COME AS A CHILD LESSON 99 ANOTHER PROBLEM ANOTHER PLEA

As Joesph’s brothers finished their feast with him, Joseph gave instructions to the steward of his house to fill each man’s sack with as much food as he could carry and then put each man’s silver inside their sack.  Then he told the steward to put his own personal silver cup in the mouth of Benjamin’s sack along with his silver.  The steward did as he was instructed. 

When the morning came, the men were sent back home, riding on their donkeys.  When they had gone only a short distance, Joseph said to his steward “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?  Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination?  This is a wicked thing you have done.  

So the steward rode out and found them and spoke to them as Joseph had commanded.

Of course the brother’s were stunned to think this could be happening.  They answered Joseph’s steward with surprise and astonishment.

“Why does my lord say such things?  Far be it from your servants to do anything like that!  We even returned from the land of Canaan, the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks.  So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?  If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves!”

Did you cringe when you heard them speak those words to Joseph’s steward?  I surely did.  Never waste words in an important situation, the less said the better; like Jesus always admonished his servants later, let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”  The outcry of this brother surely brought them even more trouble!

“Very well!” said the steward.  “Let it be as you say.  Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”

All of their sacks were lowered to the ground and opened.  The steward mysteriously started with the oldest and ended with the youngest.  Of course the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack!

When the brothers saw this they tore their clothes.  This was their way of publicly stating to the world they were in mourning.  Surely they were in anguish!  The precious son that they had promised their father they would look after was wrongly sentenced to death!  They loaded their donkeys and returned to the city of Joseph. 

Joseph was still at his house when they arrived.  Judah and his brothers went straight to him and threw themselves at his feet. 

Joseph said “What have you done?  Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?”

“What can we say?” they answered.  “What can we say?  How can we prove that we are innocent?  God has uncovered your servant’s guilt.  We are now my lord’s slaves, we, ourselves; and the one who was found to have the cup.”

Joseph answered them; “Far be it from me to do such a thing!  Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave.  The rest of you go back to your father in peace.”

To their father in peace?  Are you kidding!!!

Judah, remembering his promise to their father pleaded with Joseph.  “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to you.  Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.  My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ and we answered ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age.  His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’  Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself. And we said to my lord, ‘the boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’  But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’  When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.  Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’  But we said, “We cannot go down.  Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go.  We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

Your servant, our father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.  One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.  And I have not seen him since.  If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’

So now if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant, my father, and if my father whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die.  Your servant guaranteed the boy’safety to my father.  I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all of my life.

Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.  How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me?  No!  Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father!”

And so the brothers all waited patiently and hopefully for Joseph’s reply.  They knew whatever happened they would have trouble when they returned.  Either way, their father would have lost a son, whether it was Judah or Benjamin.

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 98 TRAVELING BACK TO EGYPT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

For a long time Israel/Jacob was very stubborn about letting the brothers of Joseph take Benjamin back to the land of Egypt.  He did not want them to take him away! 

But the grain they brought was beginning to dwindle down, and they soon would be hungry again.   One day Jacob told them to go back to Egypt and buy more food.  Judah reminded their father that they had been warned that they would not be allowed to buy any more food unless they brought Benjamin with them.  They could not go without him.

Jacob in all of his sorrow asked the logical question:  “Why did you tell the man you had a younger brother in the first place?”

They replied:  “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family.  “Is your father still living?  Do you have another brother?”  We simply answered his questions.  How were we to know he would say, “Bring your brother down here?”

Then Judah said to his father, Israel (Jacob) “Send the boy along with us and we will go at once so that we all can live and not die.  I will guarantee the safety of Benjamin.  You can hold me personally responsible for him.  If I do not bring him back to you I will bear the blame before you all of the rest of my life.  By now we could have already made the journey and returned twice.  It is not good to wait any longer."  

Finally Israel agreed.  He really had no choice. 

He told the brothers to put some of the finest products of the land into their sacks to give to the man.  They took balm and honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.  They took double the amount of silver, one amount to pay for new food and one amount to repay what had been returned to them, and they took Benjamin. 

Israel stayed behind and mourned.  He prayed for God to have mercy on all of them. 

The brothers hurried to Egypt and presented themselves before Joseph.  When Joseph saw them and that they had Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his household:  “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, they are to eat with me at noon.”

The servant did exactly as he was told.  The brothers were very frightened when they were taken to Joseph’s house.  They thought, ‘we were brought here because of the silver that was put into our sacks the first time.  He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.’  

They went up to Joseph’s steward and said “We beg your pardon, our lord; we came down here the first time to buy food.  But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver – the exact weight – in the mouth of his sack.  So we have brought it back with us.  We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food.  We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”

“It is alright” the servant said.  “Do not be afraid.  Your God, the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks.  I received your silver.

Then the servant of Joseph brought Simeon out to them.  After they gladly and warmly greeted Simeon the servant took them into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys.  They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard they were to eat with him. 

When Joseph arrived and greeted them, they presented their gifts and they bowed down to the ground before him.  He asked them how they were doing and he inquired about the health of their aged father.  He asked if the father was still living.

Once again, they bowed and answered Joseph that the father was alive and well. 

Joseph walked over to Benjamin and asked if he was the youngest brother.  They nodded and Joseph said “God be gracious to you, my son.” 

Joseph was so deeply moved at seeing his brother Benjamin, the only other son of his own mother, that he had to hurry out of the room and look for a place to weep.  He went into his own private room and wept.  He finally composed himself again, came back out and said “Serve the food.”

Egyptians do not eat with Hebrews.  That is detestable to Egyptians.  So they served Joseph by himself in one area of the room, the other Egyptians that were there in another section of the room, and the brothers of Joseph were separated into the section of the room with Joseph.   Joseph’s brothers were then seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest.  This astonished them, and they looked silently at each other in wonder  

When the food came, from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portions were five times as much as anyone else’s.  They did not know what to make of all this, they simply feasted and drank freely with him.  

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 97 TEN BROTHERS FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR SINS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt and he sent his sons to buy some, since they had no crops that survived the famine where they lived.

Jacob decided to keep Benjamin at home with him while the other ten brothers went to Egypt.  He had already lost Joseph under their care, and he did not want to take a chance that harm could come to Benjamin. 

When the ten brothers of Joseph arrived in Egypt they were among throngs of other people wanting to buy grain.  Famine was everywhere.  No one had escaped it except for Egypt, and they only had escaped it because of Joseph’s wise management.  Now Joseph was widely known as the Governor of the land.  He was the one in charge of selling the grain. 

As Joseph sat approving purchases his brothers approached in the line of millions.  They did not recognize him.  The last time they saw him he had only been a young boy, now he was a mature man and he had changed a lot in appearance.  Joseph, however, recognized them right away.  He pretended to be harsh so they would not know who he was until he decided how to react to them. 

“Where do you come from?”  Joseph asked. 

“From the land of Canaan” they replied, “to buy food.”

As they were standing there Joseph remembered his dreams about the brothers bowing down to him and he said to them:  “You are spies!  You have come to see where our land is unprotected!”

“No my Lord,” they answered, “Your servants have come to buy food.  We are all the sons of one man.  Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

“No!” Joseph said to them.  “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

Then they kept defending themselves.  “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan.  The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

Joseph was beginning to enjoy the game a bit.  He kept prodding them.  “It is just as I told you:  You are spies!  And this is how you will be tested:  As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.  Send one of your number to get your brother, the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth.  If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”  And he put them all in custody for three days.

Do you think Joseph might have been reminding them how bad it is on one’s reputation when they lie about things?  They had all lied to their father about Joseph and what had happened?  Now they probably thought they were being punished for it.  The fact that they must bring Benjamin to a hostile environment to prove their innocence must have felt so frustrating.  In order to escape the trouble they had brought upon themselves, they would need to hurt their father once again, and possibly bring MORE trouble upon themselves.

How sad, but isn’t that what our Heavenly Father goes through every time we plot and scheme and lie ourselves?  

We are just like Joseph’s wayward brothers, blind to our own stupidity and our own lack of gratefulness for how God has blessed us over and over.  We tend to hurt the Father that we love all the time.  

We should be able to easily identify with the feelings of these brothers.  And they must have thought about this sad situation the whole three days that they were in prison.  

It is interesting that they had to be held three days in order to prove their innocence.  The same amount of time that Jesus Christ was confined to death in a tomb.  But the third day was coming, and Joseph’s brothers must have been very anxious to find out what would happen next.

On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:  If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.  But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.”

Here again we see symbols of the crucifixion of Christ.  One man was held as ransom for all.  A hopeless family was blessed with provision.  God also provided all we needed for salvation.  It was asked that they bring back their younger brother when they returned.  It is asked of all of us who have committed our lives to Christ to bring our brothers with us back into the Kingdom of God.  So much symbolism can be seen in this story.

The brothers set out quickly to obey Joseph.  As they were standing in front of Joseph they spoke among themselves, thinking that Joseph did not understand the Hebrew language, because Joseph had used an interpreter to deal with them:  “Surely we are being punished because of our brother.  We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.”  Ruben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?  But you wouldn’t listen!  Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”  Once again, interesting that he used words that portray an accounting for blood.  It what the blood of Jesus that saved us. It was His death on a cross that brought us closer to God.  Ruben is referring to the plotted death of Joseph that they gave to their father in a story.  Thank God the story of Jesus was not plotted, but real in every way.

All the while they did not realize that Joseph could understand every word that they said. Hearing their words of confession and remorse affected him to grief.  He turned away from them and began to weep.  

Can you see Jesus standing on the mountain weeping for Jerusalem?  I can't help but think of it.

Later, when Joseph was in control of His emotions, he came back to them.  He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.  Then he gave orders for their bags to be filled with grain.  He also instructed for each man’s silver to be put back inside their sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.  After this was done for them, they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

They walked a long way before nightfall.  When the evening came they stopped and one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey.  He saw his silver in the top of the sack!  “My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers.  “Here it is in my sack!”

They all begin to tremble and their hearts sank.  They knew now more than ever that they were facing the consequences of their long ago sin of selling Joseph into slavery.  They said to one another; “What is this that God has done to us?”

When they reached home they told Jacob/Israel all that had happened to them.  They said, “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land.  But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.  We were twelve brothers, sons of one father.  One is no more and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’  Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men:  Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.  But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men.  Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’ 

They showed the grain they had brought to Jacob/Israel and as each man emptied their sack, there was his pouch of silver!  When they and Jacob/Israel saw the money pouches they were very frightened!  Israel turned to his sons and said to them:  “You have deprived me of my children.  Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin.  Everything is against me!”

Ruben had always felt bad about Joseph.  He now felt terrible about this situation.  He said to his father:  “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you.  Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”

But Jacob was still unsure of the situation and he said “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left.  If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 96 HOW JOSEPH SAVED EGYPT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

He put his signet ring on Joseph’s finger.  Ancient kings used signet rings to designate authority, honor or ownership.  A signet contained an emblem unique to the king.  Official documents were sealed with a dollop of soft wax impressed with the king’s signet, usually kept on a ring on his finger.  Such a seal certified the document as genuine, much like a notary public’s stamp today. 

Later in biblical history we can read in Kings 21:8 of the evil Queen Jezebel taking King Arab’s signet ring and writing letters in Ahab’s name and sealing them with his seal.  The ring’s stamp gave her letters the king’s authority. 

In Daniel 6:17 a signet ring was used to seal a stone covering a lions’ den.  A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords that nothing might be charged concerning Daniel.

 A royal signet ring is also featured in Genesis 41:41 and Esther 8:8.  We read in Haggai 2:23; “On that day, declares the LORD Almighty, I will take you, my servant, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel”  declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you.”  In Haggai’s prophecy God is giving Zerubbabel encouragement and hope.  The governor is “chosen” for a unique and noble purpose. As God’s signet ring, Zerubbabel is given a place of honor and authority.  He sits in the place of the authority of God.  God is reinstating the Davidic line and renewing His covenant with David.  Judah still has a future as they look forward to the coming Son of David, the Messiah, who would one day overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms.  But this is another story for another day!  

For now, just realize the power of the signet ring.  It means all authority of the King!  Joseph was given this much power over Egypt, yet he was a foreigner and a man who had educated himself after his childhood captivity and enslavement.  The one who had once been an innocent prisoner now stood with all the power of the land because of the ring on his finger. 

The fact that Pharaoh removed his own ring and placed it on Joseph’s finger also carries great significance.  It is as if this event wiped the slate clean for Joseph, and nothing would ever be held against his honor again, much like when the prodigal son came home and the happy Father gave him a ring and a robe. 

Pharaoh could have ordered another ring to be made, but he did not; he removed HIS ring and placed the only ring that made the signet within the power of Joseph.  What had once belonged only to Pharaoh now belonged equally as well to Joseph.  This showed Pharaoh’s great royal favor and was a token of the high office and great dignity to which Joseph was being promoted.

This act of “favor” has often played out down through the halls of history.  We know among the Romans when anyone was put into the equestrian order, a ring was given to him, even though originally none but knights were allowed to wear rings.  Sometimes rings were used to designate a successor in the kingdom, such as the time when Alexander was dying and he took off his ring from his finger and gave it to Perdicca and it was then understood though he did not express it, that Perdicca should become his successor.

In the Apocrypha 1 Maccabees 6 speaks of this act of the significance of rings:  “Then called he for Philip, one of his friends, who he made ruler over all his realm.  And gave him the crown, and his robe, and his signet, to the end he should bring up his son Antiochus, and nourish him up for the kingdom. 

In today's story, though Pharaoh was not pointing Joseph out as his successor to his kingdom, he did give him his ring as a mark of honor and trust.  It stood as a mark of Joseph being in place next to Pharaoh's viceroy or deputy and the ring contained all the rights for him to seal public deeds and patents.

Also, Pharaoh dressed Joseph in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain

around his neck.  Again, this was a way of showing honor and dignity and a way of proclaiming Pharaoh’s permission for Joseph to hold high power in the kingdom. 

The same honor was later bestowed upon Daniel when he revealed the meaning of the writing on the wall to the pagan king who let Jerusalem fall to waste.

Also, one cannot help but recall the story of the evil villain named Haman telling the king that one who honors him should be dressed in fine linen and given a purple robe and a gold chain and led through the city with someone proclaiming his honor.  Then the king gave it to Mordecai and crushed the evil plot of Haman to his own disgrace and he was humbled by having to lead the horse and make the public announcement. 

All through the ages rings and robes and gold chains have been used to honor men and show them in a place of authority.  One cannot help but pause here to remember how Joseph had been stripped of his beautiful coat of many colors and robbed of the heritage and authority of his Father's house as a young boy.  Now God had restored all that Joseph had lost and more.  Good men should not worry about their innocent loses; they should do as Joseph did and wait on God, who sees and knows all, to restore what was wrongfully done to them.  The scales of justice always swing around to those who follow God in due time.  

Pharaoh gave Joseph a chariot and made Joseph second in command.  When Joseph rode by people shouted “Make way!” because Joseph was in charge of all of Egypt and the people looked up to him with great respect. 

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all of Egypt.” 

Joseph was given the Egyptian name of Zaphenath-Peneah.  This name means “revealer of secrets.”  Some have even translated it to mean “Savior of the World.”  The Spirit of God in Joseph had revealed very important and valuable information, valuable enough to have saved the lives of all the people in all the land.  Pharaoh recognized this and appreciated this.  He honors Joseph with the new name and the new name commands the total respect and loyalty of the people of the land.  One day God will give each and every one of us a new name, a name that will proclaim the purposes He designed for our lives, a name that will replace the lies of the world and announce the truth of God.  A new name was an honorable thing for Joseph.  He would not longer be remembered as that slave, that prisoner, that man who had nothing.  

Joseph was given Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, as a wife. 

It would seem that Joseph had no choice in the giving of his wife, but God used this marriage to strengthen Joseph's new position as a national leader. 

The city of On was also known as Heliopolis, 'The City of the Sun.'  It was the center of worship of the sun god, Ra and it was located 10 miles northeast of modern day Cairo.  This pagan woman and her family certainly would not have been Joseph's choice had he been given power over the decision, nonetheless, it happened.  I can imagine that a few of the family gatherings might have been very uncomfortable though, and maybe the children might have been a bit sheltered from their grandfather!  Joseph certainly would have NEVER participated in any type of pagan worship.

The high priest in On, Joseph's Egyptian father-in-law held the title of "Greatest of Seers."  When Joseph married into this family, he joined a social class befitting a national leader.  Also implied in the marriage arrangement was Pharaoh's confidence that Joseph, too, was a 'seer,' or prophet, of the highest caliber.  The Egyptians believed in many gods, so they would not have thought this arrangement strange.  We do not know whether or not Asenath was truly a pagan, or if maybe there might have been a chance that she became a believer in The One True God of Joseph.  I like to hope that was the case.  At any rate, though it was a strange arrangement of a marriage, Joseph did not sin by taking Asenath as his wife.  He was given no choice in the matter.  

Further, the Old Testament Law had not yet been given.  The New Testament teachings regarding marriage did not yet exist.  There were no laws or guidelines set at the time of Joseph.  All marriages were honorable.  In addition, God worked through Joseph's marriage for it to serve as a blessing to many and to become an important part of the history of God's people.  

 Joseph was only thirty years old when he was given charge of Egypt under Pharaoh.  He began to travel throughout Egypt and during his time of reign the land produced abundantly.  When the crops came in Joseph collected all the food produced for the next seven years and stored it in the cities.  He put the food grown in the cities fields inside storage buildings within that city.  In other words, each city was commanded to store away its own grain.  

The quantities of grain Joseph stored were like the sands of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

During these times of plenty Joseph and Asenath had two sons.

They named the first born Manasseh and Joseph said “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”  

He named the second son Ephraim and on his birth Joseph said:  “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” 

The seven years of abundance passed quickly, and just as the dream had foretold, the seven years of famine came.  There was famine in all the lands, but Egypt had food!  

When all of Egypt began to feel the famine the people cried out to Pharaoh and Pharaoh told them to go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you to do.  So Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. 

 Soon the famine spread throughout the whole world and all the people of the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph. 

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 95 PHARAOH HAS A DREAM

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Years went by.  Joseph continued his imprisonment.  The cupbearer went happily about his own life, never mentioning Joseph.  One thing to note about Joseph.  He didn't get bitter.  He didn't whine about how unfair life was to him.  He didn't blame God for his bad circumstances.  As a matter of fact; he leaned on God to help him through his circumstances.  Joseph was content and thankful in every place where God put him.  He simply trusted God for better days when things were not so well.  He did not lose faith.

One night, Pharaoh had a dream.  In this dream he was standing by the Nile River.  Out of the river came up seven cows.  They were sleek and fat and they grazed among the reeds.  After those cows came seven other cows.  They were ugly and gaunt.  They came up out of the Nile and stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank.  Then the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows.  After that Pharaoh woke up.

Perhaps this dream disturbed him, but he didn’t speak of it to anyone.  He was probably pondering what it meant and wondering if it was significant.  Maybe he would have let it pass, but he had yet another dream.  In the second dream he saw seven heads of grain.  They were healthy and good to eat and were growing on a single stalk.  After that he saw seven other heads of grain.  They were sprouted and thin and scorched by the east wind.  The seven thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy heads of grain. 

Well, this time Pharaoh WAS troubled.  Two similar dreams that he knew meant something, but he wasn’t sure what they meant.  It troubled him so much that he sent for his magicians and wise men.  Each man listened carefully to Pharaoh’s dream, but not one of them had an interpretation. 

Of course, the Chief Cupbearer was standing guard over Pharaoh and watching all of this as it transpired.  Suddenly he regained his memory!  He thought of Joseph.  He said to Pharaoh:  “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.  Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.  Each of us had a dream the same night.  Each dream had a meaning of its own.  Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.  We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.  And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us.  I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.

On hearing this Pharaoh sent immediately for Joseph.  They brought him out of the dungeon, allowed him to shave and change his clothes and sent him to meet Pharaoh.  Pharaoh said to Joseph:  “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.  But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.

Joseph, always quick to give God the Glory for what God allowed him to do said:  “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Pharaoh just kept talking:  “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the river there came seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.  After them, seven other cows came up – scrawny and very ugly and lean.  I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt.  The lean ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first.  But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before.  Then I woke up.

Joseph didn’t say a word and Pharaoh kept talking.  He began to tell Joseph about the second dream.

“In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk.  After them, seven other heads sprouted – withered and thin and scorched by the east wind.  The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads.  I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”

God gave Joseph the meaning of both dreams.  He said to Pharaoh:  “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same.  God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.  The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and same dream.  The seven lean, ugly cows that came afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind.  They are seven years of famine.  It is just as I said to Pharaoh.  God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.  Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them.  Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.  The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe.  The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.   And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.  Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.  They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.  This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”

Pharaoh accepted Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams, and Joseph’s advise seemed good to him.  So Pharaoh asked those who ruled under him:  “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”  He turned to Joseph and said:  “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.  You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders.  Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”   

God had given Joseph a good day!  

Little did anyone realize that God had given the sons of Abraham and the Family of God a way to keep from starving in the years to come.  He did it through His servant Joseph.  Because of Joseph Israel and His children would maintain life.  Because the Family of Abraham was being provided for by God; the children of Egypt benefited also.  Not one person realized exactly all that was going on.  No one saw or knew that Joseph had been put into his circumstances in order to preserve the ancestors of the coming Messiah.  They were simply thinking of their own stomachs.  Sometimes God even uses our greed and our twisted human nature for the benefit of The Kingdom of Heaven.  All anyone knew was that their own set of circumstances might bring them trouble and they must begin to prepare.  What better person to help them do this than Joseph, the one who interpreted dreams, who remembered details, who followed instructions and finished things well.

Joseph was released from prison and moved into a palace all in one day.  When God is in control, things can change quickly.  This was the moment Joseph had waited and prayed for.  God’s answer was better than any he could have visualized for himself.  Joseph went right to work managing Pharaoh’s palace.  

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 94 BEYOND THE CUPBEARERS DREAM

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

A lot of the story of Joseph is about dreams that have meanings.  In the first part of our story we hear about Joseph’s dreams, that his family would bow down before him and he would rule over them.  He dreamed this same dream in a different way twice.  His dreams also predicted the coming famine in the land where Jacob's family lived. 

In the middle of Joseph's story we hear of the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer of the King of Egypt.  We would do well to examine their dreams a bit closer.  In the scriptures we are simply told the basic story and the basic facts, but other scriptures recall portions of these dreams.  There may be more meaning to the story than we see on the surface at the first glance.  

For instance, let's look again at the dream of Pharaoh’s Chief Cupbearer.  The cupbearer told Joseph that he squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh’s cup in his dream.  

On the night that he was betrayed, during the Passover Seder (which recalls the escape of the Hebrews from Pharoah’s bondage, Jesus also took a cup in much the same way that this cupbearer would have done.  After the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”  (Luke 22:20)  

Think back to our original story now when Joseph told the cupbearer the meaning of his dream.  He said the three branches were three days and within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.  In other words, in three days the cupbearer would basically pass from his sentence of death to a new life and a restoration of his former self.  

We can clearly see that the cupbearer’s dream speaks of the new covenant in which we pass from spiritual death to eternal life because Jesus Christ, Our Messiah, rose from the prison of a grave on the third day into life. Because of this we too have been given a new and eternal life with God.  We, like the cupbearer, have been restored.  Our old sins have been forgiven and forgotten and we are able to stand before God restored, just as this cupbearer resumed his old job before Pharaoh. 

Joseph, hopefully explains to the cupbearer, knowing that he will be restored and stand before the King again, that he has done no harm to anyone, yet he has been imprisoned as an innocent man for quite some time.  He asked the cupbearer to “remember me.”  

Did Jesus not ask the same of us, using those very same words; "remember me?"   Did Jesus not want us to remember that his precious and innocent blood was shed for us?  How many times did he ask?  Yes, He has asked us to remember, and we do this every time we partake of communion.  We remember. Do we really?  Sometimes I wonder how much remembering Jesus is involved?  We must be dwelling on Him.  We must remember how He served us.  It was not His place to serve us, but our place to serve Him.  He did it anyway.  Do we REALLY remember?

So the Baker saw that the Cupbearer’s dream was interpreted favorably and he decided to ask for an interpretation of his own dream.   I'm sure he was hoping for the same good news.   In this dream he was carrying three baskets of bread on his head and the birds were coming down and eating the bread from his baskets.  Joseph told the baker that the three baskets represented three days and in three days his head would be lifted off by Pharaoh and his body would be impaled on a pole and the birds would come and eat his flesh.  What a gruesome interpretation!   I’m sure the baker regretted asking!  He probably would rather not know the outcome at this point.  Can you imagine his terror? He must have been especially terrified when he saw the Cupbearer's dream play out exactly as Joseph had predicted.  

So Joseph had predicted that  the cupbearer's head would be lifted up, and the baker's head would be lifted off.  This is a dream that portrays the day of judgement for all mankind.  The Baker's dream  symbolically speaks of sin and the evil one. 

This all sinks in and becomes much clearer when we read 1 Corinthians 5:8; “Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

It is noted that the different varieties of the breads baked for the king in the baker’s basket would have contained leaven.  Leaven is symbolic of sin, wickedness and malice.  The baker symbolically had sin upon his head.  Sin always leads to death.

Think for a moment about the vision of the birds swooping down to eat the bread from the baskets the Baker was carrying on his head.  We are reminded of a parable with a line that says:  “As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. “  (Matthew 13:4.)

We know that the scriptures always manage to interpret themselves if you just keep reading.  In Matthew 13:18-19 we get the interpretation of the parable:  “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.  This is the seed sown along the path. “

The birds which ate the seeds in the parable of the sower represented the agents of Satan.  The birds in the baker’s dream symbolized the carrion-eating, unclean birds which would eventually eat away the baker’s flesh. 

So we see the culmination of Joseph's interpretation of the two dreams.   Pharaoh’s birthday arrived on the calendar and he had a huge party, a feast and a festival for all the people in the land.  He brought forward the cupbearer and the baker and lifted up their heads in front of all of his officials.  He restored the cupbearer and beheaded the baker, just as Joseph predicted would happen. 

Are you a Christian saved by the atonement of the blood of Christ?  Then you are comparable to the Chief Cupbearer and you are freely given eternal life! We are all cupbearers to the King of Kings!  Those who believe in Christ have been restored and lifted up.  We get to pour ourselves out every day like wine before the King of the Kingdom of God.  

Have you not believed on the name of Jesus yet?  Have you decided to believe there is no God and have you chosen to walk away from all the evidence that One True God does exist?  Then you are comparable to the baker in this story.  Without realizing it, when you deliberately choose not to follow God you get the default for that; you choose to follow Satan.  Those who follow Satan and live wicked lives go the way of the baker, straight into Satan’s trap where they will die with their sin on their own heads.

There is one huge difference between our lives today and the lives of these two dreamers.  We have a choice.  We can choose our destiny, they could not.  For centuries men have been given a choice, but the time for deciding is quickly running out.  Like sand in an hourglass we are quickly approaching an end to the period of grace that God has so generously granted.  Have you chosen correctly?  Have you chosen at all?  The day is coming when no more decisions can be made, either you have decided to follow God, or you have not.  I hope everyone reading this considers those consequences.     

For those who HAVE decided, I hope you were paying attention to that one little detail at the end of the story of the cupbearer and the baker.  By now you have all figured out that Joseph so clearly represents Christ in this story.  He had asked the cupbearer to "remember me."  Yet, after he was completely restored and back to an even better life than he once had before prison, the chief cupbearer failed to remember Joseph!  The cupbearer got exactly what he needed and more.  He was completely restored and forgiven by the King and allowed to return to abundant life, but he forgot all about the one who had promised this would happen.  He forgot to remember Joseph to the King.

Does this have a familiar sound?  Have you been living happy and snug in the Kingdom, just so restored and relieved, but forgetting who proclaimed your destiny in the first place?  Have you thanked the King for Jesus lately?  Wasn't He the One who told you the end of your story?  Do you take it all for granted and just go on with your good fortune?  Do you ever remember to remember?

Joseph was still stuck back in that prison, not complaining, just serving the Lord, waiting on the day that the King would find out and proclaim His innocence.  Jesus is still in that throne room, daily listening to your prayers, taking them to the Father.  Have you asked God to let him come quickly to his rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords?   He hasn’t been crowned yet, but He, like Joseph, has a greater destiny than just restoring us and interpreting our destiny.  One day the King will look down and see Him in all His innocence and set him upon His rightful earthly throne, the one his enemy Satan would love to steal away from Him.  It is Satan's plan that none of us remember, that we are like that foolish cupbearer who only thought of himself when God blessed him.  But Jesus, like Joseph, is simply waiting on God’s timing.  Unlike the forgetful cupbearer, He always remembers and he always keeps His promises.  Soon we will know.  One day soon….HE IS COMING!   

The significance of the cupbearer's dream lives on, and an even greater cupbearer will one day be restored to an even greater Kingdom.  Keep your eyes open and your heart prepared.