Genesis 40:16

Genesis 40:16 says,When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:  The chief baker saw that Joseph had given the chief butler a good interpretation of his dream and was quick to share his dream with Joseph.  When someone else gets good news, even if it is yet to be proven, others often want to be able to benefit from it.  The chief baker may have thought since Joseph gave the chief butler good news, then he surely would give him good news also.  The first part of the chief bakers dream was that he had three white baskets on his head.  There was certainly nothing scary about that.  Verse seventeen adds,  And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.  The dream might be getting a little more ominous now, since the birds had eaten the bake goods of the Pharaoh, though this still couldn't be directly blamed on the chief baker.  Still, he would have been guilty of not protecting them better.  We still don't know why the chief baker had ended up in prison, but it is possible that he had been negligent in his work and this was revealed in his dream, though I cannot say that for a certainty.  Verse eighteen declares, And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:  As with the chief butler, Joseph told the chief baker that the dream would be answered within three days.  Since the interpretation started the same way, the chief baker may have been feeling even better now, but that didn't last long.  I believe that we can say that when someone else receives the good news of the gospel today that it does not mean that someone else will also be saved.  Of course, God does not arbitrarily save one person and condemn another, so we cannot carry the analogy to far concerning these two.  Verse nineteen adds, Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.  This was certainly not what the chief baker wanted to hear.  Of course, none of this had happened yet, so he may have thought that Joseph was just trying to scare him.  I do believe that we can say that those who have receive the good news or Christ will be saved, and those who reject it will go away to everlasting punishment.  Many may believe that if the gospel is true that somehow they will be included in salvation without really believing it themselves, but this is not the case.  Verse twenty states, And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.  In three days, the Pharaoh's birthday, he brought the chief butler and the chief baker out of prison.  The three days was in accordance with Joseph's interpretation, so the chief butler had to be hopeful and the chief baker had to be filled with dread.  Verse twenty-one adds, And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:  The chief butler was restored, just a Joseph had said he would be.  The chief baker had to really be filled with fear now.  Verse twenty-two concludes, But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.  The chief baker was hanged, just as Joseph said he would be.  Of course, we cannot equate the Pharaoh with God, since the Pharaoh's actions seemed to be arbitrary, but we can say that if we are saved, it is because of God's mercy and our acceptance of the gospel.  Verse twenty-three states, Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.  Though Joseph had asked only one thing of the chief butler, and that was that he speak to the Pharaoh for Joseph, the chief butler immediately forgot his promise.  When we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we cannot forget the lost people around us.  We need to be in prayer for them, lifting them up to God.