaoh's birthday, things work out just as Joseph had said they would.

The cupbearer is restored to his office and function while the baker is executed.

And Joseph in prison doubtless is aware of just what has happened as his fellow prisoners are removed from his care. And the time passes… Will the cupbearer speak up for him? Will the welcome news of his release be brought? Each time he saw the gaoler did his spirits lift with anticipation of good news?

But nothing happened! The cupbearer quite simply forgot about him!

But the LORD didn't forget him! Yes, Joseph would have to spend a further two years in his unjust incarceration. Perhaps Joseph had to learn the twin lesson that is taught in Psalm 146:3+5:

"Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation…Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,"

In time the LORD would deliver Joseph and put him into the position for which He has long been preparing him – that position of which he had dreamt so long ago now. But although that moment had not yet arrived for Joseph he had the wonderful encouragement of knowing that when God speaks and interprets it will be accomplished.

May we too patiently trust Him and place our hope in the same LORD God. Let us walk one day at a time with the LORD performing our duty and being faithful in the tasks He has given us.