Genesis 40

In Prison

"I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon" (Genesis 40:15)

How these words must have rekindled in Joseph's mind the memory of events in Dothan! Having come looking for his brothers, on an errand from his father, Joseph had been thrown into a pit, for no apparent reason. He had heard his brothers argue over whether or not they should spare his life; mercifully (or was it a mercy?) they had sold him instead into slavery.

God had looked favourably upon Joseph, though, and instead of being chained and bound, his lot in Egypt had become pleasant. God had prospered him, and had given him prominence in the household of Potiphar. There he exercised unfettered control over all that was in the house. But his refusal to have sex with Potiphar's wife led to his being imprisoned again.

What a rollercoaster ride of fortune Joseph had! But how often that is the case in the experience of God's people! Just when they think things couldn't get worse -- they do! Or in Joseph's case, when he thought things couldn't get better -- they didn't! Psalm 107:26-28 uses strong imagery to describe the experiences of Christians -- they are like drunk men, staggering from one side of the road to the other, or like sailors tossed on the waves of the sea, rising and falling, one moment enjoying mountain-top blessing and the next plumbing to the depths of despair again. That's how it was with Joseph, and that's how it will be with us too.

But, as we noted already, the formula "but God was with him" echoes like a chorus throughout Genesis 39, so that even in the depths the presence of God never left him, and the power of God never failed him. Listen to the contrast of Genesis 39:20-21: "[Joseph] was there in the jail. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him". I think that that is a pretty lame translation: what God 'stretched out' to Joseph was covenant love. The God of the covenant, the God who had committed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their posterity, was not about to renege on his promises. He was with Joseph.

But I doubt if the matter was as clear-cut to Joseph himself in his circumstances. In fact, the prison presented him with a new test, a time of trial. God stretched out covenant love to Joseph; how would Joseph respond? How would he reciprocate God's favour? Trials are testing-times; times when God asks us to measure our response to his covenant faithfulness and commitment to his people.

Test 1: Would Joseph serve God in prison?

He had served well in Potiphar's house. God's favour was evident in the blessings that surrounded him, and in the prosperity he enjoyed. But what about now? Now that the surroundings were not so pleasant, and the air not so sweet?

What do we read? We read in Genesis 39:22-3 that the supervisor of the prison did not worry about anything in Joseph's care, because even in prison God made Joseph to prosper. It is almost an echo of 39:5-6, where we read that Potiphar had no concerns about the responsibilities he left with Joseph. Like Potiphar, the keeper of the prison knew that Joseph could be trusted. His honesty and integrity were as evident there as they had been in Potiphar's house.

The surroundings made no difference. Joseph remained committed to Jehovah, determined in all things, and in all places, to do the will of God. It was not easy; the path of obedience seldom is. But when that path took Joseph into places that were hard on flesh and blood, it found Joseph serving the Lord. How like Jesus, who said years later "not my will, but thine be done!"

What about us? Will our reversals of fortune affect our service for Christ? Will we be less concerned about working for him when our situations worsen, our skies darken and our burdens become heavier? Let us ask for grace to serve him, whatever the weather.

Test 2: Would Joseph confess God in prison?

Joseph was faced with an interesting situation in the prison. Pharaoh's baker and chef cupbearer ended up occupying the prison with him, and each had a dream, that left both of them dejected (verse 6). Joseph asked what was wrong. "We have had a dream," they said, "and there is no one to interpret it."

"We have had a dream". I think the story of Joseph is bound together by these ironic ties and strands. Were it not for the power of dreams, Joseph could have been free. It was dreaming that left him a prisoner! Had his brothers not said in 37:18 "Here comes this dreamer!" Joseph had seen things in the night that were a revelation from God to him about God's intention and purpose for his life. These very dreams had marked him out as special to God, and left him hated by his brothers.

And here he was now, ironically, confronted with two depressed prisoners, dejected because of their dreams! How Joseph could have walked away from this whole dream-business, which had been the source of his problems. But he does not. Instead he says, "Do not interpretations belong to God?"

It would have been so easy to keep to himself the secret he knew -- that God is a God of revelation, of disclosure, a God whose purpose will endure and will be vindicated. It is this God whom Joseph confesses in the prison.

We have a revelation clearer than visions and dreams of the night. Indeed, as Joel prophesied, and Peter clarified, the age of the Spirit would be one in which "young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams" (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17) -- an age in which revelation would be complete. After all, Messiah would close, or seal up, the vision and the prophecy (Daniel 9:24). The New Testament age is the age of the completed revelation; the New Testament church is the church that must declare the self-disclosure of God from the pages of the Bible.

Will we confess this God, even in our prison times? Paul could speak of his faithful ministry as one in which he had made the mystery of salvation and the proclamation of the Gospel known "by glory and dishonour, by evil report and good report" (2 Corinthians 6:8). Whatever the cost, and whatever the circumstances, his driving ambition was to confess and proclaim the God who reveals secrets (cf. Romans 2:16).

Test 3: Would Joseph leave his case with God in the prison?

As a prisoner in Egypt, Joseph's destiny was in the hands of others. He neither took advantage of his trustworthiness nor tried to deceive in order to alleviate his lot. Instead, knowing that he had done nothing to deserve imprisonment, and ministering to those who were with him there, he simply requested of Pharaoh's cupbearer, on the day of his release, that he remember him to his master.

But the chapter ends with these words: "Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him". So there he was, forgotten by men, even by those whom he had helped and benefitted the most.

How true to life this is; how like our own experience! There are times, and situations, where we expect much of men, and yet find our expectations dashed and our hopes frustrated. We may be left languishing, forgotten.

That is when faith comes into its own. For two long years Joseph remained a prisoner, all the while entrusting his situation to the care and sovereignty of God. "Though he slay me," Job said, "I will trust him" (Job 13:15). That is the secret of true greatness -- knowing that however difficult our case may be, there is one who stands guard over us, and who has pledged himself to do us good.

Little wonder Horatio Spafford could say:

"When peace like a river attendeth my way
when sorrow like sea-billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
it is well, it is well with my soul".