| “But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house [prison] … Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him” (Genesis 40:14, 23). |
| If you read the whole of Genesis 40, you will see that both the chief butler and the chief baker of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had done something to displease him. They were put in prison, where Joseph was, and one night each of them had a dream. When they told their dreams to Joseph, he was able to tell them what their dreams meant. The chief butler would be restored to his place as butler, but the chief baker would be executed. And so it happened, but then the chief butler forgot all about Joseph, although Joseph had asked him to use his influence with Pharaoh to try and get him released from prison. |
| Why was the chief butler given back his position, while the chief baker was hanged? We are not told why Pharaoh did this, but in their dreams there is something that shows us why it happened. The chief butler brought ripe grapes, which he pressed, and then gave the cup to Pharaoh to drink. He brought to Pharaoh that which speaks of the blood of Christ, and he was forgiven. |
| But the chief baker brought only baking for Pharaoh, and the birds came and ate it. There was nothing in what the chief baker brought that spoke of redemption, and he was executed. |
| It was sad that the chief butler forgot about Joseph, for Joseph had been very kind to him. But when things were going well and he was back in Pharaoh’s court, he was not concerned about a man in the prison who was a slave. |
| Are we sometimes like that as Christians? The Lord Jesus has asked us to remember Him in His death, yet some believers forget about Him, and do not bother to do this. I am sure that Joseph was sad as he realized that the chief butler was not going to remember him, and the Lord Jesus feels it too, when we forget His request to remember Him. |
