Genesis 40 Series, Part 1, Verses 1-4

Hello, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight we are going to begin Genesis 40, and this is study #1. We 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.

As you probably already know if you listen to EBible Fellowship studies, when we study the Scriptures we are not really seeking to learn the historical account with its setting and situation, nor are we really seeking to learn the moral application, but our focus is on the deeper spiritual meaning, the hidden treasures. And the whole Bible is fully of hidden treasures.

The spiritual meaning of the passage is the superior and most important meaning. It is the Gospel meaning. If we were to do what so many have done in the churches, we would study to learn everything we could about that period of history and the situation with Joseph, like his integrity and faithfulness to God in the most difficult of circumstances. Yes, that is wonderful, and we should be encouraged to trust God when things are going badly, or when life is grievous as we serve the Lord but things are getting worse.

So, yes, these studies in Genesis are wonderful passages that can teach us to trust in the Lord, and not to just look at our outward circumstances, like when we are struggling to serve God but the more faithful we are the worst things get. Yes, it is a wonderful teaching that we must do things God’s way and leave the outcomes and results in His hands, trusting that all things work together for good to the trusting child of God. We all understand that it is important to hear about these things as they are lived out on the pages of the Bible. This is true history, and we know that Joseph was an actual human being just as we are, and he did do all the things we read about, including interpreting dreams, being betrayed by his own brothers, and being sold as a slave into Egypt in Potiphar’s house. And now he has gone from slavery to prison, and things have gone from bad to worse, but he keep looking to God and witnessing for God, and trusting in the Lord. And we know that it will turn out beautifully and gloriously, and we know that is also true for the elect child of God despite our present circumstances and situations with its hardship and grief. 

Many of God’s elect are in prisons around the world, and some are in bad marriages, and many of God’s saints are in workplaces where there are those who seem to make a point to try to make our lives miserable. So the elect believer may pray, “O, Lord, help me. I do not even want to go to work.” The grief may be at work, in the family, or in the neighborhood, and everywhere in the world. The world is contrary to Christ, and it is a sinful world with iniquity abounding across the face of the earth. There is no longer any earthly refuge like churches and congregations where we can find those that are like-minded because this is the time of the end, and judgment began at the house of God because they became corrupt and they are just part of the world now. So anyone seeking refuge by going to a church has gone from the world to the world. And it is actually worse in the churches because one would expect “brotherhood,” but what happens is that every brother will utterly supplant. There is no Comforter there because the Holy Spirit is not in the churches and congregations of the world.

But we do have the Comforter because the Spirit indwells us, and we have the Bible, so we can be grateful every day. “Thank you for your Word, O, God. Thank you for truth and guidance in this world of lies.” So, yes, there is instruction on a personal level in this account in Genesis, and we will definitely see the hand of God and the sovereign nature of God in controlling all circumstances, events, and details of Joseph’s life. He orchestrates the lives of His people, as well as those who are ungodly, to accomplish His purposes and to glorify Himself, and His saints will live lives that glorify Him, especially in this Day of Judgment, the time period in which we live.

I just want to give a general overview of what we can expect in Genesis 40. We have a few main characters. We have the baker, the butler, and Pharaoh. And Pharaoh was angry with the butler and the baker because they had offended him. We can speculate (since it is not specified) about some things. The butler has to do with “drink,” as the word “butler” can also be translated as “cupbearer” in the Bible. The baker has to do with food. Since they have to do with food and drink, perhaps there was an attempt on Pharaoh’s life through poisoning, and this angered Pharaoh. The cupbearer was supposed to drink first of the cup for Pharaoh. And this was the chief of the butlers, meaning there was more than one cupbearer, and it is possible that this butler was an officer over many cupbearers. They could have had a schedule for each butler as to when they would wait on the king and test to make sure that something he ingested was not poisonous during that period of the day, and there may have been another assigned to the night schedule, and so forth. So it was not necessarily the case that this chief butler was involved and personally failed. It could have been one who was under him who was at fault and may have been part of a plot. The Bible tells us in the book of Esther that there were two chamberlains that secretly plotted to kill King Ahasuerus, and then they were hanged. And we will find that the baker will be hanged.

Again, there is certain information that God did not reveal here, but later on the butler will be released and the baker will be hanged, so it is possible that they determined the poison was not in the drink but in the food, ad it was the chief of the bakers who had that oversight, and he would pay for that failure with his life. So the main characters are the butler, the baker, the Pharaoh, and Joseph. They were real men, and these were there true occupations, but God is painting a picture through this historical parable. We can know that because the entire Bible is a parable. When I say it is a historical parable, I mean it is true history that has a deeper spiritual meaning. God uses events that did take place to paint spiritual pictures. 

There are a few spiritual pictures in Genesis 40, but we have to be careful because it is a difficult chapter. For instance, it is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that puts the butler and the baker into prison. In the Bible, the spiritual meaning of prison can mean to come under the wrath of God, and there are various points of understanding related to coming under the wrath of God, or being in prison. Jesus Himself suffered the wrath of God, and therefore could be likened to a prisoner. All the people of the world are “in prison” because of sin, and we will go to various Scriptures to show that. The Gospel was able to deliver (certain ones) from that prison, as shown by Isaiah 61:1-2, or Luke 4:18 when Christ said He came to set the captives free.

Also, we see two men, the butler and the baker, and we will see that they can spiritually represent all mankind, just like we see with Jacob and Esau. Notice that they have two fates that do match Jacob and Esau. One is lifted out of prison and restored to his position of chief butler serving the cup to Pharaoh once again, and the other man, the chief baker, is hanged. And Pharaoh was the one who made the determination: “This one will be hanged, and have no mercy, and this one will be brought out of prison and restored him to his position.” We are told that both offended their lord, the Pharaoh of Egypt, and we will see that the word “offended” is translated as “sin.” When we think of sin, who is it that people sin against? It is God Himself. These men sinned against Pharaoh, and Pharaoh was wroth, so Pharao h was a picture of God here. As men sin and transgress the Law of God, they provoke Him to anger and the wrath of God abides upon them. Both sinned: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Both Jacob and Esau were not worthy of themselves, and neither was good or righteous, and yet God said that He loved Jacob and hated Esau. 

So we have this spiritual picture, but it is complicated regarding what happened to the baker. When we get to the end of the chapter and see his fate, we see the spiritual setting fits with the time of the Great Tribulation. Early on in this account, Pharaoh is a picture of God, and yet when he hangs the baker on his (Pharaoh’s) birthday, it can only mean that Pharaoh has a different spiritual significance, and we will spend some time showing the fact that the spiritual meaning moves to one representing the wheat and the tares at the time of the end, particularly during the Great Tribulation. So keep that in mind as we begin to study Genesis 40. We will look at some Scriptures that will support these statements regarding the spiritual designations of these men. We also have to keep in mind that the butler (or cupbearer) can be a picture of Christ as well as the elect, and we will try to explain that as we go along.

Thank you for joining us for this brief introduction into Genesis 40, and we look forward to our next Bible study in Genesis 40