20240121 Genesis 39: Joseph in the Garden of Eden
Genesis: Looking Back in Order to Move Ahead Spiritually • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Call to Worship - Psalm 89
1 I will sing of the lovingkindnesses of Yahweh forever; From generation to generation I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth. 2 For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever; In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”
5 The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Yahweh; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the sky is comparable to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the mighty is like Yahweh,
11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and its fullness, You have founded them.
13 You have a mighty arm; Your hand is strong, Your right hand is exalted. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
15 How blessed are the people who know the loud shout of joy! O Yahweh, they walk in the light of Your face. 16 In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted.
Scripture Reading - Genesis 39
1 Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian official of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. 2 And Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh caused all that he did to succeed in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended on him; and he appointed him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he gave in his hand. 5 Now it happened that from the time he appointed him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, Yahweh blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. 6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s hand; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance. 7 And it happened after these events that his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has given all that he owns into my hand. 9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” 10 So it happened that as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. 11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. 12 Then she seized him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside. 13 Now it happened, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to laugh at us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. 15 “Now it happened that when he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” 16 And she placed his garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with these words, saying, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to laugh at me; 18 and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” 19 Now it happened that when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned. 20 So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. 21 But Yahweh was with Joseph and extended lovingkindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 So the chief jailer gave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s hand because Yahweh was with him; and whatever he did, Yahweh made to succeed.
The story of Joseph in Egypt
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.
Friendship with God will make us an enemy of the world
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful, and then you will be prosperous. 9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be in dread or be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”
(1) What does it mean to be blessed?
To understand this we must understand the OT concept of blessing and cursing.
If you are blessed by God then you are not cursed by God
To be blessed is to receive the grace and favor of God, to be one who receives the fulness fo God’s mercy and goodness
To be blessed is to be spiritual satisfied
Joseph was sold into slavery but as a slave he found
2 And Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh caused all that he did to succeed in his hand.
21 But Yahweh was with Joseph and extended lovingkindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s hand because Yahweh was with him; and whatever he did, Yahweh made to succeed.
(2) We sin against God when we…
The danger of abusing the blessing
Sin is the satisfying of a legitimate need in an illegitimate way
(3) Joseph in the Garden of Eden
9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Was Potiphar a good master or a bad master?
In His goodness God withheld one thing
How could Ido this great evil and sin against God?
The command of God in the Garden, the commands of God in the Pentateuch, the commands of God that Joseph obeyed - all are summarized by this statement of Joseph
Joseph is the better Adam, he did what Adam did not do
But he is not the perfect Adam
But through Adam we see a glimpse of the beauty and holiness of Jesus
11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
18 For he knew that because of envy they had delivered Him over.
The hatred of Potiphar’s wife
13 Now it happened, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to laugh at us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.
Why did she falsely accuse Joseph? Shamed by the holiness of Joseph
39 Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.
Shamed by the holiness of Jesus
Now may the God who never abandons you and never lets go of you, go before you in your darkness, stand beside you in your fears, make you faithful in your temptations until Jesus comes. Amen.