Justin Houtz

Genesis 39-41; Luke 16

DateVersionReading Plan
January 16, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

Genesis 39-41

Observation & Interpretation

Gen. 39:3 – Potiphar acknowledged that the LORD was with Joseph and that He caused all that Joseph did to be successful.

  • Although Potiphar likely doesn’t know about Yahweh, Joseph’s God, he perceives that Joseph is divinely enabled. (FSB)

Gen. 40:1-2 – The cupbearer and baker for the king of Egypt committed an offense against the king and they we put into custody in the house oft he captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. The text does not specify what their offense was, but it was bad enough that they were imprisoned.

Gen. 40:8 – When the chief cupbearer and baker told Joseph that they had dreams and that there was no one to interpret them, Joseph stated through rhetorical question that interpretations belong to God and asked that they tell him their dream. Joseph identified that dream interpretation was not the domain of man but of God.

  • Joseph told them that accurate interpretations belong to God. And since the Lord was with Joseph even in prison (39:2, 21, 23), the men were directed to tell their dreams to him. (CSB Notes)

Gen. 40:9 – The chief cupbearer was the first one to tell Joseph his dream.

Gen. 40:16 – When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the cupbearer’s dream was favorable, he proceeded to tell Joseph his dream as well.

  • Heartened by Joseph’s positive interpretation of the cupbearers’s dream, the chief baker shared his dream. (CSB Notes)

Gen. 41:16 – Joseph quickly corrected Pharaoh on dream interpretation, saying that it is not him but God who would give Pharaoh a favorable answer.

  • With humility Joseph confessed to Pharaoh that he was unable to interpret the dreams, but confidently added that his God would give Pharaoh the information he desired. (CSB Notes)

Gen. 41:20-21 – In telling Joseph the dream about the cows, Pharaoh explained the that when the ugly, thin cows ate the plumb cows, no one would have known that they at the plump cows because they were just as ugly as at the beginning. The amount the thin cows ate did not effect their size or appearance.

  • As Pharaoh repeated his account of the dreams, he added that the sickly cows still appeared wasted after they had eaten the healthy ones. (CSB Notes)

Gen. 41:32 – Joseph explained to Pharaoh that the doubling of the dreams meant that it was fixed by God and that God would shortly be brought it about. The doubling of the dreams confirmed their certainty and timeliness of occurrence.

Gen. 41:57 – The famine that came was comprehensive, “severe over all the earth.”

  • This phrase is not global in scope; it refers to Egypt (v. 56) and the territory of the eastern Mediterranean. (FSB)

Luke 16

Observation & Interpretation

Luke 16:8 – In telling the parable of the dishonest manager, Jesus describes how the manager commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness and that the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than with the sons of light.

  • This is the point of Jesus’ parable: There is a fundamental difference between the conduct of those who follow Jesus and those who seek after wealth…the sons of light Refers to those who belong to the light—God’s ways (1 John 1:5-10). Light and darkness are used frequently as metaphors for people’s spiritual condition (Luke 11:33-36; John 12:36). (FSB)

Application

Luke 16:30-31 (ESV) And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

The rich man was mistaken that it was a matter of evidence or convincing. We too can fall into such misunderstanding. Even during Jesus earthly ministry, as others were seeing His miraculous works firsthand, there was hardness and unbelief. As believers pursuing the mission placed upon us to bring the gospel to the nations, we need to be oft reminded that only by the work of God by His Spirit is anyone capable of coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ. This does not absolve us from the command to make a defense for the hope we have inside us (1 Pet. 3:15), but it does relieve us of the ultimate responsibility of salvation.

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