"We both had dreams," they replied, "but there is no one to interpret them." Then Joseph said to them, "Don't interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." Sermons
I. THE DEEP IMPORTANCE OF GOD'S MESSAGE. How many questions does life present! What and where are we? Whither going? What lies beyond the present? I see that all things decay; yet on all sides life from death. Is there such revival for me? Can the active, thinking spirit be as though it had never been - passed from existence ere the frail body began to decay? And if there be a life beyond the present, what is its nature? and what the preparation for it? Vainly does human wisdom try to answer these questions. He who made all things alone can explain his works (Psalm 94:9-12), and the Bible is his answer to our questions, wherein he tells us what we are, for what created, and how to fulfill the object of our being (Psalm 119:105). II. But WE NEED AN INTERPRETER. It may be asked, Why? The Bible is open. Its words are such as any one can understand. This is true, as far as regards facts, and precepts, and doctrines. There is a knowledge of the word which the natural man can attain to; but the Holy Spirit alone can so open it as to make it "the power of God." It is one thing to know the doctrines of sin and of salvation, and quite another to know ourselves as sinners, and Christ as the Savior. The one puffs up with pride of knowledge, the other leads to the one Foundation. There is no more dangerous snare than of ignoring this work of the Holy Spirit. Too often men do not believe their need of it, and do not believe in his help. And thus the Bible is found dull, and its teaching departed from in daily life. III. How TO GET THE INTERPRETER'S HELP. "Tell me." Think of our Lord watching his disciples in the boat. So he watches over thee, ready to help. Hast thou found it so? Has the light of God's love entered thy heart? It is the special work of the Holy Spirit to guide into all truth (John 16:13); not in solving mysteries and hard questions, but in revealing Christ to the heart. Have you sought this; sought with expectation the full gift; sought to know Christ (Philippians 3:10), and the transforming power of belief in his love? Will you seek? There lies the difficulty - the want of earnestness. Men seem afraid of being earnest. But it is the earnest (Matthew 11:12, βιασται) who enter the kingdom of heaven. - M.
They dreamed a dream. I. THE DREAMS.II. THE INTERPRETATION. Notice how honestly Joseph tells the truth — gives his message faithfully — does not hide what God has given him to say. III. THE FULFILMENT. It all came true. Joseph had the comfort of feeling that he had been taught of God, and that so God was caring for him. Lessons: 1. God knows all things. 2. God foreknows all things. 3. God wisely orders all things. (W. S. Smith, B. D.) (C. Geikie, D. D.) 2. Again, the providence of God must take cognizance of our dreams as well as of our waking thoughts, and must be equally in and over both, otherwise it is not really universal. Hence there is nothing either absurd or unphilosophical or impious in supposing that God may avail Himself of the phenomena of dreams for the purpose of turning the mind to His truth, or leading it into some particular direction. How He does that it is impossible to say. Sleep is a mystery, and dreams are a mystery, and to them both we may apply the words of Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth than have been dreamed of in philosophy"; while, whatever may be said of dreams in general, we are probably not wrong in believing that the visions here recorded were from the Lord. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) I. Two PICTURES WHICH NEEDED AN INTERPRETER, Dream pictures. Prison walls can't shut out the sights which come to men in sleep.1. The picture which the butler saw. 2. The picture which the baker saw. II. THE INTERPRETER AND HIS INTERPRETATIONS. If we want to know what a picture means, the best person to tell us is the man who painted it? Who had painted these dream pictures? Sometimes see a plate on which child has been rubbing paints; a quantity of colour smudges, blue, red, green, yellow, all mixed up together! Many dreams something like this, just a quantity of thought smudges. The butler thinks about grapes and cups; the baker about bread and confectionery; no wonder that in their dreams they should see pictures which remind them of such things. Once a great artist, Turner, got his grandchildren to rub their fingers about in the colours on his palette. When they had made a great mess he said, "Now stop." And then from their smudges he painted a most beautiful picture. God sometimes does this with our thought-smudges. So here, with the butler and the baker; He took their confused thoughts and made clear pictures out of them. In the prison was a man who trusted God, and because he trusted God, therefore God trusted him. He understood what the dream pictures meant; God taught him to interpret them. Conclusion: Some people like to have dreams, but dreams are not much good if they have no meaning, or if we can't find out what the meaning is. God sometimes teaches men by dreams, but He has many other ways of teaching them; the world itself is a great picture-book full of meaning for those who can interpret it. Better to be an interpreter than a dreamer. If we can interpret, not dreams only but all nature will bring us messages from God. Can we be interpreters? Yes, if we are like Joseph, pure, simple, trusting God, trying to obey Him. Everything about us has a meaning if only we could understand. The seeds growing say to the interpreter, "Don't be in a hurry; first the grain, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." The wind says, "Ye know not whence I come or whither I go, and God's spirit is like me." The moon says, "I am so bright and beautiful because I reflect the light of the sun; if you want to be bright and beautiful, you must reflect the glory of Christ." We need not mind dreams, good or bad; let us learn to trust and obey God, so that He may teach us to be good interpreters. (C. A. Goodhart, M. A.) The king of Egypt's servants, it seems, have incurred his displeasure; they are in prison, bound, waiting for punishment, utterly in his power, quite helpless to atone for their sin, or appease his anger. Now here surely there is pictured for us in parable the state of man since the Fall. He has incurred the wrath of God; this world is his prison, and there is a still more fearful prospect of judgment and fiery indignation in the world to come; and nothing can be done, no man can atone for his own sins, nor for those of any one else; he has, indeed, bread to eat and raiment to put on, but he lives ever in the fear of death, for he has lost the favour of God, the great King. These prisoners dream each a dream in the dismal night of their imprisonment. They are filled with strange thoughts and fears which they cannot interpret; they desire above all things to know their fate, but none can tell them. Just so is man by nature; just like this were the thoughts and forebodings of the Greeks and Romans and other heathen nations, who had lost the knowledge of God, and yet were ever "feeling after Him, if haply they might find Him"; if, perhaps, they might learn what they were, whence they came, and whither they were going, As we read their writings we feel as if we could almost look into their faces, and see them bewildered and sad; for their life is to them but a dream, a riddle, a puzzle, and there is no interpreter of it for them. Now there is another person introduced. He is a servant like the others, in prison like them, yet invested with authority, endowed with Divine wisdom, able to tell them all that they so much desire to know. He has done no wrong, yet he is disgraced and punished; he suffers for another's fault; he might have escaped and lived in honour, but he would not. "Is not this the Christ?" He entered the prison, that he might set the prisoners free. Yet not all; for now we must notice that there are two prisoners, with different dreams, and very different fates. So it is all through the Bible. "One is taken, the other left;" Abel and Cain, Jacob and Esau, David and Saul; down to Peter and Judas, and the two thieves crucified with our Lord. The first dreamer, the king's butler, or more correctly his cupbearer, dreams of his life; he sees a vine, it buds, it blossoms, till clusters of ripe grapes hang thick upon it. Pharaoh's cup is in his hand, he plucks the grapes, he presses the juice into the cup, and humbly presents it to Pharaoh, who accepts it. This dream is a life, and what sort of a life? An active, faithful, watchful, dutiful life. The cup of the Great King is in our hand, to tell us what He expects of us, fruit, Rood fruit, sweet, ripe, mature fruit, fruit at the due season, when He comes to seek it, that He may drink the new wine with His chosen servants in His kingdom. Jesus, the better Joseph, came to tell glad tidings to those who thus diligently did the will of God, that their labour was not in vain, that their work should be accepted, that they should soon be brought out of prison, be freed from the bondage of this death, and after three days, that is the time of Christ's resting in the grave, they should have a joyful resurrection, and so their high calling should be restored to them which Adam's sin had lost them; and thus should they be evermore with the Lord. Thus did Christ tell men their dreams. This brings us to the second dreamer; he too dreams of his life; he is Pharaoh's baker, and his duty is to provide baked meats for the king. But what does he do? He prepares baked meats indeed; but he puts them into "Baskets with holes;" for, as the margin tells us, this is the true force and meaning of the words. And he puts these baskets on his head; that is, in a place where he can neither see them nor protect them. The consequence is that the wild birds light upon the baskets, and devour the meats, and he does not notice them; or the meats drop through the holes, for he cannot see them; and so they are lost, and become an easy prey. The butler and baker both worked, the former acceptably, the latter in vain. And his punishment is noteworthy. The birds that devoured his work that should have satisfied his master, presently devour his flesh as he hangs dead upon a tree. May we not see his fault indicated by his punishment? For, Job says, "They that plough iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same." A man's sins are their own punishment; what he sows he reaps. These careless people work and labour and toil; they clutch fast that which they can gather for themselves, be it little or much; but the things of God are put into a "basket with holes," out of sight, above their heads, and their eyes are toward the earth; and so they lose all; and when they come before the King, they will have nothing to present to Him. The birthday of our King is near; the birthday in humility and poverty, yet He will make a feast to all His servants, a spiritual feast, to which He bids all "that are religiously and devoutly disposed"; all His servants, not a few but all; the feast is provided for all; He expects all. And yet we must not think only of His birthday, but of the great second coming, when, like Pharaoh, He will reward and punish His servants according to their works. But, in the meantime, He sends a Joseph to us; He tells us our dreams, shows us ourselves, our life, and our end, in the mirror of the word of God, as St. James calls it.(F. C. Woodhouse, M. A.) Human society is a system of mutual interdependence. Very early men discovered that a division of labour was a common advantage. The king can no more do without the ploughman than the ploughman can do without the king.I. HUMAN LIFE IS FULL OF MYSTERIES. 1. Where there is partial knowledge there must be mystery. A man must be a mystery to his dog. Civilized men are mysteries to barbarians. A field-marshal is a mystery to his valet. A locomotive engine is a mystery to a ploughboy. There are more mysteries within ourselves than we can solve in a lifetime. Mysteries without us need not therefore stagger us. 2. Temporary miscarriage of justice is a mystery. Clever intrigues of wickedness often succeed. A lie may bring large gain, while the candid statement of the truth may bring ill-fame and worldly ruin. Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker-men of rank and position in the Court — may have been both innocent. Or, one may have been innocent, and one guilty. Yet both are committed to the same prison. Is not this a mystery? 3. That human destiny is revealed in dreams is a mystery. If one cannot, with the most wakeful sagacity, foresee clearly his earthly fortune and destiny, it is a strange thing that it can be indicated in a dream. Yet God has sometimes revealed to men coming events in their dreams. II. THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE REQUIRE AN INTERPRETER. 1. The office of interpreter is useful to mankind. That is a narrow and erroneous view of human life that regards mechanical labour as alone profitable. The man who examines into the forces and movements of the human soul is as great a benefactor of his race as he who searches into the arcana of material nature. The interpreter of life's mysteries fulfils a noble task. 2. The power to interpret comes from large personal experience. Joseph was well aware that his course of life had been wholly shaped by his dreams. 3. The interpreter must be a man full of sympathy. Joseph's manifold sufferings had developed in him intense sympathy with the unfortunate. III. THE REVELATIONS OF THE INTERPRETER WILL BE BOTH PLEASANT AND PAINFUL. 1. The true interpreter must be the ally of truth. He has no personal end to serve. Because Jesus was essentially the truth, therefore He was the teacher, the interpreter, the wonder-worker, the life. 2. It is a joy to bring glad tidings. Nevertheless, he will rejoice in the butler's joy: it will be a delight to turn sadness into song in another's heart. 3. The interpreter may be commissioned to carry sorrowful news. To do a man good service is a greater kindness than to give him pleasure. Joseph was the best earthly friend that chief baker ever had, though he announced, "in three days thou wilt be hanged." Joseph obtained for that man three precious days of preparation for the great change. (J. Dickerson Davies, M. A.) It is not surprising that three nights before Pharaoh's birthday these functionaries of the court should have recalled in sleep such scenes as that day was wont to bring round, nor that they should vividly have seen the parts they themselves used to play in the festival. Neither is it surprising that they should have had very anxious thoughts regarding their own fate on a day which was chosen for deciding the fate of political or courtly offenders. But it is remarkable that they having dreamed these dreams Joseph should have been found willing to interpret them. One desires some evidence of Joseph's attitude towards God during this period when God's attitude towards him might seem doubtful, and especially one would like to know what Joseph, by this time, thought of his juvenile dreams, and whether in the prison his face wore the same beaming confidence in his own future which had smitten the hearts of his brothers with impatient envy of the dreamer. We seek some evidence, and here we find it. Joseph's willingness to interpret the dreams of his fellow-prisoners proves that he still believed in his own, that among his other qualities he had this characteristic also of a steadfast and profound soul, that he "reverenced as a man the dreams of his youth." Had he not done so, and had he not yet hoped that somehow God would bring truth out of them, he would surely have said: "Don't you believe in dreams; they will only get you into difficulties." This casual conversation, then, With his fellow-prisoners was for Joseph one of those perilous moments when a man holds his fate in his hand, and yet does not know that he is specially on trial, but has for his guidance and safe-conduct through the hazard only the ordinary safeguards and lights by the aid of which he is framing his daily life. A man cannot be forewarned of trial, if the trial is to be a fair test of his habitual life. He must not be called to the lists by the herald's trumpet warning him to mind his seat and grasp his weapon; but must be suddenly set upon if his habit of steadiness and balance is to be tested, and the warrior-instinct to which the right weapon is ever at hand. As Joseph, going the round of his morning duty and spreading what might stir the appetite of these dainty courtiers, noted the gloom on their faces, had he not been of a nature to take upon himself the sorrows of others, he might have been glad to escape from their presence, fearful lost he should be infected by their depression, or should become an object on which they might vent their ill-humour. But he was girt with a healthy cheerfulness that could bear more than his own burden; and his pondering of his own experience made him sensitive to all that affected the destinies of other men. Thus Joseph, in becoming the interpreter of the dreams of other men, became the fulfiller of his own. Had he made light of the dreams of his fellow-prisoners because he had already made light of his own, he would, for aught we can see, have died in the dungeon. And, indeed, what hope is left for a man, and what deliverance is possible, when he makes light of his own most sacred experience, and doubts whether, after all, there was any Divine voice in that part of his life which once he felt to be full of significance?(M. Dods, D. D.) In Egypt, wine was used for medicinal purposes; it was employed in the offerings made to the deities; Osiris was popularly believed to be identical with the Greek Bacchus, and was represented to have been the first who found the vine and taught men its cultivation; wine was imported into Egypt from Greece and Phoenicia; it formed a part of the daily rations allowed to the soldiers of the king's guard; it was not even interdicted to the priests, except, perhaps, to those of Heliopolis, though but a limited quantity was permitted to them to ensure their constant efficiency for their sacred functions; and wine was plentifully served at banquets and other social meetings to both men and women; even if, as some believe, the frightful skeleton, usually exhibited to the guests, with the words, "Eat and drink, for soon you will be like this," was a symbolical exhortation to temperance, it did not always produce the desired effect; but it is much more probable that it was intended to invite to a free and full enjoyment of the pleasures of the table, since inexorable death will not fail to pay its unwelcome visit. The vine occurred in Egypt in a great variety of species, of which that grown in the Thebaid was so agreeable and light that it was, without injury, given to invalids; the wine of Mareotis was most esteemed and plentiful, and possessed the advantage of keeping to a great age; while that of Tenia was renowned for its richness and aromatic fragrance. The vine flourishes in Egypt even in the water, like an aquatic plant; it is, therefore, not injured by the inundations of the Nile, which, moreover, never commence, in Lower Egypt, before the middle of August, when the vintage is, in most cases, almost entirely completed. Vineyards, very tastefully arranged, were either combined with, or contiguous to, orchards, furnished with tanks, and often with reservoirs, with summer-houses, and reception-rooms, with avenues of trees and grass-plots, and always with a building for the wine-press (Isaiah 5:1, 2). "The vines were trained on trellis-work, supported by transverse rafters resting on pillars" which were, in many instances, gaily caloured, and divided the vineyard into numerous avenues; many vines were allowed to grow as standing bushes, and, on account of their lowness, required no support; while others were formed into a number of beautiful bowers. At the season of the vintage, from the end of June, boys were engaged to frighten away the birds by a sling or the sound of the voice; in gathering the fruit, the precarious aid of trained monkeys was more curiously than profitably employed; and after the conclusion of the vintage, kids were allowed to browse upon the vines. The simplest mode of pressing the wine was by putting the grapes into a bag, and turning the latter by two poles in contrary directions, or, by some other contrivance based on the same principle, but more remarkable is the foot-press; the workmen trod the grapes with naked feet, supporting themselves by ropes suspended from the roof. We possess several beautiful representations of such wine-presses, remarkable for elaborateness and tastefulness. After some other liquid was probably added to the juice, it was clarified by sieving, and perhaps by the application of eggs. The dream of the chief butler describes in rapid but comprehensive outlines the different stages in the growth of the vine; how it produces buds and blossoms, forms clusters, and matures ripe grapes, which the butler then presses into the goblet (ver. 10). This completeness seems to be the principal object of the narrative; it may be that only in order to shorten the whole process, and to compress it within the narrow frame of a vision, the juice, after having just been pressed out with the hand, is stated to have been placed before the king; whereas, ,in reality, it might have been allowed to ferment the usual time, as it is represented in numerous frescoes; but it is as probable that sometimes temperate persons (as it was later ordained in the Koran) abstained from fermented wine on account of its more intoxicating power, and that, at some period, the priests who regulated the king's table, as they controlled all his public and private affairs, prescribed to him the use of the unfermented juice of the grape.(M. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.) Think on me when it shall be well with thee. — The first bit of humanity we have seen in Joseph: human nature is in this little plea. He would have been far too great a man for me if I had not seen this little touch of human nature coming out after all. I have wondered, as I have read along here, that he did not protest and resent, and vindicate himself, and otherwise come out as an injured man. He has been almost superhuman up to this point. Now the poor lad says, "The chain is very heavy, this yoke makes me chafe. I cannot bear this any longer." And he tells the butler, who has had good luck before him, that he would like to be taken out of the dungeon. There are times when we want to find a god even in the butler; times when our theism is too great for us, and we want to get hold of a man — when our religion seems to us to be too aerial, afar off, and we would be glad to take hold of any staff that anybody could put into our poor trembling hands. This is natural, and I am not about to denounce Joseph, to reproach him, as though he had done some unnatural and unreasonable thing. I am glad of this revelation of his nature; it brings me near to him. Though God will not substitute himself by a butler, and will give him two more years' imprisonment, yet God will make it up to him somehow. He shall not want consolation. It was very human to seek to make a half god of the butler to get out out of that galling bondage. We shall see, in the course of our reading, whether God be not mightier than all creatures, and cannot open a way to kingdoms and royalties, when we ourselves are striving only for some little, insignificant, and unworthy blessing.(J. Parker, D. D.) 1. Sad and seduced souls may be brought to open their troubles to such as may truly answer them from God.2. Things seen in dreams sent by God may signify matters of another nature. So the vine, &c. (ver. 10). 3. Actions are presented in some dreams by God to presage the like really to come (ver. 11). 4. God's gift of interpretation of dreams is a sure oracle. 5. God alone determines the truth to every sign. Three branches, three days (ver. 12). 6. Under symbols God may infallibly teach restitution, and advancement to imprisoned creatures. 7. God's prophets may declare that to others, which they cannot to themselves for good. 8. Restitution of evil-doers to favour must carry orderly ministration therein (ver. 13). 9. God's goodness to sufferers by His prophets, requireth good to them. Remember me (ver. 14). 10. It is not unbeseeming God's prophets to desire their own good. 11. It is reasonable to desire to be known to them who can help them. 12. Liberty is desirable by saints in their restraints. 13. It is just for God's innocents to complain of wrongs. 14. It is equal for God's afflicted ones to plead their own innocency. 15. It is fit for saints to desire freedom from dungeon calamities (ver. 15). (G. Hughes, B. D.) He very naturally throws in a request on behalf of himself. There is no symptom of impatience in this; but patience itself may consist with the use of all lawful means to obtain deliverance. The terms in which this request are made are modest, and exceedingly impressive. He might have asked for a place under the chief butler, or some other post of honour or profit: but he requests only to be delivered from this house. He might have reminded him how much he owed to his sympathetic and kind treatment; but he left these things to speak for themselves. In pleading the exalted station in which the chief butler was about to be reinstated, he gently intimates the obligations which people in prosperous circumstances are under, to think of the poor and afflicted; and Christians may still farther improve the principle, not to be unmindful of such cases in their approaches to the King of kings. This plea may also direct us to make use of His name and interest, who is exalted at the right hand of the speak lies in the name of God. He professed to have his knowledge from above, and faithfully delivered to the two prisoners what he had received from the Lord.2. But there was another reason why Joseph declared plainly what he had learned from God. He wished to have it known amongst the Egyptians that interpretations belonged to the God of the Hebrews, and that he alone could show things that were to come to pass. Joseph afterwards received the name of Zaphnath-paaneah, the revealer of secrets; but it was his desire to have it known that his God was the fountain of all his knowledge, and that confidence in any other God, or in any other way of coming to the knowledge of futurity, but by revelation from Him was vanity and the work of error. (G. Lawson, D. D.) 1. God keeps time punctually in making good His word for good and evil unto creatures.2. Man's day and God's may meet together for fulfilling God's will revealed. 3. The birthday's celebration is a heathenish practice and invention (ver. 20). 4. Such times worldly powers used to give out favours or frowns, to kill and keep alive. 5. Where God hath spoken of restitution to liberty and honour, there it is done (ver. 21). 6. Where God hath foretold of death and destruction, there it surely comes to pass (ver. 22). 7. Men restored to liberty and prosperity are apt to forget adverse conditions. 8. Carnal men usually prove unthankful for and unmindful of good done to them in misery. 9. God useth the forgetfulness of creatures to bring about His gracious end to His saints. 10. Unkindnesses from creatures are but to make His saints learn more patience toward God (ver. 23). (G. Hughes, B. D.) We all reprobate the conduct of the chief butler. His memory will be held in detestation while the world lasts. The Word of God hath recorded his infamy, that other men may be warned to show proper returns of gratitude to their benefactors. We can indeed be under no apprehensions that the Book of God will transmit our character to future ages. The chief butler felt as little fear of that perpetual dishonour to which his memory was to be subjected by a book that should be read to the end of the world. But do we not know that there is another book of God, which contains the records of every individual's life — a book which shall be opened before the assembled world? What confusion will then cover the faces of those who are found to have been insensible to the favours done them, either by their fellow-men or by their Maker! The unthankful and the unholy are kindred characters (2 Timothy 3.). Those who are unthankful to benefactors of their own race are likewise unthankful to their Maker and Preserver. If they were duly sensible of the blessings conferred upon them by God, they would not be ungrateful to those whom He is pleased to employ as the instruments of His benefactions. If all men abhor those who return not good for good, when it is in the power of their hands to do it; if they are justly accounted no better than publicans or heathens, who love only them who love themselves, how black is our ingratitude if we are not penetrated with grateful love to Him, who not only pitied us in our low estate, but wrought redemption for us by a life of sorrow, and by an accursed death?(G. Lawson, D. D.) People Joseph, PharaohPlaces EgyptTopics Able, Belong, Dream, Dreamed, Dreams, Dreamt, Interpret, Interpretations, Interpreter, Joseph, None, Please, Recount, SenseOutline 1. The chief butler and baker of Pharaoh are also imprisoned.5. Joseph interprets their dreams. 20. They are accomplished according to his interpretation. 23. The ingratitude of the butler, in forgetting Joseph. Dictionary of Bible Themes Genesis 40:1-13Library The Political Constitution of EgyptThe king, the queen, and the royal princes--Administration under the Pharaohs--Feudalism and the Egyptian priesthood, the military--The citizens and country people. Between the Fayum and the apex of the Delta, the Lybian range expands and forms a vast and slightly undulating table-land, which runs parallel to the Nile for nearly thirty leagues. The Great Sphinx Harmakhis has mounted guard over its northern extremity ever since the time of the Followers of Horus. Illustration: Drawn by Boudier, … G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 2 Goodness in a Dungeon Evil Thoughts. 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