Joseph: Forgotten Man

Joseph was probably both gratified and sad about the outcome.  He was glad that the interpretations from God were correct, and happy also for the cupbearer’s being restored to serving Pharaoh.  However, he must have been sad that the baker was killed. After all, relationships even in prison are relationships nonetheless, and they can be significant– especially when one has time in prison to think about it all.

Joseph had asked the cupbearer to remember him when restored to serving Pharaoh.

Genesis 40:23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

The chapter ends and Joseph remains in prison.  Being forgotten stinks.

Think about it:

• Joseph was minus two fellow prisoners, one through freedom and one through death.  He was left alone in prison with his correct interpretations to console him.  God was still with him, but it probably didn’t feel like it, as day after day went by and still no release from unjust imprisonment.  Does God’s favor always display itself as good vibes? 
• What types of emotions go along with being forgotten or passed over? 
• Do you think Joseph was probably grieved that the cupbearer (who had received the favorable interpretation and lived through its fulfillment), didn’t speak a word about it to share the amazing story?  Or do you think Joseph didn’t know whether the cupbearer had been unfaithful to his promise? How would Joseph have known in the flow of time…what we know by reading his story?
• Might Joseph have been angry at the ingratitude? Might he have been depressed at having been forgotten?  Might he have resented that his friendship was deemed insignificant and that his willingness to interpret was insulted?  Do you think he might have felt slighted because God gave the interpretation and God got no credit for it?  Scripture doesn’t say anything about ANY of this.  We don’t even know for sure that Joseph knew.
• What we can surmise is that time alone to think about things can create those feelings. How might Joseph’s parenthesis of being forgotten (as if he didn’t exist and didn’t matter) have prepared Joseph for what would come next? 
  
• To be sure, there’s no indication that Joseph’s character needed reformation at all.  Read 2 Peter 3:8 “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”  How might God have felt like He received glory through Joseph’s parenthesis attitude, and what was to come in Joseph’s life, plus in the recording of this story in Scripture?