The chief cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him after Joseph correctly interpreted his dream. There’s speculation that, because Scripture so emphatically states that he didn’t remember Joseph after Joseph asked him to mention him to Pharaoh, that, well, the cupbearer may have forgotten him on purpose. Joseph was a Hebrew slave, after all, imprisoned in the land of Egypt. So, it very well may have been that the cupbearer didn’t care and didn’t consider him worth mentioning to Pharaoh.

Joseph remained in prison another two whole years for what must have been a very difficult time of suffering. As the days passed, he may have wondered if he’d ever be free again. The hope of the cupbearer mentioning him to Pharaoh slipped away with each passing day.

Then, suddenly the king of Egypt dreams not just one—but two—vivid, troublesome dreams in one night. The dreams are disturbing enough to wake him from sleep. His mind keeps dwelling on them the whole next morning.

Pharaoh summons the magicians and wise men of Egypt. These are men who practice dark arts—what we would call witchcraft. Satan put the Egyptians under his spell by disguising his spiritual darkness under the form of Egyptian religion.

Things like dark arts, witchcraft, sorcery, the occult, pagan or satanic rituals, the demonic—these are all very real dangers to the spiritual life of people, and these things lead many astray from the truth down very dark roads. Yet, not even the dark arts of the satanic realm can figure out an explanation of Pharaoh’s dreams.

Then the cupbearer “remembers” Joseph. While he might have remembered that he had forgotten Joseph, it’s also possible that he “remembered” Joseph in the sense that Joseph became useful to him, after all. Perhaps Pharaoh would honor the cupbearer for bringing the interpretive abilities of Joseph to his attention.

Pharaoh considers it worth a shot. As Pharaoh and Joseph interact with each other, Joseph is careful to give all glory to God. He’s not the one to interpret the dreams, but God is. God is revealing to Pharaoh what He’s about to do. The situation isn’t about Joseph and his desire to be released from prison. It’s about the message God has for Pharaoh.

The main premise of the dreams really isn’t too hard to figure out. That’s why Pharaoh is so bothered by them. The dreams seem to be so vivid, so real. Something good is swallowed up by something bad. But what is that about?

The Holy Spirit carries Joseph along, so to speak, so that he may share the interpretation of the dreams. They are the same dream—just different objects related to the abundance or scarcity of food. As we heard, the Lord has a specific message for Pharaoh. By the Spirit’s inspiration, Joseph declares that seven years of really abundant crops are going to be immediately followed by seven years of famine. The famine will be so severe, that when it strikes everyone will have forgotten about the good years.

The Holy Spirit also carries Joseph along so that he may share a plan to lessen the famine’s severity. By the Spirit’s inspiration, Joseph directs Pharaoh to appoint someone with discernment and wisdom to be in charge of seeing the land of Egypt through the exceedingly good and extremely bad times ahead.

God has given Joseph the interpretation of Pharaoh’s nightmares. God has filled Joseph with wisdom and insight to guide all of Egypt through the next fourteen years. Being an imprisoned Hebrew slave, Joseph couldn’t have anticipated what happens next. Pharoah realizes, “who else should lead the nation through the years of plenty and years of famine but Joseph.”

Pharoah doesn’t just appoint Joseph to be the chair of the Department of Agriculture. Pharoah makes him the number two man in all Egypt. Joseph is decorated with royal dignities. He’s paraded around in Pharoah’s second chariot, so the people could recognize their new ruler and pay homage. Most importantly, Pharoah gives him his signet ring. A signet ring was a special stamp for signing documents. Joseph now has the authority of Pharoah, king of Egypt.

Yet, Joseph is a Hebrew slave. Will the Egyptian people receive him? To help, Pharoah does two things to make Joseph appear more Egyptian. He is given an Egyptian name. Zaphenath-paneah could mean “revealer of hidden things” or “the god speaks and he lives.” He is also given an Egyptian wife, from the family from which their pharaohs often chose their wives, says one of my sources. Joseph’s wife’s name “Asenath” means “belonging to Neith” (an Egyptian goddess). Her father’s, Potiphera (not to be confused with Potiphar—two different people), her father’s name means “He whom Ra (the Egyptian sun-god) has given.” He was a priest in the city of On—a city devoted to Ra.

By Pharoah’s decree, Joseph is married into a very pagan religious Egyptian family. That’s not the ideal situation. Yet, similar to the way Isaac and Jacob maintained faith in the one true God despite marrying women who grew up in pagan households, there’s no reason to suspect that Joseph drifted from faith in our Triune God. In fact, he continued to display his faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit throughout the rest of the book.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can say Joseph is a complex man. As I discussed weeks ago, he was a bit arrogant, a touch prideful. He was his father’s favorite, which everyone knew, and it did go to his head. That’s why he liked to talk about the dreams of his brothers—even his parents—bowing down to him. He failed to see the animosity all of this helped generate. Joseph struggled to display godly humility.

At the same time, he is a man who loves and trusts in the Lord. He’s a sinner like all of us, and—like all of us—he doesn’t want to disappoint the Lord. He also works hard at his tasks for the sake of the Lord. He labors as if he’s doing it for the Lord and not for man. He devoted himself to his tasks when he worked for his father, when he served Potiphar, when he was put in charge of the prison while being one of the inmates, and he’s going to devote himself to his new role as second-in-command of Egypt.

Joseph devoted himself to the tasks at hand—loving, trusting, and working hard for the Lord despite experiencing sufferings most of us (I’m assuming all of us) have never experienced. His brothers sold him into slavery. He’s sold to an Egyptian named Potiphar, whom he faithfully serves for about ten years. After false accusation is made against Joseph, he’s thrown into prison for about another two to three years. He very well could have thought to himself, “no good deed goes unpunished.” From the age of about 17 until the age of 30—all of his 20s—Joseph was a slave. We can’t relate to that.

What we can relate to is that life isn’t “fair.” Others can treat us cruelly. Others can falsely accuse us of things we didn’t do. Others can forget about us in our dark hours. We can work hard—we can even work hard for the Lord—and see no reward from it. In this life in a fallen world, we experience unfair moments and we endure hardships we don’t ask for.

I have to imagine Joseph had his struggles and doubts that are common to even believing sinners. Surely, he wondered “why me” at different times. Surely, his hope waxed and waned during his slavery—especially those final two years of false imprisonment. He much have experienced times of frustration, anger, or fear.

Scripture doesn’t go into all the details of Joseph’s heart and mind during those 13 to 14 years, but we know the man went from being his wealthy father’s favorite son—on top of the world—to a slave in the put of an Egyptian prison. That was very humbling.

Joseph pictures Jesus—the eternally begotten Son of God, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is worshiped and glorified. Yet, because of our sin and for our salvation, Jesus humbled Himself, taking on the form of a servant. He became man. He came from His heavenly kingdom to this fallen world of suffering in order to redeem you from sin and death. Jesus left His throne to endure sufferings and hardships in this life. He did nothing wrong, and yet was arrested, put through a sham of a trial during early morning hours, and was dying upon a cross by 9am. Jesus experienced a lot of unfairness. Our God suffered at the hands of sinful men. When Joseph suffered, he shared in Jesus’ sufferings. When we suffer, we share in Jesus’ sufferings.

Joseph pictures Jesus not only in his suffering, but in his being raised up. Joseph, who was innocently sold into slavery and imprisoned, was then raised up so that all authority in the land of Egypt was given to him. Pharoah even gave him charge over his house. Jesus, who was completely innocent of anything whatsoever when He was sentenced and died upon the cross, was then raised up so that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.

And He uses that authority to prepare for you a place in His Father’s house. He uses His authority to redeem, save, and forgive you in His blessed name. Amen.