The story of Joseph ep. 3 - The power to intrepret dreams

Who among you is Joseph, a guard shouted. I am, Joseph responded, wondering why the guard was looking for him. Stand up, the guard continued. Pharaoh needs to see you quickly. Pharaoh demanded that Joseph be taken out of the prison and brought before him. His servants went to the prison at Potiphar's house and brought Joseph out. Joseph leapt for joy and had a thankful heart because God had not forgotten him. But in his palace, Pharaoh was feeling deeply troubled. Everybody around him was terrified at the thought that not even Joseph would be able to unravel the mystery of Pharaoh's dreams. Welcome to the third journey through the life of Joseph. Today we are going back to Egypt to see how God was working in Joseph's life, even while he was in prison. As we saw in the previous episode, Joseph's brothers had sold him into slavery in Egypt and he had become a servant in Potiphar's house. Even though this happened to him, Joseph did not become discouraged. Instead, he worked hard to be the best in everything he did. Although he was liked by his master Potiphar, trials continued to come into Joseph's life and he ended up being wrongly accused, sentenced, and thrown into prison. While Joseph was in prison, the prison warden was drawn to his character. The warden saw that Joseph was successful in everything he did, so one day he decided to put Joseph in charge of all those imprisoned. He gave Joseph power over all the other prisoners because he saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper. Around the same time, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, became angry with two of his servants, the chief cup-bearer and the chief baker, the two people responsible for the meals at Pharaoh's palace. The cup-bearer and chief baker were punished and thrown into prison where Joseph was in charge. They ended up under Joseph's supervision and Joseph took the two of them under his care and treated them very well. One day, Joseph noticed that the cup-bearer and the baker were very worried and so he asked them, Gentlemen, what's wrong? We both had a dream last night, the chief cup-bearer started, and there is no one to interpret them for us and help us understand the meaning of our dreams. There are two wise men who interpret dreams at Pharaoh's court, but there's no way one of them will come here to help us. Joseph thought for a bit, then told them, Surely God knows your dreams and I am his servant, so tell me what you have dreamed. Joseph said to both of them, Hopefully God will help me figure out the meaning of the dreams you had. Then the chief cup-bearer said, In my dream I saw a vine that had three branches. As I looked at it, the vine budded, its blossoms opened and ripe grapes appeared. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the bunches of ripe grapes, squeezed them into my master's cup and gave him wine to drink. God helped Joseph understand the meaning of the dream and he said, See, Joseph responded, the three branches are three days. Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of prison and restore you to your previous position in his palace. But remember me and show me kindness, Joseph begged the chief cup-bearer. Mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison as I have done nothing to deserve being put here. Glad to hear the good news about the dream, the chief cup-bearer immediately promised Joseph to put in a good word to Pharaoh for him when he returned to the palace. Seeing that Joseph's interpretation of the cup-bearer's dream turned out so well, the chief baker also shared his dream with Joseph. Joseph, I also had a dream, the chief baker began. 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. Can you please tell me what this means? With God's help, Joseph was able to tell the chief baker the interpretation of his dream, even though it was not as pleasant as the first one. Joseph pondered a bit and then revealed the interpretation of the dream to the chief baker. The three baskets are three days, Joseph started. Within three days, Pharaoh will lift your head off and hang you on a tree. The birds will eat the flesh of your body. Joseph's words came true, but the chief cup-bearer forgot the promise he made to Joseph when Pharaoh restored him to his position. And he forgot all about Joseph for a long time. Two full years passed, and Pharaoh had a dream that troubled him greatly. In his dream, he saw seven sleek, fat cows coming out of the Nile, the great river of Egypt. They started grazing among the reeds. After them, seven other cows, ugly and skinny, came out of the Nile and rushed to the sleek, fat ones and ate them. Pharaoh immediately woke up from his sleep, frightened and worried, but seeing that nothing bad had actually happened, he calmed down and went back to sleep. And he dreamed another dream. Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and wind-scorched, and they swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. And Pharaoh woke up and could not fall back to sleep because he was troubled by what those dreams might mean. So Pharaoh sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt in hopes of them revealing to him the meaning of those two powerful dreams. When they arrived, Pharaoh told them his dreams, but none of them could interpret the dreams for him. This saddened him greatly. When the chief cupbearer heard about Pharaoh's dreams, he remembered the dream he had while he was in prison and how God showed him the meaning of his dream through young Joseph. He then said to himself, Wow, what a mistake I have made. The chief cupbearer found himself thinking out loud. I completely forgot about Joseph. He interpreted my dream and things happened exactly as Joseph had told me. I must ask Pharaoh to bring Joseph here. The chief cupbearer did just that, and Pharaoh immediately demanded that Joseph be taken out of the prison quickly and brought before him. Who among you is Joseph? A guard shouted. I am, Joseph responded, wondering why the guard was looking for him. Stand up, the guard continued. Pharaoh needs to see you quickly. Joseph's heart was full of joy and thankfulness. He was seeing that God had not forgotten him. God had been watching over him the whole time. Pharaoh was nervously waiting in his palace for Joseph to arrive. Everyone around the great king of Egypt was frightened at the thought that Joseph might not be able to unravel the mystery of Pharaoh's dreams. They heard footsteps at the door, and Joseph was brought in. Joseph immediately caught everyone's attention. Then Pharaoh told him, come, come closer, young man. I sent for you because I was told you can interpret dreams. Great Pharaoh, it is not for me to interpret dreams, but God himself is the one who can reveal the meaning of dreams, Joseph answered wisely. Pharaoh described his two dreams to Joseph and waited for Joseph to interpret them so he could share their meaning with him. What did Pharaoh's dreams mean? Will Joseph be able to discover their meaning and tell Pharaoh what God wanted to reveal to him through his dreams? We'll find out the answers to these questions in our next episode. God allowed Joseph to remain in prison for a while to see if Joseph would fully trust him. A man's true faith is seen when God allows him to go through difficult situations. But children, here's the good news. When we accept and obey his will, God can do extraordinary things through us. Stay tuned for our next episode if you want to find out what happens next in the life of Joseph. We invite you to listen to the DG Bible Songs music. You can find it on YouTube, as well as on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms.