GOD, OUR DELIVERER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"

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. 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?"

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 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.

When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 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. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. 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, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

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. 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.

Genesis 39:7-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After being sold into slavery, Joseph found everything going his way in Egypt. For as we saw in the opening verses of Genesis, chapter 39, the Lord was with Joseph after he was purchased by the chief of the Egyptian guard, Potiphar, and He caused blessings to be extended over Potiphar’s entire household. Then Potiphar, realizing how much he had prospered after Joseph joined him, gave Joseph control over everything except for the food he ate.

Unfortunately, as we see in today’s passage, Potiphar wasn’t the only one who had taken notice of Joseph for his wife had as well but for nefarious reasons. Let’s look again at these verses to see what happened.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!”

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. 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?"

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 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.

When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 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. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. 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, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

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. 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. Vv.7-23

As we see in today’s passage, Potiphar’s wife tries to entice Joseph into an adulterous tryst. This angers Joseph who reminds Potiphar’s wife that he has been given control of everything in the household except for her. He also calls out her action as sinful saying:

"How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

Joseph had experience great good fortune but he didn’t forget where it came from. His very words to Potiphar’s wife shows he was keeping God at the forefront of everything he was doing and so there was no chance that he was going to give in to the seductive advances he faced.

There’s an early lesson for us to learn here because I have always felt that a person can easily get comfortable in the midst of times where the Lord is raining down His blessings and therefore become vulnerable to the temptation to sin.

Perhaps this can come when you’ve found prosperity and someone tries to convince you that you could have even more if you would just be willing to break the law a little. Of course, there would be an emphasis about a very low probability of being caught in the sin to try and spice up the enticement a little.  

Maybe the tempting might have come as you were trying to overcome a certain weakness and another person showed little respect for that effort. For example, you may be trying to stop smoking or drinking and yet someone keeps coming up to ask you if you want to go for a smoke or a drink.  

Indeed, it seems that just when we things start going the way we would like them to go, Satan enters in to lead us toward sin and throw away any progress we’ve been blessed with.

Well, as we go back to the scriptures, we find that Potiphar’s wife wasn’t about to give up and so she continues to go after Joseph day after day with Joseph rejecting her every time. But then a day came when she decided to take her wicked alluring to a whole new level. For when “none of the household servants” were in the house, Potiphar’s wife physically grabs a hold of Joseph and as he pulls away and flees, he leaves his cloak in her hand.

We see where Potiphar’s wife, scheming as she was, took advantage of the matter and accused Joseph of attacking her, falsely claiming that it was only her screams and resistance that fended off the attack. Then she verbally assaults Joseph with ethnic overtones, telling Potiphar:

"That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me."

In essence, Potiphar’s wife was doubling down on her sinfulness, not only falsely implicating Joseph but also implying that it was her husband’s fault that it happened. She may have just as well said:

"None of this would have ever happened if you hadn’t brought this Hebrew slave in."

Well, we read where Potiphar, Joseph's master, believed his wife’s lie. He took Joseph into custody and "put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined." I’m sure Potiphar’s wife thought she had won but did she really?

For as we’re going to find out in future messages, Joseph going to prison was all about God’s plan for him and despite the sins of Potiphar’s wife, God’s good will prevail over evil.

Friends, this account should bring us encouragement when we fall victim to someone else’s scheme and it feels like evil has gained the victory. For in those times, we should never underestimate what the Lord might have in store for our future. The truth of the matter is that He always has a plan. We just need to be ready to allow it to be executed in our lives.

Going back to Joseph, we find that while he may have ended up in prison, he was far from being alone because “the Lord was with him”, showing him “kindness” and granting him “favor in the eyes of the prison warden." This led to the warden putting "Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there." Further, we read where "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."

Once again, what seemed like a disastrous point in Joseph’s life turned out to be a blessing as he continues to see the Lord at work every step of the way.

First, He saved him from his murderous brothers.

Then, He blessed him with prosperity even in slavery.

Finally, He showed authority over sinful injustice by leading Joseph to thrive, even while incarcerated.

We should see a common thread in all this for we truly serve a God who is our Deliverer, the One who is our very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). I hope you will remember this if you are in the midst of some life struggle, temptation, of injustice today. For just as our Lord was with Joseph, so too is he with us and this is good news for us to rejoice and be glad in.

Today, and every day thereafter, let us give thanks to God for He is good and His steadfast love does indeed endure forever (Psalm 136:1).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.