Divine Delays and Forgotten Favors Text: Genesis 40:20-23
Introduction: The School of Providence
We live in an age that worships immediacy. We want instant coffee, instant communication, and instant gratification. And when we bring this mindset to our faith, we demand instant deliverance. We pray for a solution to our troubles, and we expect God to dispatch an angel via express mail before the amen has finished echoing. But God is not a cosmic vending machine, and He is not running for office. He is the sovereign Lord of history, and He operates on a timeline that serves His purposes, not our preferences. His delays are not denials; they are instruments of His providence, designed to shape us, to test us, and to fit us for the greater work He has prepared.
The story of Joseph is a masterclass in the school of divine providence. We have seen him thrown into a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of rape, and thrown into a dungeon. And yet, in every circumstance, the Lord was with him. In our last passage, we saw a glimmer of hope. Joseph, through the wisdom given him by God, correctly interpreted the dreams of two of Pharaoh's high-ranking officials. He told the cupbearer that in three days he would be restored to his position. And he made one simple, reasonable request: "Remember me when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh."
This is it. This is the ticket out. The door is about to swing open. Joseph has done the right thing, served faithfully, spoken God's truth, and now his deliverance is tied to the word of a grateful man in a high place. Everything seems to be lining up. But this is where we learn a crucial lesson about the nature of our hope. Our hope cannot be in the gratitude of men, or the reliability of princes, or the most well-laid plans. Our hope must be in God alone, who works all things, including the ingratitude of men and the forgetfulness of princes, according to the counsel of His will.
In these few verses, we see a birthday party, a restoration, an execution, and a stunning act of forgetfulness. It appears to be a dead end for Joseph. But what looks like a dead end to us is often the very place where God is laying the foundation for a grander deliverance than we could have ever imagined.
The Text
Thus it happened 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 cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
And he restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;
but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.
Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
(Genesis 40:20-23 LSB)
The Sovereign Feast (v. 20)
We begin with the occasion for the events that unfold:
"Thus it happened 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 cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants." (Genesis 40:20)
The machinery of God's providence often uses the ordinary gears of human culture. Here, the setting is a pagan birthday party. Pharaoh, the embodiment of worldly power, decides to throw a feast. This is not incidental. God is the one who put it into Pharaoh's heart to celebrate his birthday on this particular day and in this particular way. The destiny of two men, and through them the deliverance of a nation, hinges on a royal celebration.
The text says Pharaoh "lifted up the head" of both the cupbearer and the baker. This is a Hebrew idiom that carries a double meaning, a device the Holy Spirit loves to use. It can mean to honor and exalt someone, to lift their head in dignity. It can also mean to remove their head, as in a census or, in this case, an execution. Pharaoh is about to render his verdict, and he does so in the midst of this grand assembly. This is a public display of royal power. One man will be honored, and one will be condemned, all for the glory and authority of Pharaoh.
But behind the throne of Pharaoh is the throne of God. Pharaoh thinks he is the one making the decisions, settling accounts, and displaying his authority. But he is merely a character in a story that God is writing. God is using this pagan feast to bring His own prophetic word, spoken through His servant Joseph, to its precise and certain fulfillment. This is how God works. He does not need to shatter the systems of the world to accomplish His will; He uses them. He steers the hearts of kings like channels of water (Proverbs 21:1).
A Tale of Two Heads (v. 21-22)
Next, the prophecy is fulfilled with absolute precision, just as Joseph had declared.
"And he restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them." (Genesis 40:21-22 LSB)
The first "lifting of the head" is a restoration. The cupbearer is vindicated and returned to his place of honor and intimacy with the king. He once again holds the cup in Pharaoh's hand. His future is secure. The second "lifting of the head" is a condemnation. The baker is executed, hanged on a tree. His future is over.
The text makes a point to add the phrase, "just as Joseph had interpreted to them." This is crucial. This is not a lucky guess. This is not shrewd psychoanalysis of the prisoners. This is the infallible Word of God. God gave the dream, God gave the interpretation to Joseph, and God brought the events to pass. This event serves as an undeniable validation of Joseph as a true prophet of the Most High God. The cupbearer now has empirical, first-hand evidence that the God of this Hebrew slave is the God who knows and determines the future.
This scene is a stark picture of divine judgment and salvation. Two men are in the same condition, prisoners of Pharaoh. Both receive a word about their future. For one, it is a word of life and restoration. For the other, it is a word of death and condemnation. This is a preview of the gospel. All of humanity stands condemned, imprisoned by sin. The gospel comes as a divine interpretation of our condition. To those who receive it in faith, it is a word of restoration to the Father's right hand. To those who reject it, it is a word that confirms their condemnation. There is a great separation coming, and it is determined by the word of the King.
The Sin of Forgetfulness (v. 23)
Everything has happened just as Joseph said. The cupbearer is free, restored, and back in the king's favor. Joseph's moment of deliverance has surely arrived. But then we come to the hammer blow of verse 23.
"Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." (Genesis 40:23 LSB)
The language here is emphatic. He did not just have a momentary lapse; the text says he "did not remember" and then adds, for good measure, "but forgot him." This is a total and complete act of ingratitude. The cupbearer was likely caught up in the whirlwind of his restoration, the celebration, the return to his duties and his family. In the brightness of his own good fortune, the memory of the Hebrew slave in the darkness of the dungeon simply faded away. He owed his life and restoration to Joseph's God-given wisdom, and yet he forgot him.
This is a picture of human nature. How quick we are to forget the goodness of God once the crisis has passed. When we are in the pit, we make all sorts of promises. "Lord, if you just get me out of this, I will serve you forever." And then He delivers us, the sun comes out, and we get busy with our restored lives, and the memory of our desperation, and our Deliverer, grows dim. The sin of the cupbearer is the sin of Israel in the wilderness, and it is our sin as well. It is the sin of taking grace for granted.
From a human perspective, this is a disaster for Joseph. His one connection to the outside world, his one hope for justice, has just evaporated. Imagine the crushing disappointment. The days turn into weeks, the weeks into months. Every time a guard walks by, does his heart leap, thinking, "This is it"? And every time, the footsteps pass. This is a severe mercy from God. God is teaching Joseph to place his trust not in the memory of men, but in the faithfulness of God. If the cupbearer had remembered Joseph immediately, Joseph would have been freed by the whim of a pagan king, likely sent back to Canaan, and God's grand purpose of saving the entire region through him would have been thwarted. God had to slam this door shut in order to open a much grander one two full years later.
Conclusion: Forgotten by Men, Remembered by God
So what are we to make of this? This is not just a story about a bad break for a good man. This is a foundational lesson in how God governs the world and cares for His people. Joseph had to remain in the pit. It was not yet time. God's timetable is always perfect, and it is rarely our own.
Joseph is a type of Christ. He is the righteous servant who has the words of life. He is cast into the pit, the place of death, though he is innocent. He brings a word of salvation to one and a word of judgment to another. And after he secures the salvation of the one, he is forgotten. He is left in the place of darkness. Does this not remind us of our Lord? He descended into the ultimate pit for our sake. He was forgotten and forsaken, crying out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He was left in the grave, the ultimate prison.
The cupbearer's failure was a sin, but God in His sovereignty wove that sin into His perfect plan. God's purpose was not just to get Joseph out of jail. His purpose was to put Joseph on the throne of Egypt. And for that to happen, Pharaoh himself had to have a dream that no one else could interpret. The cupbearer had to be in a position where, in a moment of national crisis, he would suddenly remember. "Oh, right! That Hebrew fellow!" God's delay was not a denial; it was for a far greater exaltation.
The same is true for us. We have times when we feel forgotten. We pray, and the heavens seem like brass. We do the right thing, and we are punished for it. We serve others, and we are met with ingratitude. In those moments, we are in the school of Joseph. We are being taught to wait on the Lord. We are being taught that our deliverance comes not from the machinations of men, but from the sovereign hand of God at the appointed time.
The cupbearer forgot Joseph, but God did not. And when the time was right, God would not just "lift up the head" of Joseph in restoration; He would lift him up to be the second most powerful man in the known world. Your time in the pit, your season of being forgotten, is not wasted time. It is preparation time. God is getting you ready for what He has prepared for you. And He is getting the world ready for what He is about to do through you. Trust His timing. Do not put your hope in the memory of cupbearers. Put your hope in the God who raises the dead.