Genesis Chapters 40-42: Should You Invest in Someone Else’s Success?

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Introduction

Welcome to PRS.work, a video series that helps us hear the Bible together at work. In this video you'll hear a brief introduction, a Psalm read as an opening prayer, a long passage from the Bible, and a commentary about what this means for work, workers, and the workplace. When the video ends you can discuss how this applies to your work.

Today’s Public Reading of Scripture recounts the rags-to-riches story of Joseph near the end of the book of Genesis. Thanks to his gift for interpreting dreams and his shrewd management instincts, Joseph is elevated from prison to a position of national prominence in Egypt.

When the king of Egypt faces a crisis, Joseph not only forecasts the country’s agricultural prospects correctly, but he comes up with a plan to save Pharoah and the Egyptian people from widespread starvation. Joseph’s actions also end up saving his own family – the inheritors of God’s covenant – from destitution and death.

Before reading along to a dramatic recording of Genesis Chapters 40-42, we will open with Psalm 142 in prayer.

Psalm 142

A Contemplation of David. A Prayer when he was in the cave.

I cry out to the Lord with my voice;
With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
² I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare before Him my trouble.

³ When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.
⁴ Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul.

⁵ I cried out to You, O Lord:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
⁶ Attend to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
⁷ Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

Genesis 40

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. ² And 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.

⁵ Then 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. ⁶ And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. ⁷ So 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?”

⁸ And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”

So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

⁹ Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. ¹¹ Then 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.”

¹² And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. ¹³ Now 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. ¹⁴ But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

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. 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.”

¹⁸ So 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.”

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. ²³ Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Genesis 41

Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. ² Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. ⁴ And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ⁷ And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream. ⁸ Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, ¹¹ we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹² Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³ And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”

¹⁶ So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. ²¹ When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²² Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good. ²³ Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ²⁴ And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. ³¹ So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. ³² And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. ³⁵ And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. ³⁶ Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”

³⁷ So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

⁴² Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-Paaneah. And he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. ⁴⁹ Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.

⁵⁰ And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” ⁵² And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended, ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.

Genesis 42

When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ² And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”

³ So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.” ⁵ And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”

And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸ So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. ⁹ Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”

¹² But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹³ And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”

¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵ In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in prison three days.

¹⁸ Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: ¹⁹ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰ And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.”

And they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.”

²² And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” ²³ But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. ²⁴ And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵ Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. ²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. ²⁷ But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹ Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: ³⁰ “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. ³⁴ And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”

³⁵ Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

Pause for Reflection

Now we'll take a moment to reflect silently on what we have just read and heard in Scripture.

Should You Invest in Someone Else's Success?

From the Theology of Work Bible Commentary on Genesis

Joseph’s service in prison was marked by the Lord’s presence, the jailer’s favor, and Joseph’s promotion to leadership. In prison, Joseph met two of Pharaoh’s officials who were incarcerated, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. Many Egyptian texts mention the role of cupbearers, who not only tasted wine for quality and to detect poisons but also who enjoyed proximity to those with political power. They often became confidants who were valued for their counsel (as in Nehemiah 2:1-4.) Like chief cupbearers, chief bakers were also trusted officials who had open access to the highest persons in the government and who may have performed duties that extended beyond the preparation of food. In prison, Joseph did the work of interpreting dreams for these politically connected individuals.

Interpreting dreams in the ancient world was a sophisticated profession involving technical dream books that listed elements of dreams and their meanings. Records of the veracity of past dreams and their interpretations provided empirical evidence to support the interpreter’s predictions. Joseph, however, was not schooled in this tradition and credited God with providing the interpretations that eventually proved true. In this case, the cupbearer was restored to his former post, where he promptly forgot about Joseph.

The dynamics present in this story are still present today. We may invest in the success of another who rises beyond our reach, only to be discarded when our usefulness has been spent. Does this mean that our work has been for nothing and that we would have been better off to focus on our own position and promotion? What’s more, Joseph had no way of independently verifying the stories of the two officials in prison. “The one who first states a case seems right, until the other comes and cross-examines” (Proverbs 18:17). After sentencing, however, any prisoner can assert his or her own innocence.

We may have doubts about how our investment in others may eventually benefit us or our organizations. We may wonder about the character and motives of the people we help. We may disapprove of what they do afterward and how that might reflect on us. These matters can be varied and complex. They call for prayer and discernment, but must they paralyze us? The Apostle Paul wrote, “Whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all” (Galatians 6:10). If we start with a commitment to work for God above all others, then it is easier to move ahead, believing what is written in Romans 8:28: “all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

How does this apply to your work?