“And it came to pass after these things, that the butler (cupbearer) of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt” (Gen. 40:1). The immediate consequence was imprisonment while perhaps more accurate evidence was accumulated.
Joseph’s involvement
As an aside, their imprisonment meant more work for Joseph. “And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them” (40:4). Evidently Joseph was put in charge of these men; but instead of exercising authority over them, he ministered to them. Here, Joseph displays one of the many foreshadowings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Master but comes as one who serves, even to giving his life on our behalf.
The setting
The two officers had dreams the same night. The word for officer actually suggests a eunuch. The same word is used for Potiphar, who may have been rendered thus when elevated to Pharoah’s court. If this were Potiphar’s condition, it would help explain the actions of his wife.
The dreams brought intense frustration to both the butler and the baker, an intensity that is really not conveyed in the translation, “they were sad.”
The Hebrew for “sad” means “to boil up, to be peevish” and is sometimes rendered “fret.” Thus they appeared to be extremely frustrated by their inability to understand the dreams.
Dream of the cupbearer
The cupbearer dreamed that “a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes” (Gen. 40:9-10 NKJV). Note the unusual feature that the entire process of budding through ripening fruit is part of the dream.
Continuing his relation, the butler said, “And Pharoah’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharoah’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharoah’s hand.” Note the emphasis on Pharoah’s cup filled by Pharoah’s servant and given into Pharoah’s hand. The ripening vine fits with the developing work of Jesus, which was presented to his Father as a completed work.
And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up thine head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharoah’s cup in his hand…” (Gen. 40:12-13). The three days are surely suggestive of the three days Jesus spent in the tomb. Then he was lifted up from death and exalted to present the result of his life’s work to the Father. When Jesus appeared to Mary, he said, “Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” Taking the words at face value, can we not assume that Jesus had not yet “presented” his blood, the blood of the new covenant to his Father? When this was done and his life’s work accepted, then it would result in Jesus being elevated to the right hand of the Father.
Dream of the baker
The chief baker “said to Joseph, ‘I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head. In the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head’ (Gen. 40:16,17).
In his interpretation, Joseph indicates the baskets are three days, after which the baker would be hung on a tree and the birds would eat his flesh from off him. Several things are highly suggestive here, such as the three days again, the “white” baskets, hanging on a tree, and the ravaging of the baker’s bread and then his body.
In the case of Jesus, the body that contained all of sin’s potential was hanged on a tree where his enemies ravaged upon him with their words. “Bread” and “white” are associated with the body, the followers of Jesus who were themselves persecuted by the authorities, both Jewish and Gentile.
As we look at the total picture presented in these two dreams, we see many of the elements that we reflect upon at every memorial service as we partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the death and resurrection of our Lord.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One