The Forgotten Cupbearer: Providence in the Pit Text: Genesis 40:9-15
Introduction: The School of Hard Providence
We live in a soft age. We want a God who is a celestial butler, on call to deliver us from every inconvenience. We want a faith that functions like a self-help program, guaranteeing our best life now. But the God of Scripture is not a tame God, and the story He is writing is not a gentle stroll through a suburban park. It is an epic, full of betrayal, injustice, suffering, and long, dark nights of the soul. And it is in these very places, in the dungeons and the pits, that God does His most profound work.
The story of Joseph is a master class in what we might call "hard providence." God does not just govern the good things, the promotions and the sunny days. He governs all of it. He is meticulously sovereign over the envy of brothers, the lies of a seductress, and the cold forgetfulness of a pardoned criminal. As Christians, we are required to believe that God works all things together for good, but we are not required to believe that all things, taken in isolation, feel good. In fact, many of them feel like hell. Joseph is in the pit, forgotten by man, but he is precisely where he needs to be in the curriculum of God's sovereign university.
Here in Genesis 40, Joseph is not just languishing; he is learning. He is being prepared for rule. Before he can interpret the dreams of a king, he must first interpret the dreams of the king's disgraced servants. Before he can be lifted up to the right hand of Pharaoh, he must first be cast down into the lowest parts of the earth. This is the consistent pattern of God's work with His people. He tells death and resurrection stories. He brings His chosen ones low so that He might exalt them in due time. This is not just Joseph's story; it is a type, a pattern, that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was betrayed, unjustly condemned, and cast into the pit of death, only to be raised and exalted to the highest place.
This passage is not just about dream interpretation. It is about how God speaks and works in the darkest corners of human experience. It is about the intersection of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. It is a lesson in how to conduct ourselves when we are wronged and forgotten, and it is a glorious preview of the gospel of grace.
The Text
So the chief cupbearer recounted his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me when it goes well with you, and please show me lovingkindness by remembering me to Pharaoh and getting me out of this house. For I was in fact stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the pit.”
(Genesis 40:9-15 LSB)
A Vine of Hope (v. 9-11)
The cupbearer begins, and his dream is one of life, fruitfulness, and restoration.
"So the chief cupbearer recounted his dream to Joseph and said to him, 'In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.'" (Genesis 40:9-11)
Notice the details. This is not a chaotic, pagan nightmare. It is an orderly and swift progression of life. A vine, three branches, budding, blossoming, and ripening. This is a picture of God's creative power at work. The imagery is potent. The vine is a common biblical symbol for Israel, for fruitfulness, and ultimately for Christ Himself, who is the True Vine. The cupbearer's dream is a picture of life and blessing flowing from the vine into the cup, and from the cup into the hand of the king.
This is a gift of common grace. God is speaking to this pagan official in a language he can understand. The cupbearer's entire life revolves around this very process: serving wine to the king. God meets him right where he is, in the vocabulary of his vocation. This is a principle we must not miss. God is not a remote deity who speaks only in esoteric riddles. He communicates in tangible, earthy realities. He speaks through vines and cups and bread and work.
The dream is a picture of restored fellowship and service. The cupbearer is back at his post, performing his duties, enjoying the favor of the king. He is taking the fruit of the vine and presenting it to Pharaoh. In his dream, the barrier between him and the king is removed. This is a natural desire, but it is also a spiritual picture. All men, made in God's image, long for restored fellowship with the ultimate King. This dream is a small, earthly echo of that greater longing.
The Divine Interpretation (v. 12-13)
Joseph, filled with the Spirit of God, does not offer a Freudian analysis or a collection of vague possibilities. He gives God's authoritative interpretation.
"Then Joseph said to him, 'This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer.'" (Genesis 40:12-13 LSB)
Joseph immediately gives the glory to God, as he stated just before this passage: "Do not interpretations belong to God?" Joseph is not a magician; he is a prophet. He is a conduit for divine revelation. He understands that God is the one who gives the dream and God is the one who gives the meaning. This is the foundation of a biblical worldview. Reality and its meaning are not things we invent; they are things we receive from the Creator.
The interpretation is direct and specific. "The three branches are three days." The number three in Scripture is often associated with resurrection and decisive divine action. Jonah was in the fish for three days. Jesus was in the tomb for three days. Here, the cupbearer's "resurrection" from the pit of the prison will occur in three days. This is not an accident. God is weaving patterns into history, and all the patterns point forward to the great, central event of history: the death and resurrection of His Son.
The phrase "Pharaoh will lift up your head" is a Hebrew idiom that can mean two very different things. It can mean to pardon and restore, or it can mean to execute (literally, to lift the head off the body). Here, in the context of a dream of life and fruitfulness, Joseph rightly interprets it as restoration. The cupbearer will be vindicated. He will be brought out of the dungeon and returned to his place of service. This is a prophecy of grace. It is an unmerited gift from the sovereign. The cupbearer did nothing to earn this restoration; it is bestowed upon him by the will of Pharaoh.
The Human Plea (v. 14-15)
Having delivered God's good news to the cupbearer, Joseph now makes a personal, heartfelt appeal. This is where the raw humanity of the story hits us.
"Only remember me when it goes well with you, and please show me lovingkindness by remembering me to Pharaoh and getting me out of this house. For I was in fact stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the pit." (Genesis 40:14-15 LSB)
This is not a lapse in faith. This is faith in action. Joseph believes God's interpretation. He believes the cupbearer will be restored. And because he believes it, he acts upon it. He sees a potential means of deliverance that God has sovereignly placed in his path, and he takes it. To have faith in God's sovereignty does not mean we sit back and do nothing. It means we act with confidence, knowing that our actions are part of the very plan God is unfolding. Joseph is not trying to force God's hand; he is simply knocking on the door that God's providence appears to be opening.
He asks for "lovingkindness," the Hebrew word hesed. This is a rich, covenantal term. It is a plea for loyal, steadfast love. It is the kind of love God shows to His people. Joseph is asking this pagan to show him a reflection of God's own character. And he provides the legal basis for his appeal: he is innocent. "I was in fact stolen... I have done nothing." He is not a criminal seeking a pardon; he is an innocent man seeking justice.
He calls the dungeon a "pit." This word choice is deliberate. It echoes the pit his brothers threw him into. Joseph sees the pattern. He has been cast down twice, unjustly. He has been the victim of sin and betrayal. Yet, there is no bitterness in his voice. There is no whining. There is a straightforward declaration of his innocence and a simple request for help. He has learned to entrust his vindication to God, but he has not learned to be passive. He is a righteous man, and a righteous man uses the means God provides.
The Gospel in the Pit
As with all of Scripture, this story is not ultimately about Joseph and a forgetful cupbearer. It is about Jesus Christ and us. Joseph here is a magnificent type of Christ. He is the innocent one, dwelling in the pit, the place of the condemned. He is surrounded by two others who are under a sentence from the king, just as Jesus was crucified between two thieves.
To one, Joseph brings a message of life and restoration. "In three days, you will be lifted up and restored to the king." This is the gospel promise. To the one who receives it by faith, there is life. This is the thief on the cross who said, "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus, the true Joseph, replied, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." It is a message of resurrection and restoration to the Father's right hand.
To the other, the baker, Joseph will bring a message of judgment. In three days, his head will also be "lifted up," but in condemnation. This is the other thief, who reviled Christ. One receives grace, the other justice. And the difference is not in them, but in the sovereign decree of the King.
And what of Joseph's plea? "Only remember me." This is the cry of the righteous sufferer. This is the cry of the Messiah Himself from the cross. And what happens? The cupbearer, once restored to his position of favor, forgets. "Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him" (Gen. 40:23). For two more full years, Joseph remains in the pit, forgotten. This human failure, this sin of ingratitude, was part of God's perfect plan. It was not yet time. Joseph had more to learn, and Pharaoh's heart was not yet ready. God's timing is always perfect, even when it feels excruciatingly slow to us.
But here is the glory of the gospel. While the cupbearer forgot Joseph, our King never forgets us. Jesus Christ, our great high priest, is the one who was cast into the pit for us. He was the one who was truly forgotten, crying out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He endured the ultimate forgetting so that we, the guilty, might be remembered forever. He is the true and better Joseph who not only interprets the dream of salvation but actually accomplishes it. And having been lifted up from the pit of death, He now stands at the right hand of the King, not as a servant, but as the Son. And He does not forget us. He makes intercession for us. He has shown us the ultimate hesed, the ultimate lovingkindness, and He will surely bring us out of our own pits and into the glorious presence of the King.