Genesis 40 Series, Part 2, Verses 1-4

Hello, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #2 of Genesis 40, and I will read Genesis 40:1-4:

And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

In our last study I mentioned that the butler and the baker had offended their lord who was Pharaoh, king of Egypt. I hinted at the fact that Pharaoh would be a type and picture of God early in this account, and I mentioned that later in the chapter when it was Pharaoh’s birthday, we would need to have a different understanding of who he represents, and we will lay that out later. But here he is a type and figure of God who was offended by the butler and the baker.

I also mentioned that the butler and the baker can be viewed in a similar way as Jacob and Esau. God had a plan in which he would spare Jacob, and judge and destroy Esau. They represent the saved and the unsaved. We will find that in the case of the butler and the baker, the butler will find favor with Pharaoh and he will be taken out of prison and restored to his butlership. The baker would find no such favor with Pharaoh, and he would be hanged. 

The Hebrew word translated as “offended” in verse 1 is also translated as “sinned” in Exodus 9:27:

And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: JEHOVAH is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

We also find this word in Psalm 51 where David is moved to acknowledge his sins before God in Psalm 51:3-4:

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sinis ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

He had sinned or offended. Again, the butler and the baker had offended. They had sinned against their lord the king of Egypt. Historically, it was some sort of earthly offense, and it could very well have been a failure in their duties to make sure the king was safe in his eating and drinking. The butler ties in with drinks, and the baker would be in charge of food. But now they are imprisoned because they had done something that was an offense to the king of Egypt, and it landed them in prison. Verse 2 states that Pharaoh was wroth against these two officers. If you remember, in the previous chapter we had discussed the fact that the word “officer” is the same word translated as “eunuch,” and that is the case here. These men were two of his eunuchs, officers that were often placed in positions of authority, and therefore they would be officers of the court. 

Again, Pharaoh was wroth against the chief of the butlers and the chief of the bakers, and this word “wroth” is often translated as “angry.” You know, God is not happy with mankind. Why was Pharaoh angry against these two? It was because they had sinned, or offended him. The words “sinned” and “wroth” are both found together in another verse in Isaiah 64:5:

Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

You see, this is true of all mankind. We have sinned. It is a fact. We have transgressed and offended God. As a result, God is angry with us. Many people have a distorted sense of their relationship with God. They have no real understanding of the Bible, and it is very likely they are unsaved, Yet if you ask them, “What is your relationship with God?” They would respond, “I am basically a good person, so I think God is happy with me. Yes, I do some wrong things, but overall I am a good person.” But that is not true according to the Bible. The Bible does not “weigh” a person that way. “Here is the wrong he has done, and here is the good he has done, and this person is more good.” People tend to weigh themselves against others, and they say, “Well, I am not a murderer, or rapist, or anything like that. Yes, I have lied and stolen, and I have hated some people, and I have spoken about people behind their backs, but I am basically a good person.” The problem is they are using the wrong system of measurement. You can throw that out. It is not the correct way of examining yourself to see how you stand before God.

The proper system of measurement is to measure ourselves against the Law book of God, the Bible. And the Law says that one must keep the whole Law, and if you offend in just one point you are guilty of all, and you are then declared a lawbreaker. How many sins did it take for Adam and Eve to die and usher in ruin upon themselves and all generations that came from their loins? It was just one sin. God set a Law. There was only one Law, and that was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They ate of it, and they broke the Law. Sin is the transgression of the Law, and they were guilty. God had said that in the day they would eat thereof, they would die. They died spiritually, and later physically. Without a Savior, they would have died forever and cease to exist, and on the last day whatever is left of their physical dead bodies will be destroyed and annihilated out of existence.

So the transgression of the Law is the measure. If we have sinned, we are guilty. One cannot say, “But I love my wife, and I raise my children well. I am honest at work and do a good job.” That is not the measure. One sin is all it takes, and the penalty must be paid for that sin. That sin has killed you. The solution is not a man doing work because the Bible says that no man is justified by the works of the Law, and the whole Bible is a Law book. So no man is justified by seeking to keep the whole Law, and it is impossible with man. The purpose of the Law book, the Bible, is to show man as guilty before God and our desperate need for a Saviour. So Christ is said to be the end of the Law for righteousness. It points to Him. The Bible convicts us. We cannot get right with God through the keeping of the Law, and we remain sinners and subject to the penalty for sin which is death. And that should have led the child of God in the day of salvation to cry out, “Dear heavenly Father, have mercy upon me! Have mercy!” So for the few out of whole of mankind, God did have mercy, and He did save His elect people. Salvation is Christ having taken our sins upon Himself, suffering the penalty for our sins, and in His death He paid that awful price in full, freeing us from sin and death, and now we are new creatures. No sin is upon us as far as God is concerned. All sin is paid – past, present, and future. All our sin was laid upon Jesus at the foundation of the world.

So we see the offense of both these men, the butler and baker. None are righteous, no, not one. None are good. The Bible is no respecter of persons. The Bible does not see any righteous people anywhere. It sees a world full of transgressors and sinners, and it condemns them all. Even those who became saved were children of wrath even as others. That is why the butler and the baker both offended. They both sinned against their Lord. Again, the spiritual picture is that Pharaoh is a type and picture of God. All men have offended against God, and as a result God is angry. He is wroth with us. Pharaoh is wroth with the butler whom he will later show favor, and he is wroth with the baker whom he will later hang. To begin with, all are children of wrath, and we are under the wrath of God. The wrath of God abides upon the sinner every day of his life, if we read John 3:36:

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

You may have a good life with a nice family and good friends. Yes, the sun comes up upon you, and there are rainy seasons and fruitful weather, and you are enjoying many things, but that is not the indicator regarding whether God’s wrath is upon you, or not. The Bible tells us the truth. You cannot discern whether you are under the wrath of God from your outward physical setting. It could be that God had no plan to save you, and He simply gave you your portion of this temporal earthly inheritance for a few days, and then you are going to die, and that is it for you. Your life is done and whatever you enjoyed of life will no longer be remembered because you will no longer have any conscious existence, and that final judgment of God in destroying you is a result of His wrath. And it did not just begin then, but your whole life was spent under the wrath of God.

By way of further explaining that, there may be someone who has had tremendous trials and afflictions with physical troubles and poor health, or they may have mental struggles with mental disorders, alcoholism, and many other afflictions. They have troubles on the job and troubles with family. God uses circumstances to move in the lives of people to prepare them for the Gospel and the truth of the Bible. And then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and God saves them. He prepared them for salvation, although their lives may have been desperate and miserable. But in the end they receive eternal life and will live forever. Yes, they had a portion in this life, but not the portion of most men. The Bible says that the wicked are not in trouble as other men. So God’s chastening hand was not upon the wicked like it was upon His elect, in many cases. The elect may have had a life of misery, tears, sorrows, and heartache, but those are momentary afflictions. Yet we must not look at that. Those are momentary experiences of a few decades of life in this world. Look at what is to come and at what God kept in reserve for His elect.

You see, God has an eternal perspective. He is the Father of His people, and He can look down and see our circumstances. He can see our grief. He knows our tears. He knows our heartbreak. He knows the trouble, affliction, and the hatred of the world against His people. He knows. We might wonder, “O, God, please come on the wings of the wind and rescue me. Deliver me from these things if you love me and care for me. Why do you allow me to go through these thing day after day, month after month, and year after year?” 

But look at Joseph. Did God love Joseph? He certainly did. Did God allow Joseph to suffer the trauma of his brothers wanting to kill him and selling him like a piece of meat to slave traders? Did Joseph experience grievous life as a slave that was bought by an Egyptian captain? But Joesph determined to serve God and be the best slave possible as he waited upon God. Then things went from bad to worse, and he went from being a slave to being a prisoner. There is no lower thing than being a slave who is a prisoner. At least the butler and baker had positions of power, but Joseph came to prison from slavery, and things became worse and worse. Where was God? 

And today we could ask, “Where is this Almighty and powerful God the Bible at this time of the end of the world after we have been through Great Tribulation and now a second tribulation of Judgment Day?” We have such grief and sorrow, and even as we pray our hearts are breaking for our children. “Where are you in this evil day?” No wonder the Bible calls Judgment Day an “evil day.” It most certainly is evil. Where is God? He is here, and He is watching. Even though we are broken and crying out with tears for His strength, help, and comfort, it sometimes seems like there is no help. We have no strength, and we may not feel comforted. But we must keep in mind that God has the greater perspective. That is, He sees the end from the beginning. He sees our future, and He knows that for His true elect children there are countless riches and abundant blessings that are too wonderful, glorious, and magnificent to imagine. They are beyond our ability to grasp the wonder of them, although the Bible does tells us of them – things like eternal life and many other eternal blessings. There will be no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more death, and no more sin. We will be lifted up into the heavenlies and translated from this body of death, and we will be given new spiritual bodies. 

God has this perspective and viewpoint as He looks at each of His elect. “Yes, you have a momentary affliction. You are truly in grievous circumstances, and there is no denying it. Yet I know that I will remedy it. I will apply the balm of Gilead in an eternal way to soothe your soul. I will soothe your heartache and every affliction, and I will do so to such a degree that it is beyond your comprehension. There are enormous blessings that I have in store for you, and because I am your heavenly Father that loves you, I am submitting you to my chastisement. But the day is coming when I will say that you are my son that has endured my chastisement, and now enter into my joy. Enter into my kingdom that I have prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Enter into eternity for evermore.”

You see, that is God’s perspective. He sees us rejoicing. He sees us without a fret or care, and without a trouble, and without worry or fear, forever and ever. For those of us who are fathers that have to chastise our sons, we know that for the moment chastisement is grievous, but we love our children and that is why we chasten them. That is why we apply the rod to correct them, and yet we know in our hearts that we love our children, and it is done for their good and for their benefit. We cannot wait to shower them with every earthly blessing in our limited ability. How much more this is true for our heavenly Father, as far as good things are concerned.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next study, we will continue this account of the butler and baker, and we know it has much to say to us who are alive at this time of the world’s end.