Be a Butler, not a Baker - Hidden Truths about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the Second Coming of Christ in Genesis 40

26/11/2015

Be a Butler, not a Baker - Hidden Truths about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the Second Coming of Christ in Genesis 40

This Bible study is based on Genesis 40:1-23 NKJV - Read it and see if you are a baker or a butler (you can also read more original devotionals on our Patreon):

“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. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while. 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. And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. 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?” 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.” Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. 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.” And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 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. 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. 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.” 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. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.” So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. 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.” 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. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” (Genesis 40:1-23 NKJV)

The context of Genesis 40:

Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, in Potiphar's household. Potiphar was the capitain of the guard in Egypt, an officer of Pharaoh.
Eventually after working for Potiphar, Joseph gained Potiphar's trust and was promoted as the overseer over Potiphar's house.

Because Joseph was handsome in appearance, Potiphar's wife was attracted to Joseph, and wanted to sleep with him.
One day, after multiple failed attempts to seduce Joseph into sleeping with her, Potiphar's wife framed Joseph, complaining to Potiphar that Joseph had tried to take advantage of her.

In his anger, Potiphar put Joseph in the prison. And Genesis 40 begins with Joseph already being in the prison...

In this passage, the chief butler represents people who receive the gift of salvation and forgiveness through believing in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
The chief baker represents people who are non-believers who do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
The Pharaoh (also called "king of Egypt") represents our Heavenly Father.
Finally, Joseph represents our Lord Jesus Christ.

1) Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "prison" as:

A) a state of confinement or captivity

B) a building where people are kept as punishment for a crime or while they are waiting to go to court.

The prison in the passage represents the spiritual state of all people who are born in this world.
They are automatically trapped in their sins from birth, being spiritually-dead,
because of Adam's sin (Romans 5:12-15), waiting for their judgement from God, just like being held in prison.

Why was Joseph (who represents Jesus) in the prison then?
Jesus was awaiting judgement while He was on earth - He was going to go to the cross to pay the price for all the sins of the world!

“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. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while."

The feast that Pharaoh organised represents the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where the marriage of Jesus and the Church (the bride of Christ) will be celebrated in heaven, before Jesus and the Church come back together to earth gloriously to reclaim their home - Jerusalem.

Why the baker and the butler had different fates

2) Each dream represents a different fate that awaited the butler and the baker respectively.
God wants us to pay attention to why the butler and the baker experienced a different fate, and apply this lesson into our lives.

Sometimes when you feel that a dream you had could be a message to you from God, you should pray and ask our Heavenly Father for the interpretation of your dream.
Interpretations belong to God, and He freely gives wisdom to those who ask Him for it (James 1:5)!

"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. And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. 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?” 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.”"

3) Jesus said that He is the Vine and that we are the branches (John 15:1-8).
The vine in the passage represents our Lord Jesus Christ.

By taking the grapes from the vine, the chief butler was relying on the fruits produced by the vine, and not from his own efforts, to appease Pharaoh.
This represents people who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and rely on His abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17)!

The pressed grapes also represent the body of Jesus being stricken, oozing forth His blood that He shed for us at the cross.
By offering the grape juice in the cup to Pharaoh, it represents believers who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior -
They offer Jesus' finished work and shed blood as their atonement for their sins, and as the basis of their righteousness before God!

The passage is not talking about three natural 24-hour days. It's talking about God's prophetic three days:

"Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day." (II Peter 3:8 AMP)

The "third day" mentioned in the passage represents the timeframe of between 2000 - 3000 years after the death of Jesus on the cross.
We are currently in God's prophetic third day. The Rapture, the Great Tribulation and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will all take place during this timeframe:

Just like how the chief butler was to be restored to his position within three days, the believers who will receive the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ during the Great Tribulation, will be raised to life during the "First Resurrection" before the Millennial Reign of Christ begins!

"Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. 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.” And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 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."

"And then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom judgment [that is, the authority to act as judges] was given. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had refused to worship the beast or his image, and had not accepted his mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead [the non-believers] did not come to life again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) and holy is the person who takes part in the first resurrection; over these the second death [which is eternal separation from God, the lake of fire] has no power or authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with Him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6 AMP)

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Believing in Jesus is the only way to be saved

4) When everything in life seems to be going our way, is Jesus still our top-priority and preoccupation?
We are reminded to remember Jesus when things are well for us, because all good gifts and blessings are from God (James 1:17)!

Our Heavenly Father loves it when we genuinely speak well of His beloved Son Jesus. He loves it when we talk to Him about Jesus!

For the past two thousand-plus years, majority of believers were Gentiles from the Gentile nations, not Jews from Israel or the diaspora.
In this sense, Jesus was stolen from the land of the Hebrews - the gift of salvation and the favor of God which was initially purposed for the Jews before the Gentiles, was given mostly to the Gentiles and not to the Jews.

Jesus committed no sin, but He was sent to earth to offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice for all the sins of the world (Psalms 69:4).

"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. 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.”"

5) The baked goods represent self-effort and self-justification.
Furthermore, the baked goods contain leaven (yeast), which in the Bible, represents sin.
So the baked goods as the whole, represent imperfect offerings to God - attempts at self-justification - to earn one's own righteousness through works instead of accepting the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

There is no other way in which one can be saved, apart from receiving the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
The way to salvation is simple: Believe in your heart and confess in your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, that He died for you on the cross and was resurrected on the third day after His death, and is now seated at the right hand of our Heavenly Father (Romans 10:9)!

Attempting any other form of earning your salvation is insulting Jesus' finished work at the cross and also the Holy Spirit.

Just like how the chief baker was to be put to death within three days, Jesus will slay the unbelievers in the world at His Second Coming, and the birds will eat their flesh.

"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. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.” So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. 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.”"

"And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds fed ravenously and gorged themselves with their flesh." (Revelation 19:21 AMP)

6) The feast that Pharaoh organised represents the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where the marriage of Jesus and the Church (the bride of Christ) will be celebrated in heaven, before Jesus and the Church come back together to earth gloriously to reclaim their home - Jerusalem.

" Then I heard something like the shout of a vast multitude, and like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all] reigns. Let us rejoice and shout for joy! Let us give Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come [at last] and His bride (the redeemed) has prepared herself.” She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling white and clean—for the fine linen signifies the righteous acts of the saints [the ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character of believers]. Then the angel said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me [further], “These are the true and exact words of God.”" (Revelation 19:6-9 AMP)

Again, we are reminded to keep in our hearts what Jesus has done for us.

"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. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”"

Pinterest Pinnable Image. Genesis 40 hides many end times truths. There is no other way in which one can be saved, apart from receiving the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Be a butler who receives atonement through the blood, and not a baker who attempts justification through works. Then you will be able to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and enter into the eternal joy of the Lord!

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2 Comments

Virgie Howard link

13/2/2018 07:22:27 pm

Thank you for all the time you put in to help save our soul! You help me find true understanding of the Bible,thank you and God bless you.

Milton Goh

13/2/2018 07:31:45 pm

That’s great to know and all glory to Jesus! Writing for God is my passion. God bless you Virgie!