Genesis 40:1-23 - Joseph's Desolation
Welcome and the Two Stories
Welcome to The Well Community Church. If I have not met you yet, my name is Brad. I’ve had the privilege of hanging around here for a long, long time. It is really good for me personally to be back with you. It’s been quite a while since we’ve opened the Word of God together and I’ve gotten to share insights from God’s Word. So, I’m so glad you’re here. If you’re a veteran with us, then obviously we’ve hung out a little bit. If you just grabbed a taco and strolled in and thought, Well, I’ll check this place out, don’t worry—we do not handle snakes. We are not super weird. We think Jesus is God, we think the Bible is awesome, and we just kind of crank through the Word of God.
If you have a Bible, turn to Genesis 40, or look it up on your phone—either way, your choice—and we’ll continue our journey in Genesis. What we’re tracing through the life of the biblical character Joseph is the invisible hand of the providence of our God working His way out in Joseph’s life.
Mike, a couple of weeks ago, laid out something that I think is worth restating. He talked about how there are kind of two things going on when you read about any biblical character. First, there is what we’ll call the lower story. The lower story is: there was a guy named Joseph. He had some really terrible brothers. He was the favorite son of his dad, Jacob. All the lower story details—he gets sold into slavery, and so on. But beyond that, there’s this upper story. The upper story is that while these details are happening, God is doing something sovereignly. God is at work in Joseph’s life, weaving His story through what looks to be a train wreck. God is doing something special in this upper story, and we’re going to try to trace both of those as we work our way through.
We saw something about Joseph that is unique from most biblical characters. If you’re looking for a biblical character who is a pretty solid dude, the list is pretty short. You’ve got Jesus, and then there are kind of a couple of “maybes.” Joseph is a maybe. The reason I say he’s a maybe is that we see in Joseph’s life that God is with Joseph, and Joseph seems to be, by and large, most of the time with God. We’re watching this guy live out his life with the Lord. In many ways, what we saw last week is that he was a faithful guy in some pretty difficult circumstances.
If there was ever a guy who could have become a statistic, it was Joseph. He gets sold into slavery by his own brothers. He is a slave in Egypt, but instead of being a victim, he is faithful and ends up in leadership in the house of a man named Potiphar—think of Potiphar like a Secretary of State kind of guy. Potiphar’s wife comes on to him, and Joseph says, I’m not going to dishonor your husband, who has been so good to me, and I’m not going to dishonor my God. He’s faithful amidst temptation. You would think that a faithful guy who is obedient to God would end up with good circumstances because of his faithfulness. But in his faithfulness, Joseph ends up in an orange jumpsuit, three hots and a cot, and time in the yard. He ends up in prison even though he has been faithful to the Lord.
Moralism vs. Biblical Reality
If you’re honest, the lower story of Joseph seems a little strange. You’re like, God, I don’t understand. I thought the formula was: if I do good, good things happen; if I do bad, bad things happen. Gut-level honest: how many of you live with that sort of rubric in your life?
The reality is that concept is more karma than it is biblical theology. That’s not what the Scriptures teach. But we’re heavily influenced by moralism. Moralism assumes that if I behave well, good things will come from that. It doesn’t give us an accurate view of what it means to walk with God, but we tend to live in that theological framework, incorrect as it is. It begs the question when you watch Joseph’s life: Why is Joseph, who is faithful to God, in prison? It speaks to that age-old question: Why do bad things happen to really good people?
Josh introduced two theological concepts last week that I want to take a little time to unpack, because they play into Genesis 40 profoundly: the concepts of consolation and desolation. These terms are connected to classical spiritual formation. They are the theologians’ way of trying to explain the roller coaster of spiritual ups and downs.
Consolation, essentially, is this idea of passion for God. Early on, when you first trusted Christ—I know in my own life when I trusted Jesus in college—there was this sense where the Bible came alive. Every passage was new, sin issues were being dealt with, and there was a tangible sense of feeling God’s presence. Many of you may have a similar story of God’s grace in consolation. It’s not a bad thing; it’s a very good and common thing. When you come to faith, there’s excitement. You read the Bible and think, Oh my gosh, I never knew the Bible said that! You tell your roommate, spouse, neighbor, or anyone who will listen: This is what the Word of God says, and the Bible set me free! We’re all passion and no polish. That’s consolation. It’s when things are going well, and we feel freshness with God, delight, joy, and God’s blessing. Think of consolation like the ultimate summer camp high from youth ministry.
There’s nothing wrong with consolation. But something happens over time: the passion begins to fade. The things that once brought you joy in the Lord no longer bring that same feeling. In fact, they can often become a burden or feel boring, and you experience spiritual dryness. Have any of you experienced spiritual dryness? It’s the place where spiritual practices feel stale, you feel isolated from God, and you sense distance from Him. Along with that spiritual loneliness typically come two bedfellows: shame and guilt. You think, Something must be wrong with me, because God is unchanging, so something is broken in me that makes me feel forsaken.
That is desolation.
The Trap of Chasing Feelings
Desolation is unpopular, unfamiliar, and wickedly uncomfortable, so we run from it. We assume desolation means something is broken. Because we are often unaware of the spiritual benefits of desolation, we immediately try to alleviate it. We think, I’m feeling a little distant from the Lord; we need to fix that. So we go back to the reading plan we did back in the day when it brought us consolation. We go back to the prayer disciplines from when we felt consolation. Shoot, we’d go back to youth group if we could! Whatever brought us that feeling, we try to recreate it.
Notice what happens: we decide something is broken and that we need to fix it. So we read more, pray more, give more, serve more. Who is driving that process? We are, because we are closet moralists. At our core, we are still narcissistic enough to think that having begun by the Spirit, we are now perfected by the flesh. We think God is waiting for us to pull up our religious bootstraps and grind it out so we can finally get that passion back—as if passion is the goal.
Passion is not the goal. The desired outcome of our faith is not merely that we would be “on fire” for God. Yet that’s what many people chase, assuming that’s what God wants for us. If we don’t feel God’s presence, we assume something is wrong.
Our God is gracious. What you’ve probably found in your spiritual life is that God often provides moments of consolation because He knows we need them. Those little blips on the radar, those hits of joy—like when that worship song plays and something stirs inside you, or when you have a rich moment in the Word where God meets you. But consolation alone is not the fullness of the Christian life.
I wish someone had told me that when I first trusted Christ. When I got saved, it was all passion because I was so grateful for the gospel. I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to cuss until I read my Bible! I had no idea about sexual morality or drunkenness until I read the Word. Consolation was every day for me. But I wish someone had explained that it wouldn’t always be like that, and that when consolation wanes and you feel distant, that’s okay. It’s okay when you don’t feel as “on fire” as you once did.
Consolation alone can lead us astray. We can begin to love the blessings of God rather than the God of the blessings. We can begin to love how He makes us feel, rather than who He is.
Think of it this way: I’ve been married for twenty-three years. Early on in my time with my wife, we had a lot of consolation. We had a lot of firsts—our first dance, holding hands for the first time, our wedding, our first kiss, our first home, our first vacation. Those firsts are exciting, fresh, and full of joy. But if you’ve been married for any number of years, you know marriage isn’t all consolation. The consolation was good, but that’s not what made our marriage deep. What makes our marriage special is enduring through desolation: walking through our first miscarriage, burying our first family member, working through stinging conflict, the daily routine of doing life, and learning to love the idiosyncrasies that used to drive each other nuts.
My love for my wife is not based on how she makes me feel, because she doesn’t always make me feel a sense of consolation. The real depth in my marriage is that I love my wife for who she is. Period.
Can you see the danger if consolation is all you ever want? If the joy in your marriage was entirely based on the excitement of the “firsts,” eventually someone else outside your marriage might offer that feeling, and you’ll be tempted to chase it. You might find it for a little while until it fades, and then you’ll look for someone else to make you feel that way again. That’s why marriage isn’t about feeling; it’s a commitment of faithfulness and love regardless of feeling.
The same thing happens in the spiritual life. It’s why many high school students struggle after graduation. Youth group is full of consolation—mission trips, camps, leadership, accountability groups. Then you graduate into reality: you get a job, pay rent, buy groceries, and grind it out. That’s called adulting, and adulting doesn’t come with constant emotional highs. Joy is found in seeing God in the midst of simple, ordinary things. If your faith was built only on consolation, you’ll walk away when it doesn’t feel like it used to. But an authentic relationship with God isn’t about chasing feelings; it’s an invitation into a depth of love far beyond what feelings can provide.
God with Us in the Pit
That is what Joseph experiences in Genesis 40. He experiences desolation, but through it, he discovers a depth of relationship with God that goes beyond external blessings. This is Joseph maturing from the cocky kid in the special coat his daddy bought him into a man in prison saying, God, I served You and I’m in jail. You’re doing something here. There is an upper story that I can’t see right now, but I trust You. I’m going to hang in there and see what You have for me.
Joseph understood the upper story: that God will never leave us nor forsake us. God knows every hair on our head. He knows our thoughts from afar.
Psalms 139:1-12 (NASB)
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known [me]. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. [Such] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is [too] high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,’ Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike [to You].
There is nowhere we can go from His presence. We have been sealed with His Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NASB)
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of [God’s own] possession, to the praise of His glory.
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NASB)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
And even if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
2 Timothy 2:13 (NASB)
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
God is always with us, in both consolation and desolation. In fact, He is with us especially in desolation. Thomas Merton once wrote:
“God, who is everywhere, never leaves us. Yet, he seems sometimes to be present and sometimes absent. If we do not know him well, we do not realize that he may be more present to us when he is absent than when he is present.”
In those moments when you cry out, God, where are You? He is right there with you every step of the way.
Let’s look at Joseph going through desolation. In Genesis 39, Joseph’s master puts him in prison after false accusations.
Genesis 39:20-23 (NASB)
So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible [for it]. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Notice God’s grace in the midst of desolation: Joseph puts on a prison jumpsuit, yet God gives him favor with the chief jailer. The jailer puts Joseph in charge of everything because the Lord is with him. Lower story: Joseph is in jail. Upper story: God is placing Joseph in a position of influence that will be critical later.
Whether in consolation or desolation, Joseph learned to bloom where he was planted. Wherever God has you, just be faithful. If Joseph had sat in a corner pouting, saying, I served God and ended up in prison, he would have missed what God was doing. Instead, he chose to serve right where he was. It reminds me of that line from the movie 300—which is totally inappropriate, don’t watch it—where the enemy says, “Our arrows will block out the sun,” and the Spartan replies, “Then we will fight in the shade.” Whatever your circumstances, learn to love God in the shade. Fight it out in the shade.
Faithful in the Shade
Look at what happens in Genesis 40.
Genesis 40:1-8 (NASB)
Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the [same] place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his [own] dream [and] each dream with its [own] interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, ‘Why are your faces so sad today?’ Then they said to him, ‘We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.’ Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell [it] to me, please.’
The Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker offend Pharaoh and are placed in the same prison under Joseph’s care. They both have dreams on the same night. Joseph comes in, notices their sadness, and asks about it. When they explain they have no one to interpret their dreams, Joseph says, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me.”
If there was ever a chance for Joseph to be arrogant about dreams, this was it. His earlier dreams were all about his brothers bowing down to him. But here, he points directly to God: Interpretations belong to God.
Desolation does two things in our lives: it affirms the work of the Spirit, and it exposes the work of the flesh. Desolation affirms the Spirit in Joseph because he gives God the glory. But it also exposes his flesh. Joseph interprets the dreams: the cupbearer will be restored to Pharaoh’s service in three days, while the baker will be executed. When Joseph gives the good news to the cupbearer, he adds a personal request:
Genesis 40:14-15 (NASB)
’Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. ‘For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.’
Joseph says, “Only keep me in mind… mention me to Pharaoh to get me out of this house.” You see a little bit of Joseph trying to engineer his own exit. The lower story has to submit to the upper story; when the lower story tries to take control, things get messy. Joseph tries to position himself to get out of prison, but God wasn’t ready to release him yet.
Everything happens just as Joseph interpreted. On Pharaoh’s birthday, the baker is executed, and the cupbearer is restored to his post.
Genesis 40:20-23 (NASB)
Thus it came about on the third day, [which was] Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
“Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”
How do you think Joseph felt? Come on, man! I interpreted your dream, told you exactly what would happen, and you didn’t even mention my name? The cupbearer completely forgets him. But while the cupbearer forgot Joseph, God did not. God had Joseph sovereignly right where He wanted him.
How long was Joseph forgotten in that jail? Chapter 41, verse 1 tells us: two full years. Not two days. Two years of desolation.
The Purpose of the Wilderness
God remained present with Joseph in his desolation for two years because He was doing deep soul work—affirming and exposing, refining his character. Joy and consolation could never accomplish that deep soul work in Joseph; only despair and difficulty could prepare him. God lovingly left him there because He wasn’t done shaping him for what was ahead. If Joseph hadn’t walked through the crucible of despair and learned God’s faithfulness in difficulty, he wouldn’t have been ready for the leadership God had prepared for him.
That same work God did in Joseph’s lower story, He is doing in our lives today. Consider these truths about spiritual formation:
First, spiritual formation is often best accomplished through desolation. If you look back on your life and identify the seasons of greatest spiritual growth, they probably weren’t seasons of comfort and consolation. They were seasons of pain—a miscarriage, the death of a loved one, sickness, tragedy, tears at a graveside. In those moments, God does a work in us that joy alone could never provide.
Second, spiritual formation takes time. It’s a messy process. Throughout Scripture, God performs physical miracles instantly—opening blind eyes, healing limbs, opening wombs. But soul work takes time. Yet we are often quick to try to rescue each other from desolation. When a friend is struggling, we show up with groceries and cookies, trying to force a smile as if immediate happiness is what they need. Sometimes they need to learn to love God through tears. Parents, we do this with our kids all the time—playing “Rescue 911” at the first sign of drama or discomfort. What if God is lovingly allowing your child to walk through difficulty so that He can reveal Himself to them in a way ease never could?
Third, spiritual formation rarely feels fruitful in the moment. It takes a unique perspective to sit in sackcloth and ashes and say, Yes, Lord, bring it on. My first response to hardship is usually frustration. But spiritual formation always becomes clear in the rearview mirror. Perspective helps us see the upper story of what God was accomplishing.
Walking in the Upper Story
Where does God have you right now? Are you in a season of consolation? Are things good, refreshing, and full of joy? If so, praise God! Enjoy it. But be aware that the wilderness will come, and that’s okay. The Christian life isn’t about being an emotional junkie looking for the next spiritual high.
Are you in desolation? Praise God, because He is at work in you. How can we say that when life is hard? Because we know the upper story. We can dwell on whatever is true, honorable, right, and pure.
Philippians 4:8 (NASB)
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
We know that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
[For I am] confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
We know that God works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose.
Philippians 2:13 (NASB)
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure.
We are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Romans 8:29 (NASB)
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
None of us look fully like Jesus yet, which means God is still heating the anvil, refining us into His likeness. We know our momentary, light affliction is producing an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
2 Corinthians 4:17 (NASB)
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
We can count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds.
James 1:2-4 (NASB)
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
We can rejoice in our sufferings because we know who God is.
Romans 5:3-5 (NASB)
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
This doesn’t mean we become spiritual masochists who ask for pain. It means having the perspective to say, This is hard, but God, I trust You. I submit to Your upper story because You are doing something in me. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.
Psalms 34:18 (NASB)
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
I spoke with families in our church this week walking through tremendous grief and loss. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
Psalms 116:15 (NASB)
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.
Last night while walking my dog, I ran into a young man crying in his truck because his grandfather had just passed away. We talked on the side of the road about desolation. I reminded him that his grandfather is now experiencing the fullness of God’s glory—more alive than he has ever been. Through tears, he nodded, holding the tension of knowing the upper story is true while living through the heartbreak of the lower story.
That is the Christian life. As Paul writes:
Colossians 2:6-7 (NASB)
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk in Him, having been firmly rooted [and now] being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, [and] overflowing with gratitude.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were instructed, abounding in thanksgiving.”
May we have the wisdom to walk together through the ups and the downs, through consolation and desolation. In Genesis 40, Joseph is in pure desolation. He is forgotten for two years. Yet God was faithful.
If you find yourself in desolation today, let your prayer be: God, I am here. I don’t know what You are doing, and my soul feels downcast. I would love some answers, but even if You don’t give them, You are enough. I don’t just need Your blessings; I need You. Hold my tears in Your bottle and teach me to trust You—not just for what You provide, but for who You are.