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God Watches Over Joseph
Study Scripture:
Genesis 39:7-21a
INTRODUCTION The issue of the providence of God the Creator and His oversight over every thing that happens in the world is one that should concern every believer. Our study Scripture deals with an incident in the life of a believer which shows quite clearly that God’s promises to His children are irrevocable and that there is no need for fear, even in the face of unfavorable circumstances.
It is however acknowledged that there is much temptation to give in to fears which come about in the struggles of life, whether they be problems in family relationships, unemployment, job security, financial difficulties, erosion of retirement benefits and sundry health issues. Fears and worries might abound but believers ought to recognize that these will not change any situation. Sadly believers when under pressures can feel overwhelmed and if they feel alone they might be tempted to give in.
The powerful need then is for an illustration of the principle “God is with us”. The life of the patriarch Joseph illustrates this powerfully for us.
To understand how this principle operates and the significance of it one has to examine the background to the work of God in salvation. But first of all we should point out that in our study text we are told that the Lord was with Joseph in the two different situations in which he found himself.
Clearly we must read the passage with the thought embedded in our mind that the presence of God in our lives is not tied to our external circumstances. The circumstances might involve unjust treatment, suffering, loneliness, anguish, abuse by others, and despair. The best defense against any of these is the knowledge that God is present in our lives. That is our defense against the turmoil that we face. We are never alone.
God had made a promise that salvation would come following the debacle in the Garden of Eden. After introducing us to the recurring sins of mankind we were introduced to the life of the patriarchs of the tribes which eventually constituted the nation of Israel. The Scriptural records show that the family of the people of God began to disintegrate and they began to identify themselves with the Canaanites, adopting Canaanite worship. God had to take them out of Canaan and put them into a part of Egypt where they were totally isolated geographically and socially, and could carry on the occupation of being shepherds which was despised by Egyptians.
From chapter thirty-seven we see a very unhappy patriarchal family with behavior that was certainly not godly. We are told of a family filled with jealousy, petty ambition, greed, and bad attitudes. The eldest son Reuben, who would receive ‘the promise’, disqualified himself through an act of incest with one of his father Jacob’s wives. The two other older sons Simeon and Levi turned out now to be cruel and vicious and disqualified themselves.
Then Judah abdicated his responsibility to the widow Tamar who was married to his son but was childless, hypocritically sleeping with her when he thought that she was a prostitute. His sexual sin, his hedonistic willfulness, and his irresponsible behavior made him in the end confess that Tamar was more righteous than he.
Scripture now after recording this sordid history contrasts Judah’s sexual misbehavior with the self control and resistance to sexual temptation by Joseph, the favored son of Jacob.
It is clear that the problems in the family was actually made worse by Jacob’s preference for Joseph, whose mother was Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. He was giving preferential treatment, given a multicolored robe, which probably signified that he had been given some kind of managerial role though he was younger than his brothers, and then placed in a position of authority over them, something that annoyed them immensely.
Joseph came across as being a little bit proud and arrogant. And to make matters worse he had a number of strange dreams which he told his father and his brothers. The dreams indicated that his father and brothers would one day bow down to him. This made the brothers hate him for his dreams and his words, according to Genesis thirty-six.
When Jacob sent Joseph to report on his brothers activities it appears that he invariably brought back bad but nevertheless honest reports. On one fateful occasion when Joseph was sent to observe what the brothers were doing they saw him coming and plotted to kill him. But Reuben, counseled them against that instead telling them to throw him into a pit and allowing him to die there, so that they would not be directly involved in his death.
They threw Joseph into the pit and despite Joseph’s cries for mercy, his pleadings, and his many tears the hardened brothers left him to die. Reuben had secretly planned to release him from the pit later on when the other brothers were away but when he was absent the brothers saw some Midianites traveling in a caravan and so they decided that they could make some money and sold Joseph to the Midianites. These traders took him down to Egypt and sold him as a slave.
This handsome well-built robust seventeen year old Hebrew was bought by one of Pharaoh’s officials named Potiphar; this might have been a title which meant he was captain of the guard, and became a slave in his household.
We know from ancient records that all the officers serving ancient Egyptian kings were generally from noble families and so obviously Joseph’s new master was a powerful and well-connected man. Joseph would now by what seemed like a strange coincidence be living and working in an environment that would expose this Jewish shepherd to the inner workings, manners and styles of the most learned, powerful and sophisticated society on earth. This would obviously be great preparation for the greater role that he had previously been dreaming about when he lived in Canaan with his father and his brothers.
The phrase “the Lord was with Joseph” occurs four time in chapter thirty-nine, in verses two, three, twenty-one, and twenty-three and so we know why Joseph was successful. In addition the divine name for God, LORD, Yahweh, appears seven times in the chapter in verses two, three (twice), five (twice), twenty-one, and twenty-three.
It is pointed out by scholars that this covenant keeping name for God, Yahweh is used only one other time in the Jacob saga which runs from 37:2 to50:26, and this is found only in 49:18.
Obviously God intends us to know that the covenant keeping God of the patriarchs was with this favorite son of Jacob when he was far away from home. God had in mind something special for him and so God was working behind the scenes where there was hatred, jealousy, deception and sexual immorality.
God intended to mold Joseph in the fire of trials and temptations, so that he would come out as a chosen vessel through whom God could show His love, and provide a gift of salvation to His people.
Joseph was taken into the home of this high official and he performed so well that his master realized that there was something different about him and promotions were in order. Joseph was promoted to the position of Potiphar’s personal attendant and then to steward over his home and all his property.
What is noteworthy is that we are told that Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything to prosper in his hands, and because of this the promotion came quickly.
Clearly then Joseph’s master noticed that Joseph was a follower of the God named Yahweh, and that this God was able particularly to bless this young man. Yahweh was clearly much different from the gods of Egypt. Note that Joseph’s testimony was a great one and God blessed his master because of him. Despite the calamity that had befallen him he was faithful to Yahweh.
One writer notes the precise meaning of what God did: “The whole sequence of 39:2-6 is a particularly apt and clear example of the meaning of blessing in the Old Testament. Assistance and blessing belong together, though they are different. Blessing embraces both people and the rest of creation. The narrator simply presupposes that the blessing can flow over from the one whom Yahweh assists to a foreign people and adherents of a foreign religion precisely because of the one whom Yahweh assists. The power inherent in the blessing is expansive..”
We should not pass lightly over what Joseph went through before Yahweh could bring blessing to Egypt and to the tribes which became the nation of Israel.
It is felt that the year was 1888BC and that either Amenemes 1-V or Senwosret 1-111 was ruling in the 12th Dynasty (1999-1775 BC) which is called the Strong Middle Kingdom of Egypt. Joseph was only seventeen years old when he arrived in Egypt as a slave and he was in a completely strange environment, far away from his elevated position and the great love of his father, when he was placed on the auction block.
Before this second trial he suffered the jealousy and murderous hatred of his brothers,. He was thrown into a dry well and experienced the fear of being eaten by wild animals. He heard the voices of his brothers negotiating payment for him from the Midianite slave traders. He was put in irons, tied by a rope and forced to travel three hundred miles to the capital of Egypt with no hope of rescue. He was alone, helpless, and with no future.
Obviously God would have had to be the source of comfort for Joseph through all these ordeals. Joseph would have had to hold ever so tightly to the fact that his dreams would be fulfilled by the actions of God even though he could not see at that time how God would work out His plan
This was the time of molding and testing for him. God was with him in his difficult life and in his temptation. He did survive the long and obviously unpleasant trip to Egypt, the terror of a slave auction, and being dragged to a new house and given menial tasks that he probably never had to do before. But God was watching over him and he made it through this ordeal.
We should not think that Joseph had a easy time in the events that would follow for though he was a hard worker he did not know the language, culture, or customs or anything about Egyptian life and he had to put in a great deal of effort to do his job and learn the ways of the Egyptians.
THE TEXT Verse 7. Handsome young Joseph was a slave and he had obviously grown up somewhat by the time his temptation occurred. We are given enough information to calculate how long he remained a slave in the house of Potiphar.
Joseph was seventeen years old when he was sold into slavery according to Genesis 37:2 and he was thirty years old when Pharaoh promoted him, (Genesis 41:46). He was imprisoned for two years before that promotion. So he was in Potiphar’s house for eleven years growing and learning and getting promotions. During this time God blessed his master and molded Joseph there for these eleven year. He was growing more successful than ever and probably getting more attractive and handsome.
His master’s wife had a long time to observe Joseph and Joseph’s successes. So it is not surprising this immoral wife of his master invited Joseph to engage in sexual activity with her. She of course wanted to seduce him. The code of morality for even married woman in Egypt was loose and in the ancient world Egyptian women had a reputation for immorality. This was barefaced and bold temptation.
We should be reminded that we might not face exactly the same kind of temptation but we do face strong temptations which according to 1Corinthians10:13 is common to man. We are warned to be very careful and to stand strong.
Verses 8-9. Despite her daily advances, he did not pay her attention and resisted the temptation for all the time he was in that house. His attitude was totally different from that of Judah which was laid out before us in the preceding chapter.
It will do us well to see how Joseph resisted the temptation from his master’s wife. -He did not play around with words. -He did not have any kind of flirtation in his conversation with her and then said no. -He did not hang around the home wondering if he should listen to her or not. -He did everything to avoid her.
Joseph knew well that he should have nothing to do with her and he cut off the temptation and did not fantasize about it. He resisted her persuasive powers by testifying to the holiness of his God and His command not to sin again Him and not to do great wickedness, testifying to his own character, and the trust that others had in him. So Joseph knew what was at stake and whatever pleasure she had to offer was nothing compared to what was at stake.
Of course just resolving to withstand temptations such as this is not going to be enough to get us through life successfully. It is only with the help of God that we can avoid falling into sin when faced with such temptations. It is to be remembered that the weapons that we have in Christ are indeed powerful weapons.
One writer comments: “Success in temptation depends more on character than on circumstances. Character rests on commitment to the will of God. We can see Joseph’s character in the loyalty to Potiphar concerning what his master had entrusted to his care. We also see it in his responsibility to God for what belonged to someone else. It is further obvious in his responsibility to God respecting his special personal calling (37:5-9, 45:5-9). Additionally, we see it in his responsibility to God concerning his sacred vocation as a member of the house of Israel”.
He adds: “It is too little observed, and especially by young men who have most need to observe it, that in so such temptations it is not only the sensual that needs to be guarded against, but also two much deeper-lying tendencies- the craving for loving recognition, and the desire to respond to the feminine love for admiration and devotion…a large proportion of misery is due to a kind of uncontrolled and mistaken chivalry”.
Verse 10. His master’s wife did not stop her efforts despite Joseph letting it be known by his carefully pointing out that what she wanted was for him to engage in sin and do great wickedness against God. She did not care how greatly his sin would affect her and others. She wanted to do evil.
No doubt Satan was involved in this attempt. Joseph kept his integrity despite the behavior of his brothers and the difficulties he had gone through. So now Satan tried to trap Joseph to engage in uncleanness by using his mistress, a person of quality, a person that he should normally respect and obey.
She had not made a covenant with her eyes as Job 31:1 had advised all of us to do. She was shameless and impudent having already committed adultery with him in her heart. She was clearly now influenced by devils and lust had gotten the better of her.
Despite the strong reasons given to her that she should be decent, maintain her reputation and her conscience, she violently persisted in her attempts at temptation and continued to again and again solicit Joseph with her vile behavior. Her heart was set to do evil.
Verses 11-12. Such was the great evil in her heart that she watched Joseph and finally laid her hands on him. She ignored all the arguments Joseph put to her and she craftily waited for her opportunity which came when the men in the home were all outside and Joseph was alone in the home. She might have sent the men away in order to spring this surprise on Joseph but Scripture is not clear on this. Accordingly we are not sure of this but it would fit the behavior of this kind of person.
The adulterous wife grabbed Joseph’s garment, and Joseph avoided the tempter and moved away from her leaving part of his garment in her hand. She had grabbed his outer garment and Joseph fled in his underwear. He escaped from her and went outside probably knowing fully well that he was in great trouble.
She knew that her advances could very well result in prison or death for Joseph but that did not matter. Her mind was made up and all she wanted was to obtain her sexual fulfillment.
Note that sometimes when you are tempted you can come up with all kinds of theological reasons why you do not want to participate in sin, but there are times when you have to run without saying a word. This advice comes from the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:8-10.
Verses 13-15. Now that she had failed to engage Joseph with sex she obviously became enraged and tried to make him a criminal. She called in the servants who were outside and accused Joseph, whom she called with a racial slur the Hebrew slave, of trying to rape her. She declared that she was only saved by her screams, and she produced his garment as proof of what happened.
Verses 16-18. When her husband came home she produced the garment and accused Joseph of trying to rape her. This of course was an outrageous lie, but she persisted with her accusation that it was only because of her screams that Joseph was forced to run away from the attempt to rape her leaving his garment in her hand. This was her revenge for spurning her advances.
Verses 19-20. Potiphar was as expected angry and upset and it was made worse by the fact that his wife accused him of hiring the slave that would treat her so badly. The master then without a word of explanation from Joseph considered him guilty and cast him into the king’s prison.
We do not know whether Potiphar believed his wife’s accusation or whether Joseph did not bother to tell the truth because that would reflect too badly on the mistress and on the master. But it is to be noted that God restrained Potiphar’s wrath and prevented him from trying to put Joseph to death. Death was the reasonable penalty that Joseph would expect and so we think it believable that Potiphar did not totally believe his wife.
Instead he imprisoned him among the king’s prisoners, locking him up with the other state prisoners where Joseph would now be given the opportunity to go straight to the court of Pharaoh.
This was not a good ending story at this time for the righteous was punished but the wicked seductress was not punished. Sexual sin and desire produced an innocent victim. Joseph was wrongly accused but he still suffered.
Verse 21. God did not forsake Joseph for we are told that the Lord was with him when he was in prison and was merciful, that means loyal to him and made the keeper of the prison look on Joseph favorably.
Joseph’s character did not change and he would now have the same kind of favor from the chief jailer that Potiphar had originally given him.
CONCLUSION Joseph was steadfast in faithfulness to his God without regarding the consequences. He was loyal in his duty and strong in resisting temptation and therefore he is a model for us.
When we are tempted and fearful that we cannot resist temptation we should remind our self that in the midst of our trial, temptations, and persecutions, the Lord is with us and the Holy Spirit will give us faith and courage and the strength to demonstrate to those around us, that Jesus is with us and that He is our rock in the midst of the storms of life.
We must remember that sexual choices are always very important for Christians. We cannot hide sexual liaisons and encounters from God for wherever we go and whatever we do the Spirit of God is also there.
One writer points out that there is no such thing as an insignificant sexual liaison and we are warned that generally when temptation comes it is always presented as something insignificant, portrayed as harmless, natural and that no one will suffer or be harmed as a result of it. But we must note that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and that every choice to sin sexually matters a great deal.
We must choose to say no at the beginning and glorify God through our choices. We do not have to be suspicious of our sexuality and wish we could get rid of it. That position is not biblical. But we can say no to what is wrong and yes to what is right.
God watched over Joseph and this made him successful. But note that he committed himself to God and determined to do what God wanted, no matter what happened. So he let the power of God work through him, and God sustained him.
So let us read again the words of the apostle that urged us to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God. God has provided the weapons necessary to live a life pleasing to Him. If you are a believer in Christ it is a power that you already have.
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