“When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good (i.e. that it carried that unmistakable authority and God-like quality of being Perfect and True), he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream (notice the familiar elements of dream interpretation we are now able to recognise through the Revelation we have since received by the Holy Spirit in these last days, such as for example the particular relevance of being an active first-person role player in a dream vs. simply being an observer), and there were three, white  baskets (or: “baskets of white, bread“) on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.” (Despite my choosing rather to extend an invitation to you for your own supplemental personal meditation on these dream elements with The Lord Beloved Reader, I believe it is at least worth my mentioning that the communion elements are represented as chief symbols in each respective dream, namely: the bread and the wine. * ) So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head (notice the stark contrast to the fate of the butler who is told that “Pharaoh will lift up your head” [verse 13]) from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.” (How inspiring to see Joseph’s unflinching obedience in delivering this hard Word from the Lord; he does not yield to flattery when the baker initially appraised his interpretation as “good”, albeit accurately, nor does he succumb to the desire to retain the baker’s good graces by compromising on the Truth. I can only imagine the anguish that the baker must have experienced in this moment : encouraged by the favourable interpretation given to the butler and consequently initially eager to receive an interpretation of his own – recognising that Joseph speaks with authority – , this must have come as a most unwelcome surprise. Upon hearing this account he can either choose now to question and cast Joseph’s prophetic gifting into doubt or accept his fate and turn to Joseph’s God for Divine Mercy. Sadly it is typically those most eager to receive a Word for personal prosperity, desperate to have their ears tickled, who struggle most with pride and are unable to repent and turn and humble themselves before Almighty God. It is my educated guess by way of much anecdotal experience that the baker will become indignant and spew hatred against Joseph instead for refusing to coddle and stroke his ego with a lie 😓; also see Proverbs 9:8; Matthew 7:6 etc.)

* Beloved Friends, It is after all our lived experience that make of us good writers, and so, having recently gone through a trial that served to illuminate my understanding in a matter I had not as yet fully understood when first writing this particular commentary, I feel hard pressed to share it with you now:

I had always considered it rather impractical, even foolish, ignorant, proud and harsh when folk insist on our relying solely on the authority of The Written Word of GOD, as if our lived anecdotal experience with The LORD, The Living Word of GOD, had no value whatsoever. A beloved example I liked to use in affirming my position in this went something along the lines of :  “Well do you need The Bible to tell you that too much sugar is bad for you to know that it is true?” I have nevertheless recently been humbled by a trial in which ironically I increasingly began reaching for the temporary comfort provided by baked confectionary goods – as opposed to seeking Our Lord’s perfect Comfort – in attempting to mediate the effects of an even greater trial; even to the point of my being required to repent of idolatry 😖. I could not help but notice that the baker’s goods in our Genesis 40:16-19 example reveal this exact phenomenon, namely the devil’s  counterfeit version of The Wholesome Bread of The Word and The Body of Our Lord, as represented in the sweet sugary confections of nutritionally bankrupt baked goods and white bread! So, as it also turns out, The Bible actually does tell us that too much sugar is bad for us 😂.

FYI This would also then serve to illuminate exactly what I mean by additional latter-day dream interpretation Revelation 😉 And rather appropriately I might add, for in no other age have we ever been so inundated with poor nutrition, both physically and spiritually 😮. 

“¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

– Genesis 40:16-19 (NKJV)