This is week three’s message from the nine-week series “Joseph – What God Intended For Good” that focuses on the life of Joseph and his family as authored by Moses in Genesis.
Last week, we saw how the jealously of Joseph’s brothers and their hatred of him played out with him being tossed in a pit and then later sold by them as a slave to a caravan headed to Egypt. This week, the story of Joseph continues with him being a slave in Potiphar’s household and how he stayed in “God’s Lane.”
The title “Staying In God’s Lane” is based on our recent Monday morning Bible Study in chapter 8 of Romans. We have been discussing Paul’s encouragement of defeating sin with the help of the Holy Spirit by staying in God’s lane.
Message
Read Genesis 39
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
39 “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”
8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”
Some comments and observations
The young man Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, is taken to Egypt, and there becomes the property of Potiphar, a wealthy and powerful man described as “an officer of Pharaoh.” The very next thing the Bible tells us is that “the Lord was with Joseph.” What does that phrase imply? If the Lord is with Joseph, can no harm befall him? Maybe. Or perhaps it means Joseph will achieve great things. In fact, the very next sentence tells us that Joseph became a successful man in the house of his master. Even Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph, the Bible says, and Potiphar saw that the Lord caused all that Joseph did to prosper in his hands.
When Potiphar heard the story his wife told him, “he became enraged.” And the way we usually understand that statement is that Potiphar was enraged at Joseph. The very next sentence in the text says that he took Joseph and put him into prison. So doesn’t that mean Potiphar believed his wife’s story, believed that Joseph had done wrong and deserved to be punished?
Not necessarily. The normal punishment for the wrongdoing Joseph was accused of was not prison. It was death. It’s possible that when Potiphar “became enraged,” it wasn’t Joseph he was enraged at. Maybe he was enraged at his wife, enraged because he guessed what had really happened. Enraged that she would try to lie her way out of it. Enraged that she had cleverly put him into a position of having to take her word over Joseph’s. Because how would it look to have everyone know that he thought his wife was actually capable of such wickedness, that he would put more stock in the word of a slave than in the story his own wife told him? Potiphar may also have been enraged that all this meant he would lose the smartest, most trustworthy slave he had ever owned.
Who was Potiphar? An officer of Pharaoh – the captain of the guard – with the power of life or death.
Why was Joseph able to be so successful in both finding favor with Potiphar and refusing Potiphar’s wife’s advances? The answer is found in verses 2-4 “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” In addition, Joseph realized that giving in to Potiphar’s wife’s demands would be a sin against God and not just Potiphar himself.
Concluding Remarks and Application
There is a departure in this part of the Joseph story from the previous ones. Namely, Joseph plays a prominent role in God’s plan for His people by choosing to stay in God’s lane. Prior to that, we saw God orchestrating events behind the scenes by giving Joseph two dreams, being sent to check on his brothers, wandering around looking for them, being thrown in a pit, and ultimately being sold as a slave. Joseph had little or no control over these. However, as a slave in Potiphar’s household, he did have control over how to conduct himself by learning the language and customs, excelling (with God’s help) in managing Potiphar’s land and household, and ultimately resisting Potiphar’s wife’s demands.
So how does this account of Joseph’s life connect with staying in God’s lane? First, he must have known what God’s lane was, and second, be committed to staying in it.
Staying in God’s lane doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing. Even bad things may happen as evidenced by Joseph being put in Potiphar’s jail.
The bottom line is that staying in God’s lane benefits us as well as others. Just think about staying in our lane when driving; how it not only us but others. In addition, think about the ‘rumble strips’ that alert us when we begin to drift out of our lane. It stands to reason that God places ‘rumble strips’ in our lives when we began to drift out of His lane.
Success in temptation depends more on character than on circumstances. Character rests on a commitment to the will of God.
