Friends, we are continuing our study of the life of Joseph, and as I mentioned, the title of this evening's sermon is, Steadfast Love in Providence. Steadfast Love in Providence. This is for you. Friends, let's read God's Word together. Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his beggar committed an offense against their lord, the king of Egypt, and Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody, and one night they both dreamed the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, each his own dream and each dream with his own interpretation. When Joseph came to the Why were your faces downcast today? They said to him, We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, Do not have interpretation, you belong to God. Please, tell him to me. So the cheap cut bearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream there was a vine before me, and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, the blossoms shot forth, and the clusters rippled into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup. and place the cup in Pharaoh's hand. Then Joseph said to him, This is its interpretation. The three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as foremost when you were his partner. 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, for I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, I have done nothing of that. They should have put me into the pit." When the chief beggar saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, I also have you. There were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head. Joseph answered and said, this is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you. and hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat the flesh from you." On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand, but he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph. This is the Word of God. Thanks be to God. Let's pray. Our gracious Father, we are so thankful to be in your house, to gather with your people, to hear your Word. Father, your Word is living and active. By your Word, you give life, you bring faith, you grant repentance, you work to sanctify, to satisfy, to comfort and care for your people. Father, take your Word and give life. Lord, help us to love Okay friends, Joseph is in prison. Remember Joseph was sold as a slave when he was 17 years old. He was sold by his brother. has been down in Egypt as a slave. And he got down there, and the Lord, though, was with Joseph. The Lord kept steadfast love to Joseph. And he was working hard and faithfully in the house of Pontifor, the lion. And the Lord blessed the work of Joseph's hands. And in time, Pontifor exalted Joseph. And even in his slavery, God was reminding Joseph that he was with him, that he would not forsake him, that he would do for him what he had promised. And that promise goes back to the dream that Joseph had when he was a boy. Remember those dreams that he had? He dreamed that he would be exalted above his brothers, and even above Jacob and Leah. And so we see that the word of God has come to Joseph, and God had made promises to him. God was with him, and yet Joseph found himself in slavery, even. And more than that, after spurning the advances of Popper's wife, and that we see through the providence of God a steadfast love of God. Well, this circumstance goes on for some time. Verse 1 of chapter 40 opens some time after this. So, not just a few days or a few weeks, probably a couple years. So, with some times passed, and we see that in the prophets of God, there is a crisis at court. And the crisis involves the cupbearer and the baker. The chief cupbearer and the chief baker. These are two of the most important people And so, friends, even to this day, but especially so in ancient times, poisoning is a danger for kings and for those in high positions. And so it's not uncommon for food to be sampled and for drink to be taken before it was given to the king. And we're not told exactly what it is, but it's something of enough severity that Pharaoh decided that they both must be removed from their position and put in custody until he can decide what to do with them. Once again, friends, we see that these crises are not outside the purview of God. God has ordered all things from the beginning, even this seemingly insignificant or just not really So Pharaoh calls to Potiphar, verse 3, and he asks Potiphar, the captain of the guard, to put them in custody. Again, the providence of God. Joseph wasn't sold to some farmer in backwoods Egypt. He wasn't sold to some rural lord. But Joseph was sold in the providence of God. God ordained, God established, God purposed that the man who would buy Joseph as a slave would be the captain of the town guard, of this Egyptian capital. And he had great authority, not just in the city, but in the palace, and he would have this prison that he would run. Now, a prison in ancient times is not feels towards Joseph. Remember, Potiphar was really angry with Joseph. I mean, his wife, Potiphar's wife, accused Joseph of trying to seduce her and be with her and do all manner of horrible things to her. And so Potiphar was angry with Joseph, but we saw that it seemed like Potiphar's temper kind of maybe waned a bit. He could have put Joseph to death, but he didn't. Instead, he put him in the as his conduct, his character, is shining through. Friends, Joseph is a man of integrity, and Joseph is a man, by the grace of God, faithful in the work that he's been entrusted to do, and that work speaks for him. Friends, the obedience that we render as Christians, the lives that we lead, they are giving glory to our Father in heaven. it begins to affect the way we look at everything. It affects the way we look at our jobs. For example, friends, maybe tomorrow morning we go to work, and as a Christian, it changes the way we look at that work. Because now I see that that work is something that God has entrusted to me, put in my charge. It is an opportunity for me to glorify him. I now see my work as a mission field, where Christ has sent me as an ambassador, and I realize that I'm dependent on the Holy Spirit to come and empower and equip me and enable me to have the knowledge, the strength, the wisdom I need to do this job for the glory of God." See, friends, the Christian sees his work truly as a vocation. That word vocos means calling. Dear ones, it's no accident that you're a banker, you're a lawyer, you're a technician, whatever your skill or has been ordained by a Holy Sovereign God. And dear ones, as Christians, we see that as occasion and an avenue to give God the glory. So let that spur us on. Let Joseph's example be a reason for us to call out to God for mercy. Lord, help me to see my job as ordained for your glory. Grant me my joy, even in the most awful work. I mean, Joseph is in a prison. taking care of prisoners in a pit, and yet he's still giving glory to God. He's still honoring the Lord, and the Lord is blessing his work there in the prison. So, Joseph has been given some charge. How do we show some favor by trusting these men into his care? Well, in verse five, we see that after some time, they both have a dream, the cupbearer and the baker, and they're confined in the prison. And this dream, we're told in verse five, there's a dream and each dream with its own interpretation. Now, this is Moses, the author of Genesis, telling us that these dreams are not the ordinary dreams that you and I have, where, you know, if you're like me, you have very, you know, fantastical dreams of, you know, being a knight and slaying a dragon and mark him out as a prophet. So this is an oracle of God. These dreams are the word of God. The word of God comes to the cupbearer and it comes to the banker in the form of a dream. A dream that is symbolic. And a dream that they can't really fathom what's going on. And it disturbs them. So, verse 6, Joseph comes in in the morning to take care of them. To bring them their food, and bring them their water, and take care of their other daily needs. And he discovers their trouble. shows for the cupbearer and the baker. Instead of simply giving them their bread and water and simply going about his business, he takes the time to ask them what's wrong. Now, look at it, friends. Joseph is a sinful man. Never forget that. He was born dead and trespasses and sins. He is in Adam from his mother's womb, and he is redeemed in Christ Jesus, but he has been saved by grace through faith. He is a redeemed man, and we see in his body who brings salvation to his people. And so we see, through Joseph's compassion, the compassion of Christ, the care that Christ shows for suffering sinners, as we are. But then also, friends, it's a call for us, by God's grace, to have that same compassion and spirit, that same love and concern for one another. So friends, let's have this. not to simply pass it on, not to simply guard my time and say, Father, this is just too much for me to invest in. Let's ask the Father to help us to have that same compassion and caring heart for those who are in pain around us. Because friends, it may be that those are the opportunities Christ has given us to serve him to his glory, to speak the truth of his word, to minister into his name. Let us pray that God will give us big hearts, We have traditional astrology to interpret them. You know, when they were in the court, they had magicians at hand, wise men. And these magicians and wise men, they're not really illusionists. I mean, they did tricks. We see that in the days of Moses. These magicians had tricks. They've got all manner of sleight of hand and cool things they can do. But their main purpose is to be fortune tellers, to be the ones that would interpret dreams and visions for the king and for others in the court. And I would come here and they would say, you don't have anybody in hand to help us. No wise man's coming down here to the prison. So we're just sitting here scratching our heads about this troubling dream. Notice what Joseph says. And Joseph says, do not interpretations belong to God. Please tell them to me. And Joseph plainly says, look at it. I don't have the ability in myself The interpretation is that dreams belong to God. This is a dream that God has given you, and there's an interpretation to it. If this is an oracle of God, well, it's from God, and God will not only give the dream, but he'll also give the interpretation, because this is his word. And he is, on the one hand, maybe even rebuking some of the pagan belief systems, that you could interpret dreams, you could see the future, you could plunge the oracles of God by interpretations. These oracles belong to God. Joseph knows that this is him. Now Joseph has a history of dreams. Again, as we said, God appeared to Joseph and gave him very grand dreams of exaltation over his father's house, of reaching heights of glory. And now it seems Joseph is kind of coming to terms, perhaps, with what the Lord has been doing in his life up to this day. He's been humbled and humbled and humbled. And it seems like he's been brought lower and lower and lower. But he knows the Lord has not forsaken him, and so he still puts his trust in God, who says, God is the one who will interpret these issues. Okay, as we're reading these texts, one thing I want you to keep in mind, there's a great difference between divine oracles, when God gives a dream and an interpretation in scripture, and sort of fortune-telling, that pagan fortune-telling like Nostradamus consulting the media, or any of that stuff, any of that cult practice, which, by the way, the Bible says Christians ought not to do, because it's wickedness, and it's idolatry, and it's a great offense to the Holy God. So, in contrast to this soothsaying, we see Joseph as the prophet. Now, notice the vision, notice the dream. So the chief cupbearer begins, he tells it, he says, in my dream there was a vine before me, and on the spine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the grapes, pressed them in Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand." Pretty straightforward, friends. The Oracle of God is not that—it's not—it's clear that grape juice. Normally it's turned into wine, and he's giving it to Pharaoh. So he knows the drink, but he doesn't really understand it. And then Pharaoh, I'm sorry, then Joseph gives the interpretation, verse 12. Then Joseph said, this is the interpretation. The branches are in three days. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formally when you look up there. Joseph gives a very clear, very precise, and, as we'll see, ultimately, accurate privileges. Friends, this is the difference between soothsaying and fortune-telling and that sort of pagan occult magic stuff. All of it is premised on abstract, vague sort of notions, right? Something that is so vague, so imprecise, so sort of opaque that it can be in that an accurate fact be applied to it. But that's not how the oracles of God work. God's oracles are clear. The word of God is clear. The word of God is precise. When God makes a prophecy, friends, it comes to pass, and it comes to pass exactly the way he describes it. Okay, so that's how we see the sovereignty of God, the vision of God, the goodness of God. When God predicts the future, friends, it's not like he's staring Oh, maybe it'll be this, maybe it'll be that. No, he knows the end from the beginning and all the means in between. This world is not spinning at loose ends. I don't know if you guys have ever seen Doctor Who, but the whole concept of Doctor Who is there's a time traveling Doctor. He always talks about points that are fixed and points that are in the flux. So in the cosmology of this world, there are certain events that could change based on certain decisions based on certain outcomes, and there are things that are fixed and certain and mustn't necessarily come to pass. Well, friends, that's not just, you know, in a science fiction show. That's often how we, even as Christians, think of the future. That some things are fixed, some things are in flux, even God is sort of waiting there, seeing what the outcome will be. But no, friends, that's not the God in the Bible. The God in the Bible is sovereign, and he orders the end from the beginning and all the means in between. There's nothing left but chance. There's no maverick molecules in the universe. Even a human sin doesn't derail the wise, good, and faithful purposes of God. In fact, he works in, through, above, upon whomever he will in order to accomplish the salvation of his people in Christ Jesus. So, friends, bottom line. It will come to pass. He's powerful enough to do it. He's wise enough to do it. Perfect him isn't perfect. He would have been powerful. And he's perfect in knowledge. So it's not going to be like something's going to jump out and God's going to say, oh, I didn't think about that detail. Oh, if I had really been preparing, I should have seen for that possible scenario. No, this is perfect revelation. Joseph makes one request, though, that the Comforter would remember him, and do him the kindness to mention him to Pharaoh, to be an advocate for him before the throne. And he says in verse 15, I was stolen out of slavery, I've been kidnapped, and even here in this pit, I've got nothing to deserve this treatment. He mentions his ethnicity, he's a Hebrew. It comes from the children of Eber, way back in the early part of Genesis. volunteer for. This isn't something I was forced into because I couldn't pay my debts. I was kidnapped. Please, be my help. Remember me. He wants a Redeemer. And friends, remember that for a moment, because we all need an advocate. We need a Redeemer. We need someone to plead our case before a holy God. And 1 John tells us that there is only one, there is an advocate for us with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. We have come to trust in Christ, he is our advocate, he is our defender, he is the one who pleads, our cause, and the father who loves you and loves his son, is faithful to answer the prayers that Christ, our advocate, makes for us. So, friends, if you ever find yourself as though you have no body to stand up for you, everybody's abandoned you, everybody's forsaken you, but remember, Verse 16, when the chief baron saw that the interpretation was favorable, he also said to Joseph, hey, I had a dream, and there were three big baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, the birds were eating out of the basket on my head. And Joseph answered him and said, verse 18, this is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. Verse 19, in three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you, hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat the flesh from you. Well, because Pharaoh got an oracle of wheel, His head, presumably, is going to be separated from his body. He's going to be separated, and that flesh is going to be displayed in the open air, and the carrying birds will feast on that flesh of the Vader. Horrendous to think about. The birthdays are a big deal to us, they were a big deal to people back then, and they were especially important to Monarchs. Birthdays were huge. Remember in the New Testament, we see it was Herod's birthday, it was the occasion for him to acquiesce to Herodias' daughter's demand that he behead John the Baptist, right? So these are big parties. And so Pharaoh, as a sign of his magnanimity, them up out of prison and presents them at the party. Trials were to be held. The cupbearer and the bakermen had their day of the world. And so, verse 21, he shows grace and mercy to the cupbearer. He restores him to his position and places the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But, verse 22, given to him. But in verse 23, tragically, the chief cupbearer forgets Joseph. He did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Joseph is languishing in prison. And we'll see next week, it was two whole years after this whole episode, when in the providence of God, according to God's steadfast love for Joseph, Friends, this is a dark day for Joseph. I mean, like I said, it feels like that chance for redemption has just slipped out of his fingers. He's languishing in the pit, far from home, enslaved, feeling abandoned by all that the Lord is with him. So friends, in closing, that steadfast love, that providence, that sovereign hand. He is working for his people. So if you have fled to Christ, if you are this day hoping in Christ, crucified and raised from the dead as your Savior and your King, if you're hoping in Christ and His righteousness among your friends, this God revealed to you is such a treasure to you. He is a most assured hope, and I pray that As you're banqueting on these truths, as you're remembering how good and faithful His love is to you. Friends, when we do find a very difficult circumstance, a very trying time, I pray that whatever that pain may be, we would see that our God was good and steadfast. prayer in the order I just