Read Genesis 40:1-8

In the last post on Genesis, we saw how Joseph, a young man, in the prime of his life and possessing all the desires young men in their prime possess, somehow avoided succumbing to the relentless propositions of Potiphar’s wife. (see previous post: Joseph’s 5 Steps to Avoid Temptation) At the end of the previous chapter, she (falsely) accuses him of rape. It was the word of a slave, against the word of the wife of a high government official, and, of course, she won. So Joseph finds himself in a dungeon. But, by God’s grace, he also finds favor with the warden of the dungeon. And after awhile, the warden puts him in charge of other prisoners.

In today’s post we’ll learn about two of Pharaoh’s prisoners, the cupbearer and the baker, and their respective dreams. And we’ll look at interpretation as it relates to fire, and as it relates to God.

Genesis 40:1-8

So Joseph has been in prison for some time when a couple of new convicts arrive. They were officials in the king’s court who had offended their master, the Pharaoh. One was the chief cupbearer, and the other the chief baker. And Joseph is assigned to take care of both of them.

They had been in custody for awhile when each of them, the cupbearer and the baker, has a dream on the same night, and each dream has its own meaning. The only thing is, neither of them can figure it out.

When Joseph shows up the next morning he can tell they’re both dejected. So he asks, Why so sad?

They both answer, We both had dreams but there’s no one to interpret them.

Then Joseph says, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

Interpretation: Fire and God

On the topic of interpretations, and who they belong to: In my thirty years in the fire service, I have heard of only one person crazy enough to disregard the interpretation of a fire scene by firefighters. Unfortunately I experienced it first hand. The call came in around 7 in the morning, as a house fire with children trapped at 503 Alberts St. When we rolled up we saw the house was well involved with fire. I’ll never forget my surprise when, as we deployed off our fire engines, we were met by a man screaming obscenities. He was, if you will, challenging our interpretation of the fire scene — in no uncertain terms. He continued to scream obscenities at us while we removed three children trapped in a back bedroom of the burning house. Sadly, we were too late to save two of them. One survived.

Later we found out the man screaming was a neighbor, and Vietnam vet, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. After it was all over, he apologized profusely. He felt terrible. I actually feel sorry for the guy.

Let me ask you something:

If your house was on fire.

And your family was trapped inside.

And you were standing out in the street next to me.

And a half dozen or so fire engines rolled up to the scene.

Would you interpret that fire scene — or would you rely on me, as a firefighter, to interpret it for you?

Of course, you would rely on my interpretation — even though you wouldn’t understand much of what I did. Undoubtedly you’d have questions. Why are you cutting a hole in my roof? you might ask. Why are you using precious time to take your fire hose all the way around to the back? you may question. What are you doing with those big fans? And what does all this have to do with saving my family?

Yes, you would definitely have questions. There would definitely be things you wouldn’t understand. But to give you and your family the best possible chance, you’d rely on my interpretation anyway.

You would put your faith in me, as a firefighter, and you would be wise to do so. If you tried to figure it out yourself, your family could die in the flames.

And yet, the difference between me and you isn’t that great. After all, I’m just a man. My time on the earth may not be as long as yours. My life experience might not be as extensive as yours. My accomplishments probably aren’t as great as yours.

But still, you’d rely on my interpretation.

How much more then, should we rely on Jesus Christ’s interpretation of the scriptures, because of who He is.

I’m not talking about checking your brain. I enjoy discussing questions concerning scripture with others, and also exploring questions about scripture myself. Romans 12:2 says we’re to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. And the Jews of Berea received Paul’s information, but they had questions. So they diligently researched to see if what he was saying was true. (Acts 17:10-12)

Asking questions about the Bible is healthy and should be commended. The people at Berea were said to be of more noble character than others.

What I’m talking about is recognizing who Jesus is compared to who you are and who I am.

So who does Jesus say he is?

He said, He was with God before the world even existed. (John 17:5)

Jesus said to His disciples, If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father. How can you even say, Show us the Father? (John 14:9)

In these and other places in the Bible, Jesus says He is God.

In John 10:33 we see clearly, the Jews understood Jesus claim that He was God: “We are not stoning you for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”  they said.

So it makes sense for you to rely on me, a mere man, not much different than you, for the interpretation of a fire scene, and for the salvation of your family from a house fire. How much more then, does it make sense for you to rely on the Christ, who is God, as much as you possibly can, for your interpretation of scripture, as well as your salvation.

The only thing that makes sense is to rely on Jesus’ view of scripture.

And how does He see it?

I think it’s impossible to read the four gospels without coming to the conclusion Jesus viewed (and views) scripture as God’s word.

“But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” Jesus said, substantiating the account of the destruction of Sodom. (Luke 17:29)

“Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.” Jesus said, confirming manna fell from heaven (John 6:49)

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—” Jesus stated, validating Daniel of the Old Testament as a real and genuine prophet. (Matthew 24:15)

Let the reader understand, Jesus really did view the Old Testament as God’s word. He quoted from twenty four different books of the Old Testament. He quoted from it often and as having the weight of God’s authority behind it. He accepted the Old Testament as “that which was spoken unto you by God” (Matthew 22:31) But please, let me encourage you not to take my word for it. Read the gospels and see for yourself.

I don’t think there’s any question, we’ll never understand everything in the Old Testament, or the New Testament for that matter, this side of heaven. The interpretation of scripture is infinitely more complex than the interpretation of a fire scene. If you have questions about a fire scene, it’s only natural you would have questions about scripture. But because Jesus is God, the only thing that makes sense is to view the scriptures as He did.

I know how to rescue people from a house fire (IF, you give me a handful of fire engines and 20 or so trained firefighters). So you put your faith in me. Jesus knows how to raise people from the dead! I know how to extinguish the flames. So you put your faith in me. Jesus created fire, and everything in the earth, and the entire universe!

In fact, because Jesus is God, it makes infinitely more sense for you to rely on Jesus for your interpretation of scripture, than it does for you to rely on me to interpret a fire scene. In either case, if you try to lean on your own understanding, you and the people you love and care about will get burned. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In the end, what you’re left with is a choice: Will you buy the secular criticisms of the Bible so prevalent on the internet today? Or will you believe God’s word in the same way Jesus did?

Will you believe the critics or Christ?

“Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8)

Joseph said it well.

Put your faith in Him.

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• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
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• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

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