Have you ever considered yourself as being a cup bearer ? Let’s start with coming to an understanding of what the Word of God says about one cup bearer specifically mentioned in Genesis 40:1-23.
Here we enter the unfolding story of Joseph, while he was in prison because of the false accusations from Potiphar’s wife.
We are introduced to the chief butler or cup bearer and the chief baker of Pharaoh the king. He had been offended by them, and had put them in the prison. There, Joseph met and served them.
Because we are focusing on the cup bearer in this article, we will take a look at what some of his responsibilities would have been in serving the king. It might seem like a lowly job, but actually it was considered a high ranking position. The cup bearer’s duty was to taste any wine brought to the king, in case it was poisoned. There may be plots and schemes of the king’s enemies who would be trying to kill him. The cup bearer was putting his own life on the line by doing this service for the king. The king had to trust his cup bearer with his very life.
One morning when Joseph went into where the king’s servants had been sleeping, he noticed that they were both sad. He asked about it, and they told him of their dreams. They were sad because (verse 8) “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”
Can you imagine yourself to be in Joseph’s position right then ? Could you hear yourself saying, “Yeah, I know how you feel. I’ve had some pretty big dreams, but no interpretation of them, and I just don’t see how they will ever come to pass. Not only that, but when I tried sharing them with my own brothers, they were so offended with me that they wanted to kill me. Instead they threw me into a pit and then sold me into slavering, and that’s how I came to be here. It’s probably best that we leave the dreams alone.”
Praise God, Joseph believed in His God, no matter what he was going through, and instead he said, “Do not interpretations belong to God ? Tell them to me, please.”
As we read the story, we find that the cup bearer’s dream had a good ending, but the baker’s did not.
When Joseph interrupted the cup bearer’s dream, and how he would be restored to his place in serving the king, Joseph said in verses 14-15, “But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”
Genesis 40:23 says, “Yet the chief cup bearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”
After two full years had passed, we see that Pharaoh had a dream. In chapter 41:9 we read, “Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying: I remember my faults this day.” He remembered something that he had not done, and that was to show kindness and make mention of Joseph to the king.
It’s amazing how God will speak new things to us through stories we have heard many times before. This time, He is highlighting the cup bearer, and what we may learn from his example.
In the New Testament there are some passages that mention cups, what might be in them, and how we might be a bearer of the cup.
First, let’s look at Matthew 23:23-28, where we enter into the conversation that Jesus is having with the scribes and Pharisees.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law; justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain a gnat and swallow a camel ! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Now before we delve into what may be in the cups that we are bearing, let’s look at Mark 10:35-45. Here we have James and John asking Jesus to grant them the position to sit at His right and left hand, in His glory. In verse 38 Jesus said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ?”
What cup was He talking about ? The same cup He was praying about in the garden before He was arrested.
In Matthew 26:39, Jesus fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” The cup He was about to drink from would bring death, but He would rise in victory over the grave, sin, and all of hell, as The King Triumphant ! He knew that by drinking it, He would pave the way for us to bear the cup we are given. He would destroy the works of the enemy and take away the sting of death.
Jesus also said in Matthew 10:42, that when we give even just a cup of cold water in His name to someone, we are doing it as unto Him. We will gain a reward.
As we ponder these cups, and being a cup bearer, here are a few questions that come to mind:
1. What does my cup hold ? Is it filled with justice, mercy, and faith ? Or is it full of extortion,self indulgence, dead men’s bones, uncleanness, hypocrisy, and lawlessness ? Is it filled with the desire to become great, or the desire to be a servant, giving up my life, to serve the King ?
2. Is my cup as clean on the inside as it appears to be on the outside ? Is it beautiful on the outside, in appearance as righteousness, but the inside has the filthiness of dirty self righteous rags ?
3. Do I have my tea strainer positioned over my cup, being sure to strain out the gnats, but I’m swallowing a camel when I take a drink ? In other words: Am I paying attention to tiny offenses and things that would pollute the contents of my cup, but am overlooking the weightier matters of what is offensive to the King ?
4. As a cup bearer, when I present my cup to the King, will He be able to take and drink the wine of His own justice, mercy, faithfulness, and servant hood ?
5. Can He trust me to be His faithful cup bearer who will put my own life on the line for Him ?
6. Will I be a trustworthy cup bearer for My King and give the cup of cold water to the least of these, that is filled with the pure living waters from His heart ?
7. Will we check ourselves to see if we are honoring those who have blessed and helped us when we were in prison, just as this cup bearer did in the story of Joseph, or will we forget ?
8. Will “I remember my faults this day”, and make them right before my King and man ?
James 5:16,19 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed… If anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”