Prison Time

 Read Genesis 40

The chapter begins with the words some time later.

We don’t know exactly how long this was, but Joseph did some time.  It wasn’t just get kicked out of Potiphar’s household, thrown into prison, and then on to interpreting dreams as the warden’s number one man.

Joseph did some time.

When counseling inmate clients, they would often use the term bit.  I did this bit here and this bit there and so on.

I would ask how long was your first bit?  It was 8 years.  And your second?  It was 12.  And the one you are doing now?  It’s 15-20.

So you are talking about at least 35 years behind prison walls.  That’s time.  That’s not a bit.  That’s time away from your family.  It’s time away from the kids you keep telling me that you would do anything for and want to spend time with.

That’s real time.

The term bit is a defense mechanism that inmates use to avoid coming to grips with the truth.  Make no mistake, time in prison is time away from the things that you love.

Some have made the best of the situation.  Some grow where they are planted.  Some come to Christ in prison, but all have the heart to be somewhere else.

And Joseph had been in prison for a while when the pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker were imprisoned. We get no explanation as to why, though the cupbearer’s lot was predictable.

These two officials of the royal court had been in prison long enough for Joseph to get to know them and one day he noticed their countenance was off.  He inquired as to why.

Both had dreams and they didn’t know what to make of them.  Joseph told them that the meaning of the dreams comes from God.  Joseph revealed the meaning of the cupbearer’s dream.

So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 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.”

“This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 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.”

That was the interpretation but not the end of the conversation.  Joseph had a request of the cupbearer.

But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 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.

Previously, I had mentioned that despite everything that happened to Joseph, he didn’t throw a pity party.  He was not a constant complainer.  He was faithful to God and did his best, but he wanted to get out of prison.  Every human soul wants to get out of prison. 

Sure, some people have become institutionalized and can’t survive outside of custody, but every human soul longs for freedom.  Joseph wanted out of prison.

He couldn’t pass up this opportunity knowing what was to come for the cupbearer.

The baker wanted Joseph to tell him his fortune.  I don’t know that he understood the part about the meaning coming from God, but he was hoping for good news as well.

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. 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.”

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

I’m sure that the baker wanted a second opinion. 

My doctor told me that I was crazy.  I said that I wanted a second opinion.  He said, you’re ugly too. Thank you Henny Youngman.

The baker didn’t get a second opinion.  He got 3 days to agonize and hope that Joseph was wrong.

Joseph was right.  The cupbearer was restored to his position and the baker was impaled on a pole. I’m sure that you Game of Thrones people would have liked that part.

Imagine being impaled on a pole with the birds pecking away at your flesh.  I should have saved this message for right before lunch.

The cupbearer was so overjoyed at Joseph’s interpretation coming true that he forgot Joseph. He did not remember Joseph.  That’s a phrase that will have great meaning for the Hebrew people if you begin the book of Exodus.

So we begin and end the chapter with Joseph in prison.  His roller coaster ride continued.  Surely, he had high hopes when the cupbearer was restored but there were no immediate results.

Sometimes this everything in God’s time just seems to stink.  Surely, Joseph had punched his ticket out of prison, but prison is exactly where we find Joseph as we conclude this part of the story.

You know what is to come, but Joseph must have hit another low.  He was back in the pit into which his brothers threw him.  He was a slave once again. He was in prison and his hopes of getting out soon just slammed on the breaks.

All Joseph could do was remain faithful to God and do his best.  That should sound familiar. It was more grist for the mill.

God was not on Joseph’s schedule.  Joseph could organize and manage many things, but God’s timing was not one of them.

Other than knowing this part of the story, is there a takeaway for us?

Remain faithful to God and do your best is still valid.

God’s time is not always our time.

We are blessed to wait upon the Lord.

Our own understanding will not always make sense of God’s timing in the moment so we must rely exclusively on trusting in the Lord.

We know that Joseph gets out of prison and that God has great plans for him, but for the moment, all he could do is trust in God and do his best.  Be faithful and do his best.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Joseph had gotten out of prison at that time?  He might have gone home.  He would have loved to have seen the look in his brothers’ eyes when he appeared.

But what would have happened later when there was no one to tell the Pharoah what his dreams meant?  Who would there have been to reveal what was to come and to have the unique skills to prepare for it.

I doubt that Joseph would have left a forwarding address in case Pharoah needed to get in touch with him.

But Joseph was on God’s schedule and all he could do was do his best and trust God as he remained in prison for a while longer.

Many of us have similar situations.  We are not in a physical prison but our own understanding is giving us a different timeline than the Lord has in store for us.

We have a timeline for getting ourselves where we need to be or we are content to run in circles, but God’s plan and his time will prevail.

So, what can we do? Have faith and do your best.  Trust in God and do your best.

Yes, we still take those opportunities to get out of prison, but when it doesn’t happen on our schedule, we trust in the Lord and do our best.

Amen.