Joseph's betrayal was followed by a period of confinement, a period of imprisonment (39:20). Joseph was with two criminals, who typified the two criminals with Christ, one of whom was restored and the other executed (40:1-23). It was the same with Christ. After Christ was betrayed, He was put into the prison of death (Acts 2:23). He was crucified between two criminals, one of whom was saved and the other perished (Luke 23:32, 39-43). Christ was confined in the prison of death for three days and three nights. As a type of Christ, Joseph had the same experience as Christ. He was rejected by his brothers, sold by them, and eventually cast into prison. Christ suffered the same things. Firstly, He was rejected by His brothers; then He was sold by one of His people, and eventually He was cast into the prison of death.
Although Christ was resurrected after His death, His resurrection did not come immediately afterward. Humanly speaking, the three days of Christ's confinement in the prison of death were not a short time. No night has ever lasted for three days and three nights. At the longest, night lasts from evening until morning. But the night Christ spent in the prison of death lasted for three days and three nights. If we had been Mary Magdalene, it would have been a long time to us, because she loved Christ, had followed Him, and had seen Him crucified and buried. After Christ's death and burial, Mary had no heart to eat or sleep. Instead, she waited for something to happen. I do not believe that all the disciples could have forgotten that before His death Christ had said that He would be resurrected after three days. Even if they were not clear about what He had said, they must have been impressed with something regarding His resurrection. This must have been especially true of the sisters, for they often have a better memory than the brothers. Although Peter might not have been impressed with Christ's coming resurrection, I do not believe that Mary Magdalene forgot that Jesus said that after three days He would rise from the dead. It was very difficult for her to wait for those three days. It would have been difficult to wait even three hours. At last, on the third day, the tomb where Jesus was buried was found empty. The three days and nights that Christ had been confined in the prison of death were a long night. Joseph's night of confinement lasted approximately ten years. When Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, he was about seventeen years of age; and when he was released from prison, he was thirty. If you read the Bible carefully, you will see that it was not long after Joseph was sold to Potiphar that he was cast into prison. Joseph, therefore, was in prison for a long period of time, a long time of darkness.
According to the Bible, it is the young people, not the older ones, who experience this lesson. When Joseph was put into prison, he was less than twenty years old. Every young person needs such a period of confinement. Young people, because you are so free, you need to be confined. In this country the young people are eager to be eighteen years of age, for then they can be free like birds released from a cage. I have observed this with my own grandchildren. At the age of eighteen, they think they can be released from the cage. However, if the young people love the Lord and are today's Joseph, they will be placed into the Lord's confinement after they have been released from their cage. Young people, the Lord's confinement is awaiting you.
We have seen that Joseph represents the reigning aspect of the mature life. However, before Joseph was enthroned and came into power, he was imprisoned. This indicates that before enthronement, there is confinement. In Joseph's dreams, there was no indication that he would be imprisoned. The dreams must have made Joseph very happy. In them he saw himself as a standing sheaf and as a shining star. Joseph was so excited about his dreams that he told his brothers about them, not realizing that they would be offended by them. Enthronement did not immediately follow Joseph's dreams. Instead, there was betrayal leading to imprisonment.
After hearing this, some of you may say, "The previous messages on Joseph were wonderful and glorious, but I can't take this word. I quit." But even if you quit, God will not quit. You need to realize that you are a kite on a string, and that string is in the Lord's hand. The Lord would say, "Do you intend to give up? I will not allow you to give up."
If Joseph had not had those dreams, he probably would not have been in any trouble. But he had two dreams and in his excitement told his brothers about them. Joseph, however, was not immediately enthroned. Instead, he was depreciated and imprisoned. Some of the young people may think that if they follow Jesus Christ and are in the Lord's recovery, everything will be glorious. However, the young people need a period of confinement. This is very important for them. How I thank the Lord for what confinement has done for me!
Your prison may be your wife. Many of you young people were not married when you came into the church life. In the church you had the opportunity to make the best selection. However, after the honeymoon, you found that your dear wife became your confinement. You may say, "What has happened? Now that I am married I am no longer free." That is correct. Your husband or wife is your prison. Every marriage and every home is a prison. Thank the Lord for all these prisons. As many of us can testify, this confinement lasts a long time. I have been in this type of prison for a great many years, and because I still need confinement, I am still in prison. I still have some lessons to learn.
Now we come to my burden in this message: I want to share with you, as a parenthetical word, the secret of how to spend your time during your imprisonment. This is the secret of enjoying your imprisonment. Without this secret, I could not understand Genesis 40 in a full way. Now I would like to present to you the secret of what we should do during our period of imprisonment. When the time comes for you to be imprisoned, you will understand that what I am presenting to you in this message is altogether workable.