Two
men, two dreams, two interpretations and two destinies….
I
have been studying the life of Joseph for a while and the story of two men he
had an encounter with in his sojourn in prison has been on my study radar. Both
of them were key employees of King Pharaoh of Egypt and for whatever reasons,
they both committed an offence that landed them in prison. The King was upset
with them and in spite of the position they occupied; being the very ones who
fed him with drinks and food, they were remanded in jail.
It came to pass after these
things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt
offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and
the chief baker. 3 So he put them in custody in the house of the
captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. 4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with
them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while. (Genesis 40:1-3)
Evil
communication as we know, corrupts good manners. I wonder how severe the offence was, that got the king so infuriated.
Something tells me that someone must have influenced the other out of the two. Sometimes
we get into the position of authority and we allow unnecessary influence of
friends to affect our work and relationships. In life, we may have a lot of
similarities with someone, but we must never forget we are different. More
often than not, because we find ourselves in the same circumstances with some
people, we assume that what works for them, will work with us and vice versa. What
works for a member of a family may not work for other siblings- God designed it
so- our peculiarity. It's time to drop your crowd consciousness and find a path to your destiny for yourself!
5Then the butler and the baker of the king
of Egypt, who were confined
in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. 6And
Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. 7So he
asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with
him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”8And they
said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no
interpreter of it.” (Genesis 40:5-8)
So
they both occupied enviable positions in Pharaoh’s house, they both offended
Pharaoh the same day ,it happened that the
two of them were cast into the same prison and they both had a mind boggling
dream the same day! I think sometimes we are drawn to some people because we have seen
similar characteristics that we possess in them. Opposite they say attracts
but sometimes, similarities make us gravitate to some people too. We must however
make it a point of duty to influence positively and not be influenced
negatively.
9Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him,
“Behold, in my dream a vine was before
me, 10and in the vine were three
branches; it was as
though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe
grapes.11Then Pharaoh’s cup was in
my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed
the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 13Now
within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your
place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former
manner, when you were his butler.
16 When the chief baker saw that
the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there
were three white baskets on my head. (Genesis 40:9-16)
It doesn't matter the affinity, closeness and comparability we have with our friends, spouse, fellow
employees or whoever; we must be very much aware that our dreams,
interpretation and pursuits in life will always be different. Our purpose and
destinies are never the same. God determines what each person will become even
before they are conceived. Abraham’s life was different from that of His son Isaac
and Jacob followed an entirely different path from his predecessors, yet they
all were prosperous. Jacob had twelve (12) sons who had different character and
personalities. Throughout the Bible, God chose many prophets but each had a peculiar
style and approach. The chief baker thought because the chief butler had a good
interpretation of his dream, his was going to be a good one too, but events
showed he got it all wrong. You can’t blame him; he was used to having things
span out like that with his friend, but in this instance it was a matter of what destiny
had in store for each of them.
Even
if they had shared things in common, done things together, it didn’t automatically
mean their destinies would take the same bend and have the same good end. Many
people envy their siblings, neighbours, co-workers and would give anything to achieve
what others have achieved, forgetting that only One person determines the
destiny, path, purpose of every human being, each one having a part to
play as well.
17 In the uppermost basket were all
kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on
my head.”18So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The
three baskets are three
days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you
and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”
Alas,
He got an interpretation of his dream and it was a death verdict. Like I
earlier pointed out, he had been doing things with his friend the chief butler:
They had been saving together, travelling together, their families were best of
friends and probably had been “rebelling” against Pharaoh together, but little
did he realize that even though God had orchestrated their destinies, His
friend the chief butler had been “diplomatic” and tactful in his relationship
with the King. Pharaoh wouldn't have spared the butler’s life just because he was
good looking. Most likely, he wouldn't have remanded them both to
prison because the butler spilled the drink whilst serving him and the baker didn't put adequate seasoning in his food. They were both “chief" butler and baker
respectively- meaning they had many working under them and they were the best
of the lot!
Someone
may argue that since the butler was always in the face of the king,
pouring drinks into his cup, there was likely to have been some iota of favouritism in Pharaoh’s decision towards him. You may have a point but let’s not forget that much more important than drinks is food. The baker's office might
have been inconspicuous but he probably played the most important role after
Pharaoh’s wife- He held the key to the king’s stomach! There was however an attitude
problem, beyond the obvious offence that Pharaoh had noticed in him, which led
to a capital punishment of death. The King saw a reason to re-install
the butler; yes he rebelled, stole, lied but he was teachable and sober and
repentant each time he was apprehended or reprimanded (He was quick to admit to Pharaoh that he forgot to mention he met Joseph two years after)- a virtue the baker did
not have.He might even have been innocent! What if he was framed up?
20 Now it came to pass on the
third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the
chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership
again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted
to them.
So we see the story of two men, two
dreams, two interpretations, two destinies and two different endings. One boomed and the other was doomed forever.
On another note, even if they had both sinned unforgivably, they was a need for someone to be spared so that Joseph could be recommended two years later. We see Divine Providence at work! Someone's heart and good seeds, howbeit it imperfect must have spoken for him- Something made him preferable above the other!
The
Pen….
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