Genesis 40:1-23 And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.… It may possibly cause momentary surprise, that Joseph, who interpreted others' dreams, was left in ignorance of his own destiny. Is not this, however, the method ordinarily employed to strengthen faith and produce entire reliance upon God? Indeed, was it not communion with God produced by this sense of dependence which enabled him to interpret mysteries, which fitted him for comforting the sorrowing? It not frequently happens that those whose lives are passed in unrelieved sadness — with whom the present is an enigma, the past a memory of grief, the future a cloud of torturing uncertainty — are nevertheless the instruments in God's hand of producing joy in others' hearts. As a block of ice, chiselled into the form of a lens, can be made to concentrate the sun's rays, kindling a flame, so the believer, by gathering the scattered beams of Heaven's love, may pour cheerfulness into others' hearts while his own may remain quite cheerless. (J. S. Van Dyke.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt. |
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