The Story

Primary

It was very different from Joseph's simple home in Canaan, this rich old land of Egypt, with its wonderful river and meadows, its pyramids and temples, its rich people and its slaves. Who remembers how Joseph came to Egypt and became a slave to an officer of Pharaoh? (Gen. 37:36) The Lord was with Joseph and all that he did prospered. His master's affairs prospered in his care, but Joseph was charged falsely and was put in prison. Still the Lord was with him, and the other prisoners were placed in his care. There he met the chief butler and chief baker of Pharaoh, as the king of Egypt was called, who were also in the prison. Old pictures show us butlers and bakers at their work, butlers caring for the grapes and wine, and bakers for the bread and cakes. Both were trusted officers of Pharaoh, but both had displeased the king and were in prison.

Both the butler and the baker dreamed the same night, and Joseph told them the meaning of their dreams, for the Lord showed it to him. Read the dreams. Perhaps not "white baskets," but "baskets of white bread." The dreams came true as Joseph had told their meaning. The baker was hanged, and the butler was restored to his place. Read, too, how Joseph begged the chief butler to remember him and to bring him out of prison, but how the chief butler forgot him until something soon after happened that made him remember Joseph.

I would love to take a trip with you in Egypt. It is a wonderful old country, with a wonderful river, wonderful pyramids and temples, sphinxes and obelisks and tombs, and wonderful pictures of the people of long ago at their work and games. What books and pictures have you that will show you some of these things and make you feel that you are in Egypt? Can you get some good book at the public library, if you have not one of your own? Is there a museum near your home which you can visit and see some of the things and pictures from old Egypt? Have you a good map of Egypt, which shows the river Nile, its sources in the great lakes under the equator and in the mountains of Abyssinia, and its long course through the desert, making greenness along its banks and each autumn overflowing to water the farms? Who will learn for us before next Sunday something about the Nile, and be ready to tell the class about it? Who will learn and tell us something about the pyramids? Did any one of you ever hear of the Hyxos or shepherd kings? They were not native Egyptians but came into the country from the east and ruled especially the delta land. It was probably during their time that Joseph came into Egypt and rose to power. You will know that it means a change of rulers when we read in Exodus 1:8, "Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph."

In Palestine, Joseph's people lived in tents, pastured their flocks in the meadows or on the hillsides wherever the pasturage was best, digging wells and building altars when they stayed long enough in one place, and the Lord was their God. The Egyptians for centuries had had every luxury of city life. The great temples and palaces, libraries and museums, pyramids and monuments, statues and carvings. The rich people lived sumptuously, having slaves to serve them, to bring them rich food at the feasts, to make music for them and dance before them and their guests and run before their chariots. They had wines to drink, and sweet spices and gums to perfume the air. They had their gardens along the fertile banks of the Nile, which were rich and fruitful, being overflowed once every year and carefully watered through the dry months. There were fortresses and prisons too, in the days of Joseph. And the people worshiped idols.

The Lord was with Joseph, and all that he did prospered. See how it was in his master's home. See how it was in the prison, where Joseph was for a time under a false charge. And still more was it so when Pharaoh raised Joseph to power, as we shall soon learn.

We read of the chief butler and chief baker of Pharaoh. They were important officers who provided for the king's food and drink. In the old pictures we see men making wine, sometimes squeezing the grapes in a leather bag, sometimes treading them. Then we see the sealed jars set aside. Again, like the chief butler, one presses grapes into a cup of water for the king to drink. We see the bakers also in the pictures. They had small dome-shaped ovens of earthenware, such as are still used. There was a hole near the top through which the baker reached his hand to put his thin cakes against the hot side of the oven, and to take off those that were baked. They made many kinds of fancy breads and often carried them in shallow open baskets on their heads. It is the way the people carry fruits and other things today. The chief baker carried such baskets in his dream. The words translated "white baskets" perhaps mean "baskets full of holes." The chief butler and chief baker had displeased the king and were in prison, perhaps in the fortress at Memphis, of which a picture still remains. Joseph was in the same prison. The Lord was with him, and the other prisoners were put under his care, especially the butler and the baker. They dreamed one night, and told the dreams to Joseph, and the Lord showed him the meaning of the dreams, so that he told them truly. In those early times, people were often taught by the Lord through dreams. Some of them they themselves understood, and others, like the dreams of our lesson today, were explained by someone to whom the Lord had given understanding.

1. What river waters Egypt? Where does it rise? What peculiar habit has this river?

2. In what part of Egypt was Joseph's home? Do you know what the names of the great cities of Egypt today? Do you know any cities of Joseph's time?

3. What was the king of Egypt called?

4. Where did Joseph meet the butler and baker of the king?

5. What dreams did the butler and baker have? What did the dreams mean?

6. Why did Joseph prosper?

Spiritual Study

Recall what we learned of the spiritual meaning of Egypt in connection with Abraham's going into Egypt in time of famine. The land of Canaan is the type of a spiritual life. Other countries around, according to their character and the character of their people, represent natural states and faculties, some helpful, some hostile to the spiritual life. Egypt was the world's storehouse of learning as well as of food. The people had no spiritual perception themselves, but they treasured the learning handed down from ancient days, especially a knowledge of correspondences that was the basis of their hieroglyphic writings and of their elaborate religious ceremonies. This quality of the people was also reflected in the land itself, which had no rain from heaven but lived by the water of the Nile that came down from distant mountains. (Deut. 11:10, 11) We saw that Abraham's stay in Egypt represents a child's gathering of natural knowledge, which will serve later as material and basis for spiritual development. The Lord as a child must learn, as other children do, the outward forms of truth, especially from the letter of the Word, and this was represented by His being taken as a child into Egypt. (A. 1460-1463) The spiritual acknowledgment of the Lord and the spiritual motive of life represented by Joseph may seem to be lost, but they still live as a hidden influence, inspiring and ordering the gains of natural learning and power, preparing these for service to the spiritual life. (A. 5968)

The spiritual mastery over the natural mind and life is not gained in us, and was not gained in the Lord's life, without temptations. These are represented by Joseph's being shut up in prison. (A. 5035, 5036)

The butler and baker of Pharaoh represent two faculties, understanding and will, of the natural mind. Remember the significance of bread and wine in the Holy Supper. That these officers had offended and were in prison, represents disorder and constraint of these natural powers, awaiting a spiritual influence to judge and correct them. The understanding, represented by the butler, may be more easily corrected. The perverse will, represented by the baker, is condemned. (A. 5125, 5126, 5156, 5157) We long to see Joseph come to power in Egypt, in us and in the church. May the Lord, even though it be in hidden ways, guide and inspire our activities in the world, preparing us for spiritual life - a return to Canaan.

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