1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”

8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” 

9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”

12 “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”

20 Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand— 22 but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Dear God, I wonder what it would be like to know the day you will die. I heard a statistic just within the last week that something like 90% of the people, when asked if they would want to know the day or moment of their death, said they wouldn’t want to know. I can buy that. I know I wouldn’t want to know. So the question remains, why then do I try to hard to figure out my future and what is next? Isn’t it better if I don’t know? Isn’t ignorance bliss?

There are so many variables that lead to what tomorrow brings that there is no way I can account for them all. It is worse than predicting the weather, which is obviously hard enough. I try to do the same for my children too. I try to figure out how this decision will impact future decisions. Even today, I talked with my son about a decision that will impact his future. I know that he cannot conceive of the future and what tomorrow will hold, but I have an inkling of what it will be. I know that the decision will impact his life 15 years from now. So do I pull rank as a dad or do I trust him to make his own decision?

I guess I have totally overlooked the part of this passage where the cupbearer “did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” Wow, that is unfortunate. He was the one who got the good prophecy. Now, he has forgotten Joseph’s role in giving him hope, and the power of what Joseph did (from you). Perhaps Joseph wasn’t that kind as a jailer. Perhaps he resented Joseph for getting a position of authority while he was a prisoner. There are any number of reasons he could have forgotten Joseph, but the fact is that he did and, at least for the time being, Joseph was stuck.

Father, help me to turn loose of the future and what I THINK it brings, and help me to not forget those who strongly support me. My first step in remembering those who have blessed me is to thank you. Thank you for my life. Thank you for my parents. Thank you for my wife. Thank you for my kids. Thank you for my job. I really want to treat each of these as well as I can. I want to love each of them as much as I can. Be glorified through me as I live my life, and help others through me so that you might be glorified in their lives as well.