Genesis 39

        The central theme of Joseph and his life is found in verse 2: “And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man;”. God was with Joseph every moment of his life, watching over him and directing him, and Joseph knew this. His faith in God and his obedience to what he knew was right and just is evident from the very beginning of his unexpected adventure in Egypt.
         Joseph is sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, and, because God is with him he prospers. (v.3) Joseph very quickly gains the respect and trust of Potiphar, to the point that Potiphar appoints Joseph to be overseer of all his house and all that Potiphar owns. (v.5) There is a very powerful lesson here for us today. God will bless His children in whatever they do if they are walking in obedience to Him and in His will. This is part of the Christian’s testimony, especially at one’s job or place of work. Potiphar was blessed by God because He was with Joseph and Joseph walked uprightly, serving Potiphar faithfully and obediently as God intended. The same holds true for us today. If we do our best at our job or in our careers, whether it’s flipping burgers at McDonald’s or a middle manager at an office supply company, and we give God the honor and glory in all we do, our bosses and the company will be blessed by God through us. But, more than that, our supervisor and/or coworkers will see God in us, the same way Potiphar came to know God through Joseph. (v.3) Joseph’s testimony and his belief in God shone bright and clear to everyone whom he come in contact with, and God blessed him and all those around him accordingly.
        Verse 6 states that Joseph “…was a goodly person, and well favoured.” This means he is handsome in both form and appearance, and all the servants of Potiphar’s house look up to him. But this also causes Potiphar’s wife to “…cast her eyes upon Joseph…” and she propositions him, saying, “Lie with me.” (v.7) But Joseph refuses, telling her that her husband – and his master – has given him power over all that’s in his house except for her. All the reasons that Joseph lists in verse 8 and 9 are the same reasons that most other men would use as good excuses to commit the act of adultery in this same situation. But Joseph says, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (v.9)
         But Potiphar’s wife won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. She persists day after day, despite Joseph’s every effort to avoid her and not be caught alone with her. (v.10) There is another profound lesson here for us today. God allows us to be caught in situations such as the one Joseph was in, where he had to face temptation every day. Even when we do our best to walk uprightly and avoid sin, there are times in our daily lives when we cannot avoid temptation. As a result, many of us – myself included – get frustrated with God, wondering why he commands us to abstain from sin yet puts directly in our path situations that try us and test our resolve to obey Him. But that’s exactly the point. God was with Joseph, yet He also tested him using Potiphar’s wife. This is the second major trial of Joseph’s trust in – and obedience to – God. (The first was his being sold into slavery.)
       Joseph endures the temptation, exactly as the apostle Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 10:13 and 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. At the same time He is testing Joseph, God is also providing Joseph the strength he needs to endure and, eventually, escape it. The day finally comes when Potiphar’s wife corners Joseph when only the two of them are in the house. (v.11) She seizes his cloak and commands him, “Lie with me!” (v.12) But Joseph instantly flees, leaving his cloak behind.
       How many times have we come face to face with our worst weaknesses and the temptation to sin is so strong and alluring that we hesitate? Joseph didn’t hesitate for a second. The verse says plainly, “…he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.” Joseph doesn’t just leave the room. He flees the house altogether. Too many times we don’t flee temptation like we should. Instead, we might turn away, but we linger in the vicinity, or we do start running away but also cast a longing glance over our shoulder, perhaps slowing our pace as we do. And that’s where we fail the test. We end up turning back – or running back into the house – after we’ve fled, but that’s not what Joseph does. He instantly got himself out and didn’t look back.
       But this seems to land him in even more trouble because Potiphar’s wife is so angry with Joseph’s rejection of her that she instantly cries out, alerting the other servants of the house who are, presumably, nearby outside. (v.13-15.) She tells them that Joseph tried to lay with her, and she refused, and when she cried out he fled. She then keeps Joseph’s cloak for when her husband gets home.
        Potiphar, naturally, believes his wife’s falsehood, and he has Joseph thrown in prison. (v.20) Literally overnight, Joseph goes from a position of prestige and honor and a life of comfort and ease to a cold, dank prison cell, stripped of his honor and status and everything else God had blessed him with since his arrival in Egypt. At this point, one expects a verse which tells us of Joseph’s sorrow and mourning and griping to God about how unfair life is and why did this happen to him when all he did was trust in God and obey Him? And, to be fair, that’s a good question, for that is exactly what happened. Joseph walked uprightly, obeyed God, resisted temptation and had a flawless testimony before Potiphar and all of his house. And what did that get him? False accusations, the loss of his comfortable, blessed life, and a cold, dark prison cell. If that was me I know I would be complaining to God right about now.
          But that’s not at all what verse 21 says. What we read instead is, “But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Verses 22-23 go on to say that the jailer – just as Potiphar did with all his house – gives Joseph responsibility over all the other prisoners, to the point that the jailer doesn’t even have to go check up on Joseph’s work. That’s how much – and how quickly – he trusts Joseph with the daily operation of running the prison and overseeing the prisoners. Verse 23 concludes with, “…and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.” Joseph doesn’t utter so much as a single word of complaint or whine about his unfair circumstances or wallow in self-pity. For someone so young (this is, presumably, taking place within the first year of his arrival in Egypt), Joseph displays a remarkable maturity of faith and character. He looks around, sees what needs to be done, offers his help and services to the jailer, whom God, in turn, works upon to grant Joseph favor, and then Joseph does exactly he did in Potiphar’s house.
 
         Joseph looked to God alone for his strength and direction. He did not allow his circumstances to dictate his character or his choices. He saw this new turn of events exactly for what they were: a new test from the Lord, and Joseph rose to the occasion by making himself useful where God had put him. That simple, profound principle is so often overlooked by us today. We get so eager to serve God by looking for opportunities further down the road, or off in another direction completely, that we forget to stop and look right where we are. God puts us where we are at for a reason, whether that’s our job, our church, or our hometown. If we are sensitive to His leading and obedient to His direction, we won’t mistake our calling. Yet too often we get it in our heads that we should be doing this or that, or be going there instead of here, and we don’t stop to ask if it’s the Lord’s will. Or, as in the case of Joseph, we find ourselves in a loss of fortune and blessing, and we mistakenly think that God is punishing us. Unlike Joseph, we throw ourselves a pity party, or we get angry and bitter, or we throw up our hands and refuse to do anything else until we hear from God. Rather, we should be looking to the Lord first and then look around our immediate area and see what we can be doing for Him right here right now.
         Joseph was, once again, obedient and submissive to God, and God was with him. It didn’t matter to Joseph how long he would be stuck in prison. He walked by faith, not by sight, and he looked to the Lord for every step and direction each day. And God blessed him for that.