God never abandons His children.

There are situations in life when we experience the pains of being forgotten. We are sick, or living far away, or isolated.  But God does not forget us. He will make a way for you to go back to normal society or to be with friends and loved ones.  God will lift you up. Thank you LORD that You promised to never to abandon us or neglect us, your children.   You love us and care for us.  We worship You, O Lord. 

Text:  Genesis 40: 4-23  NIV  

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.[a] 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.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT: 

ODB:  When you listen to their stories, it becomes clear that perhaps the most difficult part of being a prisoner is isolation and loneliness. In fact, one study revealed that regardless of the length of their incarceration, most prisoners receive only two visits from friends or loved ones during their time behind bars. Loneliness is a constant reality.

It’s a pain I imagine Joseph felt as he sat in prison, unjustly accused of a crime. There had been a glimmer of hope. God helped Joseph correctly interpret a dream from a fellow inmate who happened to be a trusted servant of Pharaoh. Joseph told the man he would be restored to his position and asked the man to mention him to Pharaoh so Joseph could gain his freedom (Genesis 40:14).  

But the man “did not remember Joseph; he forgot him” (v. 23). For two more years, Joseph waited. In those years of waiting, without any sign that his circumstances would change, Joseph was never completely alone because God was with him. Eventually, the servant of Pharaoh remembered his promise and Joseph was released after correctly interpreting another dream (41:9–14).

Regardless of circumstances that make us feel we’ve been forgotten, and the feelings of loneliness that creep in, we can cling to God’s reassuring promise to His children: “I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15).

By Lisa M. Samra

Commentary:  This isn’t the first time in Genesis that God spoke in dreams to individuals who weren’t His chosen people. He’d warned King Abimelek in a dream not to touch Sarah, the wife of Abraham (20:3). Then there was Jacob’s father-in-law Laban, whom God warned in a dream not to harm Jacob (31:24–29). In chapter 40, Joseph was careful to credit Him for the interpretation of dreams (v. 8). Later, God would use the dreams of Pharaoh to show His power, not Joseph’s (41:1–16), a point Joseph highlighted repeatedly (vv. 16–32).

by Tim Gustafson

From me:  There are situations in life when we experience the pains of being forgotten. We are sick, or living far away, or isolated.  But God does not forget us. He will make a way for you to go back to normal society or to be with friends and loved ones.  God will lift you up. Thank you LORD that You promised to never to abandon us or neglect us.  You love us and care for us.  We worship You, O Lord. 

Posted September 20, 2023