That's what Joseph's big brothers thought.
They were sure their father liked Joseph best.
In some ways they were right. Joseph was the baby of the family. And new babies aren't much good at hunting, or watching sheep. Mostly they just roll around and cry a lot, and you have to do everything for them. So, when baby Joseph came along, of course Jacob spent a lot of time with him. Well, that, and babies are just so cute!
But, Joseph's brothers didn't like it.
And they didn't like Joseph.
They were jealous. They wanted Dad to spend time with THEM. And so as Joseph got older, they picked on him. It was easy to do because they were bigger and stronger. When Dad wasn't looking, they bossed little Joseph around. They put beetles in his bed. They were always making him do stuff for them - like he was their slave or something.
Well, one day they were all going to be in for a BIG surprise!
Of course, being mean to someone their father loved probably wasn't the best idea. Did they think hurting Joseph would make their father love them more? That wasn't too smart.
When Joseph was old enough, he went to work out in the fields with his brothers, watching over the sheep. Joseph was 17 now, and his brothers still didn't like him much.
It probably didn't help things that when Joseph went home at night, he told his father when his brothers were goofing around instead of working.
It really didn't help things much when one day, Jacob gave his son Joseph a new coat.
It was a wondrous coat!
It had long sleeves and was made of many colors. Joseph was so proud! He wore his new coat everywhere he went.
Well, that did it!
Now Joseph's brothers were SURE their father liked Joseph best. And maybe he did. But Jacob loved each of his sons, and would have given his life for any one of them.
Then one night, Joseph had a dream.
The next morning, they were all sitting down for breakfast (you can be sure it wasn't Cheerios or Cap'n Crunch! - more like goat's milk and cheese. Yum!). And Joseph said, "You should have seen this dream I had! I dreamed that we were all out in the field, bundling our wheat together into sheaves. All of a sudden, my sheaf stood up all on its own - and then all of your sheaves made a circle around mine and bowed down to it!"
"Yeah, right!" said Reuben, as he reached over and finished Joseph's cup of goat's milk.
"Hey! Cut that out!"
"Make me, you dreamer! You think you are going to be the boss of us?!!" And all the other brothers laughed and poked at Joseph.
That night Joseph had another dream. The next morning at breakfast he told his brothers his new dream. "Last night I dreamed the sun, the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me!"
"Oh Great and Mighty Joseph!" his big brother Levi said, and bowed down to Joseph - and then he swiped his cheese. All his other brothers laughed and teased Joseph all the more. "Dreamer! Dreamer!"
Poor Joseph didn't know what to do. He told his dream to his father, and even his father had enough of his nonsense, "You think your mother, your brothers and I are going to bow down and worship you?!"
But, it wasn't nonsense.
It was from God.
But, do you know what? They were.
There was something about Joseph.
He gave himself to God, and he let God lead him in everything he did. It was like the light of God's presence was there, wherever he went - even in a cold dark prison.
That's what God wants for all of us. God wants us to be the light of His presence wherever we are.
The chief jailer must have seen that in him, something maybe he couldn't even explain. But he liked Joseph right from the start. And before long, he put Joseph in charge of the whole prison.
And God was with Joseph, and blessed him in everything he did.
Time went by, and it happened that the Pharaoh's butler and his baker must have been having a bad day. Maybe the butler spilled a goblet of wine in the Pharaoh's lap. Or maybe the baker's sticky buns were too sticky.
Or maybe they offended Pharaoh much more seriously than that.
But whatever happened, Pharaoh was not pleased with them. And when Pharaoh is not pleased, believe me, NO one is pleased!
And so he had the Butler and the Baker thrown in jail.
They were there for a long time.
Now, it also just so happened that they were thrown into the same prison where Joseph was. And before long, the Chief Jailer made Joseph their servant. Of course, this didn't just happen. God was working out his plan. A very big, wild, wonderful plan.
One night, the Butler and the Baker each had a dream. They were very strange dreams, and the next morning, they were both upset.
"You look troubled," Joseph said when he brought them their gruel that morning (you don't get bacon and eggs for breakfast in prison! You don't get pancakes, french toast and waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Nothing like that! Nothing but gruel. Nasty gruel for breakfast, nasty gruel for lunch, nasty gruel for dinner - even nasty gruel for dessert. Well, maybe you would be lucky NOT to get dessert).
Anyway, when Joseph set their bowls of gruel down in the dirt, the Baker said, "We both had very strange dreams last night. We are sure they mean something, but we don't know what!"
"Only God knows what dreams mean," Joseph said. Joseph knew that everything we have, and everything we can do comes from God.
"But, tell me your dreams, and maybe God will give me the meaning."
And so the Butler and the Baker each told Joseph what they dreamed.
The Butler told the dream first
“In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine with three branches. All of a sudden, leaves began to grow on the branches, and then blossoms, and then grapes. When the grapes were ripe, I picked some and squeezed them into the Pharaoh’s cup and brought it to him.”
“I have good news!” Joseph said.
“Here is what your dream means. The three branches stand for three days. In three days, you will be lifted up from this cold, dark prison. You will be set free, and you will be restored to your Master’s house!”
And then Joseph added, “When you are back, serving in Pharaoh’s house, please remember me. Put in a good word for me with Pharaoh, and help me get out of prison, because I did nothing wrong.”
Now, when the Baker heard the good news about the Butler’s dream, he thought, ‘Whew! That IS good news! I can’t wait to hear what my dream means!’
And so he grabbed Joseph by the arm and said, “I had a dream too!
“In my dream, I was carrying three baskets on my head. In the top basket there were all kinds of tasty baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them.”
Joseph’s paused a moment, not knowing quite how to say what he had to say. “I am afraid for you the news is not so good.
“The three baskets stand for three days. And in three days, you will be lifted up too. But it won’t be like the Butler is going to be lifted up. You are going to be lifted up - Pharaoh is going to cut off your head, and hang your body on a pole for the birds to eat.”
That’s pretty scary.
But it has to be scary, because it is a warning. At the end of our life, each of us will be like either the Butler or the Baker.
Jesus was like both.
The Baker offended his Master, and he had to suffer the punishment for it. Jesus was like the Baker. Jesus was lifted up on a pole when he was put to death on the cross. Only Jesus suffered for OUR offenses, not his own.
But then, just like the Butler, after three days in a cold dark tomb, Jesus was lifted up to live in his Father’s house forever.
And so, when we come to the end of our life, everyone who believes in Jesus will be like the Butler. That is the Good News! We will be lifted up with Jesus, and we will live with him in our Master’s house forever.
But everyone else will be like the Baker. And that will not be good news at all.
There is Good News, but there is the bad news too. And that is something important to remember.
Well, three days later, it was Pharaoh’s birthday.
And Pharaoh gave himself a great party to celebrate how wonderful and mighty he was. Pharaohs can do stuff like that!
“Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me!”
Pharaoh must have been in a very good mood, because he forgave the Butler. He even invited him to his party, and gave him his old job back in the palace.
But things were not so happy for the Baker. It all happened just as Joseph said it would.
But the moment the Butler returned to the palace, he forgot all about Joseph, and never said a word to Pharaoh about him.
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