Ge. 40: I Dream of Squeezing Pharaoh's Grapes...

So this prison in which Joseph was given charge was apparently a prison for (formerly) important people...near to the Pharaoh and his officials.

For some reason, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker both offended the Pharaoh for some reason...probably made fun of his eyeliner or something...and found themselves in prison with Joseph.

On the surface, I think...the cupbearer? The baker? Pointless. But these had to be very close people to someone as important as the Pharaoh. Plus, remember what it's like to bite into some freshly baked bread thats crusty on the outside, and warm and squishy on the inside? That's an art form to be able to bake that. The main function of these two was to keep potential poison as far from the Pharaoh as possible.

So anyway, as expected, the warden has Joseph keep an eye on them.

And wouldn't you know it, they both had a dream on the same night. Not just any dream. No. A prophetic dream. Would you expect any less from Genesis 40? I wouldn't. Anyway.

When Joseph, who deals in dreams himself, sees them all dejected in the morning and asks what the deal is.

"We're sad because we have no one to interpret our dreams." Well, boo hoo. No one interprets my dreams. But these guys came from a pretty pampered place where they could get a sorcerer if they wanted one to tell them what their dreams meant. So they were probably used to that sort of thing.

Joseph manages to do a little evangelizing, saying "Do not interpretations belong to God?" He asks about their dreams.

Cuppy-boy saw a vine with three branches. It budded, blossomed, and ripened into grapes. He squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand. I would interpret that as a work dream. You know, where you start a new job, and you spend all night sort of half awake/half asleep semi-dreaming that you are doing that job? (I hate those.)

Joseph has a different interpretation revealed to him. Apparently, the three branches were three days, and in three days, Pharaoh would restore Cuppy to his position, because that was his job. Then Joseph tells him that when things are OK again, to tell Pharaoh about him, because Joseph was sick of prison probably. I've never spent time in an Egyptian prison, but I don't imagine it was peaches and cream, in spite of Joseph's position.

The Fabulous Baker Boy was geeked, because Cuppy had a favorable interpretation. His dream went like, "I had three baskets of bread on my head. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds kept eating them." Joseph tells him that the baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will behead him, hang him on a tree...oh, and the birds will eat his flesh. Not so favorable.

In three days, it was Pharaoh's birthday! Yay! He gave a feast for all his officials, including Cuppy and the Fabulous Baker Boy. He restored the cupbearer, and everyone was like, "Wooooooo!" Then he beheads the baker, and people are like..."Ooh...this party really died. He baked the cake first right?"

So it all happened just like Joseph had said. Except the cupbearer did not remember Joseph to Pharaoh.

Weird.

Let's review

Gen. 21: The birth of Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael deported
Gen. 22: Abraham doesn't sacrifice Isaac
Gen. 23: Death of Sarah, deal for a burial plot
Gen. 24: Isaac and Rebekah hook up
Gen. 25: Death of Abraham, Jacob and Esau born
Gen. 26: Isaac and Abimelech
Gen. 27: Jacob steals the blessing, Esau freaks
Gen. 28: Jacob's stairway of angels dream
Gen. 29: Jacob meets Rachel, marries her and Leah
Gen. 30: Bilhah, mandrakes, genetic experiments
Gen. 31: Jacob flees, Laban chases
Gen. 32: Jacob readies to meet Esau, wrestles God
Gen. 33: Jacob meets Esau
Gen. 34: Dinah raped, Shechem pillaged
Gen. 35: Jacob returns to Bethel, deaths of Isaac and Rebekah
Gen. 36: Esau's descendants
Gen. 37: Joseph's dreams, sold by his brothers
Gen. 38: Judah and Tamar
Gen. 39: Potiphar's wife, Joseph imprisoned
Gen. 40: The cupbearer and the baker